Stock Car Mafia

I completed the flares (not seaming back the rear fenders) last night. Did a double check of mostly everything and checked lugs and air pressures again. Made it to work just fine! I ran my scanner and found a long ass list of fault codes that seem to all be related to the emissions stuff that wasn't deleted like the motor/trans seller said he did.

For insurance purposes I agree with replacement of the gaskets. That stuff is fairly straight forward. Just make sure you have the pan you want to use and apply RTV on all 4 corners. With the pan off it will show you how clean the internals are. I was able to rotate the crank and check the cylinder walls and parts of the crank/cam. If the rear main seal looks good and not covered in oil you should be ok. I'd replace the pilot bearing for the tranny input shaft while you are in there. It's like a $10 part. Everybody touts about changing the oil pump and timing chain while you are in there. At 85K it could be a matter of time. If you are looking to stay stock, I would stay with a stock OEM pump. If you want to replace the chain, upgrade to the LS2 parts for the chain, etc. And since you're this deep you might as well get a fat cam for it

Holy smokes. That paint is EYE CANDY!

Just a little fun yesterday...I need to take it easy with these U-bolt half shafts.

Yesterday was a warm one. I think I was able to work from 2:30 to about 9 last night. Getting the fronts to fit was kind of a challenge. I needed to shift them forward to make room for the width and offset of these tires. I cut a little of the front fender first so I could turn the wheel and see where I'd rub. I worked on just the fenders first. Bumper second. I will not be able to utilize my side markers with the flares. All the sidemarkers will be deleted when it comes to body work anyways. Next was shaving hte bumper. I pretty much cut straight down from where the fender was cut. I took a little off at a time and kept bolting it back up to check it. I did use my smaller jack and jack on the LCA to compress the fronts. I think I need to unscrew my springs all the way to get a better judgement. I didn't drill the holes for the flares yet. I am going to get an appointment scheduled with a good alignment guy in Golden Valley first. I just want to make sure I am set before I make the fronts permanent. At this point I already wanted to bolt everything up and just go for a cruise. BUT I decided I should work on the HID projector install first. I think these lenses look ok. I hope the look grows on me a little more. The shells needed to be cut open so the lense can stick through the back and to gain access to the light bulbs. I just used a 4" cut off wheel and cleaned it up with a carbide bit. I needed to grind down the tabs on the lights in order to get them to fit. I really should have ground down the two outside thicket pieces as well but I got the lenses centered and tightened them down. I threw the lights in and ran the wiring. Most of the access wiring was pulled through the fender and zip tied and clamped to the inside of the wheel well. The driver side wiring had to be run behind the motor and along the driver frame rail. I am starting to have too many 12V wires being run to the batter and the wiring in my mind is starting to look JANKY. I am looking for ideas and I think a junction box may be needed? This might allow me to clean up some of the wiring. I am not TOO worried at the moment because I will more than likely do this next winter. I just want to get this car road worthy and start driving the damn thing. The lights look GREAT! I got the angle for both leveled. I the high beams work but the passenger light low beam doesn't. I reached out to Dapper to see if they have any insight. I think I am gonna have a hard time about not taking pictures when I start driving it....haha After I got back, I finished bolting the fenders and got the cowl, inspection lids, hood, and wipers back on. Minus the flares, I am almost "legal"! I took off the vent cover on the drivers side as well. I just cant get enough of the body shape of these cars... So here are some items I know that need to be addressed: - Calibrate speedo - Diagnose why tach isn't working - Fix 2 gauge pod backlighting - Fix low beam passenger side - Paint flares - Mount flares - GET AXLES AND FLANGES - Rebuild axles I might be missing a few things but I am just on cloud 9. I love this thing!!!!

Keith that should make a noticeable affect at high speeds. Don't you just find it strange they expect the wing not to flex or distort with only being mounted with two measly bolts?!?!

That's good to know about that weatherstripping. I might not change this until next winter. I'll remove as much as I can then use MEK or paint stripper to get the rest off. It was a really nice quick solution so I can get the car on the road. It seals really well and doesn't stink inside the car from exhaust.

I started with taping off the fenders yesterday so I could start cutting for flares. I knew this project will take a couple days with several hours of work. I didn't take many more pictures for the cutting portion. Katie was able to help get a lot of the interior put in the car. She got the carpet, seatbelts, seats, and center console put in. At this point it was already about 6-7pm and I was kind of dying to actually take the damn car out. We ended up taking the front fenders off since I couldn't turn the wheels. And then this happened. My buddies helped put the stock axles in last week since I am still waiting for the shortened axle to rebuild the Z31T CV's. We were able to stop and get some more gas for the car too. All I have to say is this thing is REALLY LOUD with no exhaust, my lord. And to top it off it definitely moves! We took it out for a good 30 mins and also to get some beef to grill. We both were smiling non stop! I still am giggling about it. When we got back a county sheriff was in my development waiting for us. He got a call when we left about a car that had really loud exhaust. He was pretty calm about the situation and I was really damn polite. He said "This probably isn't the safest vehicle on the road." and my first comment back was "Actually it probably is." He did mention I should have the original car flares and rotary motor in the car for collector's plates. Something I guess I need to read up on. He checked my stuff and came back and said he is going to give me a warning and to get home as quietly as possible. It turns out one of my car/bike buddys was driving by and saw us pulled over. He took this picture from his driveway. LOL

Keith, your car is definitely a nice one! I have to give you a lot of credit for all the ideas and details you post, but also how willing you are to support guys like myself. Good news is the rear fenders got partially cut last night. The end result is we got to take it out to drive

I like that you are staying in the Nissan family though! Everybody frowns upon a LS swap as it's not traditional but I guess I am not building one to make the manu. I am building it to have an over the top car!

