Mr. G. Brettin's Slow Motion Leg Hump

gbrettin

Phase 1 of the cubby mount has been completed. I had to massage the bottom of the cubby and ended up taking a tad too much off the bottom, but I still think it looks amazing. Fitment around the sides are completely snug.

Now I need to move on to phase 2 which is making the fiberglass mount for my Tinker Electronics. That's happening today hopefully. Also, the B side of my mount should snug up the bottom middle section of the fiberglass cubby mount.

Phase 3 will be purely aesthetics. I'll add carbon fiber to the face, prime the cubby and then paint it. I'll keep you guys looped in.

I've had a few people inquire about getting a cubby so I'll just address that below if you're serious. Best place to reach me is on Instagram@gbrettin because that's a public profile.

What does it fit in?
-- 370z only.

What is it used for?
-- After market gauges or anything your heart desires.

What are the face dimensions?
-- 5" x 7". Actually slightly larger but you'll have 3/8" wiggle room.

How much?
-- $599.

Why so much?
-- It took forever to make the mold and the materials were not cheap. I will likely make a 3D printed version which will be much cheaper in the future, but that's not where I am at now. There's also no guarantee I will get around to that either, so don't bank on it.

What is the lead time?
-- 3mo approximately. I do it in my free time and have a day job.

How long do you plan on making these?
-- Not sure. Might be a one off if no one is interested.

If you're still interested then PM me on IG@gbrettin for further discussion.

gbrettin

Moving onto phase 2. I was able to pop a perfect fiberglass mold of the front bezel. NO AIR POCKETS! hah. I think I have the hang of fiberglass now. I'll do vacuum bagged cubby mounts going in the future but I wanted to work on this doing hand layups.

90% of the face was cut out of the original face. I left a corner at the top left and right of the original face and then a small strip at the bottom so I can lay the bezel against that with out it moving around. I used a finger sander to carve out the back side so that I could lay my Tinker Electronics display flush against the bezel and so that side can support the unit.

Lightweight bondo was used in the small areas around the border. As mentioned earlier, I wanted to fix the bottom of the mount so that there are very tight gaps between the oem plastic and the cubby. Now here's were it got tricky... My car is 30min from my house. I used marglass to build up the bottom to the gap I marked out on the face, ranging from 1/16 to 1/8. Excess fiberglass was cut from the bottom of the mount with a razorblade while the fiberglass was soft. I'd say about 6-8min after initially mixing it up. Then I used 80grit to lightly shape at the 11 - 12min mark. Then I loaded up the orbital sander, sand paper, and cubby into the car and headed down to the shop to test fit. Now this doesn't happen often, but I applied the correct amount of fiberglass or at least knocked it down to the right spots the first time.

For being the first mount that came out of the mold, I'm extremally happy with the cubby mount. It fits exactly the way I want. Originally I was going to toss this one in the garbage because of the original layup wasn't great due to the air pockets and the feet did not form how I wanted. This particular part is imperfectly perfect to me. I'm going to clean up a few areas and bond some mounting brackets, but this thing is nearly ready for primer/paint.

gbrettin

Primed, bondo, sanded, primed, scuffed, and tested.

That pretty summed up what happened in the pictures below. Hard part was doing bondo on the bottom again because I had to do guess work on the sanding because my car was remote. Thankfully I had reference marks and it worked out again. First picture shows the problem areas at the bottom when I primed it. Short story, all the issues came out and said "HI!!!!!!!" after I primed it.

I'll need to make one more pass with limited bondo and then prime it at 3rd time. Fun times! The work appears to be paying off. Painting it black is going to be pretty easy after all this.

gbrettin

OK this might be one of the posts you have been waiting for. The cubby mount is done for my Tinker Electronics. I was going to inlay carbon fiber... but nah. I think it looks really damn good as is. Leading up to the completion I had to figure out how to mount the display to the cubby. I went to Lowes and bought a few different types of L brackets and some Polycarbonate. Turns out the L brackets fit the bill perfectly. All I needed to do was sand out slots on the side of the cubby and then epoxy them down. I used two types of epoxies to do this. The first was a clear gel that I put into the grove and all around the metal. Now, I know this is likely enough but I used a different two part epoxy that built up and over the cubby (it was less runny.). The mount worked perfect!

