FricFrac

So there wasn't an S15 in Tokyo Drift then.... must have been my imagination.....

I think it's great that they've got a 510 in the movie. It is exposure and hopefully it will garnish more interest in the cars and thus preserve more of them.... Who knows what the outcome will be but look at the 240SX - they were a dime a dozen and after the Fast and the Furious everyone wants one - they are worth as much as a Z32 now - crazy...

Wow - cool story

Double check but it should only be one or the other for +12V otherwise both elements would be on when your low beams are on and I'm assuming that's not the actual case. Make sure both bulbs are disconnected when you test the voltages.

Very nice. Unique look - I like it. Looks like a lot of work went into the project so far.

Lol - and I'm not use to seeing S130s that "have a little bit of rust" and have a sheet of plywood to hold the seat from falling through the floor. Nissan made a ton of the S130s but I very rarely see them around anymore.....

Wow - that turned out great. You definately made my mind up about shaving the marker lights. I already decided to shave the emblems, etc. Post some pics on this thread - ppl are missing out

Uh that's Steve from Z Therapy's car. That car is an absolute steel. I saw it when I was down at Canby and if I didn't already have a 280ZX and a turbo engine to swap into it.... heck even with five cars at home already I was trying to figure out how to buy it. It's got a lot of really nice parts on it including Tockico Illumina's which you can't get anymore (rears). It seriously sound's like a V8 too and it's super clean. Where can you get a primo 27 year old classic sports car in rust free condition with high performance mods for $4500? That's crazy....

Wow John! Amazing cantilever suspension!

I've got one of these spacers and I was very happy with the product and the service. They also have a mount for the vac line spigot and gaskets for both sides and longer bolts so you can use your stock engine plumbing rather than just a spacer - very nice product.

Any chance there is still some effort being put into building an S130 rad? There were optional aftermarket rads for the S30 before Koyo made one but there STILL isn't anything available for the 280ZX. It would only require a slight mod in the bottom outlet to have it fit the ZX (its the lower cross member otherwise). Pleaseeeeeee.....

I agree - I personally dislike the bug eyed look and it is really hard to disguise in the 7" lens. Its possible to make a custom HID projector lens that fits in the sugar scoop but it would have to be without the 7" reflector to look good IMHO. J. Soileau has the best looking HID in the 7" lens that I've seen so far but personally its not the route I'd go if I was to go with a projector HID. Instead I went with a quality H4 lens and a H4 HID conversion kit to keep the retro look rather than an insect space ship look. Its pretty simple to go that route and it keeps everything fairly stock increases your light output (in a controlled and safe manner) and reduces your electrical load on the generator and the 40 year old wiring. I did a little write up over here. There is a bit of a comprimise with looks as you need the hood to direct the light properly with both the H4 and the H4 HID lights but its as close to stock as you can get while having more than a candle/pie plate lighting setup that the stock lights give you It seems that with the H4 housing you really do get what you pay for and the Hella's at $50 are probably the way to go. I had Hellas in my 280ZX 17 years ago and I really liked them.... of course that was before HIDs were out

Exactly - and most people say "good enough" when they use the metal body but its really important to remember that steel is 11 - 17% as conductive as copper - that's pretty poor! Start adding sensors, etc for MSII, etc and simple electrical problems become nightmares. I've seen cars with the ground just going to the transmission or block - not good! Don't forget disimilar metals tend to make non conductive oxide barriers, etc and the voltage drops keep adding up. On top of that add corrosion that you don't see in the stock 40 year old wiring harness and its a miracle anything works at all.....

Your chasis is grounded and using the firewall as ground is the correct way to do it. Isolating the ground is not a good idea. Look at the electrical problems the Corvette have with the fiberglass body. I can understand for asthetics having a bus bar to connect multiple terminals but that is still connected to the chasis. If you have several accessories with their own inline fuse it becomes a bit of rats nest. The fuse needs to be as close to the positive terminal as possible. By adding a secondary fuse block (not your stock one) for additional circuits you minimize voltage drops and keep your wiring neat and tidy allowing for quick and easy access to each fuse as well.

