dmorales-bello

Very satisfying to see your beautiful car featured like that! Really nice wheels! Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Definitely a man with a good eye and with important academic and entrepreneurial accomplishments. May he rest in peace.

Love it! Great job!

Nice project car. Whatever you decide to do it will be an enjoyable ride. Welcome and enjoy!

...and to think I sold my black 1980 280ZX for $5,000 (back in 1985, though ?).

I think in South Florida we go straight into summer with 90 degree temps tomorrow! But, hey, I'm always ready! Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Looks like a lonely "76 280Z. Reptoid to the rescue!

It's flattering to see shops of this tier dedicate their efforts to these cars. If they are selling and the business progresses it only means all S30s will get even more attention and, likely, increased value.

Looks amazing. Very nice work.

An absolute steal! You're a lucky man. Enjoy.

They are parallel to the ground.

The front end work is complete: Tokico Illumina struts, Apex Engineered front crossmember, tie rods and steering knuckles, Arizona Z car aluminum oil pan, TTT tension rods, MSA anti away bar, rebuilt steering rack, Z Car Depot splash guard, powder coated stock control arms, strut housings and brake dust shields. Come to think of it, that was a lot of stuff! All the components went together well (with the exception of the stock control arms which had to be "shaved" at the back so as to go properly into the new crossmember) although they're all from different companies and we were able to align the car without any problems.

Yes, you're right. I had just quickly set them up for the pic and didn't notice. Good eye!

Got the new Illumina struts installed in the freshly powder coated housings. Stock control arms have been media blasted and powder coated and just received the outer tie rods from Apex Engineered. Will be installing tomorrow.

Yep! She said "sorry, I'm not sure about that".

Steering rack serviced and painted in preparation for re-install:

Those are actually not optional at all. The steering rack clamps (upper and lower) attach there from above. (The upper clamps are back ordered and I have to wait a couple of weeks to get those but I'll temporarily use my stock clamps on the top and the new ones on the bottom). Here's a pic, Mark.

Great work!!

As far as performance benefits go, the tubular cross member increases rigidity and is adjustable to different tire/wheel/strut/spring combinations. The ribbed aluminum oil pan reportedly helps with improved heat dissipation.

In my case (being a plastic surgeon) I'd rather sit on broken glass than say that! ??

Ahoy there, Cap'n! The original plan was to take the stock cross member out to repair it (dented by PO, some rust and 40 years of wear) and powder coat it while the engine was somewhat perilously supported from beneath (see previous posts) . This had to be a quick operation to reduce risk but the repair /powder coat process would take a week to 10 days and I failed to find another adequate stock cross member and have it ready before the swap. The only one in great shape that I could find was priced at $1,000! I stumbled upon the Apex Engineered products, was very impressed with their quality and thus decided to upgrade to a stronger, more modern tubular steel design for about $495. By having the Apex unit at hand once the car was suspended on the lift, the engine was resting on stands only for a couple of hours while we did the swap. The stock oil pan was also dented (quite heavily) and a similar "improve rather than repair" rationale prevailed. This isn't an early series 1 car so I've taken several similar liberties throughout the build.

That's pretty funny Wayne! I keep sneeking in to take a look every now and then myself. My wife thinks I'm obsessed. Imagine that!

Update: I decided to upgrade to a tubular crossmember beautifully designed by Apex Engineered. I also purchased new tie rods and steering knuckles from them but will not receive those for another 2 to 3 weeks. I changed my banged up OE oil pan for a cast aluminum one from Arizona Z Car. With the crossmember and oil pan in hand we put the car up on a 2 post lift and held up the engine from the bottom with 3 heavy duty adjustable stands. I did let a pro like Erick Pons at "Z Pons Auto Service" here in Miami do the job since the risk of screwing up would prove way too costly. Once the engine was propped up, the crossmember swap went quite easily and took about 2 hours. Changing the oil pan was totally straight forward. I rushed the steering rack to another shop for rebuild and the strut housings, stock lower control arms, new SS splash pan and brake dust covers for media blast and powder coating. Should have all the parts back for assembly by next week but here are some progress pics.

I think that access port will also be useful with the newly developed Koni Sport struts for the S30 being promoted by our pals at MSA (@Joseph@TheZStore) , which I think adjust in similar fashion as the Tokico Illuminas.

After playing around with my suspension setup and changing my mind a few times as to setting the dial on my adjustable Tokico Illumina struts, I got tired of broken and lost retaining pins for the strut tower covers and decided to fabricate an easy access port for the dial on the top of the rear strut. I used a 2.5" diameter screw cap and "neck" from a juice bottle (hard clear plastic) and adapted it to the strut tower cover. Took about an hour total time (and drinking tons of cranberry juice) but now I can dial in my rear struts as easily as my fronts now.