92 240SX coupe build thread 350z swap

[donandal]

We started this build with the idea that Allen could learn as we went....Turned out he's a lot
quicker study of the technical stuff than I am...and he set the goals pretty high
early on..... the dash was kinda crappy and we wanted to
do as much as possible by hand so to speak... and Allen liked the Z gauges...
so after looking at all we could use from the Z
we decided to use the dash,engine,transmission,complete engine and body wiring harness,air cond
and heater core, steering column,radio,gas pedal( fly by wire ) a/c controls, emmisions, cat. converter
etc. ,that we didn't need to go with an aftermarket company for those things....
plus it turned out to be plug and play the way
we did it, so when we bumped the key first time, it fired right up...about the only things we
didn't keep were the airbags,antiskid and stability control.... although I do need to figure out
how to get rid of those warning lights ( skid,VDC etc.).... and it runs great
It probably was " the hard way " but we learned more this way I think

[simmode1]

I'm sure the lessons learned were invaluable. Complete VQ swap threads are in short supply and they all seem to be done differently or involve using resources unavailable to the typical swapper. It is a little frustrating for us ppl looking forward to the swap being as streamlined or simple as an SR swap, but by no means is this an attack on you & your son's work. I'm sure he is going to enjoy the hell out of that car...

[donandal]

You are right, it is a little more involved than a typical swap.....
I set up a small machine shop for " hobby " use starting back in 2001
I would say you would need at least a Mig welder and a milling machine and
a bandsaw to fabricate the needed parts at home
If we narrowed it down to just the engine swap,no suspension,dash, etc.,it
could probably have been done with bought parts....
We just wanted more hands on
Thanks for checking it out

[Eikon]

WOW!!! I'm not sure how I missed your build thread for so long.. but boy am I glad I finally found it. What an amazing project! You are truly and incredible fabricator. Nice work!!!

Keep the updates coming. I can't wait to see more.
Hopefully we'll see you and your son in Carlisle in May.

[JoseBronx]

you even have a/c?

[Ghettopoptart]

Holy sweet baby jesus.

[MICRoS13]

Great build my friend looking forward to the results

[costa_rican13]

oh mah lawdy!!!.... you need a video of this thing running asap!

[donandal]

A video of it running? haha..... I can barely fiqure out how to post pics
I've never even made a video
don't even know how to send a text message
But I can fly a $40million 737 and program it's computer,
It doesn't even have instuments per se....it has flat screens for gauges,instuments and maps
Maybe my son will teach me how to make a video.....

[breadbox]

Do eet.

[SliviaBum88]

Oh my goodness!!! Im so in love with this. I can't believe how clean and sexy everything looks on the S chassis. I thought that the Z interior was gonna look awkward but me likes a lot. Kudos to you sir. I'm envious as hell.




.....PAGE 2 OWNED!!!!

[mindovaanything]

the fab work is ridiculously clean, sick build

[donandal]

Well, I built the fender roller and tried it on the front fenders. It looks like
it will work but the fenders are too flimsy to get an accurate roll without the
inner fenders. Even though they are just plastic, they brace the fender quite
a bit.
Problem is, the factory inner fenders won't work with our bigger tires.
So, I started these aluminum inner fenders.



you can see here where the steel inner fender had to be hammered in a bit for clearance
they will extend to the front bumper and I'll close the gaps between this skid plate and
the bumper as well


more to follow

[breadbox]

[costa_rican13]

i never thought about using the aluminum for the fenders! i actually just cut up my plastic ones and did the same thing.. aluminum seems to be better for longevity though. +1!

[jsturges18]

350z interior swap!!! sick!

[donandal]

I saw a few snow flakes in the air today, and decided to go to work on the fenders.
First I finished the inner fenders, front and rear areas of the fender, leaving the
top of the wheel arch open.


this really stiffened the fender
then I got out the roller I built and started rolling.
even with the inner fender in place, the fender is still pretty flexible.
the roller worked great, but doing the job without cracking the paint wasn't possible.
no problem since we have to paint the car later.


The dents in the fender were allready there, they'll get hammered out later.
The " roll " also needed a little fine tuning with a mallot and dolly, but it's nice enough to
finish later.


I went back and forth between rolling a little, and then mounting the wheel and running
thru it's steering and bump travel with the spring removed. I used a spacer that was equal to
the spring length at " coil bind " to check full bump travel.
Now it's on to the other front fender, then both rears.

more pics next update.....

[OM3GA]

This is pretty awesome, i love the interior and have thought about the VQ swap in the past. I look forward to seeing more.

[donandal]

Just a quick update....
I rolled the other front fender...it came out pretty good and matches
the other side

Rolling it was pretty straight forward. I added a handle to the roller near the wheel
and that made it a lot easier to rock back and forth.
The lip on the backside will be opened up a little to tuck the inner fender skin behind

I used a hammer a little as well, to smooth out the flare and round it out.
Using the roller as a dolly helped keep it true to the wheel and took the spring out of it

A front view, back on its wheels

We ended up with about 4 " of ground clearance all the way back

I think it turned out pretty good

Allen's got to get back up from Florida , he wants to roll the rears
Gotta get the doors back on and put some miles on it

[flynbyu82]

Hood clearence with no problem? Are you using stock engine mounts/dampeners? How are you guys working around the starter, it's right in the way of the rack n pinion, right? What roller did you use for your fenders?

