Jump to content

Kato Kids BMW M3 powered 71' 240Z


KatoKid

Recommended Posts

This engine in a much lighter S30 body will be something else.

 

That's what I'm expecting....E36 is 1450 kg and my car should be between 1100 and 1150kg so at least 3 x big blokes lighter!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is a great idea specialp3 and it looks great in your photo (as does everything else!).

 

Did you use normal heat shrink or the newer-style with glue lining? It seems to me that the glue lining might help it stay in place better and might help in forming a sealed end.

 

The only thing to be careful of, however, is that the glue lined type has a shrink ratio of 4:1 compared to 2:1, so you would need to size it appropriately.

It is also less flexible than normal heat shrink, but that shouldn't matter here.

 

The good thing about using heat shrink is that its pretty cheap and you could easily remove it and try again if you mess up first go.

Just normal old jay car shrink.

 

Been in the engine now for 5 years and is still prefect.

 

I have seen that you can now buy heat shrink that is like a sock so you can have the ends of the wiring tags covered. Will get to redoing this one day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Moving on to other things.....I'm going to use the dreaded R31 rear calipers and have followed Scoota's updates and recommendations http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/7330-tutorial-r31-skyline-rear-disc-conversion-for-240260z-new-300mm-rotor-conversion-sep2016/ 

 

I filled and finished the original mounting holes in the brackets and had an engineering shop machine the bore of the caliper brackets as required. No offence to Scoota (Mark) but I didn't want to risk the engineer knocking back the significantly modified brackets so I've elected to leave them pretty well untouched and have ground areas of the hub casting to get the brackets to fit and to rotate upwards as much as possible from the normal 3:00 o'clock position as per Mark's suggestions, hopefully this will be enough!

 

Grinding the hub casting was pretty easy and didn't take long.....probably easier than modifying the brackets.

 

attachicon.gifRear caliper bracket 3.jpg attachicon.gifRear caliper bracket 2.jpg attachicon.gifRear caliper bracket 4.jpg attachicon.gifRear caliper bracket 1.jpg

Hi Dave, 

 

Very nice.

 

Stewart Wilkins has a disc rear end that we developed when I built my car, it retains the original handbrake and works extremely well. I know he has ready to bolt on kits available. Many hours (50 if I remember right) went into to making this work for engineer approvals.

 

I haven't followed your entire thread so not sure what front brakes you are using, the matching 4 pot Nissan callipers on the front does look good :)

 

The attached photos are not great but give you an idea.

 

I am unsure of forum etiquette so let me know if attaching photos to your thread is not cool. 

post-101180-0-81226000-1484815498_thumb.jpg

post-101180-0-11901100-1484815508_thumb.jpg

post-101180-0-71728900-1484815516_thumb.jpg

post-101180-0-58227300-1484815554_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Aaron.....all good with the photos.....that's what it's all about, helping each other out.

 

Didn't know SW did this, I've come this far so will see if I can make it work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Its been a couple of frustrating weeks......hot, and my shed is like an oven....plus sealing and electrical gremlins.

 

When I first started the engine in the car everything was fine except the fuel gauge was doing weird things and certainly not reading correctly. I had calibrated the sender before the dash even went into the car and was confident this was correct so I started to dig into it but couldn't find any issues. I thought it was a problem with the sender in the tank so I removed the tank and probably just as well as the supposed nitrile rubber gasket I had made for the fuel module was being eaten by the fuel.

post-101170-0-06281900-1486891906_thumb.jpg

 

All the research I did and a few phone calls said that nitrile was the correct choice but it certainly wasn't working for me! I bought another piece of nitrile from another suppler but it looked and felt exactly the same as the original piece I used to make the gasket so I decided to use rubberized cork which is a more traditional material.

post-101170-0-02089400-1486891879_thumb.jpg

 

The cork looks and feels really robust but I'm still not convinced so I'm doing my own shed durability testing to try and confirm the best material. 

post-101170-0-90021800-1486891880_thumb.jpg

 

 

I checked the sender on the fuel module and all looked good. When I tried to re-calibrate I realized something was wrong and when I checked the gauge I found the earth point I had used was dodgy....so I pulled the tank for no reason but lucky I had anyway!

