My '72 two door 510

[JPE16]

I'd also like to take a minute and mention some of the people who have helped me get the car this far in such a short amount of time. Without the help of these individuals I'd likely still be spinning my wheels trying to track down hard to find parts, and sharing their expertise.

 

First is Scott Murfin of Can-Align, for his input on the suspension setup, and letting me take his time to pick his brain.

 

Samson, from GBTires.ca for putting up with my constant changing of brake setups, and always getting me a fast quote to help make up my mind, but most importantly for tracking down the Grid-v's. I asked for a size and offset that I happened to stumble across on Ebay, and wasn't advertised anywhere else....but he found them!

 

Scott (#2) at Hitman Hotrods. This man has spent hours in the shop and at the counter for me. Not just fabricating parts for the car (and my outback) but advising me on what better solutions for problems are, and tracking down prices for me. This man is a miracle working with a welder and a mouse. I wouldn't be this close to a rolling chassis without his help and tutelage. 

 

Oscar Lopez, my fake mexican body guy. He has volunteered to help with the body work and paint simply to make sure this thing isn't yellow when it first turns a wheel. His help was invaluable during my wry build, and even more so now that I have my hands even more full with things to do on the car. Thank you Oscie!

 

Brendan Drew and Ryan Maxwell. Both these chaps have advised me on numerous things from budgeting to harness' and wiring (mostly the latter). Without having these two in my corner, I wouldn't even attempt this project to be honest. I hate wiring, and I'm convinced these two fella's can actually see electrons. 

 

Joe Ferguson. What's there to say about Joe that everyone doesn't already know? He is bar none the nicest, and funniest guy I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. His experience setting up race cars has been worth its weight in gold during this build, and without him, I'd still be trying to shoehorn my 6'8" frame into this tiny car. 

 

It's not just the fact these people spend the time to help, it's the fact that they happily volunteer to do it. I'm sure that if I took money out of the equation, nothing would change. They would be just as willing to share their opinions and help me make this car what it eventually will be. Awesome.

 

Thanks to each and every one of you. 

[JPE16]

So, some things  have happened. I'll make my way through the pictures to get back up to speed.

 

I got the holes in the fenders, and lower rad support filled and smoothed, covered in 'glass, primed and almost ready for primer. I still have to tackle the firewall though. I did get all my front brake lines bent up flared, and in place. Tonight i poked a couple holes for the heater core, and after I find a place for the throttle cable and harness I think we'll be just about ready. 

 

 

 

 

Here's a rear view of the 240sx heater core I pulled from the parts car I stripped. I'm hoping I can build a box around it and retain at least the defrost and floor heat. This is my first crack at building a box like this, so any suggestions are welcome. I'll be using (I hope) the 240 blower motor as well.

 

 

While I was stripping the car I also pulled the ebrake mechanism and cables out as well. These will be used with the factory rear calipers. I picked up some Sentra Spec-v 10.1" rear rotors to be used. So, tonight I made up some templates to weld to the control arms. This should retain an ebrake and be a reasonable compliment to the Z32 front brakes.

 

 

 

I also did a couple things to the motor. Here's a before and after shot:

 

 

I spray painted the intake manifold, powder coated the valve cover and ceramic coated the header I ordered for it. 

 

I also cleaned up the inner fender wells, smoothed out all the welds, and rocker guarded them. 

 

 

I also have had some time to coat my calipers, and my rebuild kit from Z1 motorsports arrived. I just havent had time to put it all together.

 

 

 

During the last little while I've also picked up a few odds and ends:

 

Bride passenger seat:

 

Sparco rails:

 

American Autowire Highway 15 kit:

 

I also got a few Automoeter gauges, however I'm still not sure what to do about a dash. i really don't want to chop up something classic, but I'm not sure CSCS will let me compete with a non-original dash. 

 

Anyway, I'm hoping to have more consistent updates and more progress in the coming weeks. 

[mrmark]

Wow, looking like progress!!

[JPE16]

Anyway, the bay is ready save for the firewall. I made a plate to cover the booster/master holes rather than fill them. It cleans it up and will allow me to go back one day if need be.

 

 

 

And, this colour may look familiar to some of you. 

 

 

Did my rear diff swap, errrr began it. Made an open 4:11, and lsd 3:70 subaru R160 come together. To make something fun:

 

 

 

Also go busy with the making of things:

 

240sx gas pedal adapter and re locater cuz, I gots big feets.

