1976 280Z Restoration Project

[Namerow]

On 11/1/2016 at 10:10 PM, wheee! said:

I picked up a smaller 110v welder because the big MILLER 220v was blasting thru the metal on the lowest settings. Working much better now.

Can you tell us a little bit more about this?  What is the 110v unit that you bought?  What kind of wire are you using?  Shielding gas?  What amount of stick-out?  What power and wire speed did you settle on?

[wheee!]

Can you tell us a little bit more about this?  What is the 110v unit that you bought?  What kind of wire are you using?  Shielding gas?  What amount of stick-out?  What power and wire speed did you settle on?

I will get more details tomorrow when I'm back in the shop. Tonight is volleyball!
What I know now:
- it is a Blue Point 110v welder
- I'm using Blueshield Argon gas from Air Liquide
- wire type, stick out and settings to come...

[Captain Obvious]

Volleyball and Z's? You go brother!! I played last night! Tough match against a good team, but thankfully we won two out of three.

And now it's days like today that I wish I had power steering in the Z... 

[wheee!]

7 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Volleyball and Z's? You go brother!! I played last night! Tough match against a good team, but thankfully we won two out of three.

And now it's days like today that I wish I had power steering in the Z... 

My wife and I play on the Church mixed team. 2 hours of semi-competitive volleyball is fun! I play soccer and other sports with the military as well.

...and yes, the Z is getting power steering during the build!

[EuroDat]

Hey Mark,

Which method power stering are you planning to use, the Subaru rack & pinion or the electric system like grannyknot?

Nice fab work by the way.

Chas

[wheee!]

1 hour ago, EuroDat said:

Hey Mark,

Which method power stering are you planning to use, the Subaru rack & pinion or the electric system like grannyknot?

Nice fab work by the way.

Chas

I am on the fence at the moment as I haven't investigated either fully. Your opinion would go a long way in my decision...

 

[wheee!]

Special thanks to@zKars for hooking me up with a few missing valance parts! What a stand up guy...

[EuroDat]

Well, I have never done the swap, but I have spent a lot of time researching it and seen a couple of conversions on a 240Z and a 260Z.

If you go power rack &  pinion, you have some real options, but the main two imho are:

1. The subaru forrester or impreza. Around 2000 they changed the ratio lock to lock. It was about 3.5 and dropped down to 2.7. Ill have to dig up my info to confirm that. The 240Z and 280Z have about 2.7 lock to lock.

There are some mods to do to the cross member mounting points. The Subaru racks are a little different shape for the rubber.

You also need to replace the inner tie rods with Volvo S80 or Toyota Celica.

The lower control arms need to be repositioned 12mm further outwards to correct the steering geomentry. The subaru rack is 25mm longer. The celica tie rods will help correct this, but not enough. If you don't do this, bump steer will be a problem. Its also an opportunity to raise the anchor point an inch if you lower the car that much. Then you will need chamber plates or shortened lower control arms to correct camber.

Next is the pump and the 2000 onwards GM type II pumps seem to match the subaru rack nicely.

2. The BMW M3 series E36 is preffered because its also a 2.7 lock to lock. Can't remember what needs to done to fit it. The cross member need some modification to moutn tge rack and clear the engine mount.

Ill dig up my stuff and post it later.

[wheee!]

Seems like the bolt-in electric solution is a lot easier....

[grannyknot]

Yup,  it added about 15lbs, cost $145 total and is adjustable.  This is djwarner's thread, not sure why my name is coming up.

 

[wheee!]

Welder questions:




I know I have not answered specifically but I thought pictures might help...

Wire gauge is .6mm mild steel

[wheee!]

Added the floor support tonight.
Internal frame coating to protect the interior of the panel. Keep in mind the Bad Dog rails will go over these.