Introduction & Updates
Hello, my name is Josh, and thank you for visiting my page.
Page Summary
This is where all updates will be noted, with the update... date... notating each note. Confused yet? If not, I will try to change that soon enough. Anyway, the updates may be vague with just enough info to point you to the page where the mod is, or it may go into detail with some background info. I may even explain why I am doing what I am, when I expect to update again, and why I work the way I do. Or not. But what I will do is keep one picture that shows the currect condition of the car centered at the top. If I do something major to the car that you can't see in the posted pic (non-cosmetic, not on the exterior), then I will take another one from another angle, different background, or may even show off the mod somehow while showing the entire car. I'm trying to be user friendly here, so a new pic = an update somewhere, so there is at least an indication if you ignore the rest of the page. In which instance, fuck you asshat. If you are offended, then you are going to hell for lying about not paying attention to the rest of the page. That's right, this is part of the "rest of the page". Go cry to yo mamma then, bitch.
Updates
10/29/09 I think it's been a while, so maybe it's time for an update. What have I been up to? A lot to be quite honest, I discovered metal particles in the oil that showed that a bearing was going out. So it was time for a rebuild. And true to my ways, I had to spend 3 times the money needed to fix the problem. If you search for gold plated bearings for my year Z, you will notice I will have to get creative to meet that criteria.
It does fill me with joy to know that loose oil pan bolts were not the cause, or at least the only cause, of my oil leak issue. The rear main was leaking I am sure, ad there was seal wear on the crank about 1/4 inch deep. Enough to cause a problem I'd think.
So as of right now, the engine is on the lift waiting for the sun to rise, so it can return to the engine bay. I replaced pretty much everything, so a fun new poll will be added (after I finish BSing here) to identify the next failure point in this car. Since it has been giving me trouble lately in several areas. As always I may or may not get pictures up in a timely fashion, 4am and insomnia does that on occasion. However, I will try to type up everything that I have changed in the appropriate sections (so I don't forget... need a root brewsky) and add pics from front to back. Or whatever interests me. Or whatever my random spasms upload to the page. If you are reading this page for the first time don't worry, I don't really get myself all the time either.
04/13/09 Okay, I'm putting the new ish on page... uh... 10, I think. There's a bunch of them. As for the Z, it is still sitting, waiting on parts. And since I have been working so much lately (6 days this week though) I haven't had much time to mess around with the Z. But I did put the new rear main in. While inspecting the old seal, I found a disturbing lack of damage. So when I checked the rear of the engine again, I was able to trace the oil drip line to the oil pan. Inspection wielded two loose bolts. The leak sure acted weird for a loose oil pan so I'm not 100% if that really was the issue... but since none of the old stuff is going back in I never will know. Even more unfortunately, there was no lye for the bleach martini I was making.
04/04/09 Done a little since I updated last. Got a new compresser, dryer, system seals. Haven't charged the system yet since I've yet to really drive the car. The reason being, that I have the front end off waiting for some suspension goodies. I also got a grounding kit installed, hidden away as best as I could without removing other stuff.
Then came the fun stuff. New AC, new front suspension... first time I drive it, the rear main seal goes out. With leaves me with 2 options: pull the engine, or pull the tranny. To pull the tranny, you have to pull off the exhaust, a bunch of fun on a 20 year old car. Then you (me) have to pull off the recently installed driveshaft. Which means pulling off the rear sway bar... again. Right after putting it on straight from the powdercoating. Anyway, while I'm replacing that damned $14 seal, I'm replacing the slave cylinder and bypassing the damper. Might go ahead and get a new master, as well as flush the lines. But if I do that, I might as well replace the throwout bearing and change out all the tranny's rubber bushings for poly units. And as I have yet to pull the tranny and check if the Z shit oil all over the clutch, I don't know if I will need to replace that while I am down there.
Pics to come... whenever I don't feel so pissed off. In which case, don't hold your breath.
