Fairlady Z Quinceañera

Today, my Fairlady turns 15... and while Quince's are not much of a tradition for cars I thought at least a little blog and car wash to celebrate would be nice. 

My Z in dealer lobby

On March 15, 2010 while I was in Chicago for a consulting gig we met. I wrote a BLOG about the day and circumstances that lead me to my Z. I still remember walking into the dealership hoping I could work a good deal (never fall in love before you negotiate a price). 

I wish I was able to do more for her today, on what is her 15th birthday with me, and this Fairlady turns 50 this year! She rolled out the factory in September of 1975, so maybe I'll have her running better for her 50th... but today I had to be careful with her... she is leaking gas from the fuel injector seals, I noticed in when getting her wrapped up from her last race in 2024... and I didn't get around to working on her all winter. I know, I know, she deserves better. 

Like a Quince... I thought I would give a father speech and thank all the people who helped my little Fairlady grow up. 

First off, my family for the patience... she often smells, sometimes the smell gets in the house, I smell after driving her, and she has used a spot in the garage for 15 years, well except those couple years when she was stored at Eurasia while getting the fuel injection system redone or when with me at Ivy Tech. (Blog: There Goes My Z). 

The motivation to sell my SpecV, which I loved... happened when I moved to South Bend (2008) my SpecV was in a class against Bill Loring (now two time national champ). I was usually top 10 in Grand Rapids/Lansing/Detroit Regions in her, was FTD once, but in South Bend she would never win, I made cracked top 10 once, I was not a good enough driver to come close to Bill in our class... so I was like I need a car that I'll worry less about winning and more about fun... the hunt for a fun RWD car was on... 

My first year with her I won 1st in my class in STR which was not the goal, mostly I won cause I ran the most races but I got a trophy (Blog: #1 Trophy). She then wouldn't start the following year... and she was down for the count for about 5 years. I remember reflecting once, when the Z was down for the count, how much I missed being out there, and missed feeling like a "Car Guy". Shout out to Bill, Dick, Fred M, Duane, and all the others who let me race their cars during the years with no Z. (Blog: You Used to Race There)

Big thanks to Eurasia, but mostly to Jim and sad he retired from there... but I did bug him this week to maybe help me get this leak stopped. I remember picking her up from getting new fuel tank, new injectors... and finally driving her after so many years. (Blog: Here Comes My Z)

Huge thanks to Ivy Tech and Ed Herendeen for all the time teaching me, and helping me work on the Z while getting my certificates. If you are bored you can read a few blogs about the work on the Z there, but here is me pridefully holding my two certificates my Z helped me earn (Blog: Ivy Tech Grad x2)

Shout out to all my friends that have joined me in autocross with her... to Juan who I drug up to Gingerman to the real race track to run his Z. To Jenn for the help getting me to events, packing lunch, and helping the kids and family enjoy the Z. To Hermen, Heather, and Erin the original Parking Lot Performance crew... Herm you still gotta come drive this one! The Fairlady has done a lot of people's first time laps around the Tire Rack Track. 

Today she got a car wash... I tried to take similar pictures for a before (dealership) and today pictures of my Fairlady Z. She is still wearing her racing shoes, maybe next time I pull her out we get her fancy shoes on (Blog: New Shoes)

I have written lots of blogs, learned a lot of lessons, enjoyed lots of cars and coffee, busted my knuckles, spent more than I planned, lost a lot of races, and loved every minute of it.  

Raising the Z has taught me a lot. (Blog: Garage Lessons) I learned to be patient, to ask for help when I need it, to do things right the first time, sometimes its the simplest solution, sometimes people you would never guess are smarter than you, and sometimes the simple act of turning the car on, sitting in her, reving her up a little... can make your day. 

Cheers to watching my Fairlady grow up even more. 

Ready for 2024

Its been a year since I blogged about Me and My Z... so no promises this won't be the only post for 2024, but I at least need to share a post of what I have done, or er had done to get before season started. 

I slowly in 2022 and 2023 amassed brake upgrade parts and once I had all the parts I planned to install them all myself... but well life and time has gotten in the way. So while I know how to do all the work, I paid my friends at Dave's Garage on Main Street in South Bend to do the work. They have worked on my daily drivers for the past 15 years, I trusted them to work on the Z. 

