Project 635 - 300HP RWD 620

[DADZSUN]

A thought since your build isn't stock and you're missing the activation rods anyway, maybe you can rig them to operate more centrally?

Thanks for the pics.

I'm using Vintage air for the heater/defrost and it's electronic - but takes cabin air as a source rather than fresh air. However, I will eventually rig some kind of customer solution for the fresh air feeds. No rush though, I rarely use the ones in the 510 and often cruise with the windows open anyways.

[DADZSUN]

Since the last update I've painted the cab & seat headrest section. From an engine bay/interior it's pretty much as good as I want to make it. I do want to paint the floor black in the next few weeks but overall major cosmetic alterations on the cab are complete.

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Next issue I wanted to address was the CD009 new shift coupler. Per my last post, this is a PITA - more so than even planned.

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The tail section came off with quite a bit of persuasion - clearly my previous gasket job was well done.

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Removing the old coupler meant removing an inner and outer roll pin. Not too hard, but a little unnerving tapping it out.

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The surprised was that the new coupler didn't fit the shaft as expected. It had a slight taper in the bore which prevented the final 1" of movement. I had to pull out the flap disc and moderately bevel the shift rod. I wasn't happy about it - the rod was previously fine with the old coupler, but this one was just a little out and I didn't have the patience to back & forth with dialog/shipping.

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Next on the list were enhancements to perfectly functional items. While I try to stay away from that and focus on just getting this done, there will never be an easier time to get this done with the cab & bed removed.

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The tranny mount was about 3/4" lower than it needed to be.

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After a couple of hours I removed material from the bottom and reinforced the top.

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Tomorrow I tackle the exhaust. I'm hoping to trim 1-1.5" of depth which will raise everything and force me to cut a larger clearance on the frame's crossbeam. Once done, that's pretty much the final weld piece on this build.

I'm hoping to have the cab on this weekend and even sneak in another test drive by Sunday.

[Edm620]

The vent ducts are these:

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I'm considering altering how to operate them so I can open/close the passenger side more easily from the drivers seat.

I had to modify my wiper mount and forgot to check clearance, thankfully there isn't any interference for the reclocked wiper motor or the different wiring harness on my project.

[DADZSUN]

Thanks for the pics - I don't think the ducting will be difficult to replace but the vent levers might be interesting.

Along the lines your idea on vent manipulation, maybe there's some kind of motorized option - I'll have to investigate.

[DADZSUN]

It's always fun to read my last post and see how wrong I was.

I did manage to get the exhaust done. MUCH better clearance and I can finally put this to bed. Shortest clearance on the whole truck is now 5.75" which I think is pretty good. It may sound high for some but this truck has a 110" wheelbase (+13" more than my 510) so the smallest of variance on the ground can close that distance pretty quick.

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Where the surprise came was with the CD009 top mount shifter. After reinstalling the tail section with the new coupler, I still wasn't getting all the gears... or so I thought!

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First mistake was that I didn't properly go through all of the how-to videos (when the video is near the end and switches to their rear-mount after several minutes on the top mount - you would think they're done eh?). It turns out the rear tail section has to get some clearance for the coupler as it butts directly against the casing and can pop out of gear due to vibration. Yeah, I had to redo the whole procedure...

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I didn't take a pic but one above is off their site and is close to what mine looked like. Unfortunately, this STILL didn't give me all the gears. I couldn't get 5th gear, nor reverse. Those of you familiar with CD009 aftermarket shifters might start to see my issue here...


After chatting with the patient Autosports Engineering owner it turns out I was indeed getting reverse, and was in fact completely skipping 5th and 6th. The easiest way to explain is via pics (this is a 13" long shift lever length BTW), let's just sway the 'shortened' shift distance between gates is insanely short.

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First gear (left gate)

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Third gear (middle gate)

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Fifth gear (right gate) - which turned out I was completely skipping and going straight into reverse (far right gate).


This throw distance is skewed compared to fore/aft throw within each gate.

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After mentally recalibrating to the shifter's actual throws, I can now rifle through all the gears nicely. The kit provides a hard stop that prevents hitting the far-right gate (reverse) unless you explicitly push the shifter down under the hard stop. It's not installed, but I'll definitely put that back on before the cab gets put back on.

The last part I'm waiting for is a GKTech S13 brass shifter bushing. The Autosports Engineering kit uses the S13 plastic bushing but given the hassle to access the shifter top plate (yes, perhaps a design oversight by yours truly) I'll go ahead and get a more permanent setup which everything is accessible.

I've since done a bit more wire harness relocation/protection and the chassis is pretty much done. I'll do one more fire up of the VQ to make sure all sensors are happy and then my focus will be almost exclusively on the cab/wiring for the rest of this month.

[Edm620]

Wow, those gates are incredibly close to each other. I think I'd blow just a few shifts trying to hit them during "spirited" driving, er like there's some other way?... The throw looks decent though.

I might have suggested this before, but I think this forum really doesn't give you the exposure your build should have. Ratsun is IMO a more appropriate forum and others would lap up what you're doing. Datzenmike is modulator on the other site as well. Maybe stuff could be copied over so no need to repost everything? I dunno...

[DADZSUN]

I might have suggested this before, but I think this forum really doesn't give you the exposure your build should have. Ratsun is IMO a more appropriate forum and others would lap up what you're doing. Datzenmike is modulator on the other site as well. Maybe stuff could be copied over so no need to repost everything? I dunno...

Yes, you had suggested it before - but thanks for bringing it back up and reminding me to start thinking about a transition. In all honesty, I'm not really seeking exposure on this build, but if there's information within that could help others then I'm happy to share.

