Sparky

Why don't you guys come over to San Antonio on the 3rd of April for the nismo fiesta thing? That way I don't have to go anywhere

I agree the stolen story is BS, save your self a headache and strip it for parts...I wouldn't even want to do the paint and body work on that.

There are tons of study abroad programs out there but beware that some will not give you any transferable college credit. This is all fine and dandy if you just want to go to go and there is nothing wrong with that, but as you get further into your college career you may find a chance to study abroad through your department. Almost every institution has a study abroad office, check with them on your options, they may even have an exchange program with other schools that will save you a heap of money. I spent a semester + in Italy during my undergrad and cannot stress enough how beneficial it was for myself in an Architecture major but there were more than art and archtiecture nerds in my Italian school; law, chemistry, english and finance majors were all present. so yeah, do everything you can to travel. travel lite, there is no reason to take more than a weeks worth of clothes. Laptop was helpful seeing as how the internet cafe was always spotty and you also need a place to download your photos to, but it can get heavy in a backpack depending on how much you get out. Some schools abroad even hire students to stay over a semester or summer to help run the school and guide the new kids that come in. travel all you can.

It wasn't on the car when I saw it but the bumper does appear to be flat stock or C channel in the pictures, it also had a urethane airdamn on it with no front bumper. and thanks again lowrider for the replies.

Yupp, that's the one, impressive search-fu! That car has a nice stance in person, very all-business. Looks like he's stationed at Laughlin too, i'll have to send him a message sometime. Thanks again!

Driving up 35 North today I saw a silver 280 or 260Z with Tennesse plates, bumperless with ZG flares and maybe an intercooler up front with some stick on vents on the fenders just wondering if that was anybody here. I believe i've seen pictures of it here and there, nice to see another one in town!

yupp, used to do it all the time in my 72. It used to be I'd stuff a few folding chairs, and large cooler, a small stove with a few bottles of fuel, couple gallons of water and a tent; basically plenty of room for all you could want. Nowadays I just keep a pack loaded with my MSR tent and gear with a thermarest in the closet and throw it in the back on that rare occasion that the Z is in one piece. I've done the sleep on the hatch floor against my will a few times and don't recommend it I bought a Yakima rack for snowboards and bicycles when I first bought the car but I've only been ballsy enough to throw the bikes on it considering the nearest ski lift is 700 miles from here. It comes in handy and it's very easy to take on and off when not in use, if your going to really need the room you could always get the Yakima basket with some tie down straps. This April I plan to strap a kayak to the top of it so we'll see how that goes!

There are plenty of reasons to go with either size. I have a preference for the larger gauges as in my mind they fill out the stock locations a bit better (as Oddmanout points out) instead of having what looks like a gauge bezel in another gauge bezel. I know my approach is certainly much more complicated than others but i'm extremely satisfied with the results as only those very familiar with the model will notice aftermarket gauges (hopefully). I finally figured out how I want to mount the tach and speedo so I'll tackle those next. Plenty of other stuff to do, intermittent wipers, new Haltech location, new compressor housing inlet, new crank case vent system, new battery location, keyless entry, SS engine bay fasteners and possibly windshield washers... Here is a photo that better shows the angle of the new guages: all that started from a malfunctioning fuel gauge. geesh.

Started my Speedhut gauge install in late November and have slowly destroyed the interior and engine bay in a "while I'm at it" manic state. I've had lots of time to think about how to install these things and was lucky enough to have two full sets of extra gauges in my shop ranging from the original 240Z gauges that are in the car, a set of 260Z gauges and a set of 280Z gauges. I brought them all out and broke them down into pieces as I saw something I liked. When I was examining the gauges I noticed that the bezels on the 280ZZ gauges have an angle formed into the plastic ring that in stock form create a small hood or eyebrow above the stock gauges. After staring at it for a good while I took the bezel and a gauge to the car and placed them in the dash, as I did that I noticed that the bezel itself is an almost perfect fit with the 2 -5/8" gauges. Once I put the bezel and gauge in the dash I noticed that if I rotated the assembly I could increase the angle at which that gauge faced the driver. After pondering how to jam the gauge in the stock housing while still using the 280Z bezel to increase the angle of the gauge I came up with this: these are all the bits and pieces needed. one 280Z bezel (oh and the clock bezel is different so you'll need to grab an extra gauge at the junkyard to make this work) One aluminum mounting adapter, one modified 240Z back and of course the gauge. here is the photo showing how I'm aligning the gauge in the housing before I button it all up. here is the front of the gauge after it's back together, you can see the adapter poking out from the housing, this needs to be trimmed off or you'll never fit them in the dash, I saved this step for last after I made sure everything was lined up right. And here is the profile view showing how it all comes together. After measuring and calculating the needed angle and depth of the gauge I cut through it with a hack saw saving both pieces. After this I sandwiched it all together using longer SS screws. This took some time to get it all working properly. and there it is in the dash, it's tough to tell how the gauge sits but when the dash is in the car this new angle is perfect! I can't wait to get the rest of the gauges in but the way things are going it will be a few more weeks before I have all the other stuff taken care of in the car before I can put the dash back in. I really like these gauges and hope they work out like I think they are, I ended up buying the fuel level, oil pressure and water temp in 2-5/8 and the AF ratio, fuel pressure and boost gauge in 2-1/16. The tach is the 4" unit and the speedo I'm still trying to figure out if the GPS or VSS version is what I want.

