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Globerunner513's Build Thread. *56k warning*


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Well I never actually had a build thread on Hybridz...and thought I'd post this up to give something decent to link to in my Signature. haha. Enjoy.

 

STORY:

I got this car from a friend in 2005 during my junior year in HS. Paid $200. At first i only got it because i fell in love with the car the first time i saw it (literally, didn't know datsun made a sports car before then), and it was too good of a deal to let go.

 

Soon after i decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I would use the car for my Culminating Senior Project in high school, and that would in turn give me motivation and a goal to work towards. Although i didn't finish the car in time, i still had more than enough work into it to present my progress in the project.

 

So after purchasing the car, i drove it about a mile to my house....then then didn't drive it again for about 2 years :( *except on and off the trailer*

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I soon began diving into the project and began taking apart the interior. There were the obvious things...no carpet, cracked dashboard, torn seat covers, and decaying steering wheel from the california sun (don't ask me how a steering wheel decays, i don't know either)

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To my surprise there was extremely little rust. some surface spots here and there, but the only real rust was in the hatch area. Both the hatch and the panel had to be replaced.

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Next order of business was the suspension. Both front struts had siezed up, and the rear's were on their last leg. So i went with Tokico's Illumina 5-way adjustable struts. Found a good deal on ebay, and figured why not?. Also replaced the brake master cylinder, front calipers, and rear brake hoses at this time.

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Everything up to this point were all things that needed to be done to simply have a decently driving car, that wouldn't fall apart on me. But i wanted more than that. I was looking for a daily driver that i would enjoy driving as much as i enjoyed just being in the car. This meant that the interior was gonna need a little help.

 

I started off by installing a full face dash cap. Was really pleased with how it turned out.IMG_0094.jpg

 

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Cut some holes in the doors for a set of front speakers.

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Got a nice new set of seat covers (bottoms not shown)

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And installed a new Alpine stereo and rear speaker box with Infinity 'Reference' 6x9's *previous owner had an old sony stereo with computer speakers just lying in the back*

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Also got some a carpet set, but no photos since it was still in the box.

 

Next was the body work. I started by sanding down the original paint, and filled the side-strip holes with a thin layer of bondo.

 

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I shaved the holes in the rear by covering them from behind with fiberglass then filling them with fiberglass re-inforced bondo, then bondo to smooth in all out.

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Finally i was ready to take it to the body shop to have things finished up by a professional.

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Notice hand polished grill, and new MSA type II air dam to replace the front "sea anchor"

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Getting a low z car onto high trailer....Take I *actually ended up finding out that trailers make great see-saws when not hitched properly* oops

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Take II....had to think this time. Used a nearby driveway to get the angle right.

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At the body shop, getting smoothed out

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Back home from the body shop. Primered and ready to be blocked out.

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More sanding...

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K&N intake.

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Just having a little fun.

 

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Second layer of primer shot, and getting sanded down.

 

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Base coat sprayed. 2004 350z Daytona Blue. 2 coats.

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Clear coat sprayed and ready to take home.

 

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And i also took the front lip from this....

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and did This!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Very Nice. Now that I've seen your build thread, I think I understand why it says C.F.I.T under your name, haha. Good thing the ditch only caused minor damage. With luck my Z will look as nice as yours by late spring. I'm still slogging through suspension work...

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Nothing that isn't obvious really. Just be sure that it is supported evenly when the glue or whatever you use is setting up.

Also make sure that the whole dash cap is glued on the first time. I left the two sides (where the door would touch it) un-glued and figured i would get to it later. But because of that, now a lot of the dash cap is coming up, and I need to glue it down again.

 

If you have the option, and the time...doing it on the dash out of the car would probably give the best results.

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Hey! I was wondering how the speaker box is working out for you. I have the same MSA box with 2 Infinity 6x9's. I believe you have the same setup as I do, mine are jus the 3 way instead of the 2. Anywho, how is your bass? I'm running an amp to the speakers with about 80 watts each and the bass still seems to "flutter" out on songs with extra lows. I would think that it would only do that if it wasn't getting adequate power. Could it also be the HU? It's just some crappy JVC with a very limited EQ.

 

Anyways, I just thought I'd ask :P

 

Love the color on your Z btw. Utterly gorgeous!

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haha yeah they are the reference 3-ways. I'm running a decent alpine head unit, and there isnt much bass to speak of really. It gets good signal and power to the speakers, but I think a sub is needed to really get anything worthwhile for bass. I dont really mind though, cause personally I'm not too much into 'thumping' music anyway.

 

Thanks for the comments!

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A sub, or a kappa rather than a reference.. much harder material for the cone, they deliver a strong bass note thats crisp down to low frequency... sorry, the kappa is my favorite car speaker so I kinda think poorly about Reference series. I know the kappas are pricey, but if I am going to spend more than $100 on a pair of speakers, I think 250-300 is reasonable and worth it. If I can't spring that much, then I go <$100.

 

I say this because the bass response on the kappas is *just* right for the Z, for someone not into going the whole subwoofer route. Enclosed in a good box, they sound terrific playing anything from the beatles through tool and in to tom waits and back to blues traveler.

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Nothing that isn't obvious really. Just be sure that it is supported evenly when the glue or whatever you use is setting up.

Also make sure that the whole dash cap is glued on the first time. I left the two sides (where the door would touch it) un-glued and figured i would get to it later. But because of that, now a lot of the dash cap is coming up, and I need to glue it down again.

 

If you have the option, and the time...doing it on the dash out of the car would probably give the best results.

 

 

Thanks! will look at taking out the dash since the rest of the interior is gutted.

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Thanks! will look at taking out the dash since the rest of the interior is gutted.

 

I'm going to be going that route also, I had forgotten that the dash had a fuzzy cover for so many years and now that it is off it shows many years of damage.

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks, yeah I'll look at pulling my dash to install my cover too. I was going to wrap mine lightly with bungee cords while the glue dries. I figured that would stick in it place pretty well.

 

The Blue is nice, Sucks about the ditch. Guess it happens, Did insurance help with that, or were you on your own there?

 

Phar

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  • 4 months later...

Hey, I've been meaning to look you up on here.

 

I'm in Bellingham as well and I've seen your Z around town a few times. Noticed the HybridZ decal and thought I'd say hey.

 

I'd love to check out your Z sometime, it's a looker. And getting a few multi-Z pics with yours mine, and maybe some of the other B'ham Z's would be awesome.

 

Here's a pic of my car, maybe you've seen me around town.

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