 

I put everything back together and ran the engine to check for leaks, all was good for a few minutes and then the engine stopped....uh oh... this isn't good. Initial investigations said the fuel pump wasn't working. The pump is controlled by the ECU and it seemed to be getting power when required but wasn't working all the time, it would run for a few seconds and then stop and when I recycled the ignition it would run again and then stop once it had built some pressure....very weird. I checked my wiring harness and earths and everything seemed in order and tried running external power full time to eliminate ECU issues but still no luck. My trusty multimeter told me the fuel pump was going open circuit when it stopped had continuity at other times, I hadn't touched the fuel pump or wiring when I was checking the sender but something wasn't right ...so time to pull the tank again! Cutting a very long story short..... where the pump earth wire connects inside the fuel module had a loose and poor connection and I could see where it had been arcing which had made the connection progressively worse. The pump would run but as soon as it built some pressure and started to draw more amps it would stop due to the poor connection. I cleaned this up and put some more tension on the connector and all was good.....much relief to have clearly identified the problem as I was worried I would put it back together and it would run fine but without really identifying the issue......only for it to rear its head and some time a long way from home! Fugging electrickery.

 

On to some good news....all of my suspension bushes arrived from  zcarsource.com. I went with rubber instead of urethane (cos not racecar) and also bought ball joints, spindle pins and cotter pins. The front sway bay pivots and mustache bar bushes ended up being urethane which I was a bit annoyed about but wont use the mustache bar bushes anyway, everything else was genuine Nissan except the ball joints.

post-101170-0-79194300-1486894170_thumb.jpg

 

Time to bolt the diff in but it needed a good clean and repaint beforehand ......its a R200 3.7 with a Kaaz two way LSD and the front mount for the RT mount is on as well.

post-101170-0-99253300-1486894195_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-87661100-1486894197_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-96293000-1486894199_thumb.jpg

 

The factory ZF 5 speed I'm running is not an overdrive 4.20 (1), 2.49 (2), 1.66 (3), 1.24 (4), 1.00 (5) with 5th gear being 1:1 the acceleration should be...um....swiftish, especially considering the donor car had a 3.15:1 final drive. It might be a bit frantic and I could be be looking for a taller diff ratio eventually but its got a 7,500 rpm red line so I may as well use it :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Hi Dave

 

I have to agree with your comment "Fugging electrickery" I reckon we have all been caught out by this black magic - I know I have.

 

Cheers

 

PB

Edited by PB260Z
Link to comment
Share on other sites

...all of my suspension bushes arrived from  zcarsource.com. I went with rubber instead of urethane (cos not racecar)...

 

David. 'Squeak'... I also went for ... 'squeak' ... rubber instead of ... 'squeak' ... polyurethane. When I installed them ... 'squeak' ... I didn't use any rubber grease... 'squeak'. I would suggest... 'squeak'... you do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A word of advice Dave - ditch the RT diff mount & buy a SWM modified cross-member instead.

The RT unit transmits unpleasant NVH into the car.

 

I'm kinda committed with this set up as I need to control pinion angle due to BMW guibo joint drive train angularity thingy. Whats the SW set up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Dave,

 

I have attached a phone shot of an SW diff mount.  

 

Cheers,

 

Geoff

 

OOPS!!  I have made several attempts and the shot won't load, probably my inferior computer skills!! I will try and sort it out.

Edited by ZED660
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys.

 

SW set up won't fit due to the way I've modified the cross-member to run the exhaust.

post-101170-0-39193700-1486931381_thumb.jpg

 

I will see how it goes and if needs be make some changes within the constraints I have to work with, the Energy Suspension mount is a captive type so cant separate.

 

Cheers

Edited by KatoKid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Dave

 

I have to agree with your comment "Fugging electrickery" I reckon we have all been caught out by this black magic - I know I have.

 

Cheers

 

PB

 

 

Truth is PB that the problem was caused by the poor quality non genuine fuel module and components.....but trickery is still trickery!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm kinda committed with this set up as I need to control pinion angle due to BMW guibo joint drive train angularity thingy. Whats the SW set up?

 

Understandable Dave, but I would seriously look at making the SWM cross-member work.

 

Edit - Fair nuff mate.

Edited by Lurch ™
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making some significant headway now.

 

Shifter and handbrake assembly's are in:

post-101170-0-58948900-1487115561_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-57459000-1487115581_thumb.jpg

 

Moustache bar and diff:

post-101170-0-79937300-1487115794_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-62580600-1487115832_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-84247200-1487116181_thumb.jpg

 

Rear suspension with new spindle pins and OEM bushes (plenty of anti size and no squeak rubber grease Peter Allen):

post-101170-0-93114100-1487116428_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-04640000-1487116431_thumb.jpg

 

Rear hubs and brakes are temporarily installed as I need to be sure I can get the dreaded R31 handbrake to work satisfactorily ....which I think I have....more to come in the next post!

post-101170-0-97960300-1487116626_thumb.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I expected to be a right royal pain the ass actually turned out to be one of the easiest parts of the build......the R31 handbrake.

