Aaj2k5 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hey guys, already had a build thread for this, changed many things so I thought I’d make a new one w/ everything from the old thread all cleaned up. My entire direction for this build changed within 3 days. Friday night an idea came upon me, and I researched. Saturday night I went and took a look at a disassembled car and put a deposit down. Sunday night, much thanks to a few guys helping me out huge (David, Ben and John), I picked up said disassembled car and brought it to my shop. I picked up an entire 1973 240Z, in parts, for a extremely good price. Don't mind the surface rust on the frame rail - they're 100x more solid than any S13 rail I've seen lol. Looks half decent with some Blitz Type 03's.. Spent some money on these that probably shouldve been spent on the Datsun lol. Oh well. Green XJ daily - then S13 daily - now red WJ daily - need new pics with lift and other mods. Due to various reasons, left my shop in Tavistock (~2000 sqft) and crammed everything into my garage (~200 sq ft) FML. Space is a little tight. Working @ Rona part time has its benefits i.e. 1.25" thick melamine workbench for ~$5. I'll miss the shop mascot though. Figured it was time for a legit rotisserie - Stripped all paint off the car, as well as up to 3/8" thick of bondo off the roof and rear quarters even though the metal on the roof was perfect, and it looked as though they tried to reshape the contours of the rear for no particular reason. Used stripper, sandblaster as well as blowtorch and scraper. Primered it, and will get little spot touch ups when time comes for paint. I'm set for fuel and efan. 5 bolt had to be removed from R34 GTR knuckle so I can use the Z32 big spline 5 lug. It appears as though the GTR knuckle is an aluminum version of the S14 which would eliminate the issue of coilovers for you guys that upgrade to Z32 uprights and need to switch bottom mounts. Step 1: 3 Jackstands and a BFH. Step 2: Booya. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Z32 Big Spline 5 Lug, S14 Front spindles, FLCA. Bushing on the FLCA had to be ground down 1/16" to fit the S30 Subframe.. A little bit of the dirty work. The name of the paint stripper is true.. As are the warning symbols :| Second pic shows one coat of stripper left on for 10 minutes which was wiped off and then a coat of easy off to degrease. Works wonders. Started to measure & design my build in Solidworks. Have the 5 lug, Q45 output shafts, Brake rotors, as well as starting on engine. Picked up a new cowl piece - thx JP. Good news is that I bought a ZEDD Findings floor kit which is perfect as I am lifting the floors 1 3/4" to 2", as they sit below the rockers, and would scrape like nobody's business. I need to fab up my own GTR subframe mount and will probably make my own floor rails as the ZEDD findings ones are just bent 18ga sheet. After major components are fabbed up, I will take the car on rotisserie to nearest Line-X and spray the entire bottom - stiffens the hell out of it, sound deadens, as well as the obvious rust proofing bonus.. My new friend. After grinding: After primer; Cleaned up and painted the Z32 5 lug and BNR34 knuckles. Beforish: After a couple hours: Started cutting off all those annoying clip things. Also, subframe is sandblasted just needs to get picked up and slapped on, so I can start on S13 coilover conversion on S14 arms.. My wallet hates me. A buddy hooked me up with a E36 M3 Dash, centre console, glovebox, trim etc.. Will need a tiny bit of trimming obviously, but is almost the same curve and width as S30. E46 M3 Cluster looks alot nicer, so i'll probably end up going for it. Started hacking the E36 dash with a dremel + sawblade. Soo the only reason I was using the M3 E36 dash was because a stock one cost a fortune in good shape. Until I met a guy who lives a few streets over from me and he hooked me up. '72 240Z Dash - professionally restored Heater center vent Centre Console BNIB dash side vents Glove box Dash to windshield trim Tail light finisher pieces Enough speak, more pics. Also started fitting the S14 suspension And fabbed up some arms to hold the front on rotisserie. Soo I got an email from the guy that I bought my dash from about a hood for sale out in Brantford. I headed out there after work and met Chris and Rob - couple of bro's that have a pair of Datsun Z cars - one of them RB swapped. Cool dudes - sold me this hood for $50 :o Then I got to work on the front half of the rotisserie - s'all done. The rear half will be done up on Tuesday. