I've changed my update ethic I guess, I really only now update properly when a job is done and I leave a lot of small stuff out unlike when I used to post about every little tidbit. Most small stuff isn't interesting or impressive, not worth posting. When I started this thread everything was new and awesome haha, so it was all posted. also taking on bigger tasks these days, little victories are far and few. the last few weeks I've just been working on the rewire. it's the greatest task I've undertaken so far, way way more involved than anything I've posted about before. i'm documenting every step and making a guide too (like the FUCA mounting modification) when the job is done. here's a better teaser photo for you though I had somebody on Wednesday to talk to about the bay work. I used to play Ice Hockey with him when I was a teenager, and it turns out he grew up and became a panel beater. he is quite experienced and has done complete bay shaves etc before. we talked a lot about each particular area of the bay, what will need to be welded, cut out and replaced, etc etc... it was a favourable conversation, he doing my paint work and some of the fabrication work. i will also be learning to weld and taking on the basic stuff. the to do list is approximately a page long but all that's happening right now is the rewire. on the agenda soon afterwords is drilling and plumbing the chassis rails (oil cooler, wastegate vacuum lines, etc), setting up a mil-spec quick disconnect at the firewall for the engine harness, new battery relocation set up with twin motorcycle batteries inside the rear quarters and beginning the bay shaping. the chassis foaming has unfortunately been pushed back as I've recently found that welding a foamed area renders the structural integrity inert. so that will have to happen once the welding of my chassis rails is done. still going well at it fellas, this kind of stuff takes longer to get through! -A
started running hoses to their new locations a few days ago and concluded that I needed to customise my washer bottle. it's a bulky unit, positioned where I needed to plumb through. this is it. you can see the highest section sits above the base of the filler neck, so it can't even hold water. i decided to give plastic welding a crack. can't hurt to add another skill to the repertoire, good practise before I do my timing covers. top section cut off, new donor plastic from an r33 bottle tacked in place all joined up. it does leak slightly when turned upside down, but seeing as the join is on the top of the reservoir it doesn't really matter. conveniently, the top bolt flange protruded and could continue to be used. now installed back in the car. more than enough room to get the hoses past to/from the front end. -A
You should have practiced on a milk bottle or something. That soldering is ****ing disgraceful. You're a perfectionist down to the most minute detail and you stick that on your car? WTF man..... Trollololol Looks good man.
haha John I thought about that and concluded that so long as it's Nissan, it's okay. I was going to use a section of Z32 radiator overflow from a spare Jamie was giving to me at the dyno day, but he couldn't make it. Thanks for the plan B! Pretty simple. Line up the new section, tac it in place, melt along the join to make a V then fill that V with melted off cut strips. Interestingly, where the donor material lined up perfectly it doesn't leak at all - just where I had to fill in some gaps. so if you ever need to attempt it's like bodywork - all the result is in the prep! the youtube guides I watched recommended a glue filler to make the welds waterproof anyway, so I think it's pretty standard for them to leak.
neat job I've done the old plastic welding using the method you've described, only issue heating up the plastic with the soldering iron makes the part quite brittle and weak.. at the top of the bottle thats ok.. on bumpers and stuff, not so much.. ended up plastic welding the bumper together and then glueing a backing of some spare bumper material behind it with some sikaflex construction adhesive (the polyurethane stuff, not the sealant)
I was under the impression a stock bar can't be plastic welded? some more progress today. while stuffing around rerouting wires in the driver's side footwell I saw that it wouldn't actually be too hard at all to relocate the hood release cable. this is good because it was the last component left traveling through the pass in the driver's side rear corner of the bay, which can now be welded up without consequence. pulling the cable back through into the cabin I put a new hole in the driver's side fender well next to the rear window washer line, running the release cable through it. horrible photo but you get the idea. The factory grommet remained on the cable when it was pulled through the firewall and was neatly able to be reused. the release operates as per normal and feels the same as it did. to the untrained eye the location would look factory. all bare now, both holes the release passed through can now be welded up! the previous set up was never going to make or break the car, but it was always something that bugged me. picked up another gear knob today. i'm keeping the VeilSide one, the slim Nismo shifter has always been the best I've felt to drive with though. this one came up locally for a steal needing a little work, so it'll get sand blasted and powder coated with the rest my parts that need doing. oversprayed wrong colour Ganadors make the perfect frame for those of you who like to crack wise about how much time my car spends off the road, here's a pic of the gear knob serving its current purpose - holding tape and protecting me when I bash various parts of myself on the somewhat pointy shifter linkage. one last thing, I picked up these 70 LED reverse lights ages ago and never posted about them. I intend to revive the lost function of reverse lights that actually light up what's behind you. these are the strongest ones I've come across, though using HID kits in the rear is not unheard of. I dug them up as I'm going to be doing some custom rear center panel work soon. sold my old Altai (already modded to light up red) and imported a fresh one from japan to work with. more on that later. -A
Plastic welding was on a new Camry sportivo front bar I was fixing for a friend. Not sure about the zed front bar, but it's urethane so I don see the difference My brother once bought a falcon gt front bar that had been professionally plastic welded.. It was very strong, and no backing.. Looking good mate, stock location of the bonnet cable is daft... What you've done makes a lot more sense
thanks man fitted up my GKtech solid aluminium steering input bush. near damned impossible to undo the nuts holding the original bush in, but once it was out I could spy the massive crack right through the middle of the damn thing. messy bay should help a bit, we'll see. -A
daydreamin' how about you guys give me an opinion on something. i've been planning to build a set of modenas for the z32 as a long term project, when it's back on the road and painted. it's an almost completely custom car, and it needs some bespoke wheels to suit. far off, but I like entertaining the idea. they will be rebarreled with a double stepped lip as no Modenas were sold taller than 17". specs going to basically be as wide as physically possible to fit with less than 4* camber and a reasonably stock body, probably high offset 18x11 and 18x12. Looking to run 265 front and 285 rears, good stretch with good traction. i've been struggling to work out a colour scheme; I wanted a set of wheels with a polished stepped lip as it's straight up baller done right, but couldn't come up with a suitable center colour. I was leaning towards a Murcie silver, Grigio Antares but nothing really felt right came up with a new idea that i'm liking a lot! I fancy the ceramic charcoal centers on the rotiform 964. absolutely exquisite car. i think it would look superb on the modenas, centers as well as dish. matte on matte as seen as seen on this rwb; downplayed a bit but still aggressive. copper dipped bolts as well, to match the future bay theme. it's an exciting idea, actually considering selling the VMRs to make it happen. not planning to though I'd rather stack sets. can't say I wouldn't miss polished dish though, I guess that might have to wait 'til I nab a set of LMGT1s haha. classic white spokes on polished definitely for those. my main inspiration car (standard 9.5" 17s) what do we think? remember it'll be against a gun metal metallic car. -A
Why not some rotaforms Im defenatly going white with polished lip and i reckon it would look good a a gunner to.
Let us know how the LED's actually go, I'm sick of not being able to see shit behind me from our crappy reverse lights also.
