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Aren't our hoods supposed to come in through the glass and cut off our heads?

Picked up the wiring harness poster from the printer today,

A great event this year! The weather was hot and so was Team Wodopian and their green 260z. Mike W took home first place in modified 260/280 and....... Best in Show. Nice job Mike! Team Wodopian's 5 man crew were sporting matching pit crew 260z shirts. All members of Mike's family from far and wide. First place in stock 240's went to Zup's beautiful flat top powered 73. Big congrats Jim! Jim's 3 person crew also has matching Zup approved shirts but Zupette & Tavish did not arrive in time to qualify for full team credit. Scott M. took 1st place in the hotly contested 280 stock division with his very clean red car. I think it was his new seats that put him over the top! Amid all the activity, he managed to sell 2 cars sight unseen (not to Cliff), a creampuff 280zx and his 810 goes to the new Nissan Heritage Museum. Another win for the NWA Club was Kent who took home 2nd place with his nice 71 in 240z modified. As a side note, you know you are at a great z car experience when even a pizza ordered from Domino's gets delivered in a 350z! (no joke) To add international flavor to the event, 2 couples, one from Europe and the other from Australia were in attendance. They were all just great people. Rudy & Irena were from Belgium. Rudy has a restoration shop that specializes in early Mustangs and vintage Z's. He really knows his stuff. From Brisbane Australia we met James & Judy. James is an active rally driver and loves the z cars. Judy won'''t navigate for him because she says ... they fight too much, lol. We all had a great time with these wonderful fun people. Mike W has a project car brewing and some of his discarded 73 parts he brought up to bestow on Zup. (see below) The big news of course was the ZCCA was in attendance and announced that Zcon 2019 will be in ................... Branson, yes Branson and will feature the indoor judged car show at the convention center. Since will be in July that is great news. A great week filled with fun drives through the twisties, food, beverages and great conversation. We were all sad to see it come to an end. Mike W & his son Alex pose with Best in Show One mans trash is another mans treasure ... Zup with Rudy & Irena from Belgium Run up to Table Rock Dam side emblem on gnose 350z

I'm looking forward to hosting you guys in my neck of the woods, too.

Thanks, Zup! I’m doing a lot of reading here and researching before I ask a question that’s already been addressed. Learning a lot so far! Thanks! See photo of my engine block on the stand. Leak in cylinder no. 1. In the machine shop now.

Branson ZFest 2018 is yet another of the most significant moments in my life-----memories I will keep forever. The unqualified pure "goodness" of the Z community we are all a part of is alive and most evident here. Thousands of dollars were raised in charity for impoverished children---providing food and basic hygiene items for those in need in the surrounding area. Organizers and volunteers of this annual event of 15 years tirelessly and unselfishly devote time and energy to make this one of the best weeks of the year----- such a departure from the daily myopic "me" world in which most of us exist. To those in attendance I thank you for restoring faith in human kindness toward those less fortunate than us. Poverty and need exists all around---even in the shadows of the shows and promoted attractions that fuse to make Branson glisten. To anyone contemplating attending next year or in the future ---- may I please encourage you to come---it is like nothing else and your definition of FAMILY will change forever. On a lighter note, may I dangle the lure of an inside Air Conditioned ZCON held in the heat of July!! When was the last time you did that??? Sure to be fun for all----endless Z conversations for the guys and lots of shops for those disinterested or ambivalent ladies! So please--- make plans now to join us next July for ZFest/ZCON 2019!!!