Now I'm just getting things out of order... Prior to doing the mount, I attempted to paint the cubby with VHT satin paint. It looked amazing! Down side was that the color and look was all wrong for interior. After sanding 95% of the paint off I learned that Spray Max sells a matt black trim paint and satin black trim paint. So... I bought both of them. I started out with the matt black trim, after the the other debacle, and it was exactly what I was going for.

I sure hope you guys liked seeing the complete process from A-Z for this. It wasn't a cake walk for me. Now I'm working on getting the mold prepared for Mr. Redondoaveb. He has some awesome plans with the blank cubby mount and Frank Motorvate. I need to lay out clear coat over the face of the cubby. I found out that the cubby will pull the slightest imprint onto the face.

I was so happy with my cubby's fitment that I gave it to a buddy that works in fabrication for airplanes (I'm sure there's a fancy name for it) and he said that they have a 100k+ dollar scanner that he can scan the cubby mount. This will be the first step in getting a 3D printed version out to people. Now, I don't know if this will actually materialize getting done, but getting it going to see what can come of it is a big step. I've had 4-5 people ask about getting a cubby and they immediately lost interest when I told them 700. I can't say I blame them, it's expensive. However, I'd gladly pay 700 not to f#uck with buying supplies, sanding, and sinking my time in general if I personally had the option. It was a LOT of work getting to this point. I think people understand that though, or at least hope so, because I've been completely transparent about this process.

I'll need to get the cubby back soon though... My Z is scheduled for some dyno time soon!

Pictures are in order of process:

gbrettin

You might be wondering what all the fuss is around the cubby mount. Check the video out showing what it can provide for read outs. I also wouldn't say it
s the "best" digital display. There are a lot of really good displays out. :

MarkRT

That's a pretty good digital dash!

gbrettin

Most of my dash is back together. A manual trim ring was modified to work with the Outlaw shifter, material was removed and the leather boot sliced and glued. It's not perfect but looks better than a hole. I'll worry about that detail later. Exhaust pipes came back from getting ceramic titanium.

I now have everything for the Sikky subframe minus custom DSS axels. I have a little bit of wiring needed but that's on deck this Sunday. Pending the wiring.... I should be on the dyno despite not having the Winters Quick Change in. Much Excite!

gbrettin

You may notice, we tore apart the dash and assembled again. and again. probably need to do it a few more times. I simply would not have been able to get over the hurdle of car wiring with out Dave's help (owner of Auto Dynamix). Dave re-did the push to start controls and finalized them, terminated the CAN EGT, and a whole bunch of "small" things that needed to be tied down. The car even has a neutral safety switch so it will not send its self through a wall if it happens to start in gear.

Couple notable items during that hectic day. The air to water fill sucks a$$. I'm removing the second swirl pot in favor of an actual 5gal water box that I will locate in the trunk. This will allow easy fill and the opportunity to run ice if I really want to. Fairly easy fix.

The turbos were seeping oil and then cleared up. Odd. They cleared up on the dyno, so what ever. The turbos are actually larger than I thought, 72/76. The buggy that it came off of previously produced 1800+hp .... I thought it made 1200. I didn't think the turbos would spool quick. WRONG. they immediately come online. I always hear them whirling. The springs were opening at about 6lbs and I think that this setup will produce about 600whp with out turning anything up. Yes, that's the bottom of the bucket HP for the car and only goes up from there.

This week we are planning on doing some power pulls. The car is out of e85 on the dyno so I'm literally going to the local gas station and will pump 20gal of freshness into plastic race cans. Also I need to pull the injectors out off the car because I'd rather not burn a hole in a piston due to some gummy junk at WOT.

There's no doubt in my head this will make 1000hp+ (dyno queen sh1t) driving on gate pressure this year will be perfectly fine for me considering where the bar will be set. Keep in mind, this engine can spin about 9k rpm after a bit more break in. OH, I drove the car under its own power on the road yesterday! It was 1/10 of a mile.... but it was a mental hurdle

A funny note - a truck passed me on the road and they stabbed the brakes and looked at me like I had three heads. I was doing about 3-5mph down the road. The car sounds like an absolute animal... watch the videos with the sound on.


