24 months of intensive restoration, and I'm almost done.

[blakt out]

Thanks again, everyone.

Well, here's the story:

I flew into Wilmington, NC (where National Speed, Inc is) from Knoxville, TN (where I live) to watch them finish up a few jobs on the car. They just got it the Saturday before that, and had some things to do. For example, the throttle cable wasn't ideal coming out of the firewall, so they were going to fabricate a bracket for it. These guys are amazing fabricators, by the way. Also, with concern for the turbo getting the bottom of my freshly painted, non-vented hood hot, they were going to fabricate a heat shield. I was sort of bummed by this, because it would hide my turbo and not look pretty. But I'd be more bummed if it bubbled my paint or melted my plastic brake fluid reserviors. They were going to hook up some of the gauges, including the tach. They found a way to make the stock tach work with the 4cyl S15. They're going to tell me who helped them on this, because they deserve a ton of thanks. I apologize that I don't recall the name, but I'll make sure that fellow gets a public sign of appreciation, for sure. Anyway, plans were to fly in Wednesday, them finish the car on Thursday, I drive the car around in celebration all day Thursday, in case anything came up that needed to be addressed, and then leave out early Friday morning for Tennessee. This is an 8.5 hour drive, a real maiden voyage, for sure.

Before flying out, I was very excited. This would be my first time seeing the Z fully assembled, as well as my first time driving it since it went into the shop 36 months ago. Late one night earlier in the week, when I was still in Knoxville, I got a call from Chris Polanski, President of National Speed. I could tell in his voice that something wasn't good. My heart sank. "There's bad noises coming from inside this engine. I don't know what it is. We'll find it." The next day, he calls me back. One of the rocker arms has sheered, flopping all around inside the top of the engine. A valve shim is damaged, and the valve guide is missing, likely in the oil pan (which is was). The camshaft might have suffered some too. Gulp. I started reading all the SR20 threads online that I could find. I then found something of interest: When you build one of these engines, especially with upgraded cams, you have to put rocker arm stoppers in to keep them flop slapping everywhere at high rpm. I sent Chris and Jordan (my customer service superhero at National Speed... Zedex on this forum) some links just before I went to the airport, showing them what I'd found. When I land in Wilmington, I immediately drive to National Speed. In 5 minutes of talking with Jordan, including the greeting, I find out that National Speed has a new cam, all hardware, the stoppers which were omitted before... all coming next day air. Some parts they already had. They had John, a head technician, already working on it. I was happy about this, but I said "what about the cost? The time?" Jordan looked at me and said, "It's been a long time since I missed something on a build. I missed it on this one. We're taking care of all of this for you, and we intend to have you out of here and on your way back to Knoxville on time, with all the fabrication completed as well." I couldn't believe it. I actually COULD, because I've been working with these guys for a while now. But wow. When it actually happened, I can't explain the relief and respect that I had for these guys.

Friday morning, the car was back together and running very well. So, I took it around the block to their fabrication shop. They were a little behind becaus of the engine stuff, but now they could fabricate the heat shield, throttle cable bracket, install the temp sensor, create a bracket for the bottom of the intercooler, and fabricate a washer fluid reservior that more fit the style of my engine bay.

On the way over, the suspension felt really, really wobbly, and any bump or seam in the road caused a liver-shaking thump. It was so horrible. Upon looking at the coilovers, they realized that they weren't installed correctly, or all the way. So they throw yet another tech on my car to fix this.

I'll skip forward here, but after at least a dozen hours of working on the suspension (till Friday night around midnight, Saturday all day until about midnight, and all day today - Sunday - so far. I'm writing this from the fab shop) they've got the suspension feeling good now.

The Arizona Z Car (www.arizonazcar.com) equipment is absolutely stunning and ridiculously adjustable. I want to do everything I can to send business their way, because AZC is an incredible company, with integrity, and overengineered and GORGEOUS products. I better can't tell you with words, so I'll show you the pictures.

