Guy's totally slow restomod.....

[L320-Dale]

Great job as usual. Its coming along!

[insitu_az]

Now that the engine is back in, and I have identified the major issues, I am working through them to get the engine bay ready for paint.

Throttle changes: The original pushrod throttle system has to be replaced to accommodate the SR20. I purchased a new 240SX S14 throttle cable. The dimensions are pretty close to ideal, and it fits the SR20 throttle body. The firewall mounting holes for the original hand brake cable firewall exit hole exactly match the spacing used for the 240SX throttle cable bracket, and is ideally located for the cable. I removed a couple of offset legs from the 240SX bracket and then attached it to the firewall while retaining its rubber seals. Sweet!

I bought a used 240SX S13 pedal, having seen some build threads that said it was the best choice for the SR20 motor swap. I played around with bending the actuator on the 240SX pedal to line it up with the cable on the firewall, but was unhappy with the results. Both the original 510 pedal and the 240SX pedal had the hinge on the right side, but I decided that it would line up better if the hinge was on the left side. So.... Trip to Ace hardware for some 3/8" round steel bar stock, and I fabricated my own pedal. I used the hinge from the 510 pedal, and the foot pad from the 240SX. Turned out nice, works well, and uses the original pedal mount without modification.

Basic shape achieved, and hinge attached

Cable eye and foot pad attached

Welds cleaned and assembled.

Test fit in the car. Ready for paint.

Engine coolant outlet: The stock coolant outlet on the SR doesn't line up with the radiator inlet. This was an easy fix. I ordered a custom outlet from Mad Dat in Australia. They attached a bung for the S14 turbo cooling line, and good to go. I used a Gates 23372 hose, cut to length for the outlet side (thanks to Stu on the 510 Realm for the research on the correct hose). I will likely trim another inch or so from each end of the hose later.

Mad Dat outlet modified with turbo bung

Attached to the engine

Gates hose shown from the side

Gates hose from the front

Passenger side radiator and intercooler clearance: While the driver side clearance was an easy fix, the passenger side clearance for the radiator and intercooler has been a bit more difficult. I have had to abandon my nice aluminum radiator shroud in order to get everything to fit. Choosing the CX Racing radiator and intercooler was probably a mistake, but having already spent the money and modified my radiator core support, there was no choice but to continue on.

I started by moving the engine back towards the firewall about 1/2", then moved the intercooler mounting from the rear of the core support to the front. This gave me maximum available space as the engine was as close to the firewall as I wanted to get at the rear, and the radiator mounts now butted directly to the core support.

Front and rear engine clearance

Maximum clearance at front of engine

I found that dropping the intake duct straight down from the throttle valve was a bust because it rubbed on the alternator pulley. So.... I put a 45 degree elbow in the air duct, tight 90 degree elbow at the bottom, and finally ended up with about 1.5 inches of clearance that I needed to mount the fans. I will see if I can come up with a fix for the fan shroud later, as there is no additional space for it as is. I used a Gates 22515 radiator hose to make the connection from engine to radiator. It has an unusual "S" shape that I utilized to clear the intercooler duct.

Sneaky radiator hose solution....

Everything in the clear now.

Just finished the hot pipe from the turbo output to inlet on the intercooler. Mounted the blow off valve in the down pipe right before it enters the intercooler. I will eventually replace the blow off valve with a recirculation valve, but it will run okay without that.

Hot pipe seen from the front of the car

Hot pipe seen from left side of car

Part 2 to be continued......

[insitu_az]

I posted a few more pictures to my Part 2 engine bay fitting and only a couple more items to finish now before I move on to the wiring. I really hope to be far enough along to at least tow this thing to Williams next year. Could happen. lol

- Guy

[Vetteguy22]

Looking great. Thanks for keeping up on the updates.

[insitu_az]

So finally got around to finishing my front struts.

I turned some spacers and thrust bearing caps from 6061 aluminum. I had been waiting on these from the shop for a long while, and finally decided to make them myself (definitely not getting any younger here, so better get with it). I made the spacers to work with full length 280ZX strut tubes. If I decide that the tubes need shortened I will come back and shorten the spacers to fit. I made the bearing caps to fit the readily available camber plates that use an 18mm ID bearing. These 18mm bearings are found in almost all 240sx camber plates and also the T3 camber plates. I like them better than the 5/8" bearing used in the Tilton and DP Racing camber plates that the Datsun racers use.

Thrust bearing caps and spacers

With the struts partially assembled, I dropped the spacers into the tube. I cut a "cup" into the top of the spacers so that they would contact the strut inserts towards the outside of the tube. I think that will provide a more robust contact surface.

Partially assembled strut

Inserting the spacer

The Koni race struts will work well with my 225 lb. springs. They are a very tight fit in the 280ZX strut tubes. I used a small engine cylinder hone to clean and deburr the inside of the strut tubes to keep the inserts from binding. On the upper spring perches I used an INA D7 thrust bearing which is sealed similar to the one that comes stock on the Datsun strut.

Strut inserts going in

Inserts in place

Spring and upper spring perch in place

Added the thrust bearing cap and the camber plate. Ready to go on the car finally!

Bearing cap

Camber plate

Finished strut

[Vetteguy22]

Very nice work.

[Randalla]

Guy, your fabrication work blows me away. Not only is it soundly engineered, it's truly beautiful work!!! Really excited to see your car on all four wheels wit the drivetrain in place.

[Randalla]

Any update Guy?