You are here : Forum
MotoIQ Forums Minimize
Spent the weekend prepping LOWFATZ for the paint knife.
Last Post 11-06-2009 08:37 AM by Hubbard 0. 10 Replies.
Printer Friendly
Sort:
PrevPrev NextNext
You are not authorized to post a reply.
Author Messages
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
08-02-2009 06:14 PM  

Sorry for the late update. Lowfatz has been at paint for a while and I've been up to my ears getting the upcoming ZCON ready for you guys. Plans were to get the car done and painted with plenty of time to tune out any gremlins.

The body shop put some time into it over the last 2 months but nothing to the lengths that I hoped. So I said screw it, I'll go over and put some time in and help "DA" the car and begin to shape. After all I still know how to do most of that stuff. So, here is where most of my saturday was spent.



Still need to roll the quarters to give me plenty of tire clearance. Plan on hitting that next week.





Shaved bumper of skin. Now need to fill it and smooth the whole thing. It'll look great when it's done.







And for those that have been complaining that I don't come and see them as often... this is what is in my garage. I am helping out right now with 4 separate projects that are in some way at my house. Then I have 3 other buddies that are trying to get up and running for ZCON as well. So for anyone thinking I don't love em anymore, I am just up to my ears right now fellers.

Examples below.

2 separate cars that need my attention.







smartbombUser is Offline
MotoIQ Super Genius
MotoIQ Super Genius
Send PM
Posts:1904
Mike Kojima

--
08-03-2009 01:25 PM  
Nice!
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
08-19-2009 07:42 AM  
Think I am going to end up just laying a semi-gloss Hot Hues paint on it, or give it the Dave Coleman special, and shoot it myself.

We shall see.
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
08-29-2009 06:13 PM  

Well, here are some pics from the car. Just got it today. Still a lot of work to do on it. It will be like this for a while until I get it to a point that I need it.












Still needs a lot of work and I am kinda upset that it's not further along but that is another story.

smartbombUser is Offline
MotoIQ Super Genius
MotoIQ Super Genius
Send PM
Posts:1904
Mike Kojima

--
08-30-2009 07:48 AM  
I am thinking about putting an LS motor in mine.
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
09-12-2009 07:03 PM  
Got an actual "How To" manual on what to do to get it done. Not like it's hard but it may help you out. Bought it off a fabricator that did it in his Z32 years ago and I covered his car for a 2 page piece in Zsport. He was nice enough to provide me a copy of his "manual" on how he did it.

If you want a copy of it, let me know. Like I said....may help a bit.
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
09-12-2009 07:04 PM  
Some more updated pics.

Got the Kuruma wing in from Charles over at Powertrix last week and took a few days to prep it and fit it on to the Powertrix CF hatch. I now know why Nissan originally designed these wings in foam. It was to give them room to adjust as to fit and easily conform to the hatch fit. The CF hatch that Powertrix sells is a great custom piece as is also the Kuruma wing. I recommend both of these items to folks looking into getting them. But to take both of these items and make them work together to make an ultra lite combination that still offers the factors downforce was a chore but well worth it in the end.

No holes or grooved area to mount the wing like the oem hatch. This is not an issue for most but for me I needed to do some work here.


A crappy stock hatch that I took a pic of to give you an idea of what's involved.


After a day of shaping and adjusting I got it to fit snug and good. Not the drilled guide holes in the fiberglass Kuruma wing.


Other side.


Cutting away at CF hatch to get what i need. I clean this up later with some kitty hair.


Yeah I know. Cleaning this up as well.


1 of 6 nose panels that I have to strip and prime. Then figure out which two that I will use.


1 more shot.


No more drilled guide holes. Filled in. Getting ready for prep to prime.


All primed up and ready for base.


I ended up not wanting the heavy Optima battery and custom mount that I'd originally intended for the project.


The weight of the Optima and the "light weight" bracket.


The new PC680 that I picked a while back per suggestion by Seg over at Specialty Z. Thanks to him for the suggestion. A great item. Picked up the batter and the bracket from Summit Racing for only like $140 or so. Good deal.


Bracket and battery together. So roughly we are saving another 21lbs here.


