Having Fun with a Dime

[DiMeCelso]

I picked up my 1st dime last week. I do have plans for it but more so I just want to enjoy and have fun building my dime.As I get stuff together I will just post up here.

When it was delivered to me:





One thing I wanted to change was the color and I really wanted to remove all the paint because I was curious on the condition of the chassis and always good to start fresh.

I still have to under carriage and inside but that will be more later down the road when I do the full cage.

After media blasting we found that the dime has 5 coats of paint over a span of 44 years.





Next week gonna cut out the rear panel and valence and install the one I picked up from a forum member.
I will also do the following in the next few weeks
*Going to replace slave cylinder
* tidy up harness and interior (remove rollbar)
*install suspension and wheels
*repaint

[DiMeCelso]

[okayfine]

Getting after it!! What's the condition of the metal underneath? And how did you strip the paint from the fiberglass?

[DiMeCelso]

Media blasted, took 2 hours and some change because of all the paint. The metal I give 8 out of 10 only spots I saw are near front fenders and rear fenders . Other than that it's clean all the paint from over the years saved it from a lot of rust.

Next week taking interior carpet and engine out to blast bay and interior.

[DiMeCelso]

Also for the curious minds, everything you see minus the fiberglass fenders is bare metal.

[PoorMtnKid]

Wow you got after that quick. Keep the post alive with updates. Do you have a guy that will be doing the body work?

[DiMeCelso]

Yea as long as I have a way , I usually will go after my projects quick.Body guy will be my brother but he has no welding experience for the rear panels.

PM me if you know someone good and reliable even body prep wise


Anyhow I ordered some suspension parts from Dave(FutoFab)

*LCA and TC rod package
*Rear camber/toe adjusters( going to measure and cut then have it welded)
*Rear mono-ball spherical bushings

As of now looking for 280zx uprights if I don't end up buying a assembled one.

*I was thinking of using Koni 8610 or 8611race inserts in front and Koni monos in rear as well

*350lb springs up front and 400 rears(if I don't run a sway bar)
---I know the norm is 200/225 I'm still doing research.

***I am spending a lot of time on researching this. Any input is welcomed, I'm going to set the car up for road racing even if it'll be street driven more.

*As for wheels with tires being the limiting factor. I'm having a custom set done looking at 15x11 rears and 15x10 fronts(steering response???)
---off set I calculated -16 front and -6 rear but this is still going to be finalized. Need to put all my suspension together first.

*engine and drivetrain stock for now (have a short stroke VE engine inline and building myself) and rear end will be r200.

[PoorMtnKid]

I don't know any body people, that's why I was asking hahaha. I'm running 250 lbs if you ever want t check the out in person let me know and we can meet up.

[DiMeCelso]

No worries my bro can handle the body work. With the panels I'm sure I can make it happen ...I will hit you up next week to check it out for sure

[Bike papa]

I'm happy the you didn't find any bad surprises when you blasted the car. it was on CL for so long without any takers it made me wonder what was hiding under the paint!

happy to see another Vegas Dime.

BP

[Three B's Racing]

[quote="DiMeCelso"]Yea as long as I have a way , I usually will go after my projects quick.Body guy will be my brother but he has no welding experience for the rear panels.

PM me if you know someone good and reliable even body prep wise


Anyhow I ordered some suspension parts from Dave(FutoFab)

*LCA and TC rod package
*Rear camber/toe adjusters( going to measure and cut then have it welded)
*Rear mono-ball spherical bushings

As of now looking for 280zx uprights if I don't end up buying a assembled one.

*I was thinking of using Koni 8610 or 8611race inserts in front and Koni monos in rear as well

*350lb springs up front and 400 rears(if I don't run a sway bar)
---I know the norm is 200/225 I'm still doing research.

***I am spending a lot of time on researching this. Any input is welcomed, I'm going to set the car up for road racing even if it'll be street driven more.

*As for wheels with tires being the limiting factor. I'm having a custom set done looking at 15x11 rears and 15x10 fronts(steering response???)
---off set I calculated -16 front and -6 rear but this is still going to be finalized. Need to put all my suspension together first.