The main purpose of this thread is to increase safety by improving the lighting on your Z. Its critical that you ensure that your headlights don't blind oncoming drivers. Check the thread if you need a replacement lens to fix the problem. As I'm sure you know in a panic situation your car will naturally go to where you are looking so guess where a driver who is being blinded by your headlights is going to swerve too......

Ok I think you are a little confused so hopefully this will clear it up.... The "star ground" is simply having your ground wires radiate out from a central point. In my example I chose the stock firewall placement for my "star" and added additional ground wires to various parts of the car from that central point. You could do it from the terminal of the battery but it starts to get messy. Some people use a buss bar made of copper (remember steel is something like 11-17% as conductive as copper!) if they can't squeeze all their ground points under one bolt. I would recomend on the positive side to run some sort of fuse block for additional circuits. The fuse block should be as close as possible to the battery to prevent any significant lengths of unfused wire running between the battery and your circuit. You can see my fuse block that is mounted on the firewall next to the star ground. There is a negative buss on the fuse block but I don't use it. Again I'd go with a fuse block rather than terminal strips for safety......

...and once you've sent the e-mail give him a call too.

After I rolled my fenders the 255's fit no problem and Yasin has his 275s tucked under the stock flares. If you really need to flare the rear end I'd take it to a body shop/sheet metal worker and have them slot the end of the flare that goes straight down and have it follow the line of the flare - that will give you a larger flare and retain the original body.

The rims are the Rota RB-R 17x9.5 -19 offset on all four corners.... Lol - started painting the air dam with an air brush.... that didn't last long. I'm getting a spray gun tomorow ;P

Honestly this is what I think. There are a lot of valid points being made in his article (which I've read before). There is lots of good info but IMHO its a little twisted to serve his own agenda which is selling a particular product. Him saying that judging lighting performance requires a lot of sophisticated equipment is something I simply disagree with. I personally have the most advanced light detecting equipment which provides the most crucial levels of data required - my own eyes. You can jump up and down and say that the old candle/pie plate reflector lights running on 9V that the car orignally had is a better system than the HIDs that I installed. I don't care - the simple fact is that my eyes can detect objects at a much much further range with the HIDs. The temperature of the arc at .012 mm from the leading edge versus the angle of incidence blah blah blah doesn't matter if I can see a deer three hundred feet away instead of fifty with my old candle/pie plates. The cut off is crucial as well for the safety of oncoming traffic - that's what a lot of the concern with aftermarket HIDs is. There is a lot of talk that is hard for most people to understand and it helps to make his case seem legitamate. I understand concern for HIDs being up to snuff but IMHO it pretty easy to see if you've done it right or not.....

Sort of. I run two ground wires attached from the single ground point on the fire wall. On the wiring harness for the HID lights has a ground lug. I found a nutsert handy on the body to where each balast mounts then put a lug on the ground wire from the single ground point and the ground lug on the HID harness and screw it into the nutsert. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/83602-star-ground-setup/

I did a star ground on my car at the same time so I ran ground wires from the main ground point on the firewall to each light as well as an extra fuse block with a seperate circuit for power to the relay. Its optional but I tend to over engineer..... Shouldn't need any grommits - you are tapping off the stock wiring harness to control the headlights so you don't need to run wiring inside the car. The harness plugs right into one of your headlight sockets on the stock wiring loom....

Thanks Yasin - you were a major inspiration/help! Definately a work in progress - air dam next then shaved rear end.... New delima..... Tire Rack has my 275/35/17 S-Drives ready to ship.... do I try to cram those in or flare the rear..... Few more pics...

Lol - well hopefully that will be some inspiration to get your Rota's on the 240Z.... which I have yet to see.... oh and don't worry - if you're driving around in the Z I'll be waving at you before you see me ;P

Those are the ones and a good price too... I've got these in my 280ZX and they look to be a direct knock off of the Phillips system and the Aluminas.... so far they work great and a third of the price. I suppose time will tell.... http://www.vvme.com/digital-slim-h439003-bixenon-hid-kit-p-128.html?cPath=44_46_35