Whittie Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Similar to Dimitri, I have decided I am going to just stick my car on a truck to take it to the workshop without guards on and then re-install them as the very last thing that goes back on. I was being VERY careful and bent them, would hate to see what they look like if the mechanics lent on them changing engine/gearbox! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoota G Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I installed the 302 Cleveland in my 2+2 from underneath minus heads. It was so much easier than coming in from the top or linking up the trans later. Looking forward to more updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Well the house renos are just about done so I recon it's time to get back into the Zed but the elbow dents on the front guards have been getting to me so I made an executive decision and called the paintless dent remover. Watching these blokes work is truly amazing they gently push and prod with their levers and bingo dent gone. The first pics don't accurately show the sharp lines in the dents because there was too much light but they're gone and I feel way better now We know the car will go downhill once it hits the track again but we want it unblemished for the NDSOC Nationals next year so it's guards off untill it's going and tuned. Dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agno Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Good work Dad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Thanks Dad! Car looks nice and straight again and my pride (wallet) doesn't hurt too much either. As a small update, the brake kit arrived last week and Dimitri is sending the final few parts I need and we'll have everything needed to get it going again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 When the dent man was here I noticed some fine over spray so gave it a fifteen minute once over with my over spray clay and bingo all gone. I'm concerned that the guards will cop more damage if they're left on while the car is reassembled so have decided to remove and store all front panels until it's going again. Time to get serious about getting this rocket going again This will bring a smile to Tom's face Need to find a safe place for these now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Here's a pic of the inside of the front guard you can see roll on the lip and the coating of body sealer which I'm not convinced will stop stone damage At the recentl Zed Register day Wittie and I noticed a professionally prepared tarmac rally 260Z had foam under the guards so I figure if it's good enough for a professionally built car there must be good reasoning behind it so am sticking dense 12mm foam directly onto the rust proofing body deadener that's already there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 looks good... though just be careful that you aren't creating a spot for water to lay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaygZ Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 +1 for Benny I'm just guessing that the foam is there more for noise control rather than anything else. You wouldn't be able to hear yourself think, let alone the navigator, without them. They probably help prevent stone chips as well, but how many of them are you looking at on a track? I love this build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvemfast Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Some kind of shroud would be a better option. Without, you WILL DEFINATELY get stone chips with sticky tyres! (from experience) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks for your comments, we have considered the issue of retained water but as the guard and rust proofing is effectively brand new we consider the addition of foam will actually extend the life of the rust protection, without question a shroud would do a better job but an aim of this rebuild is weight reduction a metal shroud would be quite heavy and a plastic one is beyond our ability to fashion also the foam and adhesive will only add 25grams per side. The purpose of the foam is purely stone damage protection not noise control we had star dents in the guards before the rebuild caused by (kitty litter) stones being thrown up by sticky tyres on various race tracks we have found Phillip Island to be one of the worst and other than a shake down locally it's likely to be the cars first event. We accept that once the car hits the track it's condition will only go one way but a gradual decline and absence of solid objects is preferable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PZG302 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 From where all my dints from stones were under my guards the foam should work ok and not be a rust trap unless water can sit between the foam and the guard, which would be pretty hard to do looking at the pics. Looking forward to seeing this get on the tracck in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Todays exercise involved fitting the race seats so because the car is regularly double entered at events and both drivers have different seating positions we decided a solid mount wouldn't work we decided on using stock rails so the seats are easily adjustable unfortunately this is not a straight bolt up and required some fashioning and glassing but the end result is relatively low mounted seats allowing a greater range of movement than the previous drivers seat provided. Because the stock rails only lock on one side we have used two sets of rails on each seat so that now both sides lock the downside to that is it takes two hands to move the seat, I will work on a solution to that in time but it's not currently a priority. If I can get a bit done each day remain focussed and avoid posting silly cartoons we should be finished in plenty of time for the Nationals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Matching seats! You're a legend Dad, thanks! I've always wanted to see that pic: The one from the front showing how low the car is and the stupidly over-sized matching Sparco logo's For everyone playing along at home, these seats were the only ones I could find new that mount on the standard rails (mounting holes line-up anyway, a bit of work has been done to lower the seat) and clear the doors! That means that we will be located centrally to the steering wheel and pedals, unlike most solutions that require the driver to sit closer to the transmission tunnel. I never really thought I'd feel like it, but that cartoon rings far too true at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Zedman240® Posted November 14, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 14, 2012 I remember fitting my seats in the 240..lucky the 260 has a little more room as my seat tilts slightly towards the center of the car. Its nice to have matching front seats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Things are progressing steadily, the seats are done and back in storage, I'm currently checking all bolts and where a shorter length one can substitute the original it's being fitted, in all cases so far I'm saving between 10 and 20mm thread length per bolt in the end it could add up to a kilo or more of weight saving. We have previously had trouble with the top diff mount (strap) and actually broke a mustache bar once because of excess movement so modified the mount in an effort to solve the problem, it seams to work but really is a boy scout fix, Whittie and I discussed fabricating a top mount to replace the strap but instead Whittie turned to the net and found a great looking mount in the US interestingly shipping was the same for two as one so he bought an extra one which he will now sell off but I'm sure he'll post about that elsewhere later. The mounts arrived today (sure feels like Xmas round here right now) I was initially concerned at the weight so while the cook wasn't in I took out the kitchen scales and weighed them and to my delight the new robust no nonsense mount is a mere 200gms heavier than our current one Here's our stock mount with the boy scout mod Here's the new no nonsense one and a link to the manufacturer http://www.technoversions.com/DiffMountHome.