Sirpent "Z"

[Sirpent]

UPDATE:

 

While I'm waiting for the NAZI to land in Aus, I decided to continue with the air-con upgrade and intergrate full climate control, so after a SH*T load of surfing reading and searching for wiring schismatics I finally decided on a unit and purchased the head unit wiring loom and stepper motors for the mod.

 

On top of that I also wanted to upgrade the Z's vent fascia so I found a set on Ebay, hopefully these will all be here in the next 48hrs.

 

Finally, figured I would also look into power windows and checked out a VT-VZ set up which looks close and modifiable, advantage is its motor and chassis set up are thin and shouldn't interfere with the door glass, this will be a chop mod using the Z's arms, wish me luck.

 

Cheers

 

John

[luvemfast]

Without going back and reading this all again from the start, answer me this.

 

What is your timeframe to get this finished?

Well on the road with these kewl mods, they're never finished 

[Sirpent]

Simon

 

You are my inspiration, a previous comment about us S30 guys wanting to up the specs on our cars drives me for even higher results..LOL just kidding 

 

Well the story goes something like this, I was moving ahead nicely up until June last year when my son became critically ill and spent well over a month in ICU, he has now come good but in all that time the Zed was a forgotten priority.

 

In hindsight it was probably a good thing I stopped as the cars direction totally changed once I came across the C32, so now the situation is that

 

(A) I have to wait for the motor to arrive before I can finalise what will happen with the chassis and the required mods.

(B) The nose is 90% done and I really should have had it off the car by now but hopefully fingers crossed that will be soon.

© I decided to do the other mods I wanted in the meanwhile while waiting so I didnt get swamped down once the main items were done.

(D) "D" for deadline, have the shell primed and edged on 4 wheels with the motor trans in by late this year, money is also a factor now.

 

I only ever want to do this once and never again so I'm at peace with the fact that it wont be on the road before 2012, probably on the 23rd of December 2012 when Armageddon hits knowing my luck.

 

 

[zzzzed]

I also have a set of vz/ vy power window thingos i plan on fitting to my 240z. they look as though they will fit no worries with minor mods

 

 

[Sirpent]

I also have a set of vz/ vy power window thingos i plan on fitting to my 240z. they look as though they will fit no worries with minor mods

 

Mick,

 

We are definately two panel beating block heads that think alike..........LMAO

 

I havnt gonee down to my buddies at the Holden wreckers yet to compare, but have you had a chance to?

[zzzzed]

I cant remeber if its the vs/vr ot the vt/vx but they have a cable drive set up that would work well also as they are quite flexible . I have one in my shed so ill take a photo tomorrow and post it up here

 

[zzzzed]

here is a photo i took a while ago. The one on the left is from a vy commodore and on the right is from my 240z

 

[Sirpent]

I definately think this will work, however the pivot points are the key and grafting the Zed arms onto the Holden assy is a must due to the need for accuracy of operation.

 

So Mick will i do it or do you want to have a go first ?

[Sirpent]

Update and Opinions please.

 

Just received my package from the States containing the vent fascia I purchased, unpacked it and took some pics of it and how i want to mount it.

 

First pic is of the fascia against the Zed fascia so as to gauge the sizing and fit which I have to say is spot on.

 

Second pic is the Zed Item overlapped over the new fascia so as to get an idea of how it will look.

 

Third pic is of the new fascia sitting in the Zed dash to gauge how the vents will line up with the gauges and what the effect will be once I graft both fascia's together.

 

Note that I have removed the center vent, I'm thinking that I will mount a boost gauge in here for the Supercharger.

 

Comments very welcome as I'm still a bit undecided.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

[RBZ 260]

Looking good John.

 

Like the Legnum climate controller.

 

RE: vents looks like a reasonable good fit with minimal mods. like it a lot.

 

i've done something similar with mine but few traps to look out for:

 

1. the sealing between the a/c and the vents has to be reasonable. do u have the back part of those vents? if u do, u can graph that into the 260z one. having a boost gauge there may complicate things in this department.

 

 

 

2. check the angels of the vents. 260z side vents are hopeless as u cannot angle it further than height of the shoulders.  check the movement on those and airflow. stick a hair drier or some sort of fan to test the angles.

 

3. Boost gauge may be bit too low and somewhat dangerous when driving/looking. I suggest having it at the top and move maybe fuel gauge or clock into that spot.

 

4. if that's gets too complex look at the S15 200sx vents. may not look as classy as those but they easily fitted/adapted and have good angles.