02/23/09 Added a gauge. Updated page 7. And it's worth mentioning that I am feeling very blunt today.
02/15/09 I cleaned up and painted the oil cooler and lines since the last update. I also bought some MFP polyurethane rear spring seats from z31parts.com, which I recieved on Friday. Got some shit powdercoated. Lots more to get done, but whatever. I also pulled the intake plenum off, for no real constructive reason whatsoever. Took the chance to clean and paint shit and swap out my valve covers for the powdercoated units. Pulled much of the Ac system off as well. As soon as the new compressor and seals I ordered get in, I will be putting them in. Which will hopefully result in me having a functioning AC system. Fuck this driving around in the Florida summer with no AC shit, I figure that as I now have 5 cars it's damned disgraceful to have no AC in the daily anyway.
And everything I just said means updates on page 9, 11, & 13. In case it glided over your head.
01/12/09 I went to a friend's house and picked up a bunch of free stuff from an 87T a few days ago. I got quite a few parts, and have updated pages 6, 9, 11, and 12 accordingly. I also finally got a pic up of my driveshafts on page 10. The custom one is pictured, which is what matters.
Also, as if getting a bunch of free Z parts from this guy wasn't enough, I picked up his 84T. Piece of crap. Runs decent. And once more, free. I have some fucking sweet friends. It has a page here if you are interested.
01/05/09 Went to the 370Z Rally in Orlando today (technically yesterday, the 4th). I saw a bunch of cool cars, got to check out he 370Z, and even won some shit in the raffle. But most importantly, I was able to spend time bonding with my Z peers.
If that last line touched your heart, I have a bridge that would fix up your portfolio quite nicely. Just send me the check! Seriously though, I was able to see a bunch of pretty cool cars, meet people, and have fun on a cruise. And yes, I actually did win some shit in the raffle. First batch of pictures updated on page four. A lot more should be forthcoming, but only once they are all uploaded will I update my CarDomain page with the links. Enjoy.
01/02/09 Had issues getting the driveshaft done up. I was sent the wrong driveshaft twice. The 84-86 NA Z31s had a different differential flange than the 87-89 NA Z31s. So when they heard the year 300ZX, they sent me the early style. Well, this was a bad thing. I had a good driveshaft in the early style, so if i already bought a new one I didn't want to switch the flange on the diff. It defies the point of buying a $250 driveshaft over a $5 flange in the first place. So this caught the owner of the shop's attention (Central Florida Driveshaft, BTW). When he heard the problem, he took the driveshaft and swapped the ends out for Spicer units free of charge. Took like 10 minutes.
So I take it home, to find out... the dust shield is too small! And this pisses me off! So my dad thinks grinding down the shaft will make it fit, and I tell him not to do it. So of course, the instant I turn my back the bastard does it anyway. Which pissed me off even more. Little does he know that the dust shield pops off. Fucking fuck. So it's running without a dustshield and ground down edges. Of course, I will get a new dust shield fabbed up, and the driveshaft balanced with the clutch and flywheel I will be getting before too long. And he's paying for it if I have to steal his credit card to do it, the fucker (the balancing of the driveshaft, not the flywheel and clutch or their respective balancing).
Now to the short shifter! i installed it without much difficulty. Unfortunately, the shit's trying to go into the head unit in 1st, 3rd, and 5th gears. So I need to pull that so I can assemble it, essentially, backwards. After which point, it will sit at the stock location. Shizzle.
While the Z was waiting ont he driveshaft, I put in a new rack and pinion. I'm not really sure why. I think this stupid car is taking control of my mind.
Other than that, it's got a full tank of 93 and is ready for the 370Z Rally in Orlando on the 4th. As for updates, I've got a new photoshoot for you all to look at, and I may add a few things here and there (I write this before I do the updates, fucking deal).
12/03/08 Got the 87T sway bars and some of the poly installed. It amazes how much better the car handles even without further suspension upgrades. I didn't expect much of a change until I upgraded the springs and dampers. Not that I am complaining...
