datsunfreak Posted November 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2021 (edited) First on the agenda was wiring the turn signal flasher, but we couldn't do that until we decided where to put it. We looked around for a mount for it to no avail, then we came up with a crafty idea. What if we took the guts out of a brand new flasher, and put them in the original flasher case? And we did... Now with the "new" flasher screwed into the stock spot, we could run the wires for it (sorry for the crap pic)... Also finished up all the wiring for the turn signal switch and brake light switch... That harness might look way too long, but it's actually just about right... With the wiring harness completely finished, I decided to tackle something else that needed doing soon, swapping out the locks... Edited November 28, 2021 by datsunfreak 1 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted November 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2021 As for the locks, I mentioned previously they don't just fit right up due to a difference in the holes for the stock lock... Stock hole... Square peg, meet round hole... A little filing with a square file... And make the left side match the right side... Now she fits right in... For the trunk, it is a little trickier, since you also need to tweak the lever arm a bit... Hole modded and trunk lock in... And here's why you need to bend the arm, so it will contact the stock lever for opening the trunk... Now twist the key, and... While I was cussing and fussing with those, Tim made some nifty aluminium covers for the stock license plate light holes... 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2021 (edited) With the harness completed, we decided it was time to move on to brakes... We got the left strut out of the car and disassembled to see what we can see. The stock 280Z rotors are 10.6" and solid, but I had a new pair of Infiniti M30 rotors which are 10.7" and vented. And fortunately, they bolt right onto the 280Z hub and have a more favorable offset to them. We tried one of the Brembo 4 piston calipers and it is tight. Very tight. Like, "it'll probably knock off the wheel weights" tight.. 😁 At this point, we think what we are going to pursue is using the 2 piston Brembos instead. It is still way more brake than the car needs, and also looks decently schmick... We have a tentative plan in place for how to build the caliper brackets to make these work. We need to get some plate steel and get to work on that, hopefully Saturday. We also ordered a new starter and thermostat which should be here today, and that should scoot things along under the hood. Then I think all that's left in the engine bay is an alternator belt and radiator hoses. 👍 Edited December 2, 2021 by datsunfreak 3 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 2, 2021 Report Share Posted December 2, 2021 10 hours ago, datsunfreak said: We have a tentative plan in place for how to build the caliper brackets to make these work. We need to get some plate steel and get to work on that, hopefully Saturday. Sssssssoooooooooo... I guess I need to go to Metal Supermarket tomorrow? Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 We had decided the best way to fill that small hole above the license plate was with a light up bolt, doubling as a license plate light. Aren't these the cutest thing you've ever seen? 😄 1 Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted December 4, 2021 Report Share Posted December 4, 2021 "Aren't these the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Yes, yes they are. Now tell us where you got them. Tell us now. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2021 On 12/4/2021 at 7:10 AM, KELMO said: "Aren't these the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Yes, yes they are. Now tell us where you got them. Tell us now. These came from ebay, and fairly quick shipping (US seller)... https://www.ebay.com/itm/294205595332 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2021 Speaking of those, they fit the hole well enough... And are fairly unobtrusive... Will test fire it on Wednesday night to see if it actually does the trick. 😁 We futzed around with the brakes a bit also. These will be the beginning of our caliper adapter plates... As well we installed the new starter... And a new thermostat and thermostat housing... The housing was a funny one. We had lost ours somewhere along the way, and I found this one for sale new. It is listed as fitting D21 pickup (fits either Z24 or KA24E), but it says it does not fit a Z20/Z22. We took a chance and bought one, and it fits perfectly. 👍 3 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 6, 2021 Report Share Posted December 6, 2021 7 hours ago, datsunfreak said: We futzed around with the brakes a bit also. These will be the beginning of our caliper adapter plates... LOL,I made those as mounts for a huge-assed 4"x4" box steel bumper we were going to install on the back of a Bronco a few years ago. I had seen one of them recently, but wasn't sure if we still had the other. I am super chuffed that they were both still around and will be perfect for these caliper mounts. We're also going to upcycle some scrap steel we cut out of the Dajiban for the rest of the mount, making this install (kinda) free (-ish, if you hold your tongue just right and squint). 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 On 12/6/2021 at 8:04 AM, datsunfreak said: Will test fire it on Wednesday night to see if it actually does the trick. 😁 I think they do okay, not sure Tim is sold... 