 

 

 

can't wait to see it done. it will look damn good. Just don't give up when gets tad complex. take few days off and answer will come to you lot simpler than u think.

 

u keeping the 260z a/c behind (Condensor/heater core ,flap mechanism) or trying to update with more modern item?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sirpent]

Hey Thanks Johnny,

 

I have all the original factory gear behind the original vents including the adaptor between the main housing and the vents but what I was thinking was running polyurethane flex ducts to a flat plate that mounts on the original housing, this way i don't have to be exact to the mm as far as fit.

 

I think you are right about the boost gauge and I thought about putting the clock from the dash there instaed if I can find a boost gauge that wont look out of place with the other original gauges in the clock cavity.

 

The updated blower from the VT I installed blows ultra hard and these new vents don't have the obstacle of being recessed into the fascia causing airflow to be deflected, so I don't think that will be an issue.

 

If anyone knows of a comparable boost gauge that is along the same looks of the upper gauges please feel free to post in this thread.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

[NZeder]

John,

 

I am doing something similar with the vents setup and like on my zed. I am going to remove the stock control unit, I have a Maxima unit that has actuators to move the leavers - need to mount this up to the stock heat/fan box. I am going to install extra gauges were you have shown the new vents. I plan to have key gauges at the top - ie Water Temp, Oil Press, and Oil Temp in the vent area will be fuel press, fuel level and volts. I am thinking of using the stock type side vents below these gauges. Then the heat controls go were the radio would go

 

my zed is going to be sing along.....as in drive along and listen to the engine sing

 

I do like the look of your setup and I will be following this closely.....I do need to spend time on in the shed again

[NZeder]

Re the boost gauge - have you looked at speedhut.com - those are the gauges I have gone for. And they have a font that is very close to the factory Zed font + you have the needle and colour close the factor setup too ie white needle and white needle at night (when I ordered mine they did not offer the white at night so mine is white during the day and red at night)

[Sirpent]

Hey Thanks NZ

 

Will check them out, i went with the Mitsubishi EVO controller as I found the entire wiring diagram for it and yes will be using the actuators also.

 

Funny enough, I'm thinking about also mounting it in the radio position and then mounting a 2DIN CD/TV/DVD/GPS unit under the gauges instead.

 

Ive done the measurements based on Pioneer, Alpine and Kenwood chassis and fascias sizes which are W180mm H100mm and D165mm, there is a load of room there for them.

 

The fascia you see is off a Nissan 4W4, I paid US$45.00 mailed to me and got the hazard switch and wiring which I will end up using also, so I'm happy with the price and especially with the quality.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[salty]

thats looking good there, looks almost a mirror image of the Z guages facia..................hhmmmmmmm....posibilities there

[FLEXZED]

thats looking good there, looks almost a mirror image of the Z guages facia..................hhmmmmmmm....posibilities there

 

when you think like john and have a working brain the possibilties are endless

 

Loui

[Sirpent]

when you think like john and have a working brain the possibilities are endless

 

Loui

 

Yes and to think that the pshycologist at Sunny Brooke Sanitarium said my flights of fantasy would never amount to anything 

[chartoo]

Any more updates or pics of the front bumper...it was really interesting

[Sirpent]

Any more updates or pics of the front bumper...it was really interesting

 

Soon,

 

Just have to pull my finger out, have spoken to TOPSTAGE, the new member that does CF and will hopefully sort something out soon.

 

Cheers

 

John

[NZeder]

If I ever pop over to the ditch again I will make sure I bring a set of ZG Light Covers to test out too John

[Sirpent]

If I ever pop over to the ditch again I will make sure I bring a set of ZG Light Covers to test out too John

 

And then we just need to figure out how to put them into production.

[Brabham]

John,

 

do you know of anyone who makes a replica of the ZG headlight covers? Given the current price of originals, it must surely be viable for someone to produce them? Not sure if any of the guys in Japan do them, despite plenty of G-nose replicas.

 

Cheers and your zed will be a masterpiece of engineering once it is finished.

[nizm0zed]

Re: copying the Zg headlight covers,

Instead of doing any work today i was surfing the net, and reading (one of many) posts on Autospeed.com

The University of South Australia was building an ultralight car.

One of the jobs was getting a custom canopy made for it.

I dont see why it would be any different getting the ZG covers copied and reproduced.

"The canopy was blown by Ian Linke of Aviation Acrylic Mouldings, a specialist in blowing canopies for gliders."

http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110990/article.html (near the bottom)

 

As for the dash vents, that's going to look horn.... 