[donandal]

Hi flynbyu
We reworked our crossmember to use original 350Z rubber mounts.
We notched the crossmember about 2" lower at the mount points after
cutting out the 240SX humped up mount point.
We kept the rack in the same position left and right, but rotated it
slightly reward by reworking the "pointed" clamp part to face a little
farther away from the starter. We also moved the steering column shaft
closer to the driver side frame rail when we fabricated in the Z steering
column. that left us about 1/2" clearance at the starter.
The hood misses the intake manifold by about an inch AFTER we cut
out the reinforcing in that area.
The roller I built myself, it's in this link
made-a-fender-roller-t527236.html

[flynbyu82]

Ah, after looking back at the original post, I see what you did modifying the original crossmember.

How about wheel specs? Widths/Offsets? Did you end up getting 265s all the way around?

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed looking over your build... Did you keep a similar log about your 'homebuild roadster'?

[donandal]

I probably should update the build...I've done some more
on the fender liners up front, and I could add some specs
for wheels,struts etc. that we used.
We have 265/40/17 Star specs on Enkei RPF1 on all 4 corners with +38
offset with NO spacers ( we did need to slightly hammer the inner fender on
the driver side front arch to get clearance...about 1/4 " ) and we hammered flat
part of the flange at the frame rail on the rear side of the tire for clearance.
We kept original suspension points up front on the chassis, except we
added spacers that I made custom to fit the taper of the tie rod ball joints that
lowered (and slightly shortened the arm which gives a slightly faster steering rate)
the tie rod end to match the drop of the crossmember.
We did switch to 95-98 five lug hubs on all four corners. We used 5/8"
high misalign rod ends with rubber boots.
this is a pic of an offset rod end I made for extra wheel rim clearance at steering lock limit
I got the idea from the 350Z offset tie rod ends

We ran the steering thru it's bump and steer
travel with the lowered tie rod ends and made spacers that gave just a tiny bump/body roll
UNDERSTEER.(We did this by fastening two long straightedges to the hubs and carefully
measuring, after setting about 1 degree negative camber and 1/8" toe in)
this is the rod end spacer that lowered the pivot point to eliminate bad bump steer geometry
the bolts are grade 8 and the collars were also tig welded together and to the spindle arm for extra security
the offset of the bolts gives the shortening effect to the spindle arm and increases steering rate just a little



This is the roadster build
it-s-a-subaru-t526489.html
Oh, btw Thanks for checking it out

[bmart]

Can You make more of those? They would be awesome for the slammed 240's.

[flynbyu82]

17x9.5 or 10?

[donandal]

Sorry about that...
9.5 or 10..? Allen was the wheel and tire guy
as well as most other technical stuff.
I think they are 10's but
let me check when I get back home
I'm in Cleveland Ohio tonight
EDIT
nope, they are 9.5's

[donandal]

Can You make more of those? They would be awesome for the slammed 240's.

I could make some more down the road a bit,
but I haven't given much thought to building
and selling stuff, and now I'm pretty busy with
the 240SX, the aluminum roadster, and a 1929
101 Indian motorcycle....

[flynbyu82]

Did you have any fitment issues in the rear? I'm hoping to run a similar setup as you guys in the future. Right now I have 8.5 +37 in the rear with 275s on the way, we'll see if they fit. My scca class is restricting me to 275s but I don't think Ill get close to that on the front. Maybe 275/245 staggered with 10 or 9.5 wide, +38mm offset and then like a 10mm spacer for the front. Without your front spindle and strut housing modifications, how much spacer do you think it would of taken?

[donandal]

We didn't have any problems in the rear except we will need to roll the lip flat and
pull it to match the front to allow the last bit of travel up into the wheelwell with no
rubbing. It would probably hit at full bump by about half an inch at our ride height.
We DO have all original rear end arms etc. The only thing different from factory
is the 95-98 five lug hubs. The coilover springs are a little smaller diameter than stock rears,
so clearance BESIDE the spring is NOT an issue.I can post a few views of the rears if you want .
Our front spindles are stock 95-98 five bolts with stock LCAs,tension arms, and stock lower
ball joints. We have no spacers. If i had to guess, the extra offset at our strut housing
( 1.0 inches at the holes was added ) gave us about an extra 5/8 to 3/4 at the tire when
all was said and done. That might mean about the equivelant of 3/4 spacer at the wheel
for yours. Just a guess. Are you running the springs ABOVE the tire or beside it?

[flynbyu82]

These are what I am running...


My ride height...


I am fairly sure that the springs rest beside the front wheel, I will have to check. I guess I could raise the lower spring perch then get a shorter spring, that sounds like a reasonable way to gain some inner clearence. I also have an old 350z crossmember with the rack and pinion attached. I see what you're talking about with the offset tie rod. I wonder if their is an otc tie rod that would work for the 240sx? No mill or lathe for me, I think that might be something beyond the capabilities of my bandsaw/drill press/welder that carried me through the rest of my project fabrication

Your front springs look fairly short, are they the 6" eibach springs?