Zetsaz

I'm working pretty slow right now, but I'd be happy to verify once things are put together and wired up! I'm slightly more concerned about the defrost right now. Stock vents are usable, but require some... interesting bends. I believe this installation is with the compac and not the mini, but mine is similar. I may end up mocking up some basic brackets for the small defrost vents they included, but I'm also bothered by the possibility of the way it looks from the top with out those vents fully covering the openings on the finish panel. Edit: by the way, Ross. I think those fittings you sent will actually work perfectly. Especially the 90s. I know they're typically supposed to go with the threaded end in towards the cabin, but I think I'm going to use them the opposite direction and they'll actually work great to plug into some of the stock AC hoses I had into the engine bay.

Well, the school's only printer actually in the building apparently has some heating issues on large projects. BUT I made a thing... my cousin is printing it now. we'll see how it turns out. This is a new center exit vent. Figured while I'm having fun making an ecu bracket, having a new dizzy cap and TPS bracket printed, I might as well try my hand at some basic parts and see how they turn out. The defrost vents are too complicated, and honestly I could just make small brackets to mount the smaller vintage air pieces that were included instead of complicating things just to get a 90 degree bend that looks original to avoid putting a loop in one place on the ducting.

Oh man... if my infiniti was sold I would probably be interested. Good luck! I've heard great things about Datsun Spirit's work.

Hmmmm.. What are you making there Omar...? Mocked up the plate with scrap metal I had laying around. Figured I could at least see if I liked the location if visibility would be good where they were recessed just like the original controls. I thought I was sooooo clever using the screw holes in the panel as potential snap plates until I realized they have "ramps" towards the front of the plate and I can't actually snap them in... I have a 3D print file ready to go, courtesy of @seattlejester and I'm just going to epoxy or plastic weld it to the panel. Also realized today that my place of work has 3D printers... Checking if I'm allowed to use them first thing in the morning haha.

Center exit on the 280z is one big rectangle hole. Normally it would be what splits the air out to the side vents as well, but the vintage air has 3 independent exists instead. Center exit needs the side pieces cut and blocked off, and the entrance blocked with something that has an appropriate hole in the center. I'll load pics when I'm not on my phone

Thank you! I'm really hoping I can get to the wiring portion of things tomorrow, but there's still so much left the more I look at it. Still need to modify the center exit. I'm almost tempted to finally buy a 3D printer and design some things. If I could redesign the stock defrost pieces and the center vent the install would be much cleaner

Well... That was entirely too much time spent making 3 very basic brackets. Thought at first they'd just be templates to get the right fit, but considering they'll be totally out of sight and I'm not making nicer attachment points on the firewall like all the bracket madness the guys at project Binky get up to... I'm going to call this good.

Ordered more things with some light black friday sales. -Odd ball parts I needed from Zcardepot, including the missing passenger side tail light rubber that was unavailable this summer. -Skillard window rubber wipe kit -Headliner and roof/pillar trim kit from MSA, as well as a fender cover for when I'm working on the car. Bumpers have apparenty been stuck at port, still waiting on Datsun Garage to ship. Will be checking in with them this week. Debating how much I really need CVs right now with Futofab having 20% (15?) off, vs front control arms that I need to finish correcting the caster.

Is he still in business?? I've heard so many horror stories about poor communication and many months of lead time. Sadly only other carbon dash options right now are Carbon Signal in the UAE. Tough pill to swallow

Oooooohh, where'd you get the dash? Looks great. Love the engine start button placement and overall look.

AHH! Sorry, mixed up the N47 and P79 in my head. Thank you for the correction.

The N47 head (if I remember correctly) has a good combustion chamber like the P90, but the liners can be risky for a turbo. That being said, some people have made their head flow WORSE by removing them and not doing things properly. As far as pistons go, flat tops are actually great with a P90 if you have a standalone ECU. Nissan ran VERY conservative boost and compression with the now primitive efi. You can make more power on a stock block just by improving the efi. If you don't have a P90, stay with dished pistons, as flat tops will get you into NA compression territory for these motors, and the worse combustion chamber design of the earlier heads will severely limit you if you're really intending to boost. All that being said, Big Phil (turbo280z on youtube) ran an N47 head for a long time in his turbo L28 with good results until he switched to an RB30 build.