Anyway, the wiring isn't getting done right now. I'll be getting new carpet soon, but until then I need to be able to drive the damn thing. So the interior is back in. Once it gets in, the interior and the drivetrain comes out so I can put in the new shiznit. Yay. But on the bright side, I got around to putting up a picture or two that I have been meaning to.
11/18/08 Updated the Suspension page again, but with a small bit on my poly bushings. And I finally got a picture of my head unit up on the Electrical page.
This update and the one before involve cell phone pictures. I apologize for this, but since my camera broke I haven't had any other way to take pictures. Some of the pics I will be able to retake at a later date, others I may have to keep the cell phone pics. Sorry about that.
11/17 /08 Updated the Engine; Driveline; Suspension; and Wheels, Tires, & Brakes sections with pictures and a bit more content.
As for my car... the interior is in a box in my room. Again. Why is this, you may ask? Well, because wires piss me off. But more specifically, wiring in the tweeters pissed me off. Pissed me off enough to justify to myself to rip out the entire interior to replace all the audio wiring in the car. I'm also going to rewire all the interior lighting, and add some more wiring for a hatch light I will be adding in the future. I may, or may not, run the wiring for an amp and sub in preparation for eventually doing that. Might as well do it while the carpet is out...
Speaking of carpet, I'm getting a whole new one. Details to follow as soon as I get around to it, after it arrives in the mail.
11/13/08 I'm proud to say that I haven't been working on updating the pages because I've been working on the car. I've been meaning to take pictures of new parts and work, but my camera broke not long ago and all my disposable income has been going into parts... and gas. With gas prices going down I'll probably be picking up a new camera soon. Then I'll get pics of the poly bushings, sway bars, turbo brakes, and all the other fun stuff that I have for my Z. My most recent project is replacing the OEM tweeters in the dash. I'm making them so that you can bolt them in and hook them up just like the stock pieces. It's not hard, but I'm the first person I know of to do such a thing. Shizzle. Further updates to be announced.
09/30/08 Added the aesthetics page, and did a bit of editing of a few other pages. A couple more pictures have found their way into their proper places. Nothing too big to report that hasn't already been said.
09/09/08 Added pictures to pages 5, 7, and 9. You can expect more pictures later, particularly for the interior. I need to set the base before I complete the modifications I am doing. I may add a new page in the next few days.
09/07/08 So I've added a few pages and will be adding more of them over the next few days. Okay, all good and all, but you will be seeing quite a few of those "(Pictures coming soon!) " notes in a few pages. For those who care, or for those keeping count, this is because I am lazy. I am trying to use all of the already uploaded photos I can before I upload more. This means I have to sort through less crap for the picture I am looking for. It also is a good way to work on the pages while delaying uploading, hopefully until I get my faster internet hooked up. Wednesday.
09/06/08 Long time since the last update. First off I would like to announce that I am getting a new internet setup next week. As those who know me pretty well know, I have AOL dialup that, for whatever reason, I have allowed to live for far too long. So HugsNet soon, which, as those previously mentioned know, means that I will be able to do alot more on the interwebz. However, after learning of this, my camera decided to take a crap. But in the not so distant future, I should be delivering updates on time (maybe). I may even shoot a video or two for the Z, running on a few backroads. On a borrowed camera, of course. LOL
Anyway, I've begun to start working on my interior, some things I will mention on my Interior Modifications Page. I have some suspension, transmission, and engine modifications that will appear on the Wheel, Tire, and Brakes Modifications Page, Driveline Modifications Page, and Engine Modifications page. Upcoming wiring upgrades, and pretty much everything electronic will be found on the Electronics & Wiring Page. Those who happen to read this post right after it is made will notice the lack of such pages. I will get around to it. The Pics Of My Other Cars page will go bye-bye since you can just click on my garage if you actually care, but I might add an Asthetics Page to cover all the small stuff I do. As I update this page over the next few days you will notice that I begin to slide more towards the format the 240Z page has. I really like that style and feel that it is a more organized way to put more information and details in a way that it can be quickly seen. For you dropouts, more pages with one subject per page. My rantings don't get any more dumbed down than that.
