alainburon

Thanks for the compliments guys, Finally I got the ATI Harmonic balancer. I just shipped it to Mast Motorsport in hopes to have the engine ready for pick up next Friday.

oh oh, that does not sound good at all. Hopefully it's just an oil pump and you caought it before any engine damage happened.

Sounds good, Nice build.

Sounds great, nice cam.

Nice set up. Love the color.

LOL, I know chrome is not for everybody but I like it. Wait until I install the chromed accessories and brackets, sunglasses will be required then for sure.

Looks like the engine is almost complete. The only hold up is the ATI Chromed balancer. There has been some issues getting the chrome right and it had to be re-done. I hope to have it to Mast soon as I can't wait to see what this motor will put down on their dyno.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind in case the body shop does not come through. I wish I could afford to take it to Dooley and Son's. If you have never stopped by their shop I definitely suggest it. These guys are true metal workers, they make everything from scratch, from quarter panels to doors. No cheap aftermarket parts will go on their cars. They work panels to the point that you can't see welds at all. No need for body filler, you can literally clear coat over their bare metal. They don't mess around with any media blasting it's acid dipping the cars or you can take your car elsewhere. According to them acid dipping is the best way to get behind the welds and neutalize any rust that may be developing but unseen to the naked eye. I saw a 50's truck they were working on and it was incredible the quality of their metal work. This thing was in bare metal and could have been painted or cleared without any body filler at all. That's a lost art, there are not many body shops that work like that not to mention there are not many customers that can afford that type of work including myself. I talked to them about my car and they told me $40,000 would get me started on paint and body work only. The truck I looked at had 2000 hours in metal work and at $100 per hour it can get pricy to say the least. The good thing is that if you are rich you can still get the best quality restoration money can by done right here in the USA.

Thank you. I will go with leather for a headlinner as well. I'm far from getting the interior put together but I like to think ahead. My plan is to run four JL Audio 6X9's. 2 behind the seats, facing forward in the compartmet you were talking about. I had them welded shut to create a box effect. The other 2 will be at the rear where the tailight cover's used to be. I bought the MSA pannel and had it wrapped in leather. I will also be running 2 JL Audio 6.5" speakers in the doors, everything is going to be driven by a 6 channel 600W JL Audio Amp. That should be enough for that little cabin I think.

No problem, I will drink your portion. Hopefully we can get together someday and talk S30's.

Thank you, I really appreciate your comments. I can't wait to get it finished. LOL, what a small world. I have pictures of that same interior and I never knew who's car it was. I have no idea where I got them but that's how I got my idea to go with the silver inserts in the seat. That's a nice interior, sorry that I borrowed some of your ideas. What did you do with the headliner? Did you go leather as well?

They are fully aware of what I expect from them, I will go over it from top to bottom with a magnifying glass. These guys do awesome paint jobs, they are not super-fast though as you can see. I met them at car shows when I was showing my Corvette and their paint jobs normally would walk away with best of paint awards. As for the interior you are correct, I'm going with full leather, black with greyish/silver suede inserts. All the factory vinyl will be replaced with leather, including the rear shock towers. The double stitching will be in blue to match the car's exterior. I never thought about using house carpert, thanks for the tip. This may not be the best S30 around but it should be able to hang with the best of them as it should have the looks and power/performance to represent S30's well anywhere it goes. God knows I will have more money in this car than it will ever be worth, good thing I'm not doing this as an investment....LOL One thing I would like to mention, if it was not for this forum it would have made this 10 times harder than it already is, members like yourself, SUNNYZ, RebekahsZ, JMortesen, litman, 1tuffz, texis 300 and others who have a lot of experience sharing your knowledge is a tremendous help. Thanks guys if any of you are ever in Houston drinks are on me.

If you see signs of rust run like hell unless you are able to fix it yourself, especailly under flares. There are a lot of bodyshops that think they know how to install flares and a few years later the truth shows right through the paint. Take it from me, rust repair at a restoration shop is not cheap.

