DATSANITI - 1980 Datsun 210 Wagon VQ35 Swap - $2018 Challenge

If you can tweak it so it doesn't miss the corners under the lights I'll be on board. 

BTW You're the reason I'm working on mounting the core support on my wagon and not finishing the trunk floor. I want to mock up my bumper delete pretty bad. LOL

It's coming together.  I like your detail work around the headlights.  That's really starting to tie it all in.

When you first redid the fenders, all I could think was "Flying Trash-can", but you're really developing it nicely!

Looking pretty good so far, from a looks perspective I think the front air dam extends down a bit too far, it looks much closer to the ground than the rest of the car. Having the wheels hidden behind the box flares when seen from the front is good for drag reduction (like the nose of a high-speed train or a Koenigsegg), but it might look better if the sides tucked inboard towards the bottom.

Once it has a radiator hole and maybe some brake/fog holes to help make it less billboard like (hehe) I think it will look pretty awesome!

Here's something I did with old-school Datsun styling and aero in mind:

The two openings in the middle could be made taller if more air to the radiator is needed, and it leaves plenty of closed area above the splitter to maximize pressure buildup above it (if you choose to run one).

This is so awesome. I love the blank slate this air dam provides and the ideas yall are coming up with. And you photoshopped my cordless drill away! I hope you didn't delete it off your computer because I'll need it back.

klodkrawler05 font 

Once it has a radiator hole and maybe some brake/fog holes to help make it less billboard like (hehe) I think it will look pretty awesome!

I don’t know if we are voting here, but berk yeah. 

Last weekend was entirely devoted to minivan deferred maintenance, so no Datsaniti fun was had. This weekend I got the air dam roadworthy and tested it out.

Metal hooks attach to the radiator support bracket.

Hot glue works well for holding it together.

The whole bumper/air dam assembly comes off with just 4 self-tapping screws. Every other fastening feature is passive capture. You can push on it pretty hard without it caving in or deflecting. Should be stiff enough for 100+ (120+...?) mph of aero force.

Went for a drive and didn't notice any floppiness. A cop pulled up next to me at a stoplight and said "Cool, but it needs an LS swap." I retort "It's plenty fast" then drive off as carefully as possible to avoid that 4,000 RPM extreme exhaust note. I don't think he knew what was under the hood. Cool cop though, and didn't seem to mind the overall level of jank I put on the road.

The next morning I took it to a car show and drove on the interstate for the first time, getting up to 80 MPH with ease. It's loud, it drones, and random components hit their resonance and vibrate all at different speeds, but it drove smooth and predictable. Not saying it's daily-driver status, but maybe I don't have to tow it to autocross anymore. 25 urban miles round trip on a hot day. I took surface streets on the way back to avoid that Atlanta traffic, but it rides soooo much better on that smooth interstate pavement. Bumps, ruts, and potholes are terrifyingly loud in this car. Kids at the show loved drawing on it with the chalk I brought.

maschinenbau said:

Kids at the show loved drawing on it with the chalk I brought.

thanks for making motorsports "more accessible"!

Lots of little updates this week. I just got back from the monthly Caffeine and Octane show, which was 50 miles round trip all on urban interstates heading out before dawn. The show was crazy huge with a great variety as always. The car got tons of attention so I did my best to spread the good word of GRM and our annual pilgrimage to the Challenge. As everyone started leaving, I started my car because someone wanted to hear the engine. I revved it up juuuuust a bit and inadvertently triggered a revving war between the 350Z's I parked with (what else is similar?) and the Mustang gang that was rolling past us. I was stuck in the middle. The Z behind me REALLY overdid it and got a ticket from a cop. C&O is wild. 

No big issues on the drive, but the roads were still wet this morning so the spray made it hard to see without wipers on the dirtiest most pitted windshield ever. Headlights could use an adjustment too, but thankful for lots of streetlights going through downtown. The way back was much easier, though more traffic. I really want a brake booster but can't fit one. I noticed the whole chassis seems to resonant right around 3000 RPM at 70 something MPH. Also I am smelling a lot of exhaust inside the car and can't figure out how it's getting in.  All the doors seal like crap, so who knows, but it's a little nauseating even with the windows down. 

Anyway here's what happened since last time. Fenders are DONE with the welder. Nice little lip from a piece of 1/8 round rod and some stiffening supports.

Roof patch

Here's a neat trick I learned from Urchfab on youtube. When welding large flat sheetmetal that looks very sensitive to warping, blow compressed air after every few tacks to keep the heat down. I keep everything cool enough to touch and that seemed to work.

I am fully committed to no wipers and no HVAC, so I sealed up the cowl opening. Water has been getting into weird places, along with smells from the engine bay. Some patches made from aluminum rain gutter, seam sealer, and rivets made a quick job compared to welding.

Replaced the brake master cylinder which made the pedal definitely feel better, but I still wish I had power brakes on the street. Also that wiper motor and wiper assembly are gone. 5 more pounds removed.

Here's my super lame exhaust the 'meh'-looking tip and the after-thought mounting hastily welded onto the rear fascia. 

