It’s June 1, which is New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day. They call it a midyear milestone even though it’s not actually the midpoint of the year, but with summer starting it’s probably a good time to dig in to whatever project you have brewing. I started 2026 resolving to build my dream garage. To be perfectly honest, I have yet to begin. The garage is part of a larger house remodel and, according to my wife, for some reason the living quarters take priority. Hopefully y’all are making more progress than me.
How are your automotive new year’s resolutions coming along?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Why do you like cars?“.
Saying you like cars to an average person and they’ll assume we gearheads are all alike, drooling over Lambos and watching Vin Diesel movies on repeat. But we actual gearheads know that there’s far more to cars than that, and the reasons we like them are as varied as the dog breeds.
There’s pure design, as Negishi no Keibajo suggests, something that’s accessible because everyone has an opinion on what looks good or bad. Jim Daniels takes it a step further, saying that cars are art, but functional. For speedie, it’s the ability for them to take us anywhere, including a place to be along with our own thoughts. For streetspirit, cars are a means of self-expression and a way to bond with a community of like-minded humans. Porter just likes the sounds they make. dankan finds something inherently captivating about the way they’re engineered to do a task and do it well.
There can be many simultaneous reasons to like cars, and for Jonathan P. it ran the gamut of all the above and more. Similarly, Alan had a laundry list of reasons, all valid.
On the other end of the spectrum, there those who didn’t have a resounding explanation, but are relatable all the same. Franxou just gravitated toward them as a kid, TheJWT – quoted the sage wisdom of Marge Simpson. And Taylor C. revealed it’s what the OEMs have been telling us all along.
All the reasons are wholesomely legit, but the winner this week was Dana, who summed it up perfectly (and as a bonus, in a way non-car people can easily understand):
They can look amazing, you can explore the country, they can be fun to drive, and they can be dirt cheap or multi millions. Other things which are pretty sweet when you really break it down and think about it: they have their own climate control, entertainment systems, cup holders, generate electric power to charge things, and shelter from weather. I mean no other invention that you can own personally can do all of those things!
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
new years resolutions, well they’re coming along great!
Having become a first time dad in January I hope I did jumpstart the new generation of JNC enthusiasts, didn’t name her Gloria though.
The Daihatsu P3 pedal car is coming along decently, but i’ve got some time until my kid starts pedaling.
Uuuhhh… no comment.
It is very ironic that this topic illustration is an S30 Datsun on jack stands, as that is also Samus’ current state due to a ruptured diaphragm on the brake vacuum booster.
But, I digress, here is my follow up:
1. As many drives as I can sneak in before MDOT applies copious amounts of road salt and chemicals on the road upon the first utterance of the words “snow,” “freezing rain,” and/or “ice” in the Maryland/DC/VA weather forecast.
Update: Completed, I had my winter fun when it was clear and semi-pleasant. I also discovered that my vacuum connections to my HVAC system are not working correctly, so this became an unanticipated repair project, just like my brake booster.
2. A welder and associated welding gear (helmets, gloves, sheet metal, etc.) to perform some much need rust repair on the floor boards. I also will be teaching my 11-year-old how to weld as part of this project.
Update: Partially complete. While the welder and gear arrived from Santa, I was holding out hope that someone would show up to Carlisle Import Nationals with 280Z floor boards. Spoiler Alert: That did not happen, and I have not had the free time or the funding to buy the floors + shipping costs just yet. But this is a work in progress with intention. When school is out, I plan to teach my son how to weld on scrap metal and maybe I will pull the trigger and pay to have the replacement floors shipped to me.
3. A new alternator to replace the elderly existing alternator, which can no longer deliver full voltage under load (headlights, radio).
Update: This is complete. I decided to upgrade to a 280ZX unit with internal voltage regulators and successfully (and reversibly) bypassed the external regulators, which I suspect contributed to Samus’ previous voltage issues.
4. New coolant gasket between the engine block and thermostat housing to eliminate a pesky leak due to a hastily installed gasket.
Update: Also completed this one. This, along with longer Datsun Spirit sparkplug wires and some wire tidying up helped to clean up the engine bay, which is looking good for a 50-year-old.
5. Completed install of the CD player/radio/MP3 stereo and speakers (after #2 and #3 are completed).
Update: Not started, as #2 is holding up completion. No sense in reassembling everything just to have to remove it again and risk breaking. 2+2 trim pieces are rare and expensive.
They’re not coming along. No progress on my MKI MR2 restomod and I carelessly caused rear quarter panel damage to my NB Miata 2 weeks ago much to my dismay. But I plan on getting back to the latter this year and hope to get it rolling again in a week or two.
I had originally planned to do the maintenance on my motorcycle, then overhaul the front suspension on my nostalgic car. Then all plans went straight in the toilet since I am becoming a dad in august (cheers streetspirit!) and I now have to remodel the basement (cheers Ben Hsu!) in order to, you know, have another bedroom… Plus all the gremlins one finds when tearing up a basement…
Though I realize that if I finish my front suspension, the car would not be on jackstands, so it would be rollable, which means I could roll the car in the driveway, which means I could do some of the “outside work” needed for the basement out of the elements in the garage… Yeah, I guess I should work on the car!
🥂
Right on schedule, but nowhere near enough progress. One of my biggest goals was to pull the engine before summer. I successfully pulled it Saturday. I still have an unimaginable amount of work to re-engineer the front and rear suspension, find a replacement engine, and convert it from RHD to LHD. I also ordered a carbon front apron last July, but as it still hasn’t gone into production, I just canceled my order and purchased a steel replacement part. Looks like I will be learning mold making so I can fabricate my own carbon front apron now.
I’d have to go back to the New Year’s QotW to see my resolution.
Which – I’ll hazard a guess – means it’s not going well.
In this economy? Nowhere. Hah!
My resolution was to finally tackle the restoration/resto-mod project of my Datsun 280Z which has been patiently waiting for me since I purchased it for peanuts in university. To summarize, the car needs everything. Rust repair (as all S30s do), wiring, interior, engine, suspension, I mean all of it.
In terms of progress? I’ll let you decide based on what I have done. Currently welding in new floor pans and then I can move on to the frame rails, firewall, and radiator support. Engine is being rebuilt by the maestros over at Rebello Racing, and I have a ECU and wiring harness on my dining table that I’m putting together when I don’t feel like doing rust repair.
It’s coming along, little by little. I’ve given myself a personal deadline to have the Z ready for JCCS 2027 so wish me luck!
I’ve started on the head gasket job on my Today’s EH engine. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t as bad as initially feared. Need a couple days off in a row to make real progress. Then there’s repairing the body damage, repairing/replacing the Recaros, getting the Hayashi Streets refinished…