Mikelly Posted March 28, 2001 Share Posted March 28, 2001 I was sitting in bed last night with a wrenched back (Ever hear of back muscles spasming so hard that they put pressur eon your heart? I'm there...) and I got to thinking.. Last October when I parked the car, I had only intended to replace the fuel cell and mufflers.... Now, I have the cell installed, a set of mufflers on the floor waiting to go in, a new fiberglass front clip to finish up, 18 points of my 20 point cage complete, new floor pans, neww gages, new seats coming, a 5 lug conversion, much larger brakes up front, different brakes in the rear, and coil overs with new struts and camber plates.... This thing really took a major detour.... Motor is out of the car, and the engine bay will be stripped of the accesories tonight if my back will cooperate. I really want to get the front core support cut out and the egnine bay painted by end of the weekend... Mike ------------------ http://hometown.aol.com/dat74z/myhomepage/auto.html "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RON JONES Posted March 28, 2001 Share Posted March 28, 2001 Yep,You went deep.Unlike Me,who did nothing I said I was Going to do.But there are resons for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted March 28, 2001 Share Posted March 28, 2001 I know what you mean! My car was just supposed to be a stock Z with a 302/5-speed and some nice rims. And you know what it mutated into!!!! Mike, hope you feel better, try not to hurt yourself, it's just a car, dammit!!! (I can't talk, I have cuts, scratches, and welt on my hands forom the car!!!) Take care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 28, 2001 Share Posted March 28, 2001 Mike, let me tell a little story to maybe make you feel better about your car project gone awry, in these past few short months. 11 years ago this silly fellow decided he was finally going to take his 240Z with L6 off the road, install some frame rails, floors and subframe connectors, and build a mild 327 and install it with a Monza T-5 and R200 3.545:1 open rear. All stock gages were to be used, maybe get some junkyard seats out of a newer car, no A/C, nothing fancy, no polished aluminum and little chrome under the hood and just make it a quicker driver. Maybe a paint job. This fellow did the metal work planned, built the 327, obtained the T-5 and parts to hook it up, found the ad for the 1st edition of the JTR manual in PHR mag and ordered it, and was ready to go.... Well, that was the plan. Then this fellow read Bill Reagan's book on restoring a 240Z and about the same time found major rust hiding in the rocker boxes of the Z. Well, the project started really snowballing at this point, as he decided that all the rust that he was finding (tool box area, various other placed in the back of the car, roof back edge, etc. etc.) really meant that the rear quarters should come off and new outer wheel housed should go on. To do this correctly, and to use some of the tricks he'd read about in the restoration book, the fellow became engrossed in a "frame off" body restoration, and all the little details that go along with that. LOTS of money was spent at a body shop to do the panel replacement and bodywork and paint prep work (no paint as of yet - maybe next week!). Well, the fellow gets the car back and it looks good, even in primer. Under the hood is painted nice and the engine goes in. Used polished AL parts become available cheap, and they are teamed up with new parts to make the whole ensemble match. The fellow says, well if I'm going to have all this nice shiny stuff in here, and that used A/C compressor is on, I need to add A/C and start doing a nice job when I hook stuff up. More snowballing. But this fellow is having a ball creating something of some beauty with his own to hands (and CC). The project becomes an object of his passion (to quote a great HybridZ'er). It snowballs into a huge time and money pit. In the mean time, this fellow discovers that there are TONS of good ideas out there on the Internet for Z modifications. So the entire suspension is modified (with a few unique tricks of his own), the brakes go through two complete transformations, and the electrical system becomes twice as complex as the stock 240Z. Junkyard seats give way to new racing/touring seats, etc., etc. And 11 years later the engine can run, the car can move, but IT'S STILL NOT ON THE ROAD. This fellow is wondering about his own sanity at this point, and is INCREDIBLY thankful his wife does not just up and leave him! Mike, in that light, I don't think the path these 5 months have taken you down is really all that bad. Hope that helped, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie-GNZ Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 My L28T Z was supposed to be tearing up road courses at Porsche and BMW drivers schools, then I took it to the drag strip to see what kind of progress I was making and...... Hey Pete, I just around the corner from you in Bethesda, but it is just a quickie in/out trip. Last minute beckon by hqtrs for a meeting tomorrow that will last 3.5hrs then out tomorrow eveining. I will spend more time on the plane than I will in the meeting I thought aboust spending a day but I have to go to Seattle Sunday. ------------------ Scottie 71 240GN-Z Scottie's GNZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Ole Pete.......that show-off; he's always gotta one up us. I'm gonna catch you yet Pete! Only 10 more years to go & I've got you! Kevin, (Yes,Still an Inliner) PS: Pete; Just kidding of course about the show-off thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Scottie - Sorry I was in the garage all night and missed that - I may have a lead on having a famous Rod painter do my car in the next week and I was trying to get things ready for a visit by him Thursday night. Check your email, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 My motor was going to be a stock 280zxt motor pushing 225hp with some extra boost and mabey a starion intercooler. But it had no turbo, oh there is a hybrid for sale and it has fresh rebuild. It would be a shame to have that big hair dryer with no fuel for it. I decided to get a rising FPR but that was $250, I can get a DFI for $350. It would be a shame to