Oddmanout84

The fact that it was only 2 people bidding on the item (myself included) and the fact that my browser decided to lock up when I tried to outbid was like sweeft keek to teh crotch!

Installed this today, hee hee... I almost crapped my pants doing it too. Making sure I was drilling holes in my hatch at the right spots with little reference was scary! The method I used was to take the spoiler and mock it up on the hatch, make a couple reference marks. Then I took the supplied bolts and HAND tightened them into the spoiler as far as they could go, then coted their heads with a dab of grease. Lined the spoiler up as best I could and plopped it down. Drilled holes where the center of each grease splotch was. Very nerve wracking. However, it worked, and it looks like I was dead on!

Well, I lost my first real bidding war for something on Ebay. Was going to get myself a nice pair (used) of fender mirrors, but noooo... Someone snaked them out from under me at the last second. If its someone on this forum, all I can say is, you lucky dog, you. Next time gadget, next time...

Damn! I need those too!

Rawr!

I nearly crapped my pants mounting my spoiler today. I'm still trying to visualize the heart attack I'm going to have when I get around to mounting these flares...

Just out of curiosity, how is your shaved rear end doing? Its been almost a few years, enough time for the problems mentioned to show up. I'm looking at doing the same thing pretty soon, because I really want that rear bumper gone. I liked your method, as I am welderless too. I'll be doing just about everything with fiberglass/resin stacks and filler.

Search/google the "Turbo Tom kit." It involves turbocharging a carbed L6 engine. So apparently it can be done. If I was really ballsy with about 10 years more experience in working on these things, I might try to make something like it myself.

Sweet Jeebus, I hope you have some sort of rubber or padding under those tank straps or they are going to cut through your tank. Nice work on everything though, ITBs look great!

You, my friend, are an awesome sacrificial lamb... I was wondering what would happen if I put the "15 inch and higher" bump steer spacers and tried to fit my stock 14's!

That looks like a Turbo Tom kit... I'm not by any means an expert, but when I looked up the kit a while ago it looked very similar to that.

I wish my garage was as clean as yours.. seriously..

Heh heh. Call me an annoying purist, I just have a set opinion on the Nissan engines. The first engine I ever considered swapping was a small block V8, but the thing that stopped me wasn't just the fact that I'd be putting an American engine into a Japanese car. Most of my reasoning is the sound and ease of working on. Sound issues have been the reason why I'm so squeemish about swapping an SR20DET into the car, that and along with the fact that I'd thoretically be more difficult to get it to work right in the car. I'd have to get new mounts, driveshaft, etc. Sourcing one is actually the easy part! I recently found out that my cousin has a red top SR20DET (/w electronics and xmsn) sitting in his garage next to a never-been-used engine hoist. He had originally planned to buy a cheap 240sx to swap it into, but never got the time or money to do it. Its still a consideration, but I'd have to get over the fact that I'd be swapping the six for a four. Maybe that's illogical, seeing as how there's a huge market support for those things now, and the engine can take quite a bit of HP. I'll keep the thought in the back of my mind.. The V8 carries a similar disposition. For some reason I just prefer the smoother sound of a straight 6. As for the "ease of working on" quip, I'll explain. As someone who's never worked on an engine before (besides organizational maintenance on helicopter turbines), working on an inline engine is more forgiving. V8's have a lot more moving parts, and the crankshafts especially require very exact balancing in order to be reliable. In plainspeak, they scare me, at least at this point. The L28 and L28ET on the other hand have much simpler balance procedures due to the pistons traveling on one plane, and they only have one cam. And although the parts are simple and incredibly easy to source for domestic engines, after working at a shop for just a month's time after I left the service gave me a strong dislike for the US auto industry. Edit: Also, I like turbos. With a V8 I'd already be spinning the wheels in several gears, I don't want to imagine that with a turbo. 400hp is my absolute maximum, as I'm looking for a balance between handling and speed... not all out power. That and I like that I only have to worry about metric tools being in my garage, haha. Call me Illogical, and maybe I'm a little bit crazy... Its just the way I am. I'm sorry that my thread has made you hate me, but you live in Cali, which is car heaven. My Z was sourced from Temecula almost 5 years ago, so you should be able to find something similar (much easier than we east coasters can) should you decide to return to the Z side. Daeron- I've definitely considered the dropping resistors could be a problem, I've been looking for a decent source of them. I guess one of the reasons I didn't act sooner on this was because I was planning on using an aftermarket ECU (like megasquirt) much sooner and didn't know if I'd be ripping them out entirely. I've stepped back from that for the time being, as I have more pressing issues for the car than that and I shouldn't be getting in more than 10ft over my head (where I am now). Once I get the suspension reinstalled I will be dropping the car back to the floor on its wheels where it should be, and electrical troubleshooting will resume.