Anyway, moral of the story is that the page will begin to evolve to a different setup over the next few weeks. Days if I get the sat internet soon. So if you view my page and it's fucked up, the updating is at fault. Unless at the time of updating I was drunk, high, radiated, or took the sucky role in a lobotamy. In two of there situations the page should be fixed as soon as I'm recovered.
03/28/08 Better late than never I suppose, and with that in mind I have updated the page with info on my efans.
03/07/08 I finally got around to getting some wheels for my car. They are Alloy Tech AT695s in an 18"x8" +15mm, black with polished aluminum lip. They fit flush and look pretty good with my panda-esque theme (apparently). Now I need to lower this bitch so it will look right.
11/26/07 I haven't done too much in the sense of modifications since my last update. But I have gone to a few meets with the Z. The biggest being ZCON 2007 in Daytona. I have a few cool pics I'll be putting up, but they (and many, many, many others of other Zs) can be found on my photobucket account here .
8/2/07 One word: aerodynamics. I came across a good deal and got a Kaminari lip and spoiler for $200. Painted them in my garage, and I think it looks pretty sweet. Now all I need is to figure out what I am going to do with sideskirts. The lip makes the black sideskirt hard to see. And boom, it looks like a four wheeler. LOL
6/20/07 Well, I checked the timing belt and it appeared to not need a change after all. I got a 2+2 version of my car to fix up, so I'll probably be using that as my DD while I build this Z. Speaking of which, I ran the thing into my father's Jeep. No damage to the Jeep, but it busted my taillight and messed up the paint on my rear bumper. But I will be getting the Kaminari lip I was talking about soon, as well as the discontinued spoiler, so I'll pull that off and repaint it when I shoot these parts with paint. I got a few other small things done too, so check pages 4 and 5.
Another interesting thing happened. I was riding with my friend Cameron going down a dirt road when he lost it coming out of a corner. He ran it off the road and flipped it. It could be fixed, but the repairs would cost too much. Pictures are here if anybody wants to look.
4/20/07 Wow, haven't updated this page in a long time. Well, not too much has happened since my last update though. I have installed a polyurethane differential mount to replace the one that was mangled in my crash. Only almost killed myself once, LOL. But the results? To quote my father when I first let him test drive it, "It feels like a sports car again." Next things on my list are front shocks (still blown from the crash), and in the next 300-400 miles I need to change my timing belt. Supposed to be a real PITA, but oh well.
2/7/07 I didn't get to finish buffing the entire car out. My Corvette needs some work, so I've washed and threw a coat of wax onto my car for now. Once I fix the 'Vette, I'll finish the buffing.
1/13/07 Started buffing out imperfections in the paint today. I buffed the driver's side door and fenders, the driver's side of the roof, and the hood. I'll probably be finished with buffing the whole car by next week.
12/28/06 Done alot of work since I last updated the page. I finished the paint job, cleaned up the engine a little, painted and polished the plenium cover, and fixed my sideskirt.
12/11/06 Hey, hey, hey... it was a long weekend. Well, I have the pics now, so from now on, my best picture of Eos will be at the top of this page. Whoop tee doo.
12/3/06 Hello, and thank you for visiting my page. Unfortunately, I have no pics of my car right now, but I should have some by the weekend.
Page 1= Introduction & Updates - YOU ARE HERE
Page 2= The Story Of My Z
Page 3= Upgrade Summaries
Page 4= Pics Of The Z
Page 5= Repairs
Page 6= Exterior/Body Modifications
Page 7= Interior Modifications
Page 8= Electronics & Wiring
Page 9= Engine Modifications
Page 10= Driveline Modifications
Page 11= Suspension Modifications
Page 12= Wheels, Tires, & Brakes
Page 13= Aesthetics
