Marty Rogan

Thanks. Old #74 is a real hoot to drive at the track. It is hiding a Coyote motor, built to Illumintor specs.

Well, with all this extra time at home, I was able to get the barn organized. I bought some warehouse pallet racking shelves. They are super strong, rated at 1,800 lbs per shelf. I was able to get all of my spare parts stored on them. My 2 spare engines are on rollers and shoved under the bottom shelf. My other storage cabinets are in the other corner. I finally have a good amount of space opened up in the middle to actually do some work in there.. My HVAC guys had double hernia surgery, so the heater is on hold at at least May. Next up, I need to build a work bench. I will have to put some thought in to that. I saw a You tube video that shows you how to build one, which looked pretty nice. I'll have to check out some other options.

Hey, congrats on getting started! What are your plans? How big are you going? Are you building in added ceiling height for a lift? Any other goodies in the plan?

Well that will take care of that. Nice little fleet you have there.

Your Z looks pretty lonely in there! It needs a couple of stable mates to keep it company.

I was not about to attempt installing it myself. It took a crew of 3-4 guys 2 1/2 days to do the job. The sheets are pretty heavy.

Well, the ceiling and insulation are finally done. I have been trying to get that scheduled since September. The guys are a little frustrating, but they do really nice work. Here are a few pictures, so you can be the judge. Over the weekend, I was able to get the rest of the lights installed and working. I have 24 LED lights at 3810 lumens each. The lighting is just about perfect. It is really bright and clear, with no shadows or dark spots anywhere in the shop. I am really happy with the way that turned out. My HVAC guy just had a double hernia operation, so he won't be able to put the heater in for 6-8 weeks. Another delay, but at least I can move forward with getting the place organized now.

I 'll take the cash. You can find a realllllly nice 240Z with a little more miles and still have a ton of cash left over. Even if you spent $50K on it. I would be afraid to drive a 21K mile car. What is the fun in that!!!!

That's what I have. You should be in pretty good shape, with several options.

How high are your ceilings? They are making a lot of low profile lifts now that can fit in most garages. However the higher you can lift the car, the better. Right now, I am considering a 2-post BendPak 7,000lb lift.

1500' is a really good size garage. You will be able to fit a lot of stuff in there. A friend of mine has a 1550" hanger and I am impressed with the amount of stuff he can cram in there. I am retiring in about 10 months myself. I can't wait to have time to do the things I really want to do.

As you said, it is too late for this project, as the floor was already laid before I acquired the place. The ceiling contractor finally got started on Friday. They did almost half the ceiling in one day. I am hoping they will have the rest completed by the end of this week. I took advantage of having their scaffolding in the barn, and installed all the lights in the finished area on Saturday. I was hoping to have the project done before winter, but it is coming together now. It was the ceiling that was slowing me down. I will have a update once the ceiling is done.

The car was rustproofed back in the '70's. A company called Ziebart used those yellow plugs to plug the holes they drilled into the car to squirt their rust proofing in.

I used the S12W. I believe they were from a 1988 Forerunner, V6. I retained the "S" hardline. If I remember correctly, the rotors were from a 1984 300ZX, but that will depend upon which spacer you use to center it in the caliper. I did not see that mentioned here. You WILL need a spacer. Not sure where to get them these days. The caring and feeding of any track car is not for the faint of heart, budget wise. But they sure are fun!! It is still cheaper than doing a full Wilwood conversion.

Take the oil sprayer bar off and spray it liberally with brake cleaner until it pores out the holes. Then at least you will know it is not clogged up and preventing oil from being spayed on the cam.

I used the Toyota 4 piston calipers and vented rotors on my early '71 for track duty for several years. The rear brake drums with cheap parts store shoes worked fine, as long as they were adjusted properly. I did not even need a bias adjuster. I would recommend using Motul 600 brake fluid and Hawk pads. Been using them for years without any brake fade or issues. Also, if you have not done so already, change to braided lines. With this set up, you should notice a huge difference in braking power. Of course if you are racing, you need to be sure this is in compliance with the organization's rule book before you install it..

That is a beautiful rich color. Nice Job!!

Looks like a really awesome museum. Did you go to the new Nissan Museum? I bet that was a fun trip! I am looking forward to seeing more of your pictures.

