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69 510 2dr Project - VG30E/Autocross


moath

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There's a McMaster order in my very near future :). They've got a 25 pack of Grade 10.9 JIS Zinc flange head bolts for less than the dealer wants for two flywheel bolts. I'll probably pick up the JIS spec bolts for the bellhousing and slave cylinder too.

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Helicoil success. I don't think I had the collar on the insertion device set up properly.  Definitely something to check if you've got issues with the coils skipping a thread.

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Now I'm waiting on *correct* flywheel bolts to show up next week.  In the mean time, I replaced the throw out bearing for the transmission.  The one being pulled off here didn't even move.

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It's ON (like Donkey Kong):

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It's worth noting that the bolts aren't actually available from McMaster Carr, I had to go back to Nissan and pay like $7 or $8 each.   :sick:

 

Pressure plate and clutch are on too:

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I tried fitting the release fork boot that came with the old bellhousing on with the slave cylinder in place, which ripped.  So I thought I'd try a little clear caulking to make it waterproot:

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Which worked pretty well...

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However, I'm pretty sure now (after ripping it again) that this is the wrong boot for this bellhousing.  Another Nissan order is in my future.

 

I also realized that I had a leftover clip from the transmission I needed to install.  I cracked open the cover housing again and put in back into place:

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Now everything is back together on the transmission.

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Got all the right bolts before work today and then got the transmission attached to the engine.  Also go the hoist ready to lift the car up over the engine after I get some transmission fluid.

 

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If anyone else needs to know, here's the diagram from the FSM that includes what size bolts you need to mount the transmission to the engine.  This assumes you're using a FS5W71C transmission with a Z31 bellhousing.

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I ordered the gear oil for the transmission earlier today.  If you're buying fluid for your manual transmission, it's important to know that many gear oils with LSD additives aren't good for our transmissions.  You want to make sure you've picked a gear oil that's got API/GL-4 rated.  Many gear oils are rated GL-5 rated and don't meet the GL-4 spec, which can cause issues for the synchros in our transmissions.  I'm trying to do this on the cheaper side, so instead of the Redline oils that have been highly recommended, I ordered some Sta-Lube SAE 85W90 API/GL-4 in a 1 gallon container on Amazon.  If you're a huge nerd like me, you can read even more about gear oils for manual transmissions in this thread:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/1231182/1

 

Since I don't want to put the engine and transmission in the car before I fill up the tranny with fluid, I decided to weigh the engine and transmission tonight:

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That's 522 lbs for both the engine, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, exhaust manifolds, lower intake manifold, transmission, starter, alternator, engine mounts and lower crossmember.  The load leveler weighs 13lbs, and the Pathfinder upper intake manifold I'm hoping to use weighs 9 lbs, which means the whole assembly will weigh 518lbs DRY.  If the FSM is right and the transmission weighs 91 lbs, that means the engine itself with its accessories weighs 427lbs.

 

According to DQ (http://dimequarterly.blogspot.com/2011/08/engine-swap-guide-part-one.html):

Complete L18SSS w/SUs, SSS exhaust manifold, SSS dist., 10lb HKS flywheel, roadster clutch, gear reduction starter, 65 amp alternator, servo-synchro ZX 5sp, stock pan and ALL mounts weighs 390 pounds.

 

My old L16 had a single Weber carb, but a steel flywheel and a dogleg transmission.  I'll call the weight differences between the steel flywheel, carb and transmissions roughly a wash.  Assuming that engine was also dry, that means I'm adding about 128lbs to the car.  Fortunately, not all of that will be right over the front wheels as the transmission weighs about 30 lbs more than the dogleg.  Compared to a KA24DE swap (per the article I linked to above), the KA24DE adds about 125LBS when you count in the transmission, which makes the swap roughly a wash (3 lbs) vs a KA24DE if the weights in the article are accurate!  Another cool thing about the VG30E vs the KA24 is that the weight of the engine is further back in the engine bay since it's not as long, which means that weight distribution may be very very very slightly better too  :thumbup:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I hope you removed the auto transmission pilot ring and installed a pilot bearing for a manual transmission in its place?

 

I'm really glad you pointed this out.  I hadn't realized that this was wrong until you said something.

 

I went to Autozone and rented a slide hammer and pilot bearing puller, hooked it up and broke the puller after three or four tries (it kept sliding out of the hole since there's not a ton to grab in there).  After work I managed to get a puller from another local Autozone and got the thing out:

 

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The view with no pilot bearing or pilot ring:

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New pilot bearing installed.  I used a 11mm deep socket to drive it in.

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:thumbup:

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I went to put fluid in the trans the other night and had a hell of a time getting the fill plug off.  I ended up using a pipe like a baseball bat against my breaker bar.

 

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I'm hoping to get the engine and trans under the car later this week.

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I'm really glad you pointed this out.  I hadn't realized that this was wrong until you said something.

 

I went to Autozone and rented a slide hammer and pilot bearing puller, hooked it up and broke the puller after three or four tries (it kept sliding out of the hole since there's not a ton to grab in there).  After work I managed to get a puller from another local Autozone and got the thing out:

 

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The view with no pilot bearing or pilot ring:

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New pilot bearing installed.  I used a 11mm deep socket to drive it in.

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:thumbup:

 

 

 

Hey, no problem. Better to find out now, instead of later.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

There's an engine bay in the engine of my dime for the first time in years!

 

Car coming down over the engine:

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Mounted!

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It's funny, it's been so long since I've had the engine down close to a normal ride height that I've forgotten how low the car is.  I'm sensing more back pain in my future...

