Daily Hillclimb Build (s30)

[moath]

The turbo goes on the 'spare turbos' shelf. If there's any kind of market for it, I'll happily sell the harness/ecu/manifold/turbo/lines off to whoever is interested enough to make it worth putting them in a box. I have no idea what it takes to convert n/a to turbo, or if any of this is worth anything.

 

 

 

What are the specs on the turbo?

[drummingpariah]

What are the specs on the turbo?

Stock turboII two-scroll, water-cooled HT18S. I don't really have any plans to use it, turbo technology has come such a long way since this was developed, I'd rather spend a grand or so and get something modern than to keep building on this platform.

 

[drummingpariah]

Most of tonight was spent simply cleaning/organizing. I still don't have a clean floor, but I did get to dig the dashboard out of the basement and start prepping it for molding.

 

For those who don't know, s30 dashboards were made of vinyl-wrapped foam that was susceptible to cracking if exposed to sunlight for more than a few years. It's pretty close to impossible to find an original, un-cracked dash these days, and most people just toss a plastic cap on top and call it good. Generally speaking, that works great. It looks good, and the dashboard doesn't need to be structurally sound.

 

However, the stock dash is pretty heavy. I really can't justify trying to use those old original gauges either, especially with a standalone ECU where I can drive any gauges I want. I do love the design of the s30 dash though, so I decided to repair the surface and pull a mold from it. Fiberglass should work just fine for this.

 

The first step is to fill the large voids left by the cracks. I used some 2lb expanding urethane foam, because it's so easy to work, is fairly rigid, and is stronger than body filler when filling large gaps. I think it took around 15 minutes to go from a badly cracked dash to a mostly-smooth one.

 

 

A quick rasping, and I had this

 

After that, I mixed up some fiberglass reinforced body filler and because it's chilly out, decided to call it a night. I'll get to sanding it down and finishing the surface after work tomorrow.

[drummingpariah]

A bit more dash plug forming

 

[drummingpariah]

I just found out that the g35 front suspension has a twisted crossmember. That means my suspension pickup points are skewed, and I need to get measurements off another car. It's a big favor to ask, but I need someone in New England who's willing to come up to the shop so I can pull the arms off your suspension and measure the pickup points, then put it all back together.



If you want to replace your front control arm bushings, this could be just the right time to go for it. Shoot me a PM here, email me at jesse@driven-daily.com, or call/text me at 413-931-1486.

[Lockleaf]

That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you can find someone who is willing to help you out.

[drummingpariah]

I'm pretty disappointed to admit that there's no way I'll be able to race the Datsun-shaped-car for the beginning of this season. I won't even have it back from the chassis fabricator's until after the first event. The only reason for going for quick, expensive solutions to problems (BBS wheels, shiny new engine, etc) was to get the car on the hill for Ascutney 1, and now that all feels like a waste. What's more: The car won't be at the events my few sponsors were expecting, so now I need to refund them for their support.

 

I'm absolutely gutted.

 

However, I can't just lie down and feel sorry for myself. I still have hillclimbs to race. I had to make a decision as to what to drive, and just accepted a deposit on the rx7 (this is the third deposit I've taken on it ... I'm almost making a profit just on deposits now).

 

That leaves me with two options: Rent a car from someone else, or do a quick prep on my CRX. If I had more time to put into it, I'd toss a rwd subframe in it and one of the spare turboII powertrains ... but I have less than a month until Ascutney 1.

 

My best-case scenario is to:

 

1. Swap out the 325k-mile d15b2 (which was a sad design from day 1) for the high-compression d16z6 engine (sohc 1.6) sitting on a shelf.

2. Toss the 225-series RA1's left over from the Miata on it

3. Tune the suspension as best I can in a short time-period

4. TRY to have a cage installed in it (I have one option for this, and he's pretty busy)

 

Budget is going to be an issue. Time is an issue that's even more difficult to solve, so I'll probably have to rent a car for the first event, then drive the CRX for a few events. If everything goes great (which is unlikely, when we're talking about race car prep) I might get to drive the Datsun for the second half of the season.

 

It's going to be a struggle, but I have great friends that I can call in for reinforcements when necessary.

 

[Lockleaf]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I've been really entertained by your build.

 

 

FWIW, both AWD civic wagons and CRVs are civic based RWD suspension that will go in to a crx with a minimum of modification.

