Pillar

Any update on this Ryan? Were you able to get a hold of them?

Here is a quick one of an S30. Looks decent from the front. I think the side will be where it may look odd though.

I imagine the S130 may be slightly easier to adapt, but I wonder if it wouldnt look as good since the S130 was a bit more angular than the S30. Smooth curvy mirrors might look out of place on a car with a lot of sharp edges.

The issue is that the aero-mirrors you posted the link too have a very large triangular mounting base (where it bolts to the a-pillar). The S-30 does not have anywhere to accommodate such a large mount. The leading edge of the door trim is very thin, and the a-pillar is also very thin. If you could make some kind of bracket to bridge the gap (angle) where the upper glass trim and the door meet, then it may work. However in doing so, a portion of the door glass will be hidden behind the mounting bracket. Mechanically, this will look strange from the inside as far as functionality. As to how it would look on the outside, I do not know. If I have some free time, I will try to photoshop an image of what I mean.

It takes more than 80 miles to properly break in an engine, so you may be burning a bit of oil because the rings have not had enough time to wear in to the cylinder walls. What Conedodger said is the way you want to seat your rings at the beginning of a break in. Coasting back down from the 5k range while in gear causes the cylinders to build a lot of vacuum, which then "sucks" the piston rings out to the cylinder wall. Doing this repeatedly will help to wear them in better and faster than just cruising around town for the duration of the break in period and should help the rings seal better. I see that you said the machine shop "checked and honed" the cylinders. Did you just replace rings, or did they bore the block for new pistons? Trying to get new rings to seat against a worn bore (even one that is still within spec) can be tough. If the cylinder is out of round even slightly, or it is at the outer limits of the bore spec for stock pistons, then you increase the chance of blowby considerably.

As far as aerodynamics go, the mirrors are the least of the problems with the S-30 chassis. I feel that style-wise they would look a bit strange since they are a very modern design and rather large, but someone may be able to pull it off. The real issue with mounting them as you stated is that the pillars are not large enough to accommodate them. It would take quite a bit of fab work to get them to mount properly while still being pleasing to the eye. I have seen a few folks use APR "F-1 style" mirrors which look quite good I think.

Now is the time to relocate. I had quite a bit of rust in that area, and was missing the original battery tray. I decided to leave the battery in the factory location though and just rebuild the sheet metal and made a new tray. Are those wheels 14s? I will have to search around for a set. I like the way those look better than the turbines I have.

Welcome! Keep up the good work! What brand turbine wheels are those? The spokes and center hub look like Westerns, but I have never seen a set of turbines with a pronounced outer lip like that.

Could be that the asking price is in CAD and not USD, which would bring it down to ~$60k, but even then it is not in great shape or rare/early enough to command that kind of price. Clearly it has been modified as well, so you cant even play the "all original/factory" card. Some folks just dont know what things are actually worth. They think they have something really rare and cant be convinced otherwise. Others just want to see if someone will be uneducated enough to bite. There is a guy in my area that has been trying to sell his automatic 280ZX for months at over $30k. Granted it is one of the cleaner ones I have seen, it is still not worth nearly that much.

Are you looking for the long stalk type, or the chrome 510 type? Only other real options for the fender mirrors is the JDM Nissan parts. There is a metal replica of the long stalk mirrors I have seen recently, but they are as much or more than the JDM chrome Nissan 510 ones. I have also seen carbon fiber replica of the long stalk mirrors, but those were going for over $1,000 if I recall. A lot of folks have taken the plastic ones, and with a bit of sanding and painting, made them look quite good. But they are pretty much the only option that I have seen aside from the real ones. If you dont care weather it is a long stalk or short stalk, your best option is the 510 mirrors, and just paint them black if you want.

If you are on facebook, you might try sending him a message there. I have recently heard quite a lot of negative reports about JPN Garage similar to yours. A lot of folks are having trouble getting in touch with him, and they are reporting that their orders are going unfulfilled for weeks or longer. Really a bummer because I was planning on ordering coilovers from him, but now I am reconsidering. I hope you are able to get it sorted out, and would love to hear about any updates if you ever hear back. Pillar

They announced it about 4-5 months ago. They sold off all of their inventory at clearance, most of which was bought out in the first few days following the announcement. Quite sad since they had a lot of the little things like weather seals and door handles for a very reasonable price.

