Thursday, December 23, 2004
Getting back up to date
Well just as I jumped back into the TR6 project in July I also jumped back into working towards getting my private pilots license. I'm just about done and ready to take both my written test and my flying test, just need to knock out my written first. The downside of this is that the TR6 has pretty much still been sitting. I did look into a 4 point ladder bar system for the rear end - the rear end still causes me concern since the "fairly stock 455" statement is no longer accurate. The 430 heads were port matched and a 3 angle valve job was done over the summer. The other enhancement is the spark and fuel setup. I'm going to be installing an EDIS setup along with a 900CFM Holley TBI with 85lb injectors all controlled by a MegaSquirt EFI controller. The motor should be pretty beefy once back together. Ordered some std size rod and main bearings (still sitting in the boxes). I also bought a complete rear subframe from a 92 300ZX turbo from a Z shop in San Jose that they had advertised on craigslist. I broke it apart and kept the axle half shafts/hubs/brakes, the diff (3.72 posi), and the driveshaft. The rest went to the dump. Installing the diff will be a phase 2 project, need to get the motor in and the car driving before I start digging into the suspension. But that diff should handle 400-500 HP without problem -- the weakspot then becomes the new frame... My new Weldmark MIG welder should be in tomorrow, I can start looking at building the mounting bracket for the diff when I need something new to do.
Anyhow, earlier this week I went to the organic dump where they dump brush cuttings, lawn clippings, leaves, etc -- they also have a lumber area where old lumber is brought in, kind of a slash pile. You can dig thru it, $5 for a pickup truck load. So I got about 35 board feet of 2x8 and acouple of sheets of 3/4" plywood, some 4x4 and some 2x4. Its all going to be used to help build a mockup of the TR6 frame/firewall from the doors forward that I'm going to place on a rolling platform. I'm using my tablesaw to create 2.75 x 3.15" frame sections out of the 2x8's that I've screwed together to make them thick enough. Then I rip them down to size, they look pretty nice. This will help me mockup the engine install to make sure I've got dimensions and locations correct before installing. I should be able to come away with a design for engine mounts too out of this. The guy that sold me the 430 heads also sold me a 455 bare block, crank, harmonic balancer, and intake manifold that I've got sitting for the mockup work. So I've been working on an AutoCAD drawing showing angles and lengths for the mockup that I'll post here once I get it all finalized. So far I've got one side of the frame done, and I'll just mirror it for the other side. I ended up flipping my new frame up on the side of the wheels to expose the underside of the frame. I've ziptied the new wooden frame sections to the actual frame to verify angles, distances, layout, etc. Its a nice option to have the extra rolling frame sitting there to flip onto its side, trying to do this with the body on would have been near impossible. This way its coming along nicely and I'm feeling pretty confident about the mockup dimensions. Taking off for Xmas holidays tomorrow so I won't have much time to get back into the wood work till next week. Pics then
Looking over all this I guess there's been some progress, but its hard to feel like it with the new motor still apart and the tub still on the old frame. But it feels like there is some new life in the project with the frame mockup coming together.
Anyhow, earlier this week I went to the organic dump where they dump brush cuttings, lawn clippings, leaves, etc -- they also have a lumber area where old lumber is brought in, kind of a slash pile. You can dig thru it, $5 for a pickup truck load. So I got about 35 board feet of 2x8 and acouple of sheets of 3/4" plywood, some 4x4 and some 2x4. Its all going to be used to help build a mockup of the TR6 frame/firewall from the doors forward that I'm going to place on a rolling platform. I'm using my tablesaw to create 2.75 x 3.15" frame sections out of the 2x8's that I've screwed together to make them thick enough. Then I rip them down to size, they look pretty nice. This will help me mockup the engine install to make sure I've got dimensions and locations correct before installing. I should be able to come away with a design for engine mounts too out of this. The guy that sold me the 430 heads also sold me a 455 bare block, crank, harmonic balancer, and intake manifold that I've got sitting for the mockup work. So I've been working on an AutoCAD drawing showing angles and lengths for the mockup that I'll post here once I get it all finalized. So far I've got one side of the frame done, and I'll just mirror it for the other side. I ended up flipping my new frame up on the side of the wheels to expose the underside of the frame. I've ziptied the new wooden frame sections to the actual frame to verify angles, distances, layout, etc. Its a nice option to have the extra rolling frame sitting there to flip onto its side, trying to do this with the body on would have been near impossible. This way its coming along nicely and I'm feeling pretty confident about the mockup dimensions. Taking off for Xmas holidays tomorrow so I won't have much time to get back into the wood work till next week. Pics then
Looking over all this I guess there's been some progress, but its hard to feel like it with the new motor still apart and the tub still on the old frame. But it feels like there is some new life in the project with the frame mockup coming together.
