A to Z

01-28-2026. Productive day. I got the remaining valve cover bolts cleaned up and painted, then installed. I then also got the fitting for the catch can installed. I drilled the access hole and got the engine wiring stand along harness laid out on the engine a couple things plugged in and fed the large end into the cabin and then set the electrical panel on tint genreal area of where it will be installed later. I also went ahead and installed the injectors and rail and pulled the header off, installed the stud kit from Atlas Industries..... installed the wastegate on to the header along with the down pipe and then got it all back on to the engine and torqued down. I took the bolts I have for holding the turbo down and turned them into studs and now I just need another turbo gasket and I can install it and be done with that. I was able to re-clock the center section, so when I get to it, I can get the oil feed and drain installed. I had enough time to get the holes cut out for my dash center panel, and with the gauges and toggle switch I can get that all assembled after I give the panel a coat of paint. Pics follow. Cheers!

I got out to the garage for a couple hours today, and I fixed the valve cover. My original baffle for the port feeding my catch can wasn't clearing....I put off fixing it forever. Well, I am now at the point that I need it fixed now to keep working forward. So, Today I grinded it all out & cleaned it up and got the valve cover down now permanently. The location when I installed the port was against the cam and cam tower. So, What I am doing to fix it, is JB welding a steel plate on the tip of my threaded and cut down bung. Once the JB Weld is cured, I will grind it down to the same diameter as the threads, and bevel the tip, and then drill a few small holes in it. Enough to hold the oil back but the vapor can get through. My catch can is such it is easy to unscrew, pour the oil back in and screw it back on anyway.

01-25-2026. Winter weather continues! And so, the work I can do inside for the 4200 swapped 260Z.....continues God willing. I flipped my electrical "Central Station" over and sanded the aluminum around each nut and sides of the nuts down to make it so the JB will stick and then coated them to make the nuts permanent. The idea being, I don't want to have to lift this back off once installed. PICS:

Ok, so according to TRE the numbers I mentioned are static and Dynamic values for each injector, and are used by the tuner. Cyl Static Dynamic 1 - 600 103 2 - 606 104 3 - 588 102 4 - 594 103 5 - 594 104 6 - 600 103 Interesting. Glad I took the time to keep track of which one is in which cylinder.

01-24-2026. Well, I went ahead and put my fuel rail together today. My factory rail I had the port for the fuel line hookup cut and custom welded on by Wagner Fabrication here in Colorado Springs, CO, for a cleaner look, and the wiring was custom made by Jemery at Lime-swap. Injectors are Siemens DEKA 60 lb EV6 injectors from TRE. You can see I put the chrome wire loom on as well and used some chrome tie wraps to make it look half decent. PICS:

some pics of the setup:

Here is a video I made for my wiring "central station". click below" V1.MOV

01-21-2026 UPDATE: I started the day vacuuming out the entire interior......A ton of bondo dust, and junk.....finally got it out. Later I will just have to mop it out and a light vac and it will be okay. I then installed my quarter windows, the drip rails, and the rear hatch. Installed the inspection doors and then installed the new parking lamps I got off of eBay, the sail panel emblems, and front fender emblems. A tad bit of clear caulk to help keep them tight against the metal like I want. I was also able to clean out the garage, throw away a lot of stuff no longer needed, empty boxes, etc. I set the 5 gallon fuel cell in the spare tire well for a quick look, it will be on a rack holding it up a couple inches and offset towards the driver's side to offset the weight of the battery which will be to the right of the spare tire well. PICS:

01-20-2026. Engine wiring harness. So, today I took my custom Lime-swap wiring harness for the ATLAS, and stripped off the looms and tape, so I tailor can fit everything and cut the wires down for a good, hidden fit. it's quite a bit of work removing the plastic bracket that originally held it on to the valve cover, straightening it all out, getting it all ready to be installed and then separated and cut and spliced back together correctly. I have these special splices they advertise that melt with a heat gun and solder the center.....I thought I'd try them. Some exposed wiring parts will have the chrome looms I bought over the wires, as you can see in the Injector wiring in the separate pic.

Another pic of the toggle cluster I am putting in my Atlas Z. fused and the start toggle is a momentary switch. when you flip the ignition toggle it will kill all power to the stand alone engine harness that the fuel pump runs through. I love the old school look. The quality of these toggles when you operate them you don't see often these days anymore....I got it at Summit and yep, the price is high, but the quality is A+.

01-19-2026 First survey of my customized stand along wiring harness for the GM Vortec 4200 / ATLAS 4.2 engine swap. Keep in mind If I had kept the auto trans there would be more....I also deleted 90% of engine functions as well....only kept the cool stuff like gauge feeds, etc. At least I have a wireless throttle! enjoy the video. 01-19-2026 harness video.MOV

01-15-2026. PAINTJOB. Ok so it is painted now. there are a few spots I can later address and spot paint, but the major paint and bodywork is done. PICS:

01-14-2026. Prepped for more paint. I was able to get the body ready for more paint, and I will paint it, knowing I will see spots later that I can spot repair/fix if needed. this will get it to about 95% on being completely painted. Working on the body is such that you could spend a year and still find things to "fix".....and I think it's time to "push" it forward. After getting it ready for paint, I installed the radiator finger tight and the cut down radiator engine inlet I got from 42004U.com. I then grabbed the intercooler and put it in there to get some measurements for making brackets. I grabbed one of my 90's do this as well. TIME FOR MORE PAINT!

01-13-2026. Just a little something to keep my motivation going. New badge and antenna delete plug from Resurrected Classics and Z Car Depot. I know, the clear looks dull, it will just need to be sanded and buffed. I'm planning on using Poppy's Patina wipe on clear in the summer God willing.

