AydinZ71

PS: my battery is downsized and relocated behind the passenger seat. My coolant overflow is below where your inspection light is, and my oil knock-out resevoire from the breathers is directly across from the block breather outlet. This is an NA race car, so I don’t have the turbo charge pipe to worry about.

Why you gotta be copying me and s***? Kidding, smart minds, great minds and all that baloney. I mocked up my 3qt accusump in this location w/ mounts and welded nuts, ready for install. Using a remote cable on my gauge cluster. This way, everything looks neat now that paint is back on. keep in mind, I called accusump and the cable they supply is not intended to be cut. Plan accordingly. Ideally the nozzle-end is pointed-up like mine to allow air bubbles to escape. don’t forget, you need room on the back for the air-fill port for pre-charge, and a gauge ideally. I used 1/8” plumbing hardware to make it work for me. AL fittings are naturally lighter, but I had brass on hand. IMG_7246.MOV

Heck, if you wanted a 3.7, they where in tons of z31’s. You could do some research in that space as well. i bet the auto junkets still stock r200’s from z31’s.

I sold my R200 w/ 3.54 for $300 w/ half-shafts a year ago. If it was a 3.9, it could have sold for $200 more. The 3.9 was equipped on fewer models and is the highest you go, shy of the rare 4.11 (which I have not found in an r200 carrier, only r180). You are in a good position try Facebook marketplace, offer-up (unless you are not in a metro area), eBay, etc. you will find one, I’m sure of it.

That is the most common ratio for R-200's that came in any-year S30. You might want to try finding someone with the diff for sale, and ask them to remove it if you are trying to save on shipping? Most folks don't have the gear-set separate from the carrier, but that's just my experience.

100% right. One, I obsess over details. Even though I knew everything on the roll bar within 1-2' of my head would be covered with foam, I still wanted a finish I could be proud of. This is why I could never make a living doing this HAHA. Two, you are right about most of this area being covered or hidden. As I mentioned, I have a lot of dry over-spray from the clear which has mucked up my purrdy gloss, but I'm only going to cut and polish a few select visible areas. One is where my leg touches the tunnel and the center console area (top of tunnel). I will be contacting those areas regularly and the rough surface finish will be irritating to the touch (literally).

already have the paints in-hand Chrysler stone white for the sides of the car. Everything above one of the style lines will be “Malibu sunset” metallic orange. looks kinda like this, but the two-tone line will be curves not straight lines.

Hey thanks Clark!!! I added a little personal touch with the two tone. The strategy would be if it near the front polycarb which is susceptible to glare, it would be black. The firewall points away from the visible sun, so it was also painted black to absorb some of the reflection from the silver. If it was likely to be exposed to the sun and near the driver, it got silver so it was cooler. Floor pans and crevices are all silver as well so it’s easier to find dropped components. i have to break up the interior into sections anyways so I thought why not get clever. As you have experienced, getting to every area especially with the cage is extremely difficult especially when you need to step-on, or bump-into an area you have already coated. i took extra special care getting the epoxy into every nook, even with a brush on surfaces like the top of the top hoop. That’s my defense against corrosion which is the primary concern. I was a little more lax getting every corner with base coat as the silver and white blend pretty well. I was even less careful with the clear coat. If you can’t see it, why worry so much about clear? It’s not coming into co tact with anything anyways. my biggest problem was over-spray during the clear. It cures so fast, it tends to get a rough texture if you spray nearby. It doesn’t like stop-start which is mandatory painting inside the car. i have runs in the engine bay, but surprisingly few inside! I tried to learn from my last mistakes.

Most of the interior is now painted. I had to break it into two areas (cab and hatch area) as that much surface is too much to tackle for me given then working times of the materials I’m using. No visible runs this time, but plenty of over-spray in the clear. Need to find a half-measure to eliminate short of sanding, since the interior does not need (nor do you want glare) a mirror finish. All products are speeedokote. Flat black single stage 2X urethane up front. Balance is silver base coat-clear coat. Steps (at a high level): sand steel w/80 grit wipe every surface with rust deacaler to remove surface rust. wipe every surface with windex first to remove waterborn residue from descaler. wipe with solvent based oil/wax remover until it wipes clean. spray epoxy wait 24hr, then sand epoxy (dry-spray and textured surface). spray base coat spray clear within a few hours avoiding contact with freshly painted surfaces was like acrobatics and a puzzle at the same time. probably the single hardest most exhausting series of activities I have done on the car given the spray windows I had to work with. tip your body shop…

Thanks! Just shot him an e-mail. Did you get the forged race piston, forged street pistons, or cast pistons form them?

Cool!! I sent them a message Friday since I can’t read their product sheets (all in Japanese). RHD Japan lists 89mm as the closest to my spec but I need 88.5mm in their racing forged units. In particular, I like the pin height for that model. We’ll see if they get back! how did you coordinate with them directly? Just filled-out their international order form and waited to hear back?

