Zetsaz

I don't know how much you stare at your phone for gps, but honestly the Milkfab cup and phone holder that replaces the ash tray has been fine for me to just glance down quickly. Only downsides is there's no way to get a cable under your phone for charging unless you have it upside down. If you're the sort of person who likes the biggest phone possible it might not fit too, but I'm a huge fan of it. It's one of the nicest and simplest quality of life updates I've made on the interior. Difficulty charging while also having gps open is a non-issue on anything but very long trips for me

Broken photos and links is honestly one of the biggest detriments separate from the attention span and social media issues. Most forums barely make enough to sustain themselves so the self hosted photos are always quite small and it's a bit frustrating when you're trying to see something in detail. I've been thinking of hosting my photos elsewhere but a lot of places like imgur could end up suffering the same fate as photobucket someday. That being said I'm still regularly updating here and directing people here when I can. I'll say one last thing that's a praise of forums and makes me hate social media lately - AI accounts and scammers making the 50th shitty group called "S30 240z 260z 280z and 280zx lovers and owners group" with stolen photos from reputable people make me want to blow up some Facebook servers. Drives me insane. Every few days lately someone posts about how someone scammed them out of money from some group. If you're even remotely active online the accounts have so many red flags too, so it hurts to see.

I got my hatch hinge seals from Vintage rubber back when those weren't available basically anywhere and they seem pretty good quality. Cheaper reproductions are now available, but after my frustrations with the fitment on a lot of the precision kit I don't think I'd bother. Vintage Rubber's kit is expensive, but it seems like it's far more complete than any other. It has damn near every single piece of rubber you can find on the car. I know for a fact the kit from Resurrected Classics has most of what you could want, but something like the hatch hinge seals aren't in that kit, just as an example. There's one piece that I didn't even have to install to know it's better than most other kits and that's the hood to cowl seal. The Resurrected Classics is a good reproduction of the later style with metal insert so it just sort of clamps on without the need for adhesive. It's longer than necessary though, which isn't ideal for a piece like that where cutting the metal inside is tricky sometimes.

Three weeks until I'm home and properly working on the car before a long road trip. I've been creating a detailed list on some Google notes of everything I hope to accomplish. I'll update once I truly get to it, but for now just wanted to share my excitement for my new brakes. Was in Utah about two weeks ago for a handful of days for a music conference and my brother was kind enough to let me borrow his truck to drive up to Logan just for one evening to have a quick dinner with the siblings up there and I took a quick trip to my folks' place late in the evening and opened up some of the parts to keep my motivation haha. Also had a big box of new seals from Resurrected Classics. They were kind enough to give me a steep discount on their weatherstripping kit when I asked if I could get it without the door seals since I had already purchased the S30 world seals before they released their kit. Looks like they were kind enough to give me the discount and kept the door seals anyway! I'll be making a thorough comparison of it against the Precision kit I have, mostly to see if it's truly far better for some of the worst fitting parts.

The Escort diff cover has their logo in about the same spot, but despite the much higher fluid capacity they kept it small. Only 3 fins are interrupted.

Didn't realize that cover would just bolt up (other than the machining to clear the ring gear of course) Solid choice! I would have done the same with the logo as I'm honestly not the biggest fan of branding. I even had all the emblem holes welded closed before paint on mine. Only logos left are the Z emblems on the quarter vents. My own OSG probably won't ship for another month unfortunately but I'll have to start looking at some shops to rebuild my 3.54 in the meantime so I'm ready to go

I've used Arizona tint before and liked how it turned out on the G37, but I'm more than happy to try a different reputable place especially if the cost is better or I can get better work for a comparable price.

Daaaaaaaaaang You had literally the same idea I did. At a minimum I think I'll be ordering an OS Giken LSD to avoid future tariffs. That Escort piece is super nice. Was tempted to get the escort finned R200 cover, but I know realistically I have no use for it. Will be negligible benefit at best compared to my oem finned cover. Better off saving that money for the KW suspension haha. Looking into more stuff that I might need in the future and trying to get an import order done within the next week.

With summer only a few months on the horizon I'm planning the next several changes to the car. Things waiting to be done: -Install driver side spindle and bearings - only passenger side was replaced this winter to allow the car to move for now. -Install micro brake kit from T3 - sitting at my sister's place begging to be used. -Check wiring for new stereo. -Install and seal nismo shifter - washers arrived after I last left, only plastic cup missing. Things that require purchases or mild side work: -Redo oil pan gasket... again ... small leak from rear passenger side. Will likely purchase the reproduction nissan comp gasket from MSA - has been very well reviewed and recommended. -Clearance throttle cable bracket for AC bulkhead - my AC bulkhead unfortunately bumps into the skillard piece. Would prefer to grind that bracket a bit than grind the rounded side of my printed piece. -Fix/remake intercooler and AC condenser brackets. -Swap to 3.54 rear diff - my 3.9 was great with the worn old engine, but is probably holding back my turbo build, and even worsening my fuel economy on my long trips. Have been told it'll be faster since I'll be able to stay in boost longer without shifting too. -Potentially rebuild my old 3.54 with an OS Giken diff. Still debating if it's worth it or if I should just drop in the old diff as is. -Install and wire AC Fans - Looking into how I want to wire them now. Would like to control them with megasquirt, but I know it'd be simpler to just have them trigger by a thermostatic switch. -Cut and crimp AC hoses. Low priority, but will likely buy parts and hope I get to it: -Resurrected Classics has remade all of the important gaskets, and I'm considering ordering a kit so I can finally get decent sealing and fitment from the front windshield seal and lower rear hatch seal. The rear hatch seals in particular have driven me insane and ruined some of the usability of the rear hatch because I'm never comfortable opening it and having to tuck in the hatch seal so it doesn't get pulled down when I'm closing it. -Drop off somewhere to have exhaust redone (or cut and fit myself and have someone I know weld it) - Planning on improving the clearance in the center and by the trans mount, as well as getting a Stainless Bros center resonator (bigger and oval to help with clearance and volume) and a Stainless bros oval muffler. Will still be straight through but with much more volume to absorb some of the sound. -Drop off for light tint to further improve interior temps on long drives - Lizard skin did some miracle work on keeping the interior drive-able for more than ten minutes at a time, but the greenhouse effect of the windows, especially the rear hatch, will always catch up after a while.