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Soo Tim is pretty good at photochop and made this for me. I'm a fan. This will happen + spoiler + black window trim - headlight covers. Joe came over last night and we talked about expensive things.. 1) 4-6 point cage, X bar tied into the rear R34 Subframe mount, 2 to strut towers, harness bars across. Tucked to cnt-hairs width from the roof and sides. 2) R34 rear subframe mount. 3) Fender brace that runs along the dogleg and around tucked to upper rad support and back around the other side (Beginnings of a tube front end). PIG ROAST!! Finally got off my ass and finished the rotisserie. Rear welds are fairly solid. Need to bolt the arms to the T-bar before I try spinning it lol. Bolted er up. Spun er right round. Primered er up. Including my freshly blasted subframe.. Most productive hour of my day :D Had a few hours to work on the Z (I need a good name for her).. Started with one of these.. Drilled a crapload of holes.. Cleaned the bish. Primed a bit Also, bought one of these to complete my modernized suspension - JDM S14 swaybar 27mm w/ JDM S14 TC brackets. Also doubles as a rad mount and I can now order S14 sizes with install ease.. Not bad for $45 lol. Might work on er again tonight and see how far I gets :D Sorry for the delay boys.. My co-op term ended so I took the gf to Santa Maria, Cuba to celebrate. Things got silly and we had drinking team tshirts made up for the group lol. Did a bit more cleaning up on the underside the day I got back. Started on the passenger side. Made plans to have some guys come over and get both floors done on Monday night. Monday morning on the way to work going about 80 clicks down a street, this happened. I had to countersteer and the jeep was on about a 20 degree angle while going straight down the road. Scary shit. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Insurance doesn't cover mechanical failures. Ghey. Tuesday morning picked this up from my buddy JP for a good deal - should be a fairly sick daily. 2002 Sentra SE-R Spec V 6 speed, LSD, bunch of new shit. Ksport Kontrol pro coilovers. Height and preload adjustable, and 32 way dampening adjustable, with camber plates with pillow ball mounts. Jim Wolf balance shaft removal kit Stillen Intake XS-Power header BC cams Rota slipstream wheels, with 225/45/16 kdws on the back (90% tread) and 215/45/16 rt 615's on the front Nismo lower tie bar Kenwood deck with Ipod OEM nissan roof racks with back rack, and snowboard attachments Magnaflow catback exhaust Vibrant flat black muffler Exams are almost done so I got antsy.. ZEDD Findings Floorpans took soo much work to fit, I was mildly ticked. Mocked up Sentra front coilover, S14 arm + spindle - Time to order some HSD S13 coilovers and make some camber plates. Cleaned up drivers side front well tonight - 3 more nights of working like this and the car will be entirely primed :D Got to cuttin and cleanin last night, got some fittin and weldin tonight. Car is going to Adam's place Thursday night to start work on the frame rails, R34 subframe mount, camber plates and possibly a cage, so I got the entire car primed. Floors are only tacked in as they are coming back out to weld in the rear subframe mounts. Woohoo - best update so far :D She's in Barrie for the next while getting shit done. Been super excited to get the Z back from Adam so I thought I'd try my hand at Photochop. Never used any sort of image editing software and this was done on free Paint.net program so it's by no means good but it's a decent idea what I'm going for.. Also, how the car was in October for comparison.. Food for thought.. Thanks to my buddy Matt for laser-cutting these at work :D Build drastically changed direction HERE. I have been planning a KA24DET swap for couple years now, almost ready to start purchasing everything and my buddy Matt drops a bomb on me and gives me a LM7 (5.3L GM V8 ). Start getting ideas about building a boosted 5.3, got in a horny and bought a LQ9 (High Output 6.0L GM V8 ) from a local guy. I’ve had my share of fun in turbo 4 bangers, but never dipped into the pushrods. Researched extensively and decided I