Micro's 71 510

[MicroMachinery]

Ok... after a not-so-brief recess from this project, I've gotten back in the saddle. The 610 is at a point that I'm satisfied with it for the time being, so I can pick up where I left off on my 4-door.

 

Yesterday I got underneath it and saw that I had not completed the transmission crossmember. After a few measurements, I headed off to get myself some metal. I came back with a length of 1 1/2" x 1/4" steel, and began cutting. This seriously took about an hour to measure, cut, drill, and bend the pieces. Ran it over to my buddy w/ the mad tig skills, and in about 2 minutes had it ready to mount.

Pics of it bolted to the 240sx mount:

 

Now that that's taken care of, I need to gather some supplies to make my relay/fuse block for the KA wiring harness. I've been looking forward to this part since the beginning :)

No, seriously. I enjoy wiring. :mellow:

[The Dat-side]

Yes! It's back! Excited to see what you do. You seem to have some sweet fab skills. What are your plans for this? Suspension and such?

[philcas1987]

Rose from the dead! I like wiring too. I can help if you need. Doing kamis here soon.

[MicroMachinery]

Yes! It's back! Excited to see what you do. You seem to have some sweet fab skills. What are your plans for this? Suspension and such?

Plans are to get it running and driving throughout the winter. I'm waiting til about February to get some bearings from a company that is currently out of stock(that's when they say they are getting more), but if I can't wait that long, I may just go buy a longblock from someone and put it in for the time being. I picked up some of those LCA's and Adjustable Tension Rods from David over at Futofab. Those are going on the front with some 280zx struts/brakes w/ coilovers. Probably just go with some D50 springs in the rear for now.

 

Rose from the dead! I like wiring too. I can help if you need. Doing kamis here soon.

Sweet, thanks man. I'll let you know if/when I hit a snag. I'd like to come up there when you guys put Kami's in, just so I can see the process in fast-motion(as opposed to over a 12 month period :rolleyes: )

[jratt]

Looking for an update to this thread. I want to do the same for an oil pan.. howd it work out? Can you post up your drawings/measurements?

 

Cheers

[philcas1987]

I want that oil pan!! Trades? Haha

[jdmdime]

Hey im interested in a pan if your still willing to make one!

[MicroMachinery]

If people are actually interested in these, I can probably make some more. I should still have all the measurements written down.

[jratt]

Definitely interested. Is it working well with the KA? How much you think for one? you can pm me if need be..

 

Cheers

Jratt

[72SR510]

If people are actually interested in these, I can probably make some more. I should still have all the measurements written down.

 

I would like one! PM me with price and wait time?? Thanks!

[MicroMachinery]

Alright.. I've seriously got too many irons in the fire if my updates are this spread out.

This weekend, I was cleaning up the shop, and saw in the corner the KA that I've had for about a year now. As I was putting tools and miscellaneous in their respective places, I thought to myself that that old engine deserves to be moved to another spot as well. I'll let the pics tell the rest.


I really can't believe how everything fit. I mean, I took the measurements and all, but for the most part, I did alot of guessing, as far as with the motor mounts, trans mount, etc.. I figured I'd have to do a little elongating holes etc.. but none of that was even necessary. As it sits, it needs none of that. Hopefully next time, I'll use my load leveler and have an assistant.. for anyone that's done one of these solo without a load leveler or another person present, I feel your pain. No, it actually wasn't that bad; just a TON of tiny movements, then checking, then more movements, then more checking.. adjusting the chain, more moving.. you get the picture.

I still have to pull it back out one more time to install the drain plug, and oil return bung("Just in case" :devil: ), but this was the final mock up before all that.. Of COURSE, I still need to figure out how I'm going to finish the paint and body work(Ugghh.. :( ..the bane of my passion).

The last few pictures are pretty bad, but hopefully they show the amount of clearance my pan gives. I'm still thinking about making some more of these.

[Laecaon]

ooo, interesting.

[I'm BLUE]

Sweet work man! !!! :cool:

 

:hyper: ... I'm amazed how nice your oil pan came out!

 

Keep it up ! Looks like she feels at home!

[The Dat-side]

I was just thinking of this car. I love how it was just cleaning up the shop that resulted in dropping a motor in. I picked up the garage and only got my car in it.

Still haven't seen that guy. I won't forget about it.

[MicroMachinery]

I know, right? I thought it was funny, too.

