72240z Posted July 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 Ya, me too. Happy to be able to garage park my 73 though. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Just read this whole thread and WOW! Awesome work on all the cars in this thread! I feel like this thread reads like a movie, all the ups and downs. There is something to be said for being as resilient as you are in this. That new motor in the '73 is a total work of art, I'd love to build that motor for my car :thumbup: . Enjoy the garage too, they seem to be a rare treat. A beer to you sir! Quote Link to comment
hessianben Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Jay!! Great to see you with a running Z !! I recall your project got derailed by a roof collapsing on your car due to snow!! is that the car you just sold? with the dents in the roof? either way, awesome progress!! great looking car and impeccable engine! Quote Link to comment
Alex Datsun Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Bitter sweet day Sunday, my journey with the 72 has come to an end :-(. The new owner came and picked it up and thats that. I hope he picks up where I left off and actually finishes the car. So much blood sweat and tears went into that chassis....... Really makes me sad to have it gone. Spent like 6 years with it and never drove it. very familiar feeling your engine bay is now officially super sex Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted July 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Thanks for the compliments guys :-) I'm waiting on some titanium header wrap, heat reflective tape etc... To wrap my headers and some other things as well as fab up heat shields for the webers. It gets WAY too hot under the hood right now. Debating picking up a diy spark cable kit too so I can go around the valve cover with my out mounts rather then over. The cables now are pretty good, also diy's 8mm and they match the current color of the car so Idk kind of torn on doing it now or waiting until after I paint the car this fall/winter. Also at some point want to pick up a dead end fitting for the weber so I can feed from the firewall side and then just end it. eliminating all that exposed fuel line, filter etc.... Hunting for a cam and rockers too ;-), feeling its a def bottle neck right now. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted December 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Slow going, I have started working on the itb efi conversion. Picked up 2 sets of GSXR 740 itbs for 160 bucks. Made a drawing for adapter to dcoe pattern. Also hunting for a 280z gas tank etc...Here is a mock up because I wanted to have some fun while it was snowing out. The final will be 3 sets of 2 with less braces if any at all. I will also have to make my own spool pieces for the rail between the T's. These things are so fun though, talk about legos? EVERYTHING about them is modular. 1 Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Nice score. This will be sweet to watch ! Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I started vinyl wrapping some trim today. The goal is to wrap the whole car but I'm going to start with the trim in CF. I am also going to do the flares and bumpers. This is the tail trim done, its not perfect I messed up in the upper inner corners but you can barely tell, good enough for now, if it erks me i'll redo them at some point with everything I have learned after the fact lol. Its def not easy to wrap complex shapes...Shitty pic, I'll take a better one tom when I put them back on and nab a bumper. Quote Link to comment
Cuban Z Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Wow! Just read through your entire thread. Reads like a novel. Man I was just hoping you'd pull through after the tent incident. As they say, the set back is the set up for the come back. Very inspiring story. I just picked up a virgin 240 z 10/70 build date and am going in a totally different direction cause she's way too clean and noone here in Cali really rocks a stocker, but deep down I really want a racer. Love your car and your heart brother! My parents are in Hudson County and I'll be visiting soon. If I do I'll hit you up. Keep pushin! PEACE! Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Hey thanks man, I wanted to make that 72 work too but there was just too much working against me. For a series one rock it stock and proud lol get a 2nd gen and mod the hell out it. Cool, def hit me up. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I put them back today even though its 22 damn degrees. I was going to remove the rear bumper to do while I was there but ran into complications. The car wont start, no power, only been a week since I drove it last but its been teens all week so maybe that killed the bat. Also it being so bold bolts and shit just dont want to move. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted January 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I'm posting small updates to keep motivated. It was 12 degrees when I did the rear, by the time I got the trim back on my hands were useless claws lol. Today it was a balmy 30 degrees so I got both bumpers off. Tried to jump the dead bat with an old jump box I had but its shot I guess. Hopefully my friend can charge the bat for me this week. Here are some before and mid sand pics of the bumpers. I really have my work cut out for me lol they are pretty beat up. Ironically the one that has good chrome is dented and warped and the real with is straight as an arrow is corroded as hell. So I plan to true them up best I can, replace the bolts, sand, fill, wrap them and por the back sides. