nismo kid

https://youtu.be/OicvPIUvUEE https://youtu.be/zXUpOwE8HFg https://youtu.be/kwrh-k_JMBI

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I did have my build posted in a few sections but the mods deleted the highest traffic threads & left me this one. This section doesn't see much traffic. I don't see very many people looking into Z31 builds which I can't blame them.

Here’s the last bit of pics & a video to finish off this build update. https://youtu.be/6CpHQWoV0pw As Bob Ross would say "Let me take just a moment to thank you for allowing me back into your homes." Thank you to everybody for all support & continuously following my build! Look forward to seeing you around.

Custom mounting brackets.

The final exterior item(s) I installed were JDM front turn signals. They mount very differently from the USDM units. Luckily Omron Hassan & Steven Culbert were nice enough to share their mounting solutions (Thanks guys!). I drew some inspiration from these designs to create my own. I used 1in x 1/8 aluminium to fabricate the bracet to secure the JDM signals to the USDM bumper. JDM signals. USDM signals JDM VS USDM

Moving on I had my windshield wiper motor rebuilt. Then I gave it a fresh coat of paint to "clean" it up a bit. As for the windshield wiper arms they were powder coated & had brand new wiper refills installed.

I quickly found night driving almost impossible with halogens. Mainly because I deleted my headlight motors & wiring to them. Causing the headlights to never raise. This cuts off about 60% of the headlights output. It would take too much time to pull what was needed from another car. I also felt the factory setup was over complicated. By making my own solution I could achieve the same goal while being more "streamlined". Each headlight motor had a 7pin harness, relay, & internal circuit board. All of which were deleted during disassembly. Everything was desoldered & removed from the circuit board. The wires for the headlight wires were then extended & finished off with weather pack connectors. A custom headlight motor harness was also fabricated. To control/ send power a GAMA Electronics 30 Amp Polarity Reverse DC Motor Control Rocker Switch installed into the center console. This switch raises & lowers the headlights by reversing the polarity. Small stops were installed on headlight motor brackets in fully up & down locations. That way the headlights would stop in the exact same spot every time. Still unsatisfied with the my light output I installed a Innovited 55W 6000k Bi-Xenon Hi/Low dual beam HID kit. To me this is more of a band aid fix than a solution. HID's in halogen housings cause excessive glare & can make it hard for other drivers to see. Usually I drive with the headlights down to prevent this from happening. I do plan on doing a projector retrofit. But that'll be left for a future project.

I began to weigh my options. (1) I could weld rear quarters from an 86-89 Z31. (2) Swap everything into my 86T then convert it to slicktop. For these 2 options I'm too invested in this shell & I lack time. Years ago Hanif Muhammed aka Mutantz was producing replica Crossfactory widebody panels for the Z31. Thinking he had discontinued this service I still reached out to him anyways. The worst he could tell me was no. Luckily for me he was still offering this service but in limited time frames. This purchase couldn't have gone any smoother. Hanif is 1of the best people I've ever done a transaction with. I received the panels within 5 weeks of payment. Others should seriously take notes. Once shipped they arrived within 16hrs via Greyhound. The complete install will be covered in my next update. Here's some mock up pics to give you a general idea.

Also here's some pics with the padded covers on the Kirkey's. These were the finishing touch of the interior. Originally I wanted to install Anniversary Edition Z31 skirts & rear fender flares prior to the show but I ran out of time. In all my years messing with z31's I never realized AE flares don't really gain more fender well space. They sit over the existing fender, which makes them more of a cosmetic item. During the install I discovered a other few issues. The fender lip on the body will need to be trimmed for the AE flares to fit nicely IMO. Without doing this I'd never get the body lines to match. I was thinking of rolling/ pulling the factor fenders then retrying the AE flares. But this wouldn't gain the additional space I'm looking for. Here's the issues I was talking about.

To alleviate driver entry & exit a quick release steering wheel was installed. With the factory steering wheel removed a NRG Short Steering Wheel Hub Adapter for S13-S14 (part # SRK-140H-3) was installed. Then a black NRG quick release hub (part# SRK-200BK) was mounted to the short hub. For the steering wheel I felt the Momo Montecarlo 350 mm Leather Steering Wheel (part# MCL35BK1B) fit my build quite nicely. Quick notes for anyone looking to do the same in a Z31. 1) You don't need to remove prongs on the backside of the short hub. 2) No hardware is included to mount the steering wheel to quick release hub. I used M5 x .8 x 20mm long flat socket head bolts/countersunk hex bolts. 3) Compression ring must be used. It secures the horn button inside the steering wheel. Now here's some installation & completion pics.

The fender braces after powder coating & installed.

I also participated in a fender brace group buy just to help push the deal through. I paid a higher premium due to mine having to be made differently than everyone else. What's a fender brace you ask? Fender braces reinforce the chassis structure at one of the cars weakest areas. Which is located at the firewall. Fender braces install on top of the frame behind the front fenders. This triangulation reduces chassis flex between the front section & cabin/rear section of the car. The braces came out pretty decent considering the guy only had pictures of my car to work from. They would require additional bracing to actually be functional/ beneficial IMO. Here's how they looked when I received them. Here's after my modifications.

The map sensor was also replaced because it was fried as well. I finally installed a front sway bar while the car was down during fuel system upgrades. My last update I attempted to install MSA front & rear sway bars. Key word ATTEMPT. Space requirements for a larger front sway bar was implemented during the turbo kit fabrication. Unfortunately the MSA sway bars are bent completely different than factory units. This difference caused the MSA front sway bar interfere with my crossover tube. I picked up a 88 Turbo Z31 front sway bar which is much larger than the non turbo unit my car came with. It fit without modification but I was concerned it could make contact with the crossover tube in high load scenarios. Custom sway bar drop spacers were fabricated & powder coated. The sway bar mounts were stripped & painted. Then Prothane polyurethane sway bar mount bushings were installed. Moog sway bar end links (part# K9543) paired with Prothane polyurethane sway bar bushings connected the sway bar to my adjustable control arms.