I have been dying...I mean dying to get this tool and I finally had an opportunity to pick one up. This is a fender roller from Eastwood and it's my favorite tool that I have ever owned. This thing is amazing and easy to use.


Flared mounting washers to help the existing lugs put down even clamping force. Nice touch.


I start to play with it. Didn't heat up anything because I could care less about cracking paint obviously because the car is in primer. But normally you want to take this measure.


If you take your time and play with the settings you can really get a great finished product like this. This is the left side. Took around 20 minutes to do one section.



The other side for comparison.


I will most likely do a write up on the fender rolling process with suggested setting from beginning to end specifically for the 300zx quarters and fenders at a later date using the Eastwood tool. I'll try to put something together after ZCON for you guys.

Anyways, just some updated shots. Gotta get back to prepping for ZCON and working on the project.
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
09-17-2009 05:17 PM  
Some more pics.

Jams all done up.



Prepping to put the glass in the primered carbon fiber hatch.


Took off the fenders to clean up all the paint shops overspray.


Fender braces that I need to clean up due to the overspray.


Cleaning up the lite sections under the door hinges. We all have that there. Try to sleep with that wizzing around in your brain tonight.


Doors. I'll have to swiss cheese these doors later to shave a few pounds.


This is the brace under the dash. Found out something odd about them.
The slicktop version is actually a few pounds heavier than the TT one due to some extra plating near where the steering column mounts up.


The heavier one is actually the one out of the slicktop. The black one is the lighter out of the two and is out of the TT.


Note the difference of the mount up.


The extra plating.


Killed the hood latch, hardware and the cable as I don't need it anymore due to the Aerocatch hood latches with locks.



Powdercoated some of the interior items that are normally rusty. Since I will be running not a lot interior I needed these to look good for my own benefit.


Cleaned up the passenger floor area and ECU area for cleanliness and simplicity.



Ended up hacking up the stock slicktop under dash brace to shave just under 2 pounds off the piece. Then I ended up sand blasting it and then I painted it. Came out good.


Another pic.


The new Personal steering wheel with Nardi hub. Very very simple install.


More pics of upcoming progress.
smartbombUser is Offline
MotoIQ Super Genius
MotoIQ Super Genius
Send PM
Posts:1904
Mike Kojima

--
09-19-2009 08:53 AM  
Moar!
Miles (San Antonio)User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:72
Miles (San Antonio)

--
09-20-2009 06:28 PM  
Prepped driver's door. Clean of film and the black gunk. *sigh* Damn that was some cleaning.



Pics of the other door before tear down to give you an idea of what is removed to clean it up.



The evil black tar that has to go.



Very nasty stuff.



The clear plastic that goes around everything.


Cleaned up.



The sanded/prepped/primed door jams done the right way.


Installed a custom McCollough radiator from SPL Parts. It's a dual core that essentially runs an oil cooler through the radiator for optimum cooling abilites. The only problem is that my car was originally a NA and with the TT conversion I had to drill and tap the upper tie bar for a clean look.

Already drilled and now I am tapping using the standard factory 10mm thread so I can utilize any standard 10mm Nissan bolt for it. I am anal like that.


Used a SS Allen head bolt that uses the standard 10mm thread to spruce it up a bit.


The custom cover for the McCollough with my local club sticker on it. Have to represent I suppose.



Reinstalled the doors as I am not going to paint the car for a few months but want to get it up and running to work out a few things before I make any more changes to the body (ie, altering the hood for air ventilation, if I decide to gut the doors or not, custom rear diffuser to the rear bumper, custom mirrors that i still have to make, etc.)


A shot of the ugly ass interior. Looks stock but there is nothing left in here. No AC, no stereo, sound deadening. seat belt setups, etc.)
Hubbard 0User is Offline
MotoIQ Newb
MotoIQ Newb
Send PM
Posts:33
Hubbard
IL

--
11-06-2009 08:37 AM  
I love full builds like this. Thanks for the updates.
You are not authorized to post a reply.

Active Forums 4.1


Copyright 2012 by MotoIQ.com
Privacy Statement Terms Of Use Advertise