Well, so far I want to say we cut a little over 800lbs and I think I will get rid of another 100lbs with a few other mods. Basically we took the entire car and cut off every bracket that we did not need. From subframe brackets, swiss cheesing a few panels, lighter replacement panels (ie, hatch), emission deletes....basically everything.
Don't exist here in the States for starters. There are fiberglass doors but they just fit like crap. So, I figured I would have to put countless hours putting them into the doors to make them look like oem doors OR I could simply use the lighter slicktop doors that came with car and gut them. I kept the intrustion bars for extra protection as the car will the see the road from time to time. Actually I went a little overboard on protection. The whole car is structure foam injected, then there is the cage with pushed out NASCAR style bars and lastly the stock door intrusion beam was maintained for an extra margin of safety. I never fear rear or front impacts, but the side ones are usually what causes massive damage to cars and drivers as it's the area most suseptible (check spell) to structure weakness.
Had a bit of time between all the chaos of the Xmas holidays to put some time into the project. Needed to cut and bevel in a section for the back window support braces. Used a dremel and a variation of bits to get there. I needed to form the alumimum to the original contours of the glass. So I used the orig glass as a template and began forming. I initially heated the aluminum bar to spread out the molecules which makes for a smoother easier bend, a good trick, especially when working with aluminum. After a little bit of work. Came out pretty flush. I still will punch holes in the aluminum bar to shave off a few ounces before final install of course. I picked up a so-so condition stock aluminum hood to start the mock-up process for the hood vent. After a lot of measurment and eyeballing, cut the hole out. I remember Kuah stating how much of a pain this way, and now I know why. The flat vent does not fit well with the slope of the hood. Positioning is dead on. But I will have to head gun and cut stress sections into the fiberglass vent before reinforcing it. It's not bad but the goal is flush. ********************************************************** And I got started on painting the jams on the track car with the new color... Dupont Hothues Hot Rod Black. I ended up wanting to do the jams myself as shops never ever do it the way I want. So.....I did it myself. Here is a quick time lapse. Dis-assembly. Sanding, scoth padding and surface prep. Masking off. Jams shot. Removed masking. Here are a few random shots of how I masked the car off. And some shots of the color on the car. Again, it's a professional flat black from Dupont. A pint with a kit will get you around $175-$200. I still plan to shoot the whole car which will probably be another $700 in materials most likely. The color itself is a true flat black and looks good, rattle can doesn't even touch it. And with the jams painted up, I started install on a few things. Had a new front windshield installed into the Z to keep it street legal. New glass installed.
You probably should, it definitely fits the bill and then some. I signed up and read through your whole thread on 300ZXC but am not allowed to post so could not congratulate you on your work. I take it from the aluminium struts that the lexan was not stiff enough by itself for the back window? Any idea how much your new CF hatch and lexan window weigh?The factory metal and glass one is incredibly heavy so it has to be a huge saving I'd imagine. Plenty more questions to come.... Great work
Awesome read!!! Incredible worksmanship, keep it up, you're resetting the bar on craftsmanship here I think
Yeah mate this is one of my most favourite build threads. Love the attention to detail. Keep up the posts.
A "sort of" update. Got a few things back from the powdercoaters. I was going for a matching gold color that is currently on my Gram Lights. I love the color and spent about a week finding the color for a near exact match. I'll have these SPL Solid bushings pushed into them soon. Had all the undercarriage bracing redone in red as well (ie, Dave G's undercarriage brace and UAS front brace). Below are some pics of the diff cover that I have had for a while now. Going to have whole thing coated in a heat extractor coating to pull as much heat of off the diff as I can. The original stock unit. Just got my new studs in. Will install these soon as well. Cut a few more things off the car as well. Brake shields
Weird stuff? All Sig Pics and other graphics are showing, but not linked pics. Just did a reboot of my PC(and my wireless modem)and all the missing pics are here now? I hate computers(computers hate me). Nothing unusual there!:rofl::br:
Just another thing On a long list i would hazard a guess. I hate computers(computers hate me). Nothing unusual there!:rofl::br:[/QUOTE]
Some more pics. Finished pressing the bushings in. Wasn't too bad. Threw the bushings in the freezer and lubed them up. Went in with a little love from the a BFM (aka, Big F*cking Mallet). Note - if you powdercoat the subframe you will need to massage the hole they will slide into a bit, just saying. Tolerances are pretty damn thin and dead on, props to Kuah on that one. Rear Diff bushings. These were probably the toughest, but not that tough. Started to assemble the newly painted tranny mount with the SPL tranny mount as well. Again, a very well done piece. Been sitting on this piece for a year. All done. Pretty simple to install. It does get rid of the mid hangers for the mid pipe. That didn't matter to me but it does to others. I like it. *shrug* Installed on the tranny and made an extension for the vent fitting on the tranny. I've heard of guys blowing fluid on the side of the tranny, this is just to keep it on the ground and not soo much on the underside. Got these done at the same time. The Dave G. rear brace and Unique Autosports (aka, UAS) front brace. Dave is probably going to shoot me for powdercoating those amazing welds but had to do it. Got an untouched one on the daily as I love looking at it in the raw. These came out nice though. I'll have some beginning engine pics in the next coming days and hopefully completed front and rear bumper diffusers soon.
[/QUOTE] No real problem slotting you into the list(under "W", with cross-references to "R" & "L").:rofl::br:
Nice red front end brace Nice work and strong chassis. What foam material did you use to fill chassis rails? Also you should look at changing your rear squat angle for better traction.
What density What density is the foam and how much was it ? I could not seem to find pics or details how you applied it?
wow this build is crazy. i spent ages removing brackets, wires and sound deadener out of mine and now you've shown me way more stuff i can still take out. how are you going to be allowed to drive it on the road?