 

The rub now is the Pathfinder manifolds I got with the engine don't fit on the driver's side because of the steering box:

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Fortunately for me I picked up a box o' header crap at Canby a few years ago.  The guy I bought it from was planning on making his own VG headers but decided to ditch them for whatever reason.  Here's the "assortment" I got:

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It also included these 1/2" thick blanks that were designed to be used as header flanges.  I marked them up and started to cut them out.  In hindsight I wish I would have just ponied up the cash for some pre-made flanges instead of doing them myself.  I only have a 8" drill press that doesn't go slow enough for the bi-metal hole saw bit that I bought for making these things, but what's done is done.  It just took me a couple hours to do it :(

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Then I had to cut the flange into two halves because of how the dipstick tube is set up on this engine.  Fortunately I found a used metal cutoff saw on Craigslist when I realized I was going to have to build my own headers, and that made cutting the flange a bit easier.  The guy I bought the saw from also had an old V8 header that 1 1/2" primaries that he threw in with the saw, which matches the mandrel bends that were included in the Canby box I got.  I chopped off the bits of the header I'm not going to be able to use so I've got some longer pieces to work with:

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I haven't been able to start my first tube yet, but I'm hoping to make some good progress on that this weekend.

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This weekend was a bit of a bust since the wife got sick and I was on dad duty.  Between last post and this post I've made some progress on the driver's side header:

 

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This was before I got my technique a little more sorted out.  The tubing I have is only 18 gauge, so it's taken a bit of getting used to.

 

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Kinda ugly underneath...

 

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One of many test fits.

 

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More tac welded mockups

 

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Now my technique is a bit better.  I could always use more practice though.  The welds of the 18ga stuff are a bit proud, but I'm really trying to avoid burn-through vs. making it beautiful.

 

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And here's where I left off tonight.  I can't get my MIG gun in this tight of a space, so I'm going to see if one of my co-workers (who's a very experienced TIG welder) is willing to get it sorted out for me.

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My co-worker had a great trick to get that tight spot.  Basically you run a lot of stick-out and increase the power.  It worked like a charm :)

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The past couple night I decided to change the pace up a bit and get the front suspension re-installed (since this won't wake up the kid or the wife or the neighbors :D).  The headers are at the point where I need to start working them into a collector, so I'll have to do a fair amount of cutting and measuring and cursing to get that sorted out, and it's tough to do that on week nights since I don't have much continuous time to work in the garage.

 

My dime was set up by an autocrosser previously.  I forgot to double check, but I'm pretty sure the front crossmember is a 1969 model year unit, which has the more desirable LCA mount points.  If you're curious about what changes were made during this time, you can read the article about the changes here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByCvxnHNk90SY2JmYTk0MDQtNzBlYy00YTRhLWJiN2UtN2QzZmE2YTY4ODEz/view?usp=sharing

 

It's using later year control arms so the easier to find ball joints and tie rods all fit.

 

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You can see my ultra-cheap ultra-light aluminum steering braces here

 

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I picked up some used Spinwerkes racing wheels from a guy out in Hood River, OR who had crashed his Z car out at Oregon Raceway Park.  The wheels are aluminum, 15x7, 0 offset and only weigh 12 or 13 lbs.  The rub is that they seem to have a really deep mount section, which makes the stock Z31 hub wheel studs I'm running not viable.  I'd use the other 300ZX wheels that I've got, but they would rub with the 205/50R15s that I've got to run on them, and I don't want to buy spacers.  Anybody have suggestions on good wheel studs?

 

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Here's a view straight down where the fender should be.  I'm super excited to see this thing sitting on the ground again.

 

Next steps are finishing up the driver's side headers and ordering the other parts I'll need to start on the passenger's side.  I also discovered that I warped the flange I made (probably during cutting), so I may end up unassembling the headers I've made so far and re-assembling them a new flange.  TBD.

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26719813031_e42cb40fe7_k.jpg

I picked up some used Spinwerkes racing wheels from a guy out in Hood River, OR who had crashed his Z car out at Oregon Raceway Park.  The wheels are aluminum, 15x7, 0 offset and only weigh 12 or 13 lbs.  The rub is that they seem to have a really deep mount section, which makes the stock Z31 hub wheel studs I'm running not viable.  I'd use the other 300ZX wheels that I've got, but they would rub with the 205/50R15s that I've got to run on them, and I don't want to buy spacers.  Anybody have suggestions on good wheel studs?

 

 

 

Wheel stud discussion link. http://community.ratsun.net/topic/23583-longer-wheel-studs-510/

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You don't need longer lug studs. You just need mag style lug nuts. They come in various lug shank lengths. "Cragar" style are usually pretty long.

 

 

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You don't need longer lug studs. You just need mag style lug nuts. They come in various lug shank lengths. "Cragar" style are usually pretty long.

 

 

31fcZAYIexL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

 

I've got a number of these from an old set of wheels I ran on the car years ago and the shank is too big to fit inside the wheels.  I studied things and took some more pictures tonight, but I'm not sure I'm any closer to understanding what's going on.

 

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Here's a closeup of the lug's seat.  The conical lugs I've got fit snugly in here, but that doesn't really help me tell if they're ball seat or cone seat.  When I put the wheels over the studs it looks like there would be room for a mag style lug nut, but I've never seen one with such a small shank.

 

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Here's a closeup of how a Konig Rewind fits.  Plenty of thread coming through here.  I texted the previous owner of both these Rewinds and the Spinwerks and he said he'd used the same lug nuts on both sets.

 

:confused:

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