Phantom

It's really coming back together now. The roll bar has been rhino-ex'd. The A pillar covers have the tweeter holders integrated in and painted, the carpet on the passenger side is mostly done and even the seat has been set back in place. A damaged side window seal arrives tomorrow along with the housing for the subwoofer. Still some minor problems to overcome and a lot of reassembly to go. Two week job is going to stretch to five weeks. Most of the delay has been due to missing parts - my fault - and trying to coordinate with the stereo guys schedule which went insane right after he started on the car. Couple more progress photos in my album.

Four additional photos are uploaded.

More progress. The amplifier is mounted and wired in. The leather work is complete on the passenger door and 6 1/2" speaker installed. Door is partiallly reinstalled. Leather work on the driver door is in-progress as I type and will probably be done this evening. The roll bar will be getiing Rhino-ex'd today or tomorrow. Price isn't quite ridculous but is more than the roll bar cost. I'll load up some more photos into my album this evening.

Check with http://www.chipsbyal.com. I think he might do your ECM reprogramming for less than $400. Fortunately for me Texas has no emissions inspection requirement for cars over 25 years old - so mine went in without cats. I'm not sure where I would put them if I had to have them. The T56 makes it pretty tight under there - especially if the car is lowered.

I agree. I know most of us succumb to the "dark side" occaisionally but street racing is very dangerous and I think it would be unwise to create a forum that suggested we sanction it. If someone has a story thaey want to relate it can go in the non-tech forum.

I ran the stock radiator in my 77 for about 11 years and never had an overheating problem. That was in Texas in the summer in stop-n-go traffic with the AC on full bore. I wouldn't spend the extra money unless you are planning on some serious engine modifications in the near future.

Having done this I can attest that 3" pipes will be a challenge. I have dual 2 1/2" and periodically drag them. That is on a car that is NOT lowered. I'm sitting a full 6" above the ground at the body joint below the door. To second Mike -you can edit anything you want but now you obviously will need the after cat 02 sensors? Did you get the wiring harness and ECM with the engine? Did you get the radiator fans & shroud?

6'4" & 240lbs. Fit in 280Z fine when seat adjusted just right. No extra room. Just lowered the seat an inch and I'll give feedback once I get it back on the road.

f-body.

The ECM for my LS1 install is inside the passenger compartment, passenger side, between the heater blower and fresh air vent pull handle. I have loaded up a couple pictures in my album that show the location.

I loaded up a few more pictures in my album. The CD changer is now fully installed in the face of the deck behind the passenger seat. Horizontal installation will help with potential skipping problem. I also have a shot of the deck area - partly finished. It looks real good as it is but the sub-woofer has yet to be installed behind the strut tower, the amp on its base has to be installed, and the strut tower brace is in stock form at this time. Fussing over the roll bar now and decided to Rhino coat it. It will give it a textured finish and and a more consistent appearance than the current powder coat. Door handles will need 1/2" extensions on them to clear the speaker inclosres - oops. Aaaah - the little things that make life so entertaining.

Whatever method the shop uses - if they do a solid bond of the fiberglass aero panels to the body - it will need to have some degree of flexibility or it will crack along the bonding line. I've been thinking about that for some time. Many techniques work fine for a show car but won't hold up if driven daily or periodically put on a track. Guess it's time to start talking to different shops and see what they say.

Acetone is the primary ingredient in PVC solvent - no wonder it ate your potato gun away. If you had used polyethylene you would not have had the problem - same with many other polymers. Grumpy - isn't this the same basic benfit the old timers used to get putting mothballs - napthalene - into their gas tanks?

Save the stainless steel trim unless you aren't planning on re-using it. If you order a replacement gasket from Nissan or MSA it will have the groove for the trim in the gasket.

Go to my phoyo album. I'm having an Alpine 6.5" component system installed in the front. 6 1/2" Speakers mounted on the front bottom of the doors and 1" tweeters on the A-pillars. The original speaker locations have 5 1/4" Alpine speakers and there is an Alpine 10" sub installed on the drivers side behind the rear strut tower brace aimed to reflect off the hatch.

I have uploaded some more photos into my album. One shows the two seats in nearly finished form and another the silver-chrome painted hinges. There are a few others of some details in progress. I may have more photos tomorrow or it may be Monday. The car is going back together but the stereo is making slow progress. Noticed this evening that the dome light was glowing weakly. Might be because the passenger door has been off the car for two days now. Glad I caught it before the battery went completely dead.

Why don't you just do it like the way Datsun did it in the 280Z? - and use all 280Z parts?

I got some photos of the seats themselves today and I'm going to load them up into my album tonight. They should be there by 8:00 PM CST. Got the last of the necessary parts yesterday to renew all the seals, etc. and the back deck area will be pretty much done tomorrow. Then it will be the sound guy, the carpet, and the door panels.

I have posted photos of my seats in my album. Mine are stock S30 seats - totally refurbished with a small amount of side bolster in the seat and the adjustment rack lowered just over an inch in the back.

Michael, What he does is quote a "not to exceed" number of hours at a rate of $45/hr. If he goes under you only pay the number of hours he actually worked. If he goes over - he eats it. He also is a perfectionist and somewhat artistic so he has a tendency to provide more than contracted for - at his expense. I am high on him because he is very polite, thorough, and works hard to please his customers. I've dealt with a couple other interior shops around the area and he is clearly superior in his workmanship and integrity.