MSA Parts Reviews

[ConchZ]

Since I'm buying so many little goodies from MSA during my refresh, I thought I'd start a thread to provide reviews on them. Feel free to contribute your own parts reviews. Here's mine so far. I have other parts, but can't comment on them yet. All of my parts are for a 1973 240Z. Of note, I can't believe how many of them were actual Nissan parts.

1) Bullet II Mirrors - very high quality, made of metal. The tension on the swivel mechanism is adjustable, so you can tighten them up if they get loose. They are fairly small diameter, so you'll want to carefully mount them for the best view, as the field of vision is smaller than normal. They look great, though.

2) MSA racing style mirrors - These are plastic, and the tension isn't adjustable. They'll end up flopping around when you close the door, or at least that's what happened to the old ones the PO put on my car.

3) Engine inspection light - I was expecting a repro, but its a real Nissan part.

4) Inner shift boot - this isn't on their website, but they have it if you call. Its a real Nissan part. It only cost me $17.55, which is so much cheaper than other online sellers.

5) Wooden shift knob - again not on their website, but they have it, and its a real Nissan part. Was only $53.

6) Threshold plate - a real Nissan part. These are very flimsy things, and mine got scuffed and bent upon shipping. I may be able to buff and straighten them quicker than sending them back for a replacement, though.

7) Carb float gaskets - seems fine, made of cork. Stopped the smelly fuel leak I was getting from the rear carb under hard cornering, acceleration or driving the car up a steep incline.

8) Rear quarter panels - these are made by Tabco, which also sells to Blackdragon. My body man didn't like them at all. He used them, and made them fit, but they were not exact replicas. The resulting work looks fine, but has more filler in it than he'd like. Two noticeable differences were where the dog leg wraps into the door frame the tabs weren't right, and they don't have any indentation underneath the ends of the rear bumper. He just cut them before those problems, as the old panels were ok on the both the front and back edges at those problem areas.

Parts I haven't installed yet include: Weatherstrip kit, carb air horns, seatbelts, alternator upgrade, and the headlight relay upgrade (made by one of our club members). Will update this thread with a review of those as I get them done. I'm still waiting on my interior leather and vinyl upholstery from Les at Classicdatsun. Wish list items that I'll eventually buy include new wheels/tires and some rear deck carpet. I think I'll go with Konig Rewinds, although those seem common on 240Zs today. I could use suggestions on carpet and alternative wheel suggestions. I'm not a fan of slot wheels...

Don't forget that club members get 10% off at MSA.

[Arne]

The forum actually has a special area for parts reviews. It's listed under "Product Reviews" in the main menu to the left. Here is a direct link. Please repost these there.

http://classiczcars.com/reviews/index.php

[ConchZ]

The forum actually has a special area for parts reviews. It's listed under "Product Reviews" in the main menu to the left. Here is a direct link. Please repost these there.

http://classiczcars.com/reviews/index.php

Ahh, there's even a section for MSA parts. I'll start adding some into the list, and post more thorough reviews as I install and/or use the parts. I hadn't intended to do formal reviews this time around, only to point out a couple things:

1) MSA does carry some unexpected OEM parts. Their prices are much, much cheaper than you pay for these on Ebay or some other online vendors.

2) Some items aren't on MSA's website, but they might have them if you call and ask.

3) Speaking of prices, MSA gives a 10% discount to club members.

A comment on the review system is that posts to it do not show up when you click "New Posts" on the main menu of the website. As a user, I'd like to see reviews show up in the New Posts listing, so I'd see them. If its possible, I'd even put new classified adds in the New Posts listing. Maybe I'm just lazy, but click conservation is environmentally friendly

[Arne]

1) MSA does carry some unexpected OEM parts. Their prices are much, much cheaper than you pay for these on Ebay or some other online vendors.

2) Some items aren't on MSA's website, but they might have them if you call and ask.

3) Speaking of prices, MSA gives a 10% discount to club members.

All true. However, if the part in question is a Nissan part, it is probably still available directly from your local Nissan dealer. Generally no shipping charges, and (in my experience) often even cheaper yet than MSA. Don't get me wrong, I do buy parts from MSA. But I always check with my dealer first for OE parts.

A comment on the review system is that posts to it do not show up when you click "New Posts" on the main menu of the website. As a user, I'd like to see reviews show up in the New Posts listing, so I'd see them. If its possible, I'd even put new classified adds in the New Posts listing. Maybe I'm just lazy, but click conservation is environmentally friendly

The classifieds and reviews are separate modules, I don't think they can easily be integrated into the "New posts" listing.

But in the case of the Classifieds, you can subscribe to an RSS feed that will let you know whenever there is a new ad posted. To me, that's even better than the "New Posts" listing.

[ta240]

All true. However, if the part in question is a Nissan part, it is probably still available directly from your local Nissan dealer. Generally no shipping charges, and (in my experience) often even cheaper yet than MSA. Don't get me wrong, I do buy parts from MSA. But I always check with my dealer first for OE parts.

I wish I had your local dealer. There used to be a good one about a half hour from where I work but it closed. Now the only ones that are open at times when I can get there charge over MSRP for things.

[ConchZ]

All true. However, if the part in question is a Nissan part, it is probably still available directly from your local Nissan dealer. Generally no shipping charges, and (in my experience) often even cheaper yet than MSA. Don't get me wrong, I do buy parts from MSA. But I always check with my dealer first for OE parts.

Now that you mention it, we do have a Nissan dealer on my little island. I'm so used to shopping online for just about everything that I haven't even tried the local "bricks and mortar" store. I know you can order from Courtesy Nissan online, but since I was buying some stuff from MSA anyway, I just bought as much as I could at one time, combining the shipping, etc.

I'll have to try the local Nissan dealer. It might be fun to bring them the car and see if they even know what it is.