datsunlover

Well, I have not been here for the last 5 days bacause my girlfriends computer decided to blow up last thursday . And I mean BLOW up. The mother board shorted out the power supply, and it shut down. So my brother (the computer guy in the family) comes over, and puts in another power supply. Starts the machine up, and it works great. Cool! So he says "I'd think about backing up anything important, cause the mother board is ready to go soon by the loks of it" as he goes to shut down the computer........ "POP!!!! sizzle, smoke ting ting ting...." AAHHHGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crap.... It actually fired a part OFF of the main board. Blew it right off! A transistor in the voltage regulator circuit or something.. I dono, but it was really crazy anyway! And it took out the 'new' power supply too. So after a new mother board and power supply ($300 all told) it's back up and running. Lucked out too, as nothing else got fried and all the data is still intact on the HD. I'll try to remember to get a few pics of the old board and post them up.. heh heh.. When I touch things, they blow up all the same; Cars, sleds, computers, it doesnt matter.

Heh... Actually, Im 25 and trying to get throught my tool maker/machinest aprenticeship right now! But yah.. I don't do much else at the moment besides work on this stinkin thing! oh BTW, I will try to ge some more pics soon. The car is bacisally DONE!!! some minor finish sanding/spot filling to do, but it's 90% primed and ready to spray with paint! Im trying to find a spray booth for this weekend (the one I had lined up fell through as the owner is going camping.. crappy) but I dono if it'll happen. If not, It'll definatly be the week/end after next and I can finally put evrything back ON the car and drive it! (well, have to get a safety check and insurance too.. hmmm..) I'll post sometime this week anyway. Thanks for the coments guys!

I agree he should be put down like a dog... but in a painfull way of course! That's just discusting...

Wow... looks good man! Hmmm.. kinda makes mine look 'homely' now..

IMO, you might look into the earlier Z's (240/260/280) as they are a somewhat lighter car. The zx's got heavier and heavier, and personally I think the older Z's look better anyway! Seeing as ppl can jam a small block V8 into a Z, I would think the turbo v6 would be no prob. I have seen a few here and there on the web, so it is possible. As for 'easilydropping in an engine' though, it depends on your skills and understanding of this kind of project. Not trying to be rude, but are you capable of such an undertaking? And if not, do you have the money behind you to pay someone to do this kind of work? Engine swaps can get expensive and time consuming (as many here will tell you) and if you start with a rough car, there's lots of other work to consider as well. (welding/body work/mechanical) Aside from the late model 90+ 300's, most Z's are quite old now and either in need of serious restoration/mechanical work, or the restoration/work has already been done and they are not cheep. Not trying to scare you off, just pointing out some things. Have a look around here though, and you'll find LOTS of usefull info. Good luck!

Thanks man. Yah, Sarnia is about 2 hours south of me. A friend of mine from high school lives in Sarnia now.. dang.. I should give him a shout sometime. man... isn't it fun workign is 'God's garage' ? I gota buy a house..I mean, a Garage with a house attached to it .. but it's not in the cards this year.. *sigh*... Ah well. I'll keep pluging away and hopefully I'l get somewhere.. I just hope I like where I am when I get there!

Figure Id pipe up here.. I HATE ABS brakes. IMO, it takes away something from the driver, and gives it over to a computer.. which I dont like..just rubs me the wrong way. Also, my brother has had a problem recantly with his GM Astro van (95 I beleive..) Middle of a summer day, rolling to a stop sign.. and the ABS kicks in. (WTF?!?!??) Yah. He's literaly rolling through red lights and stop signs and theres nothing he can do about it! Scarry... Personally, I like the ability to lock the wheels up at any time I want/need too and I feel as though I have more control. (even though I am threshold braking or skiding a bit) There have been plenty of crashes caused by ppl relying on their ABS and the 'false sence of security' that it gives them. My girlfriend is a prime example. she hasn't cracked it up yet, but her 2002 Grand Am has ABS and WOW does she rely on it! Brakes way too late, drives too close behind ppl, and is always hamering on the binders as opposed to a slow aplication. (wonder why I had to replace the pads/rotors last fall.. yah, on a 2 year old car.) The idea is good, but IMO the tech/conputer end of it is not quite good enough yet. (as far as the general 'for the masses' vehicles) Yes, the newer systems are good, but I think it's more of a sales pitch for most cars "Its got ABS, it's safer." and it's worked. People like us understand this kind of thing, but a lot of the general public just thinks 'well, it's better becaue the car co. says it is'. Anyway, I would have to say it would be a dissadvantage IMO on a Z.

