91 240

I took the day off of from work yesterday to get a little bit of work done, as time on the weekends just doesn't exist anymore.

I worked more on my tucked radiator setup.

First I boxed in the lower rad support. prep and paint should happen over the weekend.....maybe


Then I welded on 1" pieces of 3/8" alum rod to each side of the radiator to mimic the OEM upper mounts and reused the stock rubber isolators. I made a couple of brackets that still need to be trimmed and them bolted to the core support to fully mount the radiator.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

Smartone

This made me highly consider tucking the radiator on the Z32. I really want to do it, but it may be done later down the road. Likely when I get another place with a garage and/or as a winter project. Nice update!

91 240

Slow, Slow progress with the tucked radiator, but coming down the how stretch....hopefully.

Big thing to do was to clean up the upper core support and repaint as drilling a 3.5" hole and notching for the upper outlet did some damage to my nice(ish) paint.

prepped and sanded with 340 grit


2 coats of 2k primer/surfacer


Prepped and wet sanded with 800 grit


Finally, 2 coats of single stage jet black base


Tonight and hopefully later this week I strip all of the masking off and starting mounting everything back on to the car.

Big plans for this weekend are to bleed the coolant and test to make sure the new setup is working properly. Then hopefully, i'll be able to put some miles on it to get an alignment done.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

Theezy

too sick! i don't think my jaw could drop any lower. i need to see more! also very jealous of your fab skills

91 240

I got some work done over the weekend and completed my tucked radiator setup, well, for the time being.

I got it all buttoned up and decided to take it for a test drive to get an alignment. it did pretty good for the most part until I got stuck in traffic or at lights, then it started to warm up again. once I got moving it cooled back down some but still a little warm for my liking. The upper hose is very close to the exhaust, i some heat wrap on the way for that. I took it back apart again and am working on building a custom fan shroud as well as adding a surge tank to aid in bleeding coolant. More details on this over the weekend.

On to some pics

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

240s3x

.....dope!

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I WANT YOUR SHELL!

91 240

Alignment is done, and we're on the road!





I've added an external surge tank from Keyser Manufacturing to help with the cooling issues I've been having. Huge help but still have some kinks to work out.


I've also finally mounted my Saikou Michi dual catch can and routed all lines.


Here's the final bay setup. I don't plan of changing anything else at the moment.


Here are some general shots of the car as it sits now. It's about 98% complete right now, hatch wiring, couple of interior panels, glove box, headliner, etc.










Finally, I've got an in car vid of the last few miles of my way back home from getting the alignment. Feels damn good to drive it again.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

91 240

Wow, I haven't updated this thread in a while. I've been battling cooling issues lately.

I decided to go ahead and ditch my current 14" Zirgo (2300cfm) fan and custom shroud setup for a Taurus fan with Volvo relay set up.

First, I had to trim the fan shroud as it was a little wide for my radiator. I trimmed and fiberglassed the section removed to seal in the area trimmed off.






Next, I had to move the radiator forward another 3" and down 1". Ending up having to cut out the entire upper core support. Cutting out the core support, I also lost my hood latch. I have a set of Aerocatch pins that i'll be adding. Also had to cut/patch the filler neck to clear the hood






Finally, I had to relocate my p/s cooler under the driver side wheel well.



First impressions are AWESOME! right now I have the fans set to come on at 200* and off at 190*. On low speed, it takes about 20 seconds to drop temps 13* at idle. Bled the coolant for 40 minutes and never peaked over 201*.

Driving tests with no hood or front bumper were also very solid. 80-85* outside, 20 mile stop and go trip showed the same results....202* max while sitting at a light and quickly dropped to 190* with the fan. Cruising temps stayed right around 187-190*. I know this is not an accurate test as the hood and bumper will impact airflow, but it's a hell of a start.

Finally, I've started a little bit of work on my hood to incorporate a GT500 hood vent. Right now it's just a few pilot holes and measuring before I cut out the necessary section. Here's crappy pic of the vent just lying on the hood in the general area.



