Sketch_hs

You guys might not have been able to tell, but the rear tail light surrounds looked like ass when I got the car. The chrome plate around the lenses was peeling off like crazy, and the black covers were very ugly, in consistent color and the corner was chipped off on the drivers side. You can kind of see it here: Notice the missing corner on the drivers side Anyways, I pulled them off, sanded off all the chrome plate and used a metallic kind of paint I had laying around. Looks even better in person. Rather than trying to find (and pay for) a replacement for the drivers side tail light surround, I decided to repair the crack and rebuild the missing corner using a special plastic type body filler. It cures only in sun light and has to be built up a 1/8 inch at a time. Then I sanded it down and refilled imperfections as needed. Took a while and it's not perfect, but I think it's pretty close: The garage, and the best wife ever: FC is gone now BTW

Next up: Rust repair, some minor body work - just need to stop the rust from spreading first. I'll be stripping out the interior and possibly dynamatting the majority - yes I know this will add some weight but I want to be able to enjoy the car and quiet it down a little inside. Besides, it's something i've never done but have always wanted to do I'll probably replace or at least refurbish the carpet. The seats need to be replaced or recovered. Not sure exactly what i'll do there just yet. I'll also need a dash cover - the cracks are a bit annoying. It needs some more suspension work - bushings and sway bars are likely next, along with the shorter steering ratio arms (quicken up the steering). shes going to get 4 piston front brakes and a rear disk conversion - hopefully that will give me the stopping power i'm after. It may need a larger master cylinder and booster as well. engine wise - I still plan on a JZ power plant in the future (maybe) This damn L28 just runs so great though I was able to get 26mpg hwy and it's actually got some decent lowend power. So the thought comes to mind: I have this ct26 turbo laying around that's in perfect condition. I also have a set of 440cc injectors, and an extra SAFC2. Now the timing is vacuum advance so I can probably use the safc to modify the AFM signal and get 440cc injectors to run nice off boost. With a wide band I was thinking I could safely push low boost through the engine - maybe about 5 psi or so I'm not sure if anyone has done this before... I will probably break something (guessing head gasket first?) but I've got other cars and love to experiment ___________

Yeah and the supra in the back. FC is gone now I'll miss it. Pretty fast car with the 1jz. New owner was really happy though and I'm happy to have the Z now. My goal is to get the Z to drive the the FC did... going to take a lot of work.

yes pin striping Alignment after the suspension and tie rods: New stance:

ebay!

Drove the car about 250 miles today with the new suspension and tie rod ends. WOW, it's a completely different car. It still has the "old" feeling you could say, but the steering response is smooth. Handling is light years ahead of the blown stock parts. Still needs some work to be really great, but I'm very happy with the results. The car is enjoyable to drive around town, and on the highway. The suspension felt mostly smooth and not to rough - save for some crappy San Francisco Roads and some bad parts of the freeway. Ride high has evenly dropped about 1.2 inches all around. Looks great but still easily covers speed bumps and steep driveways. I averaged 25 mpg over the trip. Mostly freeway cruising about 70-85 mph, avg 75 or so with the 4 speed. This included some spirited back road driving, SF traffic and hills, some full throttle/high rpms. I would guess purely cruising at 65 it would do 28mpg, maybe better with a 5th gear (lol). Around town the mpg is poor however... probably because I keep winding it out in the lower gears! Pics tomorrow! it was a long day

yes grass valley kinda but really it was "forest hill" -Tyler

suspension in. rears are a pain! pics and road test tomorrow... too tired.

Yay it's here!

New tie rods on! Steering feels much better! No more looseness! About 25 min both sides. Old ones are super worn out... worst i've ever seen. Drivers side tie rod is reverse threaded! Caught me off guard lol Still waiting on the new struts/springs

Suspension and tie rods should be here today!

brown one IMO

Well just decided on a basic set up for now suspension wise. Tokiko HP spring strut combo. Highly recommended for a street car by lots of datsun guys - we'll see. Pretty cheap anyways, about 400 shipped

yeah about the wheels - I don't mind them at all. Period correct!

Originally Posted by stackz 120lb in bumpers?? serious?? and omfg now that you've got bandwidth...please for the love of all thats holy get rid of those wheels... hell, sure the tires are nice...but sell them on craigslist or something. my eyes!!! Yeah I was amazed how heavy that ♥♥♥♥ is! But, I was even more amazed in how much you can feel the weight lost! There is a noticeable improvement in braking and acceleration as you would expect, it was a little more than I expected actually. The real improvement was the steering and suspension feel! Even with the shot to ♥♥♥♥ suspension and tie rod ends (new parts in the mail!) the difference is massive! I suspect it's due to the placement of weight - the farthest point from the center of inertia. Simple physics really.

Bumpers mostly off, looks better and over 120lbs shed.

Little wash and wax is helping a lot lol ************* image re host*************

WHEEL POLISHING IS A BITCH! I don't think they have seen more than soap and water in 35 years One kinda done after a couple hours (no joke!) lots of imperfections but my hands hurt. This is hard work! BEFORE been cleaning up inside a bit... lots more will be done in here later whats going on in your garage?

time to polish the final wheel, be back in 2 hours lol my hands~!

Yeah I did a 1jz in a FC rx7. Just sold it though. It was an awesome car but I can't help wanting new project and the 240z is better to invest on IMO.

The NA hardtop body (with na engine, brakes and trans) is actually only about 3200. VS the TT targa coming it at about 3500 The single turbo set up is about 50lbs lighter than the stupid stock twins. That plus light wheels, battery brought me to where I'm at. The real key was just getting a hardtop... significant weight savings and much stiffer chassis.

lol the single turbo 2jz in my mkiv would probably tear the 280 to pieces. 500ftlbs is pretty serious. BTW that supra is a hardtop NA body, 3250 full loaded with out me in it (thats good for a mkiv!)

WHEEL POLISHING IS A BITCH! I don't think they have seen more than soap and water in 35 years One kinda done after a couple hours (no joke!) lots of imperfections but my hands hurt. This is hard work! BEFORE been cleaning up inside a bit... lots more will be done in here later whats going on in your garage?