Today I noticed that my MAF adapter came in, sweet!! Now I need the filter and hotpipe to complete the intake side. Not too bad, its slowly coming all together.

The tach came in yesterday and after some thinking, I decided to hook it up to the Civic, just to see if its going to work. So today after work, I took a look to where it would go, the only good spot I could find was the panel under the radio, that I was going to use for LCD before, but since its not going in, I might as well use it for something. So after getting some L brackets and some steel stock, I was ready to fabricate the mount. A little bit of trimming with the rotary tool, I had the bracket made. Nothing spectacular, but getting into the whole modifying thing. Found a cool distributor block for the wiring. And after few hours in the dark (it was 11PM by the time bracket was done), the tach was almost fully hooked up. The only thing that is left is the tach signal wire, but since I will have to look up which wire it is, I figured to call it a night. Oh and the back light is exactly the same as on the VDO vision gauges - through-dial lighting, that makes it really easy to read at night, and that is always a good thing. But its like 3am so I got to go to sleep, hopefully I will do some modifying to the cover next week and post a pic of it when done.

So today another eBay auction closes I win a 3 gauge pod. Not the A-pillar kind, because the VDO tach goes there and a boost gauge in a cool, black gauge pod. As far as the 3 gauges, I figure oil pressure, water temp, and probably oil temp. Also the MOMO wheel is going to be on its way soon, its used, but still not bad for 20bux shipped.

The exhaust came in today too. It looks DAMN good too. I put it together next to the downpipe and they look good together. All that stainless steel, ahhhhh, so nice, so shiny. The cat-back completes the exhaust, aside from the turbo elbow, but I am not 100% sure I will get it. All thats left now is the hotpipe w/ SSQV to complete the intake side of the motor. The next thing I am going to get is either Clutch of fuel pump, but I am thinking its the fuel pump, even tho its not really high up on my priority list.

Hopefully the tach and MAF adapter will come in next week. But I figure that the payday comes I will brake down and get the wheel hub.

Damn the eBay is addictive! I need to stop looking for stuff there, because I always find it. At good prices too. But I need to save up for the other parts on the list. So no more Ebay/forums for a while. I found a good deal on 300zx brake swap, or at least I thought so untill I checked it out on Ebay. The calipers I can get cheaper than either one, through my local hookup. But I don't know if my wheels will fit the Z32 brakes, so I got to hold off on it. Or get the rotors/SS lines only. If I get it and the wheels won't fit, I will have another problem there. UGH!!!!

I got a chance to talk to the guys at the Tein booth, really nice guys. I was looking for a set of coilovers with pillow ball camber plates. After few other questions, Tein Flex was the choice for daily driver and winter car, due to the coating on them. It also allows me to get the in car controller to change the stiffness/softness of the shock. Flex comes with surprisingly soft springs, about 220-ish (i think its 4KG/cm) and additional springs if I wanted to go stiffer are available for about 100bux a pair. Not bad. I am defiantly sold on them.

I am still looking into the gauges. Mechanical vs Electrical. I would prefer electrical, but the 270degree sweep is a great feature. So I can't decide. Autometer makes the full sweep electric gauges, but I don't like how they are lighted. VDO vision series is the gauge I really want. I will have to look into it a lot more.

I do have to say that I did have fun at the show, even though I am complaining. I do have to give props to DriftingPretty.com girls for coming out to HIN. If you don't know who they are, go ahead and check out the site. While you're at it check out Nadine180.com. Mad props for all the girl drifters. Bring more in!!!! Always nice to see a girl that knows how to drive well. Also to my man Daijiro Yoshihara from Pacific Rim for bringing out the Silvia. BTW man, I love the "CHECK THE HOODPINS!!!!" on the windshield!!! I laughed my ass off!!! (Got a pic of it too)

After looking at Ebay for hours last night, I found the perfect solution as far as gauges go. The VDO gauges are a lot cleaner than the Autometer ones, probably because they aren't as popular, and I also found a really nice back light for them, so they look awesome. They look good, easily visible numbers and great backlight, almost like the expensive JDM units that everyone is paying over $100 for. If I was a JDM junkie, I would get them too, but I am not. This is just as good looking and just as functional, without all of the JDM hype. Here's a picture

Perfect, just perfect. I already have a water temperature gauge, now all I need is the Turbo and Oil Pressure ones. I am not into JDM, so no fancy and expensive Greddy, Blitz, Omori gauges here. I figure if its good enough for Porsche, BMW, VW to put it in their cars, its good enough for me.