My first thought when looking at it was why not swap the vents and gauges, put the air vents at the top two outer positions, boost gauge in the middle and other gauges in the new 3 positions underneath it all.

You also mentioned putting a double DIN stereo in it. In mine i was planning on building a carputer and utilising a 10" touchscreen as the centrepeice.

Lately after seeing a cool youtube clip, i am now leaning towards making a mount for an ipad or similar tablet to sit in the dash, or simply have a small netbook connected to a screen mounted in the dash.

I figure i can get it all set up for the same price as an average double DIN unit, get better functions like GPS, camera inputs and recording, internet browsing (3G usb dongle) and have it easily removable so i can take it with me anywhere i go.

Heres the youtube clip i saw.

[Sirpent]

John,

 

do you know of anyone who makes a replica of the ZG headlight covers? Given the current price of originals, it must surely be viable for someone to produce them? Not sure if any of the guys in Japan do them, despite plenty of G-nose replicas.

 

Cheers and your zed will be a masterpiece of engineering once it is finished.

Re: copying the Zg headlight covers,

Instead of doing any work today i was surfing the net, and reading (one of many) posts on Autospeed.com

The University of South Australia was building an ultralight car.

One of the jobs was getting a custom canopy made for it.

I dont see why it would be any different getting the ZG covers copied and reproduced.

"The canopy was blown by Ian Linke of Aviation Acrylic Mouldings, a specialist in blowing canopies for gliders."

http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110990/article.html (near the bottom)

 

As for the dash vents, that's going to look horn.... 

My first thought when looking at it was why not swap the vents and gauges, put the air vents at the top two outer positions, boost gauge in the middle and other gauges in the new 3 positions underneath it all.

You also mentioned putting a double DIN stereo in it. In mine i was planning on building a carputer and utilising a 10" touchscreen as the centrepeice.

Lately after seeing a cool youtube clip, i am now leaning towards making a mount for an ipad or similar tablet to sit in the dash, or simply have a small netbook connected to a screen mounted in the dash.

I figure i can get it all set up for the same price as an average double DIN unit, get better functions like GPS, camera inputs and recording, internet browsing (3G usb dongle) and have it easily removable so i can take it with me anywhere i go.

Heres the youtube clip i saw.

 

Guys,

 

The covers wouldnt be that hard if someone like mentioned with a vacumm former was prepared to do it, the trick is to make a PUG of the form(s) to be able to do it, answer is yes I can do it, there isnt anything difficult about it, however once made how do you mount it?

 

NZ will confirm that the original ZG covers had formed stainless rings, to produce these would cost a fortune.

 

The only alternative I could think of when I was doing the nose (as NZ and I discussed this before) was to actually make a slip unit that slides into the bucket like a modern day headlamp complete with a HiD setup and bolts in place, this way you would have a uniform housing that looks like a ZG cover but in fact also acts as a housing.

 

This I would dare say would require injection moulding, once again a major expense but totally contemporary and modern if it was achieved.

 

With the 2DIN unit I have been looking at, it has Ipod connectivity GPS and TV apart from the DVD CD and tuner functions.

 

I want to do away with the ashtray even though I am a smoker and use the cavity as the position for the electric window switches and posibly an Ipod dock, time will tell.

 

Running the air vents to the upper guage pods would be a feat, very complex and to be honest it dosnt appeal to me, but having now looked at the 2 5/8 speedhut boost guages I think the clock will get the shift to the new vent centre local and the boost guage will take the upper position.

 

What I would like to say about all these mods is this, I have decided to go past a restoration and build what I would of liked to think a modern interpritation od a S30 would be, in doing so redisgning the ENTIRE wheel is pointless, the S30 has some classic features that are timeless, it's a shame that the boys in Tokyo took 20 odd years to figure that one out before they returned to a level of sanity with the 350Z

 

That intergrated Ipad vid is impressive, but I think that would be pushing an S30 hybrid way past the event horizon, this is the unit I like, the Kenwood DNX9140

[NZeder]

A bit of topic but since others have talked about the ZG thing here - ok I took one of my sets of ZG Light Cover over the neighbour to see what he thought. At the time he was working for a SS steet metalmaker/manufacture. He looked at the factory retaining rings then ask how much for a set - he said just but a spare set - it would be about 1/5 of the cost of getting the tooling done to make the rings.

 

So this really makes it too hard to replica 100% like the original unless you really really wanted to and won the lotto.

 

In the mean time I have 2 sets of ZG Light Covers - new and in the boxes still and given the cost of them now - I guess I have money in the bank/on the shelf