Heroez

The kids are always going to keep coming. I know what you mean by 240atlanta.com. Most of the time its kids daydreaming and looking for pics to drool at. Some of them didnt even have a car yet. I want one to get mad at me and do the modification/build just to spite me and do a good job. Then once in a great while, a guy with a welder shows up with time and materials and you get that immaculate story you were a part of. Thats why we read on. I didnt get past registration on 240atlanta before I was telling them exactly how ugly they were. That was a new experience.

Because it usually turns into a disaster in the hands of an amateur. Because the next owner has to fix it. Because I have fixed other peoples experiments. Because people are at greater risk for injury doing unfamiliar tasks with materials and tools. Because we drive on the road too. For instance some guys shoddy work catches a crosswind at 85 mph and peals slap off the car. Maybe that causes damage to somebodies car, or worse. Because of roadrage. Because you might scratch the wrong guys car. So while planning body modification, keep in mind the bigger picture, and know what you are getting into. Its not rocket science, but there are good ways and bad ways.

Then go with metal instead of the usual fiberglass junk. If you want something even more different, then flare the whole fender rather than just a wheel opening. Doing just the wheel opening would overqualify as common. You may read the fabrication and welding forum to see whats involved in making a look that is diferent. If you start talking about putting dive planes or spikes on the flared wheel opening Im calling your father.

And a standard fiberglass or metal flare that fits isnt good enough because...?

Oh, this is something your dad is doing, er maybe another family member? Well that doesnt make you an amateur. My bad. You must be one of those experts in a can. Just add hot air. I would have expected an instant expert to realize there is no factory nose for that type of toyota and that I never mentioned any nissan part in that post, but thats a beef I have with the education system, and not you in particular. Let us know how the Pops fares in his non amateur project.

9 times out of 10 it never gets past the talk phase. Dont get your hopes up for any photos.

Im sorry you dont understand. Shakotan is a term for a type of enthusiast as well as a style, and I meant shark nose. If you want to discredit people in the industry that do this in favor of your amateur hobby opinion, no skin off my nose. I guess the real answer will come after the pipe dream phase.

I guarantee hes not the first shakotan boy that has wide eyes for big chunks of fiberglass and wanting the VIP look for his car. What do you know about it? I suppose extending the front end of a toyota soarer or adding a shark nose has never been done either. I work fiberglass almost daily, and Ive customized and stretched. So when I hear a shakotans pipe dream I can answer with some kind of credibility.

Looking is one thing.

You can make your own design. But I wouldnt recommend it. Make a form and attach to car. Thats one way. So what exactly do you want to modify? A wheel opening? The whole car? Why not metal? Your question is kinda broad. I like Nissan designs, and also some widebody or simple touches. The use of the car would dictate the design for me. If its a daily car, I would keep it stock looking. A few period correct add ons is nice but more attention from the authorities.

Has anyone ever? Yes. Everything that could be done, has been, forgotten, rediscovered, and asked about. Extra work to make the wrong parts fit vs parts that do fit. I have no idea why someone would opt to use a universal or non fitting part when these parts are made and already available for our cars besides wanting a custom unique look. Lets say you are an exception, the standard widebody fenders or flares we know and love are not what you want. You want something different. Then go for it. Cut up some fiberglass and start making your plans come true. Let us know how it goes. I would love to see some pictures of whatever you had in mind. Any sketches?.

Thats because it resembles latex paint. I hate that stuff. Im sticking to the conventional epoxy primer.

You messed up at the planning stage. A good plan would go like this. Pull the motor, jam out the engine bay, if you had to you could put the engine back in, then paint the body. Simple right? People over complicate the process. In and out with the motor after each step isnt a good idea and wasted effort. Read the cans. Yes por 15 and other sealers are broken down by UV and other erosion. You are using it outside its intended use and are unhappy with the results. You are just creating more work. Now the sealer and the metal are compromised. That means the labor and cost you already have in it is mostly a waste. Stop working at it. Start getting it done. Get a solid plan together to knock it out. Or you will be chasing your tail. Good luck.

It does appear to be original equipment, or at least the same condition as other parts on the intake manifold. Looks like I wont have time to work on it untill the weekend. Are the NGK plug wires original equipment?

