Z31 N/A RB project

[Patcon]

On 1/30/2019 at 7:52 PM, five&dime said:

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

 

Did you ever get's any pics of the welding in progress? I am interested to see how that was done and what materials were used.

[five&dime]

I didn't get any of the expert welder in process. The body guy told me they used hardened steel in some places and silicone bronze in others IIRC. They also burned out the old seam sealer. Apparently it is quite the job and they were having to hold a big metal spoon or something on the back side while welding up the mutli layer seams on the frame rails. Lot of work now but I really think it will all pay off in the end. This is the one and only car I will ever take this far. I almost backed out of the seam welding to be honest but I think this build deserves it. 

Edited February 3, 2019 by five&dime

[grannyknot]

@five&dime,  your mention of the Silicon/Bronze Mig brazing got me curious so I p/u a reel and started playing around, fantastic stuff, very versatile, perfect for panel repairs as there is little to no heat warping.  So thanks for that.

[Diseazd]

I went with Brandon to check on his Z31 project. We dropped off the wall sculpture for his body man to work his magic on. It’ll have new trim, quarter window, mirror, door handle and Series I emblem. It’ll hang on the wall of my office......going to be fun to see what he does with it.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Diseazd

[five&dime]

Very cool that you were able to find something new! He used a mini inverted tig welder for this but yes, he said it's very useful for the thin sheet metal. 

 

Can't wait to see the sculpture all done! He said he was going to start painting within a few weeks so it will be exciting to see color on both!

[five&dime]

Few updates on the Z31. Slow and steady. 

Also for anyone interested, my BMW E38 is up on bringatrailer and ends in 2 days. 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-740i-27/

[five&dime]

My machinist called me yesterday to say last chance to get pics before it starts going together. 

While I was there he ran the crank on the balancer and said it's within NASCAR tolerance. He checked all the pistons and removed some weight to get them balanced and he had to slightly hone out the rods for the wrist pins. 

CP said they wanted .0015 gap from piston to deck height at TDC and with the slight decking to get the block clean, it's slightly less than that at .00135 so after he does the final flow bench test on the head to check how much improvement was made, he can put it all back together and check valve to piston clearance and worst case, I get a slightly thicker head gasket but he doesn't think it's enough of a difference to matter so we will see.

 

Body guy said I could come for photos on Monday and it sounds like the engine bay welding might be done!

[five&dime]

Almost forgot to add that since I sold my BMW, I bought a new daily driver beast but the really exciting addition is the 1984 Nissan Skyline Dr30 with the fj20et!! The dr30 has become my favorite classic skyline and I love the history of them. This one is R34 GTR Nurburgring Millenium jade with a glass out full respray, coilovers, bump steer spacers, Cusco bars, Nismo LSD diff, big turbo, FMIC, oil cooler, SSR FT1 wheels, r32 rear brakes, Recaro seat, Nardi wheel, super clean interior an old school Denon head unit etc etc. I had been searching Japan for a really nice stock one but this car was about as close to what I would want to build as I could imagine. I had a friend of a friend in Tokyo go inspect it in person and he said it's simply incredible and extremely well built. The guys who brokered the deal for me saw it and said the same. It should be getting on a ship here in the next week or so and then 4-5 weeks until it arrives at the port. The only issue with the car that I could see was a broken lens on the driver rear tail light, some slight fitment issue with passenger front headlight, one ding on passenger rear quarter and the hood must be fiberglass or carbon as you can see the waviness. I was incredibly lucky to find a set of brand new NOS tail lights which are honestly the most amazingly beautiful parts I have ever received for any car period. I thought they were just really clean used ones but they are brand spanking new and almost too stunning to even install. Amazing that Nissan was designing such a cool tail light design back in the early 80's! 

My only plans for the car are having the bottom half wrapped in gunmetal grey along with the RS Turbo DOHC graphics added like the typical red/black "iron mask" people are so familiar with. And although I do like those SSR wheels, I don't like them in black so will either have powdercoated or sell and get watanabe's. I also plan to remove the racing seat and maybe part of the roll cage. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by five&dime

[grannyknot]

Your engine is a thing beauty,  would love to hear that on startup.  Congrats on the Skyline, it always amazes the incredible condition of used cars from Japan, someone spent a lot of time and money prepping that car for you?

[five&dime]

Thank you! It's going to be hard waiting to fire it up but with it being so rare to have an N/A RB fully built, I am going to wait until the tuner has it on the dyno and let him start it for the first time. I have only heard video clips of the few N/A engines and they sound incredible. Such a big difference between an engine with and without the turbo which acts as a muffler. With the enlarged throttle bodies running straight velocity stacks, stiff valve springs, big valves/cams, long stroke, big bore, lighter flywheel, equal length long tube headers up to 10k redline into aluminum or titanium full exhaust system, the sound should be something like a sport bike or Indy car. 

 

Body guy said engine bay welding is finished! Sanding begins now and I should be able to get the final bare metal shots before primer. Should be painted the first week of April which probably means last week of May..

[five&dime]

Should be primed this week. 

[five&dime]