Latest mods: DIY side skirts & dash cam

[HeatRaveR]

Let me start off by saying that I very much like the basic body lines of the 280ZX. Particularly, I like the way the sides "roll under", and aftermarket side skirts always flare out. But I also recognize that it's best to close off the bottom of the car as much as possible. So I came up with a simple solution that only cost $10, and is subtle enough not to change the body lines. I bought some ABS strips and bolted it to the gnarled and chipped seam strip under the rocker panels. All in all, it was cheap, easy to do, subtle, and effectively lowers the sides of the car. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but I liked it for my car.

 

And, I also just mounted a dash cam. Hehe, as you can see, it looks like a shift light at first glance. But it's positioned perfectly to be able to swivel to shoot the side, and even the driver. I was going to get some footage this last weekend on a drive with my Z club, but I got up a half hour too late to make it (I was up till 5am perfectly planning out the music to play >_< )

[Challenger]

Looks good. Whered you get the strips?

 

I had bought some yard edging to do something similar, havent done it yet.

[woldson]

Every time I stare at my 83 I was thinking the same thing, roll is very nice. Your idea is fantastic. I don't understand what you have done, can you explain more, abs?

Sorry and thankyou, your car is GREAT!

[m1ghtymaxXx]

at very least its a good way to hide those crumbly rustyness of those panels caused by the oem scissor jack.

[Gollum]

I think it looks pretty sweet.

 

I also like the factory lines to a point, and I also don't like lowering cars much for looks and functionality (i'm sure most here understand). So you kinda have to install some type of skirt if you want to limit the air going under the car from the side. Your solution is cheap and looks great imo. If you painted the rivets/screws black it'd be even harder to see it.

 

Job well done.

[HeatRaveR]

Every time I stare at my 83 I was thinking the same thing, roll is very nice. Your idea is fantastic. I don't understand what you have done, can you explain more, abs?

Sorry and thankyou, your car is GREAT!

 

Thanks! I forget what ABS (the plastic, not the brakes ) stands for, but it's the dense, flexible plastic usually used to make modern bumpers and mudguards. Though heavier and less rigid than fiberglass, you can kick and bend ABS all you want, and it'll usually return back to shape.

 

I got them from a local plastics store called Tap Plastics. They have sheets of all kinds of plastics that you have cut to your size specs (I did mine at 61" x 2.5"). There should be equivalent businesses in most communities. They also make signs, so you can also check with larger sign-making businesses (small shops wouldn't have any place to stock plastic sheets).

 

I would have painted the bolts used to secure them, but the paint will chip off the next time I unbolt them, so I didn't want to have to deal with that mess. I wanted to make the skirts easy to remove in case I have need to jack the car up from the side or need to slide under the car.

[Gollum]

So what you're saying is there's no local store that sells black anodized bolts.

 

I agree though. I wouldn't want to deal with the paint flaking every time I needed to take it off.