The new design for the website is NEARLY finished!  It should be finished by the end of next week.

I hate to keep everyone waiting, but I promise it’ll be worth it.  In the meantime, take a look at this sweet thing!

And yes, there’s a carbon fiber car next to the crx, too.

Holy carbon fiber, Batman!

I’ve relocated to the new house in San Leandro, and finally got the 240z in my garage.  I’ve gutted it, removed the gas tank, rear light panel, and am in the process of removing the engine and wiring to replace both.  I’m trying to decide what brake lights to end up using, or just fabricate a new light panel for the Z, but I’ve been strongly considering the Mach 1 Mustang style tail lights, similar to those pictured.

Engine

I just had my new engine delivered.  It’s a 350ci small block Chevy v8 to replace the destroyed 283ci that’s currently in the Datsun.  This happens to have a Rochester Quadrajet carb on it, which I’ll probably keep, and has all the accessories attached (power steering, AC compressor, alternator, starter, etc), a turbo400 trans, and lots of smog equipment.  Once all the excess has been trimmed off, I’ll post another update on the engine.

Body

I spent some time removing body panels this weekend and seeing what the frame looks like.  There’s surface rust here and there which will need to be sanded down, but overall it looks pretty good.  Some previous owner went crazy drilling holes in the interior’s steel to put speakers in, and I’m planning to clean those holes up.

I would also like to weld in some frame supports and possibly a cage for reinforcement (and to allow 5-point harnesses).  Depending upon whether I keep my current seats or not, I may need to fabricate new seat rails as well.  I have two questions for the readers out there:

1. Where can I find a good online primer on welding?
2. What welder would you suggest as a strong starting point?  I have no previous experience welding, and don’t want to go overboard but don’t want to get some $75 piece of crap.

Website

As for the website, I’ve been focusing my efforts on polishing up the design for the new site layout, and migrating to a different server, as well as getting situated in the new workspace (wiring up electricity right now).  I’ve been spending a bit too much time on the forums lately, and will be cutting back my presence there as time rolls on.

I have started removing the pieces of the car that need replacing as well.  Before this car sees the road again, it should have:

• a new fuel cell
• new tail lights
• a new steering wheel
• complete ground-up rewire using circuit breakers
• new seats
• custom ignition/security system (possibly… this depends upon how ambitious I get with this project.)

I’ve added a few pictures of the process so far:

Happy Independence Day!  Calicab wrote this great howto on fabricating a gauge cluster in a DIN slot.  Enjoy!

(edited by Mad Scientist)

I did this on a 1991 CRX but this writeup applies to any vehicle with a standard DIN slot.
these are cyberdyne volts and air/fuel ratio gauges

Shopping List:

a large piece of plexiglass( you will make mistakes)
a scoring tool
tape measure
sharpie marker
flat black paint
gauges
and drill and hole saw

this is plexi

in trying to cut the size i needed, i made ALOT of mistakes

i have two gauges so i only cut two holes, but i know there is room for three, here is the rough piece i got.

i removed the center console and used the space where a CD played would go

this is a rough fitting…

i used silicone to hold the piece in place,

i had to use something to take up the space in the middle( so i used a shocker, but you can use other stuff)

here i am test fitting the gauges, i wrapped them in electrical tape so they would fit the holes snuggly

and finally it is in the car

and lit up at night, i think job well done

I’ve created a new category of article: the Monthly Specials. Starting in August, I’ll be spending a week of each month on a particular topic and covering a different aspect of it each day of the week (with Wednesday off for errands). The first week of each month will get special treatment. If there are any questions or suggestions about Monthly Specials, feel free to email me.