If your end goal is a L-8, I would think welding two L4 motors from like a 510 end-to-end would be the better option than taking an L6, and then adding 2 more cylinders to the end of it. In either case though, what jacky4566 said basically hits the point: you are making a bespoke engine and it will require a TON of custom fab work and 1-off parts. It may be possible to put two L4s together end-to-end and just connect the outputshaft of one to the front of the other's crank. But then you still dont have an inline 8 as much as just two inline 4's with conjoined cranks. Running something like that on carbs is probably doable. One hitch to think about though is how you are running things like the water pump. The one on the front motor isnt a problem, but what about the rear motor? One could possibly do some welding of the two (would have to weld the blocks together as well as the heads) then figure out a way to connect the cams together, or have a custom cam made, but to what end? That is a TON of custom work for something that may not be much of an upgrade in the end. Would definitely be really cool to see it done though, just from a "could this be done" standpoint. If I had two old L4s that I didnt care about lying around I would be tempted to at least mock it up just for fun, but it is a lot of work to commit to.

Shoot them a PM on here (JPN_Garage). I'm sure they got a lot of orders that day and are pretty busy with the holidays coming up.

I have a few. A little dirty, and they don't have wheels studs, but the threads for the rotor bolts are in good shape, and there is no rust or damage to the insides where the races go.

Awesome table Kid! I like the matching lamps too! Just out of curiosity, what are you asking for them?

I have a set I just pulled. Were a little dirty but the studs are in good shape. I'll throw up some photos when I get home this afternoon. I'll check on shipping, but I'm willing to let them go for $50.

Yeah, I had always meant to start up a build thread on mine, but never got around to it. I may throw something together for the heck of it since I still have plenty more to do before my Z will ever be "finished". When I bought my car it was in pieces. Logically it the long term, it would have been better to do all the body work and paint first, but I did not have the setup or $ to do it at the time and I didnt want to end up with a project that is 2-3 years old and still not on the road. I have done all the work myself, so I didnt want to loose interest or get frustrated with the whole project. Now that I have the car mechanically sorted and have been driving it for over a year, I can easily start setting up and saving for paint, while still actually being able to drive and enjoy the car. Some people are able to do a full resto over a 3-year period before they ever get behind the wheel and be fine with it, but I cant. I have seen plenty of folks go for a full bare metal restoration, and after 2-3 years still have a car in pieces, and then give up and sell it. Again, not saying there arent those folks who can do that and finish it, but I have trouble staying focused sometimes. Either way, it looks like you have a good idea of what you want out of it, and are excited about it.

Congrats on the project, and good luck with the build. I went along the same route you are taking with my own 76. I plan to go and disassemble it again this winter and get ready to repaint it, but in the meantime I have been enjoying it! Doesnt look like much, but is mechanically sound. Cant wait to see more progress! Keep posting! Pillar

Yep. Lamp I made out of an old differential and trans gears. Also made the table underneath.

Many other people have run a center exit exhaust like you are talking about doing without any issues as far as heating the gas tank. Unless you are sitting still for a long time, there should be enough airflow back there to dissipate the heat. Since you live in the North-East, I would advise against any header wrap on the exhaust unless you are sure that the car will never see the wet/salt. The twice pipes exhaust can already rust pretty easily and wrapping it in something that will hold moisture will only make that worse. Results may vary of course, but I would be very hesitant about wrapping it if you want it to last (again, if you plan to never get the car wet, it may be fine).

Never seen anyone do this before. Very creative use of space. I'd actually consider making a set like this for my Z, but unfortunately my seat belts mount on top of the towers so I would have a lot less space to work with.

Thanks Leon, you made my morning

When dropping the tank, you likely stirred up/knocked loose some sediment in the fuel tank that is now clogging your filter. These tanks are notorious for having deposits or old varnish/rust in them which quickly and easily clogs the fuel system. I would suggest cleaning the tank out real good and resealing it. putting a clear in-line filter between the tank and pump also helps keep any debris out of the pump, as well as allows you to see if there is any junk in your fuel.