MRGierut

Got any more pictures of the adjustments you had to make for the headers to clear the steering shaft? Would sliding the engine forward more help with the clearance?

Wow...It's been 3 years since I've updated my thread. Yikes!! For anyone keeping score at home, I have not given up. I ended up selling the Silver '77 mainly due to the sunroof...and because a gem popped up local to me. An Orange '78 Califorina/Nevada 280 with no sunroof and a fairly solid floor. I bought the orange one at the end of May in 2018 and sold the Silver one in July of the same year. Since then, I've been pretty busy with work, family, life, and unfortunately death... nearly lost all motivation for the project and only able to dedicate a hand full of hours over the last 2 years. I have still been scooping up some parts here and there, some new some used. The most recent addition to the parts pile is a complete LS2 out of a 2005 GTO. Very excited to grab this locally for a reasonable price. Snagging this motor, combined with the warmer weather and hearing all the other cars cruising around really got me back on the swap hype train. I have been officially furloughed due to The 'Rona. My wife is still working and extremely busy, which leaves me in charge of the kids. And that's fine, my kids are awesome. They drive me nuts, but I wouldn't trade this extra time with them for anything. With that said, I'm hoping to squeeze a few hours in the garage here and there. So stay tuned!

PM sent!

No problem. It's really not that hard, just take your time and don't try to rush. It will probably take more than one day.

This is what I used when I did my dash.

I'd probably buy a sticker or two.

1 T-SHIRT XL BLACK 1 HOODIE XL BLACK Zip code: 60463

Welp, Still waiting on the Speedhut gauges. I ordered them on St. Patrick's Day and they just shipped on April 21st, I knew they were going to take a long time. Speedhut was very good with staying in touch with me and are very accommodating. They can add just about anything you want to their gauges, you just have to ask. They offer a GPS Speedo with turn signals, high beam indicator, and programmable fuel gauge all in one gauge housing! On the Tach I asked them to add two extra LEDs labeled "Brake" (red) and "Check Engine" (amber). They should arrive this week! Since the car has just been sitting in my garage for the past couple weeks, I felt that she has being neglected... Tow bolts on the driver's seat and tossed the steering wheel on...no problem.

Those connectors are pretty slick! I like that idea! Are those pictures in the engine bay, or the cabin?

That thing looks pretty damn good rolling down the street. Great pictures!

Thanks man! I appreciate it. Taking out the dash was easier than I anticipated. The hardest part was disconnecting the speedo cable. Putting it all back in correctly might be a different story! I'm just waiting for new gauges to come in, hopefully sometime next week. I got the seats back from the upholstery shop and the new carpet is partially in. The aftermarket radio is hooked up and it'll power on just fine, but no sound is coming out of the speakers. After further investigation, the speakers (yes, there's 2!) start disintegrating once you touch them, so new 4" speakers are on the way, as well as speaker wire. Once I get the interior back together that will be it for a while.

Yup. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/127012-silver-1977-datsun-280z-project/ Dash repair is towards the bottom of the first page.

$38 Grant steering wheel with sweet ass Dastun Rising Sun sticker! Don't look too close, I had to trim the sticker by hand...

I emailed them and they're going to change it for $10. Thanks again OP: I ordered 4 1/2" and 2 1/16" for the three small gauges. The only reason I went with 2 1/16" is because I wanted the 90* sweep instead of the full sweep. I also ordered the Skillard gauge mounts for the speedo/tach and Mill House Huston pods for the smaller gauges. There is a link on Skillard's website for the Mill House stuff. I'll be sure to post everything here when the gauges finally come in. Turn around time is like 3 weeks to a month now!

Gotcha. I ordered a set last week with 2 extra LEDs and I just guessed that they should be activated by ground since every other circuit in the car has the switch on the ground side. Thanks for the tip about the high beam light! I wonder if I could just ask Speedhut to have the high beam LED activated by ground? Do the turn signal and flashers need to be flipped as well?