Project: SteeZee - 1973 Datsun 240Z LQ9 V8 Build

[Aaj2k5]

My entire direction for this build changed within 3 days. Friday night was spent researching the S30 chassis. Saturday night I went and took a look at a disassembled car and put the deposit down. Sunday night I picked up this 1973 240Z - Project "Steezee" and brought the rust bucket back to the shop.








Looks half decent with some Blitz Type 03's..




This is what I was building before this past weekend;



Left my shop in Tavistock (~2000 sqft) and crammed everything into my garage (~200 sq ft) FML. I'll miss the shop mascot though.






Figured it was time for a legit rotisserie -



Stripped all paint off the car, as well as up to 3/8" thick of bondo off the roof and rear quarters even though the metal on the roof was perfect, and it looked as though they tried to reshape the contours of the rear for no particular reason. Used stripper, sandblaster as well as blowtorch and scraper. Primered it, and will get little spot touch ups when time comes for paint.




I'm set for fuel and efan.




5 bolt had to be removed from the aluminum R34 knuckle so I can use the Z32 big spline 5 lug.



Z32 Big Spline 5 Lug, S14 Front spindles, FLCA.





Pic shows one coat of paint stripper left on for 10 minutes which was wiped off and then a coat of easy off to degrease. Works wonders.



Started to measure & design my build in Solidworks. Have the 5 lug, Q45 output shafts, Brake rotors, as well as starting on engine.




Picked up a new cowl piece - thx JP.



Cleaned up and painted the Z32 5 lug and R34 knuckles.



Sample of the undercoat vs rust vs cleaned up:





A buddy hooked me up with a E36 M3 Dash, centre console, glovebox, trim etc.. Will need a tiny bit of trimming obviously, but is almost the same curve and width as S30. E46 M3 Cluster looks alot nicer, so i'll probably end up going for it.

Started hacking the E36 dash with a dremel + sawblade.





Soo the only reason I was using the M3 E36 dash was because a stock one cost a fortune in good shape. Until I met a guy who lives a few streets over from me and he hooked me up.

'72 240Z Dash - professionally restored
Heater center vent
Centre Console
BNIB dash side vents
Glove box
Dash to windshield trim
Tail light finisher pieces

Enough speak, more pics.





Also started fitting the S14 suspension to S30 subframe.



And fabbed up some arms to hold the front on rotisserie.


Picked up a new hood instead of trying to save the bondo bucket that came with it.



Front half of the rotisserie done.

[Aaj2k5]

PIG ROAST!!
Finally got off my ass and finished the rotisserie.



Primered er up.



It's all garbage..



Drilled a crapload of holes..don't know why I didn't zipcut this...



Cleaned up a bit more.




Also, bought a JDM S14 swaybar 27mm w/ JDM S14 TC brackets. Also doubles as a rad mount.

Started on the floors.






Cleaned up drivers side front well.



Car is going to Adam's place Thursday night to start work on the frame rails, R34 subframe mount, camber plates and possibly a cage. Floors are only tacked in as they are coming back out to weld in the rear subframe mounts.



Been super excited to get the Z back from Adam so I thought I'd try my hand at Photochop.

Never used any sort of image editing software and this was done on free Paint.net program so it's by no means good but it's a decent idea what I'm going for..



Food for thought..



Thanks to my buddy Matt for laser-cutting these at work



Build drastically changed direction HERE. I have been planning a KA24DET swap for couple years now and my buddy Matt drops a bomb on me and gives me a LM7 (5.3L GM V8). Start getting ideas about building a boosted 5.3, got in a horny and bought a LQ9 from a local guy.

Went for the iron block LQ9 instead of LSx for future boosting options, upfront cost and only weighs 76 lbs more.

[Aaj2k5]

Reserved for more stuff.

[Aaj2k5]

And again.

[Aaj2k5]

This should be good.

[UNITEDMASTER]

How much cuting did it take for the E36 dash to fit?? I actually really like it gives it that modern look.

Props on the build/ restoration!!

IM subscribed !!!

[Aaj2k5]

Thanks man!

