PeterAllen

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"Please explain" - I was aware the LS2 onwards starters were shorter in length than the LS1 but I haven't heard of a solenoid configuration other than 'on top'. I can hardly fit a Tally-Ho between my solenoid and the headers.

Gee, how much longer are you going to take to get that motor finished and installed?

Got some of the items back today, including some belonging to George.

It shouldn't bind as the barrel nuts will swivel inside the clevis.

It appears that whoever built that set up used the black spacers rather than the jam nuts, leaving the adjusting shaft free to vibrate to a different setting. 'Jam nuts' seems to be an appropriate phrase in relation to the brake builder. If the builder couldn't bleed the brakes then, again, I'd be looking at the capacity of the front M/C and whether it is big enough to feed the front calipers.

So every time you reset the bias you have to have new 'black sleeves' made to suit? I'm asking these questions in an effort to help. I'm sure if we were standing next to the car holding a tinnie we would be communication far better.

Is your front M/C big enough to cope with piston displacement in the front calipers?

Also, what actually locks the balance bar in position. I can't see a lock nut on the rod end bearings threaded onto the balance bar. Am I missing something... as usual?

What you have there relates to pedal effort not bias. Bias is adjusted by screwing the balance bar which is connected to the two plungers coming out of the M/Cs. A good starting point is to drive the car slowly on a dirt/gravel surface and slowly apply the brakes. Adjust the balance so that the fronts will lock before the car stalls, i.e. before the rears stop the drivetrain. I don't quite understand what those 'black' spacers are on the balance bar, doesn't the the balance bar screw through the centre pivot point?

I don't know what was around 22 years ago but here are two I know of built in Oz. Digby Cook's http://www.xj-13.co.uk/xj13-replicas-big-red.php John Wilson's http://www.vehicleengineering.com.au/xj13.htm Replicas in general http://www.xj-13.co.uk/xj13-replicas.php

You can do it at TAFE, just ask Gary or Mark. It's often referred to as Lead Wiping.

Lachlan, you got it in one. This is the only Gullwing they made. Your dad probably raced against a few. (edit) Having taken a little time to contemplate this I realise a similarity, beyond appearance, with my GTO. The Milanos were (usually) built on top of 40s/50s MGs which were worth little by the 60s, when the Milano kits were produced, but are now quite valuable. Likewise the GTO kits were popular in the 80s-90s when S30 were very cheap, and now that S30s are more valuable again there are few GTOs (1)? being built.

I agree with Lachlan that the structural integrity is highly dependent on the sills rather than the rails. However, every bit helps and one advantage of full length rails is that you can create fixing points to tie them together at the rear (and the front), i.e. create a ladder structure, rather than use the standard Datsun bolt-on rear control arms cross-brace. It also gives you more options for alternative diffs. I regret I didn't do it, but, I did create fixing points for a new gearbox mount which will give you some idea of the sleeve type fixing points I'm suggesting. I also ran an extra bit of weld securing the rails to the floor in that area.

