Ben280 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Nice progress man, looking good. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Ok, update time! No photos though, been too busy getting stuff done!!! (photo dump to happen later in the week though, so check back at some point ok?) Over the weekend I got the strut tops welded on. Turned out really sweet, probably going to leave the metal raw just cause! also got the rears mocked up, and totally finished tonight. Fronts are hanging, pending the return of my knuckles! The guy I had come and weld the strut tops wanted to TIG weld em rather than use the buzz box, and he has to do that at work. Should have them back tomorrow afternoon, and then the front suspension will be ready to bolt up! Fingers crossed that I wont have issues with the wide wheels and my steering knuckles. I did opt for the Arizona Z Car steering knuckles, so here's hoping! Also installed hood pins tonight, seemed better than dealing with the funky hood latch. Kind of a jenky install, never done it before but I figure i'll step up to get some aerocatch pins sooner rather than later and all will be well! Should be able to drive it tomorrow night to a local meet, which would be excellent. Been itching to drive this thing for a while now! And get an outdoor shot or two of the rig for everybody! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 HAHA! She runs and drives! was doing super good until an expansion joint grabbed the glasspack and tore it off on the freeway! Then to top it off, the starter solenoid gave up just as i got home. New goals for the week, tucked exhaust and a new starter motor! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ok, finally an update with photos! Got a bunch of boxes of parts from Dave at arizona Z car. His stuff is so pretty I just had to line it all up on my floor before I bolted it all up! All good things going on over here! Finished prepping the strut tubes for a good install, and started to test fit all the suspension arms. Everything was a nice fit, and pretty easy to bolt on. Pending the actual installation of the suspension, I figured I should step up my game and chop/weld up my fenders for the flares. Not chopping out too much fender, as I am trying to keep the car somewhat off the ground! Quick shot of the fronts installed. I used nutserts in the rear and normal bolts and washers in the front. And fender welting. LOTS of fender welting. Really not very happy with the MSA ZG flare fit, especially on the drivers side front, but that is a known problem I should have read about before I ordered them! Got all the flares installed and mounted over the weekend, and had a local welder come over and weld in the new strut tops after work on a Wednesday. We did weld the underside for maximum not-breaking-ness. I'm going to wait to sand and grind down the shock towers until I have time to do the whole engine bay. sprayed some clear to protect everything, but other than that I'm done with them! Spent an evening with my room mate doing up the hood pins. Kind of tricky, since I've never done them before but the came out ok! Kept the front hinges and she is a real treat to open and close now! My room mate is working at a shop that fabricate plexi glass and poly carbonate store displays and other stuff, so he made me a cool spacer for my steering wheel, and let me get rid of all the washers i was using previously! AND its yellow to match the steering wheel. Also took some time to "protect my investment" and installed a fire extinguisher. Just mounted up the hanger bracket onto the harness bar. When I eventually do a half cage I'll mount it to the diagonal bar. This one is the Kiddie Auto/Marine specific one. Works pretty well from what I have read and it is a good size, with easy access from the front seats and through the hatch. After another furious weekend of fitting, tightening and testing we finally got the car on the ground and I was FINALLY able to drive it somewhere!!! Still needs a handful of parts (mostly a front airdam) and some fiddling with ride height/front track width (which i think i got taken care of last night) and then I'll be mostly happy! OH!! I need a new exhaust too! The first one that I clamped together held solid but then one gnarly pothole/bridge joint that I didn't see ended it =(. Todays task is new gas for the welder and a bunch of tubing for a new exhaust and new y pipe. Once the car is back in the realm of drivable volume I swear I'll take a real photo of it. Iphones are just so much easier to take places! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 New starter motor and a newly fitted exhaust and she is running great! Now for a major alignment! Anyways, got the car out of the garage and was motivated enough to bust out my good camera and snap some good pics! Up next is some more work on the front end, IE finishing it! MSA type one airdam and a custom splitter. Also need to adjust my seating position! 2 Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 3rd favorite z on ratsun 1 Quote Link to comment
that one guy Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I do believe, sir, that I have just soiled myself over this car. Erherm, excuse me while I change pants. 1 Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Clear is actually not good to use for protective purposes. Its porous, the metal will actually rust under it and it will flake up. Just fyi Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Clear is actually not good to use for protective purposes. Its porous, the metal will actually rust under it and it will flake up. Just fyi Thanks for the tip! I havent painted them yet, but this makes me think I'll just primer them, rather than waisting my time. Quote Link to comment
Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 This makes me all jittery looking at it... and now I wish that I had a Z. This thing is too cool dude, can't wait to hear how it does out on the course :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thats a much better idea. Why do it twice right? Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 3rd favorite z on ratsun I do believe, sir, that I have just soiled myself over this car. Erherm, excuse me while I change pants. This makes me all jittery looking at it... and now I wish that I had a Z. This thing is too cool dude, can't wait to hear how it does out on the course :thumbup: Thanks for the awesome comments guys! definitely a work in progress still but I am very happy with how it is coming together so far! Hoping to get it out on the auto cross course for my regions last 2 events. Track time will probably have to wait as it needs some much better brakes before I can feel good about it going out on the big course! Thats a much better idea. Why do it twice right? exactly! Quote Link to comment
arck001 Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Looking great! Congrats, just saw it on StanceNation! 1 Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Update time! Been busy with work, so the car is going a little slowly. Wasn't in love with my driving position, so I ripped out the drivers seat, and all the drivers seat mounts/floor cross members. The plan is to weld in new smaller cross members and bolt the new seat rails to that. So far the cross members are out and I haven't had time yet to weld anything new in! hopefully this weekend I'll have a day to make some progress. The other good bit of progress is a new front airdam!!!! This polishes off the exterior of the car for the most part, just need to get a spoiler! Anybody got a good lead on a BRE style one? Also want to put on the rear window louver still, but it needs a lot of prep/paint and put some more front aero stuff, but thats waiting on more time! Now, here's a photo! (sorry for going back to iPhone quality after real photos in the last update) Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted September 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 Finished up re-mounting the seat last night, MUCH happier with the new position. Didn't take many photos since I was trying to get it done quick! Had some daylight left and thought I would start mounting the front air dam. I bought some trick 1/4 turn fasteners from Summit, to hold it on there, but make it a quick removal if I'm in danger of scraping it! Checked my tolerances before i started, and Its gonna be close, but I should be able to make it work. Hoping for a big pic dump tomorrow for everybody! Quote Link to comment
jon521 Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 hey man i think i saw your car today, but i got there after you ran it :( i posted this in the sightings thread saw this beast at a VW show called Pacific Waterland at the woodburn drag strip today. apparently he was running it in the quarter before i got there Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted September 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Yup! Thats me! Only got three runs on the quarter, 16.1, 16.3 and 15.5. That last one beat a 300hp Audi TT :thumbup: ! This past week I have been going over the electrical system after a cruise up to Mt. St Helens uncovered a serious overcharging problem, and a very bad voltage regulator. Took this as an opportunity to replace the fusible links with glass AGU fuses and get rid of that whole electrical setup. Got my new internally regulated 82 ZX alternator from MSA and went to work. I've since decided that electrical problems require much more testicular fortitude than many other projects. Something about cutting wires that are more than likely very important was a bit difficult to get past! Actually attaching parts took 30 minutes. tracing out bad factory splices and corroded connectors took a day and a half. Felt like a damn detective with my multimeter running around checking voltage and ohms all day saturday. Got it running perfectly Saturday night and drove down to Woodburn for the VW show. Planned on drag racing it and having never done so before I had a pretty good time doing it! And this brings me back to why Jon521 has a photo of it sitting in gravel next to a motorhome, rather than on nice grass next to some pretty VW's (and why I only got three runs!) Not sure where on my final run, but at some point, the new LARGER ZX alternator decided the lower radiator hose would be a tasty snack. Not sure how it managed it, but when I got the car back to the pits, a fellow racer politely mentioned I was leaking coolant. Sure enough, looked like a coolant balloon had popped under my hood, and the return pipe was spraying everywhere! Luckily it was just a small slice, and some tape, RTV and a few hose clamps got me back to PDX. Next on the to do list, new hose and a shroud for the alternator so it cant do this again! Quote Link to comment
Rustbucket Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Fuck, this car looks great! I really wish they made a 235/45 in 15's, 'cause I can't fit a 50 wall back there - and this car looks ridiculously good with 'em! Quote Link to comment