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 (edited) On to more brake stuff... Step 1, we made a thing... We noticed that the back side of the caliper mounting face was even with the back side of spindle face. So, step 2.... Step 3, Tim tacked the bracket onto the spindle... Step 4, pop caliper and rotor off and fully seam weld both sides... Step 5, profit... Checking wheel clearance after that, there is plenty of space with a 5mm wheel spacer, but it's VERY tight with none. Back side has heaps of space... Looking pretty sexy... 🔥 We need to disassemble it most of the way because we need to make some very minor clearance notches on the inside of the caliper, and torque the rotor down properly. Should do that on Saturday, so once that is done we can check wheel clearance again to see if it's possible to get by with no wheel spacer. Once it has the all clear, we can bolt it onto the car and do it all over again for the other side. 👍 We did discuss the need/want for additional reinforcement of the caliper bracket, and will do that if Tim deems it needed/wanted. Edited December 9, 2021 by datsunfreak Oxford comma is life 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 9, 2021 Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 2 hours ago, datsunfreak said: I think they do okay, not sure Tim is sold... I am prepared to be "OK" with it. I'm just not happy that I have to go back and cut into my wiring harness. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 9, 2021 Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 1 hour ago, datsunfreak said: We did discuss the need/want for additional reinforcement of the caliper bracket, and will do that if Tim deems it needed/wanted. The "Overkill Enthusiast" in me wants more reinforcement, but there is probably "Just Enough Kill" in there the way we have it. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 1 hour ago, dimlight65 said: The "Overkill Enthusiast" in me wants more reinforcement, but there is probably "Just Enough Kill" in there the way we have it. As I recall from my days on the 1200 forum, this is the way they do it in OZ. And if it passes Rego there, after being signed off on by a certified engineer, I think it's good? But I am also okay with adding more kill. 😋 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted December 9, 2021 Report Share Posted December 9, 2021 Nice job on the brakes. I imagine they would throw you through the windshield on a hard stop 🙂 The bespoke work leaves me chuffed... 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 We got the strut reassembled and mounted back on the car. Turns out since we are using a rotor 3mm wider than the caliper was designed for, it was rubbing the built-in pad retention clips. Once we trimmed those down, it was smooth as silk. 👍 All good now... . We got the other side strut disassembled and started on modifying it. Bracket under construction... That done and Tim tacking it in place... Rotor and caliper off for full seam weld... While I was fussing with that stuff, Tim made a thing! I like it. Cleans up the look of the radiator area and hopefully keeps us from denting the fins (again)... 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 On 12/9/2021 at 6:49 AM, datsunfreak said: Back side has heaps of space... And by "boat," I mean "rotor" 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 On 12/12/2021 at 12:33 PM, datsunfreak said: While I was fussing with that stuff, Tim made a thing! I like it. Cleans up the look of the radiator area and hopefully keeps us from denting the fins (again)... I wasn't quite happy with the way it turned out... so we did a little more to it. You can see it on my instant grams, or wait for John to post a picture. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, dimlight65 said: or wait for John to post a picture. Repurposed a spare 280Z door entry scuff plate as a stiffener, and put some foam padding underneath it to stop any rattles. 👍 Edited December 16, 2021 by datsunfreak 6 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2021 Got the other strut assembled and on the car. And cut out a lot of the lower half of the fender so that we can get max steering angle, even under compression. And for gits and shiggles, put the rear wheel on and made some clearance cuts on the rear to better suit the big assed tires we are using... 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2021 Some of Tim's pics... We removed the coil spring and jacked the wheel up to about 3" higher than static ride height to make sure even in bump everything would clear. On the front side, we cut out quite a bit... But as you can see, no rubbing at full lock in either direction... 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted December 19, 2021 Report Share Posted December 19, 2021 (edited) On 12/16/2021 at 12:54 PM, datsunfreak said: Repurposed a spare 280Z door entry scuff plate as a stiffener, and put some foam padding underneath it to stop any rattles. 👍 I like it! A no-scuff radiator cover 👍 AND..Datsun logo, too! Edited December 19, 2021 by Duncan 1 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted December 21, 2021 Report Share Posted December 21, 2021 Beefy looking. Awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted December 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2021 Tim made a thing! We were originally going to run an RX7 oil cooler down here but decided against it. So to prevent the air from going around the radiator, we made this shield to force all the air through the radiator... 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/18/2021 at 1:00 PM, datsunfreak said: Got the other strut assembled and on the car. And cut out a lot of the lower half of the fender so that we can get max steering angle, even under compression. And for gits and shiggles, put the rear wheel on and made some clearance cuts on the rear to better suit the big assed tires we are using... This is the stuff! Can't wait to see it on the dirt. 1 Quote Link to comment
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