had to pull the plug on the KA and go for it. Cost / power, reliability, torque curve, sound was way too hard to turn down. Also, the LQ9 setup NA form WILL be lighter than a full KA-T setup. Went for the iron block LQ9 instead of LS2 for future boosting options, upfront cost and for rebuild safety mesh (unlike sleeved LS alum blocks, & only weighs 76 lbs more). New Plan for motorset: - GM LQ9 V8 (stock ~345hp, 380tq) - LS2 Intake Manifold - LS2 Cam (Very possible upgrade to Texas Speed 233/239) - LS2 Valvesprings - LS6 Oil Pump - LS2 timing chain - LS7 Lifters - Meziere Electric WP - Full gasket / bearing / ring rebuild - GTO Pan (OR man up and go LS7 dry sump pan). - ARP Con Rod Bolts / Head Studs - Custom Longtubes - Custom Motormounts - Alt relocation – Custom mount w/ tensioner, P/S delete, E-WP. - Magnum T56 6 Speed (More $ than everything else together :() Pumped to see how it's coming along in Barrie! PARTS LIST ENGINE/TRANSMISSION - GM LQ9 V8 out of 2006 Escalade - Z33 VQ 6-Speed Transmission - All accessories, wiring harness, PCM - Aeromotive A1000 Fuel Pump - Aeromotive A1000 FPR - Aeromotive 100 micron filter - Earl's Black Nylon braided lines / AN fittings. - Taurus 3.8 E-Fan CHASSIS/SUSPENSION/BRAKES - R33 GTR Depowered Steering Rack - S14 steering column - S14 FLCA, Spindles - JDM S14 Swaybar - JDM S14 TC Buckets - S30 Front Subframe (Sandblasted) - R34 GTR rear subframe w/ axles, multilink & 5 lug hubs - Nismo GTR RLCA - 3.538 Q45 VLSD, Z32TT Axle & big spline 5 Lug rear hubs. - 10 point roll cage *IN PROGRESS* - 3”x3”x.125” Frame Rails *IN PROGRESS* - 1”x3”x.120” Mid Frame Rails *IN PROGRESS* - ZEDD Findings Floor Kit - ZEDD Findings Front Frame Rail Kit *COLLECTING RUST* - R34 GTR Subframe Mount *IN PROGRESS* - Custom laser-cut S30/S13 coilover camber plates. EXTERIOR - OEM Hood, doors, hatch, all glass, trim and lights. INTERIOR - 72' 240Z Professionally Restored Dash w/ accessories - NRG Evo Black Steering Wheel Most importantly, you have to have the gf who puts up with all your car addiction bs :D Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 awesome build, you can send the camber plates to 98201 haha Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted November 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 My Datsun has been at the fabricators since Oct 27th, 2011. Now being Nov 10th, 2012, I've gotten mildly bored. Graduated Robotics and Automation in August and have been working full time since, so have some extra budget for the car :D This was my garage at old home (just got a new house last week), tight quarters is understatement of the week. 10'x20'x82"... Got in on a shop here in Kitchener - 3200 sq ft for a hell of a deal From the front: From the back: note the 10 ton gantry crane that runs the length of the shop. We're set for air, have piping to all corners of the shop buried in the concrete. 100 amp 600 3 phase as well, with transformed down to 220/110. Set up my stuff in the back right. Picked up a Meba horizontal bandsaw 600v, 12" round cut cap. Netted a (free) Tos Kurim Finesa FNK25 6-axis turret mill with Heidenham XY NC readout from work. Also have a shop trailer now - 6'x12' 14,000lb Hydraulic Drop deck (sits flat on the ground when lowered) I'll have some updates with parts I've collected soon! Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 I love your shop! Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 THIS should be quite interesting to watch ! :) I'm totally jealous of the mill ... Everyone should have a band-saw. Looking forward to this ! Quote Link to comment
mattyhacks71 Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 Looking forward to this!! Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted November 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 Shop is slowly coming together.. Addition of the day: I was told my Datsun would be coming home tomorrow. But have no confirmation in last month so we'll see how it goes.. Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Updates please :lol: Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Sorry for a disappointing update but: shop organization is taking shape :D this is stage 1 of racking. Had to take down about 60' of heavy ass 4" sched 80 in order to get the rack into a decent place. Hoist is anchored down and running now Next is the fab table and finishing some more racking not much happening to the shop or Datsun other than Brendan's VH45 S14, so here's one of the new shop mascot, Diesel. Found yet another use for the 10 ton gantry crane :D Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 442 days since my car has left me, but it's home now.. Cage is not done, main hoop, diagonal and A-pillars are cut but not welded. I'm not worried, I actually have the shop and capabilities to do everything myself now so it's all good. Big things to come soon! Just happy to have my car back.. Had a couple hrs today to put towards the Z.. Time is extremely hard to find these days haha just have to be persistent. This is the cage that was done by the fabricator. I am scrapping every part of it that was done - about 40' of DOM scrapped unless I can salvage some short pieces out of them. Main hoop has ~3" between it and the roofline. Note the gnarly plasma cut strut tower holes. The door bar stuck below the roofline. The A-Pillar was fairly tight... Took the S30 front subframe and nipped off the factory motor mounts.. Picked up a R33 GTR RHD steering rack. RHD because when you flip the rack over, I need it to work in that direction with the S14 knuckles flipped right to left (steering rack in front of subframe instead of factory). Then I took the R34 GTR rear subframe and burnt out the factory bushings, sawz-all to the top flange and air hammer to push the sleeves out. Mocked a SPL V1 Solid Subframe Bushing into the bore. Tomorrow night's plan is to brace the subframe, ditch the diff bushings, find a bushing for the R33 steering rack and send out subframe(s) to JP @ Strip tech for powdercoating. Got a couple more hrs in today. This is yet another time-saving gift I was given when the car came back: All four corners were the same shape. Pretty good gap for welding... Cleaned up the surfaces. Took some expensive artist tracing card stock.. Spray painted from inside the tower and trimmed the outline. Overlayed onto some scrap 1/4" that I preformed into the curve. Trimmed, fitted, cursed, drank a beer and tacked. Missed a couple steps here but this is after a lot of finishing touches - Turned out not too bad for my first time doing metal work. That's the piece after I worked that filler strip in. Couple pin holes that I'll fill with the 110v welder later. Welded top and underside, root pass ground down and another cap for cosmetics. Finish the rears tomorrow night! The big welder is too much to do finishing/smoothing welds so once all 4 corners are done I'm gonna bust out the 110v and clean everything up! R33 GTR rack fits nicely on S30 subframe: Cleaned up cowl area down to bare metal and sprayed it with temporary paint. Got drivers side rear camber plate 90% done, it and the passenger will be done this week sometime :D Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Finally found some time to work on Z (truck needed yet another motor :(). Got all 4 corners done for camber plates. Started on the boxes for the main hoop: Not nearly finished as the R34 subframe has to mount to these somehow. Spent a bit of today time on this: FWIW, little while ago I received a hydraulic power pack, a hydraulic ram (6" bore, 2" rod, 4" stroke), 8' of 1.25" stainless rod, 8' of 1" threaded rod, 1/4" wall 6x6x10, 40 feet of 1/4"x2x6, 8 feet of 6" c channel and some other bits.... FREE! :D so I am turning them all into a hydraulic shop press. I haven't done the math on it yet but I estimate the ram to be roughly 50 ton. I'm making attachments so I can use it as a brake, shear, mounting a JD Squared model 3 vertically on the back (baller tube bender), hydraulic hose crimper (ends came on the ram for this), as well as a general shop press (bearings, bushings, dimple die's etc..).. Pretty stoked to get going on the car and press now that the truck is all wrapped up. Got some work done on the press today. Would've been a lot farther if metal supply stores were fricken open on Sundays.. 