So now, they're working on a custom fabricated speedo gear. They have been for a couple of hours at least. The throttle cable bracket is done, as is the heat shield. Look how gorgeous this heat shield is. It's sanded stainless, and perfectly matches the coil cover that they designed.

We took it to the alignment shop today around 3:30, which is an hour and a half before they close. They got it up on the rack and saw what they had to deal with, and the lazy guy actually called me back and said that he didn't want to get into it on a Saturday afternoon. So, I'm going to drive it back to Knoxville tomorrow with the alignment off. National Speed wouldn't let me leave with it off as bad as it was, so they did the best they could at eyeing it, and it drives just fine.

I must say, I haven't even flipped it to high boost yet (which is over 500HP), only leaving it in low boost, which is 380 or so. It's incredibly stout, and the beautiful noises that this car makes gives me a boyish grin that I can't hide. Even at low boost, this car is extremely quick.

I can already tell that I'll be getting in touch with Arizona Z Car and ordering some stiffer springs. National Speed also had to actually fabricate spacers for the sway bars to connect to the control arms and not move around. This isn't an Arizona Z Car issue, but a sway bar company issue. AZC parts have been flawless so far.

So, I want to give a heartfelt thank you to National Speed for having up to 4 techs on my car after hours until midnight, from morning until (who knows, we're still here) on the weekend, and for being great guys to spend countless hours working on my dream car with. I'm a customer for life. I'll be starting some sort of muscle car build next, as I already have the drivetrain (LS3 & 6spd) out of a 2010 Camaro SS to play with. Jordan at National Speed already is planning up a single turbo system for it, but that's a long way away. But next time, I plan to do all of the resto work myself (National Speed WILL be doing any power mods though). Heck, they actually have every gauge in the Z, original gauges, working with the new drivetrain perfectly (speedo still being worked on, but I'm confident, to say the least).

If I ever build another Z car (I can't see why I would), I'll definitely go straight to Arizona Z Car and Les Cannaday at Classic Datsun. The pieces that Les gave me made my dream of a resto-mod Z with a perfect stock interior a reality. I've got a handful of photographers lined up to shoot this car, and they'll be framing up this interior a good bit. Right now, it's got my luggage all in it and a photo from tonight wouldn't do it justice. Thank you, Les. I also want to thank Guy Ried who tirelessly sought perfection on the unibody of this car. The body is laser straight, and he used filler in no areas except in one paper thin area where he had welded in a new piece to the rocker. I also want to thank John at CC Wheels (CCW). I think that my car wouldn't look just like I wanted it to with any other wheel set. These are gorgeous too. He had to study all of the parts that I had under the suspension over the phone and online, because I was in Thailand for a few months while he was making the wheels. The very first test wheel he sent fit perfectly. The stance is spot on. Mack with McKinney Motorsports gave me great info and sold me great parts. Of course, Motorsport Auto had great service, and always sent the right part right on time. Again, thanks to all of you.

Tomorrow, I take it on its maiden voyage, if nothing else comes up. The wipers still aren't on, as the motor is burnt out and it's supposed to rain. I sure hope it holds off, but RAIN-X! The steering wheel isn't straight, because it hasn't been aligned. It hasn't been corner balanced. It hasn't been set-up. The rear springs are too mushy. But guess what, I won't be caring. I'll be thanking God that I'm finally driving it. Despite a huge change in my personal finances since the start of this build, He sent enough good people my way to have it completed without any, ANY compromise to my original dream and I'm finally able to take her home.

Thank you all for following this thread. I'm sure that I'll be posting up more, answering any questions that I can, and basically telling you all how giddy I am.

And just for fun, this was an un-planned photo op at National Speed this week (well, I saw the others there are parked mine there for the picture). National Speed knows Z cars. They know fabrication. They know custom turbos. And they know how to treat people, even when they make the rare mistake. I think I've made some lifelong friends in this journey. I hope you have enjoyed following along on my build. The Z and I didn't make it to the Mitty this weekend. We didn't make it to the show at European Auto Garage in Knoxville (another terrific shop that works on other cars that I own). But we're registered and ready to be in the show at the Nationals in Franklin, TN. I hope some of you can attend. I'd love to meet you and show you my car. There's so many custom fabricated parts on it that it takes me 30 minutes to show someone all of them and explain why it was made the way it was. I'm very proud of it.