put on a starion intercooler on that better spend extra $100 for the NPR. Do you see a pattern forming, happens real easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 I've seen it called snow balling (I refer to my car as the snowball sometimes), "might as well", project creep, others. It's the sign of not being abole to stick with a plan - I see it as a positive thing somewhat. You learn more, find deals, make new decisions. I don't see a problem with it, as long as it's a conscious decision and it DOES get finished. I'm on track for a June hit-the-streets date, BTW . Kevin, don't worry, my skin is thick from many years of jokes about my timeline. I don't mind being an object of these jokes. Mike, I hope you recover soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Sounds like my story Clint. I had a $1200 tax return, and figured that would be perfect for a cheap, budget performance upgrade. Maybe a built L28? Cheapy V8 swap? Stock Turbo? Heh. $6500 later, and I have another car alltogether, the engine is going to be anything but stock, half the other stuff on the car has changed, and more is still changing. Argh! My "engine swap" has been almost a year in the making now! ------------------ Richard Lewis - 1972 240z, Powered by a Nissan 2.8L Turbo Inline 6. Drax240's Turbo Site Beginners Turbo FAQ & Answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 HAH. . . $6500 . . . chicken feed!. . .Money Pits. . .more like a Grand Canyon over here! Alas, mine was also to be a hack to drive round in! I can also relate to the back, once in a moment of madness a mate and I picked up the block, I then went down in a heap. ..couldnt move, alllllmost threw up, spent next day being veeeerrrrry still, and week or 2 after suffering the after affects! I think we all have "Z-FEVER" its a nasty disorder bought about by old petrol fumes and decaying rubber parts, the combination of these gasses causes a, subtle at first, change which makes us want to tinker, and replace the odd part. . . .but then it gets worse and worse until we finally hit the 'end stage symptoms' at this point we have spent so much money and put in so many hours, that we can't turn back. . . we've got to go that one step more! Sorry Guys . . . .there's NO CURE!!! Mine has progressed so far, that I haven't even significantly modded my web for 2 months. . .though I am now driving a street registered obsession and will hopefully show it at the Australian Z Nationals in 2 weeks. ..though there's still a lot to do! Hope the back gets better Mike, and, well Pete, Im sorry, but I think your Z-FEVER has mutated to an even more scary disorder! Cheers - Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Yeah I think I came down with a touch of that. I noticed a uncontrollably itchy mastercard as a symptom. So I called Summit and they suggested more parts and call them in the morning. Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted March 30, 2001 Share Posted March 30, 2001 Very, very interesting....Hhhmmm(?). Could it be that we are being taken over by an 'alien' bug of some sort. Mindlessly driving our Z's around minding our own business; then the Jap/Engineered dormant Alien Dust begins slowly recirculating our vents as the NON-Zink dipped boddies & paint dust slowly oxidize & infiltrate our respiratory systems while heading straight into our nervous system till our DNA is overthrown and controlled by the Alien DNA!!! We are then merely diminished to nothing but a Host controlled by this Alien DNA/Parasite & comanded to Restore the living organisms outer shell we call a "Z" as protection while our search for a V8 is indicative of the Alien DNA's prime directive for evasion as a Defensive/Maneuver for survival from other Hostile Aliens...., Okay, okay...guess I watch to much of the Sci-Fi channel also; but it does make for a good argument! Kevin, (Yes,Still a "Not totally Controlled by Alien DNA" Inliner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 30, 2001 Share Posted March 30, 2001 quote: Originally posted by simon-zbuild: ... Hope the back gets better Mike, and, well Pete, Im sorry, but I think your Z-FEVER has mutated to an even more scary disorder!... Cheers - Simon I think it's call extreme HybridZ-neurosis. Whatever it is, I love it P.S. StreetRod painter Richard Glymph and friends were in my garage tonight sizing up th job. I'm in for a big bill, I'm afraid. The previous shop that did the body work and got it to the point of "being ready to shoot" didn't do such a great job. The wife is going to KILL me. At least the guy can get right on it, and I have no question it will be a high quality job. I just hope I can afford his (yet undetermined) estimate. Hmm. I got an enticing offer in the mail today for a second mortgage with a check for $50,000 if I sign up. FORGET IT! I'll just have to rob a bank or something. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted March 30, 2001 Share Posted March 30, 2001 cool i thought i was bad.... my original plan was paint and a set of wheels.... now the only thing that is the same since i bought it is the body... rb-26 engine r33 drivetrain coilovers camber plates tubular lower control arms SDS ect ect its a nice ride but i blew teh hell out of teh budget.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted March 30, 2001 Share Posted March 30, 2001 Mike, Take lots of pictures; not only will we want to see the car in progressive steps but you will also appreciate a "Picture Album" of the car from beginning to end (Hah! as if there ever is an end). Pete; sounds like your paint job is gonna be nice! Expensive/but nice; that'll be the difference between a paint job that last five years before fading/cracking as opposed to a paint job that lasts forever (20years). Mike/dont kill yourself-take your time & get as much rest as possible between stages. What good is a finished car if your back hurts so bad you cant ride in it(?); guess you could always install a Semi-Tractor Truck bucket seat w/air ride! Those are nice-but then you'ld have to cut a whole in the roof for the extension of the seat...might loose the sleeper approach w/that add-on...........take it easy & dont over extend yourself! Kevin, (Yes,Still an Inliner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.