For a start I can’t give even an estimate on what it would cost all up to do this install. There is a lot of metal fabrication and if you were to pay a commercial workshop it could be expensive. I am fortunate to be able to do most of the shaping, forming and welding myself and I have a brother-in-law who has a lathe and each turned component cost me a bottle of Jack Daniels. The good news is there was no modifications required to the car itself… everything is bolt-on. The LSD diff I used (3.46) came fitted to the wrecked 2005 VZ SS Ute I purchased for its LS1 motor and T56 gearbox I have also installed. These diffs have been around for about a decade so they are cheap and plentiful. I actually bought a taller one (3.07) off eBay for $150. In attaching to the two rear moustache bar mounts I was fortunate to buy just the bushing housings from the mob which make the moustache bars for Arizona Z but they’ve stopped selling now. Don’t ask Dave for them as he will only sell the complete bar set-up. I suspect you could also cut these off an existing bar and weld or bolts them to your own moustache bar. Remember that Datsun moustache bars are made from spring steel so bolting would be preferable to welding. For the moustache bar I used 50mm x 25mm steel tube and I welded in sleeves, to prevent crushing, for the four bolts holding the mount housings on each end and for the two bolts attaching the main rear diff mount plate. The picture of the rear diff mount plate probably explains it more than any words I can string together. It is triangulated by being secured with three large bolts which came with its original install into a Holden. I probably went through a dozen designs and prototypes for the front mount before settling on what I have. The problem was to use the existing mounting points (for the Datsun diff tie-down strap) which were well forward of the front mounting points on the Holden diff. We turned up our own red polyurethane bushes (a bottle of Jack Daniels) which was a PITA so I would see if a suitable sized commercially available bushing was available in future. Again a picture is worth a thousand words. One difficulty with the front mount is the Holden rubber tailshaft coupling I’m using in lieu of a standard universal joint rotates close to the new mount and countersunk bolts are required. Unfortunately nobody manufactures these 10mm (or is 12mm?) with a fine thread. I bought longer bolts with some plain shank and cut a fine thread on the lathe and then cut the bolt to length, i.e. another bottle Jack Daniels! To use the Holden CVs a coupling was machined to mate to the Datsun stub axle coupling. Yet another bottle of Jack! Again pictures explain it all. The Holden CV is a universal type best known as a Porsche 930 CV. They are used extensively in off road buggies and this has the added advantage of there being drive shafts (USA =axles) available cheaply. Holdens are usually fitted with different CV, inners and outers. One is a fixed type (27 splines) and one is a 'plunge' type (28 splines). Use only the plunge type CVs so make sure you get shafts/axles with 28 splined ends, not the 33. Unfortunately none are the exact length – 350mm – so you need to buy a pair of 15 5/8” shafts and cut them down to length. You then need to machine two circlip grooves into each splined sections to secure the CVs. i.e. yet another bottle of Jack! The overall set-up. Because this whole project is a hobby to me the process was undertaken incrementally over quite a long time period – I’m enjoying the journey! However, now that I have written this I can see that it’s probably quite daunting to someone without cheap access to machining. I do have drawings and templates available to anyone who is GENUINELY going to go ahead with an install.

Don't rely on hearsay, however well intended it may be. Phone the RMS Technical Enquiries number (1300 360 782), write down what they say, the time of your call and the officer's name.

It is the one area which will get away from you. I had two trips to Bunnings, one to Southern Fasteners and one to AutuOne yesterday... $100... just like that. Oh, did I mention I have a shed full of useless stuff I bought on ebay which "seemed like a good idea at the time"! Let me also add you could be dead tomorrow, so go for it.

George - At my best reckoning you are about half right! 'Other' will be directly proportional on how much you do yourself. $5k is very optimistic.

Getting the steering rack ready and I noticed the bolt shown in the photo. A quick look on Google images shows a grease nipple in lieu of the bolt in some images. What should be there? Also reworked the bushing (260Z I think) to mate with the contour of the rack I have (240Z?). Note, the photo only shows the process - a fair bit of material needed to be removed.

Good news Adam, and glad the rear end stood up to it. What was the outcome of the earlier issue?

Does anyone know if rubber/plastic components can be retained on items while they are plated - Zinc plating with yellow passivating? I know the striker plates for the door latches have rubber pads riveted to them and I believe the headlight cones also have plastic clips which are apparently fixed to the cone I'm going to ask the plater but I wondered if anyone had experience with this? Edit - Oops, I've just discovered that the rubber buffer in the striker plate can be removed.

Thanks Gavin but I don't have any of those items on my car. Gilltech - Thanks for the tip on preparing the parts, I had assumed (!) the plater would prepare them so I'll now have to clean them up. I want to keep the 'bling' to a minimum so I've painted most items and I only want to plate these because they are retained by bolt, nut or clip and the paint would be removed when they were fitted.