You know, I was skeptical about getting the revolution gauges from speedhut BECAUSE I would lose the turn signals and other indicators. You, sir, have solved that problem eloquently and given me new hope! Let us know how the cig-lighter pod works and where you got the parts. I'd love to fab one of those for my purposes! Oh, and how do you plan to hook up the speedo?

Hahaha!! I was wondering what that chunk of metal was! I was seriously debating not reinstalling it because I did not see a purpose for it. My Z is a 1978 with an R200 diff, which is also curious seeing this was normally an R180 w/ automatic application. Once I get my car running, I'll have to see if I get the same vibration issues. I can't remember off the top of my head if the VIN on the car indicates that it was once an automatic, I'll have to check. If it was, that might explain why the cover plate for the bottom half of my flywheel is missing. There's so many loose an cut wires that I've found hanging in my chassis, maybe I'll have to look and see if those automatic relays/switches are still there (or look like they once were). Then again, it could just be a factory retrofit.

Killing the rust on the fenders and headlight buckets wasn't all fun and games. Oh no, it had to be difficult. While removing the headlight buckets from the fenders, each side had one of the three bolts break off while trying to free the nut. The threads were corroded just enough that it caused more friction than the stud could handle, and thus sheared off. Looks like I have to cut the remainder out and install a new one. Since I don't have a welder, this may prove slightly complicated as both threaded ends were in areas that are a bit difficult to reach with a wrench. Good news is that I was able to scrape all the rust off, most of it just surface rust. Now the inner sides of the fenders are coated with rust converter and will be ready for priming/topcoating tomorrow.

Good thing he's ok. I can has his parts though? lol Seriously... if he wants to part it out, I could definitely use some of the electronics, specifically the ign relay and any other relays. At least that way the Z will live on in a sense, keeping others on the road instead of the junkyard or worse.

I might try this method, but it still looks like my problem is electrical... according to the noid light I've plugged into my fuel injection harness, the injectors are not getting an electric pulse. I'm almost certain the problem is electrical. Since I now have a large quantity of new relays, one of my next steps will be to get a new battery. Even though I have what seems to be a good battery, and a charger to keep it juiced, it has seen several winters in the garage (on a block of wood, not the concrete). The possibility has dawned on me that the battery could have just enough power to provide spark and crank, but not enough to run the EFI. It might be a bit far fetched, but I'm marking it down as a possibility.

Your array of 40's era technology and wardrobe are enviable. Where do you get all this stuff? lol

Both wrong! Its one of these: CH-46E Capt_Furious was close though, so he gets the cookie. Those rounds aren't "ball" ammo either, they're "skittles". The colored tips show whether each round is armor piercing, explosive, incindiary, tracer, etc. Oh, I miss them...

Just discovered this thread while searching around the dark recesses of HybridZ. These were taken two years ago, during a time of grave seriousness; I dare say the first picture is the best one of me to date. And for everyone else who posted a gun picture... ... Mine's bigger

Heh, I knew it was his car. I was talking to him as I took the pictures.

To anyone who's worried about removing the bumpers decreasing the safety, you're probably in the wrong car. If I remember correctly, the larger bumpers on my 280Z are rated only up to 5mph. Obviously it depends on the squishyness of the object you're hitting/being hit by, but even when my friend plowed into the back of an '03 impala with my Z, my radiator took most of the impact. The impala was totaled, but the actual impact was estimated to be not much more than 10mph, and it also bent the bumper at a funny angle (see my project thread for pictures). I think the only thing that made my Z come out on top was the fact that it had a higher content of steel than the chevy. Regardless of the fact that these metal monstrosities have saved my car from bodywork due to a few coyotes and a turkey, I am in the process of removing them. I just recommend shaving it so no one whines. Conversely, if you like the look of the early thin bumpers, MSA sells some fiberglass and carbon fiber ones that are lighter than the originals, and probably keep a similar standard of crash safety.

Saying I'm on the last legs of the suspension work is a relative term. So is saying my Z is "clean and mostly rust free" So the fenders are off. It really killed me to take off the front lip and mess up her curves. Now she just reminds me of an anorexic supermodel. Time to begin work derusting! It almost looks as if Nissan used some bodywork putty to cover weld seams and some other openings in the metal, close to where the tip of this wire brush is pointing. Once I clean these seams out, I also plan to seal them with black RTV you keep out contaminants in the future. I don't know if its the best option, but I know it works for helicopters. Some of these areas, especially under the cowl, are extremely hard to get inside to clean and paint. Looks like I'll be coating them with a good old brush. Thankfully its just about all surface rust, nothing that a wire brush and some rust converter can't cure. The rest of the suspension waits patiently for installation...

Very Nice. Now that I've seen your build thread, I think I understand why it says C.F.I.T under your name, haha. Good thing the ditch only caused minor damage. With luck my Z will look as nice as yours by late spring. I'm still slogging through suspension work...