You bet! The wiring, vapor barrier and walls are all done. I fired up the LED lights at the back wall to see how bright they are. They should work out pretty nicely, especially with a white ceiling. The walls turned out really nice. I built a neat access door to cover the power panel out of the same boards. It blends in so well, you almost don't notice it. The piping, wiring and structure are installed for the 125K Modine unit to hang from the ceiling. The propane tank was delivered and installed on Friday. Unfortunately, the ceiling contractor is backlogged until February or March. He said he would try to work me in on bad weather days when his guys can't work outside. If it wasn't for that delay, I would have been right on time to get it heated before winter. I also snagged a nice deal on a large tool box from Home Depot. Well, I have done as much as I can do until the ceiling is installed. I really can't wait to get it done, so I can start organizing the place. All of my car parts and supplies are just piled in the center of the barn right now. That's it for now till I get the ceiling and heat in. Marty

I also emailed the owner within minutes of the posting and asked a number of questions. I have not received a response yet. I am looking for a good project for when I retire next year. This would fit the bill nicely. Is there anybody near there that could go look at it? Marty

My blue on blue 6/70 does not have the access panels either.

I have one in my '70 model with the stock 3.36. There is a polyurethane snubber mounted in it to limit the upward movement. You shave that down to fit the differential that you have. It does not affect the drive shaft angle at all. That looks like it may be the dimensions on his first iteration. Hi later versions have a notch built in to go around the brake lines on one side.

Well, it has been a while, so I figured it was time for an update on the Garage Mahal. I was able to get the horse stall area concreted in this spring, so I now have 100% of the floor space in usable condition. In the first week of June, I had the asphalt drive way put in. They did a great job. I now have a lot of parking area and space to turn around with the trailer to back the race car into the barn. I can back to the whole rig in, with the truck still attached, close the door and just walk into the house. No more 45-60 minutes to unload when I get home from a track weekend. That used to really annoy the wife. The original builder of the barn came out to give me an estimate on the ceiling. He said that the trusses would have no trouble supporting a steel ceiling with R38 blown-in insulation. I am thinking about going with maybe R49 for better heating economy. I got several quotes on heating. The 12' ceiling height was not quite enough to make radiant tube heating work. They said it could bake the paint right off the cars. It needed to be at least 16' to make it work. So, I am going with a forced air unit. I just need to finalize my research to decide if I go with natural gas, or LP gas. The local gas company said it would cost me $3K to trench the gas lines out to the barn. I have got most of the wiring done. All of the wall outlets are in. I also put in a 220 line. I wired in 6 more lights for the ceiling and added 4 lights along the back wall over the work bench area. All of the lights will be 3810 lumens, so I am hoping it is pretty bright. My wife is always giving me crap by saying "Do you want to do surgery in there!?' My response ..."Exactly!!" The brighter the better in my book. I still need to figure out how to install 2 ceiling fans on the trusses. A lot of the quotes were coming in higher than I anticipated, so I am giving up on the idea of running water out to the barn. It would be nice, but it is not a necessity. All of the wall insulation is in. About half of the vapor barrier has been installed. About half of the previously installed wall has been put back up, and the rest of the wall materials have been purchased. Over the long 4th of July Holiday (took Friday off too), I put in a lot of hard work to get stuff done. So, as a little reward to myself, yesterday afternoon, I got the Z out for the first time this year and went for a drive up Route 67 in Southern WI. 67 is a nice curvy road that goes through the Kettle Moraine Valley. The Kettle is a really beautiful area and a popular destination for a car or motor cycle cruise. It feels good to get this much progress. There is still a lot left to do. That's it for now. Later, Marty

Jeff, Congrats on getting it registered!!!. Now the real fun begins. There is nothing like the roar of a triple carbbied L-6. Do you ever intend to take it to a track day? That is where you car really get a feel for what these cars are capable of. They are just shear joy to drive hard on a track. Enjoy!! Marty

Actually, that does not sound like a bad price. I have Stoptechs on the front of my Mustang Race Car. You see them advertised routinely for $2,200. So to get front and back in the kit with everything included, that does not sound out of wack to me. Stoptechs are awesome brakes. I didn't know they were available for a Z.