I thought i'd drop you a link to a slideshow of all the progress on the car so far plus a few new photos to show you where it's at at the moment.

 

Just having a mass ebay then ordering new parts in the next couple of weeks.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/600zx/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memories.......

Nice one mate, wait till it's on full chat-you'll do a man wee!:yes:

Well done Nick, I am really pleased for you.

Nick , dont know if this will help. With my 383 stroker I had in the 67 Nova we set the timing by turning it clockwise until the starter draged LOL , then just backed it off eno ugh to stop that. Also , you havent mentioned which plugs you are running....believe it or not I ran the plugs designed for the old Chevy Inline 6 cylinders , they are a very hot plug and I never had a problem with detention at all. What jets are you running in the secondarys? Love the vid , thanks.

Cheers guys :D

 

Hi Andy, I haven't jetted the secondaries yet, i've left a bump stop in place until i can get the suspension sorted. At the moment with the damp roads, anything past 1/2 throttle and the car leaps off the ground so i probably won't tune the whole engine till it's bedded in on primaries.

 

I'll fill you in on the timing in the next post.....

Firstly thanks to Slick Pete who did an amazing job of my bumper over the past week! :bow:

 

It looks awesome mate, cheers :D

 

 

Okay onto the problems i was trying to sort out. Firstly the overheating:

 

The dissy has a mechanical advance on it as well as vacuum advance and we'd set it to 12 degrees at idle but was only giving 26 on full throttle when it should be at least 32 so adjusted it up to 32 temporarily which gives 18 degrees at idle which isn't ideal so i'm ordering a weights/spring kit to adapt it today.

 

Started up a little hesitantly but out on the road it's a monster! Took it for a run to my parents and back last night to give it a long run and see what the temp did and found that by the time i'd driven 4-5 miles to mum and dads i'd got it up to 77-78C which is close to ideal temp.

 

As i was leaving my dad followed me out and said "go on give it some welly so i can have a listen" lol So floored it down the road and went through the first 4 gears in 5-6 seconds(!) Jesus it's quick on the primaries now :hyper:

 

By the time i'd got back the car had levelled out at 85 degrees which is a good temperature so i think that's sorted the problem out.

 

OKAY now onto my main problem. That suspension :(

 

Having spoken to Keith5700 and several of my auto engineering mates they all agree that although the rack has dropped 2" the lower arms have stayed the same and that's why i'm getting exagerated bump steer.

 

So having given it a long and hard thought i've decided to drop the subframe off and use keith's subframe and mounts (standard 300zx engine mounts with an adapter plate).

 

It means the engine sits about an inch higher but i'll just chop the filter and it'll give me an extra inch of clearance underneath making it the best option for lowering later on.

 

So tonight i'll be raising the car back up off the ground, slapping the engine and box in a harness and dropping the subframe off the car. before refitting a standard rack with the new pipes and bolting it into position. I'll need to make up some dummy adapters out of wood and get the holes/spacing right then it's just a case of taking it to a fabricator to make up this week and we should be good to go :)

 

More to come as i get there guys and gals!

After a couple of days traveling around grabbing bits here there and everywhere i'm ready to kick off work.

 

Plan is tonight i'm only going to get a couple of hours on the car before i have to go out so i'm going to work on getting the speedo calibrated tonight which should take me half an hour. Basically i've connected the wrong wires unfortunately so need to resolder onto the correct feed.

 

The speedo requires you to drive a set distance then stop and stop the calibration setup and it'll calculate the speed based on that. Might take a bit of tweaking but i have a gps distance meter on my iphone so i can use that then tune the number of pulses to get it right.

 

Tomorrow/Thursday/Friday will be spent suspending the engine, etc in situe and swapping sub frames. I didn't want to start until i'd got the track rod ends to go on the stock steering rack to hold the wheels in and drop it on the ramps.

 

Fingers crossed the locking nuts will be the same as the ones rudy used then i'll assemble the rack outside the car, swap the pipes over from one to another (if they fit!), bolt that onto the stock zed mounting then bolt the extra long bolts through the side girders and spacers and reattach the bottom arms and track rod ends then i can finally relax and put the wheels on the ramps and breath a sigh of relief knowing the whole lot won't come crashing down on me :)

 

I'm popping to see pete on saturday with the metal components ready cut out and stuck together temporarily with duct tape to get it all welded up together and they should hopefully just slot into place and then it's only the steering column that rpesents any problem.

