Horatio

I ordered an inner rear fender well from Tabco yesterday. The guy I placed the order with said they've noticed a large increase in the interest for replacement body sections for the S30. He asked what areas would be MOST useful and asked if I could send some photos. Sounds like they may consider making some more pieces. I explained definitely the battery tray area, battery support and the rear deck area, floor pans, etc... Any other suggestions? Attach some pictures if you can so I can send them his way.

Working on autocad plans now. First run soon... hopefully. New ones will have better fitting joints and crisp bends and laser cut edges/holes for installation.

Exactly what I thought. It's like a 1/8" rigid cardboard like material. Don't know why they would have chosen that. Metal/plastic seems much more logical. Can't believe no one has made a replacement in any other material either... UNTIL NOW!! I think the pattern that I have is only good thru '73. I'll have to do some more research for the later years to see if I can make some for them also. Anyone know have any later model boxes that they would mind donating to the cause? I'd pay shipping.

Hey all, I have pics... it'll be a few days before I can get them uploaded though (holidays/no internet at home). I guess the benefit of the metal box would be in the replacement of the flimsy paper one that seems to deteriorate over time. I'll need to do a bit more fit tests to be sure that this thing can be installed without removing the dash. My dash is currently out of the car. There is a weight gain from the metal box but I imagine it's negligible. I suppose if folks are interested I could ship it "unassembled" and folks could weld it themselves if interested. The box I built however does not have the overlapping flaps that are used to staple the box together. I removed these during fab so the seams could be butt welded. Adding these overlapping flaps would most likely increase fab costs at the metal shop. Right now my plans are for a simple pattern with two breaks/folds (trying to minimize the shops handling to reduce cost). I've coated the inside of mine with rubberized undercoating. I may hit it with some trim black paint to match the dash as well. I could ship these assembled but without coating if needed. I also know a powder coating guy out here so I’m sure I could have him coat something to whatever color you'd like. Sounds like there is at least a minor amount of interest... so I’ll go ahead and continue with drawing up some plans for the laser and figuring out costs. Metal guy said the first run would be more expensive for the labor time to enter the pattern/etc. Next runs would basically be cost of metal and a small labor fee. Again,... holidays coming up so give me some time to get things going. Keep PM'ing me your interest and I’ll do my best to keep tabs of who's interested. Thanks ya'll Merry Christmas!

Patience, Drax.. Pix to come... as said though form/fit is the exact same as stock.... meaning... looks the same and fits the same as stock, but in metal. actually, welding is the cheap part. i'd be doing that myself. It's the cutting and bending of the metal that takes a large amount of time. that's why i talked to the sheet meatl guy.

I replaced my paper glove box (73 240Z) with a 18ga metal one I fabbed up. Any interest in these? I spoke with a sheet metal laser guy that said he could cut the parts for me. I'd weld them together and send them as is or like I did mine with rubberized undercoating inside. Form/fit is exactly the same as stock. i'm thinking maybe $50-60 +shipping (depending on what laser guy charges me). Covers my cost and time. PM me if interested. If I get enough interest i'll try and plan things out and get a run cut.

I'm looking for a rust free tailgate for an S30 (with or without glass/hardware). Preferably close to SW virginia, within driving range for pick up. Thanks.

Anyone interested in a set of these seats? here's a set in tan fabric on a BMW site that my friend sent me. http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=1304291#post1304291

quick google image search rules out silvia, camaro, corvette... any other guesses? I've got an e-mail to the poster of the photo to see if he knows any details.

Looks nice from this angle! curious to know what it is and how it fits.

Maybe you had the earlier style seats (like from the 320 or 2002?) O don't htink i can take the rails off without losing alot of the functionality of the seat. I'll try and post some pictures soon.

Cool. Can I pick your brain on how you installed yours? They sit higher than the stock seats so it looks like i'll be removing the stock seat mounts. I planned on bolting some 1x2 rectangular stock to the floor pans (with a backing plate on the underside of the car for front and back as support). This seams to be the simplest way to get these things in. They'rs comfortable seats, however, not meant for a guy who's a few pounds over!!! Incentive to lose a few I guess!

