Ever had a good reliable friend who's always been there when you needed? One who's never left you out in the cold or stranded somewhere in the rain? I introduce you to one such friend of mine. She shall remain nameless, but we've been together since 1985, so in dog years, that's a pretty damn long time. We've been to hell and back, and we've still got a long way to go.
I've long since lost track of the number of miles she has racked up, and have not counted since the second turn of the odometer, so I guess that's more than 200K. That was four or some years ago. The engine's been rebuilt, only because I thought it needed it. Really, I think the head was tired, so I figured - new head, new bottom while I was at it. The matching number engine is still stock standard - not even a hint of a ridge in the cylinders! Nissan really over engineered these blocks, and that's a good thing. Most recent paint job. Tired of metallic finishes, I went with a solid. Bright at first, it grew on me. For those old motorheads in the crowd, the color is an old Ford '70s color known as Grabber Blue. It was used on Boss 302 Mavericks and Mustangs, very close to the background color of this page.
| Engine | L26 Stock 2565cc, E88 head compression 10:1 |
| Gearbox | 280Z 5 Speed |
| Induction | 1972 SU Dual Sidedraft Carburetors |
| Exhaust | Motorsport Auto Headers - 6 into 1 into 2.25" exhaust |
| Wheels/Tires | Vintage 14" US Wheels/ 215/60/14 |
| Suspension | Stock Springs Fixed Rate/KYB GR1 low pressure struts |
| Interior | White Stock interior with stock buckets |
| Mirrors | Vitalloni Californians |
So I finally broke down and pryed open the old wallet and sent her to the paint shop. This guy was pretty good - claimed he worked with George Berris. He let me do the prep and disassembly onsite, and taught me a few things along the way. Turned out that my car had been in a hail storm in a previous life that was discovered on the roof upon stripping. He showed me how to float out dents using a cool flame and a circular motion around the dent itself, until the metal pops up. Then with a metal file, bump it back into original shape. Here are some of the work in progress shots.
After about a month, this is what I brought home. I was disappointed in the color - turned out to be darker than expected. That's the problem when looking at little paint chip samples. It kind of grew on me and actually had "Chameleon" like qualities about it. Light in the sunlight and darker in the shade or at different angles.