 

I need to preface this by saying that I bought a new reproduction handbrake cable from eBay a while ago as my original cable was totally seized and couldn't be resurrected and the reproduction handbrake cable (I think) was slightly different in dimensions than the original. 

 

I had already made the changes to the caliper bracket a few posts back so the calipers just bolted on and the cable attached perfectly to the cable bracket on the caliper without modification. All the previous posts I had read on this conversion required shortening of this cable bracket on the caliper.....not sure why.

post-101170-0-45434100-1487198437_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-59710800-1487198439_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-52419200-1487198441_thumb.jpg

 

I installed and adjusted out all the free-play under the tunnel and tried the handbrake, it was clear I had the same problem as everyone else.....the handbrake went all the way through its travel and was like pulling on a rubber band and still didn't lock the rear discs. It was pretty obvious that the issue was that the fulcrum point where the cable attaches was too close to the pivot point meaning there was insufficient travel. I mocked up a bolt on bracket to confirm how much I had to move the fulcrum point and how much travel was required, tried it out and was pleasantly surprised that the handbrake worked really well with 6 clicks of movement to provide good locking on of the discs and seven clicks if I really reefed on it,,,,and it also felt right with none of the elasticity of before without requiring too much pressure for adequate locking. I welded on the proper fulcrum extension and gave it two holes for adjustment and rechecked how it works but the furthermost hole clearly works best.

post-101170-0-12711800-1487199866_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-30040400-1487199868_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-26780500-1487199870_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-33148000-1487199872_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-37988000-1487199874_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-49328200-1487199876_thumb.jpg

 

With the caliper brackets sitting in the upwards rotated position you can use the original Skyline rubber hose....but you require a bubble flare on the hard line end, not the original double inverted type. You can buy an adapter if you want http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-46703-788-522.aspx?origin=keyword but I'm going to get custom braided hoses which will have the correct ends on it. 

post-101170-0-20418100-1487200750_thumb.jpg

 

I cant budge the rear disc using a long  breaker bar but will reserve final judgement on this conversion when I can actually drive the car. I still need to secure the cables so they don't rub on the CV shafts but this wont be hard. The only downside I can see is the need to rotate the caliper to bleed properly but don't think it will be an issue.

 

All parts need to go to for plating now and then on to the front suspension.

 

Cheers

Edited by KatoKid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Hi,

 

It is funny how sometimes the steps you are dreading turn out to be much easier than expected - shame this doesn't happen more often.

That fix to the fulcrum problem is a very neat and simple fix.

Have added that to list of jobs to do on the bus.

 

Cheers

 

PB

Edited by PB260Z
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good. Found when doing a mates car that having the rear short bracket in line with the longer front bracket that the rear would bind at full extension. Found rotating to rear of car a good 10 to 20deg helped but required shortening some links from memory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a big win today thanks to Gordo....

 

I have 16x8 wheels that I really love and intend to run on this car but it wont get through engineering with wheels this width so I need to go down to 7 inch wide and hope the engineer will be OK with them as technically they are border line according to NCOP. 16x7 inch wheels are not easy to find but 15x7 are plentiful so I was on the hunt for some 15x7 rims, problem is I wasn't sure my big brake conversion would fit under 15 inch wheels. Gordo came to the rescue and said I could try his spare set and I was very relieved to find they fit.....about 10-15mm clearance diameter wise and the 2-3mm clearance on the calipers which was the big potential issue but which will also vary considerably from wheel to wheel design.

 

post-101170-0-29338400-1487497151_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-45906700-1487497153_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-51152900-1487497155_thumb.jpg

 

Thanks Gordo!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Front suspension is done with all new bushes and ball joints.

 

If you ever have front struts modified by MCA or others remember to remove the front brake hose bracket before you send them away and then you will have to weld them back on.

post-101170-0-46378200-1487656537_thumb.jpg

 

Apart from the fact that they are R33 brakes can anyone pick whats odd/different about the brakes in these shots.....gold star for the first person who gets it right!

post-101170-0-49806700-1487656539_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-66213500-1487656541_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-91915200-1487656543_thumb.jpg post-101170-0-23718100-1487656546_thumb.jpg

Edited by KatoKid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...