Enjuku racing RB Z31 oil pan arrived and the traction rods for the rear suspension are supposed to ship tomorrow. Then it will go to a local shop for the rear cage next week. Going for this design only with much better welds and no diagonal bars down to the trans tunnel. 

Lastly, I am having the stock intercooler recess on the valve cover welded up to mirror the other side. It's always bothered the hell out of me on RB's. 

This is so cool! I have never seen this done but always hated the stock intercooler notch on the RB26 valve cover. The body guy made an aluminum cover and welded it in place. 

What color are you going to powder coat those valve covers Brandon?

Flat medium wrinkle grey. Similar to the S20 engines in the original 432 and GTR. Most people do black or red but I think the grey will be more suited for this one and will contrast the color well. The trim, spoilers, roll cage and wheels will also all be gunmetal to tie in the theme. 

In my daily searches I stumbled upon this while looking for JDM lights which is the craziest part I have ever seen for the Z31. It's for an 86 and has a 10k redline vs the original 8k. It's like it was meant for this project! I also love the tricolor display for tach and speed as well as the nifty sub 1/4 tank detail gauge like my old 87 Pathfinder had. Totally 80's, totally rad! I was racking my brain on what to do about the tach because I wanted to keep the factory cluster but also wanted to know my correct revs. I was planning on going with a digital display but now I can keep it old school. 

 

Will you leave it Km/H?

Yeah, can't change that. Would be just as if it were a JDM. I will just have to familiarize myself with where 80 is

129 Km/h

Unfortunately that cluster was sold but never removed from the site. Bummed because that was a fantastic find and I got an order confirm and everything. Seems the site has a number of things listed that are no longer available. I found a few companies that might be able to replicate it though. 

Got the throttle bodies back. Enlarged to 49mm, new plates, seals, bearings, bore coating and all hardware plated in yellow cadmium. Watanabe's are done and ship tomorrow! Cannot wait to see them! Stroker crank, rods, header flange and head studs arrive this week too so I can run it all over to the machinist. Then the real fun begins! Also, a few more shots of the amazing work done on the RB26 covers. Lastly, spray outs of Lotus saffron yellow and Nissan safari gold. Saffron is out but I am going to take a loot at Porsche 139 blossom yellow or blood yellow as it's sometimes referred too. It was a common color on the 914 back in the 70's and appears to be like 920 safari gold with a touch more yellow. It's also the color of RUF's "yellowbird". I am most likely to paint it safari gold but I definitely want to see the 139 color before I make the final call. 

Lastly, the traction rods shipped and once I get them in, the car can be towed to the fabricator who is doing the rear roll cage. Then on to bodywork and paint!

 

 

Gotta hate that on the cluster!

Yellow bird. I remember when the car was new. What a beast! Good color...

Whoever did the valve cover has good metal skills!

Thanks and yeah, the metal guy is amazing!

 

The Nitto stroker 2.8L crank, H beam rods, ROSS crank fire hall sensor kit, ARP head studs, ARP rod bolts and the RB26 exhaust flange arrived. My traction rods showed up as well so I can get those in and tow the car to the shop that's doing the rear cage on Sunday. 

 

Edited March 15, 20186 yr by five&dime

Traction arms in and the car is finally brought down. Hilarious how high the front is compared to the rear. Ready for takeoff!

Let some air out of the fronts.