I figured I'd just piss and moan a bit here... I go to my local auto store the other day, and pick up some spot puty. I get this stuf that a friend told me to get called 'split second' (hes a pro certified body/paint guy at Ford dealer in town) but I have never used it. It's on the shelf with a tube of hardner/catylist on top of it, so I figure.. sure must be the stuf. I get home, and proced to slap a bunch on the door, rocker, fender and roll pan. I'm a frigin moron, cause I didnt read the side of the can 'Use CREAM hardener, mix 1:37, ect....' and didnt test a small area first.. bah.. Well, the hardner was the wrong stuf. It's actually ment for that 'metal filler' or whatever. (it's a liquid.. and smells like I killed a few brain cells playing with it for 2 minits...) Anyway, today, (3 days later) I go out to work on the car "Day off work, awsome weather, cars getting close.. Cool!" Yah.. well, this crap is still mushy and refuses to dry. Then I read the can. Sonofa@(*@#%&mother!(@$%stupid&!*#!!!!!!!!! ....after screaming and cursing like a drunken pirate for a few mins, I decide to try and get it off the car. Wow... this crap is gooey!! It took me about 4 hours of scraping, sanding with 40 grit (which it clogs an about 2.5 seconds) and all this in a very HOT portable shed. There's still a bit here and there that I'm hoping will dry once I put a bit more over it (mixed properly now) Fun. Now I have actually gone BACKWARDS with my car instead of forwards with the body job. The whole roll pan, the lower quarter, most of the rocker and door bottom look like hell were as 3 dyas ago, they were 90% finished!! AAGGGGGGG!!!!! I did go down to the store and get the right stuf after and HEY! Imagine that.. it drys now!! .. I guess I looked pretty angrywhan I walked in there (well, I came into the parking lot a little sideways in my truck.. almost came through the front door..) .. covered in bondo/glass/dust and I think my eyes were red with rage. I walked in and smacked the can/wrong hardner on the counter as he asked 'can I help you?' and said 'Yah. There's a problem here. And theres a BIG one at my house on my car...' He said sorry and gave me a big tube of the proper stuff free of charge. Hmm.. thanks. So now I get to spend most of tomorrow fixing the mess I made today. Great. Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit. Nothing helps a bad mood like spreading it around you know!

Pho; Thanks man, Im sure yours will turn out better. Im a little pissed at my car right now.. I'm gona go write a rant I think... Dot; Cool man, maybe I'll get mine going by then.. or maybe I'll have thrown a match and a can of gas at it who knows!

Just updated my album with some more pics.

Here's some bad pics of my.. uh.. ugly hatch cable instal!! It needs work to look better, but it's a general idea of what I did. http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&album=152

Ok... thanks guys, I'll have to try that stuf.. I hope this doesnt get too expencive.. I do want to drive this car this summer!

Well, it looks like I may be driving my car in the next month or so, so I figured it's time to sort this out. Last year when I bought my car and drive it home, I found the brakes to be.. well, not that good.. There is PLENTY of pressure at the pedel, and no leaks that I can find. Although the rear reservoir at the M/C is low.. (???) The thing is, they felt very weak.. as in, it was VERY hard to stop the car. (my test drive was.. interesting. Im glad I remembered how to heal toe downshift!) Its all stock, and the front rotors and pads were 'new' (Im sure after sitting for the last year they will need some attention..) but the rear flex lines and drums are shot. Not leaking, but cracked and old. I have the new lines and am dredding putting them on. (I HATE brake lines..grrrr) Now, I'm thinking maybe I just was used to my brakes in my truck (with vented disks, big calipers, ect) and there is nothing wrong with my Z.. but I dont like taking chances with brakes. What do you guys think, is there a problem here or what?

I would say the same thing man.. the metal is real thin and I bet it'd warp prety easy (if my lower quarters were any indication! ) from the welding heat. Maybe just a light tack weld on 4 corners/edges of a metal plate inbehind the panel, and a 'skif of bondo to smooth the out side. As for actuall measurments, how much overlap are you going to want? IMO a piece 4" X 2" would probly do it..

Heh heh.. yah.. well... I was thinking about that... A friend of mine saw the mess and says "Hmm.. I don't think grass is gona grow here ever again..." I told him Im gona clean it all up after the car's done, scrape the ground flat and paint it green. I think thats all I can do! And you cant really see in the pics, but that tail is HUGE! Man.. Im gona put all the Honda/rice kids to shame up here. Hee hee.. I got a few more pics I'm gona try to put up tomorrow night if you wana check out the progress. Oh yah, Glen; I was thinking we should get together sometime this summer for coffee or something. Hopefully I can drive my Z this time and you can see in person that 'yes, I do have one of these!' Or if you want to, you could come up to Midland for a day or somethin... I dono, just a though. Talk later.

Crap... Well, thats what I thought.. Thanks.

Um... help please?

I did the same thing man. I need to know the answer to this as well. (sorry for the post hijack)

Wow. small world man! Yah, I love it up here.. cept for winter.. I don't own a sled, and drive a 2 wheel drive pick up so..yah.. Thanks for the coments.. I have to say though, the pis look better IMO.. up close, ther's plenty of work left. (scratches, pinholes, ect) Evrything is in the details.. Anyway, I just took a few more pics today of my progress, and hopefully I'll get more tomorrow and then update my album. I'm thinking I'm at the halfway point now, and the hardest parts (rear roll pan + quarters) are DONE! heh heh. I'll post here when I get some more up.

I just go to the album you want to delete from, and go to 'admin mode' and then it will let you edit your album. You should be able to delete from there.

Heh heh.. thats awsome!

Heh heh.. yup. I been feeding it Hondas. Oh yah, thanks Tim.

Yah I guess! Hey Tim.. How you do that?!? aww.. me no understand these complicators and the dang ol' imernet stuf...

I just wanted to see what you guys have to about this. When I got the engine bay done, I looked at it and was thinking 'Meh.. I guess it looks ok...' Then I looked back at a pic I took almost a yeart ago when I got the car. wow... I dono.. I think it looks better. What do you guys think? I posted here cause it's not really a technical thing.. just wanted to show off a bit! Before... http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=displayimage&album=lastup&cat=10187&pos=6 After... http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=displayimage&album=lastup&cat=10187&pos=5 I coudn't get the pics to post so I had to link to my album. ?

Thanks guys. Im home early today, so I'm gona try to get a few more pics up now. (I only have about 100 pics of my car so far! )