A to Z

got my shims in today. that is VERY hard to do with the engine in, etc. Got a real nice drop on everything. I will also mod my motor mounts for some drop there also.

11-20-2025. Well on the 260, interior, especially dash is a LONG way down the road, but all these black Friday deals going, and talking to speedhut they cut me a great deal, I went ahead and got the gauges I wanted for this car. They will go in my dash with a full cap, and the center section will be a blocked off plate and will house 2 gauges from speedhut along with some switches. At any rate, The gauges are going to be "Gulf Racing Blue", in modern script, and show black with orange lit numbers at night. I have some pics here but they don't show the "z" script I am having added to the faces. it is just the thin black outline of the original "Z" badge. Anyway, here is what they will look like, without the Z, there is a pic of the script at the end. These things are crazy expensive. I love that the speedo is GPS. Pics:

11-19-2025: I dropped the fuel tank and got rid of it. I also did some prep to get ready to install the shims under the crossmember and put the front suspension back together. My MOMO steering wheel, adaptor and a few other bits also arrived. Pretty cool.

Today I picked up some sandblasting and powder coating from R&S Powdercoating here in Colorado Springs: And......you seem to always find hidden damage once everything is stripped off, huh?

Got out there this morning to gather some stuff to take to the powder coaters. It was also a good time to clean up the front suspension bits so I can put the front end back together. It was a dirt/oil glob on both sides, so with cleaner (g@s) and a toothbrush, a rag, a screwdriver, and a wire wheel attachment in my drill I got everything cleaned up enough to put together in my effort to get this hulk to the body shop for some block sanding and a coat of blue and clear, color sanded and buffed.

Well, it took all day, but I got the door jambs and inner doors all done and ready for the body shop. The paint on this car is incredible. I have never seen anything like it, it only comes off with a flapper wheel on an angle grinder....I tried 40 grit on my orbital sander, didn't touch it. So, I have continued to use a flapper wheel, and will then go over each panel with finer and finer sandpaper to get it all smooth before handing it over to bodywork and paint. I am finding areas that were slicked with filler and sanded out, with THICK layers of paint and all. I remvoed the hinges and coated both sides with rustoleum and re-assembled. Man, It really worked me today! Pics.

My rollpan is almost ready to ship as well. I got it from Chop Suey Hot Rod Shop, he is filling in the exhaust cut out for me. It bolts on to the rear.

dropped off my new hatch from resurrected classics, my grille, and my 240 taillight outer panels at R&S Powdercoating for a coat of gloss black powdercoat. I had the hood sandblasted and found damage, so I ordered a new hood for Resurrect Classics, and will make my cut out and then have it powder coated gloss black as well. The car will be light metallic blue, with black hood, hatch, flares and rear spoiler/Air Dam. here is the inspiration for my change in direction: (Just picture the light metallic blue instead of red)

Yep that is there forever home. I can cover them if needed, but this is an around town hotrod only. no wipers, my version of a cooler AC Cobra.

stock brakes Sir. of the two "blocks" I assume you are talking about the one with the electrical probe on there. Rather than try to figure it out, I knew I was going to run stock brakes so just copied how Nissan built it. (shrug)

I had a couple hours this morning, so I went ahead and worked some more on the layout for my brake master cylinder backing plate, and then installed my brake "parts", that divert fluid to all 4 wheels (I don't know what to call them). I used Finishing Lines for the hoses. These hoses are the new PFTE hoses that do not swell, etc. Guys are completely running brake lines in whole cars with these and they work great! I will be doing a combo of hard lines and this. Everything past the firewall back is the stock stuff. www.finishing-lines.com. They advertise a lot of Honda stuff, but they DO have our 10mm fittings etc. Great people to work with. I then went ahead and pulled the back window as part of gutting the rusty hatch out and then installing my new hatch I got form Resurrected Classics. My hood is at the sandblasters right now, should pick it up tomorrow, and then I can cut the hole and repair the spear with all metal filler a tad, as I can see some mud in it. Seriously thinking about having the hood and the deck lid powder coated gloss black to contrast the light blue metallic. Black spoiler and air dam also (they are already black, I can put a coat or two of 2K clear on them), I have glossy black flares........I will attach a pic that a guy did this with..... but the car is red.....it is giving me these ideas. Pics follow, Cheers!

just barely screwed them on and took a pic.

Today my fiberglass smooth cowl I bought from Jhousa Ramos arrived and I got my caliper / lower strut assemblies back from welding. The cowl is really a nice clean part. JP Fiber Shop – The world of your car

It is as firm as a rock.

How many of you have played around with Crossmember plates/shims, hammering a trans tunnel in a bit, engine height, trans height and driveshaft angle? I am now stepping into this new realm. I have my Vortec 4200 in, now for the trans. If you plate the crossmember you give up ground clearance, and the more you plate the more fender wheel well gap you will have, so you raise one, then adjust the coilovers to take it out, but coilovers only have so much adjustment......using aluminum plates, I can get it to where I may have to actually take the plates in to a machine shop to mill them to a precise measurement. I have some megan racing coilovers being welded on to my spindles right now. Not interested in messing with the motor mounts and like my engine riding high, so I guess we shall see!