Zetsaz

Got the chance to empty the extra parts and store them yesterday. Will be finishing up removing some last bits of trim and extra things like the brake and clutch MCs, the steering shaft, and any other small pieces that aren't part of the frame. In thinking about what the car will be used for I've been considering the sorts of reinforcement I want to do. Everything I've read, especially comments from John Coffey who actually cut up a 280z and has done some testing, point to the fact that the 280z seems to be substantially stronger than the 240z. Was also reading through this thread: Slightly conflicting information and I the main point JohnC made was that the seam welding instead of stitch welding might be what caused the discrepancy. Regardless, what I'm getting from this is that the 280z was actually WEAKER after doing some seam welding. Is that right? I was going to ask about about that affects SCCA classes because autox or some other racing on very rare occasions are something I've thought about, but after reading the rules, some of my must have mods would put me into the Modified category (I think...) so even in a turbo L-series would be up against LS engines. All moot, no point point chasing rules, I'm just gonna have fun and not worry about it if that's the case.

Realistically you can get just about anything to fit as a replacement. I'd just take the nut that goes over the opposite end to a hardware store. Any place should have somewhere for you to check the size. Length isn't hugely important. I'd probably go with something that's about 3/4" to an inch.

And refer to this comment by John Coffey if you haven't already seen it pop up. Some people get a little crazier with cages, but in the same thread this is from John recommended (more accurately, he stated): "Never run a full roll cage on a street car"

Read this thread

If you haven't already bought the autometer gauges I would highly recommend Speedhut gauges

Those look so good! I've always loved 3 piece mesh wheels. SSR Formula and the Southern Way Epsilons are so good. I've been considering pretty much the same scheme you went with but have never been able to mentally commit to cutting for flares so I'd probably do it under stock flares with narrower wheels. Great purchase! Excited to see how they look once the whole thing is on the ground.

Yeah, a lot of it is just for show though and really isn't practical. I LOOKS easy to work with until you realize that a fair amount of stuff that could go bad is tucked away in hard to reach places. I wouldn't quite go to the extreme they've gone, but I think they're great modernizations of the Z in many ways.

Update time: This is the new shell that is now safely at my house taking up more space in my dad's garage haha. (Fortunately my first car, the Celica that spun a bearing before I moved was scrapped over the holidays when I had a chance to get it there. The Maxima I moved to washington in is also in a junkyard somewhere now). It feels really satisfying to know this thing is comfortably stored now waiting for some work. User Madovic from here is who I purchased it form and honestly I wasn't expecting nearly as much stuff to come with it as I got. I also went for the freshly rebuilt R200 CLSD he had. He dropped the price on the LSD substantially since I was buying the shell and gave me a rock bottom price on the shell to get it out of his way for his new project. I'm not sure I could even properly redo the floors and rails on the other car for what I got the shell and LSD for, so I'm really happy to have done business with him. Genuinely one of the most honest private sellers I've ever dealt with for anything, but I digress.... I also got some other fun goodies.... I got a lot of fun goodies, the most expensive of which will be transferrable to other things I might want to use in the future, but in the meantime will help me learn a whole lot more about EFI tuning: MS3X 2 sets of harnesses required for MS3 and MS3X Coil on Plug setup using LS coils on a custom braket for the L series ZXT distributor with diyautotune optical trigger wheel ready to send signal to MS Fuel rail with modest 315cc injectors since I'm not going turbo (yet at least...) 60mm throttle body with 240sx TPS GM idle air controller and DIYautotune bypass block A few other things I'm probably forgetting. Some of my favorite cars recently have been the MZR roadsports Zs. Nothing outrageously different done as far as styling but much more modern tech running everything, which has always been my goal. In the future I might go a different direction with the engine down the road, but finding deals like this, especially when the most expensive portion of the stuff (MS3) is transferrable will allow me to learn more about engine tuning and let me enjoy my current engine even more while not making me feel totally tied down by the investment I've made. Some pictures of the MZR cars to get an idea of the style build I'd go wtih if I stick with the L series long term. Obviously some of this stuff is way above my budget and the engine "shaving" is on the extreme side but it's nice to find cars like this that are subtle and follow similar mindset to my own.

