Z31 N/A RB project

[Captain Obvious]

LOL! Yeah, that wire is to run through a MIG. I've never used it, but that's what it's designed for. What isn't clear to me though is exactly the application. I was aware of the process of using silicon bronze being used as a brazing filler, but I never knew it was also used in a welding operation... Especially MIG. (My rudimentary understanding being the basic difference being in brazing, you do not melt the parent materials, but in welding you do melt the parent material.)

So in the few cycles of web searching that I did, I saw that silicon bronze MIG wire being used as welding filler when welding copper alloys together. I did not, however, see it being used to "weld" two steel pieces together.

So in the end I really don't know what the guy doing the work on five&dime's car is really intending to do on the car, but that's not important as long as he knows. If forced to guess, I was thinking he was going to whip out the torch and braze some silicon bronze into the previously spot welded seams on the chassis and then grind them smoother. The tight seams should encourage a good wick of the brazing material to be sucked into the gap and provide the strength needed to allow reduce the thickness of the materials with the grinder.

But that's all speculation on my part. For all I know, he's going to hit it with the MIG with a spool of that bronze wire in it. I'm way beyond my area of expertise.

[Captain Obvious]

16 hours ago, wheee! said:

I could bond to that...

Haha!!  

[five&dime]

All I know is that my body guy decided to bring in someone else to do this portion. He said the guy is a nuclear welder and the most experienced he knows. He wanted to factor in flex etc to make sure the paint would not crack. He assured me 100% that it would last and that I would be happy with the end result. Given the work so far, I trust his judgment. And as I said before, it's always a plus when the guy doing the work gets really excited about something like this. 

 

Thought I would also share an update on my other project car. The feature in Performance BMW magazine is finally out. US copies should be in stores soon.

 

If anyone never read the Petrolicious article, here it is too. 

 

https://petrolicious.com/articles/this-engine-swapped-six-speed-sedan-is-the-m7-that-bmw-never-built

 

For any who don't know, it's a 2001 BMW 740 M sport that I got from the original owner. 38k miles. I had a friend build an M5 S62 V8 before another friend swapped in the rebuilt engine, ESS supercharger, M5 6 speed, M5 diff with 4 clutch upgrade, 750 rear subframe with upgraded brakes, Brembo front BBK with 2 piece rotors, Bilstein HD shocks, H&R springs, UUC sway bars, modern BMW navigation/idrive, wrapped up with a custom dyed interior from tan to caramel/black. 

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by five&dime

[Patcon]

Beautiful!

[Captain Obvious]

11 hours ago, five&dime said:

All I know is that my body guy decided to bring in someone else to do this portion. He said the guy is a nuclear welder and the most experienced he knows.

Well don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning any of the decisions about the planned process and it sounds very interesting. I just don't understand it completely. 

Pics of the process would be cool. (Not that you like to take pics of the work in process or anything!     )

[Patcon]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

Well don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning any of the decisions about the planned process and it sounds very interesting. I just don't understand it completely. 

Pics of the process would be cool. (Not that you like to take pics of the work in process or anything!     )

I think pictures would be excellent. I would love to learn the how's and why's...

[five&dime]

I think I can manage on the pictures ? And now I am very interested about this as well and will have to ask some more questions. I hope to shoot over there while he is working too so I can capture some process photos this week. If this snow ever melts!!

[Captain Obvious]

That's right... You guys got hammered in this last storm, didn't you? We got nothing other than a couple clouds. One of those rare storms that goes south of PA and is still cold enough to snow. How does that Bimmer handle in the snow?  

My basic curiosity question about the seam work your guy is intending to do is... "Is he welding, or is he brazing?" If he whips out a torch (either an O-A rig or a TIG setup) then he's brazing. But if he loads a spool of that silicon bronze wire onto a MIG machine, then I'm not sure what he's doing. He'll know though.

In any event, pics or it didn't happen.    

[five&dime]

My body guy said it will be welded and is the same way that new Porsche's are put together. I told him I would love to get over there while he works with my good camera to catch some actual welding photos. 

Edited December 10, 2018 by five&dime

[five&dime]

Got myself a rear rare JDM bird. 1987 HR31 Nissan Skyline GTS-X. Bought it from a guy I know who has owned it for the last 2 years. With the 80's cars on the rise, I felt like this would be a good investment opportunity that I can enjoy for a bit while I refresh it. Overall it is in good shape and the guy has some spare body parts like bumper, grill and grill under trim section etc. Interior is in amazing shape. Big turbo RB20, exhaust, Fortune Auto coilovers, Volk wheels, 5 lug conversion, S13 front control arms, rare solid R31 rear bushings with HICAS delete, R32/Z32 brakes. I know the guys at Japanese Classics and out of all the cars they have brought over, 1500 were R32's and they have only been able to get 2 R31's! 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by five&dime

[five&dime]

Last pieces of the puzzle for the engine arrived. CP Carillo custom made high compression 11.6:1 pistons with WPC treated sides for better oil retention/friction reduction and ceramic coated domes for better thermal capacity. Should further help prevent detonation with pump gas. The lifter shims were the other pieces needed to finish the head. 

Here is the final rundown on the engine

RB25de block bored to 87mm

RB26dett NOS head with machined combustion chamber and port/polish

87mm CP 11.6:1 Pistons/wrist pins and rings

Nitto H beam rods

Nitto 77.7mm billet stroker 2.8L crank

Tomei 272 10.25 cams

Tomei adjustable cam gears

Tomei lifters

Tomei berrylium copper valve seats

Supertech oversized valves

Supertech dual 243lb springs

Ti retainers

R34 GTR N1 oil pump with Spool billet gears

R34 GTR N1 water pump

Negun Z31/RB oil pan

Haltec 2500 ECU

Ross hall sensor crank fire trigger wheel setup

Also including a few updated shots of the Skyline as I refresh it. Waiting on my friends at Japan Parts Service to find me a 4th R32 wheel so I can sell these Rays/Volks. So far I raised the suspension up, removed the tint, put the stock shift knob back on, found a used stock steering wheel that's on the way along with a used non pitted front grill and non broken front bumper/headlight trim piece. Just trying to get it looking really clean and address any little issues, fixing rattles etc. The plan is to hold onto it for a bit while the 80's-90's car continue to climb and cash out for profit since these R31's are so rare. As the new chassis's become available here in the states, the older ones continue to climb in price. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by five&dime

[five&dime]

Dropped the last of the engine parts off with the machinist. And some updates on the engine bay seam welding.