Disepyon, I've been following your thread and you are doing one HELL of a job. I can see you are doing everything right! Yours will be mint when it is done!

The good news is the reverse lights work and the new reverse and license plate LED's look very nice I piggied the oil pressure and coolant temp lights from one source and I think that is why the lights don't work for those. My buddy was telling me each LED needs its own power wire. I guess we will figure that out later. Well more to come hopefully soon! This weekend is quite busy but I am trying to get the girlfriend to help out a bit with the extended weekend that we have. - Fix LED's in dash - Tach is not reading so another source wire needs to be utilized - Wire up 2nd radiator fan - Tidy up all wiring in engine bay. Mostly done. - Route and weld up exhaust - FENDER FLARES are needed before I can drive I am still waiting for Joe's axle and flange package. He said he mailed it but the USPS is showing no updates or scans for the package which has me worried. Everyone else has gotten their order except for me...I guess I have to be patient.

Drinking my coffee and watching youtube vids, so I might as well post up some of the details over the last few days. I got around to installing the engine bay inspection light that I painted. There was no way I was going to remove this classic from it! I picked up some 18 gauge metal from Discount Steel. I got a 4' x 3' section so I had plenty to play around with. I made a carboard cut out of the size that I would need. The holes for the lines and the tank fittings were 1" I think. I just used a hole saw to cut those holes. I did a very rough job of cutting out the fuel cell cap and also cut out the location of the sender since the post was interferring with how the metal sat. Next I cut out a circle for the cover. I picked up a cheap hinge and latch from Menards. Thinking in a pinch and just wanting to get this part done is why I decided on this. Sized everything up to make sure my cuts were right. Remember to measure once and cut twice! I took wire loom and ran it around every hole and then used left over weatherstripping from the gauges to seal the cap. The rest of the weatherstrip went around the bottom of the cover. I then pop riveted 6 inches apart all the way around to sandwich the metal to the floor pan. I don't think this will be the permanent way that I tin off the floor but it is a quick fix for now. I am still looking for ideas for a better latch system, but I might wait until I fabricate a fill neck to behind the license plate.

If anyone knows how to upload the highest quality on youtube that'd be great. Definitely a noob here.

I've been really busy this week with work and taking the little time I had to work on the car, but IT'S ALIVE!!! I have way too much to post up for details but wanted to drop a couple videos for everyone to see!

That is my post filter mounted down there. I made a bracket that extends from my fuel cell cage so it is really close to the cell.

I just want to throw a shout out to Joe for continuing this service to the community. I have been in touch with him over the last 3 months and he is doing everything he can and making the best effort for us. The manufacturer has been a bear and I can't thank him enough for keeping this service going. Thanks Joe!

Neighbor was kind enough to pick up a few boxes that would have sat in the rain this week. I should be getting home today and will be putting the starter back in and wrapping up a handful of other things. I hope to get this running and driving this weekend!

I can't post in the drivetrain thread nor find the information for this from any of my searches... Joe does not provide the bolts for his flanges for the Z31T axles. Does anyone know the thread pitch and length of the bolts that are needed for these?

Man your work is great! I really dig the creativity and thought that has gone in to that diff mount. I can just imagine the time that has gone in to thinking it out and actually trying to execute. Keep up the solid work!

I'd say unbolt the rears and swap sides to see if they fit better against the body contours. Chances are they could be just a shitty shaped set. To me the fronts look good. A weekend's worth of work seems about right.

I have a few more hiding in my photobucket somewhere but I did find this one. It is a lot of test fitting and working the hole to the proper size. Mine is not perfectly horizontal but it is close enough.

Damn you are QUICK sir! How many hours did you put in to cutting the fenders/quarters up and get them right? I think they look like they are on the right side. I will say that I ordered a set from the Z store and I was not happy with how they fit. I ended up getting some shipped in from Japan that fit REALLY well. I would assume that the welting should help cover the imperfections. Is it just the shape of them that you don't like or how they fit with the body lines? The wheels look GREAT btw!

Thanks disepyon. It really comes down to how much energy I have left when I get on HybridZ. Some posts I've left out information because I have been drained BUT I try my best to get everything posted up here. I know most people loose interest because as they dig in the car they say "while I'm in here I will tackle x, y, and z." Well I have done that and still haven't lost the passion! It's been countless hours of work however... I ended up ordering a stock LS2 starter off of Summit late last night. It should be here when I get back in town on Wed./Thurs. I don't want to chance running in to any other starter issues if I got a mini unit i.e. post location, etc. I hope to tin off the back gas tank before next weekend. I have a rough cutout of cardboard for the shape I need. I ended up picking up a 4' x 3' piece of 18 gauge metal. This should be plenty to have enough for a makeshift gas cap cover. I will be picking up some pop rivets and RTV sealing the panel in for now. at some point I may make it permanent by stitch welding and seamsealing but I will do that when I can figure out a permanent solution for the gas cap fill neck. I'd love to document making one so I can fill behind the license plate

I can attest that the stock size LS2 starter can be removed from the car with the headers and motors in. You have to pull the plugs and unbolt the headers to get enough clearance. It really doesn't take that long to get it out.