Zetsaz

Exactly what I've always wanted haha. Thanks for the addition.

Haha, I don't mean to say the other post is a bad dream build. I'm just thinking dream Datsun build. It's just so far out there from a Datsun build in my mind is all I'm saying.

All of these options look hideous. For my money I'd get the Dapper LED 7s https://www.dapperlighting.com/products/seven

I was going to say, he basically wants Tyler Powell's car or Mark Rolston's, but somehow even less Datsun DNA

So what you're saying is you don't want a datsun at all, and you just want to chop the vin off an early car and weld it into a custom chassis?

-Early car (though you know I'm perfectly happy with my early 280) -Stroker L28, with ITBs, or the Datsunworks head ITBs, or ITB Turbo L series (I'm a music teacher... I care about sound I guess haha) -Interior basically identical to the tan/brown interior on the MZR Roadsports builds -Exterior with only subtle mods to help the lackluster aero these cars have -Incognito paint matched carbon fiber panels. -Suspension would really be basically identical to what I have now, but with Apex Engineered parts -Restored vintage Japanese wheels like SSRs or Epsilon mesh

I'll be running a pretty similar setup down the road so it's really nice to see this info!

Looooong, overdue progress post. @seattlejester came by towards the end of the summer/early fall and showed me some tricks. Used the seats as a jig for the mounts and had some simple tabs off the ends at the correct angle so I wouldn't have to mess with the stock sliders. Initially I had "finished" the new mounts out of 1 inch tubing. Then I realized how much of a pain it was to get two separate pieces of square tubing to seat correctly, with the correct angles/distances for the seats. So I put it off for a bit but committed to putting more tubing along the rails running front to back. Made them easier to set into the car and tack in. Tacked them in forever ago only to finally get back to it today after some sunshine motivated me to pick up the slack and.... the free moving sliders were installed backwards after being reupholstered. It was rubbing against the nice new material (UNACCEPTABLE) but flipping it around made the bolt holes no longer line up. Broke the tack welds and redid the tabs, and now I've FINALLY welded in the seat mounts. Far from perfect, and took much longer than expected, but they're very sturdy and I'm happy with it for now. Some of my welds are very clearly in the "booger weld" category, but when I get them good they're looking REALLY good. Or at least not terrible for someone with like 2 hours of welding experience haha. Will upload more pics tomorrow when it's light out. Finished them up as I was losing daylight.

Honestly I did the same calculations, and realized that to match the power to weight of my G37S (which I barely even rev up to redline or even make the most of the powerband on, I'd only need about 190-195whp. Perfectly doable NA even if it is easier with turbo. We've definitely been spoiled by the crazy power modern engines can make.

Sorry, my explanation was more geared towards the average car. that being said, the really short and stiff spring will still create similar problems, and if you go with softer spring rates if they have that option, you'll likely still bottom out if you hit some bad bumps/pot holes. GC would be a better option in your case if you really want to save the money. That being said, the pricing is almost a wash if you decide to buy adjustable shocks. The stock dampers really wont' do well with increased spring rates and likely won't last long even on strictly street use.

The cosmos look like just a cheap sleeve that gets placed on top of the stock spring perches with some minor height adjustability. For a daily driver, any sort of lowering especially the sort you'll need to do on the front end is going to reduce your shock travel significantly. I had considered T3 and other "bolt in" or cheaper options that involved more work, but the full threaded body on the BC coilovers allowing full suspension travel was too much to pass up. For a daily driver I'd definitely recommend eating the cost. It'll be better in the long run.

311s.org seems to have started a compromise between the two. They have a main page that takes you to the forum as well as a wiki with some of the most common/useful questions and info. They don't seem to have followed through and it looks dated, but I'm sure something like that would work. Letting people register/login through facebook here was a step in the right direction I think, but even that hasn't worked very well since last I checked.

There are plenty of options but most of them are from Japan and cost $1200+ just for the header

Very Cool! My interior on my 75 is stripped down to nothing currently, other parts only include a bare block/transmission and full suspension. I really should have weighed the shell when it first arrived from the previous owner, but there's a chance I can take an afternoon to prop it on blocks and temporarily disconnect everything.

Even when it's not technical, you're always catching stuff I miss haha.... Yeah, the backup cameras are definitely a big plus, but with tech getting cheaper and cheaper there are going to be cheaper options in the future than even the ones available now. Honestly there's so much stuff you can do now with just aftermarket sensors/cameras/ecu and a tablet.

I think it's less an issue of the site, and more an issue of the culture of things. Everyone seems to want immediate answers through facebook now, but even that will eventually fade. I like connectivity and unity, but I've always been in favor of fragmentation if it gets the job done better. Facebook is great at a lot of things, but most things it does mediocre at best. The easy community and easy sharing of random stuff like single pictures or an album with a caption is nice, but forums will always be a better place for real technical discussion and archiving information. Besides that, as much as we might think facebook is this behemoth that's only getting bigger and forums are dying, I think even facebook as we know it will change or fade away eventually. Teenagers are already barely using it, usually opting for instagram or snapchat, which do an even worse job of archiving or sharing any sort of substantial information (I teach high schoolers, ask me how I know...)

Maybe I've just had a more humble upbringing, but after driving more and more modern/nice cars, I've realized that the only "luxury" I really care about in luxury cars is a Comfortable seats, a quiet cabin, decent audio (I'm a music teacher) that can play over bluetooth and make calls, and working AC. There's really not much to it for me. At a certain point I guess luxury just starts becoming about materials used and fancier options that, to be honest, I've barely used even in my new car.

I guess once you start adding all the extra tubing all bets are off, but mine won't really have any of that and will be almost entirely street. Then again, mine is a 75 which is the lightest of the 280s. I guess maybe I'm off on my guess, but 2800 seems ooo heavy for Mike's car. What year is his?

That's awesome! Nice to see the new tank is in and working

Having been around a series one and scrapped/used/sold a ton of parts between that and my early 280z I can tell you that the chassis on it's own is definitely noticeably different between the two, but isn't the biggest cause of the weight difference. Aside from just chassis reinforcements between years that add up to a fair bit, the R200 weighs WAY more than an R180. At least it feels that way when you're trying to lift them. All the EFI stuff is more weight, the bumpers are way heavier. The one most people seem to miss is the pistons themselves for the bumpers. Probably at least 10 pounds each corner. Bigger metal evap tank instead of smaller plastic one. A variety of emmissions stuff in the 280z engine bay is nonexistent in earlier models too. Rear struts are bigger/taller, which also means more metal for the strut towers on the inside.5 speed, if you have it is heavier. 240z didn't have a rear sway bar either. To be honest, other than the bumpers and emissions stuff, most of the things that make the 280 heavier are actually all good things for performance as far as I'm concerned. You can't have everything unfortunately. All else being equal, you can probably get the 280 within 200-300 pounds of the 240z, assuming the same equipment is on both. But then you have to deal with the fact that the 280 is a sturdier stronger body to begin with. I gave up the hunt for a 240z as a "superior" or more original car when I realized the only things I preferred on it were all basic styling cues like the lights and bumpers that tons of people have modified easily.

That looks better than new!

So cool!

Yes. Wouldn't be any different than just removing your AC, you just won't have a functioning system.

Only a few people have even done the VQ37, the electronics are what gets expensive. Unlike older swaps, newer engine ECUs are more interdependent on different systems to be connected to function properly, which quickly becomes cost prohibitive to most people. Even if you somehow used just the engine instead of having the expensive modern donor car you'd have to find a standalone ECU that would support it.

My stock R200 mustache bar worked with the T3 dog bone/drop mounts for the finned cover. was a bit tight, but it worked fine.