Ben280 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 The PERFECT 280 lies here in this thread! Love how it looks man, good Job =D Thing's a god damned weapon! I like it. Thanks guys! Getting stoked for some big projects moving into the winter, and all the motivation helps! And RustBucket, your rig is gonna look 2x mean when its done! 1 Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Back from the dead!! Been working too much and trying to pay down some credit card debt that this bastard has put me in, but I got motivated and decided to finally fix my wingless situation in the rear. I could never find a wing that I really liked. the BRE style was cool, but expensive and a little understated, and the IMSA, while cool just never seemed quite right. So I resorted to building my own! I knew I wanted it to be adjustable, and armed with the McMaster Carr catalog and some cardboard, I went for it. Here's the basic layout of it. Got some large bolts countersunk into the front of the spoiler for "optimum aerodynamic performance" lol I had the piece cut at a local shop. They specialize in CNC style stuff, so my idiot cardboard cutout was a little weird I'm sure! They did a super nice job though, material is 1/2 glossy black polycarbonate. pretty much bullet proof! Next was to sort the hinging system out. Couldn't find anything that knocked my socks off as usual, so I went into fab mode! Got 4 of the strap style hinges, but in the worst finish possible! Toyed around with painting them flat black, but then my room mate told be about Gun Bluing, which I decided would be worth a shot. This is with one pass! took the shine right off, I was pretty impressed! I'm gonna experiment and see what another coat does to it, then probably do a matte clear coat for a teensy bit of protection. You can also see the tabs in this photo, and I'm sure you can judge where this is going! With the shape of the spoiler sorted out and staying on top of the hinge game, I got to work figuring out the adjustably part of this whole mess. I looked into APR and Longacre splitter adjusters, but they were all too long. I wanted a turnbuckle style thing, threaded rod and the whole bit, so again, I decided to cobble something together. Sensing a theme here guys? Anyway, McMaster Carr has literally everything for the DIY enthusiast so I put in an order and patiently waited! Here is the more or less finished adjustable hinge bracket. Up: Down: Going to have 4 of these badboys in total, should be pretty set! And if I want to change the shape of the splitter in the future, I can just unbolt the plastic chunk and keep all my hinges! Going to finish this project off over the course of a few days and them move on to finishing an oil cooler project that I'm in the middle of :devil: Oh yeah! I bought an oil cooler haha. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Got my spoiler attached! Here are some pics. Pretty stoked on how well this turned out. The plastic shape can be easily altered and replaced if needed now that there are the adjusters. anyways, PHOTOS!!!!! Gives you a good idea of the range of the movement I can get out of this piece. At this point its just inhibited by the plastic, but it has the ability to go from 35 degrees to well past 90 degrees relative to the hatch cover. You can also get a pretty good shape to the wing by adjusting the turnbuckles. In the last photo you can also see the new tow hook on the back! next time on ratsun threads, some cool vortex generators for the roof line and maybe an oil cooler? 2 Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Well that is certainly different. I always like the look of rod-ends / heims joints. Good work Quote Link to comment
Rustbucket Posted December 16, 2012 Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 I dig it. Very race car-esque! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted December 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 Well that is certainly different.I always like the look of rod-ends / heims joints. Good work I figured different would be a good thing, rather than add to the sea of BRE style Z cars out there haha! The heim joint look is always fun, planning to do something similar with the front splitter when I get around to it. I dig it. Very race car-esque! Thanks! Its a very SCCA inspired build, and I wanted the more functional look. Ordered all the stuff to finish off the oil cooler project before/after christmas! Also got some gauges in the mail for Oil temp/pressure and water temp. Decided on green/white prosport gauges. I had them in my previous project car and thought they would go well in this. Also, they are electric sender type so I dont have to run weird lines through the firewall. Photos to come as always! 1 Quote Link to comment
jputz Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Your car makes me want a Z so BAD!!!!!! Quote Link to comment
patra_is_here Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 car looks sick! great rake btw. Quote Link to comment
Sleepys-14 Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 I don't really like z's very much, but I like this one!!! Quote Link to comment
NewKid559 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I love this car. I like how you made your wing it looks rad. Quote Link to comment