 

 

Rear disc conversion:

 

 

 

Seat brackets to adapt them to my sparco sliding rails

 

 

I also bought a few bits:

 

Neo Chrome aluminum lugs from Bings.ca. Cuz ricecar.

 

 

Griffin race rad/ Because racecar:

 

 

 

Remote battery terminals...Also because race car:

 

350mm perforated leather Nardi Deep Corn:

 

And last but not least...an sr20 for me to tinker with. :-P

 

Hopefully have some more updates soon.

[Draker]

Okay okay.... you have my attention!

[JPE16]

Hahaha, excellent!

 

 

I've had some major setbacks at work. I'm not sure what's wrong with people, but I guess quitting without giving any notice is perfectly acceptable. ANYWAY.

 

I had some time on the weekend (before I knew I was without employees on Monday) to finish up the body work on the firewall, and prime it. I also boxed in the lower rad support. I still have to lay down a bead to join the two pieces, but it's pretty much ready for primer, sanding, and paint. The tedious part is almost done!!

 

 

 

I also got my control arms back form Hitman Hotrods to mock up. They're just tacked together for now, but it looks like my maths were almost dead on! I'm excited about these pieces. Can't wait to finish them and coat them something fancy:

 

 

Comparison to stock length and TC rod orientation. I'm happy about my decision to us a clevice for the TC rod rather than a rod end and two gussets. 

 

[jrock4224]

Hahaha, excellent!

 

 

I've had some major setbacks at work. I'm not sure what's wrong with people, but I guess quitting without giving any notice is perfectly acceptable. ANYWAY.

 

nice build .......i like where its going... i can sympathize with you i had a guy that "would never do that to me" ...tape a note to the gate on a monday, then had the nerve to come back a week later and ask for his job back when his new job didnt come through on there promises..... and he wanted a raise .......i said sorry man u lost any bargaining chip u had when u quit like a bitch and not like a man.....

 

 

definately watching were this is goin

 

ps that nardi wheel is the beez kneez

[JPE16]

Hahaha, thanks man. 

Yeah, this kid didn't even have the courtesy to do that. In fact he told me twice, he could come in when he'd already gotten another job and couldn't. Also he quit because he wanted more hours, and didnt ask for them. Yet I could have given him full time+over time.

 

 

Well, the tedious part is done. Primed, painted, and cleared:

 

 

 

 

[mrmark]

I like the flake!!

[The Taterhead]

It's so pretty, oh so pretty. Me gusta

[JPE16]

I did a little work. Honestly too exhausted from the last few days to go into detail. But the pictures pretty much explain themselves. I wouldn't have been able to do this without your help Oscar, and Jay. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

[JPE16]

Small update. I haven't had much time lately, and won't for a couple weeks. However I picked up a little (seriously) toy for the car. Since I'm likely running the KA all season this year, I figured I should make the most of my little engine that can. So I picked up a quarter master pro 5.5 twin plate clutch. The whole assembly is insanely light, and should be reasonably drivable (keep in mind I have a very high tolerance for upsetting parts). 

 

Anyway, it should help minimize driveline loss and help me get the little power I have to the ground, while keeping the motor stock (cheap/fast to replace).

 

 

It doesn't use a flywheel, it just has an automatic ring gear to start the car. 

 

Here it is vs. the aftermarket lightweight unit I had previously bought:

 

 

 

It's tiny. I started to put it in last night, but have one hole on the crank that needs to have the threads chased. So once that's done, I should have time to put the rest of the drivetrain in and make the tranny crossmember. 

[Rustbucket]

Glad to see you put those two aliens to work for ya! Turning out awfully nice.

[r0p0doe]

I like where this is going :)

[JPE16]

I got insanely busy with work for a couple months there, but I've been plugging away and am now back at it full time. D-Day is June 20 for me. I'm sure theres some things I'm missing.

 

Anyway, onto the pics:

 

Like all good builds..it starts with a list:

 

FIrst order of business was to fit my Control arms and TC rods to ensure that I had the range of adjustment that I needed. Big thanks to Jason Bos for doing the one off bushings I needed for this setup:

 

 

 

 

I spritzed a little paint on the front of the rad support, and began assembly.

 

 

 

After mounting the hood, I did pop out the inner headlight. I will be making screens for these, and running without them in.

