[ECUAdam]

More updates!!!, the fuel cell has taken a lot more time than I ever thought it would but I am happy with how it turned out.



We got the flip down license plate and the filler neck installed.







I got my radiator installed, I looked around the hybrid z forum and found a part number for the radiator hoses that work well with this swap. You have to trim the hoses a little, but I think they lined up good. I had to weld a little bigger neck on the top hose connection because one side of the hose was just a touch bigger. I also had to install a bung for the steam port from the motor.The radiator is just a cheap aluminum one for a 240z I scored off e-bay.





I'm putting the pictures of the hoses in here for future reference for myself...







I also got the throttle cable brackets and linkage all sorted out and mounted the FPR.





I ordered a 4 in aluminum bend and a universal K&N air filter for the intake. I also ordered every fitting I needed to complete my fuel system. The only thing holding me back right now is my drive shaft. My friends has a lathe so we may just try to make it ourselves. Hopefully I can try to start it within the next two weeks, I cant wait to hear it run.

 

[ECUAdam]

She is close, I picked up my drive shaft on Monday. I have probably 100 small things I need to do before I fire it up, but I keep getting closer. Im really hoping this weekend I will hear it run. I spent a lot of time tonight wiring the motor into the car and hooking up power wires to the alternator and starter. Wiring takes forever if you want it to be clean and look good...

 

[WheresTheBathroom]

just stumbled on this good stuff in here.

 

[ECUAdam]

Chris started on my exhaust while I worked on all the loose ends. He started by making an x Pipe out of 2 180 bends.



I bought v bands to make removing the exhaust really easy. I bought all the bends in a universal builder kit from columbia river mandrel bends. There several tiny bends that have to happen to clear everything. I am really happy with how well it fits under the car











She runs and drives in this picture. It felt pretty good in the short little drive that I drove it. It was 11:00 at night and I had work in the morning so I could not drive it like I wanted to. I plan on working on it Monday and putting it through its paces. I did find out that the transmission I bought has something wrong with 5th gear. It catches loudly when you put it in both shifting up and shifting down. Hopefully it is just synchros. This thing is going to be a blast once I get these bugs ironed out.

 

[Johnny_K]

Very nice but you was super stoked to hear it start up.

What are you planning on doing for fans?

 

[ECUAdam]

I am going to block off the back of the radiator and run dual 10" fans. Another guy that has a ls in a datsun runs the exact same radiator and dosent have any issuies at all overheating. He said he hot lapped his car 20 something times last summer at the drag strip and it never overheated.

 

[EvaUnit01]

Quality build man loving that body style

 

[Mudko3]

Browsing around and found this haha. Mikel was telling me about your ls project before we moved back to VA glad to see it coming along! Let us know when youre around so we can hit the Watauga sometime!

 

[ECUAdam]

Browsing around and found this haha. Mikel was telling me about your ls project before we moved back to VA glad to see it coming along! Let us know when youre around so we can hit the Watauga sometime!

Ha, you tell Mikel that it is hard to find someone to boat with on weekdays since he left. I love the Watauga, but it is about 5 hours away... Next time I go to the Green id love to stop by and get a lap. Ill call him next time I'm that far east. "You can't ride around in your tiny boats forever"

 

[ECUAdam]

I have neglected this thread a bunch. I recently had surgery and I have some down time to update the thread. Im sure the 3 people that look at this build thread are pumped!!! lol.

First thing I did was fix the transmission. I upgraded everything while I was in there. Every bearing, spring, washer etc in the tranny is new. I put the brass shifting cup and shifting pads in it. I also had to buy several gears because the were worn on the teeth. I also upgraded the shifting fork to the viper trans fork and the viper second gear. I had to make a special tool to check the preload on both of the shafts. It was a bunch of time and money to get it right, but it seems to work perfectly now. I didnt take pics because it was boring and we all know what gears look like.

The next thing that I needed was new shoes and tires. The 15's were not cutting it for traction. I really wanted 16's but they are hard to find in the offset I wanted. Tires are also difficult to find in 16 in the width I was looking for... So I ended up with 17's Rota RB and Toyo tires.



With new shoes comes flares and body cutting.... I was nervous, but the car was in no way "original" when I got it, it had rust, and needed body repair, So I figured wht the hell not. I started with some "ZG" Flares that I bought off ebay. They are pictured here. The fit like shit IMO and was not happy with the quality.



Here are the lines I went by. The top is where the flare is going to rest, and the bottom is where I am going to cut it.



Top view



Here you can see what I did with the fans and overflow bottle



You can see where I have cut the outer skin but left the inner hanging so I can fold it over to meet the outer skin.



Trying to figure out the ride height.



Im trying to fold the inner lip over in this pic.



Upper view, You can see I had to pie cut the inner panel to make it fit closer.









Getting closer...



You can see here where I cut off all the extra metal from the inner lip and started to weld it in.





