Ronald Finger

IT LIVES - 280Z First Start

It's been a long journey and good god does it feel good to get here

Let's Make a Power Distribution System

Much like hoverboards on water, engines don't work unless you have power.

We need a way for the battery to safely distribute power to every system that needs it, but only when the system is called to do so.

Enter: the relay box

Taming the Beast

Wiring is going about as well as it can for someone who hates wiring with every fiber of their soul

I have 95% of the loom routed and cut to length and just started the sleeving process! It’s starting to look suuuuuper good where that’s already done 😎 (so far just the ignition coils)

Wrapping up the branch with the injectors, coolant temp sensor, and cam angle sensor today, t...

The Home Stretch

After so many months (too many), I finally have the engine back in the car and the car back in the garage.Very cool 😎

Obviously I'm missing the radiator/fan but it is absolutely insane to me just how much simpler m...

It works!

I just finished assembly on the Camshaft Angle Sensor and to be honest I've never felt more proud of something I've made. Aluminum and steel construction? With moving parts and electronics?? And I made it??? CRAZY

Now you may ask, "did you actually 'make' it if technically 100% of the manufacturing was outsourced?" And that's a good question but hey maybe we don't answer it.

Let's figure out Drive by Wire! (280Z)

Come along with me on this journey of aftermarket ECU discovery

280Z Update - Final Custom Parts!

It's taken me well over a month for literally just one part and it's only 90% done still, but I'm so proud of it 😤

Custom 280Z Parts Are Here!

After weeks and weeks of designing and testing all of the custom parts necessary for modernizing the L28 Engine, I finally got the final machined parts in the mail and they look so good! There's actually still a bunch more to make but this first batch looks amazing

2025-05-02 15:13:01 +0000 UTC View Post

280Z Engine - Stage 1 Done

Just hit the first big milestone for the next video! Every component for the EFI side of this project is actually in place and it's absolutely crazy how much simpler the new setup is

And without all of the spaghetti of the L-Jetronic system, the engine looks so much smaller

2025-04-10 16:40:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Behold! The Nissan L28 Engine

After much struggling, the engine is finally out of the car

This thing is a heckin' chonker. "Only" a 2.8 liter engine, but it's very tall, very long, and very heavy.

Before Cleaning ^ 

2025-03-26 16:18:49 +0000 UTC View Post

280Z Dyno Testing!

Before this thing goes under the knife for modernization upgrades, I wanted to get a baseline for how it’s performing now.

It came out to a whopping 125 horsepower, or 93 kilowatts. Not bad for a 47 year old engine! But also not good for what’s supposed to be a sports car 😅

2025-03-06 16:45:13 +0000 UTC View Post

280Z Project Update! - February 2025

I'm very excited for this and I hope you are too

Making Of - Garage Overhaul | January 2025 Update

VFX, Hurricanes, and Jesus Christ. Oh my!

Garage Part 4!

This has been a long time coming. I really love how this one came out and hope you do too :)

Progress Update! - Next Garage Reno Video

I've been hard at work and have a some updates 😎I'm happy to say that I've locked in the script, and it's looking to be a 30 minute video!

Last week, I worked on animations and finished 8 so far, but there's still 4 more to go plus a few animation/vfx hybrid shots. Those will be wrapped up by tomorro...

Garage Update - Insulation, Paint, and Windows!

In the previous update post, I mentioned being on the fence about whether or not to call the garage good enough for the next video or to keep going until I was actually happy with the result.

I kept going :) What will probably amount to maybe an extra minute of runtime took weeks of work, but WOW does this make it all worth it.

Besides just feeling ...

New Walls, 100amp Service, and Air Conditioning

Just yesterday, I finished up installing the new MRCOOL mini split system in the garage!

This is, and I cannot stress this enough, very cool.

At this point, there's zero rotting wood, more than enough electrical power to build out the shop with whatever tools I need, and the heat of one thousand suns no longer present inside the building. But it's still super messy 😅

I'm a...

Fiero is Broken! - Let's Fix It

The Fiero has been riding the struggle bus for the past few months when it comes to actually starting. That changes today :)

Construction Continues! - August 2024 Update

this garage will be the death of me

Making Of - Tiburon Video | June 2024 Update

Every video is always full of challenges and this one was certainly no exception!

Tiburon Rebuild Video!

FINALLY. It is done.

This actually would've been out sooner but I was dealing with some dumb copyright issues for a song that shouldn't even have issues!

My friends have a band called again&again and I used one of their songs, but some third party company that they had never heard of was claiming copyright of it... even though it was literally produced from the ground up.

Tiburon Video - Update & Sneak Peak

Chugging along with editing for the next video and wanted to give you guys a status update.

Update: I am tired.

So far, I have about 23 minutes locked in, with the total runtime looking to be 26-27 minutes when everything is all said and done. That doesn't necessarily sound like a lot, but...

Next Video - Editing Underway

Firstly, I want to apologize for this video taking so long to get out! I mentioned previously that I was hoping to get it out mid-March, but obviously that didn't happen.

Lots of unanticipated re-writes from me trying to make sense of this whole mess of a process pushed things back way further than I intended. I'm frustrated with that, and I know you guys must be too.

If it's any c...

Tiburon is Fixed!

I just wrapped up all of the work for the next episode, and it was a doozy!

What I assumed was going to be some very minor repairs mostly consisting of panel replacement, turned out to be a whole lot m...

Shop Upgrades! - January 2024 Update

This is basically just another garage renovation video but for just a bunch of little random things!

Making Better Videos - December Update

Got some updates on the 280Z, future projects, and some good nuggets of information about making "good" YouTube videos!

*Uncensored* Concrete Hole Cleaning

as promised

Garage Part 3!

I usually like to get these out early for you guys, but I was rushing to get this one done before the end of the month and finished filming/editing this afternoon!

Thanks for being patient! Hope you like it :)

Major Garage Change! - New Front Wall

Work for the next video is going well! 

The entire front wall was torn down and rebuilt in order to convert the two 8' garage doors into one 16' garage door. This has honestly been the most labor intensive garage/workshop episode yet, but I'm happy to say that this is now better built than it ever was and, more importantly, better suited to my needs.

Obviously there's ...