I will also look further into the 81 ECU. I just dont want to damage anything.

Ok. I will try removing the line to the EGR and plug it so its not a leak. Go for a test drive, see what happens. I will report the results for you. Thanks for reading and giving a suggestion. I may not have mentioned that the car and engine is very clean and well taken car of. Right now I have to install the AFM that I had out for testing. That goes pretty quick. Can someone please post a pic or describe in detail how the AFM ground wire should be attached? I have one I made, just unsure where it goes.

This is my ECU. Sorry about the blurry pictures.

Still no progress. I recieved the ECU and did some research on the different turbo ECUs. The bad news is, a 1981 turbo ECU lacks the dropping resistors for the fuel injectors. In that year they used a resistor pack on the inner fender of the engine bay. In my 1983, they are built into the ECU. At this point I dont want to start changing any wiring. Im staying in focus, trying to find the faulty part. I didnt want to have the car undriveable, and that is why this lending of an ECU was a major help. So I need some opinions on what to do now. Any thoughts or advice?

Huh?. Im in Atlanta and I often see S30s for sale in all types of condition. What you dont see is any Datsun besides a Z. 510- impossible to find, 1 may be for sale at any given time and its likely highly modified and over 7k or its a corpse. A dork in northern suburbs would buy them up, cut them up, part them out, and send shells and half stripped drivers to the rust belt. Every time one showed up and I would have some money, he would buy it that day. It made me so mad! That was the death knell for the 510 market here. Datsun 210/310- 1 shows up about twice every 5 years. 710/810- once every 7-10 years. Datsun roadster- 2 can be found for sale most all the time. Datsun 240z- 3 or 5 available any given day. 260z- for every 8 240z cars there will be a 260z. 280z- 6 or 8 available any given day. 280zx- 5 or 10 any given day. That is my forcast for Atlanta area after watching the Datsun sales for many years. Its been ramping up, especially over the past 5 years. This is a trend that will continue. I would give you 2 of my average z cars with solid bodies and no rust running working z cars, for one similar condition 69-72 510 2 door coupe. Or even a 510 that needs floor pans, but mostly all parts still on it, and didnt run. I would trade you a car you could drive off in. My first Datto was a 280zx from Florida. Its hard to imagine that one state away it could be so dry for Datsun movement. Georgia hardly ever salts its roads. As a side effect it doesnt signifigantly add to the billions of dollars of damage to vehicles. Its not uncommon to find S30s with good or minimal damaged floor pans. The fenders always seem to be bad at the bottom because of debris in the cowl drain. Plastics hold up ok in the subtropical enviornment. Ive seen cars from texas where their wire looms crumble like saltine crackers in my hand, and electrical connectors as fragile as glass. The metal was ok, nothing to drool over. I have too little out of state experience to guide you or me about it. The less rust the better. Look it over good. If its too hard in Florida, try Atlanta. You should be able to find the right one in 6 months or less. I dont even want to think about all the z cars that were at Z Nationals you could have bought back in the fall, in Savannah. Good luck and I hope you spot a good one!

I do suspect my ECU. Nobody around here has one to use. I will PM you.

I did move the carbon trace board a few times with no change in how the car runs. I bought a replacement used AFM which the seller swears its good because he drove with it, still no change in how the car acts. Yes, the FSM has you test the wire terminals on the ecu connector, then the part itself. The test is useless though. Even known good AFMs fail testing this way. The test result between the wire terminals and the part were identicle so the wires there seem fine.

Hadnt heard about it. Its a possibility. I have an update- You cant use the FSM to test the AFM. Me and a few other people ran tests just like the manual says. We tested unknown and known good turbo AFMs. They all fail test 1, and the component test. They also fail the flap movement tests. It turns out the only accurate way to test them is with power supplied. Im leaning towards saying the only way to test them is to load test them. So my AFM may not be bad afterall. The problem is somewhere else. Im about to give up.

take them to small claims court, have them replace the carpet because its their fault.

Thanks man. My boss was rushing me friday, so I couldnt look up that paint code. Monday I am showing up early to get time to look it up.