Yes sir, I could not agree more. I know there was more work on my car than what we first thought but not 2 years worth of work especially when I took them a shell of a car completely stripped. I wish mine would only cost me $2,500. They originally quoted me $12,000 that's before they found rust under both lower corners of the windshield, both upper and lower corners of the rear quarter pannels, the rear valance was rusted badly, the front fenders had rust under the flares, the rocker pannels had rust at the rear corners and last but not least there was rust under the battery tray. They wound up removing all the fiberglass flares and making new ones out of steel. They also removed the drip rails and made holes for my dual exhaust in the new rear valance they fabricated. I was able to locate 2 brand new OEM fenders for them to use, I also provided the fiberglass hood and MSA front airdam. Good thing is the entire car has been down to bare metal now and all the cancer has been cut out and replaced with new metal. Bad thing is the latest price update I received is $17,000 without any of the parts that I have provided, that's only labor and paint related materials. I hope that's where it stays becasue frankly this project is getting out of hand.

Funny you should mention chrome....LOL I just came back from the platers and picked up my timing cover, ARP Harmonic balancer bolt and washer. I also stopped off at the machine shop that modified my water pump with AN fittings. Similar to what you are doing. I need to send all this to Mast in order for them to assemble my engine. The only thing I'm missing for them to finish is the harmonic balancer and ATI said I should have it by the end of next week. That is funny, when I went there they asked me what car this motor is going in and they mentioned your friend's 77 280Z. They thought he lived in Houston but were not sure. I like Mast, the main thing is they have a good reputation for building strong motors that last.They are not cheap that's for sure but a great bunch of guys to deal with. I agree with you, that town has changed since I used to go there and party.

Let me know when you are ready to sell it, depending where I am with this one and of course the asking price and condition I may be your guy.

Well, I finally decided to order the motor. Drove up to Mast Motorsports and ordered their Black Label 416 LS3 turnkey stroker. These guys have an awesome facility. I dropped off my intake and other parts they will need to install on the motor before they dyno it. I had a hell of a time finding a chrome plated harmonic balancer for an LS3. I was able to get in touch with ATI and they are making one for me for a small fee of course. I just thought it would not look right to have all accessories chromed and a black harmonic balancer. I will post some pictures when I get the dyno sheet and pick up the motor.

I understand what you mean, nothing wrong with being frugal. Things can get really expensive depending on how far you are willing to go on a build. One thing I have found out when buying parts for S30's is you get what you pay for. If something is cheap price wise then most likely the quality is just not there. I have bought and used the Black Dragon Weatherstrip kit, it does work however exhaust fumes still come in to the cabin therefore it does not seal properly. If you are buliding a racer then who cares about fumes. I'm bulding a street/show car with A/C therefore fumes in the cabin is a major no no for me. That's why I opted for the vintage rubber kit. I have not installed it yet so I don't know how much better it is but I have seen it used on high end restorations and they claim it fits just like factory parts. I do agree with you, I would put most of my money on the motor as well, that's defenetely a place not to cut corners. Good luck on you build.

That all depends on how much you want to spend. From what I have read Vintage Rubber has the best fitting kit but it will set you back around $1,400.

Thanks, I will go that route as well. I heard 134 does not work too well in these cars.

Did you use R12 or 134? Just wondering what works best.

Looks good, you beat me to it. I'm having the same thing done to my heater lines and A/C lines. I wish I could do it myself like you did but I just don't have that skill set.

I had the same problem. I just had a machinist make me another one. By the way, the picture 280Zcar posted is not how the JCI A/C kit is supposed to be mounted. See picture for proper mounting (According to John).

I hear you sir, If I was to tell you how much I have into my build you would not believe me and all I have to look at is a garage full of parts since my car is still at the body shop. My budget was blown 2 months into the build and I'm not done yet. .

I wish it did, the bellhousing was an extra $200 but they did not charge me to powder coat it. I agree, that is a lot of money. I hope it works well.