This is what a car looks like in a living room.

...well, a car frame anyway. It's pretty small for car-- but it makes a large piece of furniture.



Also, here's a stair update:

The risers have been pulled off, making them even more treacherous:



The treads have been sanded and stained:

Hey, what'a ya know... a new post!

Here are some of the most recent pictures. These guys mount between the engine mount platforms on the frame and the actual engine mounts. I built them out of 1/8" plate.



From below when mounted to the frame. I'll need to grind away a little bit of that weld so that the washers will fit flush against the frame.



Another view from the bottom, this time from the rear a little bit.



This is one of the reasons why I haven't been making a lot of progress on the 7 recently. Those new steps I made have to go where I ripped up the old ones. Thanks for the router Dad.

New pictures, for real!

Ha, you didn't think the new camera was going to make it, did you?! Actually I wasn't too sure either. But it turns out I didn't end up getting ripped off. So here's the frame so far:



You can see that the enigne bay is framed out pretty nicely.



I've cut out a space for the transmission and added more vertical supports.



Here's the front end. It's all braced up and ready to go. This is where the inboard ends of the front A-arms are going to mount.


The engine bay from above. Note the engine mount platforms.



A close-up of one of the enigine mount platforms.



Test fitting the engine... and the driver!

New camera test

Here's an action shot of me working on the frame. Aren't the images from this new camera so life-like?

Alright, it's time to get back to work.

Well, actually I have been working... just a little slowly. Let's call it "methodically." The frame has been getting heavier as it gradually gets new parts. I've ordered a new camera-- hopefully it should be here by next week so I can finally post some more pictures.

Also, I've run through my first spool of welding wire. Some more should be here by the end of the week.

Arrrrgh! My camera is busted.

Oh, here's the problem right here: it says Made in Japan. "But Doc," you might say, "all the best stuff is made in Japan." Unbelievable! But lets hope the made-in-Japan engine works out better than the camera.

Anyway, what I've been doing is adding triangulation members to the frame. These pieces fit diagonally into the frame I've built so far to make it more rigid. Also I've been test fitting the engine in the frame. I've gotten a new transmission mount and my new engine mounts should be here today.

Hopefully soon I'll be able to mount the engine in the frame and start it up.

My engine is here!

After some confusion with the shipping company, my engine has arrived from Japan Motor Import. It seems to be in decent shape.

The shippers (Yellow Transportation) were kind of giving me the runaround-- telling me that they had "lost" it, but that it hadn't been that long yet (so presumably I, and they, should wait a little longer befor getting too concerned). The guy I talked to at JMI called the shippers for me and got them straightened out.



Here it is-- the engine and tranmission on the hoist in my garage:



From the other side:



From the front. A lot of this stuff is going to go. I'm not going to need either the power steering pump or the A/C compressor, or this big honkin' fan. I'll use an electric fan mounted to the radiator.



The intake manifold and throttle body assembly:



The transmission:



The exhaust outlet from the turbo. The turbo is hidden behind the heat shield. Hmm... that cracked thing in the upper left isn't good. It's the outlet from the compressor side of the turbo-- I'm going to have to make a new one of those...



The underside of the engine. That oil pan took a bit of a beating during shipment.



The ECU:



Air filter and mass airflow sensor (MAF):

A change of plans

Alright, the plan has changed a little bit. Originally I was going to disassemble the 240sx to use the KA24DE engine, as well as a few other donor parts. But dismantling a car (in addition to building one) seems like a lot of extra work-- especially only for the engine and only a few other parts.

Today I bought another engine to use instead-- a CA18DET. It's lighter and more powerful than the KA24DE. It's got a factory turbo too :) It also comes with a five speed transmission.

Here it is:



CA18DET Specs:

• 1.8L Inline 4
  
• Horsepower: 173 @ 6400RPM
  
• Torque: 166 lb-ft @ 4000RPM
• Garrett T25 turbocharger
• ~7500 RPM redline
• Dual overhead cams, 16 valves
• iron block, aluminum head

It's starting to look like something...

So here's the frame so far. It's starting to look more like a car.



All these pieces are tack welded. I started fully welding some of the joints-- wow, this is going to be a lot of welding.

The Rear Bulkhead

This is the rear bulkhead. It'll form the back of the passenger compartment. Most of these joints are just tack welded at this point.



Here are some tack welds up close:



Here you can see me using the magnetic angle gauge on this frame piece. This way I can make sure that these uprights are perpendicular to the base before tack welding them into position.

Just one more...

Watch out! Dork behind the wheel!

Marty, you're just not thinking 3rd dimensionally!

These are the pieces for the front end. These don't go together quite flat. The top piece actually gets assembled several inches rearward of the bottom piece. The diagonals are cut with compound and angles to accomodate this arragement. This is going to require some more complicated jigging.



Here are some pieces after the ends have been cleaned up. I've been using a wire wheel on the surfaces to welded, followed by a through wipe-down with acetone. It'll keep the welds from getting contaminated. This part can take a while (and it's not as exciting as the welding either), but it's all about the prep.



Here they are all jigged up.



The front end "in situ."



Here it is: the third dimension. I finally started to build up. I've also placed several other vertical pieces here using right angle magnets. None of these are welded yet. I'll tack 'em in soon.



A view from the drivers seat... vroom.

Look ma... no clamps!

The bottom of the frame has been fully welded.



Next: It's on to the front end assembly. Plus some shop cleanup-- grinding makes a real mess.

The frame is starting to come together...literally.

Note the fire extinquisher on the wall. It the most expensive one they have at Home Depot.



But back to the car: I've cut all of the peices for the bottom portion of the frame...



And clamped 'em up so they won't move when I weld them.

My frame arrived yesterday

Here it is: 16 gauge 1" square mild steel tubing.



Some assembly required...

The Shop

I need a place to build this thing... so I set myself up a workshop. Along the wall those are a couple of 4' x 2' tables.

In the forground is a 8' x 4' table that I'm going to build the frame on. It also doubles as a guest bed.



Check out my sweet new MIG welder...

...and my new welding helmet. Don't tread on me.

The beginning

So this is my 240sx. Don't be fooled-- this is its good side.



I'm going to turn it into something like this:


Edit (9/14/2006): No longer am I going to use any part of my 240 for the 7. Why? Well, let me break it down for you.

• Engine - too heavy, too underpowered, too old.
• Front wheel uprights/spindes - they're designed for a MacPherson strut setup. Since I'm going to make my own custom double wishbone suspension, I'd have to modify the upper mount on the spindle. Miata uprights will work great instead.
• Rear wheel uprights - also are not going to be great for my custom built suspension. They have mounting points that come off at odd angles, and require compliance in the bushings for the suspension to travel correctly. Miata rear uprights will also work better.
• Differential - it's open. I want a limited slip differential.
  
• Steering - I'm not sure, but I'd imagine that the steering rack is going to be too wide to fit. It'll be easier to buy a new one.