1.5HP motor to the hydraulic pump, should put out more than enough. Motor is held to the press via a plate with 4 holes with bolts welded and their heads cut off flush, then the plate welded to frame. The gauge was fubar'd so I picked up a digital readout gauge that has a programmable pressure setpoint. This means I can hold the handle full tilt and it will automatically shut off the pump (or divert) back to tank if I set it up as a pressure relief. Last few weekends I've had to help buddies move n crap but I got to put some time in today. First I took some 2.5" square and cut it to size w/ angled ends for access to weld inside (and it looks better), drilled 1 1/4" holes where mounts are, made a "sleeve" out of a pipe nipple with 3/4" ID and welded it inside and out. Then I clearanced where the subframe contacted the inner wheel well Then I clearanced where the front diff mount contacted the tub (with a BFH) Measured 10 times at 12 places and tacked the subframe lol an extra hour in this step will save many hours in future alignment and vibration issues.. Note the sleeve in the tube Arms on, knuckles and hubs on, they are within 1/4" of centred in the wheel well side to side. Picked up some S14 coil overs from Brendan - the fronts fit well even though my camber plate template is for a HSD/Stance rather than JIC. My front suspension setup is going to be reverse of what I originally wanted. The traction arms and sway bar have to point to the rear of the car to allow for a front steering rack setup. This is not set in stone as I have to see if the motor will fit with steering rack the other direction. And some more CAD for whoever is into that kind if thing, this is the basic layout of the underside of the Z. Motor is to size, and T56 is to size Old crapiness: Side by side (LQ9 pan vs LS1/LS6 Z06 "Batwing" pan): New hotness: Holds same capacity (6.5 qts) but much better baffling design and the obvious 4" of extra clearance doesn't hurt either haha and this one was a "new take-off" and is mint shape :D Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Soo, I took a month of weekends off to try and have a life outside of work.. But I'm back at it again - had full day on er today. Took the LQ9 Truck manifold and tossed in storage: Took the NTO LS2 manifold and tossed in on the motor: If you squint from 30 feet it resembles a car: How both sides looked after all the cancer was cut out: Cut off the traction arm mount, the gusseting to the footwell. This leaves a gap along the length of the from rail. Also note the new panels in footwell, formed to the curve in the new floors and all panel intersections fairly nice. (I now have newfound respect for tin-whackers haha) Test fit my new rails - bent up 14ga CRS into (Inside Dimensions) 2.25" along top, 2.5" along side and 3" along bottom, 42" long. These are oversized length ways so I can trim down to fit minty. Welded in patch panel out of 18 ga CRS - 2.5" wide roughly 15" long with an extra 1" angled as flange support up the footwell. Boxing patch fits fairly flush. Frame rail fits even flusher. First pass of welding it in. I forgot to take a pic after the cap pass and cleaned up. Cleaned up the wheel well and painted everything to keep the bare metal from rusting up. Nice, flat and straight. And I feel 10,000,001 times better about bolting 450 horse to this frame rail as opposed to the stock. That's all for today peeps, I'll hopefully have the passenger side matching this next weekend now that I've figured out how its done haha. This is actually a much bigger step in the build than it may seem. After this is done, I can tie in mid frame rails front to rear, cage mounts, motor mounts, tranny mounts etc etc. This ladies and gents is a TR6060 6 speed from a ~2012 Chevy Camaro. Thanks to a man named Joe, it now resides in my shop staring the LQ9 down. Also joining it is a bnib GM TR6060 concentric slave cylinder and a Camaro driveshaft, flex couplings and the shifter. TR6060 is fairly factory with exception of carbon synchro's. So probably one of my more productive days woohoo! Did the passenger engine bay same as the drivers so no real process pics required: Then I did a 1x3x.120 up the footwell at a 60* angle and all the way along the floor. The floor was bowed from welding the whole panel in but with a bit of planning and a bit of weight on it - it squared up to 0.1 degree side to side and 0.2 end to end relative to pinch weld and 0.6 degree relative to the engine bay rail - not too bad. I capped the top of the 60* piece so it's nice and flush but I might add a small drain hole for condensate inside the rails. Nice and square :D Ill match the other side up next weekend hopefully. Then tie both into rear subframe, add the 20* pieces connecting the engine frame rail with the floor rail and get some wheels bolted up and set on em! Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Had some time today to get some done on the Z :D Matched the passenger footwell, floor rail and footwell rail to the drivers. Made the mount for the front of my rear subframe. I have to find out if the subframe fastener can stick through the mount plate for my cage main hoop. If it can't, I have to inset a nut inside of the 1x3. Anyone know if I can? Same old game - days off getting farther apart and I'm going to McMaster part time to finish my B.Tech. Updated the Solidworks model with cage: Plated the rear strut tower tops and fitted the rear tower member of the cage. Also cut out the rear floor to the frame rails so I can start on fuel cell frame. Hit up BendTech for the main hoop - thanks Joe! Cut the main hoop base at ~9 degree angle towards the rear so it sits flush at base when hoop was in place. Didn't wanna waste $100 on a lift plate - cut piece of scrap 1/4"x6"x18.5" plate, drilled 10 holes, zipped two 1" pieces of scrap pipe, ground flats on each of them to sit square and just need to weld er up. $2 lift plate (cost of fasteners haha) :D Seattle - those pics help thanks - but from what I've seen on racing series specs I'm not allowed an adjustable bucket and I have to have those 6"x6" plates. I've put the hoop at a 9 degree angle back to try and gain a bit of room but I do have to get a fixed bucket to test fit everything before I make my A-Pillar arms. Hit up the shop today - got the main diagonal in. Before someone mentions it, I plan on taking the tacks off and cleaning up the weld joints next weekend before continuing the rest of the cage - I just didn't have any emery cloth today. Also finished up that lift plate. Buying some engine goodies this week hopefully come in for the weekend. I've decided on making a tubular front subframe - anyone have any good reference examples? It will hold my engine mounts, steering rack and control arms. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Obviously not the wheels I will be running, however these 205/60/R16 have the exact same OD as the 275/40/R17 I have at the shop. Someday will be 315/35/R17, but I'll run the Yokohama 275's I already have first. The forward rear control arm mount is at 0 degrees centre of mount pivot to the centre of the balljoint at the ride height shown. This leaves 3.5 inches of wheel travel upwards from ride height once I cut out the wheel well and run extra wide ZG flares The rearward rear control arm mount is at ~5 degrees from centre of mount pivot to centre of balljoint at the ride height shown. Suspension experts: Is 3.5" enough wheel travel or am I leaving too much or too little of a gap before hitting tire into wheel well? The optimum parallel RLCA - is this to the front mount or the rear mount of the RLCA? All arms will be adjustable, but if I have to move my subframe mount up - now would be the time to do it. Also, made these braces up - will make the same for the other side of the engine mount bracket all the way to the firewall. Factory 2012 Camaro driveshaft with the isolator placed where my transmission flange will be: This means I can cut the second half of the camaro driveshaft off at roughly that weld line and weld a Q45 flange onto it for mating to my diff. I'll have a U-Joint, Slip yoke as well as the rubber isolator at the transmission output shaft. Picked up GM LS7 Lifters As well as GM LS2 Lifter Trays Everything in blue is done. I put the Z back on rotisserie today so if this week I can come to a conclusion about the subframe height I can continue on with the cage. Quote Link to comment
seattlejester Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 It's going to be a tight fit, but an adjustable bucket should get you sufficient clearance as long as you aren't too tall (back of my seat is ~3 inches) Looks good. Quote Link to comment