01-11-2025. Pretty cold out today, so I stayed inside and started looking into some of my wiring questions I needed to solve. My combo switch and adapter plate from Race Wire solutions came in the other day, and I will be using that along with the 12 circuit rewiring kit I bought some time back from JEG's. I got Chat GPT to help me keep it straight in my mind and went about figuring out how to wire in my combo switch with what JEG'S sold me. it will be installed in the dash, as part of the dash center plate I got form Skillard, along with 2 gauges and a cool panel/bank of switches made by Allstar Performance I ordered from Summit. now to decide paint the4 panel or upholster.....

01-09-2026 UPDATE: several things coming together on my 260Z ATLAS Z 4.2 project. I picked up my fuel rail that I had modified so the hookup to my PTFE hose will be clean and how I want it, and the radiator I got back as well. You can see the crossovers are done.....now the radiator hookups match the engine, note the reinforcement plates he welded in to support the pip runs. I also picked up my seats from the upholsterer with the seat covers I found on eBay. Lets see......I picked up another batch from the powder coater, door handles, window frames and headlight frames.....which I have cleaned up and restored. The dash center panel came in from Skillard....and it is cool that he sent a new sticker and large pic of his Z car to hang up in the garage. Lastly, my header studs came in from Atlas Enterprises. It is VERY COLD out today, but I will try to get out to the garage this weekend and try to get most of the sanding done so the rest of the shell can go into paint. PICS:

01-07-2026. I got the sail panel on the drivers side painted, and the hatch jambs up to where it will change to black, the taillight surround....and the other sail panel then ran out of paint, so waiting for paint to arrive. I put filler on the spots on the doors and quarters that were still waiting to be done, and it hardened up so even though this weekend will be cold, and I can sand those down and get them done. I also painted the roll pan, and that exposed a little work needing to be done and I got some runs, so I will have some paint correction. Nevertheless, it gives a good idea what it will look like, and real progress was made in just a couple hours. you can really tell a difference in the blue before and after the clear coat! PICS.

01-04-2026. More time in the garage today. I got the radiator support area painted up and got the roof and sail panels coated in multiple coats of filler primer. I then went ahead and got some filler in around the top and sides of my rear roll pan, and after it was dry I got it all sanded out. I am now about 95% done with the tail. It's ready for final paint....but I need to do the cuts for the 240Z taillights and make sure the taillight panels fit the way I want them to. The filler primer made it possible to see the condition of the roof and sail panels much better, especially holding the light in one hand and looking across it. more work needed PICS:

01-03-2026. Ok so today i pulled the door handles, locks quarter windows and main window frames. they are going to the powdercoater. i got the rear roll pan installed right where inwanted it and sealed down, later inwill put a bit of filler (glaze) around it and the rear will be done. i got the roof and sailmpaels done. it will now get filler primer and a quick look over and get all the edges etc ready for sealer and paint. very productive day! pics:

I'm keeping it simple and easy to get done. not going to a mirror finish, just a factory level finish. I build drivers, Sir. I was going to use that dry guide coat until I realized you can't paint over it.....so it is ANOTHER step to get it off then put the mud when you took it off, then smooth it out then another guide coat then block. I just used black primer, mud the deepest bottoms, and use about 4-5 coats of the THICK primer filler made by duplicolor.....specially made for deep scratches. red oxide color. Not advocating any of this it's just experimentation and finding a way that works for me. It will go quick this way. Mud only where needed. when you cover the whole panel, 90% is sanded right off. Using glaze, it sands so easy, I can block it with 220 grit within about a hour and have it ready for filler primer....will it be razor straight? No....but it will look pretty nice.

thanks a lot. I added a bit more hardener and then no problem. I will post pics later, but I put a thin coat of black primer right on the steel and then blocked it this morning. Did the same with the sail panels. It worked great. I then wiped it down with rubbing alcohol and put pieces of blue tape in all the low spots that filler primer won't fill in. I will use glaze with a hardener now. I am well versed with it and it is so easy to work. I just want a decent job, I don't need a show car body. when all is said and done, if the clear doesn't "pop" enough, I will wipe on a coat of glossy Poppy's patina. Poppy's Patina - The Original Patina Clear Coat.

12-30-2025. The filler i had put on the roof of my 260Z never hardened up.....it just stayed "gooey", so this morning I went to it with a wire wheel attachment in my drill and got it all off. I then went ahead and sprayed some flat black primer on the roof and the sides a bit as well to go ahead and start blocking it out.

There was chatter at one point about the welds on CX racing stuff being a concern (particularly the exhaust turbo header).....so you will want to check the welds carefully prior to putting everything together. Front and rear strut tower braces, a roll bar, Apex front side structure supports, and maybe stiffen up the rails .......bad dog used to make thick steel rails that fit right over the originals and then have them welded on. 500 horsepower is an incredible amount of power in a Z car. 300 horsepower in a 280Z is a windowmaker. Good luck!

12-27-2025. Started the day by going over the dried filler with a DA and 40 grit and smoothed it up and shaped it. Next will be to start block sanding the main panels. Then I went ahead and installed the new powdercoated headlight buckets, the MSA Air Dam and the MSA fiberglass front bumper. Then went to the back and started the install of the Hot Rod Chop Suey rear roll pan. Still a bit more to do on that. As I mentioned before it is custom, had them fill the exhaust cutout. Lastly my intercooler came in and took a few pics. it's 18X12 and already polished. Pics follow. Cheers!

12-24-2025. Snuck out and got some more mud on the 260Z car today