That's awesome Phil, three litres of heaven!

Many academic advisers at a Freshmen of Sophomore level don't care or don't know what the right course of action should be...they look at a big book and highlight things you have to take for your first two years. It's not until you get into your department that you get real life advising. The closest thing you can get is by scheduling an appointment with someone in the department of your choice that's not an egotistical jerk that likes to scare "kids" because that's what happened to him. Ask alumni or upper level students you trust for the right name. Not everyone get just jump right into college and be successful and of those several end up with jobs in their chosen fields only to leave them a few years later when they realized it wasn't for them after all. If your floundering now and you have the opportunity to go the community college to take some interesting classes AND get your basics out of the way I would do that. While it's true that some HR people might look at that as being a negative the majority won't really care either way as long as you can prove your responsible enough to get a degree. The key is to really do something you know you can love and will provide you with what you need for the remainder. If your good at math and love to design and fabricate have you thought about industrial design or any other design type degree?

Thanks for the links, a lot of the info wasn't really out there when I first started this process so it's nice to see things coming together. From the looks of things it sounds like a easy swap beyond cutting the piston tops, as soon as I get my other project up and running I'll be diving head first into the 1800..DOHC with sidedrafts?! yes please.

Nice choice! I've got two B234 heads waiting in the shop for a swap into a P1800. What are you going to do for ignition? Will you be running the head in the back of the distributor or the block mounted dizzy from the B230? I've had this engine and head for years and years (almost 6 total) when I was doing research years ago I came across some conflicting info on the building of these engines, if you could post all the work your doing or a link to a relevant guide that would be awesome. looking forward to seeing it complete!

I've heard rumors of a company doing LHD conversions on these cars, guess it was true.

That's hot.

Your car has a great stance (maybe a bit lower but other wise spot on) love the triples too and personally would consider sticking with them on a built L28 but that's just me, and that's coming from someone with a 240Z turbo. I hate to say it but those headlights have always made me cringe but your car is the first one that didn't leave me with a full body spasm.

Well that's the way it goes sometimes but I'm sure you'll start up again sooner than later...it's an addiction after all. I lusted after that roadster when you first got it, I'm glad I didn't know you were selling it (kinda) or it just might have been me that bought it.

most property management companies require that anyone who spends a certain number of nights there per month sign their name to the lease. Some complexes are so large though that they don't really make to big a deal about things like that unless you draw attention to yourself...ie working on a car in the parking lot, loud friends over all the time, neighbor complaints. If your not going to be there for the entire term of the lease I would try to work out something with the roomie, especially if she's going to be there long term...the last thing you want is to get a bill for cleaning, or a ding on your credit because she flaked out or left the place a mess even though you hadn't been there for 6 months..the flip side of that though is to get your name on the lease so you can build renters credit if you trust that your not going to get screwed, OR maybe you can have your name removed from the lease when you move out. Good luck, time to do some research. Are you going to make it out to any of the vintage races now that your in school?

No problem, good luck with your book.

This guy does not drive a nicely painted car. While he works on cars and paints them, he's too lazy to really give a **** about his own stuff...besides, this guy sounds like a someone who tinkers....few friends and very smart. A person like this probably needs something to keep himself occupied and since he's in the automotive business he probably runs across good deals for parts and cars, someone who's never satisfied and therefore always "upgrading." My first thought was 1991 BMW 318is, maybe a few primer spots here and there (nice and tidy primer spots though because "One day I'll paint it, I'm just waiting to pick a color.") probably started life as a nice tidy driver but has come a bit unglued on the interior because he's always bringing parts home to restore or work on. Probably got a good deal on a used M20 at one point in time so he swapped out the four banger for the silky six. After a bit of time with that a customer of his wrecked an E36 M3 and asked him if he wanted to butyit since he's always been the mechanic on it. With that new acquisition he probably swaps the S52 into the E30 while he rebuilds the M3 but never quite gets around to finishing it at therefore always thinks about selling it. whatever it is it should be something that takes modifications very well but is also somewhat nondescript. What's kind of person is more blunt than a German.

Simply awesome. Top Gear rocks.

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Sean that's just awesome! colour me envious. If your traveling through San Antonio give me a call or send me a message.