Nelsonian

I am happy with the overall quality of the Ztrix parts, but as with any fiberglass parts there are some finishing touches needed. John Washington is a great guy to deal with and responds and answers any and all questions in a timely fashion. As for my front chromoly tubing, the shock towers just connect to a flat plate footing on the fire wall so the wipers still function. I intend to stitch weld the firewall next. I only have a 4 point roll bar as it will primarily be a street car with intentions to occasionally autocross, canyon carve, maybe non competitive fun day run at Willow Springs, etc... I just got in touch with Tho Chung of Time Machine Race craft who has the time and has agreed to finish all the stitch welding. We also discussed the removal of the rear spare tire floor area in prep for a fuel cell and mounting cage. Hopefully next weekend I can get the car up to him to start. Tough decisions on how to go about it with the widebody choices. I would agree with you and say the Pandem kit would be my last choice of the three, just my opinion there...

The new tires came in and had them mounted at the end of last week. This has me motivated to make some progress with the build. I called my old friend Tho Chung who has previously done the majority of fab work on the car, to see if I can get him to finish up the stitch welding in the front and rear of the car as well as cut out the rear floor with the spare tire well. Still waiting to hear back and plan accordingly.

Had to meet with Mark my previously planned engine builder and pick up my engine to bring down to the storage garage today. This is the closest my car a has come to it's new intended heart transplant so far. Just a few pics and finally bagged it up for a little more hibernation .....

I hate the aspect of lifting the hatch and filling inside the rear of the car, but want to be legitimate for any beginner/amateur track related use I would be starting in. Trying to plan accordingly and from what I have seen from other builds here it is imperative to have a trap door cover and if I'm correct only fill from that in rear car location. My car is primarily going to be a street driven with plans to occasionally canyon carve/beginner autocross and be a beginner occasional drag car. I was originally going to modify the stock tank with an in tank pump and I already have the top ring, but I like the track legality and roll over safety of the cell. Been looking at Fuel Safe and Radium engineering surge tanks lately. I definitely want the largest cell I can put in (15 gal?) as I plan on using 91 premium and E-85 which will be consumed voraciously.

I love the results keep it coming as I am getting completely motivated for my build with each new update you put out. How are you planning on filling the fuel cell? from the stock location on the passenger side or something custom behind the license plate? Trying to make sense of the last pic showing the canted spout on the top of the cell. I am now committing to a fuel cell and frame much in line with yours and the over built route.

As usual it's been awhile since last updating, but not a whole lot to update on currently. I just received my new rear YZ quarter panels from Ztrix.com and did a quick mock up for visual sake. After switching wheels from the 9.5" Rota RB's to the wider Volk Te37's at 10" I wanted to stuff the widest performance street tire that I could and the old Subtle Z rear quarters would not have let me do that. Today I ordered a set of 275/40R/17" BF Goodrich Sport Comp 2 tires and will have them in and mounted mid next week. I also picked up a mint condition, barely used Ford 8.8 IRS posi trac differential 3.55 gear ratio from an '02 Expedition whom the seller said only had between 50 to 75 miles on it. He is or was a Ford tech and said the then new expedition still under warranty was misdiagnosed as having a bad rear diff causing a shimmy. After the new one (this one I purchased) was installed and driven for the said 50 to 75 miles it was clear that it was not the root cause. The diff was then purchased by the seller and he held on to it until today when he put it up for sale and I snagged it. I am patiently waiting for the custom mounts to materialize in another thread so I can get some and continue on with the other parts needed to put all on the car. I had my body/paint guy Stuart come out and look at the new quarter panels in preparation to starting back working on the car, but he wanted me to have all parts on and ready before going down the guessing route with body mods and fitment. Makes sense and I should have known better by now after having something built before a major component is in it's place for fitment purposes. I started cleaning out some of the light surface rust in my stock 240Z gas tank with Evapo-rust and have it soaking from last Thursday. I had it boiled out a long time ago and put into storage, but you can't hide from the damn rust demons. I am also now committed to removing the rear spare tire well and going with a fuel cell and surge tank set up and when the time comes to resume will commission that work to Stuart. I am also putting the remaining "to get" engine parts on hold (forged pistons and rods, fluidamper), to focus on the body work. Tomorrow I will pick up my 2JZ engine from my planned engine builder Mark and put it into my storage garage for a bit. Mark has had it in his garage for a few years now and has moved into a new house with a smaller garage and has another three engines and tons of other parts. That's about it for now. Pictures show the quarter panels loosely taped on and over the existing Subtle Z panels along with the custom blended spoiler protruding into it's intended spot of application resulting in it pushing out a good inch a the top and back. Basically just excited when the box arrived and had to get a quick and dirty visual look for motivation......

