| First, for those that never knew this post is referenced from this original thread: [ http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/forums/general/view/2281496/My-Z-days-are-over-and-luckyhappy-to-be-alive.html ] I guess you could say that I have been really hush, hush about this over the past year as I never really knew what direction I was going to go. The accident happened Memorial Day 2009 and I was going to just say good-bye to it and never look back. I will elaborate on what changed my mind later. I eventually did get a new car though, about the third week of June 2009. I had to fly out to Kansas City, KA and was still very much bruised from the accident. It took me 14 hours to drive it from there to Cincinnati as I had to get out and walk around about every hour just to keep my back/neck muscles loose but I did finally get her home. The car was sold by a young man and his father who were very friendly and helpful to me during the whole process. I could not be happier so I say to you, Peter, should I ever see you again that I owe you and your Dad a beer. It's so nice to see good people still exist out there and are not trying to screw you. Here is the car as I picked it up, in just about total stock form: 
The new plate I decided to go with:
 I decided to keep the car NA through the summer as I decided on what direction I wanted to go (and keep me out of trouble). I can tell you it's very weird going from a 500+hp short shifter vehicle to a stock NA stock shifter car. I felt like I was driving a bus!!!! We finally started the twin turbo conversion in early October just doing a bit at a time transferring everything we could from the wrecked car to the new one. My sig picture is actually both cars together in the garage during the intial transfer. It's hard to say what got transferred versus what got destroyed. Here is the final picture of the old car before sending it to be compacted: 
The car pretty much sat all winter, and I started to wonder if I would be able to get back in it. I was still having considerable pain in my back through December. I wanted to do something about it like going to the gym but I thought I would just hurt myself. I was beginning to think I would have to just live with this the rest of my life and then the call came. A week before Christmas I got a call from the gym I belong to. They had noticed that I had not been there since May and wanted to know if there was a problem. I let her know what had happened and she told me that not only was she a personal trainer but also a physical therapist AND she had gone through the same type of injury! With her help, lots of determination and support, I am happy to report that I am 100% pain free now. Dustin@Z1 and Brett Ramey can attest to this as they saw me fall flat on my back (and my ass) at ZDayZ this year and I got right back up with no pain! Another good side effect to all this is that I am in remission from diabetes now, I am no longer taking ANY medication whatsoever to control blood sugar levels as I control it with my workout routines and nutrition now and I feel great! Now, before you scroll down and see the new pictures of the car realize that this car is NO WHERE near complete. It is not as clean as the other car and that really was the goal in the beginning. I wanted a good base to start with but not the untouched garage queen that needed to be admired for what it was, I got what I wanted. The audio/visual aspect has not been started, the interior has barely been touched and the car will get a total repaint. Here are a few things that I decided to upgrade while everything was out: Upgraded fuel injectors to Nismo 740cc
300 degree fuel rail
95 engine wiring harness
SpecialtyZ chip
JWT Dual intake
JWT Sport 550 turbos
StopTech 14' front and rear brakes
B&B Exhaust 3' all the way back
Z1 upgraded throttle bodies
One piece aluminum drive shaft
Forgeline ZX3P wheels (18x8.5 Front, 18x10.5 Rear)
Sumitomo HTZ III tires (255/35-18, 295/30-18) These were actually the tires that were supposed to go on the wrecked car the day after the accident I will fill in the mods on my profile as I go a little further along later but here is the new ride: 
Since the car was hush, hush I chose the following plate :)
 
Brakes
 Here is the reason I decided to do this all again:
 When we opened the hood we thought we would see extensive damage except.....what you see above. Virtually nothing was replaced, the engine did not have a scratch on it. Go figure, two and half rolls and everything was intact. It was a sign from God.... Barely touched, not even a stereo installed but really not missing it due to the B&B
 Don't worry, I have new Jspecs and a new third taillight, they will be going on when the car gets painted
 
Right now I know the car looks very similar to the last car but that will change. The whole point of this car is be somewhat of a tribute to the last car but in some way be darker, meaner than the last....like it's Evil Twin. Lots of things to do. I doubt I will be giving very many updates beyond this unless they are pretty major. Wow, a lot of things have happened over the past year. Definitely challenging, but it's good to know that I have lots of people that care about me to help me through it all. Katt Williams said something one time that really has stuck with me, "You have got to set up your team, a team that will block bullshit off you in a time of crisis." As funny as that sounds, he was absolutely right. Many thank yous go to all you over the year who have checked on me to see how I was doing. It really meant a lot to me, as you can see I had doubts but your help certainly tipped the tide. Greg Dupree, Coz Ceh, Kuah at SPL and Charles Park....you guys rock. You guys have now helped me do this TWICE and I hope I helped provide some economic stimulus for you! All the local Cincinnati, Dayton, N. KY and Columbus owners. You all have helped in some way directly or indirectly. Thank you! Tim and Brett, what can I say? You guys are my best friends and seriously wonder what my life would be like without you guys for the last almost 8 years. You are all part of "my team", I hope to be part of yours. Randy
 "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." - Vince Lombardi |
Guess I'm overdue, official post of Ver. 2.0 (LONG) - 
20:27:58 06/03/10