I also had some time today so I took out the seat belt tracks above the door. That was the last piece of the automatic seat belts, and now its out, all of it. Now I need the harness, to keep my crazy ass in the car, and not flying through the windshield. . . . . I totally forgot that I have ordered a intake adapter. DUH!!!! I bought it from a guy in one of the forums. It was $15shipped (its the one from www.HeavyThrottle.com, but free shipping ), so that should be coming in any day now. Once I have that, I will need a air filter for it, but thats easy enough to find. It bolts up to the MAF sensor, and if needed an elbow that I am going to be getting from Jeremy could be cut to make the filter swing out of the way of any piping, etc.

The waiting is killing me. As I try to wait for another paycheck to come in, I keep browsing Ebay and other sites for some killer deals (man, Ebay is addictive). Some I like, some I want, some I just don't need, but there is at least 10 things a day that I think I want, only to bookmark them and check later and find out that I really didn't want it in the first place. Also prevents me from impulsive buying, but I knew that as soon as I saw this, I had to have it. "Spin turn knob" YAY! Even though I am not planing on drifting, I just like it. I know how much I use the ebrake now, so I probably will continue to use it in the 240sx once its finished. This piece of engineering allows me to pull the ebrake and let it go, allowing it to drop, without me holding the ebrake button. To lock it into position, you just turn it, and its locked, so the car won't roll away when parked. Oh yeah, it was only 15bux shipped, so its no big expense. And it will keep me happy for a while. Maybe by than, I can afford to get a new toy to play with. Now if I could only find a good deals on Autometer's gauges, I know someone has them used that they want to get rid of for not much $$$. I just got to find them. Back to Ebay for me, hopefully I'll find the 5727 and 5703 (or 2614 and 2638/34) gauges I want. But mechanical ones might be a worth a look.

I have been looking around at different pictures of the Silvia front end. And I found the East Bear light kit for the pop-up headlights that 240sx (and 180sx in Japan) have. They also make the car look nice. But they cost almost as much as the Silvia front end conversion itself, so I am not convinced to get it. But it still is in the back of my mind as far as the front end goes. Surprisingly enough the square lights out of Silvia J's look very good, but I still got time to decide on that.

I did get a offer to pick up SAFCII for really cheap, and if the guys comes through, I will get it. The price he told me was unbelievably low, so I have to jump on it. The exhaust and the clutch will wait a little longer.

The lights, the beautiful shine, the new part smell. Ahhh. Today I got myself a nice and shiny new 304 Stainless Steel downpipe. But not just any downpipe, oh-no, this downpipe replaces the cat too. Oh and it has more ground clearance. "But what about smog?" I bet you're asking yourself. Well, I don't know, maybe I'll pass, or maybe I won't. We won't know for sure untill we get there. Till than, I got myself a new downpipe!!! YAY!!! hmm, I wonder if its still called a cat back if there is no cat ;)

There is a drift event that is going on this weekend at TireRack in South Bend. The whole crew form Touge Factory is going, but since I have to work (Read: I am too cheap to take a day off) I cannot go with them, too bad too, as it looks like its going to be lots of fun. Bummer, but the car comes first. I got to keep that as a priority. It won't be long till its time to frolic with the friends again.......... (But probably by that time its winter and can't have too much fun then, Sniff......

Oh yeah, one more thing. For some people it seems that if you take a 240sx and put on Silvia face as well as the SR20DET motor in it, its still not a Sileighty, nor a Silforty, because it didn't come out of a factory as one. To you, I do have to say, please don't email me with that. I don't care what you think it should be called. Its a insignificant argument, so don't bother me. Thank you. P.S. I still will continue to call it sileighty, until maybe I change my mind and call it Princes Nora

After finally getting a chain for the hoist, I pulled the engine. Pretty straightforward deal. The transmission was off already, so all that was holding the motor were the two 14mm nuts on the engine mounts. Easy as pie. While waiting on the motor, I pulled out the cams and distributor, I will also pull the alternator and probably ebay them off. As for the motor, its probably is going go to Angel's to get junked, unless someone wants it. The tranny I will drop off at the Touge Factory, like I promised. I also finally got the freeze plug into the side mount intercooler. It took some sanding down, but I don't think it will pop out. I also got the order of which parts are going to be bought for this project. That will give me a focus that I will be working toward, and prevent me from side tracking on stuff that can be done later, like interior or suspension.

Tomorrow I will clean the crap of the engine bay after I come back from Chicago. Hopefully it won't take me long to stay there, as I really got lots of stuff to take care of. But they got to pay me, so its always a good thing. Got to finish Neco's system, so I get some money out of that too.