Out of curiosity how much baffling does that tank have? When I first saw them I was excited, but it almost looked like it was just that formed wall in the middle for baffling just like the metal piece that's in the center of the original one.

Excited to see your progress! Even though the KA24DE is a bit dated, I honestly think they remain heavily underrated. So many people moved away from them to the SR20, but the KA is (at least in my opinion) much more stout, and it's hard to turn down so much extra displacement. It would be my choice of affordable swap if I was in a 510 wagon which I've always wanted. Even the sohc version in my D21 has proven pretty great, though it's now relegated to farm truck in mexico with my parents. It's interesting that you didn't like the CD009, with how popular it is. Though I know most people have to swap shifters which affects how it feels a lot. I really liked the later JK in my G37s when I had that. Synchros were great, and the stock shifter felt "short enough" to not want to change anything. I hate short shifters and the notchiness, however. On my 71c trans I'm switching to the stock shifter housing and a nismo solid shifter. Throw will be a bit longer, but I want a slightly closer to stock feel and to not feel like I'm screwing up my synchros from a too-short and notchy shifter. Also, surprised you got such terrible mileage on the 2JZ. What was your rear end ratio? My L28ET gets me 22-23 highway mpg when I've done roadtrips and it's not even really particularly well tuned for it. I've been tempted to switch from my current 3.9 rear to a 3.7 - the 3.54 seems a bit too long for my taste, but I think just swapping to the 3.7 might get me to an easy 25mpg with better tuning.

Is your "new" fusible link from before or after replacing the alternator and having the headlights left on? Fusible links aren't particularly reliable, and there's a reason they are no longer used. Continuity by itself isn't enough to know if it's passing enough amps to do anything. Did you bypass the old external regulator properly? It has been a very long time since I switched to the later internally regulated alternator on my car, so I'm not sure the wiring you're describing in point #2 is related to the bypass. Most of your checks are reasonable and detailed, so that's the only two I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure someone with an early 240 instead of my early 280 will chime in at some point who would know more.

Love the new overflow tank location. Receiver will be ready to wire, and I'm happy I got to drive a bit while the weather was good and streets were clear.

Last day in Utah Only managed a couple more things. -New reproduction door seals from S30 World went in. They are MUCH softer and more compliant than what I've used before and fit much better, though I kinda wish I had bought the later style from Resurrected Classics. I think they released just after, but the RC ones are a single piece like later seals instead of separate rubber and harder C channel -New coolant overflow finally arrived. Love how it fits and looks MUCH better than the old one. Will upload pics this afternoon. -Bought a Kenwood Media player and mounted it to the console. Still haven't done wiring. Did a test with just some spade connectors and cut the original plug off. Wasn't working, but I think it might just be the glass fuse being out. Full wiring might have to wait until summer, but I'll use the new Deutsch connectors I have for all my wiring from here forward. -C clip and wave washer to get my Nismo shifter on won't arrive in time, but I'll swap to it over summer. -Oil pan seems to be dripping around the starter area, but I'm mostly certain it was just that a few of the bolts weren't snug. A ton of people were recommending the MSA reproduction of the Nissan Competition gasket. I think I'm gonna order that for summer and swap that in next time I do an oil change if the drip continues. Some said it was the best they'd ever used and should be reusable and much less messy than the RTV solution

Well, it took FAR longer than I hoped but the car is running again. Things that got finished -Rear seals done. -Oil pan got the OEM seal I forgot I had. Straightened the flange braces a lot. If it leaks again I'll go full RT -Replaced oil drain plug -Cleaned up some glazing on the flywheel and pressure plate. Clutch seems to be working well -Replaced throw out bearing while I was at it -Removed transmission dust cover on the back that made removing the driveshaft difficult. -Wiped down all oily surfaces including the exhaust, engine/trans plate, oil pan, trans crossmember, diff crossmember... -Engine oil got Valvoline VR1 20w/50 for upcoming summer weather next time I drive -Transmission fluid replaced with Ford Motorcraft XT-M5-QS manual trans fluid aka "unicorn tears" and very well liked in the Miata crowd. Supposed to be better than the redline MT90 I had before) In progress or needing extra work -Retorqued front crank bolt for now, but I think I'll have to replace that seal as well but it's only available online. I'll replace if necessary when I wire and properly do the electric fans -New coolant overflow tank hasn't arrived but will install as soon as it arrives to get things tidier -Waiting on a big C clip and wave washer so I can use the Nismo solid shifter. ISR shifter went back on with very light rtv for now. I plan on on somehow adapting the stock 240sx lower shift boot to the stock S40 lower shift boot bezel. Might require more printing or at least cutting from a sheet of aluminum or steel. -Driver window either got misaligned or off the track when I was rolling it up today 😢 doesn't seem to go down without way too much force. Little or no progress -Haven't installed the AC bulkhead plate, but I think I'll have enough time to at least do the interior lines and install the plate. Will cover the openings for now. -Still no radio/digital media receiver. We'll see if I can get something at least fitted to the console before I leave