 

 

Finished up installing my block off plat for the brake booster, and some other odds and ends on the driver's side of the bay. Also made that stupid cowl fit, finally, and cleaned up the wiper motor so it doesn't look like absolute poo, as they always seem to:

 

 

Picked up my second set of tires:

 

 

And lastly, my dad's body guy sort of fucked him over, so I let him use my guy. AS a result, I'm doing all the body work myself, and will be wrapping the car flat white for this year, and painting it properly over the winter. 

 

 

Crack repair:

 

 

 

That's all for now!

[JPE16]

 

 

The only picture-worthy progress from last night:

 

 

Hopefully this picture will include a hub and brakes today

 

I also picked up my fuel filter and lines to make my fuel feed and return inside the cell.

 

 

 

[Ranman72]

wow that front end is serious all custom 

looks good keep it up 

[JPE16]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I tried to make my June 29th deadline, but I unfortunately missed it. 

 

Well, here's a half assed attempt to get this little log up to speed. 

 

I'll pick things up with my helmet purchase, and my mono-ball studs for the roll-center adjustment kit. 

 

I picked up all my heat and chemical resistant looming for all the wire harness'. Brendan has been working very hard on getting it all wired up. Some of these next pictures will include my Vintage Air heater core as well..

 

 

 

And with carpet in:

 

 

I bought a universal 7'x8' carpet kit and cut it up with the wife one night. Fortunately we got it to fit properly first try. Thanks for guidance goes to John from Authority Motorsports. 

 

Front and rear wheel test fits, as wel as the car sitting on the ground (finally).

 

 

 

 

 

Some undercarriage shots. 

 

Diff in, rear disc conversion on, front suspension on, and underbody with finished exhaust on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, on the ground in Stratford with a new front valance, front lip, and a few other things on.

 

 

Engine bay coming along. Finished header, intake, and some wirings in.

 

And finally, a Jeff playing with my Nardi (purely heterosexual).

 

[mattyhacks71]

Nice that's some serious progress! Looks as though she sits real good, you're fortunate to have those flared fenders

[JPE16]

It's been a LONG while since I updated this!

 

In the interim I've moved shops (me and the guys from Stratford have moved closer to KW.) done some interior work (dash, seats, etc) and Ryan from RMR has gotten a head start on the wiring. 

 

However the biggest development is:

 

 

 

The KA24 left, and this is taking it's place:

 

[JPE16]

Ask and ye shall receive:

 

I finished up my fuel pump setup a few months ago. It's currently in the car and buttoned up, but these are the only pictures of it that I can find in or out of the car. it's all -6 AN fittings and braided lin all the way to the front:

 

 

 

I also picked up my conversion axles. I had these made out of parts I had laying around for way less than they sell for. I was kind of shocked by the price of the stub axles for sale. I'm glad I was able to have these made, as at the time I didnt have the resources or tools to do it myself. 

 

The came out beautifully I feel:

 

Recently I've purchased a Tig welder and have been honing my skills. I'm not proud of the end product on this dash, and will likely end up redoing it at some point, but for now it's in and somewhat presentable. It's going to use the stock pad at the top, and an aluminum face plate. I'll be making a seperate pod to mount the tach and speedo to the steering column as I can't actually see the dash from the driver's seat (I'm 6'9").

 

 

 

[JPE16]

I also swapped out the Z32 front calipers with 180sx/altima/Spec-v front brakes. These should balance nicer with the rears, and allow me a wider selection of wheels. They stopped my Spec-v VERY well. I'm assuming they should do a nicer job hauling in something significantly lighter. 

 

 

The engine sitting beside its future home:

 

Six speed en route to join the motor:

 

 

And had some time to also do a little work on the daily:

 

 

 

We installed AVO control arm bushings, Whiteline sway bars, and did a brake service. All just in time for winter. 

[Cpl620]

Daaaamn, this is going to be one for the story books. Keep it up!

[JPE16]

Small update. Ryan from RMR sent me over pictures of my ECU board coming together. He's wiring the car for an EMS so that in the future, it's plug and play without any of the extra things I don't need with the car being a Datsun, and not an S2000.

 

Anyway, it's pretty so far! 

 

 

 

 

I (errr Erik) picked up my immobilizer and clutch, so now we are complete!

 

Also dropped the motor in so I could start with a game plan:

 

 

 

Found out a number of things that made me happy, some that made me throw things, but in the end I came up with a game plan that should work relatively easily and allow me room to upgrade some things down the road. 

[Ranman72]

wrong motor 

Just my 2 cents