Entering the GRM $2011 Challenge solo

Haha I found him and emailed him, I sound like a creeper LOL

matt smith? hmmm..

Found a potential donor car for $800, more info soon :D

Recieved my Head gaskets, intake exhaust gaskets, and RCI 5-Point "Wrap around" harness today. Hoping to get the long block tomorrow or Sunday. More to come soon.

Got my turbo intake manifold/throttle body/injectors/turbo distributor today Now I just have to go pick up my motor tomorrow and pay for the Z31 ECU and harness, and I should have the complete swap put together. This week I'm going to work on getting the motor in the Z out and get the head gasket and trans on the new motor. I have a feeling that I'm still going to be able to compete in the Challenge

I was a 1 man band in 2006, so from another solo guy congrats and keep up the good work!

Thank you

You guys are going to hate me for this one. I just finalized a deal for a plug and play Megasquirt for $190 plus shipping. It is a complete setup with everything to install and go More to come.

Well I decided to check on what I have left in my budget and so far I've used $1035.96. Here's a little summary:

Car= $400

Motor/Fuel Rail/Injectors= $150

Head Gaskets and intake/exhaust gaskets= $55

Intake Manifold/Turbo Injectors/ Turbo dizzy= $150

Towing/Gas= $2.47

Brake Fluid= $6.49

Slave Cylinder= $14.99

Brake Pads= $20.01

Megasquirt= $212

Garrett Turbo/ Misc. Gauges/Oil Catch can= $25

Total= $1035.96

If you guys have anything to add in, or notice anything that needs to be changed let me know. Will get pics up of everything ASAP.

Bought some parts, but can't install them because I'm on vacation in the Virgin Islands :D

Here's what she looks like now. I'm currently cleaning up the interior and running any wires that need to be run so that I don't have to rip the interior apart again. I'm hoping to get a Sparco seat off of my friend, it's the only seat I've sat in that is wide enough to fit me (I'm 5' 10" ~230lbs) I've gotten my Megasquirt, but I'm trying to figure out what block/head combination I want to run. I really want to get BluDestiny's L28et but my dad is iffy about the fact that it has a blown head gasket. I found a P90a head locally for $125, and a complete L28e out of an '83 280zx. I was thinking of either putting the P90a head on either my L24 block, or put it on top of the L28e, but what do you guys think? Really and truly I'd like to have all 3 options so that I have back-ups. I also have some old pics I posted up, but now they're blown up so you can see them better.

Smoked tail light

Out with the old sound deadner

Before I sold the triples :'( Repainted VC/Turbo kit

Getting stripped down

Getting ready to pulll the suspension to swap the springs

When we moved the shop, I had to throw everything for the Z inside. I still haven't gotten a chance to clean her out

Peep the grenade shift knob :D

I have everything but the motor, and Pallnet fuel rail for the swap. I finished up fixing the wiring harness yesterday, now I just have to re-wrap it and install it. My deadline to get it done is August 22nd, because that's when school starts and it's my senior year so I won't have time to work on it.

pffft ... a month to get a motor, wiring, suspension, and interior into a 30+ year old car, and get it sorted to race...easy peasy

Good luck man, we are pulling for ya!

Haha, yea, when you have more than 1 person working on the car. I'm going to get POR-15 and truck bed liner so I can paint the floors in the Z 1 last time. Then it's time to get the harness in and we should have lights

At team "loosely connected to GRM in many ways" we've finished stripping our Spitfire frame, and plan to paint very soon. We have a month to finish, um, everything.

Haha, nice. Miles told me you guys took the frame to Matt's house and had it blasted. Glad to see you're getting something done on it. Hopefully I'll have the Z running before school starts.

Tom, I hope the Spitfire is street legal so we can drive up together

Update: Just got a half dash cover for $42

I decided to jump on the fanboi bandwagon and paint the rising sun on the hood

Here's a pic of the hood

awesome... thats something i'd thought about on the roof of my mr2 back in the day :)... dig it

So sad I'm not bringing a car to the Challenge this year... :( sniff

Enjoying this thread... keep up the good work.

BTW...

turboHLS30 wrote: I decided to jump on the fanboi bandwagon and paint the rising sun on the hood Here's a pic of the hood

Funny... I was just contemplating doing the same thing to the '81 280zx we just inherited. Already ordered fender mirrors too.

donalson wrote: awesome... thats something i'd thought about on the roof of my mr2 back in the day :)... dig it

Thanks, it's pretty easy. It cost me ~$7 to do the whole hood, and about 2 and a half hours. I'm going to continue the rays onto the fenders and into the cowl. I've decided to go with a WWII Japanese fighter plane scheme. I'm probably also going to put a pin-up doll on the rear quarter panel and come up with a clever name.

miatame wrote: So sad I'm not bringing a car to the Challenge this year... :( sniff

Want to going my team? I'm flying solo right now.

darkbuddha wrote: Enjoying this thread... keep up the good work. BTW... Funny... I was just contemplating doing the same thing to the '81 280zx we just inherited. Already ordered fender mirrors too.

Yea, like I said it's SUPER easy.

BTW, I'm in the most recent issue of GRM