jon521 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 i wish i couldve seen you run man, that wouldve been sick 1 Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Ok! Not too much has been happening with the car lately, finally got a chance to enjoy it these past few weeks so I've taken advantage of it! Done 3 auto-x days with it and its been a peach each day! No more major mechanical problems (knock on wood) so it seems like we are moving along. Here are some photos I forgot to upload from some recent projects on the car. Aftermath of the alternator on hose violence at the drag strip! Here are some shots of the electrical cleanup in the engine bay. Before: After: Couldn't figure out that relay for a little bit, until I dug out a wiring diagram. Turns out its some kind of starter inhibitor switch only found on the AT models. A quick jump of the important wire there and out it came! Still need to recover the loom but looks 10000% better. Also did a harness tuck on the EFI power harness so that runs on the cabin side of the firewall rather than over where the hood latch was. Another, better angle of the electrical cleanup. You can also see my starter heat wrap, trying in vain to keep the starter from overheating and not starting the car! Might have to swap the starter again. =/ Installed a super cool badge in the dash, MSA has some pretty cool stuff! I also got around to making the windshield banner I've been thinking about for a while now. Wanted something cool and obscure that would stand out at the track. Says "Jaw Breaker" I'll let you guys and gals put your own meaning behind that one haha. Hand cut vinyl, used a print out from Illustrator to make them. I've always like doing paper cut out stuff so this was a fun little project. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 And now the big news!! A certain 280z had been for sale in Vancouver for some time now with little success. The shell was garbage but the drive line was in good shape, suspension was savable and it came with some WICKED extras that will make up a winter/spring project for me, and will me most exciting! Picked up the car for a cool $500, and immediately took it to my friends uncles place to tear it down. I don't have space like this at my place and for what we were planning, it would have never worked out! Got to work stripping the car, had great quality front fenders, with a little bit of rust in the rocker panels, but it will come out for sure. Unfortunately that was the only rust free part on the car. Doors, hatch, rear quarters, roof, floor, you name it, rust had gone through it in some VERY undesirable spot. I did sawzall off the core support in hopes of doing a graft later in life onto my car. Had all the locks and a good set of keys as well so I pulled all that, and we got to work taking out all the driveline stuff. We managed to get the entire driveline, motor and all the suspension. Here's a photo of how we decided to "remove" the motor. Motor and trans came out the bottom like a charm! Don't let the photos fool you into thinking I just trashed a good specimen of the breed, this car had practically NO floor or passenger side rear quarter. Anyways, I now have a whole bunch of spares for when stuff breaks at the track as well as a fun project! Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Here's some eye candy of how the project sits at the moment. Just to keep people as excited as I am!! This week, I'm working to make some more improvements to the airdam for aerodynamic performance as well as working out a splitter and spoiler. Grill might also get painted black/cleaned up. Quote Link to comment
Ben280 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 A light update on the car. Trying to keep this up to date rather than dumping huge updates all at once! Rekeyed the whole car on Sunday. Swapped all the locks out and installed the new ignition switch with the help of my trusty Dremel! Wasn't expecting the security screws that I came up against, but after cutting some slots into them, they popped right out. I now get to use a real key to start the car, instead of my half filed away nightmare, and the passenger door locks with the key!!!! HORRAY!!!! Now I just have to fix the drivers side! Also installed freshly painted hatch struts and pulled the grill out for some TLC. Since we have entered winter in PDX, its tough to get a lot of work done on the larger projects that I am facing! I did take advantage of a break in the weather to finally brought home the rest of the parts from the junk car. Pretty excited about the front cut I was able to get. Rust free frame rails and a straight and clean core support. Plans are now to shave it to the best of my abilities, weld up everything and then paint it for storage until I can use it. Anybody have any advice on a MAJOR surgery like this? I'm sure some careful measuring will be in order but I want to make sure I do it right! Also brought home the front suspension. Pulled it as a complete unit, so there will be some scrap involved, as well as a nice box shipped off to Techno for some store credit! Hope to have it all sorted out over the weekend. Quote Link to comment
Spoona_Jay21 Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 The PERFECT 280 lies here in this thread! Love how it looks man, good Job =D 2 Quote Link to comment
Rustbucket Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thing's a god damned weapon! I like it. 1 Quote Link to comment
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