HusseinHolland

Switching gears - I'm not driving /working on the Datsun now that snow has started this past week or so & roads have been salted, so I'm going back on my V8-into-Volvo project. Still have wiring & other elements to prepare before I pull the stock drivetrain & get moving on the physical conversion (I'm assuming late Feb/early Mar, depending on the weather) put a brand new rack (and saginaw PS pump) in it on Friday - the old rack has no assist at low speed anymore, so that was definitely not going to work once the V8 drivetrain is in. It's meant for the slightly newer 940 series (same chassis, slight mods all over), so a little tweaking of the (equalizing?) tubes to fit the older subframe was in order adjusted the toe in myself - my road is nice & flat, and a pretty quiet area. Took several adjustments to get it here - slightly under average (typical) toe -in value for this model, however thew wheel is straight & it feels good out on the main roadways.

Nice!!!! Does look a touch warmer, but that could just be wet vs cured. I'd be happy with that. I had spray cans of 302 mixed by the local auto body supply house, and they made 3-4 attempts before getting close enough for me to use it 😞

Rad for the VQ conversion came - very well packaged & looks great, especially for the price. Application is mid 80's Jeep CJ series. Have to cut off the mount flanges & reweld. Easier than cutting off the necks on a Datsun specific fitment, and half the price ($130 shipped) for the 3 row that I bought Also picked up some more 1/4" foam backer for when I remove the hatch / strut tower vinyl to do the permanent seat belt mounts Used a similar product covered with vinyl for the rear strut brace

What brand of seam sealer do you prefer? I've bought a few variations - the 3M Dynatron seemed one of the more versatile & inexpensive varieties. Has a good working time, but also sets pretty quickly after that. I also used other more pricy 3M urethane sealers such as 08367, but didn't really see any benefits.

Looking great - satisfying to see it with a uniform covering. Does the epoxy primer get coated with 2K, or it that all you need? Trying to remember what I used on the Fiat - that was a mix of steel aluminum & bonded fiberglass panels. I did not strip the bulk of the car to bare metal, so I'm thinking I used 2K, but that was 5 years ago, so my memory is foggy on details. That must have taken at least 4-5 hours to do the entire shell and all the take off panels, no? How much primer did it take for the 2 complete rounds? Hopefully I will paint again one day - still have to figure out where to buy an 80gal compressor that doesn't get buggered on delivery, so far I'm 2for2 on that....

OK - I hate to destroy perfectly good equipment - if they were rough/inop I wouldn't care. I'll have to see what happens DTR.

Did you buy adaptor plates to fit them to the dash? I see Skillarid sells ones for the Tach & Speedo. I'd rather not destroy my original gauges, which are all in great shape.

Gauges? use 350Z? Speedhut? 4.5" GPS dual speedo/fuel, 4.5" tach, Oil press, Coolant, Volts? I think the Speedhut gauges would look more in keeping with the car. Plenum mods Boils down to removing 5mm off the 1&2 runners, adding a 5/16" spacer to offset the upper plenum taper

Making good use of the pickup to carry about 800lbs of concrete mix and gravel - desperately needed to repair the approx 3x4' platform at the back door of the garage - I've dealt with a wooden ramp for years, however it gets very slippery in this weather & I'm just too old to be falling when carrying heavy crap to & from the garage. Approx 7" deep, Concrete slab is blanketed and covered with wood to protect from frost. Also finished the gutter on the awning

Ordered a generic Jeep CJ6 3 row aluminum rad. Has the I/O in the correct orientation for the VQ35DE (reverse of stock). Similar overall H & W (24.25W 20.75 H). I will have to modify the mount flanges. Significantly less than a Datsun-speciifci rad, which I would then have to modify anyway.

Putting this here so I don't forget - fitting the CD009 requires a (reduced) shifter extension - have to figure out what to do here. The main purveyor of a workable solution (HokePerformance) stopped making them about 4 years ago Pic from HybridZ build stock (my) opening Stock shifter tunnel clearance edit. -he notes that the shifter needs to be 5" back from stock 350Z setup to fit existing location EDIT - further searching came up with this one - I've emailed them to see if it fits S30 chassis EDIT. -they don't know, however it puts the shifter 6" forward of stock 350Z, so it should be perfect. I may need to dogleg the shifter, not a big deal. GKTech shifter

Hard to tell the extent with it stripped, beyond the obvious edge damage - the scuffing makes it look like the whole surface is ****ed - is it just the leading edge or 6-8 inches into the nose?