While taking classes at Ivy Tech I did the stainless steel brake lines and took everything apart and did some OEM replacements, but now it was time for a little upgrade. So what did I buy? 

Powerstop Slotted Rotors
Hawk Performance Race Brake Pads
Rebuild and Silver painted calipers
FutoFab Adjustable Tension Rods

I also failed to post in the fall when I got another set of shoes for the Fairlady. I documented the previous pair my Shelby Libres that I restored. You can ready about those here... Fairladys New Shoes. I wanted to get some better rubber for racing so I picked up some 15 inch Konig Rewinds wheels from MotorSport Auto and then some of the new Bridgestones from the Tire Rack. 

A couple weeks ago I polished her up for a Cars and Coffee at the Studebaker National Museum and this past weekend got her dirty hitting cones and racing at the Tire Rack Test Track. The brakes are a loud noisier for daily driving, but VERY grippy for autocross! Next month we will test them out well at Gingerman Raceway! 

So Me and My Z are back in action... I have a few projects I want to get done to her this year but for now enjoying her as is, and glad to have a garage I trust to work on her. 

Race Day

I realized... I never posted the video link for the class project that N did on Me and Z... N just graduated with her BFA from Kendal College of Art and Design. As a parent it is so special when you see your child succeed... but I think this was just mega cool. Not just cause it was about me, but because she chose to do a story about Me and My Z. 

So enjoy... 

Oh and as the YouTubers say... subscribe to my channel... 

Now if my 13th year with the Z would get out of the bad luck category... last Gingerman Track Night... On my way there the air filter fell off (yes, actually), my rear brakes started making noise, I spun out (twice, video of that HERE), and two of my tires got pretty corded so I called it quits early. Hope new wheel, tire, and brake updates coming soon. 

13 Lucky Years

If you know me, you know I am not big into luck or fate or any of that type of stuff... I think success is created through hard work, opportunity and maybe a little good timing... but not just luck. 

March 2010 to Today
(well on a non-snowy Indiana day)

Well March 15th, 2010 is when I got my car, and today marks 13 years of ownership... not gonna lie for some reason I feel like I need to be extra careful with my baby in its 13th year with me. To say that each time I tackle a major project with the car that worry always clouds me... what could go wrong, how much more will it cost, how much longer will she be out of commission... 

Luckily, I just got one of the more major jobs done on the car I have been worried about... I got a new floor pan welded into the driver floor (you could see the street from a few spots...) and new frame rails on the driver and passenger side. They were not in great shape when I got her, and they got worse the past few years. I bought replacement patch panels three years ago... and two winters in a row had a shop back out of doing the job. Luckily this year, through a mutual friend I found someone to tackle the project for me... and it turned out great! 

Not the sexiest picture of my Z...
but a very important upgrade

While I was at it, we welded in some single point jack plates. All the parts were from Bad Dog Parts and were well made. My welder said it was not mega tricky to get it all done and got some rust proofing done and while you can't tell at all it was done... she is stiffer and a little safer. 

Coming up next? Assuming the tension rod install goes okay, I have new calipers (OEM style just rebuilt) for the front and new pads and rotors up front (OEM size but slotted). 

Well at least great so far, it looks good, and should be protected for years. Now going to mount new tension rods and finished a few suspension mods I didn't want to do until the rails were done. Ideally I get those parts in, and installed before the first few events of the year. Super pumped! 

So mostly just a short blog... and I want to tell you all I have started to think about doing some Datsun Z part reviews on my YouTube channel... Yes I made one, not much content now, but send me some suggestions I want to get that active this year! 

Me and My Z on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@meandmyz4961

Come on lucky #13! 

Ivy Tech Graduate (x2)

(Repost from my personal blog)

Introducing, Sam Centellas, certified in Automotive Service Technology AND Maintenance and Light Engine Repair. 

Me and My Degrees

A few years ago I wrote about being a college dropout (blog)... I had started my Autotech Certificate in 2012 when I worked at Ivy Tech... I left the college in 2013 and stopped taking classes. I started back at it in 2020, I figured no time like the pandemic to get back at it.

I learned A LOT. 

The biggest thing I learned... is how hard it is being an adult going back to school. WOW. Most semesters I took one class, some semester I took two, all while working a full time job, sometimes while working more than one full-time job... and the whole time being a parent, running my side hustle, trying to stay healthy and trying to stay sane. 

