Feng Shui (The 510 Experiment) (Pics fixed through page 7..)

[Josh K.]

I thought about it but I think that will make the situation worse as I wouldn't be able to manipulate anything. I'm gonna measure the squareness of the front end, top and bottom and just go ahead and cut it out. Then I can hammer all the sheet metal back and reconstruct the front end.... :bye:

 

 

 

 

:P

[Josh K.]

Decided it had to be done to do it right. Wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't.....

 

Nothing went TWANG, it was actually pretty stable. Still going to tweak everything back and reinforce the whole area as it's pretty light on structure...

 

 

 

 

 

[Josh K.]

Too many "Resurrection" threads... changed the title...

[MicroMachinery]

[DAT510]

Fitting title.

[Josh K.]

 

Nice!

 

The threads above and below mine had "resurrection" in them... it was like mine was doing battle to stay alive.... :poke:

[Josh K.]

Didn't have as much time today as I wanted but achieved my goal anyways....

 

Got the core support test fit :thumbup:

 

 

 

Driver side looks pretty good, just a little massaging of the frame rail, nothing major..

 

 

Little gap here to deal with.

 

 

Passenger side is a MESS!

 

I decided to separate the donor fender well area for mock-up. This way i can position the core support where it needs to be and rework the wheel well upper area to fit correctly. This is gonna be brutal but I think I can manage.

 

 

Lower frame rail looks ok from this view, but underneath it's twisted. Kind of a parallelogram.

 

 

The rest is horrible. The core support is being pushed forward about a 1/2" where they "massaged" the headlight bucket area.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the best part. When they straightened the frontend they cutout section, pulled then covered with a plate. The front section dives down and will have to be fixed.

 

Notice the curvature compared to the driver side.

 

 

 

Anyways.... It's all fixable and will be done as good as I can with the tools at my disposal.

 

Josh-

[Josh K.]

Back at it!

 

Got the frontend pretty straight.

 

Made a template to see how f'ed the passenger corner was...

 

 

Diver side:

 

 

Passenger:

 

 

 

Both fender flanges were all jacked up which resulted in a 1/4" gap between the fender and hood. Plus the passenger side had that extra little bend at the tip....

 

Old repair:

 

 

Removed so I can tweak it back straighter:

 

 

Little redneck frame jig....

 

 

Hood gap after fixing the flanges and "jacking/massaging" the passenger:

 

 

 

Everything is pretty square now. Just need to do some finish hammering and rebuild the passenger front fender well. I also plan on making a strut brace that ties into the firewall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty much at a stand still on the front until I get a welder. Next on my list is prepping for the coil overs. I had to cutoff the lower shock mount off my spare control arm to send to Fortune-Auto. I ended up messing mine up and needed to use the spare.... now I have to weld back on the mount :blush:

 

Anyways..... :ninja:

[Josh K.]

Went back to work on the driver quarter panel. Really need to finish the quarters one of these days....

 

This one had some issues. It bulged out right at the center of the wheel arch at the top of the flare and also sucked in at the flares in the mid section due to welding. I got it looking pretty good. Still needs a little work.

 

 

 

Pulled the flares out a little and test fit the wheel again. No spacer and with the control arm hitting the body it spins freely :thumbup:

 

Ride height.

 

 

 

 

Bottomed out.

 

 

[Josh K.]

The coil-over parts will be arriving at Fortune-Auto on Wed. After assembly and dyno testing they should ship out Friday :hyper: :fu: :hyper: :fu: :ninja:

 

I'm going with 4kg. springs front and rear.

 

I plan on documenting a full install procedure when I install mine. The rear will need a uni-bit to open the upper shock mount hole and the front lower tube welded on by a professional. Not alot to ask for sick ass coil-overs.... :thumbup:

 

Hopefully i can get some more work done on the body today.

[Josh K.]

Just a little reminder of what we're talking about......

 

[Josh K.]

Tomorrow the coil-overs will be assembled the rest of the way and shipped, until then...........

 

:w00t: :thumbup: :w00t: :thumbup: :w00t: :thumbup: :ninja:

[jputz]

Oh those are BADASS!!!!

