blakt out

National Speed is adding in the wastegate recirculation to the exhaust... Boring out the hole really carefully... Turned out pretty well...

OK. I gave up on switching to Flickr and just paid the bastards. All the pics should be working now. Adam, thank you a ton for the kind words. I'm hoping to be driving her in January sometime, fully done. I can't wait. I can't explain how much I can't wait.

Thanks guys. The truth of the matter on the $20 is that I felt like they were "holding me up" for it. I never knew there was a limit. Also, I planned on switching to a Pro Flickr account, because it works directly with the iPhoto program on my Mac. And lastly, when you spend that much on a car, are an entrepreneur and have to merge your company with another (thus, having to go through the startup process again which equals no money) you start to really get tight. In my case, REALLY. It's not really that intriguing. There's a direct correllation to spending a lot on something and not having much left.

Sorry guys. Photobucket says that I've used too much bandwidth this month... too many people going to look at my account. How wild. I'm not going to pay them $25 to fix it. I just opened a Flickr account, but I doubt I'll be able to go in and change all of the links over. This SHOULD work long-term though. Here are the exhaust pics though... <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4092649542/" title="image060 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2631/4092649542_b0168b04c9.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="image060" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4092649236/" title="image058 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/4092649236_87532e3a9b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="image058" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4091884053/" title="image057 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/4091884053_104dd075c6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="image057" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4091883913/" title="image056 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/4091883913_691023284e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="image056" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4092648682/" title="image054 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/4092648682_2e06a9632f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="image054" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4091883495/" title="image053 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/4091883495_3ca658ee10.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="image053" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredcullop/4092648390/" title="image052 by jaredcullop, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2743/4092648390_d5b254f10b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="image052" /></a>

OK y'all: The exhaust for this car, if I might say so myself, is pretty wonderful. I told them that I wanted it tucked up under the car as much as possible so that it wouldn't be prone to scraping, and that I wanted to use stock hanger locations - not drilling into the bottom of the car at all. Here's what they've come up with so far. The welds aren't finalized in these pics. They have a tip on here that bends down. I killed that. Don't like it at all. We're doing with a straight pipe with a diagonal cut on it instead. Also, note the hanger system they made. Oh, and check out my clearance, yo.

Here's the thing... why not just buy a Cobra kit car and build it? We like our Z's for what they are and what they can be in their own right. I feel that it has lacked the respect it deserves in history, and this is shown every time someone uses the shell as a canvas to make some other car out of it. Hmmm.... what other car is in this category? Ahh! The Pontiac Fiero! Guys, I don't think that the Classic S30Z should be considered no better than a Fiero. I've done mods to my car. A lot. But I kept it as a Z still. As said before, these are only opinions, and we're all on here to talk about cars. I just think that the whole, "He's living his dream! Don't hate on it!" talk would be better suited for a Democratic Handout Convention than a forum named CLASSIC Z.

I think the problem that most of us have is that we all appreciate the Z and think that it should hold it's place in the Pantheon of classic cars. However, there are so many people out there who buy one of our "babies" just to learn how to bondo fiberglass onto it and live out their redneck fantasies. I mean, look at the trailer/house in the background. Before you flame me, my parents live in a trailer, and I'm a self professed redneck. Anyone who knows me would agree, so I'm calling out my own here. Kinda like how black guys can say the N word and it somehow be OK. Anyway, that's the beef here. There's no real respect for the Z when a car is modded like this. It's just a cheap canvas. Nothing about this car pays homage to the Z. That's why I don't buy the "some man's dream" thing. Yes, it was. But it was some man who raped up one of our beloved Z's because that was the cheapest rear wheel drive platform they could find. Hey, I'm one of them. I've had 14. I've done the V8 mod. But I've also felt regret, and I know what my issues were when I was doing it.

Thanks. To all those who don't like the engine choice, two things: It's lighter and has more power. I'm rebuilding the L24 perfectly too and it will sit on a stand with it's 4 speed beside the car in the garage. I could put it in in 2 hours or so without any compromise. So, I think this is a pretty sweet setup. The intercooler unbolts out of the bracket and everything will look just great.

We need to get together, grab some beers, and swap horror stories. I'll PM you my contact info.

Is this truly a hand sketch? Did you do this on a computer? Those are HRE wheels too. Monobloks. I'm really impressed, regardless. If your Z has stock fenders and such, I say no spoiler. If you really have a car that looks like this, then this is a very important thing. You would then obviously have a ton of money to be able to make such a car, and I'd probably want to buy one off of you. If that's the case, I still say no spoiler unless it's a very slight ducktail. The rest of the car looks "Chris Banglish" (BMW designer up until a few months ago) and this car is on the level of Aston Martin good. No current smooth car has any wing but a little ducktail... of course, other than some Porsche 911s. No other car pulls off the big wing like the 911.

