5thgenluder

Ordered the motor today. Its finally happening.

1st coat of fiberglass laid down. The woven cloth I ordered turned out rougher than I had hoped.

Minor update. A bit of work on the dash. Used some fiberglass bondo to fill the and smooth some of the spots on the dash. Used the bondo to fill in and shape the area where the gauges are going. Here are a couple of crappy iphone pics of the progress.

I was afraid you would say that. I was hoping that maybe just maybe the lack of vacuum had something to do with it.

need advice. A few weeks ago I noticed that quite a bit of fluid leaked from the brake booster. I was curious if you guys think I need to replace it? I was thinking that maybe it leaked because it no longer had vacuum. What could cause this and what should I do?

Update, Modified my original plan. Shaved the foam way down. Decided to use a board to mount the guages. This way they all stay pretty level and equal depth. Heres a few updated pics. Thats about it.

So did you decide to do the work yourself. Looks good so far.

update Ok still working on the dash. Got a little work done today. Like I said in an earlier post I want a better gauge solution with a good fit and finish. This meant eliminating the cups I was using before and eliminating the gaps that I get above and below the dash when mounted at the preffered depth. Here is the beginning of my solution. 1st I screwed a board behind the gauges to give me a flat surface. Then I screwed 3 spray paint caps to the board. Then I filled all the gaps with great stuff. Here is the back. Then I began sanding them to the appropriate size. More Here is the back. I plan to mount the gauges by securing my gauge plates to the new foam. Like shown. I need to sand it all back a bit because its way to deep. Then Im gonna sand it out about 1/4 inch so the fiberglass doesnt make it too big for the gauge to fit. Let me know what you guys think. I havent heard from you guys in a while and some encouragement would help keep me motivated.

update: Have applied 1st coat of sem bumper repair. Happy with the results. Sanded that down. Applied 2nd coat. Thats it for now.

Update: Worked on the dash a little more. The good news is it is one piece again. I used some wood to screw it back into place. The I used 60 second adhesive that I got from autozone. I glued it in a few spots underneath to get it to stay in place. Now Im in the process of rebuilding it. I am following the cheap dash repair alternative thread. So far I have filled some of the gaps with great stuff and sanded it down. It worked better than I had expected. I got my camera back and took some pics. So now I have to find some SEM Bumper repair. I plan to fiberglass the entire dash and make mounting and servicing my gauges easier. More Later.

Dash isnt looking so good. When I removed the dash cap it was worse under there than I thought. To make mattters worse when I removed the dash foam from the metal frame it broke in the center over the 3 humps. Im gonna give it a little bit of work and see what I can do but I'll probably just do an alluminum dash.

The weather around here is finally starting to break. We have had a few days above 35 degrees this week. Im gonna get started on the car again. I hooked up one of the gauges. The cobalt blue looks great. Pictures up when I get my camera back. Just curious if anyone has a link to prepping an rb25det. So far I plan to change the water pump and the timing kit. Is there anything else I should do?

I think $500 for a good condition car is fair. Floor pans are easy to replace I would say if the car is rust free other than the pans definately do it. If there is a lot of rust on the body or in critical places like the pillars or frame then maybe keep searching.

Gtz. I have been following your thread. Lots of good info. Thanks Jake and gts for the heads up on the n1. I really want to get moving on this but I haven't had a day above 20 degrees since October and we are gonna get 20 inches of snow in the next 3 days. Damn this Chicago weather.

Considering fiberglassing the dash. I'm unhappy with it so far. Debating replacing the master brake vac. Getting ready to order the motor. Got my bov and waiting on my rb25det timing kit.

Anyone got an answer on my map vs maf q45 throttle body question. Also it appears as if my master cylinder is leaking. Any ideas as to why it would leak from just sitting in my garage with no pressure in it? Also should I just replace it? And if so with what? Is there a better option?

I am also wondering why rb? You want the power of a v8 with an on off switch? May I suggest a vq35 with a twin turbo that has a low boost and high boost setting. Then u still have a Nissan motor with a bigger 3.5 liter displacement for down low power. With a turbo for the extra power. U could have a 5 psi 330hp setting and maybe a 9 psi setting for over 400hp. And the best part is it's been done before.

Components will give you a better sound stage and help give you more choices on mounting locations especially for the tweeters. The draw back is that they need more power. I would almost always recommend an amp with component speakers. A good option would be an alpine radio. They offer a power pack. It's an add on amplifier that will make the radio out out 45 watts x 4 (rms). That's about 3 times the output of the radio you originally mentioned. The power pack is about 2.5" wide x about 7" long and can all tuck behind the radio.

