my 65 320 build

[hip2besquare]

 

 

hello all sorry for the lack of updates. progress on the 320z has been a bit slow here lately, work has been all consuming. but as of last night i got my rear brake kit (yay for some progress). next thing on the docket is to pull the cab so i can start fitting the front suspension and cross member. hopefully i can have that pulled in the next 2 weeks. oh and one more thing 320 newb is a bad ass dude he came through the shop on Monday with a rad set of fender mount mirrors for me.

thanks again brother its much appreciated.

 

[320 Newb]

Love seeing updates on this project!

 

[hip2besquare]

iv been rather busy at work lately so the Datsun has been a little slow and go but i have picked up Toyota 4 piston calipers for the front end i have also pulled the cab to start prepping the 240z front cross member and control arms. 

and im throwing in a pic of a friends bad ass ride just because i can hahaha

  

[hip2besquare]

oh and if anybody is interested in front end suspension  parts i have them up for grabs i will be scraping them soon so if you want them just let me know and cover shipping 

[320 Newb]

Love the progress pics! Is your cab sitting on your rear suspension?

[hip2besquare]

2 hours ago, 320 Newb said:

Love the progress pics! Is your cab sitting on your rear suspension?

yes it is. the space in my garage is very limited and i can not fit it in the back yard. i don't want to set it out front because i don't trust people. if someone stole it id have to rampage 

[320 Newb]

1 hour ago, hip2besquare said:

yes it is. the space in my garage is very limited and i can not fit it in the back yard. i don't want to set it out front because i don't trust people. if someone stole it id have to rampage 

Murder she wrote

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Are you going to try and re-use the shock towers? They seem kind of low for the Z-car front suspension. Or are you converting to struts?

[hip2besquare]

2 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Are you going to try and re-use the shock towers? They seem kind of low for the Z-car front suspension. Or are you converting to struts?

i will be using the z car coil overs i picked up. i just haven't cut the factory shock towers yet. ill be making tubular strut towers here soon-ish 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Cool. And since there's no unibody, I would build a strut tower brace. I have these tube clamps made for me that are like the old RZR roll cage clamps and I use them for all types of removable structures.

 

 

 

 

[hip2besquare]

1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Cool. And since there's no unibody, I would build a strut tower brace. I have these tube clamps made for me that are like the old RZR roll cage clamps and I use them for all types of removable structures.

 

 

 

 

thanks for the input i know the clamps well. i made some up to encase my rear control arm bushings that i made. 

[emceefarlane]

On 3/1/2020 at 5:01 AM, hip2besquare said:

oh and if anybody is interested in front end suspension  parts i have them up for grabs i will be scraping them soon so if you want them just let me know and cover shipping 

 

have you got the front swaybar assembly?

[hip2besquare]

 

6 hours ago, emceefarlane said:

 

have you got the front swaybar assembly?

i do 

[320 Newb]

Give us an update!

[hip2besquare]

so first off i would like to start by saying i hope everyone is staying safe and happy in these strange times. i personally have been off of work for 3 weeks now witch has been very strange for me . with that being said i have had some spare time to do some work on the 320z. witch isn't to much as i am playing teacher dad during the day witch consumes most of my day .

Edited April 10, 2020 by hip2besquare

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I just remembered that is the front of the truck we're looking at. For a minute I was wondering why you'd do that to the rear...

 

I like the jigs.

[hip2besquare]

17 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I just remembered that is the front of the truck we're looking at. For a minute I was wondering why you'd do that to the rear...

 

I like the jigs.

Thanks stoff. Yeah I have no room around my house to put the cab so on the back of the frame it goes 

[hip2besquare]

here is a few more shots of the cross member mounts

 

[320 Newb]

Looking great. You keepin' track of hours on this bad boy?

[hip2besquare]

1 hour ago, 320 Newb said:

Looking great. You keepin' track of hours on this bad boy?

thanks newb . and no i do not keep track of my hours i kind of don't want to know how many hours iv got in it hahahaha

[320 Newb]

For me it's both a point of pride and embarrassment. I pretty much have to do things and undo things a handful of times before I get it right. I didn't do any fabrication and I easily have 1K hours plus. 

[hip2besquare]

9 minutes ago, 320 Newb said:

For me it's both a point of pride and embarrassment. I pretty much have to do things and undo things a handful of times before I get it right. I didn't do any fabrication and I easily have 1K hours plus. 

i have definitely had to redo my fair share of brackets and such with this build as well

[difrangia]

I like the way that you use cardboard for working out some of the fabrications. I do a bit of that as it saves real fab material in many cases, factoring in mistakes and what-not. Bailing wire and 12 gage house wire sometimes makes it into the equation. I generally take decent measurements of all the knowns and then draw it up on a little CAD program on the laptop. In the case of  smaller sheet metal items, I'll print it out full-size and contact cement it to cardboard and cut out, make bends on the brake and check for fit. If there's a screw-up, just go find amother piece of cardboard and make corrections on the CAD layout. Use wire to rough in outlines and brake/clutch hydraulic lines and then go to cutting, flaring, and forming. I always try to pay attention when someone is posting pics of their build and try to pick up little shop shortcuts and tricks that people have acquired over the course of shop-life. Keep at it and keep posting pics. Thanks.

 

Steve

[hip2besquare]

2 minutes ago, difrangia said:

I like the way that you use cardboard for working out some of the fabrications. I do a bit of that as it saves real fab material in many cases, factoring in mistakes and what-not. Bailing wire and 12 gage house wire sometimes makes it into the equation. I generally take decent measurements of all the knowns and then draw it up on a little CAD program on the laptop. In the case of  smaller sheet metal items, I'll print it out full-size and contact cement it to cardboard and cut out, make bends on the brake and check for fit. If there's a screw-up, just go find amother piece of cardboard and make corrections on the CAD layout. Use wire to rough in outlines and brake/clutch hydraulic lines and then go to cutting, flaring, and forming. I always try to pay attention when someone is posting pics of their build and try to pick up little shop shortcuts and tricks that people have acquired over the course of shop-life. Keep at it and keep posting pics. Thanks.

 

Steve

i am a huge fan of cardboard cad as it gives you a realistic representation of what needs doing. there are all sorts of little "life hacks"  out there for this sort of thing but most of it is just thinking outside of the box. thanks for the interest in my build and i will post as many pics and posts as i can luckily 320newb reminds me to make posts hahaha.  

[difrangia]

Works for me. First pic here is the full size developed (bend deduction figured in) flat-pattern printed out full size and contact-glued to sheet steel. 

 

 

The bracket cut out and ran across the brake; Clecoed up for a fit-up.

 

 

See if it all fits together. Proof is in the puddin'.

 

 

Not tryin' to hijack your thread, man, just picked up on some of your methods and pointing out the importance of capturing other craftsmen's tricks and incorporating them into one's shop practices.