I was in his shop this morning trying to figure out what's popping in the front of my 911. It's wonderful having a buddy with a garage like that... and tons of tools to use! 308. Wow. Love it. Is your Z complete?

Wow. 50/50. That wasn't my experience with it. The SR, I THINK, weighs 120lbs less than the L series six. But then you have the turbo and intercooler and such. I don't think the difference will be a big deal. So many people do the RB26DETT conversion. While that engine is amazing, I just don't think the chassis can handle more than 400HP and still be a "driver's car". Since the lighter SR20DET can easily produce that, I went with the turbo 4. I'm not going with then 45 degree angled intercooler. I like the way that some do that, but it's just not necessary and nothing will get as much air as being perpendicular to the movement of the car. I'm with you though. Sure, and thanks for the love! As you can see, my car didn't have too many issues anyway. But we blasted it with cork instead of sand. We then cut out every hint of rust, and took metal and molded it perfectly to replace the cancer, welded it in, and grinded it down. Again, it wasn't much. The floor panels were solid and we didn't have to touch them. The main thing was the running board area. Here's a pic to help you see what I mean. We also cut out the inside metal panel and replaced all that. Well, the owner of European Auto Garage is also my partner in my company. They aren't doing a Cars & Coffee in November, but are in December. I had hoped that the Z would be done for that, but it won't be. Here's a pic of my Porsche at a Cars & Coffee event there. Have you been to a C&C there yet? Maybe we've met. Thanks much! No, I haven't been over there. I forgot that Z Barn was so close! But now, I need no parts. I have everything needed to finish the car. Thanks though. I'll be sure to take the car over when it's done! Wow. That's saying a LOT. I really appreciate it though. I won't lie to ya! :laugh: Well, my car didn't have an issue there. Others of mine have, so I know what you're talking about. We actually even went in, put the car on a chassis rack, and literally pulled the car so that the tops of each of the strut towers are perfectly square (they never are on hardly any car from the factory). Still, didn't have any issues on that weld. So I can't really help you there. The benefits of buying a Cali car, I guess.

Dave: Yeah. The stuff really adds up. But on top of labor, here's some quick numbers- (These numbers are off the top of my head, not the receipts) New Dash - $2800 CCW Wheels and Michelin Tires - $6000 SR20DET - $2500 Rebuild of SR20DET, all turbo equipment, lightweight flywheel/clutch, tuning - $15000 Genuine NISMO R200 LSD, rebuilt - $1000 Restored Steering wheel from Classic Datsun (Les Cannaday) $400 Complete interior, etc... it goes on and on. Then there's the Wilwoods, the coil overs, all the custom stuff in the suspension, the fuel system... A lot has been spent on labor, but a lot on quality parts too. I have my Porsche for sale now to finish the Z. The Porsche won a shootout in Excellence Magazine of tuner 911s, and was the cover car, and I'm letting THAT one go to be able to fund the Z!

adamr: Thanks for the welcome! Which is the C pillar? The joint between quarter panel and decklid? Zs: I think you got me wrong. Over $100,000. I paid a Barrett Jackson-level resto shop to do the labor. I did the design. I've done my own before. This time, I wanted a perfect Z. I know I'm WAAAY over the top on this car, but it is what it is. Nobody call my wife!

Thanks guys! Zs... I have six figures in receipts.

Wonderful job! More and more of us are going all the way with these cars. Can't wait to see more! I'm new here, but posted my own resto project on here. We're undertaking similar challenges. Check it out here.

Oh. Car will reside here with me in Knoxville, TN.

The interior is 100% perfect and stock. Everything has been recreated or bought actually old, in Datsun plastic and never opened, or New Old Stock, such as the dash. Since the car's in the engine shop, I don't have the interior in to be able to show you yet. Soon! In the meantime, here's some final pics of how she looks. You can see that we cleaned up the bumpers. Also, I'm putting an air dam on it for functional reasons. That's about the extent of my comfort with exterior mods. I didn't shave the corner lights or anything like that. Just my taste...

Modern Motorsports 5 lug hubs. The wiring for the SR20 working with the S30 took a bunch... On to the engine... I went to National Speed, Inc in Wilmington, NC. They took the engine apart, bored it, balanced the crank, put ARP rods on it, with new Brian Crower pistons, new Brian Crower cams and timing, and pretty much didn't spare anything to have an incredible engine. Since I didn't want more than 400HP, they built it to put out closer to 500, but then set out to minimize lag and turn it back down to 400 with little to no lag. The engine is being installed and tuned there now. We are using a "clean slate" AEM engine computer, and they are pros at tuning those babies.

