Jump to content
HybridZ

My Carbon Fibre 280z!


miky360

Recommended Posts

March 1, 2021 Update on Page 2
 

 

Just wanted to share my Z now that it's finally back from the body shop! Meant to say 4 months for most of my front end instead of 6. Just camera shy and stuttered. Didn't realize it till editing ahaha. The car will be weighed very soon and we estimate about 200-225lbs removed including the stripping of the interior. What else are you guys doing to your Z's to shed weight?  

 

This car has more carbon than Rocky Autos Z that was featured on Speedhunters some years back. And I haven't even ordered my dash yet! 

 

 

Edited by miky360
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this a weight weenie build, or more just for kicks? Just asking since you started with the worst year you possibly could lol.

 

Are the doors for a '78, or are they for the earlier cars? Given how heavy '78 doors are, I bet you lost a good amount of weight there. Surprised you didn't go with carbon bumpers + aluminum brackets as well. If you're looking for some more weight to lose, I'd suggest taking out the impact bumper supports. I plan to do that on my '76 chassis. I have a series one chassis that I want to strip down and weigh to compare against my bare '76 as well.

 

Let us know what the final weight is, I'm very curious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started off as just a nice street cruiser then it was time to paint the car since rusted started to form. Got quoted $12,000...... it was literally cheaper to buy carbon replacement panels and just have the main shell painted lol. I was on the fence for lightweight bumpers but I really don’t like that look. I really preferred the classic chrome bumper look. I never thought of replacing those front bumper brackets to aluminum actually. Maybe the shop could makeshift me one!

 

The doors themselves are for a 78. I was so worried about Restored.jp getting it wrong because they didn’t technically receive a 280z in Japan. Luckily it was a perfect fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you! Unfortunately, I won't be making it for the swap meet :( It's being sent off for floors, frames, and seat brackets in a couple weeks.

 

@EF Ian Oh no way! I actually had no idea. I guess that's on my next order! I was playing with the idea of getting the CF ones then having them wrapped in chrome but it's still nowhere near as having real chrome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its more expensive than it is to chrome a metal one due the process taking more time as before the nickel and chrome go on it needs 3 or 4 coats of conductive copper paint applied with sanding smooth in beetween each coat. 

 

Good choice staying chrome, you need it to break up the carbon fibre and to help make the carbon stand out.

 

 

 

 

This bumper here is an FRP one that has been chromed, as you can see, you couldn't tell it wasn't a metal one. 

 

Chromed%20FRP%20Bumper%201.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Arif Very nice! I've only seen your car through retro-specs pics. Was very jelly that you got yours first before me ahaha. It used to have a sunroof but then I just had the a roof made of CF instead of just plugging it with a metal sheet and risk warpage. I'll make another video soon of better detail. 

 

@EF Ian Naw, if it's not actual carbon, I don't want to fake it. Saw some guys on youtube who did carbon quarters. Thinking of driving down to them and possibly ask them if they're willing to do mine heheh. But that's probably not until phase 2 of the car. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, EF Ian said:

How about getting the rest of the car skinned in carbon fibre so it looks like the whole car is carbon fibre?

I saw this 370z at Zdayz a few years ago and talked to the owner. The main body was skinned but he said because the car flexed the carbon fiber has small cracks in it. I'm sure there is a way to do it but that's a big commitment with no guarantees later on. The s30 flexes way more than a 370z so that might be an issue.

20160521_123757.jpg

20160521_124749.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fair enough. 

 

Don't take this as me criticising you, its not, just asking a question. I assume you've jut had the car painted, and therefore you chose the blue? How come you went with blue instead of going for a dark grey to match the carbon fibre, from far back it would look all one colour but up close you would notice the lovely carbon fibre parts. For me the main part that stands out too much is the blue under the doors.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, miky360 said:

@Arif Very nice! I've only seen your car through retro-specs pics. Was very jelly that you got yours first before me ahaha. It used to have a sunroof but then I just had the a roof made of CF instead of just plugging it with a metal sheet and risk warpage. I'll make another video soon of better detail. 

 

Ah ok that makes sense on the roof. Are you concerned with the  lack of side impact protection of the CF doors?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Arif said:

I saw this 370z at Zdayz a few years ago and talked to the owner. The main body was skinned but he said because the car flexed the carbon fiber has small cracks in it. I'm sure there is a way to do it but that's a big commitment with no guarantees later on. The s30 flexes way more than a 370z so that might be an issue.

Thats a valid reason for not doing it, I didn't actually think of that as you tend assume body panels wouldn't flex much, but for sure there is a lot of flexing goes on with S30 at the rear quarter panels as they lead up to the roof.

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Arif said:

Ah ok that makes sense on the roof. Are you concerned with the  lack of side impact protection of the CF doors?

That should be an area for concern, however while there is side protection in the stock doors, its still very poor so you might not be loosing too much protection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, EF Ian said:

That should be an area for concern, however while there is side protection in the stock doors, its still very poor so you might not be loosing too much protection.

Depends on the year. For a 240, it's almost nonexistent. 73-76 cars have a door beam added to the door, which is actually pretty beefy, it's about 10lbs worth of steel. 77-78 had the door jamb redesigned for side impact safety, and it's probably safer than you think. Not on the level of a new car, though, obviously.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@EF Ian The original plan was to do slate grey like on the older 911s to flow with the carbon but I knew overtime with the amount of sun exposure it's going to get that the carbon is going to fade over time. So I just decided to go with the blue then later down the line, when its time, paint the rest of the car blue. I also used to have another blue 280z and they just look sooooo goooood in blue ahah

 

@Arif Yeah impact was definitely a thought in mind. A cage is being tossed in the brainstorm bubble but I also have another idea in mind that may or may not work. I've never seen anybody do it yet so I'll be making a future post about it soon on my experience. Don't want to say anything JUST yet because it's gonna get a lot of criticism because it's a pretty new idea. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, miky360 said:

 

@Arif Yeah impact was definitely a thought in mind. A cage is being tossed in the brainstorm bubble but I also have another idea in mind that may or may not work. I've never seen anybody do it yet so I'll be making a future post about it soon on my experience. Don't want to say anything JUST yet because it's gonna get a lot of criticism because it's a pretty new idea. 

After reading rturbo 930's response I want to look at pulling the skin off my doors and then possibly overlay cf onto the frame. I'm not sure if that would work but it does have me thinking about how to make it work. I'd be interested to see what you come up with as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, OldAndyAndTheSea said:

If you have any questions in regards to carbon construction, and safety, don't hesitate to ask. I'll gladly share anything that I know.

 

 

How would you construct a carbon fiber door without a cage in the car? Consider that it's a street car with some track time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...