A guy close to me said that's what he used and the only concern he mentioned was the fitment wasn't quite right but the quality overall is quite good.

Ahhhh gotcha! At this point I've replaced pretty much every single warn out rubber/oddball part in my car, and almost literally everything has been taken apart at some point or inspected, so if you have any questions, about weird items feel free to ask me! Some odd stuff specific to only a couple years I'm less familiar with, but body/mechanical/interior specific stuff I'm fairly familiar with original parts at this point.

Z car depot is generally quite good at pointing out differences between the years and whether or not the part is needed for your car. Hang onto them in case someone else has done the same. I have a friend with a late 280 who might be able to check

Do you have your door panels off? It's on the interior on the "floor" of the door. It's a rubber bump stop on the inside for when it's completely rolled down.

Weather is getting colder by the day and I think I've just had the last few moderate days of driving for a while. Time to start fixing small things (as in... My hands won't fit in these small spaces!) Pulled the dash tonight to start working on the vintage air... It's even less room to work with despite being the gen 2 mini. I'm debating weather or not to move the ECU over to the passenger side while I have everything out and it's easier to access, but for now the focus is on the Vintage Air and some patches of Dynamat on the most resonant spots of the firewall. New bumpers are also ordered! Odds and ends I need are finding some firewall AC bulkheads I like that'll fit the AC hoses I have, and figuring out how I'll get the hoses inside routed

You should consider your use for the car as well. 9k rpm sounds ludicrus on an L series, but if you're in a mostly street car you'll rarely get opportunities to get even close to that unless you're on freeway on ramps. My L28 is a pretty much stock block but with improved accessories and MS3x with sequential fuel and spark. It drives great even though the acceleration isn't like modern cars, but I rarely get chances to go past even 5.5k where the power starts to fall off in the stock motor.

Alignment done today. Left side was WAY out but somehow I got the right rear dead on. Found out one of my local datsun friends did the alignments at a Les Schwab nearby and got it done through him. He took the time to pull the spindle pin for the rear of each control arm to ensure we got the toe as close as possible. Camber all got suprisingly close too! All of it ranges from about ~ -1.3 in the front to ~ -1.5-1.8 in the rear. My current ride height is perfect and doesn't need excessive negative camber for good clearance, but it seems like the rear right tire has been rubbing slightly on the lip on the way out of hte carport, so I'll probably do a mild roll on the back for better clearance.

Finally had a reprieve from the rain and took advantage. Control arms are in. Whole assembly is very adjustable so it's now in desparate need of an alignment. Was having a rough time with the C Clips on the half shafts. Took them to a shop and they said they'd basically have to go to a machine shop. They're basically chemically welded from the rust at this point. I could grind them off, but considering I only found play in one joint and it was almost completely unnoticeable, back in they went. They'll be staying as is until maybe spring. Would rather spend the money and effort just going straight to CVs at this point

This is exciting to see! Was talking to a friend recently and have started reconsidering the VQ as a swap. Since I care more about something fun, than all out power, and I'm aiming to for a modestly lightweight but daily driveable car, the VQ fits the bill perfectly. VQ37 even more. I love the responsiveness of the VVEL system, though I know aftermarket support isn't the best. Most I have in my G37s is an Ark Grip exhaust and I honestly love the sound. It's a far cry from the "trumpety" reputation VQs have from cheap 350z owners straight piping their cars.

Well, we're getting extensive rain this weekend, but I'm fairly determined to get the back end put together even if I can't do the Vintage Air this weekend. We'll see how far I get. i moved the Z over to the more elevated side of my carport but it remains to be seen how wet things will be.

Probably by this weekend. Back end is already on jack stands and taken apart, have just been a bit lazy finishing up other stuff.

Time stamped the intro for you

Apex rear control arms arrived today! Got good communication from Ohm,and I sprang for them after asking about set backs and his honesty about new products and outsourced axles being the main set back. Products like this are in stock. They shipped last Sunday but I got cheap shipping so they only just now arrived. Vary satisfied with how everything was packaged and I got a prime example of their new packaging on hardware to make sure everything is included. All in all, I really like these and I'm happy to support small businesses making parts for these cars. Plus! The best part about new parts... Free stickers haha