dat280z Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Awesome build! I read all 3 pages lol. I'm about to buy some Bride seats and I want to know how wide are your seats on the top by the shoulders. Keep them pics coming :) Quote Link to comment
Homeboyx Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Wow... don't know how I missed this thread! Awesome build! How much do the wheels weigh btw? I've been looking for something similar but I'm not sure I want heavy anchors weighing me down. lol Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Awesome build! I read all 3 pages lol. I'm about to buy some Bride seats and I want to know how wide are your seats on the top by the shoulders. Keep them pics coming :) Thanks! I'll do my best to keep the photos coming! Car build has stalled (lol) for the winter, but there are 3 big updates in the works! As for my seats, I'm 6'2" ~180 lbs and the brides that are pictured in the thread were far too small! Shoulders were 2-3" too narrow and the "wings" sat a few inches too low. With a helmet on, the headrest hit me almost at the bottom of the helmet/base of my skull! One of my updates this winter is a new seat from Status Racing that I'm picking up this weekend. Its significantly larger than my Brides. If you can wait till Sunday, I'll likely have some comparison photos up for you! As a reference for you as well, my Brides were the Vios Low Max (Canada Brides) from ebay (seller was hondalab). Better than nothing, and they looked sweet, but I wasn't a huge fan. Wow... don't know how I missed this thread! Awesome build!How much do the wheels weigh btw? I've been looking for something similar but I'm not sure I want heavy anchors weighing me down. lol I havent bumped the thread for a while and this section moves pretty quick I feel, so it would be easy to miss! According to the internet, the front wheels weigh 21lbs and the rear weigh 22lbs. Not too bad considering how wide they are! And if you get them in reasonable widths (15x7, 15x8) they weigh in at 16-17lbs per! Quote Link to comment
dat280z Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 As for my seats, I'm 6'2" ~180 lbs and the brides that are pictured in the thread were far too small! Shoulders were 2-3" too narrow and the "wings" sat a few inches too low. With a helmet on, the headrest hit me almost at the bottom of the helmet/base of my skull! One of my updates this winter is a new seat from Status Racing that I'm picking up this weekend. Its significantly larger than my Brides. If you can wait till Sunday, I'll likely have some comparison photos up for you! As a reference for you as well, my Brides were the Vios Low Max (Canada Brides) from ebay (seller was hondalab). Better than nothing, and they looked sweet, but I wasn't a huge fan. Hmmm.... I'm 5'10" in the morning and 150 lbs after a shit break, I should fit in those seats... Could I buy your old seats? :) I would like pic comparisons of the Bride vs Status Quote Link to comment
aintnobiscuit Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Damn. Just read through your build. Fucking amazing. Great job / progress in such a short time. All the aesthetic stuff seems extremely well though out too. Your Z is the hotness :D 1 Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hmmm.... I'm 5'10" in the morning and 150 lbs after a shit break, I should fit in those seats... Could I buy your old seats? :) I would like pic comparisons of the Bride vs Status I've only got one left! And if I sell it, I won't have a spot for my co-driver! I'll see what I can do for a comparison pic! Damn. Just read through your build. Fucking amazing. Great job / progress in such a short time. All the aesthetic stuff seems extremely well though out too. Your Z is the hotness :D Thanks! I've really been enjoying the build so far. Got a lot more planned for it, but all of its more long term stuff! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted January 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Ok! Got to spend a little bit of time on the car, and got a few photos of my latest projects. I'll post them in order from least fancy to most fancy (in my opinion at least!) First off, replaced the worn out pedal pads with some grip tape. Got tired of my feet slipping off the pedals when it was a teeny bit wet, so hopefully this makes it a little better. Pretty super ultra clean I know! This photo also shows the last little bit of sound deadening left in the car. Thats probably not coming out until/if I rotisserie the car. Up next, heres a mock up of the gauge bracket I'm working on. Think I'm gonna mount them on this angle on the tunnel. Keeps the dash area looking clean and un cluttered. Needs more angle back so I can read all the faces a little easier. And to be a bit more even. The hole saw jumped when I did the first hole, so its lower than the rest. Going to have Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, and Water Temp. Going to get them mounted and wired up then install the senders. They all have electric senders so I get to avoid having hot oil lines running in through the cabin! And now we get into the fancy stuff! I'm pretty stoked on this one. I never liked how far back the turn signal stick was from the steering wheel, and mine in particular never had a good crisp action. So after