I'll be honest, it was harder than when I got my master's degree. Yeah for real, the time in the shop you can't BS like I could writing papers in grad school. You also have to commit the time, once you tear the brakes down on a car, you can't just shelf it for later, you got to get it done. When you break something, you have to fix it, when you don't know how to do something, just googling it doesn't fix it... you need to tell someone you can't figure it out and ask them to show you how to do it. Then you have to try it yourself, and prove you learned it. 

I also learned about not solving problems with what you think, but with what you know. Car repair isn't about guessing, if that was the case your mechanic would do the wrong repair at least 50% of the time. If when I was 99% sure I knew what was wrong, you still have to test to be sure, and yep, that 1% makes a difference. It made me think a lot about my work, we often trying to solve problems that don't actually exist and then wonder why we didn't solve the problem. We didn't actually test to see what the problem actually was... 

I got a lot of work done on the my Z which was nice... but also did brakes on the family van, my MKZ hybrid, Juan's Z, and lots of other student and school cars (changed the oil on the chancellor's car!). Link below to my Z blog with lots of the cool projects but here is a direct link to my favorite one was all the suspension work I did to get her ready for the 2022 Race Season (which then I barely raced the car...): Here Comes 2022. 

I met more great people... students who were trying to improve their life through technical skills. Students who didn't know what they wanted in life but just liked cars. I connected with former colleagues or friends in different ways... I remember when a top community leader came into the shop on a tour and couldn't believe it was me covered in brake dust tearing up a Toyota Solara with some students. He asked if I was the teacher... nope, here to learn. 

I also learned again, and was reminded how those in trades get treated. Wearing dirty jeans and my Dickies work shirt... means I got treated differently stopping at the store after class. I wrote a blog about that a few years ago (can't find link)... interestingly I thought pandemic taught us how important essential workers are, but I realized that was a lesson quickly forgotten by our country. Also a reminder to many, that an entry auto mechanic actually makes more per hour than I did with my master's degree... 

Lastly... this was a little in honor of my grandpa. He owned a garage, and always wanted his grandkids to be "smarter" than him and make more money. I remember he laughed when I told him I had started an auto tech degree all those years ago... he told me something like you are an engineer what are you going to do with that? I told him, to try to be as smart as you and open a garage (I have a dream of opening a non-profit garage some day). 

I had a lot of stories and posts about my classes, especially on my other blog (Me and My Z). I am actually really proud of these TWO certificates, yeah I started so long ago that my credit tracking was off, and while I planned one certificate, I ended up getting two, and one semester earlier than planned. 

Now debating if I sign up to walk at commencement... 

Fairlady's New Shoes

DONE. Well kinda, still need some center caps and I will need to either clear the wheels or ceramic coat them to protect them... but they are on the car! 

What are they? 

Well these are a vintage Shelby Viper wheel... the style is most well known as American Racing Equipment (ARE) Libre Wheels and very popular in late 1960s and early 1970s and were run on Alpha Romeos, Datsun 510s and of course Datsun/Nissan Z race cars (240, 260, 280). 

Why am I so excited? 

I got these wheels from a couple that was parting out a 1973 Datsun 240z up in Grand Rapids, MI. I got them for a steal cause they were in fairly bad shape. Well, good enough shape that in my first year I threw a set of Falken Azenis tires on them and used them for racing... they held air, but didn't look 100%. 

Original Look

Sanding and sanding 

So over winter I moved the Azenis tires to my Shelby Cal 500 wheels... which meant it was time to restore these wheels... and man it was a project! I want to thank everyone who gave some advice, encouragement, or helped along the way. 

To Pilo over at Pilo's Body Shop for sandblasting them for me, to Jason at Luxe AutoSpa in Niles as an expert at finishing wheels for the tips and pointers on materials to buy and grits to use, my Hot Wheels customizing friend Diego for tips of polishing them, and Braxton over at Discount Tire for the deal on tires and understanding why I wanted to mount and balance them myself. 

This whole project was a labor of love... it also took team work, as I might have quit on them several times, and I think the color I planned to paint them (satin black) would have been a mistake. So what all did it take? 

First step was I clean them up. I did a light hand sanding on them, used a palm sander and realized these were going to need a little to clean up. So I had them sandblaster, in retrospect I should of only sand blasted the backs... but hey you live and learn. 