Copied from FB because I don't feel like writing much... Yeah, lazy... I know. I'm really working towards getting to Zdayz this year and I would love to see you guys there at Blowing Rock, NC!
I'm going to drive this hazard down.
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Had a fairly stressful, yet rewarding day, yesterday. I've been pushing to get my car on the dyno and ready for Zdayz this year. My buddy, shop owner of Auto Dynamix, used his Sunday to get the wiring done (I was there assisting). We managed to knock out 99% of the wiring and got the car on the dyno. I pretty much was on pins and needles yesterday because I know the fool that built and fabricated everything (me). There were a few minor issues but that's expected since I didn't use a kit for any of this swap except for the LOJ engine mounts. Hopefully I'll be able to get some power pulls done this week after I put some fresh e85 in and clean the injectors one last time (car sat for a long while with e85 in it). Any questions, let me know; I'm an open book about this build (most people tend not to share specifics). I've posted the entire build process on my IG@gbrettin if you want to see the entirety of it. Also, come out to Zdayz if you want to see it in person and chat me up!

gbrettin

Been a little bit since I posted an update. The initial dyno tuning session did not go well. The car was not running properly so a series of tests needed to be conducted. Ill try running through the list... We ran the gambit. This is also to show some of the not so glorious things that happen on fresh builds. Mine may be a little worse... well, becase I worked on it.

1. Before we put the car on the dyno the injectors were cleaned because the e85 sat for a while, couldn't run the risk of a lean cyl. One of the injectors got pinched on installation. This required the fuel rail to come back off and a new O ring to be put on.

Re-test on dyno. Car still running poor. Symptom. I could stand on the gas pedal for 15sec and no power.

2. Reviewed plug wires and saw that 2 boots were not pressed in all the way. Push them in more. The angle is weird and Firecore plugs clip really hard... fine, easy fix. I will take that. No dice. Car still runs like **** where it should make power.

3. Pull the spark plugs and inspect them. They all look good.

4. Verified Spark from coil packs. Good, they discharged enough electricity to kill someone on death row.

5. Pulled the valve covers and checked lash. I measured but didnt account for the oil pressure on the Johnson Lifters. Ordered new push rods and installed. This was an issue but not the fix. Car still ran like junk.

6. Did a compression test to make sure nothing was hurt. All cylinders came back with 185-190 compression.

Dave had a sneaking suspicion that the timing was off. The question was farmed out to a group of local well known drag racers and they all kind of thought the same thing. I went back to my picture archive and looked at the last rebuild 2 years ago. Not sure if any of you remember that, but I pulled the engine apart because there was debris in the engine. I DID HAVE THAT PICTURE! wow! The timing chain had two sets of numbers, one number on the teeth and another near the crank snout. I used the "0" near the crank snout and not the 0 on the tooth. Well.... my car was literally off by 90 degrees!

So... This is where the pictures below take us. I had to take apart the front of my car to get to the timing chain. This last weekend I took it apart on Sat and then on Sun it was reassembled. Much to my delight, we resolved the problem. Also, other problem areas were addressed such as a little a leak from my scavenger pump, heat shielding, and zip tied wires. The "small things" had to be addressed before they turned into massive issues. Example - The heat shielding was specifically for the power steering line. There was a small burn mark on it. I'm certain that would burn through and cause a fire if it wasn't addressed. SO, I'm taking all the stuff we did in stride. The suck was embraced for lemonade.

The car runs smooth (not so much like a promod now.. and I'm ok with that!). Boost comes in and rips at 3800RPM. The short video at the end is just a quick verification of everything.

I permanently removed the swirl pot for the A2W up front... too much of a PITA. I couldn't get it to fill properly. I purchased a Shear Fab 5gal water tank and will have that in the trunk of the car. Ill have the option to run ice I guess.

-Edit - I made 20lbs of boost in the video. Bonus points for someone to say why. Hint: evidence is in pictures. For the people that already know the answer through Discord, keep the answer to yourself. lol






Heatshield.



Top radiator hose is not hooked right. intentionally didn't want it flopping around.

Rusty

Damn boost junkie.

__________________

浪人 - 殺し屋
"The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only"
http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

gbrettin

And about 1 year later I finally make some power. lol. Project builds.... fun... yes. fun.

Made a little over 600whp on 16lbs of boost and 550tq. BUT, cyl 7 went cold, I ran out of fuel pump and the turbos need a rebuild. The turbos pushed oil and likely put oil on the plug of cyl 7 (I need to pull the plug to verify). The previous run made 12lbs made 540/540, so that's the last decent run for the turbo before it gave out.

How do I know cyl 7 went cold? I have EGT sensors hooked up and I saw the moment it went cool in the data log.

The fix? I'm getting new Bullseye turbos and will hook up my other Walbro 525 pump.

-Edit - The dyno pull was at 7000rpm and the engine should spin up to 9,000. The internal components should be able to take around 40psi.

gbrettin

Keeping this short. Pictures show the story. Ordered new turbos because my old turbos were junk (said in last post). Owner of Bullseye Turbos made me a set of turbos in 2 days! Picked them up and should be all set to install tonight.

Wiring is going to be a constant clean up until it gets to be OEM like. It's getting there with the wiring tuck. Basically have to keep going over it until it's perfect. I had to replace the battery with new one so I went with a Lithium Antigravity. The constant power was also removed from the battery in favor of a signal wire. That allows the car to actually be off completely at the safety switch AND so the 2nd fuel pump can be triggered at high boost. With that said, the second fuel pump is now operational.

The waterlines were removed to simplify. I'll post those pictures when I crack into the process.

CO2 was hooked up but I didn't really show much about that previously. Lines were fairly simple. That's how I managed to do 16lbs on the dyno with 6lb springs.

Cyl7 dropped because I didn't clip the Firecore boot on all the way. I forgot to hit it with my purse. The IGN1A burnt a hole through the silicon boot. The amount of spark they produce is unreal!

I found the perfect sticker that represents my build... lol

ZontheRocks

Great update. Love the sticker!

__________________
'16 Pearl White Sport | Stillen Gen. 3 | Motordyne ART | Motordyne Shockwave | ZSpeed | Powertrix | EVO-R | Aeroworkz | Nismo | Z1 | EcuTek | Tuned by Seb @ SpecialtyZ

gbrettin

Had to thrash over the last few days to get the new turbos to work. Nothing fit because the Turbonetics frame was different. Turbo mount point was cut and then rewelded. Intercooler had to be cut and welded. Exhaust was a marmon flange on the Bullseye so that was extra tricky, again cut and rewelded. The marmon flange is 3.5" my buddy plasma cut a 3.5" flange with an inside 3" diameter hole the exhaust could be attached to. There's no practical reason to do 3.5" exhaust out the front bumper ... and there's no way in heck i'm fabbing that again.

There were a number of issues found breaking everything down. 6 boost leaks in the A2W, one bolt loose on the up pipe which showed scorching on the gasket, and 4 bad plug wires (3 arced and 1 roasted). Pinched ORB rings on the turbo drains (caused leaks).

I put flanged bolts with pipe dope on threads and copper gasket on the head to stop the 6!!!! boost leaks. So stupid it was manufactured that way. Used the same copper gasket on the up pipes and turbo. The plug wire on the inside of the Firecore plugs got mashed back which caused the arc, the other one was on the header. Happy I ordered an extra set, just incase. New ORBs on the turbo drains. Also had to clearance the oil drains so that there was a tiny air gap.

After everything was together we did some dyno work and got the engine to produce 850whp. WHY NO 1000 HP GREG?!?!?!?! well, the second fuel pump appears to not pull fuel from the tank correctly. Likely a line came off? Doesn't really matter. I can fix it later. I probably wont even turn the power past 600 this year anyway (which is where the first pump stops).

Something I need to change out the twin intake from the car. It stops RPM at 7,000. The twin intake also stops me from easily working on my car... which I apparently need to be able to work on it easily. SO.... I'm going to change the A2W, Plenum and charge tubes to simplify everything. That's not happening for months. I just need to enjoy the car for a little bit. The good news about the changes is that the system fits way better together now and everything aligns on the X pipe, intercooler and turbos.

gbrettin

I'm currently doing a lot of upgrades and changes on the car; however, I'm not going to be posting the progress of that so much. The car is getting cosmetic changes and some revisions on the cold side. I was committed to showing the entire DIY TT LS swap and have completed that goal. I'll leave you with the final picture, for now.

Thank you to everyone that went through the entire thread and/or have followed this over the years. If there are any questions, feel free to reach out on IG@gbrettin, or gbrettin@gmail.com. I don't really monitor forum messages.