 

Rest of the car is coming along great. Keep up the good work.

[jeffball610]

Just read through the whole thread. Amazing work. But I'm also really confused.

 

You've replaced so many panels on this car, that it seems you could have just used the first "donor" car for the project.

 

Also, with all the work you're doing to correct the factory parts (suspension etc.), you probably could have created your own stuff. You seem very capable of doing that. I know I took on too much when I started my project and I regret it, as my car is no where near being drivable and I hope you don't fall into that and get this thing on the road soon.

 

With that being said. I'm amazed at your skill and ability to create. I'm going to have to steal some of your ideas. And since you've taken this car all the way down to the structural components, I know what to look for when it comes time to replace panels and look for rust or internal issues. You've done a great job documenting this for the whole community. Keep up the great work.

[Josh K.]

Jeff,

Thanks for the kind words.

 

The Donor car "Purple" was rusting from the inside out. This car had almost no rust and had I known how trashed it was I would've gotten another shell. Upside is I can only make it better :geek:

 

I could have made a lot more of the parts but at some point reinventing the wheel is much more expensive and time consuming. Where does it stop is the question.

 

I hope to have the car in "mock-up" running state in 6 months. I won't stop until this car is tearing up the streets :devil: It will be an animal when it's done!

 

Thanks again, it's definitely time consuming documenting the process but I know how much it helps others.

 

-Josh

[blueridgespeed]

Josh, I wish I could play in your playground for a while! (And that I knew how to use all the equipment in that playground.) Jeeze man, fabbing your own spherical bearings? You are out of your mind in the best possible way!

 

I just started playing in Google Sketchup to try to grasp working in 3 dimensions. I am a zygot.

-just came to the party late, and it's going to take me a while just to take in Josh K's amazing design ideas and execution. For those of use without the skills and tool access shown by Josh K, there are still some reasonable alternatives: For example. the exhaust tube in the crossmember can be cut out with an oxy-acetylene torch- done that a few times. But a simpler process with a cleaner hole just requires a hole-saw and a good-sized hand-drill to drive it if you don't have a access to a good drill press. Just weld a strap of steel across the stock exhuast tube faces, front and back, to locate the pilot bit of the hole-saw. No milling machine or torch needed and great results.

[Josh K.]

Thanks!

 

Yes your right a lot of what I've done can be done with simpler methods such as the one you outlined above. That's exactly how I would've done it with only a hand drill or manual mill/drill press.

[Josh K.]

Started prepping for the coil-overs.

 

I wanted to reinforce the rear lower mount a little.

 

Made a tube on the Lathe:

 

 

Cut it to match the arm:

 

 

Welded it out:

 

 

 

Cleaned up the welds a little and primed. Now I need to put it back in the car and wait for the coil-overs to arrive Thursday!

 

 

 

 

[johny5]

just read the whole thread , kick ass job

[Josh K.]

Thanks Johny!

 

Got a package today....

 

 

 

Tomorrow will be the best package of all!

[Josh K.]

Got the coilovers today!

 

Started test fitting the front. Still need to weld them when I'm happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DREWSDIME]

Those look nice!

[DAT510]

Do you weld the metal insert into place or the actual strut?

[Dime Dave]

Josh,

Looking good!

 

So we can have a frame of reference on strut/tire clearance could you fill in the following blanks.

 

Strut Base & Hub used -

Rim size & Offset -

Spacers? -

Tire Size -

[Josh K.]

Do you weld the metal insert into place or the actual strut?

 

The Black lower section will be welded to the knuckle and the lower strut body will thread down into it to adjust ride height.

 

Josh,

Looking good!

 

So we can have a frame of reference on strut/tire clearance could you fill in the following blanks.

 

Strut Base & Hub used - Stock 280zx

Rim size & Offset - 15x8 - 0 Offset

Spacers? - No Spacers

Tire Size - Toyo R1R in 225/45-15

 

 

I'll have more info this weekend. It's tight with my big tires under there but definitely room. I have some others I'll throw on and check clearance.