FUTO FAB

Picked up some Futo Fab front lower arms and tension rods. Got them off eBay for less than retail so I couldn't be happier. Pretty quality parts. I'll probably end up ordering the Techno Toy Tuning arms for the rear soon.

 I thought the little heim joint dust boots were pretty nifty. Also the end of the tension rod is machine to fit into the slot in the car.

YEP...

A plan has been set in motion, this plan involves putting these wheels in these sizes:

Under these fenders:

TIME TO LEARN

Whenever some one sees my Datsun in its current state they always asked me who is going to do the body work. I usually reply that the plan is to do it myself. Then I really throw them a curve ball and let them know I have no idea what I'm doing but I still expect nothing shy of perfection.

CLEAN SLATE

The Z is back from sand blasting. They did a good job and sure didn't take very long. They did the car and all the panels. Even got the car up on rack and blasted all the underside and suspension. 

GOT THE CALL!

The sand blast shop called to let me know the Z is ready to be picked up. I'll have some pics up as soon it's back at my place. 

To try and keep from posting with out any pictures here is the new alternator that came in today and the new adjuster arm. I went ahead and got an alternator for a 280zx. They are 60 amp as appose to 40-50 amp units that come on early Z's.

 

THESE WHEELS....MAYBE

But 15's

 examples: 

OEM

Many times if you know what you're looking for you can find OEM Nissan parts for less than aftermarket. 

  I know it's hard to tell but the new parts are on the right...

WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?

Fedex dropped off a refrigerator size box with some goods from MSA. 

 

\/ Click \/

ENGINE FASTNERS

Been waiting on these for a while, but very much worth the wait. They are from MMS & Accessories, it includes the external bolts for the entire engine all in stainless steel. Even includes the exhaust and intake manifold studs. The kit comes in individually packaged and labeled baggies for easy installation. 

 I'll update as soon as I get the engine all bolted up.

Battle of Gettysburg

Today was a memorable day for this whole Datsun project.

 

Care package for the Z

Also...

The car looks like this. All that is left is to drop the tank and remove the remaining hard lines, and then she's ready for blasting.

Headache...

So stripping out those threads in the head wasn't the end of the world. I used a helicoil thread repair kit. It's pretty simple, you just drill out the damaged threads and tap the hole to a bigger thread size. The picture below shows the insert. The insert allows you to reuse the original bolt as if nothing was ever damaged.

Here's the head assembled. I'm using a Schneider 460 lift and 270/280 duration camshaft along with matching Schneider valve train.

It's important to make sure to have a proper wipe pattern on the rockers along with the right valve lash. Either one being off could cause some serious damage. Speaking of preventing damage, here's all the ARP hardware that came in.

Almost nothing on her...

Now that I got your attention, here is the current progress on another fine lady:

All that's left is to drop the fuel tank, and pull all the brake/fuel lines. Once that is done she'll be all ready for sand blasting and sealing primer.