Back on there roofing a bit - set the roofing for a 2" overhang into the gutter Used OSI Quad calk for the flashing started putting the steel roofing on. Foam under the flashing, buytl under the panel overlap. The foam is uneven thickness - I used the EPDM screws to pull it down more evenly. Home Depot had some (2) 4x8' siding sheets cheap (70% off), due to damaged overlap edge - worked for me for the backside of the end panel

1/4" Skrim coated foam (left over from a Volvo headliner job years ago) faux leather padded sleeve. Velcro fastening

Added the pass side belt reel retainer. I'm going to make a padded cover for the brace

Daytime pic with headrest. New leather for the seats has the same green stitching. I also went with a dark grey inset for the perforated panels. Not sure it's dark enough though. Seems more like a medium grey to me. Pics later

added the support bracket with two nuts to the driver's side of the strut brace. Have to do the pass side tomorrow, ran out of daylight

Got back from Baltimore yesterday afternoon, so back on the seat install today. Had to do some more pounding on the tunnel. Metal only stretched so far, then it split, about 3" wide, a couple inches above the seat crossmember. flange tore where the black paint is on the tunnel. dynamat after paint after that, I welded the rail adaptors - tacked in place, then removed to stitch plug for stock seat belt bolt hole (Wesco) seat belt outer Wesco seat belt inner , also added receiver snaps in the carpet for the leather handbrake cover Driver's side, rear attachment sill spacing - just clears the seat belt Seat will be re-upholstered, just not today pass seat out to install cushion, harness routing Headrest cushions have to be stripped to fit the new leather covers, the original covers are glued to the foam

EPDM washer screws finally came (after Amazon first sent a "Baby Alive" doll) - so hopefully next week I can get back to that. My wife & I are in Baltimore for a few days out of town, the trip was delayed yesterday morning when we heard the sump pump screaming - ld dead pump. -lasted about 10 years new pump installed, also from Home Depot. Took only 4-5 min to clear the majority of the water Cool tree grafting what to do with your old Pontiac station wagon

Had about 40mins. between festivities, so I started on the wider inner seat rail . Need to weld it up, however the basic element is ready to move forward

@rturbo 930 thank you for taking the time! I appreciate the clear & close up pics. What is the smaller (M8?) secondary offset captive nut retain?I does appear that I can make a top plate & weld it in - I would thank that would also help beef the structure of the inner towers also, so a plus all around. In the meantime, I realized I can add a beefy support to the strut bar I've already made, and lay the reel on that until I feel like dismantling the hatch interior for welding. I will make a vertical stack with two 7/16-20 nuts at each end with a horizontal support element

As @Captain Obvious predicted - a beating was in order. Not really happy about pummelling the perfectly good and clean tunnel, so I was gentle at first & used a mallet & block of wood to gently invert the bulge. Problem is that there is a major panel overlap seam in the way, forward of the inner seat belt mount, rearward of the stock rear cross member/seat support. Had to break out the large dead blow to reshape that. After the "gentle" mallet work Beating administered. Cleanup & paint to come, on the underside also. Edit - that is glue on the inner forward seat cross member , not Rust! Now the seat can be made level without lifting the sill side Side note - I guess Nissan wanted to build in the rusting process that was mostly resolved on the outside (compared to classic Z's anyway Seat cushion controls clear the sill Inside clearance matches the pas side Slight problem in that the rail spacing is not even left to right - I have to make a wider rail conversion for this side. Fortunately a 2" "U" channel will take up the gap. I don't want to simply cut & offset the bolt down points relative to the rail.

Back in the 350Z seats into the 280Z. Seat belt reel will (hopefully) be relocated to strut tower, like the later 77-78 280. Welded the rails I made to the 350Z rails, Checking that the seat was level to the car before tack welding. Used an weld mat to protect the interior. Removed to finish the welds. Wired the passenger seat (fore/aft only). Have to wire the seat heater Looks good here I didn't seam weld these. There is a plastic guide rail inside that may (did) survive some heat, wouldn't trust it to survive a bead, especially on top Test fit after welding to check for distortion /displacement due to welding, all good sits level with no wobble in the rails Testing wiring for seat fore/aft. I bought used 350z heater switches, however it will be easier (I hope) to rewire the seat grids to the aftermarket relay & switches I already have in place Full forward setting Seat sits substantially lower than stock height. Furthest possible recline in full rear position Wesco reel will hopefully go here. Does not feel like there is a metal plate under the cover, which may actually make it easier

That is what I thought - looking at the rotisserie pic it appeared that there was some access to the flat area between the strut and the inner fender. It would be awesome if you could take pics to clarify what is there for me! EDIT - pressing down on the top cover, which appears to have card inside- it doesn't feel as if there is any metal beneath it, which would make sense if the parts catalog drawing is accurate -

Yes, I know the pic shows the main hole & 3 mount holes that are for the strut - what I was referring to is the space outward of that, which is where I would mount a nut plate to secure the belt reel