Hi everyone, my name is Shane and I'm 16 and planning on entering into the challenge. I was originally entering a Miata with 2 of my friends but things didn't go as planned and nothing worked out. So now I'm planning on taking the challenge by the horns and entering as a team of me, myself, and I. I have a '75 Datsun 280z that I am going to be using for the challenge. I bought it for $400 and it came with lowering springs, triple carbs, and a Cartech turbo kit. There's not much more that I'm planning on doing motor wise to it, but I do have plans for bushings, sway bars, brakes, exhaust, some weight reduction, and a unique paint scheeme. Here are some pictures of what it looked like when I got it and what it looks like so far. I've spent about $100 in paint, so that means I have $1,911 more to spend, but I doubt that I'm going to use that much.
Raze
Dork
3/29/11 10:30 a.m.
How much were the new rims? 
Did you drive it home or trailer it? If you trailered it how much did that cost?
I Like!
You've actually got $1511 more to spend, but that's a hell of a cool start! Welcome! 
The rims were $50 but I'm not using them in the challenge 
I trailered it home but that didn't cost anything because my dad has a trailer and truck. Even with $1,511, I doubt that I'll use all of that. Unless I buy all of the stuff I mentioned brand new. Thanks for the compliments.
Oh and I forgot an engine bay pic
Mileage for the trip home still applies.
Ok, my dad's Dodge 3500 dually gets 18mpg and the distance from Port Orange, Fl to Ormond Beach, Fl is 13.52 so lets round that to 14. Gas prices at the time were averaged about $2.47 for diesel. So it cost just under $2.47 to take her home.
This sounds like a great start to a magazine article. Very impressive find and I am really looking forward to updates!
looks great so far! and nice answer on the milage... sounds like most challengers spend more than that driving to autozone!
Raze
Dork
3/29/11 11:13 a.m.
itsarebuild wrote:
looks great so far! and nice answer on the milage... sounds like most challengers spend more than that driving to autozone!
Good thing that's not included in the 'build cost'...
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
That is pretty! Look forward to seeing you there.
alfadriver wrote:
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
We'll see about that. Maybe I can find some used rubber or something because I really want to have the suspension in tune.
turboL24280z wrote:
alfadriver wrote:
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
We'll see about that. Maybe I can find some used rubber or something because I really want to have the suspension in tune.
Hopefully one of the previous Z challengers will help finding the cheap parts for the suspension.
(as in I know which Stock car springs to buy for <$100 on an Alfa, and they are spot on correct).
just out of curiosity, what paint did you use? granted it is a 60 foot view, but that looks great for $100!
alfadriver wrote:
turboL24280z wrote:
alfadriver wrote:
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
We'll see about that. Maybe I can find some used rubber or something because I really want to have the suspension in tune.
Hopefully one of the previous Z challengers will help finding the cheap parts for the suspension.
(as in I know which Stock car springs to buy for <$100 on an Alfa, and they are spot on correct).
Hopefully, I'd like to get as much help as possible to get this thing going for cheap. I'd like to have plenty of time to work out the bugs, specifically with the carbs with boost.
itsarebuild wrote:
just out of curiosity, what paint did you use? granted it is a 60 foot view, but that looks great for $100!
Haha I was waiting for this question. It's painted with rustoleum gloss black and a paint brush I painted it with a quart of paint so it's not very thick. It looks good up to about 10 feet away.
Raze
Dork
3/29/11 1:30 p.m.
alfadriver wrote:
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
Keep $80 and go here to buy your R-compound rubber: http://stores.ebay.com/Race-Tires-USDRRT
Raze
Dork
3/29/11 1:32 p.m.
turboL24280z wrote:
itsarebuild wrote:
just out of curiosity, what paint did you use? granted it is a 60 foot view, but that looks great for $100!
Haha I was waiting for this question. It's painted with rustoleum gloss black and a paint brush I painted it with a quart of paint so it's not very thick. It looks good up to about 10 feet away.
wetsand + same paint 3:1 thinner + high density foam roller from Home Depot = paint with good depth, gloss, and minimal orange peel: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/my-57-paint-job/16401/page1/
Raze wrote:
alfadriver wrote:
Keep $800 of the budget available, and buy new R compound rubber.
or find a way to get pretty new tires for the autocross.
Keep $80 and go here to buy your R-compound rubber: http://stores.ebay.com/Race-Tires-USDRRT
Only one problem, they don't have any 14's which means I'd have to use part of the budget on wheels. But I think it would be worth it in the end. We'll see when the time comes for tires.
Raze wrote:
turboL24280z wrote:
itsarebuild wrote:
just out of curiosity, what paint did you use? granted it is a 60 foot view, but that looks great for $100!
Haha I was waiting for this question. It's painted with rustoleum gloss black and a paint brush I painted it with a quart of paint so it's not very thick. It looks good up to about 10 feet away.
.
wetsand + same paint 3:1 thinner + high density foam roller from Home Depot = paint with good depth, gloss, and minimal orange peel: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/my-57-paint-job/16401/page1/
I'm going to have to keep that in mind. It's going to get repainted anyway so that I can try to do decent in the concours section because I know for sure I'm not going to do amazing in the other 2 sections. I'm thinking maybe a dark gray with some kind of nice racing stripe. But like I said, I'll figure it out when the time comes
A little off topic but here are some pics of another project that my father and I are doing. She's a '72 Chevy Suburban that we've been working on for about 6 years now.