finney Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 awesome build Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted February 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 Thanks guys! I am currently switching my rear subframe setup. The setup shown before was a 2.5" square tube mounted just behind the original mount. I am now going to a 1.5"x3.0"x.120" rectangular tubing. As I said in the last post, the 2.5" square tube allows 3.5" of wheel travel (5" max with clearancing) and the rear LCA had a 5 degree angle to the rear mount and a 0 degree angle to the front mount. From what I've heard, the rear mount should be parallel to the ball joint. I also figure it is easier to shim the subframe down from a 1.5" connector if I have to dial anything in rather than be SOL. Keep in mind this isn't finished, it is just as far as I got today. I haven't seen anyone do the rear rails this way but it made sense - complete clearance of the subframe, and can be triangulated. I'll sketch it up in Solidworks this week so it makes more sense. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted March 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Removed the old 2.5"x2.5" Crossmember. New 1.5"x3"x.120 cross member - just roughed for now since I didn't get the M20 Socket head shoulder bolts in time. Clearance to bulkhead. I added 3/4" angle to the bulkhead for strength in that corner, notched the bulkhead and the angle for the 1x3 horizontal piece. Brought a tube from the frame rail down to this at what worked out to exactly 45 degrees :D Also added 2" angle 6" long to brace the factory crossmember where this 1x3 meets it. Also picked up one of these for dirt cheap since the powdercoat was dinged on the front face as shown. 50% off for a pure aesthetic? Sold! 04-07 Cadillac CTS-V Brembo Front Caliper # Pistons: 4 x 40/44mm Total piston area: 8.61 sq. in. 5554 sq. mm Rotor Thickness: 1.26 in. (32 mm) Part #: (L) 89047727 Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted March 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 I've been called in to work every weekend so this has not progressed all month :( Matched the DS fenderwell to the PS Turned these up on the lathe since I don't like paying $$$ for $3 in 6061 T6. Solid diff bushings - new to make a few more for the front of my Q45 diff. Started sketching my front knuckle to design CTS-V Brembo caliper adapter. Old setup: New setup - not shown but welded pipe nipples into the holes like the old setup to sleeve bolts/help crush. Opened up the subframe bushings to 20.25mm Tacked in place after measuring from a number of reference points. I'll have new front subframe mounts done next weekend and continue on with cage A-pillars! Quote Link to comment
southern620 Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 this is a very skilled build. keep up the great work. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted April 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Thanks southern620! Soo this happened a few weeks ago So I was out of the game for a bit, but starting back into er now. Took this setup And stuffed it in here Had to chop the factory transmission mounts off the car to get the TR6060 to clear but there is plenty of room in there otherwise. The shift is about 2" too far back but that is no sweat since it has a 6" long bracket connected to a rod which can both be shortened. The steering rack is going to be an issue but ill deal with that after I make my mounts. Also, this is waiting for a rainy day. Quote Link to comment
Aaj2k5 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 While I've been down with the ACL tear I had some powdercoating done by JP @ Strip Tech. My Cusco RUCA's as well as the LQ9 valve covers in wrinkle red. And to start rebuilding the RUCA's since it seems like the PO didn't know they were left hand thread.. QA1 XMR12 chromoly rod ends - I just need to turn up the 3/4 to M26x1.5LH adapter this week. Picked up a set of JDMFlares Wide ZG fender flares - 3.75" in the rear, 3.25" in the front. I'm not a fan of doing the usual sheet metal screw so I grabbed M8 nutserts and the tool to install them. The interior was pretty haggard from welding the rails and sitting forever. All seam sealer is gone, penetrating welds smoothed and all the remnants of sound deadening gone as well. Made these up for the front cage mounts Now that the front mounts are done, need to clearance the cowl a bit to allow a nice tight fit of cage to A-pillar. Also need to cut some tube with an ID larger than the OD of your cage, in an odd shape similar to the pic. I still have to finish up the cowl clearancing but that's it for today! Quote Link to comment
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