I would like to say a special "thank you" to my wife, who had the courage to let me drive a 28-year old car that had been sitting for 5 months from Chicago to South Florida, and for all those nights (and the ones to come) I have spent in the garage when I should have been paying more attention to her, the loss of her spot in the garage, and for all of the parts I have bought that she doesn't know about yet.
Bought the two-owner Z in Chicago (thanks Danny and Jon) had the fluids changed and had a mechanic take a look at it, then drove it 1,300 miles at 85 mph. The Z performed flawlessly. What a blast! I finally have my project car. Soon it will be an autocrosser then a vintage racer. I will try to update the pictures as i take them. Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy.
Page 1 - Buying, bodywork, and bumpers
Page 2 - Random projects and upgrades
Page 3 - Autocrossing, drag racing, and dyno
Page 4 - Transmission fix and frame rail replacement
Page 5 - History, road trips, and carshows
Page 6 - Mitty at Road Atlanta 2006
Page 7 - Urethane bushing replacement
Page 8 - Them's the brakes!
Page 9 - Fuel filters, fuel injectors, and fuel rail projects
Page 10 - Mitty at Road Atlanta 2007
Page 11 - Header install, new exhaust, emissions delete, more FI work
Page 12 - Autocrossing and drag racing PART II
Page 13 - Random projects and upgrades PART II
Page 14 - Carshows and Dyno PART II
Page 15 - Autocrossing PART III
Page 16 - Mitty at Road Atlanta 2008
Page 17 - Random Projects Part III
Page 18 - The Mitty at Road Atlanta 2009 (sans Rusty) and Random
Page 19 - Random projects and upgrades PART IV
Page 20 - Autocrossing and Drag Strip Part IV
Page 21 - My Co-driver
Page 22 - Random projects and upgrades Part IV
I guess my obsession with the Z car began when I was old enough to play with toy cars. This is a picture of "red car" excavated from my parents house. Apparently the only difference between men and boys IS the size of their toys.
On to the big toy...
The Mighty Z Car during a quick break in the trip from Chi-town to its new home in sunny south Florida.
One of the first legs of the 1,300 mile road trip, 85 mph through Louisville!
The Z when I first got to South Florida.
Another shot from the back.
Goodbye bumpers!
Hello muffler...how Rusty got its name.
Just a little "surface rust".
Nothing a little hammering and grinding cant take care of!
A little bondo and some sanding.
I really like this view.
Bondo work done. Big gaping rust-holes in the quarter pannels and dog-legs are gone but not forgotten.
Add some early 240Z bumpers, several coats of primer, and lots of sanding.
The priming is done, now for paint...
The paint is done, original silver Datsun paint code 306. It came out a little darker than I pictured.
I like the fit of the old 240Z bumpers on my 280Z.
The emblems and bumpers were re-habbed by hand painting, chrome polish, and lots of elbow-grease.
Now that its pretty, its time to install the Tokico suspension, patch some rust on the frame rails, and a little bit of rust I found in the wheel wells...