Edited May 2, 2010 by blakt out

[zhead240]

talk about being able to eat off it!! super clean!

why no wipers though?

[blakt out]

No wipers because, when I turned them on, one went one way and the other the other, so I have to figure out what's up there. Good catch!

[blakt out]

Just found out that I'll be having some pictures of the car taken with Peter Brock!

[sigalert]

Absolutely incredible. The most tasteful resto-mod I've ever seen; and probably the most capable too. Congratulations on a dream car!

[blakt out]

sigalert:

That's about the biggest compliment someone could pay me. Thank you so much.

Odd as it is, I'm one of those men who really gets nauseous when he sees a Z that's hardly recognizable as a Z. I'm proud of what the 240Z is and was. But in a day when you can get SUVs with 600HP, and those SUVs might outlap a stock 240Z (turns included), I wanted to find that delicate balance where everything changed made sense, everything "Z" remained. So I didn't touch the interior (well, it's all restored), and I didn't flare the wheel wells. But I gave it the best suspension I could, and a light, powerful drivetrain.

I found myself (this is just my opinion) thinking that the 240Z, if restored to stock, is just a tribute and not a car. After all, any Honda you can buy, including the little Insight, will likely outperform a stock 240Z with stock wheels & tires & suspension. That actually doesn't feel like a tribute to me. Instead, I wanted to clean it up, make it perfect, and set the 240Z bar as high as I could. I'm not saying others aren't higher, but that's what I intended to do. I truly wanted to do something that would honor the 240Z in everything that it is, not just everything that it was.

Thanks again. You made my night.

Jared

[rturbo 930]

Just found out that I'll be having some pictures of the car taken with Peter Brock!

Now that's awesome.

Odd as it is, I'm one of those men who really gets nauseous when he sees a Z that's hardly recognizable as a Z.

I couldn't agree more. Subtle mods are great, and compliment the Z. However, the Z is beautiful from the factory, and does not NEED any body mods. 90% of flares, 90% of airdams, Ferrari or Daytona replicas, etc. all ruin the Z, IMO.

I noticed the amount of thought you put into each your modifications, and the amount of effort that has gone into keeping it quite stock looking, and it has clearly paid off. It reminds me a bit of the light green Z Garage 240z with the RB25 - looks pretty stock, but performs like a modern car. Which reminds me, is that I think my favorite thing about your car is the fact it's the original color. Seems like no one ever does that, which is a shame, since the 240Zs came in some great colors.

I could go on, but I really need to get back to my school work. If I am ever in a position to build my dream Z though, it will probably end up a lot like yours.

And of course - congrats on owning your dream car! Enjoy it.

[GreenZZZ]

Question for ya blakt out: Did you strip/chip off the stock rust proofing on the bottom of the car or RhinoLine on top of the stock rust proofing after cleaning it? My car goes on the rotisserie today... need to get the plan together...

The bottom of the car was rust proofed, and then actually RhinoLined the bottom of it, with tint matched perfectly to the Datsun lime. (We left the wheel wells black).

[blakt out]

Stripped it clean. Put rust-proofing agent on top. Let it dry. Did it again. Then Rhino-Lined it.

[ChrisA]

I truly wanted to do something that would honor the 240Z in everything that it is, not just everything that it was.

Jared

I've loved S30 Z's since the first one I remember seeing in the mid 70's.

I've never cried over a car, ever. I watched my Father cry over a 1965 Impala 396 Super Sport.

But you Sir, have taken the cake and actually made me cry with that sentence above. I have read your every post and intently stared at every picture and I am in awe (again) of what the 240Z is, was and will always be.

Because of you.

Thank you.

[adamr]

Everytime I look at pics of your Z, my tounge gets dirt on it from hitting the floor.

[blakt out]

Chris & Adam:

Your two posts are ones that I have to show my buddies who just don't get what I did this. Thanks!

Jared