The M3 dash needs ends cut off both sides right alone the a-pillar lines, and the pic I have of cutting the curve, it follows same curve but a couple more inches offset, as the e36 dash is a fair bit deeper.

It fits super nicely tho, gives a fairly modern look - I just <3 the Z dash more..

[Kingbaby]

awesome man...shared

[Aaj2k5]

My Datsun has been at the fabricators since Oct 27th, 2011. Now being Nov 10th, 2012, I've gotten mildly bored. Graduated Robotics and Automation in August and have been working full time since, so have some extra budget for the car

This was my garage at old home (just got a new house last week), tight quarters is understatement of the week. 10'x20'x82"...



Got in on a shop here in Kitchener - 3200 sq ft for a hell of a deal

From the front:


From the back: note the 10 ton gantry crane that runs the length of the shop.


We're set for air, have piping to all corners of the shop buried in the concrete. 100 amp 600 3 phase as well, with transformed down to 220/110.


Set up my stuff in the back right.



Picked up a Meba horizontal bandsaw 600v, 12" round cut cap.


Netted a (free) Tos Kurim Finesa FNK25 6-axis turret mill with Heidenham XY NC readout from work.


Also have a shop trailer now - 6'x12' 14,000lb Hydraulic Drop deck (sits flat on the ground when lowered)


I'll have some updates with parts I've collected soon!

[future]

Oh shit, damn. That's a garage

[Kingbaby]

glad to hear things still pushing...

[b14 se-rious]

Nice build, I have a sr20vet s30 myself, almost finished.

Dont give up on the build and white is the way to go!

WHat a sick mill to get for free, sell it!

[soundahfekz]

Awesome build man, you have a lot of dedication!

[Aaj2k5]

Shop is slowly coming together..

Addition of the day:


I was told my Datsun would be coming home tomorrow. But have no confirmation in last month so we'll see how it goes..

[TheZ31Guy]

That is fuckin winning!

[Aaj2k5]

Sorry for a disappointing update but:

shop organization is taking shape this is stage 1 of racking. Had to take down about 60' of heavy ass 4" sched 80 in order to get the rack into a decent place.



not much happening to the shop or Datsun other than Brendan's VH45 S14, so here's one of the new shop mascot, Diesel.





Found yet another use for the 10 ton gantry crane

[JorgeZ33]

Looking good, I cant wait to see more!

[06_footy]

Suscribed

[Aaj2k5]

442 days since my car has left me, but it's home now..

Cage is not done, main hoop, diagonal and A-pillars are cut but not welded.

I'm not worried, I actually have the shop and capabilities to do everything myself now so it's all good. Just happy to have my car back..

[Aaj2k5]

Had a couple hrs today to put towards the Z..

This is the cage that was done by the fabricator. I am scrapping every part of it that was done - about 40' of DOM scrapped unless I can salvage some short pieces out of them.

Main hoop has ~3" between it and the roofline. Note the gnarly plasma cut strut tower holes.



The door bar stuck below the roofline.



The A-Pillar was fairly tight...



Took the S30 front subframe and nipped off the factory motor mounts..



Picked up a R33 GTR RHD steering rack. RHD because when you flip the rack over, I need it to work in that direction with the S14 knuckles flipped right to left (steering rack in front of subframe instead of factory).



Then I took the R34 GTR rear subframe and burnt out the factory bushings, sawz-all to the top flange and air hammer to push the sleeves out.



SPL V1 Solid Subframe Bushing in the bore.



Tomorrow night's plan is to brace the subframe, ditch the diff bushings, find a bushing for the R33 steering rack and send out subframe(s) to JP @ Strip tech for powdercoating.

[dudermagee]

good stuff man

[Aaj2k5]

Got a couple more hrs in today. This is yet another time-saving gift I was given when the car came back:




All four corners were the same shape. Pretty good gap for welding...



Cleaned up the surfaces.



Spray painted from inside the tower and trimmed the outline.



Welded top and underside, root pass ground down and another cap for cosmetics.