And here is the new and improved hater-pipe inspired God of All Rice mode exhaust.

Still sounds the same, but looks way more awesomer. I might bevel the tip, or not. I berkeleying love it.

If you REALLY want boosted brakes you could always go to a BMW E34 530i or 540i remote booster and master cylinder setup, it puts them both in front of the wheel behind the headlights. Or with your fabrication skills you could put them pretty much anywhere like you've done on the Rice Rod.

Car is looking better all the time.

Adam

Why not mount the booster at a 45 to the firewall? Use a 7 inch streetrod booster style. Pushrod and pivot the linkage.

adam525i said:

If you REALLY want boosted brakes you could always go to a BMW E34 530i or 540i remote booster and master cylinder setup, it puts them both in front of the wheel behind the headlights. Or with your fabrication skills you could put them pretty much anywhere like you've done on the Rice Rod.

Car is looking better all the time.

Adam

I have this exact setup available on Mr Parallel, the BMW 740 iL I'm parting out. If you want to go that route send me a text.

Any room for a hydroboost? I'll be using one from an SN95 mustang on my truck to clear my exhaust manifold.  Plumbing will be a bit more complicated but power brakes are worth the hassle.

Thanks for all the ideas, it's getting the gears turning. I might be able to mount the booster + MC on the forward side of the strut tower, with a long rod going straight from pedal to booster. Then I'll have to relocate the air filter, perhaps put it where the MC is now. 

But first I'll revisit clearancing the strut tower and angling the MC upward. Though the input rod is horizontal, the fluid reservoir is not level, so that tells me the MC is supposed to point up a little when installed on a G or Z car. The G35 booster, which I still have, is pretty thin axially but wide in diameter, which I think can work on this firewall if I trim that pinch weld. Notice I have already done some "persuading" on that corner of the tower.

What makes you want power brakes? Just the pedal effort of manual brakes?

My understanding is that properly done manual brakes are not bad, though I can't say for myself as I haven't gotten that far yet. But if that's the stock MC, which is meant to be used with a booster, then you may want a better sized MC to go with no booster. I believe you'd want a smaller bore MC for less pedal effort. 

In reply to AWSX1686 :

After driving in Atlanta interstate traffic, I just didn't feel confident in the brakes. I also don't like the huge difference in pedal effort between the manual brakes and the e-throttle. Easier to drive = faster. You're right, the whole system is optimized for power brakes. That could be helped with a combination of pedal ratio and MC bore size. I can't get any more ratio out of the pedal without extreme under-dash modifications. Changing to a different brake MC is possible, but the budget is getting very tight even for junkyard brake parts. The safety clause in the Challenge budget rules let me replace the OEM cylinder with a fresh "equivalent" one, but anything that upgrades the system has to be counted. I feel it would be against the rules to swap my donor car MC for a different type since it would definitely be a performance advantage compared to what I have now.

where's the master from the g35? wouldn't that be an option (plus correct sizing and mostly correct proportioning)?

Maybe im missing something here?

In reply to Robbie :

Let me back up. Current system is basically the G35 with a booster/ABS delete.

Datsun pedal -> G35 master -> front/rear circuits.

Front circuit: G35 master -> tee -> front calipers.

Rear circuit: G35 master -> adjustable bias valve -> tee -> rear calipers.

There are "manual brake" kits for 350Z's, but they use a different sized MC for good reasons I am beginning to understand. The ABS module would have done the front/rear proportioning, but now I have a bias valve instead.

maschinenbau said:

Thanks for all the ideas, it's getting the gears turning. I might be able to mount the booster + MC on the forward side of the strut tower, with a long rod going straight from pedal to booster. Then I'll have to relocate the air filter, perhaps put it where the MC is now. 

As mentioned above, look at the BMW setup - they have a bracket that mounts the master cylinder, you may be able to adapt it to your car or at least it will provide inspiration for fabricating a similar bracket.

In reply to maschinenbau :

gotcha, makes much more sense. 

I think you should just put the booster as far down as you can on the firewall and then make a "power bulge" on the hood to make it fit. People don't need to know it is a "power brake bulge".

I decided to give power brakes a good effort tonight. Here's the booster mocked up with the old leaky MC. Notice how much it's angled up.

The CAD template says the booster should. Has cardboard ever steered me wrong?

Using the booster gasket as a template, I marked what needs to be hogged out.

I got about this far, which still has the mounting studs hung up on the firewall, when things went wrong. Notice how I was keeping the input plunger compressed by pulling on the output plunger thingy with vise grips. 

Turns out that plunger only likes to be pushed, not pulled. It decided to let go AFTER I finangled the input plunger into the firewall hole, which means I have no good way to re-compress it again. 

This means I now have a broken brake booster stuck in my car. I have tried everything to get it out but man it is stuck. 

What happe s if you apply a lot of vacuum to the booster?  Will it pull that in?

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Holy E36 M3 that's a good idea. Yeah I don't see why it wouldn't suck in.

maschinenbau said:

 I have tried everything to get it out but man it is stuck. 

That sucks.