1JZ E30 Vert Build Thread with Pastry filled wheels

[Jdesign]

Sick of moving the hardtop around, and I didnt want to leave it on the top of the car, I decided to start taking the hardtop apart over the weekend. It proved to be MUCH more challenging than I expected.

One reason; GLUE. 

During the assembly, they literally use resin everywhere and glue almost everything in, EVEN if it has fasteners holding it in. Seals, trim, mounts, and fabric are all glued. On the plus side, I inspected all of the seals, latches, and trim and it is all in great shape, just the vinyl and headliner is in visually aging. 

Here are pictures as I dismantled it;

[Jdesign]

At this point I was able to pull all of the fabrics off. I didnt take any in progress pics but it was really easy and happened quickly.

[Jdesign]

The next step was to remove the glass. I want to keep the glass as it will make a nice guide for creating a buck for forming the Polycarbonate, but it sat a touch higher than the top, and in order to paint and re wrap the top properly it needed to come out so I bought one of these.

[Jdesign]

So yeah that happened. I was able to get 3 of the 4 sides completely detached and I didnt think it would be a problem to finish. Although it was a work out as the top wasn't secured to anything, I was holding the top and pulling the carbide through the seal without a problem. the last edge I stopped and determined if I wanted to tape the glass to preventing it from falling or shifting. I removed the tool and stepped back. Heard a loud sealing/suction type noise and watched the window blow out about 5 feet into the air as I was standing about 3 feet away.

I immediately went over to the fridge and poured myself a strong drink.

So here is the top now. Its a weird astro turf color which I would like to think is the dye from the canvas.

    

[KaiserRolls]

Must’ve had the rear defrost turned on

[Jdesign]

KaiserRolls said:

Must’ve had the rear defrost turned on

De-Frustered

[SteelBlue]

Are you still planning to make a copy of that roof with the large window?

[Jdesign]

SteelBlue said:

Are you still planning to make a copy of that roof with the large window?

Almost done already.

[B C]

****!

[straight6pwr]

thats an impressive photoshop, and damn beautiful!

i assume project #3 will be some sort of trunk chop so we can see your spare tire?

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

thats an impressive photoshop, and damn beautiful!

i assume project #3 will be some sort of trunk chop so we can see your spare tire?

Thank you! And I was thinking LED valve caps.

[SteelBlue]

Jdesign said:

Almost done already.

Oh shit. Is this glass or some form of plexiglass?

How'd you get the bend?

Oh...is this a shop?

[B C]

The chop top shop in the shop made my eyes pop. twas a quality shop. i'll stop.

[Jdesign]

B C said:

The chop top shop in the shop made my eyes pop. twas a quality shop. i'll stop. 

[REKIII]

I cried a little when I saw the broken window. 

Cool Project.

[Jdesign]

REKIII said:

I cried a little 

Me too................................ m e    t o o.  I swear this started playing right after it happened. 

[Jdesign]

Cher sent me one of his light painting images. I had to share!

[YoungCR]

[Jdesign]

Cher edited the rear view of my car on a whim. Other than that, I have yet to start working on this again, but it is getting closer to the top of the list!

[Jdesign]

LOOOOOOOONG overdue update on this car. 

I got all the parts I need to swap the brake system(I think). I called Wilwood and figured out the exact calipers I got from @DrLeadFoot because I needed to get an idea of what size masters I should run with the pedalbox and the calipers front and rear. Despite everything I read on the internet(5/8ths F&R), I wanted to be certain. It turns out, due to the size and stroke if the rear Calipers, Wilwood suggests a 3/4th master for the rear. The front calipers are an older design (cast with raised Wilwood logo) which I actually prefer but still utilize the same parts as the new design (cast with printed logo) and wilwood said a 5/8ths is perfect for them.  

So here is what I ended up getting;

• Wilwood 4 piston Forged Superlites
• Wilwood 11.75" Ultralite 2 pc rotors
• Wilwood BP-20 pads
• Wilwood 340-11299 pedal assembly
• Wilwood 5/8th master for the front
• Wilwood 3/4th master for the rear 
• Wilwood 3/4th master for the clutch
• Garagistic mounting bracket
• Wilwood bias valve

Size comparison of the rotors 

The old brake setup

The new brake setup

And a test fit with my wheels

Super stoked that these fit with ample room left 

It took me about a good 3 hours to fit everything and trim the heat shields and find hardware that would work for mocking up.

As of now I only have the rotors and calipers installed just to mock them up. They will be coming back off and the new rotors will go on, the hats and calipers will be painted and rebuilt before finally assembly.

The next steps now is to get the pedal box to fit in the car. It says on the garagistic site that I need a non-airbag steering column, which I am going to soon learn the reason behind.