After a hard but fairly successful season of events Bob has dropped the car off with me for a major makeover and revision.

As before I just have the rolling shell.

Jimmer at Power Zed has already removed the engine and box.

He will be doing a strip down /inspect/replace routine on the Kyle Puckett engine.

Bob has dropped the gearbox of at Advanced Motorsport engineering at silverstone for a similar strip/inspect/replace routine.

The rest arrived at my place last weekend .... looking a little worse than when it left in the spring!!!!

 

The brief from Bob is long and detailed.................. but it starts with a reinstate of the 99 spec front with splitter and the TwinZ rear bumper.

I already obtained a good used 99 spec from Mikey Bean and I have a new Twinz rear from Mark Derbys group buy.

I will get a new sheet of ally and make another front splitter. good job I kept the template!!

There are numerous detail improvements on the schedule too. More details to follow!

Probably the most important/significant is a new custom loom for the car. Over the development period of the car numerous items have been added by several people. The result now is a total mess of wiring everywhere with no one personknowing exavtly what is joined to what!!!

This winter I am lucky that our new race day team member Paul is helping at my place with all the work.

Im simply getting too old for some of the harder physical jobs needed.

In addition the newly formed Bodymech team of "Boldy" and "Manta V8" are doing the panel fitting and giving the whole shell a fresh coat of paint inside and out.

so Im sure everyone will be adding to the thread as they get their quota of jobs done.

 

So a few pics meantime and can you spot the brake problem???

I have also highlighted some fittings that need "improving"

Check out the rats nest of wiring too!!

......................

Shame it's not my 99front aswell weights half as much :)

 

Shame it isn't one of yours mate, would have been a damn site less work,bloody urethane pap! Lol!

May pop over soon for a cuppa, see the new place and catch up with you lads :)

May pop over soon for a cuppa, see the new place and catch up with you lads :)

 

:thumbup: The kettle,s always on Nick

Well in a nutshell she,s done , been alot more involved than we originally thought but it,s still been an enjoyable job to do for us both , Cheers Bob for putting your trust in us and we hope your happy with what we,ve done :thumbup:

A few pics , Bob wanted a satin black roof so it,s also been done using a 2k satin laquer as normal satin paint would mark far to easily , the arches were also done .

Some of you might spot that there,s no arch fitted on the n/s yet , we thought it would make sense to have a mould taken just in case a replacement arch is ever needed so it,s at a local fibreglass company being copied , it,ll be painted and fitted in a day or two :thumbup1:

A few more

:biggrin:

Well done guys Bobs slicktop looks great and ready for Pete to do his magic. Looking forward to seeing it finished in full race trim.:thumbup1:

:thumbup: The kettle,s always on Nick

 

 

Should try get some more work done :tt2:

 

Why.not het me to do the moulds? Would of done it for free

Should try get some more work done :tt2:

 

Why.not het me to do the moulds? Would of done it for free

 

It was a bit of a last minute decision bud but thanks for the kind offer :bow:

Looks awesome, nice work guys. Is that the first Zed you've done since opening the new business?

Well done guys Bobs slicktop looks great and ready for Pete to do his magic. Looking forward to seeing it finished in full race trim.:thumbup1:

 

Yep my baby is coming home as soon as... Bob is busy down South with work so Im going tomorrow to check it all out!!!

Woohoo!!

Lights, new Lexan and other bits are all waiting to be fitted

Paul will be getting underneath and dropping the subframe....again so he can fit the "1/2 tank!!!

He is also doing a full nut n bolt check/torque/paint on the suspension as he had already found a couple of loose bolts in the diff carrier.

Looking box fresh, nice work all. I'm not sold on the arches but that's a preference thing. Looking forward to seeing it all back together.

 

Pete - what's the new lexan for?

Looking box fresh, nice work all. I'm not sold on the arches but that's a preference thing. Looking forward to seeing it all back together.

 

Pete - what's the new lexan for?

 

To replace the rear that someone else cracked!!

And I have had two rear quarters cut too as the glass on one side got smashed at Cadwell

Are you making that under tray for it as well Pete?

Are you making that under tray for it as well Pete?

 

Yep!!

 

I also collected the half tank today from my tame fabricator!!

 

That wont allow any fuel surge!!!

 

Edited December 10, 201312 yr by Slick Pete.

Yep!!

 

I also collected the half tank today from my tame fabricator!!

 

That wont allow any fuel surge!!!

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]75756[/ATTACH]

 

WOW!-that Tank has been on a diet..............

Good work all, Pete will try and pop over and see you this weekend if you're about - been ages since we had a catch up and a cuppa :)

Looks awesome, nice work guys. Is that the first Zed you've done since opening the new business?