 

It's the body work that keeps discouraging me on this one. I know paint and body guys, and they'll come take a look at the car, and tell me how easy and quickly "we" could have it straightened out, blocked, primered, and painted. I get excited and motivated, then they vanish.. I'm finding that alot of them are flakes, so I'm having to chip away at it a little bit at a time, as well as accumulate tools and materials.

 

I feel like a slacker because this thread is so old, and so slow.. so slow, in fact, that this page was started by none other than the Legendary JDM510 :lol: .. it's like a time capsule. There's been work done, but I guess I've just dropped the ball when it comes to updates. Mostly, when I go to work on her, taking pics to update my thread on Ratsun.net are the last thing on my mind. All I can think about is getting her back on the asphalt. More to come.

[Draker]

Woah, an update! Looks good though.. amazing story too. So jelly

[MicroMachinery]

Here we go, moving forward in reverse.. I did this a little while back. Took pictures, but never bothered to add an update.

 

Wanted some more space in the engine bay for the KA, as well as clean up the look, so the battery tray gots'ta go. I was a little nervous about this, as I'm not really into doing modifications that can't be undone. However, I kept it clean, and if I wanted to, I know that it wouldn't be difficult to add it back some day(why exactly? I'm not sure).

 

I started by using a spring loaded center punch on the pinch welds to give me a place of reference to drill.

 

 

After I had a divot as centered as I could, I carefully began drilling.. it was my intent to drill just enough to get through the pinch welds, but not break through the wheel well(makes for less welding and holes to fill in later).

 

 

Of course, there was a slight amount of drilling all the way through on a couple holes(I think), but alot less than if I'd just gone nuts and wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing.

 

 

After the pinch welds were drilled, I came in with a cold chisel and CAREFULLY began separating the pieces.

 

 

Here we see the holes in relation to the battery tray as I began to pull it away from the wheel well.

 

 

Really, it was fairly simple. With a couple simple tools, it was a done deal. The most difficult part about this were the pinch welds on the support bracket at the bottom. Had there been an engine in the engine bay, it would have made it more of a challenge.

 

And there you have it. I'll church it up when the rest of the paint and body work is done.

 

[MicroMachinery]

Time for more catch up.

 

A while back, I ran into a buddy of mine that has spent a lifetime working in the paint and body business... unfortunately, he's also spent a lifetime living a rock'n'roll lifestyle.. <_<

 

I called him up and talked with him about painting my car.. seeing as how the last guy that I paid to paint it no longer has time to do work that he was paid for... again, <_<

 

This is where I would go after first; I had debated finding a clean back end of a donor 510 and grafting it on due to the damage and horrible body work on the rear passenger corner(why is it that the rear passenger side always is the one that's attacked?)

 

After seeing this, my buddy scoffed and assured me that it would be a fool's errand to go to all the trouble to cut off the back end and add another in it's place. As I wasn't looking forward to doing so, I took his word for it and began stripping the paint and layers of bondo off.

A close up of the area of my concern.

 

 

The photo doesn't show it well, but the body work was done so haphazardly, that while the bondo was thick and still wet, the taillight was installed and sunken into the mud about 1/4". As I removed the taillight, there was a sharp ridge that outlined the chrome. :poop:

 

He told me what to get in terms of materials, tools, etc.. and that we'd meet up early the following Sunday morning. The agreement was that I'd buy everything, and do most of the prep work, and he would get to sit back, instruct me, and drink beer. Once we were ready for paint, he'd do his thing. Not a bad deal, eh?

.. well, as I'm finding out, body and paint guys, for the most part, seem to just like to dream and talk about what they CAN and HAVE done(at least the ones I happen to know), rather than putting it into action. I know this isn't a universal truth, but 100% of the body guys I've made plans and had dealings with have followed this pattern.

I showed up earlier than we had agreed, but he didn't show up until later that morning, with an excuse, and why he couldn't work that day, then he left. No biggie.. I started in by myself.

 

On went the aircraft stripper.. off came the paint.

 

By the end of the first session, I had reached this point.

 

 

Alot of the paint gone, but still much of the bondo remaining in the corner.. the extent of the damage was not quite visible yet, and judging from the amount of mud, I was assuming the worst.

[Draker]

Necro-bump.

[MicroMachinery]

^^^Haha, I see your Necro-bump, and call.

 

Been chipping away at this one behind the scenes.. not going full tilt, as other projects and life events have vied for my time. BUT, I have progressed. Even though body work is probably my least proficient area, I figured that since all my body guys have fallen off the wagon, I'd sally forth...

 

Here is where I am, currently:

 

 

Not perfect by any means, but way better than it was.

 

 

Some other angles..

 

 

Getting there. :)