 

I had it lengthened to fit the lowered rack but obviously if i'm moving the rack back up an inch this'll affect the length of column so hoping there's a little space as is that will be taken up and i might have to move the mounting of the column inside the car to push through.

 

Other option if there's plenty of splined section free is grind it back to size and put a blob of weld on the end to stop if moving past the bolt.

 

I'll keep you guys and gals updated but it isn't that tricky to do this conversion luckily and it's proven technology as it was run on the other v8 conversion Keith had done.

Scroll down about 1/2 of the page to bolt on bump steer kit. That will put you back into the proper geometry.

 

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/bumpsteer/911bumpsteer.htm

Cheers Andy :) I had looked at them but the current arms sit 2 inches lower than the hubs so all the adjustable ones wouldn't be long enough to reach.

 

I've made a start now on adapting the whole thing now so might as well carry on. I picked up some 4mm black steel today and have a second engine mount coming tomorrow so should be able to get everything done over the weekend all being well. We'll see how my welding is but if it's bad i'll take it to an engineers shop next week and get it sorted out.

 

I'll be back on it tonight when I get back from my parents house, i just haven't had the chance since monday to get started and didn't realise we had a house inspection today so had to spend last night sorting through my wardrobe and room.

Okay update: I finally got some time on the car last night.

 

I've lifted the back end up on ramps, put some axle stands underneath to hold it in place, removed the wheels and disconnected the tension rods, lower arms and track rod ends.

 

I've also left the power steering rack draining overnight to make sure i don't make too much of a mess tonight.

 

So tonight hopefully i should have the second engine mount, transfer the pipes and mountings to the other rack, pop it in place and see what sort of clearance i have. I really hope i've got enough to get the rack past the sump so fingers crossed!

 

All being well should have all the suspension back in place and power steering reconnected tonight or tomorrow morning then it's onto the mount adapter fabrication.... :headvswal

Good luck with it mate, I wouldnt even know where to start even fixing this little issue you have now.

My god it sounds awesome as well ;)

lol, cheers buddy :D To be honest i was trusting the previous owner's decisions with the subframe - it's just lucky i know a couple of automotive engineers to point out these things!

 

It's not that much of a ball ache, i've taken and replaced most things on the car so swapping subframes isn't that bad if you have an engine hoist. Just need to make sure i line it up straight when i put the brackets in! :)

Previous owner, did you buy this is a part project then? Or some parts from them? I would love to be good with spanners to say I had built something would be fantastic. I train people how to use software at the minute so although relativly skilled I dont really do anything that I end up with something to show for it. Other than ever increasing numbers on the vans odometer!

Before i took on the project the most i'd done is change brake pads/discs/radiator but nothing more than that.

 

The car had an adapted sub frame and gearbox mounting to suit the Chevy mounts but the engine was an empty shell with cast iron heads on and no valve train. The gearbox was underated for what i needed and very agricultural so got rid of that as soon as i had the opportunity to buy something better.

 

The subframe had been lowered 2 inches to fit the engine under the bonnet but unfortunately he'd lowered the steering rack away from the bottom arms which has caused the problems as they're supposed to stay in line :(

 

I've read hundred of hours of books, articles, made phonecalls and done alot of research on how to do everything but it's been basically just bolting things together like a big mechano set!

 

I'm still in shock i managed to build a working engine from just bolting things together.

 

The devil's in the details though, i've had to learn about engine timing, compression, valve lash, octane, suspension geometry but it's all available online through google!

 

The beauty of chevy is it's been the same engine for 30-40 years so there's so many parts out there and so many articles on tuning it's super easy to find anything out.

 

If i can build this, anyone can! :)

If i can build this, anyone can!

 

 

Nope:no: I wouldn`t know were to start Nick, I can do a routine service on the Zed but thats it. What you are doing in your garage should be on TopGear:yes:

lol, nah you make me sound like an engineer - i'm a hobby mechanic who's jumped into the deep and is just paddling along :rofl:

 

Good news everyone - the second engine mount just arrived and it's in great condition! (thanks Andy!)

 

So that's everything i need apart from the nuts to go on the end and we're ready to go this weekend!

 

Will post some pictures up later tonight to show you what's going on :)

Good news, it's been a long weekend working away on the car but finally found a solution to the ride height versus clearance issue.

 

I've used a stock 300zx subframe + rack with the new pipes i had made up with the stock zed engine mount and a land rover engine mount on the side that takes the pulling force to start off.