[Aaj2k5]

R33 GTR rack fits nicely on S30 subframe:



Cleaned up cowl area down to bare metal and sprayed it with temporary paint.



Got drivers side rear camber plate 90% done, it and the passenger will be done this week sometime

[turbo2nr]

awesome resto! keep it up cant wait to see the finish results!!

[Aaj2k5]

Finally found some time to work on Z (truck needed yet another motor ).

Got all 4 corners done for camber plates.





Started on the boxes for the main hoop:




Not nearly finished as the R34 subframe has to mount to these somehow.

Spent a bit of today time on this:




FWIW, little while ago I received a hydraulic power pack, a hydraulic ram (6" bore, 2" rod, 4" stroke), 8' of 1.25" stainless rod, 8' of 1" threaded rod, 1/4" wall 6x6x10, 40 feet of 1/4"x2x6, 8 feet of 6" c channel and some other bits.... FREE! so I am turning them all into a hydraulic shop press. I haven't done the math on it yet but I estimate the ram to be roughly 50 ton. I'm making attachments so I can use it as a brake, shear, mounting a JD Squared model 3 vertically on the back (baller tube bender), hydraulic hose crimper (ends came on the ram for this), as well as a general shop press (bearings, bushings, dimple die's etc..)..

Pretty stoked to get going on the car and press now that the truck is all wrapped up.

Got some work done on the press today. Would've been a lot farther if metal supply stores were fricken open on Sundays..



1.5HP motor to the hydraulic pump, should put out more than enough. Motor is held to the press via a plate with 4 holes with bolts welded and their heads cut off flush, then the plate welded to frame.



The gauge was fubar'd so I picked up a digital readout gauge that has a programmable pressure setpoint. This means I can hold the handle full tilt and it will automatically shut off the pump (or divert) back to tank if I set it up as a pressure relief.

[240boi115]

subbed!!!!!!!! cuz im working on a 280z and this is helping out a lot! hahaha good build! keep it up

[Aaj2k5]

Picked up some S14 coil overs from Brendan - the fronts fit well even though my camber plate template is for a HSD/Stance rather than JIC.



And some more CAD for whoever is into that kind if thing, this is the basic layout of the underside of the Z. Motor is to size, and T56 is to size

[Aaj2k5]

Old crapiness:


Side by side (LQ9 pan vs LS1/LS6 Z06 "Batwing" pan):


New hotness:


Holds same capacity (6.5 qts) but much better baffling design and the obvious 4" of extra clearance doesn't hurt either haha and this one was a "new take-off" and is mint shape

[Aaj2k5]

Soo, I took a month of weekends off to try and have a life outside of work.. But I'm back at it again - had full day on er today.

Took the LQ9 Truck manifold and tossed in storage:


Took the NTO LS2 manifold and tossed in on the motor:


If you squint from 30 feet it resembles a car:


How both sides looked after all the cancer was cut out:



Cut off the traction arm mount, the gusseting to the footwell. This leaves a gap along the length of the from rail. Also note the new panels in footwell, formed to the curve in the new floors and all panel intersections fairly nice. (I now have newfound respect for tin-whackers haha)



Test fit my new rails - bent up 14ga CRS into (Inside Dimensions) 2.25" along top, 2.5" along side and 3" along bottom, 42" long. These are oversized length ways so I can trim down to fit minty.



Welded in patch panel out of 18 ga CRS - 2.5" wide roughly 15" long with an extra 1" angled as flange support up the footwell.


Boxing patch fits fairly flush.



Frame rail fits even flusher.



First pass of welding it in.



Cleaned up the wheel well and painted everything to keep the bare metal from rusting up.



Nice, flat and straight. And I feel 10,000,001 times better about bolting 450 horse to this frame rail as opposed to the stock.



That's all for today peeps, I'll hopefully have the passenger side matching this next weekend now that I've figured out how its done haha. This is actually a much bigger step in the build than it may seem. After this is done, I can tie in mid frame rails front to rear, cage mounts, motor mounts, tranny mounts etc etc.

[Coolwhip]

Looks awesome, keep up the good work.