*engine and drivetrain stock for now (have a short stroke VE engine inline and building myself) and rear end will be r200.[/quoTE

I also have a box flared 510 I restored from `94 to `97, But I got ya beat mine had seven yes 7 paint jobs and there was not one square inch of uncracked paint so like you I stripped it down to nothing but I removed the rear flares and bondo and glued them on and used Mar-Glas and some feather lite to flatten things up. Anyway ya your going to love Dave's suspension pieces. I live pretty close to him and also have the adjustable LCA's and rear kit and their awesome. Good Luck with the reconditioning and have fun,,,Because it's worth it.

Lou

[DiMeCelso]

I'm happy the you didn't find any bad surprises when you blasted the car. it was on CL for so long without any takers it made me wonder what was hiding under the paint!

happy to see another Vegas Dime.

BP

It was a gamble on my part but it paid off so far. The undercarriage is full of crud but I sanded a spot down under the spare tire location and frame rails... it's just surface rust.

[DiMeCelso]

Yea as long as I have a way , I usually will go after my projects quick.Body guy will be my brother but he has no welding experience for the rear panels.

PM me if you know someone good and reliable even body prep wise


Anyhow I ordered some suspension parts from Dave(FutoFab)

*LCA and TC rod package
*Rear camber/toe adjusters( going to measure and cut then have it welded)
*Rear mono-ball spherical bushings

As of now looking for 280zx uprights if I don't end up buying a assembled one.

*I was thinking of using Koni 8610 or 8611race inserts in front and Koni monos in rear as well

*350lb springs up front and 400 rears(if I don't run a sway bar)
---I know the norm is 200/225 I'm still doing research.

***I am spending a lot of time on researching this. Any input is welcomed, I'm going to set the car up for road racing even if it'll be street driven more.

*As for wheels with tires being the limiting factor. I'm having a custom set done looking at 15x11 rears and 15x10 fronts(steering response???)
---off set I calculated -16 front and -6 rear but this is still going to be finalized. Need to put all my suspension together first.

*engine and drivetrain stock for now (have a short stroke VE engine inline and building myself) and rear end will be r200.[/quoTE

I also have a box flared 510 I restored from `94 to `97, But I got ya beat mine had seven yes 7 paint jobs and there was not one square inch of uncracked paint so like you I stripped it down to nothing but I removed the rear flares and bondo and glued them on and used Mar-Glas and some feather lite to flatten things up. Anyway ya your going to love Dave's suspension pieces. I live pretty close to him and also have the adjustable LCA's and rear kit and their awesome. Good Luck with the reconditioning and have fun,,,Because it's worth it.

Lou

Im definitely having fun...7 paint jobs!! Whoa!! Im glad it worked out for you.

What front splitter are you using? I am still debating between dobi and the trafional wide splitter.

Thanks everyone for taking a look at my build. I am going through the forums and seeing a lot of nice dimes!!! BP and poormtnkid your dimes are looking very good!!!

[Three B's Racing]

[/quoTE

I also have a box flared 510 I restored from `94 to `97, But I got ya beat mine had seven yes 7 paint jobs and there was not one square inch of uncracked paint so like you I stripped it down to nothing but I removed the rear flares and bondo and glued them on and used Mar-Glas and some feather lite to flatten things up. Anyway ya your going to love Dave's suspension pieces. I live pretty close to him and also have the adjustable LCA's and rear kit and their awesome. Good Luck with the reconditioning and have fun,,,Because it's worth it.

Lou[/quote][/quote]


Im definitely having fun...7 paint jobs!! Whoa!! Im glad it worked out for you.

What front splitter are you using? I am still debating between dobi and the trafional wide splitter.

Thanks everyone for taking a look at my build. I am going through the forums and seeing a lot of nice dimes!!! BP and poormtnkid your dimes are looking very good!!![/quote]

I'm running the traditional front splitter. Whatever one you use other than what is designed for the flares you gota make sure it'll fit because of that extra width. The guy I bought it from in `93 was a painter and put a new color on just about every year he had it on the road. On a side note those skirts molded between the flares,,,I'd remove. You catch one of those and break it, it could create hugh issues with anything attached. This is my 510 and that's me standing fumbling with my Nikon D700. That Celica has ZX front suspension, 240SX rear suspension and a VG33 and it's a monster. Pic taken at Summit Point, WV 2012.

Lou

[DiMeCelso]

Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely keep
that in mind. Very clean dime you have...like how the whole front flows.
You're dime's neighbor looks like it wants to unleash some madness.