I've also added a MGW shifter to replace the Hurst Billet. 3rd gear would hit the shifter trim and kick out of gear occasionally. Offset of the MGW is spot on. Shifting is awesome with this!! Reverse can be a little touch sometimes, but manageable.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

91 240

it's not a great vid, but definitely sounds good. i'll try to get a vid with the cutout open while driving.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

U mirin

*drooool*<--- that's normal right? Sick build man. So much inspiration in this build. And all of them honestly. I really would love to learn how to do fabrication. Props to you!

91 240

I haven't had much of an update lately, but have a bit to show for work that's been done over the last couple of months.

This is still all cooling related.

Back in October i took it to meet a buddy who's a freelance tuner. This drive was without the hood but put the bumper back on. it didn't take too long to find out that the airflow to the radiator with the bumper on was lacking. 20 miles into the 50 mile trip, temps started climbing. low speed with the Taurus fan wasn't keeping up so i had to run the fan on high just to get the temps to drop back in the 200* range. However, i made it without any issues. We were able to get some good off boost tuning done. Car felt pretty damn good while doing so. Here's a shot with his C7 Vette, such a smooth driving car that's making 490whp.



On the way home is where things started getting interesting.

running the fan on high the entire time eventually took it's toll. Alternator fuse ended up blowing and voltage dropped to 10v. Pulled over and called a tow truck to come get me and to continue brainstorming.

Once home, i planned to focus on 2 things:
1. ducting between intercooler and radiator
2. add some bumper vents to get air directly to the radiator

I recently picked up a new TIG welder. nothing special, but should do everything i will need for a long time. AHP AlphaTig 200


I welded up some ducts to force all air going through the IC directly to the radiator. I used some .060" alum sheet for my ducting. First time welding alum so go easy on the criticism









This helped a lot on it's own, but want to do some bumper work as well.

I got a spare bumper that i used to cut up for testing. I added a duct in the bumper that was right above the intercooler that fed directly to the top 6" of the radiator. I had to cut up the hood to fit the relocated radiator, which included cutting the stock latch. I went ahead and added a set of AeroCatch hood latches.





I took it for a drive last week, 100+ miles and the temps never got above 185*. Felt pretty damn good to drive without fear of overheating.

Now i'm planning to rack up some miles and hopefully get it tuned in the next couple of months.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

2muchboost

Slap on forehead......I didn't even think to offer that recommendation. Almost every LS 240 around here has some ducting to help focus the air over the Rad. I was so excited about your build it didn't cross my mind. Since you have the fab skills look into making a cooling panel for even more airflow over the Rad.

Glad you got the cooling figured out.

Choppz

Wow awesome build and skills

benz88

Looks sick! Im just in the process of starting a Turbo LM7 S13 build.

91 240

No worries man. it's the last thing I wanted to do as I wanted to keep it as stock looking as possible. Oh well, as long as it runs safely, i'm ok with it

Thanks guys!

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

jons14

Wow awesome build!
Would love to see some videos of this thing doing some good pulls or burnouts haha!

nick Ritter

gonna need a wider tire out back !

91 240

I finally got my car tuned today. Not quite what I was hoping for, but based on the boost levels i'm definitely happy.

Final numbers:

608whp and 526wtrq at 8psi

we were limited to boost based on my EBC not responding and relying on waste gate spring pressue ~ 7-8psi.

Fuel was only hitting 70% duty cycle so there was definitely more left in it.

12-15psi could have put us into 650+whp. oh well, i'll definitely be back for more.

right now, it's still a chore to handle this much power in such a little/light car.

Here are some vids from the day.

568whp at 7psi



590whp at 7psi - fedex guy wanted to take a peek



608whp at 8psi

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

Smartone

Awesome! My Z should be back up tomorrow after I redo my AN lines. I'll hit you up sometime this weekend so we can meetup.

