1970 HLS30-06521 Re-Restoration

[Patcon]

I had a college professor that had a Europa. It's an absolutely tiny and low car! I'm quite confident I wouldn't fit. Although that's probably true of most Lotuses 😁

[Jeff G 78]

20 minutes ago, Patcon said:

I had a college professor that had a Europa. It's an absolutely tiny and low car! I'm quite confident I wouldn't fit. Although that's probably true of most Lotuses 😁

Ever try to sit in a Pantera?  I'd need an extra 4" of headroom.  The new Ford GT isn't much better.  I can force myself into a FGT with a helmet, but it's not pretty.  I'm 6'-1" and 180 lbs.

[Patcon]

9 hours ago, Jeff G 78 said:

Ever try to sit in a Pantera?  I'd need an extra 4" of headroom.  The new Ford GT isn't much better.  I can force myself into a FGT with a helmet, but it's not pretty.  I'm 6'-1" and 180 lbs.

Yes, I love the pantera. Always wanted one. I'm not sure the footspace isn't a bigger problem and the offset pedals.

[CanTechZ]

This week my body guy asked if I would like to save a few bucks and mount the shell on his rotisserie myself. I agreed and picked it up. Here are a few pics of the major components positioned, so that I can figure out what additional brackets I will need to complete the installation.

 

First I reviewed this great thread,

Then I started by checking the height of the bumper mounting holes in relation to the pivot point. When I set up the rotisserie ends with the lowest possible pivot offset I measured about 5-1/2 inches, which is right in the middle of the range suggested by @grannyknot in the thread above.

The front stand looks very easy to do. I will just need to ask for permission to drill a couple of holes in the arms that will be attached to the front bumper mounting holes. It would look like this installed,

 

The rear attachment might be an issue if I only use the bumper mounting holes as the outer rear valence is compromised but the actual structural bracket behind the sheet metal that ties in unibody frame elements is solid. Here is what the bad side looks like, outside and inside,

What do you think, should I add some additional support besides mounting to the rear bumper holes?

Edited October 7, 2023 by CanTechZ

[grannyknot]

Since that post 8 years ago I have done a more accurate weight measurement of a stripped 240z shell and it is more like 500 lbs.

If it were me, I would fix the metal around the rear bumper mount first, then prime it, fill it before mounting on the rotisserie. That area becomes very difficult to access and work on once it is mounted.  Is your guy going to prime and paint with the shell on the rotisserie?

[CanTechZ]

9 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Since that post 8 years ago I have done a more accurate weight measurement of a stripped 240z shell and it is more like 500 lbs.

If it were me, I would fix the metal around the rear bumper mount first, then prime it, fill it before mounting on the rotisserie. That area becomes very difficult to access and work on once it is mounted.  Is your guy going to prime and paint with the shell on the rotisserie?

Thanks, that is sound advice. I will have a chat with my body guy before I mount it. I haven't discuss the details yet about what will be done on and off of the rotisserie, but as there is front frame rail and floor pan work to be done, I believe it will be on a frame fixture for that.

 

[Patcon]

I am not a fan of doing front frame rail (the rails down each side of the engine bay) work when it's on the rotisserie. I worry about distortion and flexing because of the way its suspended.

[CanTechZ]

Over the weekend I measured up the rotisserie and created a 3D cad model of it, so that I could design the brackets for attaching the rear bumper mounts on the shell to the rotisserie arms. Here are a few images with the major mounting dimensions and an image of the rear brackets that I will need to fabricate. I will be chatting with my body guy soon to look at repairing the left side rear mount first.

 

I looked for a 3D cad model of a 240Z shell but all I could find was a Lego one on GrabCad. I couldn't resist scaling it up to 1:1 and putting it on the rotisserie model. 

[CanTechZ]

I have decided to add extension to the brackets I am having fabricated for the rear rotisserie mounts. I will be picking up the ends of the diff mount x-member in addition to the bumper mounts. I added to my 3D partial chassis model to check fit on the x-member and verify clearance around the spare tire tub. The parts should be ready to do a test fit on the car near the end of next week. They will only be tacked together for the test, and if all goes well they will be welded up the following week. Here are a few images showing the concept.

Edited October 20, 2023 by CanTechZ

[grannyknot]

Cool, what is the height difference between the turning axis at the front and the rear?  You don't want too much difference between them as each axis is trying to turn the entire car on its plane and unless they are similar you're introducing twisting to the chassis and the rotisserie. 

[CanTechZ]

39 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Cool, what is the height difference between the turning axis at the front and the rear?  You don't want too much difference between them as each axis is trying to turn the entire car on its plane and unless they are similar you're introducing twisting to the chassis and the rotisserie. 

 

Here is a drawing showing the difference in height from the mounting points to the axis of rotation. Assuming my measurements are good. Lol

Thanks to Nissan for the chassis drawing in the 1970 FSM.

 

[grannyknot]

Gottcha, from that first photo it looked like the rear axis was much higher than the front. Nice rig.