Rinse and repeat.

 

[ECUAdam]

Finally we get to the pictures of the good flares. They are much better looking than the other ones. They actually contour to the body like a real ZG flare would. They are the MARUGEN SHOUKAI flares from RHDJapan.com. Here is a link to them.

http://www.rhdjapan.com/marugen-shoukai-wide-over-fenders-zg-wide-type-nissan-s30-s31.html

They fit perfect and are excellent quality.











I used nutserts in the body to fasten my stainless hardware.



I used more pie cuts on the passenger side and it fit better.







I found a 1973 dealer tag and because my car is a 1973 the DMV let me register it. I thought it was pretty cool.



On the front fenders, You just kinda cut a bunch. Here is the final product



The rear





The passenger side of the front



I took my rusty turd to Z Attack at the Nissan Headquarters. They do the event every two years. I had a blast, saw a bunch of cool z's and had a great time. Nissan really does a bang up job at this event. No ricers, no stupid kids doing disrespectful burnouts, just a good time. Thanks Nissan for putting the event on. Also thanks Jonathan for all your help putting the event on.



The coolest part of the show was how much love I got from everybody on my car. It really is a good feeling for others to appreciate all the work you have put into your car. I actually won two awards and was completely floored by it. The Diamond In the rough is my favorite.





Another shot of the engine bay.



Took her to the dyno



Almost made 300, but for a 5.3 on a dyno dynamics, I was happy.

 

[TypeSL2]

This is awesome! Don't know how I missed it. Would love to see this thing in action some day.

James

 

[ECUAdam]

Well as with any Datsun that has not been restored, you will eventually need to start addressing rust. I started with stuff that would not completely take my car down so that I could still drive it. This is a pic of the rear area under the hatch. In this pic I had already removed the top panel by drilling out all the spot welds.







I sourced some sheet metal from a buddy and started fabbing up replacement panels. It is a little thicker than stock, but I figured it cant hurt. I bent a few pieces in the break that I have and this is what I came up with.





I got most of the rust cut out and started to patch it in and make it fit the best I could before I started welding it all in.







Starting to burn it in. This cheap ass 1973 meal does not weld too good...









Here is the replacement panel almost ready to weld in.



I also bought some much needed seats. Just like titties, I can feel them so they are real enough for me.



I tried to place them so that I will have room for a cage in the future.







I also picked up a turbo, this is getting fun.

 

[ECUAdam]

Here are my favorite pics of my car so far. I was bored, drove my car into the yard and snapped a few pics.









Now on to more rust... Dammit man. The floor pans are completely screwed.





I bought some floor pans and Bad Dog frame rails / sub frame connectors. They are much thicker than stock and should help stiffen up the car for the added horsepower.



In the next potato quality photo you can see the ever growing mountain of parts for this car. Wheel bearings, seals, every tie rod, bushings, frame rails, floor pans, wilwood brakes, and everything else you need to restore a classic turd such as my ride...



I also decided that my current motor mounts were taking up too much room and were not advantageous to running a giant down pipe. I bought this kit and figured Id have my go at it. http://www.randyellisdesign.com/DIY...r-GM-LS-Series-Race-Motor-Mount-Kit_p_85.html .











More Fab work...



This is the last picture I have of the car before I started tearing it down to do the full restoration. It looks like the giant light is calling it home. It is about to die and go to heaven, lol.



The motor is out and ready to be put on hold for a while.



Front is on the rotisserie.



Now the rear.



Shit just got real.

 

[ECUAdam]

More rust, this time on the lower rocker right in front of the driver side rear tire.



Drilling out spot welds and trying to get the cancer cut out.



All this did is expose all the cancer behind the outer layer. Shit. I haven't repaired this yet because I really don't know where to start.



This is where I welded the motor mount flanges on the frame rail. I hope it will all work as I want it too.





If you are not a Datsun owner, you have no idea how big of a deal this picture is.



Now it is time to start trying to make things look pretty. Sand blasting can make a hell of a difference.



Powder coating has started.







The chrome powder is not exactly chrome, but I give it a solid polished aluminum.



Here are the mounts done in black.





I shaved the original motor mounts off the cross member because they are not needed and will help with adding room for previously mentioned gigantic down pipe.



That is all I have now. I am wanting to go work on my car sooo bad, but my surgery will not allow it. I am 3 weeks out of it, but I still do not feel like I can do much. I am not going to rush it because I dont want to go through this shit again. Man how I would love to do some fab work...

 

[supaman]

This thing is sweet.

 

[Jankenshank]

i am impressed! looks good!

 

[ECUAdam]

This thing is sweet.

i am impressed! looks good!

Thanks

Some more pictures before I tore it down. I already miss driving this thing.

 

[WheresTheBathroom]

Nice! too bad i didnt get to see this before it got torn apart again

 

[BoostMe]

Very nice Adam. Glad to see you tackle that rust! Love the car