I'm looking but I don't have the answers. The build is amazing so far keep up the good work.

That's a great question. Care to explain the benefits of one over the other or make a recommendation? As I understand it map is a better setup because it keeps track of pressure and therefore can monitor boost and would be an ideal setup for a tuner. As of right now I was hoping to get away with the stock ecu for a while.

Oh I think I also need a q45 throttle body right?

Guys help me out here. I am trying to compile all the missing items for my car. I have the following. 1. motor mounts 2. drive shaft 3. exhaust 4. intercooler 5. radiator with fan 6. greddy style intake manifold I have on my list. 1. rb25det timing kit. 2. greddy type rs blow off valve I think I may need. 1. new water pump. ( maybe N1) 2. boost contoller ( maybe greddy profec b ) 3. zeitronix zt2 wideband. What am I missing? What else do I need or not need?

Looking great so fat boosted. Keep up the good work.

update: gauges in cups and dash So far I have gotten 2 of the cluster gauges mounted. 1st I had to make a trim ring to mount the gauge. I used some abs plastic and cut it to fit the gauge cup and to center the gauge in the plastic. Heres a pic. and another from the side. then I sandwiched that between the cup and the bezel. used the stock hardware to reinstall it. here they are from the front and also mounted the tach and speedo. As you can see my dash is ugly. I am gonna pretty this all up next year when I fix the dash. Planning on using some bondo to fill the gaps in the gauge cups and make everything fit a bit more snug. Well Im almost done with the gauges for now. I have to finish the last pod that is different from the rest. I also have to find a place to mount my voltage meter.

Octane, 1st let me start by saying thank you for the kind words. 2nd let me tell you why I decided to go with the RB. I guess it all started in 2003n when I bought my 350z. I quickly added a Greddy twin turbo kit to the car and fell in love with the feeling. I knew from then on I wanted any car I built in the future to be turbocharged. I unfortunately had to sell the car a few years later when my father got diagnosed with prostate cancer. I worked for him at the time doing concrete work. He managed to continue working through his sickness but was burried in medical bills and debt. I basically worked for him for free for about a year. I had 4 jobs at the time and was doing everything I could to stay above water. When it came time to crunch, the Z was the first thing to go. I still miss that car to this day. My father disolved the company shortly after and I have a job now where I am more comfortable finacially. Shortly after his cancer went into full remission and life was looking up again. I went through a few cars trying again to find that feel. One of my favorites was my Evo MR. Still the Z was always in the back of my mind. I got rid of the Evo because I had a long commute and It wasnt a suitable daily driver for my 60 mile a day drive and wasnt winter friendly. I traded it for an 09 Altima and decided no more modding my daily driver. The quest began for a car I could pay cash for. I started looking into purchasing a used 350z with the idea of rebuilding the car I loved so much. It just so happened that while searching for Zs on my350z.com someone posted a v8 swapped 240z and boom my eyes were opened to the potential of this car. Its appearance is timeless Then I remembered a 240z that was at one of my 4 jobs. It was being completely restored at the nissan dealership I worked at at the time. . I lost out on the v8 swapped car and began a quest to find a nice 240z. In March of this year my dad lost his battle to a 2nd diagnosis of cancer, this time melonoma. I needed a project now more than ever to get my mind off of my loss. I quickly scooped up this Z. I intended to slowly fix up the car and eventually drop a SBC or rb motor in it. Unfortunately fate had a different plan. The 1st day I drove the car the motor siezed. I had to make my decision quickly. I debated for a short while about what to do and then remembered that promise I made to myself to have a turbo car. The decision was clear. RB motor it was. I think I read through every Rb thread on this forum and was in the air about an rb26 or rb25. I decided to go Rb25 because of all the threads saying it was far more cost effective. Looking at what I have spent now I probably would go rb26. So now I got the while im at it itch. parts are stacking up and so are the bills. I made this thread because I think there is a lot of misinformation on what this swap costs and involves. It brings me a great deal of pride whenever I get a reply with kind words and encouragement. I hope when Im all done this can be a sticky and I can make everyone else who does this swaps life easier. Anyway Im not sure why I just posted all this. I guess I just wanted to rant or share some of my story with everyone. Thank you all so much for keeping me motivated and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this long post. You have all encouraged my to bear the cold and get some more work done on the car. Hopefully you can all expect an update in a few days.