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Worked until 5am finishing the bumpers up so I could install them today and got for a victory ride. Before temps go back to below freezing...I por 15'd the back in my living room and somehow didnt ruin anything lol. After some body work magic. shit cell picsNot too bad when you look at the before pics. Victory ride picsWhat a pita to do these things lol. Flares next, that going to be a bitch too. I'm also dreading knocking out the dents in that lower valance. Dont think I can get them all the way out without dropping the tank :-/ Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Looking at this page I just realized I skipped a whole bunch of stuff. I made heat shields for the carbs. Basically I just followed this design with some of my own mods. After paint I wrapped in a heat shielding material and then in heat reflective tape. I also wrapped the fuel line. They work pretty well, temps def dropped dramatically on the carbs themselves but the linkage still gets hot as all hell. A lot of people opt for a single piece shield which I guess is better for that and some other reasons but I rather the hot linkage and still being able to see my headers lol. Also because of binding I moved the throttle eccentric over between the 2/3 carbs so I could use a wider sweep. No pic though. 1 Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 On the way to pool league I went to put my blinker on. Immediately smoke started coming out of the column and I lost lights. Turned out it was the common problem of running all the power through the column switch lol. I just re-soldered it, this spring I plan to mod the headlights and add relays. It was a bitch to solder. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I also installed a 4.11 r180 out of a 200sx I got a really good deal on, 180 shipped. Broke it down and converted it to bolt in axles, painted the casing etc.... What a difference those gears make, the car is just always ready to tear ass now. A 0-100 monster. 65-75 is still reasonable too at like 3k ish. I have to aprox because my speedo still doesnt work lol. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I installed a FAR bre 311 cam which is about as aggressive as I can get without changing springs and doing head work. Cant seem to find the page now but its .46 lift and 320dur, I jumped on it for this reason. At 11:1 comp bleeding off some comp with that duration allows me to advance the timing to where the webers want to be without knocking.... which was happening pre cam lol.Got a really good deal on a whole kit but I cant do springs and alum retainers until the heads off. I'll prob swap it all over to a worked p90 at that point anyway. The seller fucked me because we had works and shorted me one rocker arm. I decided to take the risk and use and old one and see what happens. Using a marker on the lash pads the pattern across the board was good so I called it a day. Pretty straight forward install but I had to jack the front of the motor up a little and bent the fan guard down. After the cam I found my spec p plate and exedy oem clutch smipping pretty bad, I thought because I was using a turbo set up it would be ok but I was wrong lol. The cam added a whole bunch of tq it just couldn't handle. So I picked up a exedy racing stage 1 which I am very happy with so far. It grabs VERY well but doesnt chatter or feel too stiff. I did however get some whining in 3rd but thats common when going to a racing clutch. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 One day I went to the garage and found a puddle of fluid on the floor.... was brake fluid. The piston seal blew, I guess it was the previous time I drove it. It was the only one not changed because at the time it was holding fine while the rest had leaked. Also not directly related but still on brakes.... I was with my wife on the way to pool league doing maybe 75mpg. Something came under the car and rattled around noticeably. I said I'd check it out when we got where we were going the exit was coming up. Went to slow down for the exit anddddd no brakes lol nothing, right to the floor. I down shifted and curbed the car up onto one of those slanted embankments to finally stop. Looking under the car while semi's blew by doing 75 I could see something struck the bleed screw loosening it lol. WTF are the odds of that? I tightened it up and went on my was with squishy brakes. Bled them the next day and all was well. Talk about scary situation... Quote Link to comment
DeviousPsycho620 Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I repopulated the dash today, was kind of a pita. So glad I took pics while I disassembled but some stuff like the lighter and clock didn't feel like going back lol. While The Italian in me was throwing things and flipping a shit a tiny whole magically appeared right in the top of the dash :-(. It's only the size of the tip of a sharpie so I filled it dead even with silicone, Tom ill just dab some glue with a Q-tip and drop some flock on it. Hopefully it will be as close to seamless as possible. I think it looks damn fine, can't wait to get it back in the car. [img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/dash%20resto/moardash003.jpg]Rat bastard[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/dash%20resto/moardash005.jpg]Also I don't have a dash box, think I sold it. Don't feel like buying one, anyone ever make one themselves? It's just non corrugated cardboard and staples, can't be that hard. With the interior I wrapped the steering wheel in leather with the kit from msa. I am very happy with how it came out, its like a 30 dollar nissan comp copy.[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/456216_10150804078558063_1559390348_o.jpg]Then I installed 350z seats. It has been done and I saw the thread on hbz but I didnt agree with the method he used at all. He crossed 1" squar stock then sacrificed a set of stock rails for the mounting studs. I just used 2 pieces of 1/2 square stock drilled and reinforced using high grade hardware. That was the ride height isnt super high and its still was stronger.welding on my porch lol get er done. better then out in the street like the zg's[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/457700_10150856894803063_1561591562_o.jpg]Look at the bead I got with a 70 dollar used HF flux core mig![img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/IMG_20120525_184148.jpg]comparison, height is about the same using my method. You cant get any lower physically you hit the tunnel and a bunch of other stuff.