Great power! My 500 rwhp feels great I'm sure yours is even more fun!

91 240

Here's my dyno graph from the final run

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

motoman159

God this is good. How's it hook up with those tires?

blasian

Nice numbers

91 240

Thanks! Hook up needs more work. Non-existent until the top of 4th.

Thanks man!

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

Hoonigan19

sik build man, love the fabrication skills

91 240

Man, i haven't updated this thread in quite a while.

after my last post, i've changed quite a bit on the car. Swapped in a set of LS3 heads and intake. had a custom spec'd cam made did some street tuning. Drove for a few months pretty solidly but didn't get it dyno'd again.

this was a couple months back. since then i was still troubleshooting the cooling issues during the summer here in Texas. I cut up my stock hood to mimic a vent as an experiment. Turns out it worked pretty well. With there not being many vented hoods for the 240 that i liked, i ordered one from Japan. Took over a month to be made and shipped, but was worth it.

I got an Origin Aero Type 1 FRP hood. I have a few mods to make to clear the motor, but outside of that, i just need to prep and paint it. I've got some Summit Satin Hot Rod Black (matte black) to paint the hood in the short term, but long term the entire car.....maybe later this summer, hopefully.






I had a set of AeroCatch hood pins in my stock hood, but i dont want to cut up this FRP hood, so i've decided to revert back to the stock hood latch setup. this required getting a new upper radiator core support as it has the hood latch mount. I got a nose cut section from a friend for this. I cut the upper support out and the have corresponding headlight support brackets. I'm in the process of cutting out what i currently have on the car now. More on the deconstruction of the car to come.




Moving back to the stock core support and hood latch, means i have to move the radiator back about 5". The current Taurus fan is too deep, so i'm working on a new shroud/fan set up and also leads to this next update. My current turbo crossover runs right infront of the waterpump pulley which is pretty tight for the radiator and fan.

I've been planning a new turbo setup for months and now have to do it to fit everything. I got a recent shipment from Ace Race Parts, all stainless that will be fully tigged and back purged. More pics of the fab work coming. For now, here's some good polished stainless piping goodness.

1/2" manifold, turbo and wastegate flanges
1 5/8" 304l 16ga tubing for wastegate
1 3/4" 304l 16ga tubing for manifolds and going to make custom collectors
2.5" 304l 16ga tubing for crossover
turbo blanket
2.5" stainless vbands
flat and round bar for bracing
trying to decide if i want 3" or 3.5" for the downpipe. This should keep me busy for a while



More to come.....

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

blasian

Keep up with the updates, goin to be exciting to watch.

2muchboost

Nice progress dude. Lmk of you need an extra hand. I am officially down in ATX and have some free time when not traveling around for work.

Jorgs_7

This is fantastic, just went through the whole thread.

Were those headers done with a MIG? 110v?

That air compressor thing had me lol'in, I couldn't believe it.

Kudos to you sir! Love it

Do you have an idea on the total time duration and dollar spent on this project?

91 240

Thanks. if only I had more time

Thanks Herb! sucks we haven't been able to meet up since you've moved down here. I'd definitely take you up on that offer, I just never know when I get to work on it. it's usually last minute or LATE at night. You still have the 631 number?

Thanks man, I appreciate it. The original and current headers were mig'd with a Miller 140 autoset, running off 110/115v. There were a Jeg's universal header kit, 1 5/8 aluminized steel.

Air compressor scared the shit out of me when it happened and pissed me off as I was in the f'n middle of my final base coat pass. no I look back and laugh.

I don't really know on the number of hours, but I might have to guess over 500 since starting the swap. i haven't tallied my receipts in a while, but at one point it was close to $15k for parts, tools, materials, etc. probably much more than that now. I'd guess about $30-40k if a shop would have done the work.

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91 240sx
03 Pathfinder

2muchboost

Yes sir. If I am not traveling or seeing clients I am working from home so feel free to shoot me a text any time bud.