I'll probably create a thread in the new year once the initial part (Phase 1) of the build it done. Hopefully this is by the end of this month - I'm off during the holidays and if the weather stays decent I should get a ton done.

This thread of Phase '2' will be the shakedown, final reveal (wheels/stance/interior) and future plans (traction control and potentially hybrid electric). Rather than simply copy/past this build in chronological order, I'm thinking of reposting as start-> finish on specific sections (bed, cab, frame, suspension, brakes, drivetrain). It will be a little more compact and allow a reader to drill into a specific area of interest rather than having to read everything as I slowly dabble across multiple areas.

[Edm620]

[DADZSUN]

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I'm considering altering how to operate them so I can open/close the passenger side more easily from the drivers seat.

So I did a bit of looking and I think the solution is feasible and reasonably affordable.

A couple of standard servos ($26 CAD) mounted onto a 3D printed vent housing that bolts directly to the upper cowl. These servos would rotate a set of flaps within the housing. Standard hose ducting would then connect to the dash vents.

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To control them it's a $20 CAD servo controller. This boards takes 5-9V and the two servo plugs.

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I'll play with this over the winter and share my results.

[DADZSUN]

So one small issue with my Wilwood two piece rotor setup was that the hats were designed for 1/2 wheel stud and the G35/350Z comes with M12 (12mm) studs. This created a lot slop and a non-centered rotor.

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I purchased a 12mm drill bit and some cheap Aluminum bar and with my lonely lathe, proceeded to drill out the ID and then machine the OD.

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All things considered it worked out well and the rotor hats are now firm on the hub.

The glovebox is proceeding well. I'm not in a huge rush to have it totally done and mounted until the wiring and venting is done.

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In the meantime I decided to mount a USB charging port (dual 5A) within the glove box. One of my next tasks is to design & 3D print a latch for the door.

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The dash and glove box door also received final sanding and paint.

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I'm quite pleased with the finish/texture. I use Sure Tex rubber coating followed by SEM Automotive Black Trim top coat to prevent the Sure Tex finish from rubbing off.

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Finally, my S13 brass shifter bushing arrived.

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Naturally, the tolerance within the Autosport Engineering shift rod coupler was insanely tight so 90 minutes later, after lots of cussing I finally decided to use a wire wheel on the bushing to slightly reduce the OD.

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I finally got it all to play nice - I'm starting to wonder how much of a beating my CD009 can handle with all these hacks. Hopefully this is the end and it will never have to be opened again.

My To-do list is getting ridiculously short. Over the holidays I plan to run the VQ one more time before the cab is reinstalled. I also plan to get most of the wiring done by end of month. With luck, I'll be able to rip it up and down the road before New Years (with goggles on - glass will likely be later in Jan/Feb).

[Edm620]

Good idea on operating the vents, I look forward to how that works. As my build no longer uses the original lighting or wiper switches, I mounted my USB port into the hole for the wiper switch, but having one in the glove box makes good sense. I'll be putting a light in my glove box with a door contact switch to control it, there are some pretty tiny LED lights out there.

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Glove box mocked up in place

The latch knob was a bugger to take off and necessary to remove the broken half of the hinge from inside the door.

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and will be replaced with a piano hinge.

[Edm620]

BTW, I will also be needing to get a new windshield so let me know where you find one. If you weren't across the country we could maybe get a discount on 2!

[DADZSUN]

BTW, I will also be needing to get a new windshield so let me know where you find one. If you weren't across the country we could maybe get a discount on 2!

I actually have a brand new windshield for the 620. My son picked one up for me in New Jersey a couple of years ago. I also have a faded old one I got from a pick & pull. At best it's an emergency backup, but it's also proven handy for test fitting dash clearance etc...

[DADZSUN]

In this festive season I figured it would be appropriate to talk about toys.

Several years ago I purchased a Prusa 3D printer. It's proven invaluable in prototyping parts (510 electric steering kit) and other bits around the house/garage.

Project 635 was no different, there were a few parts that needed sorting as this project starts to wrap up.

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This piece will house a couple of 3rd brake light LED strips under the roof rain gutter. This will be bright, better line of sight, and fairly discrete. Installation pics will be coming shortly.

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This piece bolts to the top of the glove box and allows the door to stay closed.

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This piece was printed to test the 3rd shift gate (5th and 6th). The vendor is shipping a proper one but I quickly fabbed this up to test in the meantime.

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This electric-powered dash vent is still under development but progressing nicely.

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I'm particularly pleased with this bit. It's a simple wire loom boss that gets riveted to the chassis (a bit of epoxy underneath for good measure). It's a simple and quick way to secure the boss, then slide a zip-tie through.

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I printed with ABS plastic filament to ensure it can handle heat etc...

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I installed about a dozen of these in the cab about 6-8" apart.

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Wiring under the dash is finally starting to get sorted out.

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Finally, I purchased another 2-wheeled toy to haul around in the bed. This single speed bike runs a carbon-reinforced belt drive which is really cool. No oil/lube, totally silent, and apparently good for 10,000KM +.

[Edm620]

This electric-powered dash vent is still under development but progressing nicely.

That looks pretty good, have you considered a screen over the inlet to keep out leaves & other debris?

I mounted a screen on the air intake for my heater assembly for that reason, I might end up removing it as I anticipate possible noise/reduction in air flow due to the restriction

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One option is to make a simpler one of steel screen more like this

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Not really sure I need this as the only real problem I found during disassembly was this mouse nest complete with prior tenant

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which certainly didn't come down the chimney