[drummingpariah]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I've been really entertained by your build.

 

 

FWIW, both AWD civic wagons and CRVs are civic based RWD suspension that will go in to a crx with a minimum of modification.

It's pretty weak and pretty expensive though, and the suspension geometry is bad. If I did anything, it'd probably be a Nissan rear-end of some sort.

 

For now though, I just need to focus on what I already have. It actually looks like a pretty decent build.

 

I'm not going to clutter this place up with the build though, so if you're interested, Like Driven Daily on Facebook

 

21 days 'till Ascutney.

[drummingpariah]

Rather than trying to update every build thread individually, I'm publishing a new build video every day 'till the race starts. I'd love to see a few more subscriptions and comments on the build on YouTube, or (just as good) a few more Likes/Shares on Facebook.

[drummingpariah]

And now, back to the topic at hand. I brought my carcass home today.

 

[drummingpariah]

Lunch break today was a success. I got some test fitment and VERY rough alignment done.

 

[Lockleaf]

Did you get your g35 subframe worked out, or did that have to be abandoned for this season?

[drummingpariah]

It's good enough for army work. I'll take some measurements and square this up, it doesn't look anywhere near the catastrophic bend I was led to believe.

[drummingpariah]

After a lot of trying to figure out how to make it work, I've determined that I can't use any of this chassis work after all. The main hoop is too far forward, and I can't place the seat anywhere that makes sense. I'm pretty short (5'6") but I really won't be able to get in or out of the car at this point. Moving the main hoop renders everything else that was done worthless, as I can't make tube longer to fit. It all needs to be re-done.

 

This puts me in a tough spot. I'm getting the car back far later than expected (it was at the shop for 7 months now), and it's in a worse state than it left. On top of that, all the money from selling my trusty old Miata went into getting this ready for the 2016 season. Realistically, I don't have any hope of getting this ready to drive this season, and I may miss Climb to the Clouds 2017 because of it.

 

Still, it's better to light a candle than complain about the dark. I have a year-long membership at the Manchester Makerspace and I may be able to rent a 'large project plot' there for 3-4 months. I'll definitely have to pay for it, but that beats the hell out of trying to make my tiny shop work.

 

I'll need to buy a tubing bender (likely the JD2 model 3) and some dies (likely a 1.75" and 1.25"), and a respectable amount of DOM tubing.*

 

All told, being able to do the chassis work myself is going to cost around $3,000 plus my time. I won't have that set aside 'till August (at best) so it looks like it's just going to sit in the driveway for a bit, while I jig the subframes and finish the CRX.

[moath]

That is ROUGH. Sorry to hear that you've still got so far to go. It should be worth it in the end though.

[drummingpariah]

That is ROUGH. Sorry to hear that you've still got so far to go. It should be worth it in the end though.

Racing is worth it. Racing in a cool car for as long as it lasts will hopefully be worth it.

 

I've been sketching out plans a bit lately, trying to strike a balance between strength/safety and weight. Right now, I'm planning to make the primary safety features are going to be 1.75" x .095" DOM, and rigidity reinforcements will be 1.25" x .060".

 

 

I'm drawing a lot of inspiration from Nigel's ETS Ute. I've been through that build a lot, and can only come up with minor complaints (square tube floor, I don't love the trans tunnel design, and I don't like the door bars).

 

Overall, this design estimates out to around 160ft of tubing, and 32 bends. With the combination of tubing, it'll be around 200lb for the chassis structure, including the suspension pickups.

I'm waiting for approval to rent a project plot for 12 weeks at Manchester Makerspace. That gets me a dedicated workarea, and hopefully extra sets of hands to help out from time to time. It's an added expense, but I'd say it's well worth it. My home shop is small enough that I can either fabricate things, or assemble them. This project demands that I do both.

Really, this is what I'm working with right now. I just need to connect it all so that a Datsun body mostly fits on top of it, and a tiny rotary engine fits in front of the firewall.

 

Also, I've been considering a change in tire selection. Maybe overkill ... but maybe "just enough kill".

 

[drummingpariah]

The s30 is all ready to be repaired and re-worked, but I still have to wait on materials and tooling before I can really dig in.

[drummingpariah]

I had an early morning today, and headed down to the Makerspace at 6am to accept delivery of almost $1k in steel.

