yarddogg77

Not yet. I've googled but keep coming up empty handed. I think I have a plan though. I'm going to lay down a piece of thick paper on my existing fender flares and trace it out to find out the dimensions. Then I may just make a larger sliver moon shape and weld them in so I can use the existing fender lips. This would bring out the top edge and the bottom would still be the same. I know the front fenders would be easy enough, but the rears may be trouble depending on how the inner fender wells are attached to the existing flares. I'll still be searching around for a car with the right style until then.

I think the flare would be enough for me. It would give it that Pantera look. Maybe I'll just try some out of cardboard and see where I get.

Hey all. I would really like to do a wide body kit on my 280ZX. Thing is, I prefer steel. I can't find any steel fender flares. I don't think I have the skill and definitely not the tools to shape them myself and make them even. So I've been beating around an idea in my head that I'm sure you all have thought of. I was thinking of finding a car with a similar body shape and cutting it up and putting it on my car. I would like to try to find something that is easily available in junk yards, not something sought after and will closely match the ZX contours within reason. I had a few cars in mind but now I don't think they will work. If anyone knows of a car that fits the bill please tell me what it is or load up a pic. Thank you.

Yeah but it felt good to see it sitting there without any help from the jack stands. It started to dawn on me that this car may yet drive again.

With most engines you can buy thicker gaskets designed exactly for what you need. They make up for material removed from head milling. I'm not sure if you can find em for an L28 but I'm sure they must be somewhere. I've saw mention of one on a website written by a guy who shaved his head on a N/A simply for more compression. He also mentioned that if goin this route a few things needed to be changed. I can't remember the specifics. Here's the link. http://datsunzgarage.com/p90/

The chain will be tight, not sure how far off your timing will be after milling. Probably not much. I would just have it milled and get the spacer gasket.

Yesterday I finally put the hood and fenders back on, dropped it on it's own wheels again and rolled it off the plywood. I need to do some serious clean up in and around my shed and get everything back in order. After that I will begin removing the rest of the interior pieces and carpet so I can get at the floor pans to seek and destroy rust and check out all the wiring to the back.

New ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks, brake lines, rubberized undercoating.

Well, for right now I'm just trying to get it road worthy. I bought this for a daily driver and just couldn't help myself. As soon as I got the chance I tore it apart. It's up for body work and paint in the spring. Honestly that's probably as far as it will go. I would rather find a body in better shape for a complete performance build. I still have my truck I need to do. My poor Dodge has been put on the back burner for 2 motorcycles, this ZX and of course whenever I'm broke. I'm gonna paint this car, then jump back on that.

What a teaser, I read all this just to get nothing in the end. Disappointed.

Today I need to get off my lazy butt and coat my wheel wells. I'm just not looking forward to more time behind the grinder right now. After all the welding and having to strip my EB twice, I'm a little soured about rotary tools.

You had to fix your too huh? Didn't happen without pics Heroez.

Your interior makes me sick. I can't believe how clean and flawless it looks.

Thanks. I have a full build thread in the members projects section. I have a link to photo bucket in my sig too. I should have pics of my interior coming soon. I'm just waiting for a few pieces from Palladin to complete my dash.

The PO also let the battery boil over for who knows how long so I had to replace some sheet metal under there. Here's the piece I welded back in. I would've preferred a custom cut from a junk yard, but I thought I'd try to sculpt one myself. It didn't turn out to great. At least it's hard to see with the battery in. Here it is after sand blasting a little JB for fill around the welds, lots of think coats of Epoxy Zinc rich primer, and finally Urethane Auto Primer. Looks okay in the end. Here's what's left of the battery tray. I've already cut the bottom off and will use a few pieces of small tubing to remount it to the car. Pics soon.

Here's a few pis of what I had to do to the front stamped steel cross member on my 280ZX. The PO must have either hit something or tried to jack it up under there. I replaced the stamped steel with 3"x3"x1/8" square tubing. It don't think it hurt to strengthen things a little to. I had thought about adding an X brace but will do strut tower braces later instead. Old one. New one. I had to cut out the lower radiator support to grind the welds which I wasn't to thrilled with. Here's the new piece I made to fill it. Here's the coolest thing about it, jack points! All Done.

I really like the work. Great tutorial, very informative. Just curious. Are those struts stock from the 240sx I think you said? Should I be looking for an S13 parts car in the future? Where'd you get the front 5 lug hubs?

That was actually the wrong link. I meant to post the Xenon website link. Try this one. Just click on reference in the upper right corner and pick out your Factory Service Manual. http://www.xenons130.com/index.html

Why would somebody knock another persons color choice? Look at the quality of the work, it's great. I'm sure getting knocked around when he posted his hard work was not what he had in mind. How does the saying go? If you're gonna say something bad about someone, make sure they're out of the damned room.

I love most metalics. That color pops out. Love it.

Hi, my name is yarddogg77, and I'm zx holic. I just bought my car 5 months ago and it has already consumed more time than I have in a day. I have pics of the work done so far in my signature. I've only driven the car maybe 6 times but already love it almost as much as my old truck. The only aftermarket mods are the 6-2 header and the main power fuse boxes. Thank you for your support. It's so good to be around people who understand me. Oh god I'm choked up (tears).

Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning of your electrical connections to start with. The A/C will require a whole other school. Palladins right, the auto air system is very elaborate.

I just got done doing my dash. I can see how your tabs broke off cause they are a very tight squeeze, especially after loads of vinyl paint. If you look on the back of the 3 inserts, you will see A B and C. Lay them on a table and look at the angles of them. They are slightly different. Compare them to your gauge pod and match them up with the correct pod. I can't remember if A starts on the drivers side or passenger. Obviously B goes in the middle. When I put them in, I had to start with the side of the insert toward the drivers side of the dash, then I worked them around until they finally slid in. This should help you get them in without breaking them. As far as fixing them, I just bought some Loctite all plastic 2 part super glue and it is very strong. You could find some pieces of thin 90 degree angled plastic and glue them to the side of the gauge inserts and to the tabs. I hope this helps.

My step brother lives in Tulsa, or did. He's still around there somewhere. Thanks for the compliments. I've only driven the car 6 times or so and the clutch was so toasted I couldn't even enjoy it. Can't wait to get some time behind the wheel.

Hello, new here. I just came over from Zcars.com cause of site problems. I had a thread going there for the build of my car so I wanted to continue that tradition here. Haven't decided if I'm ready to take the full transition to Hybridz yet, but so far I'm liking the Tech side of things here. Lots of categories where I can surf around so it's perfect for me. I love welding, painting, wrenching, and fabricating. I'm not claiming expert at any of it, I just like to do it all myself. So here is the car.