Looking good Clark! Suspension is not my specialty so I can’t don’t have much to add, but mechanically it looks solid!

Dude, it looks great! Common… don’t be so hard on yourself. The rest of us are janky amateur fabricators at best haha. Here is a pic of my chassis-side exhaust hanger near my trans mount. Typical MIG half-ass job. To be fair, I don’t have a lift 😂

In my experience, I have never had the pump fail to spin/push coolant (if the pulley spins) but the bearing DOES wear-out, seize, or leak. Have you seen a case where the pulley spins but the impeller does not? Just curious for my own edification. I'm sure anything is possible under the sun.

I live in LA too. The heat this week has been brutal anywhere 10-miles from the coast. I'm really surprised you are having cooling issues with all that hardware! Have you considered the 280-Z style hood vents? You could try the fan you mentioned, but just remember it will be reallllly difficult to get decent flow on a 12v small diameter fan. Any amount will help, but it may fall-short of expectations. Thats why everything 12v is super-sized (like the starter, alternator). Just isn't enough electrical potential. I also use quik-latches for my FRP hood.

oh yeah, I totally used to do that too... In my case, I literally drove with no fan for years (I was young/dumb) and just left the hood on the catch while in traffic. As soon as the car starts moving, the needle drops. One of the few benefits of our reverse-opening hoods.

Finding used high-end racing parts for sale is much less common than OEM parts. Most of the racing folks just give them to other friends, since the sales volume is so low. I'm starting to believe only 20-30 people actually road-race S30's in the US. Moroso also makes one.

Hi all, so everyone is struggling with CP… super long lead, poor responsiveness. I get it… they are busy. RHD sells Kameari forged racing pistons and rods. I’m really impressed by the specs of their components. Is anyone running thier forged pistons and lightweight rods? their drag 1 rods are less than 500g! Pauter could only garantee me $510g (not bad), but they are more expensive and made-to-order. Race pistons come in at 210g. most importantly, they use a longer rod length. Almost 5mm longer than OEM, and the pin height in those race pistons is also smaller to accommodate. would love to hear your thoughts!

Yes and no. Yes you can fabricate a way to allow added engine ventilation through the OEM cowl vents. I did it for my race car (see below link). Keep in mind, there is a lot of debate on whether hot air will escape this way, or high-pressure air at your windshield will be pushed into the engine bay. Either way, its doing something to help cooling. just cutting into the firewall without welding a dedicated duct that has been sealed with seam welds (for structural and sealing purposes both), is not recommended. 1) First, you are undermining the job of your firewall, which is to keep an engine fire from cascading into the interior of the car. You have a large open vent from your cowl into your cab at your heater/AC blower ducting. 2) the engine fumes and hot air from the engine bay will work their way into your car because of the same reasons as #1 above. 3) the firewall/cowl interface acts as a structural "cell" within your larger unibody. Unless you are just cutting a small 3" hole or something similar, a large rectangular cur will undermine the structural stiffness of your firewall at this location. Coolant is your friend. Air is much less effective at cooling an engine unless it has been engineered to do so (ask Porsche). If you are worried about engine overheating, it can be easily addressed through improvements and overhauling your cooling system. Flush your engine cooling system to get rid of any rust and scale creating restrictions. Consider a larger radiator. Consider either a clutched engine fan, or a dedicated large electric fan. A shroud between the radiator and the engine fan will improve cooling considerably. In general, the Z cooling system is over-sized (design) if everything is working correctly. It is not a car that habitually overheats without something being wrong. If everything is working right, just adding an aftermarket shroud between your radiator and the clutched engine fan will improve cooling at idle by a noticeable amount.

First time spraying base-clear urethane. Made lots of mistakes and have a lot of runs, but live and learn! To be fair, painting an engine bay with added stiffeners and sharp angles is tough, even for the experienced. Sprayed epoxy. Sprayed silver urethane base coat 8 hours later, followed by clear. Masked off the urethane and scuffed the overlap yo give it some “tooth” for the asphalt (3M) undercoating. All still within the epoxy cute window so it should harden rock solid. Working on prep work in the interior but it’s hot as heck out here! Stay cool my friends. IMG_8831.MOV

It does help, thank you! No experience with flares. I'm going out on a limb and assuming the wider flares in my picture are for the back?

Sweet you got this!

Looking good! Are you trying to keep the connectors OEM? I hate those connectors, but then again I dislike connectors in general 😅😂 also, consider wrapping all your wires sitting on your frame rail in the engine compartment into a large diameter loom. It will help keep the oil and grease from getting all in there. Amazon sells them for pennies

Gosh, I wish someone made the 36-1 wheel for an ATI damper. I had to have my machine shop make one, since I don’t have a lathe and a means to balance it.

Shakotan Marugen fares are in. Anyone know which ones go in the front? Two are wider than the others. Are there only two distinct molds (front/back) or is there a left/right?