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter t Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi, I have got one of those mounts in the bus as the old strap was a bit like yours. Just make sure you tighten the top nut before trimming the rubber block. I cut mine first and when I tightened the lock nut the block compressed and was left a bit short. Fixed it by inserting a small piece of rubber between the diff housing and the block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Haha, sounds like one of those classic D'OH moments we all have! At least it was easily fixed No wonder shipping was so much on these things tho, I only ordered then 5 days ago! How's that, faster to go US to AU than Sydney to Perth for parts :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Hi all It's taken a while to create a secure weather proof environment that is Council complaint where Whittie and I can get a clear run at putting the Zed back together without losing an hour or so in set up and put away time each time we look at it, I have now achieved that so there is no holding us back now. I have been playing with cars for the last 45 years and have had a number of both good and bad, fast and slow ones in that time and have put more than I care to remember up on jack stands but I have never experienced what I did today. The Zed chassis was really pretty flexible when we bought it but tightened up noticeably when we had the cage fitted it was easy to get onto four jack stands with each taking weight thereby providing a secure platform to work on, today I went through my normal process in jacking the car up and when finished I gave the car my usual security check shake and found it was only sitting on three stands so jacked up the free corner and to my amazement found it only required 10mil to take weight. Wow if we have ever been in doubt about about the benefit of the time Will has put inti this car those doubts have been dispelled right here, I can't weight to get this thing back onto the race track. I have been working on front indicator light placement and have looked at pics of UK and US cars and have settled on mounting the lights behind the grill to avoid cutting into it, the cardboard is to protect us from the exposed ag concrete floor when working under the car. Dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 13 January 2013 Folks, well today marks the first 13th day of the year – unlucky? I like 13, pity this is the 14th page of this thread (14!!!!). It’s also 6 months since I last did a proper update on this thread and 3 YEARS since I decided I was going to patch up this car. TT Aero (Dad) has been keeping track of a few photos in that time but I thought it was high time I sorted you all out with a decent feed of the latest update pics! I won’t bore you with the details (actually, I will, that’s what I do) but she finally looks like a car again! Queue photo binge: Here she is on stands, looking pretty with all new nuts, bolts and washers. I’ve been installing parts following the reverse order I took them out thanks to the freaking thousand photos I took along the way (BEST IDEA EVER!!!) and Dad has been keeping himself busy going around behind me and replacing every single nut, bolt, washer, screw, shim, you-name-it with the smallest amount of material possible to get the job done; Weight Loss: Where things can’t be replaced, they’re being made to look like new, take this brass brake distribution block for example: Excess of elbow grease lying around perhaps? The main goal for today was to get the car ready for the brake mechanic to build new brake lines, so with a custom dual master cylinder setup being part of the program with an in-car adjustable brake bias adjuster being required that meant the dash had to be installed before being sent off. The dash is in TERRIBLE condition compared to the rest of the car, but the roosterpit almost looks complete again: I was travelling to work on the car today and passed an HSV with the ‘pretend’ paint job that I’ve got now. I love this colour! The suspension has all been put back in again, along with the hand brake (all new plated and replacement parts). Here it is for your enjoying pleasure: Oh the rust!!! Dad has also been thinking of some unique ideas to get these ridiculous European indicators to function without destroying the looks of the car or the grille. This looks like a keeper: So there she is as I left her 3 hours ago, sitting high and mighty after some loving, looking forward to a new set of brake lines along with dual brake cylinders to make sure she stops faster than ever before. That would normally be the end of an update for me, but seeing as I’m a shameless self-promoter, and the Dakar episode I’m watching isn’t finished ye,t I’m going to leave you all with a couple short videos taken on the GoPro that I’ve picked up in anticipation of many more in car vids to come. At 12 years of age, my Dad bought me my first remote control car, a nitro methanol powered l WRX 2 door. 12 years later and electronic technology has advanced considerably and I find myself again looking to fill the racing urge while the blue yonder is still off the road. For the cost of a set of race tyres (almost) I’ve accumulated 4 remote control cars in the last 12 months that I’ve been campaigning with great enjoyment at the local tracks. Here is the 2 closest track demonstrated ‘on-board’ with a GoPro mounted on top of the battery of my 4x4 short course truck: Th-th-th-that's all folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Unfortunately guys I regret to inform you that I will not be entering the NDSOC nationals at Philip Island this year. Of the 9 weekends before Easter I will be unable to work on the car for 5 of those. Then allow that the motor still isn't finished, it would need to be run-in and shaken down and then on a truck 1 week out from the event that leaves me with 3 weekends to get it from where it is to running reliably and on a truck - it's just not possible. Bugger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvemfast Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Pull your finger out son! *shakes fist* Was looking forwards to seeing it before it got buggered from racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whittie Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Bathurst 2014 She'll still be a looker then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Zedman240® Posted January 18, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 18, 2013 Ohh...that was one zed I was hoping to see at the nats.. Next time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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