a couple tries, I decided on this! Those two white toggle switches on the steering wheel now have the role of Left and Right signals! I've got bigger hands, so this works pretty well for me and they will be easy to flip and not take my hands off the wheel! Particularly important for HPDE type events where you use your turn signals for letting cars pass you. Here's the curly cord attachment. Runs from the switches to a molex connector spliced into the original turn signal harness. Need to get something on the outside so I can totally disconnect the steering wheel. Might go with a BNC style connector or a 9 pin serial connector with a bus on the steering column shroud. something cool though haha. Going up to Seattle tomorrow to pick up my new drivers side seat! Pretty excited about this one especially since the original one wasn't the right size. Driven it around the block a few times like this. Got a few funny looks, but luckily no police! And finally an overall shot of the car! You can see the vortex generators on the rear roof line. Read a good amount over on hybridZ about these guys and they seem to do some cool stuff, particularly when paired with a big ol' wing! Also, if you look real close at the front, you can see some loops of stainless line. I wonder what those are for... B) Quote Link to comment
that one guy Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Can you post dimensions on the seat rails you made and pics if you have one out and handy? Having trouble mounting my seat and wanna see how others have done em. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted January 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 http://www.plantedtechnology.com/ This is the company I'm using for the seat sidemounts. Using the offset bracket on the side of the seat with the door and a 90 bracket close in on the side with the tunnel. http://community.ratsun.net/topic/45884-lower-seat-position-drastic-interior-mods/ Thats a thread I made while I was working on the project. Basically I cut out the stock seat mounting brackets (circled in red) and then welded in 18" or so long square tubing as far apart as I could make them. Use whatever you plan to use as seat brackets as a guide for length. The cross beams are just there for strength. I did 2 close together towards the front. As a note, I had to do all this work because I mounted tall-ish seats in the car and needed a lower driving position because I'm a taller guy and wouldn't fit with my helmet. If your doing seats with a small base or are a shorter guy, Planted makes a base bracket for these cars. You can sort of get a sense of what is going on in the second to last photo. Side brackets bolted to the floor and the "metal work" done to the tunnel. let me know if you have any more questions! What kind of seat are you mounting? Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted February 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Puttin this bitch under the knife this week. Got my new radiator in but due to an accident by a previous owner, the lower chunk of the core support is useless and bent. Planning to cut out the crap metal and weld in some nice square tubing. Might get fancy and do a nice top section to match! Also planning to weld in a chunk of the frame buy the hood hinges. Hopefully I'll chop it out and that will be it. Weld it all up and then hit the engine bay with some primer and grey paint. Probably a couple day project. Wish me luck! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Started chopping the car up a bit today. Cut out a bunch of the rusty cancer in the front end. I'm gonna weld in a replacement panel, then start chopping out the lower core support, upper core support then start painting some of the engine bay! Not all of it, but as much as I can get to! Onto the photos! Heres some cancer! Pretty bad! Only real rust on the car though. Planned out my cuts so it will be pretty easy to chop out the same section from my doner front clip. Something is missing!!! More updates tomorrow! Quote Link to comment
DatMo Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 holy crap. new fav z on ratsun. Can't wait to see it when it's all done. looks really good. 1 Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 holy crap. new fav z on ratsun. Can't wait to see it when it's all done. looks really good. Thanks! Not sure it will ever be done, but I'm looking forward to getting it outside and racing in a few weeks! I'll get some photos of it when it makes it back into the great outdoors. Quote Link to comment
DatMo Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Thanks! Not sure it will ever be done, but I'm looking forward to getting it outside and racing in a few weeks! I'll get some photos of it when it makes it back into the great outdoors. looking forward to it. Quote Link to comment
ComicArtist Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Just now seeing this thread for the first time! I don't know why I haven't seen it before. Love what you've done with it. How do you like the AZC coils? And how much lower do they go in the rear? I've always been curious about them. I was going to offer to buy your Brides, but I just noticed someone else already had dibs : / 1 Quote Link to comment
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