78nismoZ Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hi guys! Sorry its taking so long. The build is not dead just dormant. The garage took longer than I expected and Im finishing it up this weekend so ill have all the space I need to take care of everything. Once it is all back together Im going to start stitch welding the entire front end. So thanks for being patient and Ill have some pics up soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draztik280 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 And the heater/AC control center Before Nice build on the Z. Where did you buy this part at? Mine seems to be leaking inside the car. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 If I'm not mistaken I bought it at motorsportauto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ejkej Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Nice job! Can't wait to see it at the finish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 Alright guys after a long wait here is an update. I have finish my garage and started on the car again. I have taken the car off of the dolly and put it in it's final place until my suspension is back on. The first pics are how the car was before I started sandblasting this week. Here are some of the toys I have been using. The compressor is a rental from Northside Tool Rental here in Atlanta, it's a 8.5 horsepower dual stage air compressor. This thing is a beast at 90psi its flowing 14.7 cfm it never misses a beat. The sandblaster is from Horror Freight. The only mods I had to do to it were replace the crappy water separator with a nicer one from Home Depot. This was a gift from my boss at work, just cause he didn't want it anymore, perks of working at a Shell Station were companies give us stuff for free. Here is an after teaser shot, there are more to come tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat1 Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 looking good man, great progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakotan Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 looks awesome I can't wait to start on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 Sorry for the delays on pics guys had a couple of problems with the compressor, the bolts on the exhaust stripped out the head from vibrating so much, so I had to run it back to the rental place until they get a new one for me on monday. So stay tuned.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted September 5, 2010 Author Share Posted September 5, 2010 Hey guys its been a while but Im going to try and keep this thing updated. I recently got hired at Toyota so I work in the mornings and have a bunch of free time in the afternoons, so hopefully the next couple weeks will be full of updates. Well just to show you guys I have been busy.... I cleaned up my L28ET block, painted it and cleaned up all of the aluminum. I am also replacing as many of the bolts that I can with stainless socket-head bolts, stainless bolts, or just plain old grade 8 bolts. Well now what people really care about the pics!!! began with After I partially polished the differential cover and it also got the socket-head treatment... O yeah i almost forgot.....my favorite part of the build.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RemieGino14 Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 I'm completely jealous. I'm planning to do a full restoration project on my 78 280z, but I'm debates on what I should be doing. Any tips? Alot of people are telling me to stop and find a new body, but I mean this is my first car I get to work on since I'm a student at an automotive school. It being my first car, it being my first experiences, so yeah... - RemieGino14 - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Subscribed. Definitely want to see more like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted September 6, 2010 Author Share Posted September 6, 2010 Ok guys got a late start on the car today but I made some progress. I primed and painted my valve cover and stripped my oil pan to bare metal. Here is a pic of the valve cover And here is a glimpse of my oil pan bolts, don't worry guys Im not leaving it bare... What do you guys think?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted September 7, 2010 Author Share Posted September 7, 2010 Ok guys got some more work done today. Im not moving as fast as I would like but slow progress is still progress. Today I pulled my oil pan off so I can decide how I want my new sump to look and how I want the baffles in it. Here is a shot of the inside of my bare pan... I also clean up my a/c bracket and pulled the CAS pickup off of the bracket since I wont be using it.(It took a while to clean, I wish I would have taken a before pic because you couldn't even tell that it was aluminum aside from the weight.) I wanted to update you guys on my suspension. Aside from the coilovers(ground control kit and tokico illuminas) the rest of the suspension is going to remain pretty much stock(for now.) I went through and painted all of the stock bits and pieces, even the half shafts! After speaking to a local datsun enthusiast/racer/builder/restorer/etc.etc, Eddie Radatz I decided to go ahead and try the 280zx N/A intake which according to him flows extremely well compared to the stock intake due to the taper towards the rear. So heck I'll give it a shot considering it only cost me shipping for it and the guy I bought it from sandblasted it. So here are some pics of the two manifolds. The last thing for today are my calipers. I have a buddy that gave me a hell of a deal on some re-manufactured s12+8 calipers. I didn't want them to rust so I painted them with VHT header paint, its flat red. I don't know how I feel about the color just yet. I mean it's not bad but still Im not sure if I'll keep the color. Alright guys that is it for tonight. Let me know what you think and there will be more tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted September 7, 2010 Author Share Posted September 7, 2010 Nothing from anybody??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RemieGino14 Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 I'm completely jealous. I'm planning to do a full restoration project on my 78 280z, but I'm debates on what I should be doing. Any tips? Alot of people are telling me to stop and find a new body, but I mean this is my first car I get to work on since I'm a student at an automotive school. It being my first car, it being my first experiences, so yeah... - RemieGino14 - Other than that your doing a nice job. Lol. Wished I had the funds, barely even stripping the damn car down...which is taking a while. - RemieGino14 - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 hehe Well you're a year ahead of me on my car, and I'm certain a few 100 bucks ahead too. How was the aircraft stripper? I saw you went ahead and blasted it anyway. Perhaps it's just better to have it media blasted and save the mess and fumes from the stripper. I mean I know there should be some sanding after the stripper. Tell me more about your coilovers. Where'd you get the kit? about how much am I looking to have to spend on it? Your project is looking really good right now. Don't forget to seal the holes beneath the rear where you did the bondo work, you don't want it to rust from the underside out.. Since you've got all the suspension out, you might as well seal the whole underside. Seam sealer and Eastwoods got a nice black epoxy sealer paint you might look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted September 9, 2010 Author Share Posted September 9, 2010 The aircraft stripper is great. The best i've used so far is marhyde tal-strip 2 aircraft remover. So far it is the best and i've tried just about every other product at oreily's, autozone, advance, and napa. I prefer the stuff in the jug as apposed to the spray. The fumes are a little better and you don't get the mist from the spray. The marhyde works great on the factory asphalt based undercoating. The key is you have to lather it on heavy, leave it for at least 15-30 minutes, and then have a sturdy scraper handy to dig it off. You will also need a trashcan handy to clean the scraper off. Id have to say sending the car off to be media blasted would be the best option. In my case it was easier to do half and half. The under body was near impossible for me to blast because I couldn't shell out the extra money for a rotisserie. That is where the stripper came in extra handy. I also used a knotted wire wheel attached to my grinder, it helps a lot but is extremely loud underneath the car. The coil-overs are from ground control. They are the 280z weld kit, here is thelink. The price is $399.99 plus shipping. There are websites online were they are a little cheaper but I didn't mind spending a few extra dollars to speak to their customer service reps. They are very knowledgeable about their product and i recommend going straight to the source for their parts. As for shocks i bought tokico illuminas from beta motorsports. I can't remember the price but John is an honest guy and I will definitely be doing business with him in the future. As for the underbody i have some plans. I've been doing some research on diy undercoatings and i think ive come to a conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted December 28, 2010 Author Share Posted December 28, 2010 Sorry for the delay you guys, Its cold in Georgia, I used a bunch of money on Christmas, and now I have a cold. In other news I had some fun today while I was laying around the house....what do you guys think??? Carbon Fiber Megasquirt Case!!!!! Just Kidding its that 3m vinyl. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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