 

Tubing

I ended up going through a local supplier called Choice Metals, and can't speak highly enough of them. They had my 1.75" outer diameter .095" wall and 1.5" outer diameter .065" wall A513 1020 drawn over mandrel tubing. The only thing available in the US that's better is 1026 instead of 1020.

 

 

I had originally planned on 1.25" for non-safety-critical components, but after a chat with Walter (one of our tech inspectors, who is an absolute wealth of useful information), I increased it to 1.5". The weight cost and strength gain is inconsequential, but Walter offered insight that hadn't even occurred to me: 1.5" tubing provides increased surface area against the 1.75". That means that the weld joints will be stronger than 1.25" - and that matters quite a lot.

 

 

Getting Jiggy

The floor of the Makerspace is far from level, so I need to fabricate a chassis table. That's what all the 2x4 rectangular tube is for, and it's just going to be a known-square reference point that I can bolt/weld jigs to. I have ideas about what to build, but haven't drawn up plans yet. I'd love to see some reference drawings from other people.

 

Prepping to Bend

None of this gets exciting until I start bending and welding, but there's a lot of work to do leading up to that. The general plan is to:

• Build the frame table
• Jig the body (similar to this s13
• Jig the front suspension pickup points
• Measure and 'rough cut' lengths of tube
• Mark my coping measurements on those lengths
• I'm not even going to order the bender 'till September, since there's so much to do before I can even start using it. This is the start of a very long road, and the goal is (once again) Ascutney 1.

[drummingpariah]

I got around halfway through my the jig cuts after work today. With a little luck and a bunch of determination, I hope to finish welding it this weekend.

[Lockleaf]

Will you be putting large bolts at each corner as the legs? That will make each corner height adjustable. If you want idea for great work frames, watch the first episode of a fantastic YouTube show called project binky. They go over the table they built in fair detail.

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Will you be putting large bolts at each corner as the legs? That will make each corner height adjustable. If you want idea for great work frames, watch the first episode of a fantastic YouTube show called project binky. They go over the table they built in fair detail.

 

Anyone attempting this level of build would benefit from watching Project Binky. They do really cool stuff, and end up doing things that are right between factory and hot rod on most of their fabrication projects. Melds the best of both worlds. 

[drummingpariah]

I absolutely love Project Binky, and was one of Bad Obsession's first Patreons - https://www.patreon.com/badobsessionmotorsport

 

I'll say this, though: It's a fundamentally different project from what I'm doing. One of my friends broke it down really succinctly when he said that Binky is a "street car that could win races" and my Datsun-shaped-thing is a "race car that can drive on the street."

 

With that being said, my timeframe and budget are too tight to build a frame table like BOM made. I'm just building a simple fixture table that I can donate to the Makerspace when I'm finished. I don't have enough space to take it home when I'm done, and it'd be a shame to build a square reference fixture then cut it apart afterward.

[Lockleaf]

I by no means meant anything that insane, but merely some of what they do can put in to much simpler designs.

 

It was the best advice I could offer, seeing as how my "level and square" consists of Jack stands on bits of wood.

 

Keep it going. I'm very fascinated with this build.

[drummingpariah]

Instead of using the big beefy 3phase MIG welders at the Makerspace, I brought my teeny little TIG down and trimmed, cleaned, and tacked everything together.

 

I by no means meant anything that insane, but merely some of what they do can put in to much simpler designs.

 

It was the best advice I could offer, seeing as how my "level and square" consists of Jack stands on bits of wood.

 

Keep it going. I'm very fascinated with this build.

 

This might show why "jack stands on bits of wood" won't work for this build. The jack stands would just fall over; The floor is THAT bad. My chassis table is within 0.05° [/size]on all three planes.

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with the results, overall. The plan is to finish welding it by the weekend, then jig up the front suspension.

 

Steering is going to be a bit of an issue. Rotary engines have a little bit of trouble with rear-steer (when the steering rack is behind the front axle line, rather than in front of it) because they dip down so low. I might have enough space to have the entire engine behind the steering column, otherwise I may have to place it higher in the car than I'd like. I'll deal with that after next weekend though. Right now, I'm relaxing after an oppressively hot, sweaty, humid weekendrolling around on an un-level concrete floor.