 

Cheers bud , yes it is , brings back happy memories of doing mine up :dance:

Should get about half a lap in with that tank :lol:

Thanks to Bodymech for a fantastic job. I am very pleased they have been extremely professional and offer a five star service. There is still a lot of work still to do and it's unlikely that the car will be ready much before TOTB but I am hoping that funds permit it's ready by then.

 

The wide arches are necessary to help improve the handling of the car. I would have probably preferred to have kept the original arches from an aesthetic view point but needs must where we are looking to improve handling and I feel that the extra width will give me what I need. The front end is surprisingly strong and it's takes a lot of punishment. Track use has seen front tyres being replaced far quicker than the rears and I am confident this will result in a faster cornering speed. Think they look pretty good too :)

 

Jimmer has stripped the engine and it looks like very little is needed but we are rebuilding with new seals etc to make it as strong and reliable as possible. Also Jim will be ensuring that there are no weak points and will rebuild/replace to get the engine ready for the new turbo system. A pair of GTX3071 turbos are currently being modified in the states by Ash Powers and along with a little squirt of NOS at the appropriate time(s) should make driving the car particularly interesting!

 

To say that I am excited would be an understatement.

 

However there's a long way to go.

 

Pete has still quite a bit to do but we know his and Pauls work is going to be there or thereabouts early January. I still have to get some work done on the cage to try and stiffen the front a little. A custom loom has to be fitted. Easier said than done and all the gauges will be lost so that everything feeds into the Racepak. It doesn't help to go faster but the new loom should improve reliability and will help to reduce the usual gremlins which we have suffered over the past couple of years.

 

Despite all the problems we had with the gearbox I am going to persevere and try to make it work. If we can get it right it will certainly help but so far it's almost certainly slowed me down sadly. But with a year of testing I'd like to think I've got a handle on it so we shall see how next year develops.

 

It's entirely possible that the project will take longer than I'd like but that will only be down to a lack of funds. I have a different set of requirements this year I am not going to compromise on the quality of the build just to get it on the road. Hopefully I can get some overtime in ..............

 

My only target for the car is to try and get in the top ten overall at TOTB. And yes that may well be a pretty optimistic aim particularly when you consider some of the extraordinary cars (and budgets) of some of the top cars but I do like a challenge. Even if we don't do so well we will look good doing it!

 

For now I am looking forward to seeing the shell finished with the spoilers and last pieces of the jigsaw fitted.

Good luck in the new season Bob and with your new upgrades and with your determination I know you will do well. We are all behind you and Jaffa in your race adventures so stay safe and thank you for promoting the 300zx cars.

Fingers crossed for your goals Bob and let me know if there's anything I can help with. There's a lot of work to be done there!

Good luck in the new season Bob and with your new upgrades and with your determination I know you will do well. We are all behind you and Jaffa in your race adventures so stay safe and thank you for promoting the 300zx cars.

 

Thanks Gary

 

Fingers crossed for your goals Bob and let me know if there's anything I can help with. There's a lot of work to be done there!

 

Yes James you know that better than most :) I am interested in your plate on top of the gearbox. Am I right in believing that you have a solid plate rather than the flimsy affair that the rest of us have to suffer? If so info on that would be useful.

 

When the car is ready to go I am going to get a few hours testing at Bruntingthorpe. This is specifically for the brakes as it is impossible to properly test them on track even when not racing. I'm think very high speed straight line with the guys standing at the braking point to assess what's happening. Do a few runs and I'm confident we can make the brakes work much much better. Perhaps you should join us as I think the pedal box has a lot more to offer if we can set it up properly.

You'll be wanting one of these then!

http://www.zspeedperformance.com/ZSpeed-Performance-300zx-SOLID-Shifter-Mount-Kit-ZSP1007.htm

 

Let me know about Brunters, will tag along depending on other commitments and how assembled the car is :)

Thanks for the glowing recommendation Bob!-Glad your happy with the car and here's to great new year!

:thumbup1:

There's a lot of work to be done there!

 

Thanks for the reminder James!!!

The car is now safely back in my garage. Thanks to Danny my daughters partner and Manta V8 for helping with the task.

Getting dead 300s up my drive is a scary process

A big thanks from me to Bodymech for putting up with me calling in and "interfering" with the work!!

 

Work starts here in earnest tomorrow . Paul n me are determined to drive up the quality and therefore the reliability of the project.

Most of the dreaded Tek screws have already been removed and binned. Darren has done his bit too on Tek screw removal

 

In the meantime I G3d the rear lights and popped them back in place.

 

So thats the only pic ATM.

If you are not a Twinz bumper fan then now is the time to leave the room......................:whistling: