New wheels

Since my old wheels had cracks which were poorly repaired and wouldn't hold air well (well mainly the rears), I decided that I would get both new wheels and new tires (definitely need new tires as the current ones are deteriorating). I could have gotten used wheels, but after looking at forums and craigslist, the sellers were either too far, asking too much, or selling really beat up wheels. When I was looking on Datsun forums to see what would look great and fit on my Z, I saw these Enkei Apache II on one Z and I knew that's what I wanted. Classic wheel design, yet brand new (and affordable compared to other wheels). They are the correct bolt pattern 4x114.3 meaning I didn't have to go through a 5 lug conversion to fit more modern wheels and came in a 0 offset at 15x8 which means I don't need spacers or that I didn't need to roll my fenders or cut them for fender flares (which I was on the fence about in the first place). All in all, it met every single one of my needs. AND I got free shipping on them which made me really happy that I saved some money!

Opened up the first box and I was extremely happy on how they looked

that I had to take a picture of them to upload onto Instagram/Tumblr.

Although it was short-lived. As I was opening each box inspecting each

wheel, the very last wheel I noticed a small nick on the lip. I was a little

disappointed that I paid to get new wheels and it was already damaged.

The damage isn't too bad (less than 5mm long) but the idea hurts more.

I contacted the retailer and they said they can't replace it as the wheels

are now out of stock and they are not sure when they'll be restocking, but they

can refund me 2-3 weeks after they receive the wheel back (meaning about 4 weeks).

I told them the shipping cost in relation to the wheel cost wouldn't make sense and

that I'll just deal with it. They ended up giving me a small refund for the inconvenience

(not as much as a new wheel, but hey I'll take it). Even if they covered the shipping, if I were

to order a new wheel elsewhere, with shipping and tax it would  still be more than the whole refund.

I rather keep the wheel and get that small refund. It makes the most sense to me.

One of my friends said she knows someone that can probably repair it and

I would just need to buy them a 6-pack or something haha. 

 Here's what they look on the like on the car! I can't wait to get

some new tires and see how well it sits. Plan is to get some 

Yokohama S-Drive 205/50R15. I'm hoping my friend can get

me a discount, but if not then it's okay because the tires aren't 

too expensive and it shouldn't be too bad, as I thought tires would

cost more initially. 

Some Assembly Required

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and happy new year! First, I would like to thank my Aunty Kay for the Autozone giftcard which definitely came in handy as Erik and I needed new gloves, throttle body cleaner, towels, etc.. and also to the rest of my family for money that I used toward getting a 1/2" breaker bar and 3/8" torque wrench (which I really needed for what I was planning to do next).

So the last week I've been preparing to drop the engine and transmission back into the car on Sunday. Although I didn't rebuild the engine as I planned before, it was good to take it out, replace the valve cover and oil pan gaskets, and clean it up (at least to my best ability). It was also good to take a look at the clutch so I didn't mind the whole process of taking everything out just to put back in. It wasn't a waste of time imo.  My brother was nice enough to volunteer his time before he went out for the day.

Rolled the engine on the stand out of the garage to the car.

We put the oil pan back on with new hardware then put the 

engine on a mover's dolly while we get it leveled with the 

transmission to put them together.

Torquing the flywheel bolts down to spec with locktite (blue bottle). 

Note: we used my deep 13mm socket to hold the flywheel in place. 

Clutch and pressure plate were then torqued down to spec as well.

Proper lubricating to make sure everything goes smoothly. 

Bolting the transmission to the engine

Probably would be lectured as to where we decided to

lift the engine and transmission from an expert but we didn't run into

any issues or did it feel sketchy at all although it may have been easier 

in another spot.

 Took a while to wiggle the engine in the proper spot for the 

bolts to slip into the engine mounts. Had to look for the bolts in a 

little bin as the previous owner didn't have installed when I received my car...

Towed all the way from Nevada without the engine OR transmission bolted

in place. I'm glad everything worked out in the end.

And everything is secured in place! I need to buy 

two bolts to secure the transmission crossmember

in place as they were not provided with the car... 

I also decided to clean up a few things I 

had laying around covered in oil/grease/dirt haha.

That's all that basically happened recently. I also bought some other parts but you will have to wait until they come in next week to find out what it is! Stay tuned!