I first met Ari one day when he came over to look at one of the Corbeau seats I was selling from the 280z. Someone else had already claimed the newer seat for 2oo$ so i figured 125$ would be good for the used one. We talked about 1oo$+ and he said he could pick it up later but didn't make it. On a side note, neither did the guy who claimed the other seat. I sold the pair to an *$&#^@! a month later. As it turns out, even though he first found me through a Craistlist ad, he was originally from my neighborhood and apparently still rides mountain bikes behind the barn I'm renting. So he's the one the neighbor's were complaining about making jumps in the woods near the lake. Ari mentioned he welded but I thought nothing else of it and a few months passed.
Dyno nights have been my occasion to frequent TDC Auto, spinning the rollers with my 280z just before taking her apart last winter. I knew a few people there, and heard good things from people who had work done there. Recently they hired a local welder named Ari who was doing their custom fabrication work. Unbeknownst to me, Ari was Ari. I didn't make the connection when talking with Chris about what I wanted, and more importantly how I wanted it.
Chris was enthusiastic about the project and set the as yet unidentified Ari to work immediately, with just a few emails, and what I'm sure was a mess of random instructions and requirements from our previous encounter. Price discussions would be made later, this project would be done, and done right. Since I was able to leave the car with them for a while, 4 weeks as it turns out, they were able to work on it in-between jobs during downtime to save $. Chris also took my harnesses and fuel cell from the 280z as trade which worked out well for everyone involved. I can't wait to see pics of the parts installed in shop cars!
After minimal contact over the first 2 weeks while I was incommunicado, I was very happy to come by the shop and see most of the work was already done. The old unibody was supported very carefully on the lift. The FMIC's end tanks and inlet/outlets were modified to line up with the, coincidental, 3" oem holes through the core support. The upper mounts were removed and a thin top plate would be welded over it to complete the super clean install. Stainless steel mounts, because of proximity to the elements, were fabricated to fully support the FMIC from its bottom mounts, hidden, utilizing oem threaded holes on the lower core support. Instead of snugly fitting thin-walled aluminum tubing through a core support that could easily vibrate a hole into it, longer silicone couplers were used to allow for some flexing and rubbing, in a good way. The joint was positioned so that I shouldn't run into trouble disconnecting the FMIC in the future as with the shorter couplers on the 280z, eliminating hours of entertainment from the many bumps, bruises, and cuts it took to remove clamps, using any wrench that would fit, effectively inside the core support.
The intake plenum was removed and the "oem" flange cut off, re-angled, and welded back on. I was told later that, and I quote, "It wasn't baller enough so he took it off and re-welded it again." TDC Auto rocks. Ari connected both sides of the short track of intercooler piping. The throttle cable mount was removed and relocated and a new throttle body was used in place of the stock Q45. This is a 9o mm Godspeed unit and is much cleaner. As you can see it's rotated 90*, as is the new mating flange on the plenum. Mounting the engine so far back in the bay has added to the complexities of the build, including having to re-orientate an aftermarket throttle body on an aftermarket plenum because it runs so close to the suspension column. At the very least it'll make the sensor wires easy to hide.
A new dump tube was made to replace the ugly old one. Instead of a 180* bend being created by welding several wedge-cut pieces of straight tubing together, an artfully bent/cut tube was fabricated and welded to the v-band. The exit is now more safely facing downwards below the engine as opposed to outboard under the framerail, and more importantly, not directly in front of the front tire. The bov was going to be placed on the charge pipe as marked, but we decided to relocate it to one of the bends coming off the FMIC. This would move the bov in front of the core support to the throttle body side of the intercooler, provide better response and less turbo reaction, while freeing up space in the engine bay. That and it's just cleaner. Maybe I'll have room for a cold air intake one day.
The downpipe was modified to fit the new engine position in the new unibody, as was the front half of the exhaust. V-band clamps were reused and the o2 bung to be relocated from it's now unusable location adjacent to the firewall, to the inside of the downpipe, just after the vertical drop near the headers. Eventually I would like to re-coat the downpipe, or maybe use some kind of header tape to insulate it. I would also like to add a heat-shield for the master cylinders directly adjacent to the downpipe, it's something I always wanted to do in the 280z, especially with all the wires in that area, which I plan to run on the other side of the firewall this time, away from the hotness that is the exhaust of an rb25.
I realized Ari was Ari when he came into the shop after lunch and I managed to kick over his drink while asking him to connect the go-pedal side of the throttle cable. I thought it was odd that he looked so familiar but knew something was up when he asked about the barn that I currently inhabit. The car should be delivered tomorrow and I can't wait to get her ready for paint and final wiring. Thanks Ari and Chris at TDC for doing a great job, hopefully I'll be able to come back for a dyno soon.
tdc auto daily grind blog - in process
Looks nasty man. Keep it up!
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