Yes very, very, very interested as I am now going to get a mint condition '02 diff from an expedition after typing this. Really hope you are happy with the last changes you made and these will be available real sooooon.

Nicely done. Making great progress. Are you making a custom dash?

I was just checking out the Radium catch cans on their site. http://www.radiumauto.com/Webpage.aspx?WebpageId=15&PostID=102

Nicely done and shows me what I still have ahead of me to finish with the stitch welding. Here is how my roll bar base was constructed by my go to fab guy.

Damn Jim, I hate to hear this and would never have thought that company would drop the ball on so many levels. It worries me as I was strongly considering using their services for custom axle lengths for a Ford 8.8 irs swap. I actually have a set of custom 280zx turbo cv axles that I bought off of another member years ago. According to him they were supposed to be rated to 900hp capable. I have not used them as the build project is at a snails pace and I am now committed to the Ford 8.8 irs swap. I certainly hope you have no problems with a full refund.

You must be referring to me as I am 100% interested in seeing this come to fruition.

That seems to be the fix for perusing on a computer. Not an option though for mobile mode on a phone.

I love what your cooking up there NV with this build. I was wondering how others go with such wide tires on the front. I want to run 255 fronts on my set up but will most likely run 245's with camber plates, coilovers and adj control arms. Nice work!!!

I'm curious as well, enquiring Minds need to know

Toyota Chinook's pop up for sale from time to time on the local San Diego or Los Angeles Craigslist adds. I have seen a few in the past 1.5 years....

Old thread revival. Z-ya have you made any more progress with this build? I am interested as I am on the verge of going YZ rear quarters with the Subtle Z fronts. Would love to see any new pics if you have........

I can't believe I didn't see this build when you posted. Excellent fab work going on there indeed. Looking forward to more updates as they come about.

I have an (originally starting as a '73 non vented hood) that I started to customize as a 280zx turbo replica. I stopped along the way as I changed engines from an L28et to a 2jzgte with the turbo and intake on opposed sides and also found a mint 280z vented that I will use. I had the hood paint removed and epoxy primered and a Naca duct welded into the drivers side so it sits just as the 280zxT does. I also was planning on welding in the passenger side which I have, but stopped as engine changes happened. It still needs some finishing hammer and dolly work. This would be beneficial for any L series engine with the Naca duct on the drivers side.

I have a spare Q45 90mm throttle body with the TPS that I won't be using if that's of interest to you. I could provide some pics after work if you care to see.

Have any more pics of the Z with the flares on ?

I often wondered what it would look like all completed with the hood. Looks fantastic!!

Thanks Geno. Though not in a dire need at the moment for this part of the build was just looking into Wiring Specialties LQ9 kit and had book marked the Induction Performance IGN 1A kit and harness, but at $719 a kit and $599 for their harness was hoping for other options.

Well done sir. It will pay off in the long run. I will be following as you have done with continuing on with the stitch welding.

Geno750, Just to get this straight, you are using the IGN1A kit from Induction Performance correct? If so are you using their coil kit harness as well? Coils will need to be addressed eventually on my build and your feedback is valued by me.