[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/468309_10150857056523063_449305806_o.jpg]Done and done, these seats combined with the bum stops and fixes suspension makes for an EXCELLENT ride. NYZCC had a cruse that I attended and it was like a dream. So firm like on rails but so comfortable you could actually drive for hours and not be hurting.[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/471031_10150857343318063_467218319_o.jpg]Then I decided I needed some tunes for those long rides. I decided to fab up front pods. In the rear I just used a stock mount reamed out for a 6" speaker on both sides. One side the mount being reversed. The made the rears easy peasy. the front required quite a bit more work.Here is a shot of the backing/frame and one covered in cloth ready for epoxy.[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/465877_10150873663643063_920065578_o.jpg]filler hell lol[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/IMG_20120606_191708.jpg]during paint. I used flat black so it would match the stock panels. They came out very well but I dont have a installed shot yet. I'll update with one. I couldnt be happier with them, the driverside clearance is super tight, 1/4 between the clutch pedal arm and corner of the speaker grill lol.[img=http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l306/avenger2me_2006/73%20z/472043_10150890681988063_933164082_o.jpg]I need to get a pic of the finished install this last pic does no justice.Did some other things like chrisp up the interior in general and toss my rear 72 carpet in, made a big dif. all and all I think the interior looks pretty good.I need to get the flocked dash and center in asap to really make it clean. Then after paint Im going to toss the red interior in that I restored. I really dig the car man. Phenomenal work. I'm interested to know what you used on your dash. And was it difficult to make the custom speaker housings? Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 One day I went to the garage and found a puddle of fluid on the floor.... was brake fluid. The piston seal blew, I guess it was the previous time I drove it. It was the only one not changed because at the time it was holding fine while the rest had leaked. Also not directly related but still on brakes.... I was with my wife on the way to pool league doing maybe 75mpg. Something came under the car and rattled around noticeably. I said I'd check it out when we got where we were going the exit was coming up. Went to slow down for the exit anddddd no brakes lol nothing, right to the floor. I down shifted and curbed the car up onto one of those slanted embankments to finally stop. Looking under the car while semi's blew by doing 75 I could see something struck the bleed screw loosening it lol. WTF are the odds of that? I tightened it up and went on my was with squishy brakes. Bled them the next day and all was well. Talk about scary situation... yuck .... that's a butt puckering event right there ! good thing you guys didn't bite the dust !! Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hey thanks man, its not too hard. I just cut new panels and rings in some 1/8 board. After mocking up the angles I wanted I hot glued the rings in place and then covered in cloth. Once thats done just start laying down a few coats of epoxy. Then filler, a good sanding, paint and your good to go. Here is a picThen again the afterI need to take a pic of them dry flat black and in place with the cover in. They look really nice imho. Way better then hacking up the door or something. DTP seriously, luckily I was high or I prob would have had a panic attack lmao. My wife didnt even believe me as I kept saying fuck no brakes shit I have no breaks fuuuuuuuck fuck fuuuuck lol downshifting... was on a highway so I had the space and was also near my exit so I was all the way over already. ALSO lucky it was one of those slanted curbs so I just drove up onto it to stop and then since I was cocked I could get under the car to see wtf was up lol. It was just good karma all round or something that it worked out so well. I still dont know wtf rattled under the car but w/e it was put a good nick in the bleed screw. As it would if you took a chisel to a stripped bolt to break it loose. Some one in a million shot to hit and loosen that damn screw lol... Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 My solar powered battery tender came in the mail. Hopefully it will keep my bat from draining out. Last week was in the 20s the whole time and after only a week my bat was completely dead. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Awesome progress on this build!! Your engine bay is literally a work of art, should be in a museum or something. What is making you switch to the EFI ITB setup? Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Hey man thanks a bunch. I'm going EFI ITB for a bunch of reasons really. You dont see it often, in person out of 100 different s30s I havent seen it once in person actually. Never seen any anywhere like the ones I'm putting together too, thats always cool. Its more efficient both with max power and best mpg etc... all without really sacrificing anything. Still looks, sounds and feels just as good. It's even going to cost the same as what I'll get for the dcoe's so its tech free lol. Triples are awesome but they also have their quirks too. Bowls dry out over time, always end up smelling like gas etc... There is also the future and forced induction (SC) to think about ;-)I wend out in the snow today and took some pics of stuff to sell to fund my wrapping. While I was out in it I tossed the solar panel on the roof and hooked the tender up :-). Put out almost 8v at 5pm with total cloud coverage, not too shabby. Max is something like 15v. I'm going to order longer leads so I can wall mount the control box. Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 You need about ~12.9v to even begin charging a 12v lead acid battery, so 8v will do absolutely nothing unfortunately. Have you checked for an electrical drain? Granted, I'm not super familiar with lead acid batteries in cold weather, but your battery should be fine for a week even at those temps. Quote Link to comment
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