Buddy just sent me a set of 1988 BMW 325is seats he wasn't going to use. They're in great shape and look great in the S30. Look like they're supposed to be there and have lots of adjustments. I think i have the mounting fgured out. Should be pretty simple with the use of some 1x2 rectangular stock and the removal of the current seat mounts. I'll update when i have it figured out.

I'm doing some body work on the Z. Been shaving side marker lights, fuel door, antenna hole, etc... I was sure I was supposed to pick up 18 gauge steel to fabricate my patches but it seems considerably thicker and harder to work with than the metal on the car. It's welding up just fine... just a bit harder to work with than I thought it would be. Shall I try some 20 gauge??? Found a great source for flat stock near my home. Guy charged me $15 for a 2' x 4' piece.

My car was originally a california car... lucky me. Rust at the battery tray, rear lower quarters and on the underside of the lift gate. That's really it. Here's my progress: (Thanks to Rags for supplying the sound battery tray area for my repair!!)

Dont cut out the metal sleeves from the old rubber bushings in the R200 moustace bar... and don't ask how I know!

Scotkell, Can you post some info about your rear mounted fuel filler? Look nice. i was considering something similar, or doing a flip down license plate version. Wondering how you plumbed things?

I think i've got a good set from my '73... and maybe a set from a '77. email me at keflint@gmail.com if you're interested.

Can I run serious satellite to a receiver without having to use an FM station? I don' think I'd need anything beyond serious. I don't use anything but that in my truck now anyways.

I'm considering shaving the stock antenna hole. Anyone care to divulge their alternate antenna locations and what antenna they've used?

Well, good news and bad news!! Went and talked to the chrome guy. He said that I was doing a good job of welding in the holes and grinding everything down and smoothing things out. That's the good news. He said they specialized in high quality/show triple plate chroming. He said if I were to do it I wouldn't even have to finish welding/shaving cause it wouldn't affect the price anyway. He basically said they weren't in the business of doing anything besides high quality chroming. Implied they didn't want there name tarnished by a lower quality product (which I can understand). Price to have him do everything as four pieces would have been $6-700, which is not bad for a high quality job in my opinion. However, still too expensive for my project. He said the price would be no different if I would make the rear bumper one piece.. actually he said he'd prefer it as three pieces (said it'd be simpler to chrome that way). He told me there's a chroming shop in Richmond that would do the type/quality of chroming that i'm looking for. I''ll look into that and let ya'll know. There's a powder coating guy here locally that I may visit as well.

Yikes, That's some expensive stuff!! Looks like nice work though. Not sure i'm a fan of the rounded end of the front bumper. The point at the center section fits well with the point of the hood. Like I said, I don't intend this thing to be show quality. I'm also certainly willing to spend hours of my time getting it as close to perfect as I can get it before I take it to the chromer. We'll see what he says when I get there. I anticipate numerous trips back and forth betweeen the chromer and my garage! Hopefully he'll be willing to point out the shortcomings of my work and be able to give me advice as to what to do to fix it prior to chroming. I plan to start welding things together this weekend. Wish me luck!!

I had talked to a co-worker out here who had bumpers for his '69 charger done. He sadi his bumpers were similar to ours in that the front is one piece and the rear was in three pieces. He said he remebered paying over a hundred for the front and then over a hundred for EACH of the three rear pieces. Apparently the chromer saw this as three pieces he had to dip and not as ONE bumper. I can understand that. So, I could potentially be saving over a couple hundred bucks by welding the rear bumper together.

Will do! I'm not trying for show car perfection. I'll make it look as good as I can afford!! I've been filling in the holes, grinding them down, then leveling as much as possible with a file. We'll see what the chromer says!

Not sure yet on cost. I'm going to go talk to the chrome guy Monday and he'll give me a quote then. I'm not too concerned with messing mine up. It's nice and straight but needs a good amount of metal work to fill in some pitting. I'm filling in all the rubber bumper holes as well. I scored a Euro bumper on ebay a little while ago for $140 in great condition so I want to carry the same hole-less and one piece look to the back of the car as well. I've been taking pictures as I go so i'll post things when it's complete. One area of concern that I have is the overlapping joint where the end pieces meet the center bar. Seems like that's a great area for rust to build up once things are welded together. I'll taken advantage of the lap joint while welding and had considered cutting off the remainder of the "under-lapping" material from the center section.