I wouldn't be too concerned about that in a front-ender... Most of the front-shmucked S30's i've seen have nothing left in front of the strut towers. everything behind is usually tweaked an inch or so. 

 

  On 12/8/2016 at 9:20 PM, Careless said:

I wouldn't be too concerned about that in a front-ender... Most of the front-shmucked S30's i've seen have nothing left in front of the strut towers. everything behind is usually tweaked an inch or so. 

 

That thought occurred to me.  If you hit hard enough to push those back you'd probably die anyway.  

  On 12/8/2016 at 9:57 PM, ksechler said:

That thought occurred to me.  If you hit hard enough to push those back you'd probably die anyway.  

The steering wheel shaft would be poking out my spine before those braces hit me.

Here are some pics of the under fender stiffening I'm thinking about, the notched stiffening plate where the crossmember bolts on had to be rebuilt anyway so stealing ideas from disepyon and wheee I rebuilt them and extended the 12ga plate right up to the top of the shock tower so there is a one piece connection.

Nothing is welded in yet, still lots of fitting, These next two braces I have seen on a few track cars and appear to connect the rockers to the front quite well, the diagonal brace will be welded to 5 different sections.

Found when I put the wheel on that I'm pretty close to the limit on certain things,Also had to remove and rebuild the bumper supports so I could repair the rust behind them.

Those are known as "Gacchiri Supports" in JDM-speak, though most manufacturers of similar units always tie into the door hinge bolts. And they're highly effective when used in conjunction with a strut tower bar. you'll see a noticeable improvement if the rest of the front end isn't made of jello.

lookin' good!

 

 

  On 12/9/2016 at 3:15 AM, Careless said:

Those are known as "Gacchiri Supports" in JDM-speak,

Which ones specifically?

triangulated bars that connect from the door hinge area and the outside pedal box area to somewhere around the strut towers

Thanks Careless. I thought that might be the case but didn't want to assume

  On 12/9/2016 at 3:15 AM, Careless said:

Those are known as "Gacchiri Supports"

So that's what they are called, being an aftermarket bolt on product, using the door hinges make sense but on a Z the door hinges are so close together there wouldn't be much of a base to the triangle.  Finished off the rest of the triangle today, once everything is welded in place I will make patches to seal around that upper brace, total weight for all the bracing will be just under 19lbs. Now is all this really necessary... probably not but I'm still not sure how far I'm going to go with the power output or how much time will be spent on the track. Easier to do now with no regrets later on.

Adapted the stock shifter boot to fit the new stick shift,

Incredible work here!

Wow, just wow... This car is really going to be something special!

  On 12/10/2016 at 5:49 PM, wheee! said:

Incredible work here!

 

  On 12/10/2016 at 6:21 PM, RyanT67 said:

Wow, just wow... This car is really going to be something special!

Thanks boys, Ryan, when I get it done you can take it out for a rip.

I spent several hours today re tapping all the stock welded in nuts, there is got to be over a hundred and as soon as you think you have all of them done, you find more. I was tapping the front sway bar nuts in the frame when I felt the nut break off inside, so I cut into the frame to rescue my tap and repair the bracket inside, there was virtually nothing left of it.

In the pic below the driver side sway bar bracket in on the right, what is left of it  but the frame around it is still good, passenger side on the left still whole and pretty solid. Very strange, anyway I rebuilt them and upped the strength a bit since I'll be installing a thicker sway bar.

I ordered 16 new wheel studs and when I started replacing them I noticed that there was only 11mm of thread on each stud holding the wheels on, I think the general rule is 1.5  times the dia. of the stud(12mm) of engaged thread.  The rear studs are a little longer to compensate for the thickness of the brake drum.

I guess the studs where sized for the stock steel wheels and it`s the aftermarket aluminum wheels that are pushing the limit.  After 45 yrs and dozens if not hundreds of times having the nuts run up and down those threads I guess it`s time for some fresh studs and nuts.

  On 12/10/2016 at 12:22 AM, grannyknot said:

So that's what they are called, being an aftermarket bolt on product, using the door hinges make sense but on a Z the door hinges are so close together there wouldn't be much of a base to the triangle. 

you're absolutely right. I would do it the way you've done it as well for the same reason.

but before you weld that up solid, i'd slap a baseplate behind that bottom corner bar like you would on a roll cage intrusion bar.

i like the through-hole cut on the top length, too. purdy nifty.