Second step was sanding... I originally started with 320 grit... and realized I had to start back at 150 grit... I used some grinding wheels to start. Then by hand at 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and finished with 2000 grit... sounds like a lot of steps and it was. The first few grits I was doing about 20-30 minutes per wheel... and it got less and less and ultimately yhe 2000 grit was maybe 2-3 minutes per wheels just cleaning them up and getting them ready for polish. 

In the middle of that, at about the 400 grit mark (about 50% of sanding complete) I painted the backs of the wheels flat black. I did this on previous wheels, they look sharper longer like that and clean up from brake dust and track rubber sling easier. 

Picking Colors... Silver or Gray?

I then sanded the lips of the wheels to 2000 grit. Once I felt it was ready for polish and buffing, I taped off the lips, and painted the center of the front of the wheels. After much deliberating and advice, I settled on rattle cans from Rustoleum of a color called "Black Stainless Steel"... which is really more of a metallic dark gray and really made a nice contract with my body color and flat black bumpers. 

Then I pealed the tape and buffed the lips of the wheels... they looked great, and at that point I estimated I spent about 2.5 hours on each wheel. It was time to shop for rubber, get valve stems, and mount/balance them. I wanted to do this myself, mostly cause I didn't want the wheels scratched up on install (I ended up scratching them myself anyways...). 

Well there is the finished product... 14x5.5 Shelby Viper vintage wheels for Me and My Z. It was a labor of love, and there has been a cool sense of pride as a drive around town on my Fairladys new shoes. 

 

Bumpers, Fender Mirrors and Painting

Well, not a planned update for this year... as I wrote before my passenger side fender got all banged up in the garage over the winter. Originally I was just going to leave it, didn't want to waste fun summer driving time and potentially miss any races. Well with work, family and travel schedules... a 3-4 week window appeared and I decided to let Pilo over at Pilo's Body Shop have a crack at her. 

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie...

If you don't know the story.. google it. If you know me well, thats how I live my life... while I am doing something, might as well do it right and get some other items done as well. So a quick fender paint turned into... 

Sandblasted my Shelby Libre vintage wheels (still working on refinishing them)
New rear bumper (Skillard)
Got a new Xenon front air damn from a car club member (thats Kurt!)
Fender Mirrors (Z Car Depot)
Also painted rear deck lid, so of course also got a new deck lid cover (Skillard)

Since I didn't find a new front air damn until we had nearly finished... I splurged and ordered the Skillard.com front Type 1 Air Splitter... it was originally to help off set the sagging front spoiler (from going off at the track two years ago) and gave me an excuse to splurge. I still haven't mounted that as it is fairly extensive... 

Anyhow... the paint match on the fender, deck lid and front spoiler is awesome. Not perfect, it never is on spot repair (I skipped on blending since I want to fully rep
aint the car someday), but man its so good I bet hardly anyone will be able to tell. The best part is that Pilo let me work on the car a little, I learned some painting tips and helped with the front spoiler. 

I made some good decisions on parts, and some bad ones, let's break it down. 

Fender Mirrors - I got the grey plastic ones, they were on clearance (still are if you want a set) and I figured for the savings I can paint them black quick. However, the black ones are also now on sale, and I spent more in paint, sand paper, and time than I saved. I mean it was fun sanding, and I went above and beyond and since I had to paint, I sanded off the flashing lines (plastic mold lines) so I feel like they look more high end... but I know they are cheap, and I shoulda of just bought black ones. 

Rear Bumper - they sell it in raw aluminum, or black powder coat. I am glad I went cheaper here, cause it was easy to paint, and we ended up custom cutting a notch in the bumper near my tow hook. That would of ruined the finish on the powder coat. The real mistake here though was not buying a bumper in the first place, and trying to jury rig an old bumper that was in terrible shape to the car... that was last year and now my rear fenders look like swiss cheese. Fix that another day... the new bumper looks nice and I need to adjust them a bit but looking good. 

Okay so what is next? Well I have some autocross events, a track night at Gingerman Raceway and lots of other projects around the house and garage to get done. I need to find time to finish the rims, no real priority on that, but man I can't wait to see how she looks on vintage rims to complete the look. 

August 6th Cars and Coffee, August 11th Gingerman, then September and October autocross events... maybe sneak in a Z car show and a track day with the Corvette club... who knows. Glad to have my baby back!