wingnutthehutt

I understand the project. I guess I was just kinda wondering why you would try and do something like this to a ZX, but then I thought about it for a minute. Why not do it to a ZX? The platform is relatively cheap and easy to come by, generally in better shape than the S13, and it's different. It's not like you're trying to turn it into a Gallardo. Yeah, I don't like the Boxster either, although I've never driven one.

I LIKE the air dam. It's different and that scores major points with me. It looks high in the front though. Put up some pictures of it in the sun and cleaned off.

Agreed, 100%. I can read all day and learn more in an hour than I would in a month anywhere else.

Isn't it great how careful most of us are not to step on anybodies toes? I doubt I'll see someone say, "What the !@# were you thinking" about any datsun without following it up with "as long as you like it, it's cool. Be yourself, do your own thing. I may not see the point of putting an Allison I16 in there, but hey, it's not mine, it's yours."

Nah, I agree, they're hideous, not that I think your renderings are hideous. Haha. But they ARE a blast to drive, more plush than the 911s, and cheaper too. Where I'm seeing it most is the widebody and the stance. If I were going to change the front so much, and do a custom tail, I wouldn't start with a Z, I'd do a 928. I'm not anti-widebody. I love the YZ, but that's not something you'll have to lay up eight times to get it right. My two cents. Keep it up. I envy your education.

People like you make me feel like a bad person for wanting to send my car to the crusher.

Interesting car. I wonder why they didn't retain the factory fuel injection. It's much more tuneable and reliable. Strange. The Gixxer 1000 motor is a much better foundation to build on. It's not as torquey, but only barely. My teammate was running an 01 that he had built the last couple seasons and it had 167 rwhp. The 05s are putting around 150 on average to the rear off the showroom floor. We totally hijacked this thread.

In essence, yes. The main justification I get from people rolling 20"+ rims is that they fill out the wheel well better. Ostensibly, that's the reason for going with wide/fat tires/rims. It's usually about look. I'm not slamming the builders desires, tastes, or preferences. I just think there's too much space and if it were my car, which it's not although it is far nicer than mine, it would bother me.

0-60 in less than three seconds sounds a little bit off to me. I have been in the powersports industry for seven years, and that sounds a bit off to me. The actual Hayabusa motorcycle does 0-60 in about 1.9 and weighs about 1000 pounds less. It also doesn't have 190 HP to the rear wheel. Maybe if you get a nice one from the factory you can get that at the crank, but it's usually closer to 170-175 at the crank. Just point out GFEs, not trying to be a nazi.

I like the design at the beginning of the post, but this car looks more like a Porsche 928 to me. In changing the body so much, it's really not a Z anymore. I think if you really want a car that looks like that, you could pick up a 928 for fairly cheap, and have a much better chassis and powertrain to work off of.

I agree with Mull, there's too much space between the sidewall and the body. Overall, I think the rear is too wide. But the bodywork is good, and I love that rear hatch.

I'd take the body off a put on a 240 body. I'm not a big fan of the early lotus bodies, esp when it's not real. But wow, that's a nice chassis.

It sounds like mineral spirits is the way to go. From what I gather between both threads, acetone flashes too quickly.

That issue had some cool paint jobs, but there really was nothing of value in it. Is Car Craft still a useful publication? My dad used to subscribe to that, maybe I'll have to look into it.

Somehow, I don't find that too hard to believe. (offtopic) I can attest to them being crap at taping etc. My neighbor had her truck repainted and all the window gaskets and a bit of the chrome were suddenly red.

Congrats, you can't go wrong with a Corrola

No one's seriously interested in the car. I would take $650 for it to keep it from getting crushed if someone came and got it. I am unemployed, just moved, and don't have the patience to wait for someone to give me a gift.

The main thing is, as Oldestzguy said, with any paintwork, 90% of the final product, if not more, is dependent on your bodywork. You have to smooth out those blemishes, scratches, dings, and rust repair areas with spot putty. It's not that expensive, and it will make all your sanding, painting, sanding, painting, sanding, buffing worthwhile. A Maaco paint job isn't that bad for a street going paint job. They just don't do any prepwork. If you did all the prep, and had your body 110% perfect, it'd be $250 well spent in my book. I spent part of today at the Good Guys "Get Together" in Pleasanton. I can't tell you how many cars with "pretty" paint jobs that I pointed out the poor bodywork in to my girlfriend. By the end of the day, she could point fingers with the best of 'em. (and tell the difference between '55, '56, and '57 Chevy's. But I digress.)

Yes, let's see some more pictures. I was thinking the other day how nice it would be to do a flip front end, I guess I'm not the only one. I don't suppose you'd be interested in popping a mold would you? Nevermind, I can't even begin to afford the kit, let alone the labor to make a mold and lay a whole NEW kit. Very nice.

I've posted the car in the classified, anyone interested let me know. The reg is paid already for the next year so I'm already out fifty bucks.

I would aim for a manual, it'll be marginally cheaper and the tranny will usually last a little longer, although that is also dependent on the manufacturer. 90s Buicks are a good idea too, old people don't beat their cars up. Yeah, they're ugly, but they're cheap.

If you're familiar with it already, check out http://www.craigslist.org . It's free classifieds. I would recommend a late 80s, early 90s Camry. I found one with a brand new V6 for my sister for free. It needed a tranny. I found one for her, gave it to her at cost, charged her labor and she had a clean, reliable car for $1500. A word to the stupid, if you've never done one of these tranny's before, DONT. I hadn't. It booked out at 10 hours and it took me 18 I'm glad I had a rack to do it on or it would've taken a week.

Why not just buy a used dirt racing seat and modify that a little bit? It sounds like that's the look you're going for. The circle track seats are not too uncomfortable, especially if you upholster them right, and they come in different sizes.

Yeah, I've considered the POR15 route. I know it's savable, don't get me wrong. The company that makes that product makes a lot of really cool stuff that actually works. My main gripe was the frame rail that needs to be replaced. I'm not a welder at all, and I don't have the money any time in the forseeable future to pay someone to do it. Also, as I live in California, doing a SBC swap, which I will do eventually, is not something I want to do on a 280. I have a 240 that I can get for free from a friend. It may be worse off than this car, it was dark so it was hard to tell, but at least it's Non Smog and it's the car I want. This 280 has lots of little issues that make it a pain as a daily driver, which is all I really wanted to do with it for the time being. Passenger door opens from the inside only, driver window needs new regulator, leaks everywhere, the heater stopped working, no power to the radio, spongy brakes, temp guage/sender doesn't work, and the front end is washy. The wipers work pretty well though and ugly as it is people still stop me to talk about it. All these things are far within my abilities to fix, but not when I don't have a garage to keep my tools in. Half my stuff is in storage 60 miles away from me.

I took some pics, I can take more if someone wants, but not for several days. The car is now parked at my mom's in Concord CA as I'm trying to move this weekend to Sacramento. I don't know how to post pics in the thread, and the FAQ wasn't helpful, so here's a link to the pics on my flikr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60596288@N00/116108388/