Lovenpain's Project 4.5: CZP Radiator Bracket 1pc

[Lovenpain]

Updated pics of what I have been doing the past month in my engine bay are included in this post. My engine lately has been slowly transforming. Still have a lot of more work to do. But just like sharing my progress with everyone.

I have did my own custom painting on a few parts. I got a few visuals pieces. I upgraded my radiator hoses to Z1 Motorsports Lower hard Pipe hose along with upper hose kit. Got and installed CZP Performance battery bracket and Radiator Air Guide Polush Plate. Which makes a really big statement IMHO. Also got a TopSpeed Pro1 Strut Tower Brace. Which compliments my new CZP part I just revived in today. So on with installing that part!

CZP Radiator Bracket 1pc
This part gave me the inspiration to stick to a sort of theme that you will see. IMHO, it mates up perfect to the unique design of my strut tower brace. Eventually, I will be buying Nissan Motorsports Rear Strut Tower Brace. You'll see why I choose that particular rear strut bar after seeing my new updated pics of my engine bay.

Now, where to begin... Lol ok. First, I want to say that normally this would be an easy install for some with an aftermarket radiator. But for me, it's been sort of a challenge lately. I kind of went through a dilemma while trying to figure how to install this bracket. I will explain through pics of course.

Here is what came in today: (CZP Performance 1pc Radiator Bracket Polished w/holes)
I also purchased a new clip for my temprature sensor seeming my current one is very brittle. Will be installing that tomorrow..



Notice the beautiful CZP cutout on this Part. Keep that in mind as I convey my upcoming issue..lol I also think IMHO that this addition totally compliments the CZP Air Guide Plate beautifully... Love how they have their logo cut out in the metal...

So here is me mocking it up, before the actual install. There was something that just bothered me about this.




So I sat and looked at the setup for a little while.. The it hit me. Well for one, the bracket didn't sit flush against the frame of the car. Two, if I were to bend it down it would distort the polish look and piss me off. And third, I really wanted to see that damn little CZP logo to show! Lmfao

I had to figure how was I going to make the bracket sit flush on top of the radiator, mount o the sub frame, and show that logo! ... Hmm. I just removed the Brackets I recently bought from Z1 Motorsports. To replace it with this one piece from CZP. So then I played around a little.

After trying to mock up different ideas, a light bulb came on. Why don't I just put the Z1 brackets back on and see if the CZP one will fit on top!? Well guess what? It does! And what was great is that it pushed the CZP bracket up and actually centered it.. But there was a new issue that had conveyed itself..




The mounting holes where not exactly lining up with both brackets as you will see here.




So.....lol... I had to do something that made me almost sick to do. But if it was the only way I could figure to make my idea work, it just had to be done! Lmfao!

I had to cut into my brand new bracket! I figured if I gave it the ability to be adjusted while being mounted on top of the Z1 bracket. These pics are not for those who knows how much CZP parts are!



I used a bigger washer to help bend and mount the two brackets together with the frame of the car. I know it might not look pretty. But keep in mind, it'll all be hidden under the Air Guide Plate.. Technically speaking of course!


So I pulled off the protective tape, and cleaned it off as best as I could. Looks good so far.




Reinstalled the CZP Air Guide Plate and ?...Tada! It turned out better than I expected! Not only is the bracket laying flush on top of the radiator. But also semetrical, and the CZP logo is showing very nicely!


So let's recap on so e before and after shots:






Hopefully, as you see in these overall shots of the engine bay. On how that part brings it all together IMHO. I really love how it sets it all up. And I went through hell to give CZP the proper representation for their awesome parts they make for our cars! Enjoy my work..





My favorite shot!


Any questions on how or what I did, don't hesitate to ask. But I surely doubt that I haven't posted enough pics to show you how I did it all! Thanks for viewing and reading my long crap! Lmfao

[Lovenpain]

Here's a follow up pics on the engine bay as of today.
Even though I got the new CZP part for the radiator. Underneath the bracket the dull silver looked boring. So I tried something I have never one...
I went in my scrap box of vinyl. Tested a few pieces. I wanted to achieve a anodized or chrome red look. In the past I would just bought a roll of red chrome vinyl. But didn't want to pay for a whole roll, when I was going to be using a little bit of it. Anyways, here are pics of the pieces of chrome vinyl painted with the Red anodized Paint from Duplicolor:



So I wanted to give the illusion that underneath the CzP 1pc radiator bracket was like a chrome red. After painting the chrome vinyl, I measured out and cut pieces to lay precisely where the HOLES cut out on the bracket. Removes all the cZp pieces, then applied my custom vinyl. Here is a before pic of the top portion of the aluminum radiator:

Here are pics of the vinyl laid on top of the radiator:




Here is what it looks like Reid talking the CZP bracket:



Here are pics when everything back together:


It looks as thought the red pieces glow from the holes:



I also replaced the temp sensor clip with a new one. The little pieces makes a little difference. And that it fixed my coolant oem fan issue:




Also tested the black paint ideas on the radiator upper and lower pipes after I finished up the chrome red project:
Before shots:


After painting was done:

After paint was dried and cured:



So by doing so, the idea OD painting the plenum is definately a go. Will start on that sometime this week. I have Jury duty tomorrow so can't wait till that's over! Lol

[Lovenpain]

Did more painting today, and will finish it up tomorrow. Worked around the Hicas Area today.

Here is the before shots of the area:



Here is how I tackled the actual Hicas Unit. Rather making a big mess. I just used one of my shop towels and wrap the surround area.



Painted and cleared the brackets and washers:



Also painted the Power Steering resevior cap:


Finished painting the Hicas Unit:



After drying, I removed the towel and painters tape. Reinstalled the cap.



Got the Hicas bracket ready:


And resinstalled everything back. Also did some spot painting some of the bolts black:




Going to paint the rest black, and the resevior black tomorrow. Will definatley look better. The red on the Hicas unit, will eventually get brighter as it cures. Here are the updated overall pics:

[300ZXttZMAN]

What duplicolor paint is that????? I need to see what all colors they offer!

[Lovenpain]

Sure my dear friend! Anthi g to help you out!
Here is what ya need to do majority of the anodized look.
A base coat( it's basically a metallic silver pain, if you want real anodized look buy chrome and use it first before spraying the color of your choice!), acrylic clear, and red ( or whatevr color).

I also had bought two other colors to experiment with.


Here is an example of another way to do it. If the part or project is already chrome or polished. DO NOT use any base coat. Just skip that step and spray the Anofized color of your choice! Then after that clear it with multiple layers for protection. Here I did some of my metric tools this particular way. Just used blue anodized paint then clear. Done!




On e I get my powde coating system, painting would be a past time for me! Lol

[300ZXttZMAN]

Thanks man that paint kicks a**!

[Lovenpain]

I sure does bro!