You'll notice the engine cradle for the SR20DET. Mine is a 2003 S15. I couldn't use the 6 speed, because I'll be making too much HP. So I got a 5 speed, which holds more power, out of an S14 Sylvia. Please note the screws in the doors and such. We restored every screw, bolt, nut, and washer that was reused. Since I wanted to have it handle as well as my other car, we installed Arizona Z Car coilovers, as well as camber plates. I'm really proud of the camber plate install. I put on the Arizona Z Car Wilwood kit, which is 6 pistons on the front and two on the rear. The proportion valve is trick installed in the stock center console. All the billet goodies. A real NISMO R200 LSD. CCW 17" Classic 3 piece custom wheels with Michelin Pilot Sports. Aeromotive fuel system in the spare wheel well.

Hey men and women. My name's Jared, and I'm a new member. I hope you enjoy my story and my resto/mod. Don't cringe (if you're the kind that cringes at restoMODDED 240Z's. It's not that bad (I don't think! This is my 14th S30 Z. I love these cars. I never could afford to keep one long (I bought most of them in 'not running' condition, made them run well, and sold them at a small profit. Now, I can afford to keep one, so I wanted to build one that I would WANT to keep forever. I looked for a year or so for this car. I wanted a lime pre-73 240Z with a manual. I wanted it to be a pretty straight and solid car. I found one in October 2007. Since then, the car has undergone 90% of it's rebirth. I hope to be driving her before Christmas. The goals were this: Retain all the glory of the 240Z. Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that the 240Z is gorgeous as-is and I don't like body mods (for the most part). I wanted to have it be perfect in every way, and retain all real Datsun parts as much as possible. I wanted it to be as fast and handle as well as my 2006 Porsche 911S (that also is heavily modified). Here's how she was when I bought her. So... like they do it on the TV shows, we took it apart. ALL THE WAY. We only had small amounts of rust, and only dollops of bondo, to clear out. We cut out every trace of rust and formed metal to replace it all perfectly. There is no bondo in the car now. We laser aligned the seams, adding metal to make everything perfect where it wasn't from Datsun. And went back lime. 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). Then, we started reassembly.

Hey men, Bought a '72 on eBay. 14th Z I've owned in my 30 years of life. Immediately took it to Miller Brothers Hot Rod Barn in North Wilkesboro, NC and had it totally disassembled and made, well, perfect. They've been working on it over over a year now. So, here's where we are. The car is in the middle of assembly. I don't need to buy anything else. It's just a waiting game. The engine is a Nissan S15 (2003) Sylvia SR20DET turbo motor and is getting: Greddy intake High flow injectors Brian Crower cams and springs New head gasket n such Garrett 3071 Turbo (pretty big) Greddy top mount exhaust manifold (the turbo will be up and in your face) McKinney Motorsports Aluminum Radiator, Electric Fan, and custom fan shroud McKinney Motorsports Front Mount HUGE intercooler Walbro high flow fuel pump Lightweight flywheel Stage 3 Competition Clutch and pressure plate Sylvia S14 5 speed (the 6 speed I have is on eBay. It won’t hold more than 350HP) AEM standalone engine management system, tuned on the dyno at National Speed for 380-400HP, depending on lag. This setup will push upwards of 500HP if I didn’t care about lag. The chassis has these mods: Arizona Z Car billet differential mount Suspension Techniques sway bars Arizona Z Car adjustable control arms (all 4) Nismo Limited Slip Differential Carbon Fiber custom drive shaft Rebuilt ‘87 300ZX Turbo drive shafts Modern Motorsports 5 lug conversion Arizona Z Car/Wilwood disc brakes all around: 6 piston up front, 4 in the rear, with a proportioning valve hidden at the old choke lever site on the console. Motorsport Auto Quick Steering Knuckles Motorsport Auto adjustable sway bar end links Arizona Z Car coilovers. Fully adjustable. Arizona Z Car camber plates (check out the install!) CCW Classic custom 3 piece, 17” wheels Michelin Pilot Sport Tires The interior is going back perfectly stock. By ‘perfectly’, I mean that every piece of the interior. EVERY PIECE, has been bought from new, most from Cannaday. I also bought a new dash, all vinyl, and seat foam. The original wood wheel is being restored right now. Should be good. Could possibly be driving it by Thanksgiving. I hope you guys like looking at this as much as I do. Jared