2/6/12 Fun While it Lasted

We're losing the shop. 

Yes it's very sad. The financing on the development finally came through so the entire building will be torn down soon. We always knew this was a possibility, and now it looks like we have around one month to finish up and get out of there. We will try to get another shop in the near future, but for now we will be without a shop starting in March.

This also means that I have a month to get my car on the road. This is WAY less time than I thought I would have, but I think it is possible. In the days since I found out, I have spent an unreasonable amount of money on parts for my car. But it's for a good cause and my car will be pretty well sorted by the time I have to leave. 

First, I ordered my brakes. I got a full Wilwood 12.2" setup from Arizona Z Car. These are HUGE beefy brakes. Mine will look like the kit below with a slightly smaller caliper. The only downside is I lose the parking brake, but that's what a brick stored behind the seat is for... I also ordered a 1" Wilwood master cylinder from JEGS. 

I also finally ordered struts. I found the fronts on ebay and picked up some half price rears from JohnC at betamotorsports (the rears are missing the adjuster knob). Springs are ordered from Summit Racing. 

I also got a new glass to hatch seal so I can put the glass in the 1905 hatch. 

Saturday I spent all day in the shop putting my car back together. I started putting my front suspension back in with the new energy suspension bushing kit. 

Everything except the strut housings are in. I ordered a 280z bushing kit because it came with the rear sway bar bushings, but it turns out the steering rack bushings are a bit wider as well. I trimmed them down with a sharp knife and was in business. I wish I had time to paint everything, but that will have to be for another day.

Also on saturday, I ended up buying the CB650 back. It turns out the VIN on the title doesn't match the VIN on the bike. I never noticed this when I bought it, and probably never would have even if I registered it and rode it. I probably shouldn't have, but I bought it back from the guy I sold it to and relisted it with the newly discovered information disclosed. Sometimes I think I'm too nice...

Sunday I went shopping at CB's place. I picked up a new heater control panel, a hatch glass trim piece, seat belts, a 5 point racing harness, a new radiator and lower radiator hose, and a 2+2 brake booster to use with my 1" master to reduce the pedal effort. 

Today I ordered a new carpet kit from ebay. I was going to do the home depot carpet thing, but the ebay prices were too good to turn down and they had good reviews.

The wheels I want, shown below, are back-ordered, so probably won't be able to get them for two months, but I may be able to borrow a set from CB.

Stay tuned for FAST progress. 

-W.W. SBSS

1/23/12 In with the New

There has been some shuffling of the bikes in the shop recently. For one, there is now a cute little Peugeot 103 moped in the shop. I am fixing some small issues (and possibly modifying it to hit 50mph from it's current top speed of 20 or so) for a friend.

Yesterday a guy came by to look at the CB650 and put down a deposit. I'll be delivering the bike to him tomorrow. It's a bit sad to see it and the 700 go, but it makes room for a new project to be named shortly...

On Saturday it snowed for the first real time this season. This made the city very pretty, even the subway was improved by the flurry.

This also gave me an opportunity to behave like a child in the snow on the moped. All in the name of 'testing'.

I also installed sound deadening in the floor of the Z. I still have to do the cargo area and possibly the doors. and rear fenders. I also have to install my heat insulation on top of it. The interior is coming together though.

-W.W. SBSS

1/5/12 Culling the Herd

In order to focus my attention a bit, I've sold the CB700sc. I had the bike listed for a few weeks, and finally someone followed through and actually saw the bike. We haggled a bit, a deposit was put down and the new owner will be picking it up some time next week. It'll be nice to have it gone, honestly. I was starting to feel bad about ignoring it in the corner of the shop, and it's always nice to have a little cash to throw at the Z. 

I also had the CB650 listed, but I've recently decided to keep it. A.D., much to the chagrin of her mother, has decided to get her motorcycle licence. As a result, we may be building the 650 up for her. This gives me a much needed excuse to keep it. 

I'm still buttoning up odds and ends on the SV, as well as waiting on my new front fender. I spent fair amount of time trying to tuck the bulk of wiring that used to be in the fairing into the frame. I finally got it set so that it isn't a huge pain to get the airbox to seat properly. It looks like I'm gonna have to run the speedometer pickup to the rear wheel, as there is no way to make it look good on the front. This means extending the wires and making a mount for the pickup. I'll try to take care of that this weekend. The front end is looking good though.

I also painted my front crossmember with POR-15 finally. I love this stuff. It looks good and is incredibly tough. If there were a need to have this car sandblasted I would do the whole chassis with it. 

-W.W. SBSS

9/14/11 Overdue Update

It has been entirely too long since I have updated my blog. I'd like to apologize to both of my followers (Hi mom!) for being away for so long.

That isn't to say that I haven't been in and around my shop lately. Last week I picked up another motorcycle. I may have an addiction. I found this clean 1979 Honda CB650 on craigslist. It is much better suited to the cafe racer treatment than the 1984 CB700SC I last purchased, so I jumped at the opportunity.

This also means that I am simply going to get the CB700 running well and sell it sooner than later. To this end, last night I cleaned and rebuilt the carbs.

Over the weekend, I went to the NYZCC (New York Z Car Club) BBQ. As always, seeing the Z guys and watching the finished, running cars lit a fire under me. There were some very interesting cars in attendance.

 In addition to the usual crowd, the first production Z ever sold to the public, VIN# 13, stopped by to say hello.

Also, this CRAZY little Datsun Roadster, showed up with no hood. This thing was SR20det powered, and put down 387hp at the wheels without the installed nitrous! This in a car that originally weighed 1984lbs and had 96hp from the factory. The owner said he could spin the wheels in 4th, and that when he dyno tested the car, it twisted the car enough to crack the paint below the rear edge of the door, which you can see in the picture. All this on stock brakes and 225 tires, scary!

I have also decided I need to make room for the cars in my future. I can't stick with my current rusty Z chassis, so I am pulling the last bits out of it in the next week or so, and getting rid of the chassis. This coming weekend I will be looking at a possible new chassis to work on. It belongs to the father of a friend, so I should be able to get a good deal on it. Here's hoping it's in good shape!

Also, I am going to sell my other Z. I bought this 77 280z 2+2 about 4 years ago. It is a pretty damn nice car...except for the fact that the chassis is so rusty that part of the frame moves when you brake. This will make an AWESOME parts car for someone, but I really have no need for it, and there is no chance that I'm actually going to get to fixing the rust on this one, since its worse than my 72.

This should free up some funds and space to dedicate to my new Z and the inevitable parts car that I pull the engine out of for it.


In other news, last night I also installed what's known as a 'Z tube' in my G35. The 350Z and G have the same engine but, as the G is a luxury car, it is expected to be much quieter. One change the engineers at nissan made was to fit an intake tube to attenuate some of the natural engine sounds. Some engineer probably spent months working on the shape of this tube, getting it to fit in the tight engine bay, as well as dampen the intake noises correctly, only for the entire sport oriented G community to go out and replace it with a simple tube.

Here are a couple comparison videos, the change is a little hard to pick up on the video, but there is more 'burble' now. Cheap and sweet little modification.

-W.W. SBSS