Zetsaz

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.

I have one from a series 1. Did you want the later box that went with the 73 flat tops? They're not the same iirc

Was just about to add that this is what I've always called them. Most people I've talked to that own S30s usually call them frame horns as well.

My priorities have almost been opposite direction lately. The more I drove my daily (a G37S), the more I realized that I didn't even take advantage of the top end of that car. I quickly realized that anything near 200whp in the S30 would match the power to weight ratio of the G37s.... sounds fun enough for me and easy enough to do with a very mild turbo L28, or some extensive work on the L28 with fuel injection. 300hp is a common goal for a lot of people, and really you can hit it with almost any of the popular swaps. For your goals I really think the turbo L28 would be a solid option. It'll hit the numbers. fitment will be easy, will be lighter than a 2jz or an RB, turbo will let you adjust how much power you're making to meet regulations when you need to.

Your setup is very comfortable for me. I'm not a giant fan of the how high up the top of the doors come, but you have to make some sacrifice for the fitment. I fit in it great and see out just fine. Don't feel like there's more of a blindspot than normal. Yes sir! High school currently. Bands, jazz, marching music theory, mariachi (weirdly enough... it's way more fun than running a group guitar class which is the more standard option students would have). High School schedule is pretty exhausting. Example, we had a marching rehearsal yesterday and a football game the band is playing at tonight. Which means I haven't finished those rails like I hoped... slows things down, but hey! The car is here now, which means even a couple welds/bolts a day is more progress than I was making last year.

Made a call recently about certain parts. Seemed excessively priced, even compared to some higher ebay prices, but the support and conversation was definitely great. If I wasn't so budget minded I definitely wouldn't mind buying there. Think everything was recently moved. There's always an ad on craigslist for the same stuff.

Z specialties has good stuff but seems notoriously overpriced.

If you wanted to be REALLY out of the box and stay semi modern inline 6 you could always consider a Mercedes M104, but there are a lot of disadvantages it shares with other engines you've mentioned, and no significant advantages over a JZ or RB as far as I know

@seattlejester Have you ever checked the weight balance after your swap? @OverkillZ Might have info too.

I'm actually JUST shy of 6'. I'm fairly thin, so it makes me look a bit taller than 6' sometimes. I don't have the stock mounts actually, but I fit fine in them in the old rusted shell, but even after adjustment my hair would always skim the ceiling which was annoying. In bad positioning my head would touch just a bit. I'm only trying to get an inch or two lower out of the mounts so I'm totally comfortable while driving. I actually really like the height for everything else, just my hair always touching was annoying. If I ever modify them for different seats I'll have even more room since most aftermarket mounts are lower profile and the seat bottoms often are too.

No huge updates just yet since the start of the school year is always excessively busy, but I've made some small progress. Finished making seat rails, they're not super pretty, but I think my welds are decent considering it's the first time I've really welded anything for the car. Hoping take the seat tops off so I can test fit them and make sure that I get a reasonable angle front to back. Hopefully tomorow or thursday I'll have the rails welded into the car! Special thanks to @seattlejester for helping me figure out the best way to make something that'll work with the original seats. Once that's done I'll start taping things off and maybe in a week or two I'll spray in the insulation. Very exciting stuff! Pictures to come as I finish things up.