 

I tried using Keith's spacers and longer bolts but this led to the engine pushing tight against the bulkhead (taller rocker covers and larger distributor) so had to go somewhere inbetween.

 

Keith's dropped the engine and rack 1"

 

Rudy's (the one i was using) dropped the rack 3"

 

So using box steel and some threaded lengths i've manufactured up a 2" drop from stock. This means the lower arms and rack will drop 2" and give me just enough clearance for all the bits and bobs i need.

 

Finished the brackets last night and back on it tonight to adjust the steering rack bracket to spin it round 20-30 degrees and shorten the steering column slightly. The car will be running negative camber at that point so i'll put the dropping shocks back on again which should bring the wheels roughly back into line.

 

Once i'm happy with both of those then it's back on to the engine mountings which look relatively easy to make up and fit so i'll get those off to the welders to make up for me after i've cut them out. Luckily i can reuse the chevy plates again to save time then just add a slot in them to access the bolt and get the adapter section welded on top.

 

So hopefully when this is all done it should be riding standard rack and arms and get rid of that bump steer.

 

I've taken some photos but haven't had chance to copy them across from facebook yet but more updates later when i've finished the initial changes.

Update Nick?

Whoops sorry buddy, only just got round to look at this thread. Okay update for you guys.

 

I didn't get to touch the car at all last week apart from the detailing on Friday and cleaning the garage.

 

The subframe extension brackets are finished and the subframe is now on the car (a stock z32 one) and bolted up. I've just got to drop it to get the steering column in place and we're done.

 

Got started again last night making up the brackets for the engine mounts. I've got one side done as was busy welding till midnight last night. A couple of pics i grabbed while i was doing it (there is another triangle that welded in after this had been taken) and the sides on the bottom bit have been ground in:

 

 

I keep checking and checking and checking Mate!

Sorry buddy, my day to day blew up last week, I fell out big time with my family and had work none stop to sort out as well as trying to find a new car. Off in 20 mins to go and pick it up and get last few bits of work done then hopefully I can get on with that last bracket and get the car back on the road again. Wish I had more hours in the day at the moment :(

Okay I know it's now December - i know i know it's been ages since i wrote an update for you guys but thought i'd give you a heads up on what's going on :)

 

What with cars blowing up then subsequently nearly being stolen the other week(!) i've been busy buying and fixing my new car, installing loft installation, visiting my other half and everything else that gets in the way of finishing off the V8 - meanwhile i'm paying £100 a month in insurance and tax :(

 

So this weekend i finally got my groove on and faced the cold to get back on with the project, finish those brackets off and get the car back on the road.

 

Bracket one is pretty much done, just a few last minute welds to do and that can be ground back, sprayed and installed.

 

The other side is going to be trickier but i've got half that cut out already. I'll get back on it tonight and get it finished off ready for welding.

 

Once that's done all i've got to do is pop the headers back in and we're ready to get tuning again!

 

I've got the new weights and springs for the distributor which'll sort out the timing issues along with an adjustable vacuum advance and some wire brackets to fit the rocker covers to finish off tidying up the wiring.

 

So photos to come as i get there over the next week then i'm off for 10 days so i can really get stuck in finishing all the details on it :)

thats a monster you got there mate

Nice update on your progress that :) look forward to the pics Nick!

Its gonna need another polish at this rate!!

 

Glad to see your back at it again, despite the weather (don' try test driving it on the roads at this temperature!).

 

Hope to see it/you again in the New Year buddy :)

thats a monster you got there mate

 

Cheers buddy :D

 

Nice update on your progress that :) look forward to the pics Nick!

 

Cheers mate, i'll get there eventually - seems a bit of a dream driving it down the road a couple of months ago now :lol:

 

Its gonna need another polish at this rate!!

 

Glad to see your back at it again, despite the weather (don' try test driving it on the roads at this temperature!).

 

Hope to see it/you again in the New Year buddy :)

 

I'll probably give it a quick run out each day to test the tuning, etc while i've got the time to fettle and fiddle over xmas. I'm aiming to just get it running nicely on primaries without overheating or overfuelling over a long distance so i'll just do a bit each day till i get it right :)

 

Soon as i get through xmas and the weather improvess i'll give the secondaries a workout and get them set up then it's down santa pod when it reopens and get it 100% sorted for the season - can't wait! :hyper:

 

Have a good christmas mate and i'll catch you when we start the meets again in january :)