That is awesome! JZ engines have always been favorites of mine. 1jz sounds like it would be a riot. Would love to get one, but I'm too invested into just making a properly functioning and half decent looking car at the moment so I'll have to settle with living vicariously through build threads like this one haha.

Really excited to see how this thing turns out. Keep going back and fourth between some kind of turbo build or just a fun NA. Already have MS3x ready for anything.

That's siiiiick. Excited to see how this thing turns out!

That's the same reason I go back and forth on it in the future. If I did buy something like that in carbon, I would try to get a carbon or fiberglass hatch as well and match them to whatever paint I had on the rest of the car.

I'd keep the rear bumper on. Only reason not to is for heavily modified cars or those that don't use the front. Weirdly enough, some of the cars from Star Road that have the full length front grill and bumper deletes are still using the rear bumper. I think it looks unbalanced. As far as the bonnet is concerned, for the cost of a new original one you could have one from carbon fiber. Of course some people have complained about small fitment issues with those as well, so it depends on what you're after.

I believe the popular panasport set is the 16x7 +10. Seems a bit conservative. I've looked into sizing for this stuff obsessively and most people seem to be having the best success with 16x8 +4 on some of the rota sets. I wouldn't try to run any wider without a higher positive offset. Also refer to this thread

That should be it

Those exactly.

This is mine. Same area you're pointing to. It's almost all the way in. The pin on yours on the front side is out in that picture. That piece shouldn't move in and out. Should only go side to side.

That one is the one I have. I bought it on ebay, don't remember which is cheaper right now. Ships in a full size box so it's not folded up. Fitment is good, you just have to ignore the recessed bumper areas on the air dam. They don't go as far back as the recesses on the headlight buckets. Just line it up from the wheel wells and center the middle with the point of the hood and you're good. Skillard developed some turn signal backing plates for this stuff and I didn't realize why until I had it. The 240z turn signals barely have any material to hold onto. That's the only complaint. Buy the Xenon 3124 wherever it's cheapest and add the skillard plates and it'll be perfect.

If you're going ducted, buy the urethane one directly from Xenon. Fitment is great and it doesn't ship folded over like MSA mails them. If you're looking for the fiberglass ducted then you're out of luck, MSA seems to have notoriously poor fitment on some of their fiberglass parts. I thought Retro-spec might make one, but they only have the non-ducted type 1.

I'm sure someone more experienced can chime in. What you're experiencing sounds slightly different than what I had to fix and I'm not sure I can think of much off the top of my head that would cause that problem. I would check that the pin that that guy in the other thread has circled is a proper pin and wasn't replaced by a random bolt. It should have an E clip on one side if I'm remembering correctly. I would also double check the pin that holds the shift lever in place. A good idea to replace the shifter bushing while you're there if you haven't already. Super easy based on the Atlantic Z writeup. If it's neither of those things then the problem might be internal like the selector fork being broken. Similar problem to yours but I'm not sure they found the solution: http://forums.nicoclub.com/transmission-stuck-in-first-gear-but-shifter-is-in-neutral-t602912.html Helpful insights into other possible solutions/causes though.

Does the sticking only happen while you're driving, or does it happen while the car is sitting too? Do you feel anything strange about the clutch? I've repaired to slightly similar things on my first car and the Datsun, but nothing quite the same. Datsun was going into gear when it was off, but I couldn't get it to shift at all once it was on, and I couldn't put it out of neutral once it was running. I think the issue was a seized throwout bearing. Not necessarily the best way to go about it, but I fixed this by raising the back end and starting it in gear. Engine has a lot more power than I do so the bearing came loose and I was able to shift freely after that. This seems to be a more common issue on FWD cars. It's an issue with the linkages not working properly or not being properly connected.

I was wondering when they'd get one.

http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/body/doorhinge/index.htm

Honestly if everything mechanical is working they're fun to drive. Even with all the rust. The Ratsun groups mindset almost makes sense to me when I drive it as is... almost.

Looks about the same as the issue I'm having on mine. Still haven't found an exact fix for the latch side. I'm confused by the excessive gap on your hinge side though. Hopefully someone else has experienced the same thing.