Namerow

While the Z community is well served by a couple of specialty manufacturers of replacement body panels, there remain certain large panels that can usually be sourced only by taking a replacement panel from a donor vehicle. Examples would be the hood, roof, hatch, outer and inner door panels, firewall, inner front fenders, rad bulkhead, and the tail panel. Nissan has recently previewed a new technology that permits large, complicated-shape panels to be formed without a die. While it's probably intended to serve the collision repair industry, it's conceivable that they might be talked in

It is a broken-off section of the electrical system's reverse encabulator mounting block.

Even if CO had completed that undergrad course in fluid dynamics, it wouldn't have taught him anything about the behaviour of bubbles entrained in fluid flowing through a pipe. That's pretty specialized stuff. It definitely wouldn't have taught him anything about dislodging a bubble trapped in the corner of a casting. It's worth pointing out that applied science (engineering) is usually based on observing a behaviour first and then finding ways to apply the theory so that it generates a decent prediction. Grannyknot makes a valid point about the ratio of the bubble diameter vs the

Based on what I can see from the photos, it sold at a fair price. It might have pulled $15K on just the right day, but that rarely arrives on time. The floors need to be replaced. Maybe the front frame rails, too. The interior has been rode hard and hung up wet. Dash is really bad. Door cards are incorrect. Seats look shot. The sunroof is unfortunate. Most Z buyers don't want this and it's hard to restore the roof to as-new condition without grafting in a completely new panel from a donor car. We also don't know whether there may be collision damage lurking in the dark area

You did a great job with that build, Chris. We all knew that you could cut and weld, but the paint job that you pulled off on the 510 in that small garage was truly impressive. It will be interesting to see what kind of price it brings. As they say on BaT, 'GLWTS'. For your next project... ???

Grannyknot's explanation is on the right path and identifies a key part of the S30's structure whose importance is often overlooked: the transmission tunnel. Your question seems to be focused on braking loads (i.e. rear-directed loads that occur in the horizontal plane) and your supposition is that the rocker structures are the only elements of the structure available to absorb these loads. Were that true, than the braking loads would, indeed, need to be transferred to the rockers by the firewall panel. Not an ideal situation, as you've guessed. In fact, the braking loads are largely a

The company is Auto Panel Solutions, located in Thirsk, Yorkshire, UK. No website. They advertise only via Facebook. Prices seem reasonable and the CZCC members (not many) who have done business with APS seem happy with their purchases.

Patcon is correct. The 'inner fender' (which you might see as being the engine compartment side wall) forms the fourth side of the box. Thar inner fender panel has a horizontal flange along its bottom edge. For its part, the 'frame rail' has a vertical flange along its top surface. The frame rail is joined to the inner fender by two rows of spot welds: the first along the horizontal flange and the second along the vertical flange. I agree that it can be a head-scratcher until you stop and stare at the details.

There is no such thing as 'a good impact socket to fit the transmission bolt'. In fact, there is no such thing as 'a good socket to fit the transmission bolt' -- unless you buy the special 'double-square' socket that I recommended in my earlier post. A regular 6-point or 12-point socket is guaranteed to ruin a square bolt head. You'll be better off using a big pipe wrench. Also: When you're using the heat gun, you need to focus on the aluminum casing around the bolt, rather than on the bolt itself. The idea is to make the casing expand. It's not the same as when you're trying to bre

Don't consider heat as a 'last resort' strategy. Instead, make it part of your basic strategy. As mentioned by someone else earlier, don't use a flame source (i.e. don't use a torch). Instead, use an electric heat gun (inexpensive, easy to find, easy and fairly safe to use). I would suggest that you heat the area around the plug for about 2 minutes. Then you can go with whatever wrench strategy you decide to use. The square-head type of plug (whether male or female) isn't designed for high-torque, so it's not too hard to round off the corners if you get sloppy. Make sure t

I like your wheel/tire choice and I like the stance as is (picture 2). Also the amount of wheel/tire 'fill' within the fender openings. The problem, however, is that your tire to top-of-wheel arch gap appears bigger the front than at the rear. I think it's a bit too big at the front and a bit too small at the rear. But maybe the shadows make it difficult to tell. If I'm right, though, perhaps the best starting strategy would be a half coil off the front and a bit more spacer at the rear. The visual part is subjective. Messing around with the suspension too much can have undesired cons

Mike at Whitehead is an honest, but busy, guy and not famous for replying to emails. I suggest you go old school and call him by telephone.

Was the OE bush split?

@zKars Are the OE bushings split, like this one appears to be? If so, it adds some interesting wrinkles to how the ID and OD specs should be interpreted.

I've never been very enthusiastic about poly bushings. I know they appeal to the 'go fast' group, but they punish the car's occupants on roads that are anything other than perfect. Here in the salt belt region, perfect roads are hard to find. With wide, low-profile tires, poly bushings in the steering will amplify every seam and step in the pavement and feed the result right back into your wrists. You may end up 'communicating with the road' a lot more than you really wanted to. That said, I see you live in North Carolina, so winter-damaged road surfaces may not be a concern. And if