Wanted to share a story related to the ignition system of my 5-speed converted '72 automatic 240z: Shortly after I purchased my car, I converted from automatic to 5 speed. Left the dual points distributor alone except for changing the points, condenser, and cap. Car ran ok, but I had to dial in a lot of timing advance to keep the engine from backfiring through the carbs when cold. Car ran seemingly fine all winter with an occasional misfire condition in warmer weather with warmer engine temp...never could figure out why. Fast forward many months and I decided it was time to get rid of the dual point distributor. So, I found a used single point distributor on Ebay and did a complete cleaning/refurbish. My vacuum advance from the dual point setup seemed to operate better, so I used it. Dropped in the distributor, and engine ran horribly with severe missing, rough idle, low power, knocking noise, etc. Sometimes the symptoms went away and the engine ran smooth with a higher idle. Uh oh, what did I do/what's wrong? Messed with it for a few days before the light came on...I grabbed the distributor while the engine was running and wiggled it. Yep, when I wiggled it, it would change from running poorly to running well. Pulled the distributor and cleaned/sanded all the mounting bolt points. That did the trick. No more running like pooh, no more missing, no more knocking noise...Just smooth running. And the best part...cold start drivability is so much better. Just wanted to share in case others have similar issues.

Thanks! Mine is actually not the MSA Premium exhaust system, just the coated headers are from MSA. The pipe and resonator/muffler were custom fit and installed. The resonator tucked into the tunnel extremely well.

I have done this on a Ford Escort mk1 years back and it worked well. Never had any problems with it and I drove it 85k km.

Nice job on that install. It looks like the shop did some cuts and welds on the "S" section to improve the fit. Here is the same kit I installed a few years ago, probably like yours. For those of us that did not cut the pipe, getting the muffler tucked in and out of sight tends to present a challenge. That's why we've had the numerous discussions on which end is "in" and "out" and tilting the muffler.

Thanks, me too. I think it had Shelley pretty wound up. I thought she was gonna kill us, driving us there! Did you see the dimensions in the other thread? Not interested!!!! They really aren't that tasty!

How true!! Zcon 2018 in Atlanta is coming up next! I hope to see you and Janet and many of the CZCC gang there my friend! Can't wait!!

Thanks! I'm pretty sure you're right on the direction and it doesn't make any difference with these mufflers. Same same either way. I can't find anything that says inlet or outlet in the specs.

I ditched the inflat-o-matic spare for an always inflated donut spare a while ago. Details are here, but pics are dead because photobucket sucks: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55424-always-inflated-mini-donut-spare-for-7778/ The 77 and later cars are tough because of the reduced tire well diameter. The summary is I'm running a T115/70/14 space saver tire on an old 4 inch wide rim from a Datsun Roadster. That's the largest rubber I could get into the spare tire well on the 77. Let me know if you want me to reload the pics and I can do that when I get the chance.

Nice to see good friends!

It's been a while since I complained about this kind of thing, so what the heck...for old time's sake. I like to hit the "End" button to go to the bottom of the page. And I always end up seeing the same old end. This girl pointing her coochie at me, and showing some boob. Is there any way to get Google Adsense to switch things up a little? She must be getting tired anyway...

I'll bet you were one step away from being intubated, scary. That will teach you to pour your beer into a glass.

240z's don't really have much in the way of crush zones anyway, thin bumpers, light sheet metal, thin doors, lap belts, etc. The later cars got better but they are not modern multi air bag cars. Some risk comes with the territory. Sort of like riding a motorcycle, you just have to drive defensively. The likelihood that the tubing comes straight into the passenger compartment is fairly low. Personally I am glad my local government doesn't micromanage me. I'm a big boy and can make tough choices all on my own. That is not intended to be insulting to anyone here, I just don't need a bureaucrat parent...the two I had are gone now, God bless them, and I'm not shopping for replacements

Sounds like it's all coming together, exciting! That is a very cool shift knob, never seen any thing like it.

Not a big deal but doesn't that shaft now have two "slip" points, one at the transmission and one in the middle? Probably fine, just interesting. Once you get the front case modified, boring the holes, and clearancing for first gear, to fit your S14, you can pretty easily swap gear boxes. So, even if you get a grindy transmission, it will be just a transmission drop and front case swap to get another in there. It's the machine work that takes the time, first pass around.

Welcome Rich! It was a pleasure to meet you there my friend. It WAS hot, but enthusiasm and camaraderie won the days. I feel much better now that you have joined in with this CZCC crew---you are in very good hands. Follow the discussions and ask away any questions you may have. A wealth of cumulative knowledge is at your fingertips if you get stuck. "Search" is your friend, but just ask if you can't find an answer and someone will assist more likely than not.

This was my first Branson Zfest event! I enjoyed every moment, despite the heat. I want to especially thank Mike W, Zup, David Johnson for your willingness to provide suggestions to me, being new to the scene. My 1981 280ZX is in a million pieces right now and I hope to have it ready by next year. Keeping it original stock. The body itself is in excellent condition but I have a lot of cleaning to do to get the engine back to looking like new. And thanks to Zup for pointing me to classiczcars.com and the plating discussion thread! Awesome.

Looks like it was a great time, and cool that CZCC was well represented. See the way Zup sits there with flat tops at his feet? Like minions.

A good way to destroy drivability..Even on mine with a 262 cam I got nothing under 2k and the power just starts a 4k, above that it comes alive but not the friendliest for taking off from street lights in a civil way., in other words...its a hooligans car.

Here are some pics from the weekend. The Zs dominated. Jeff had his win streak end at 10 in a row due to a snapped stub axle in his diff. Chuck Sent from my Moto G Play using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Well, third time's a charm, it seems. After two lengthy and unsuccessful adventures with a DIY electrolyte set-up, I finally spent the money and bought the Caswell chemicals. It took me almost full day to create a new set-up... I created all-new baths (distilled water, muriatic acid, MEK solvent, Caswell electrolyte, Caswell blue chromate & Caswell yellow chromate). Every container was wiped down with alcohol before use, to make sure and manufacturing residue, fingerprints, etc. were gone. I also replaced my wire wheel (brass) with a new one, just in case the old one had acquired any kind of contamination. The acid bath was mixed at 1 part acid to 4 parts distilled water Electrolye and chromate baths were created according to the directions on the Caswell packaging (I didn't buy their manual).and added new ones for the electrolyte and the two phosphates) I used a fresh, single hoop of Moss-Boss zinc foil I added 1/2 teaspoon of Caswell's brightener liquid before getting started No heating used for the acid bath, nor for the two chromate dips My detergent bath consisted of a 4-qt crock pot full of distilled water, to which I added 400ml of liquid ammonia and a shot of dish detergent. I kept this at about 100 degrees F. Parts were scrubbed with a toothbrush, then rinsed off in a distilled water bath. The electrolyte bath was kept heated at between 100 - 110 degrees F during plating, with constant agitation using an aquarium bubbler. I pre-heat the solution with a hot water tank heating element, then remove the heater before I start plating. I started at 110 degrees. The temp dropped to about 100 degrees over the plating period. Plating current was set based on 140mA per sq.in. of part surface. I ran the part for 20 minutes, turning it 90 degrees at the 10-minute mark. I wasn't actually ready to get started with my first part (a brake line clip from the engine compartment) until about 3:00 Sunday afternoon. The part looked good coming out of the zinc plating step -- full coverage, dull light grey, no burning, no visible edge or corner effects. It got a quick swish in a distilled water bath, then into the blue chromate for a 60 s. dip. After that, it went directly (no rinse) into the yellow chromate dip for a 15s dip. Then a quick rinse with tap water. Then a 1 min. blast with a blow drier (running on HI heat). I can't tell you what a relief it was to see the part emerge like this... I'll post some pictures of my set-up later, along with some additional comments about settings and running multiple parts. I haven't tried any large items yet, so that remains an unknown.

No blue chromate, just yellow 8 litres white vinegar 800 grams Epsom salts 1 tsp caswell zinc brightner pure zinc strip anode (positive) no added heat- 23*C room temp. no agitation pump approx .25A per sq. in., after a while I only paid attention to the amp reading and didn't worry about the voltage clean pieces with industrial cleaner, then soak in paint thinner, acetone then spray with brake cleaner then wire wheel down to bare metal, the industrial clnr, acetone,brake clnr then 10 min in 50/50 muriatic acid/distilled water rinse with distilled water then into the plating tank for 15 min. remove with gloved hands and burnish with 3m scouring pad, then back in plating tank for another 15 min remove, rinse with distilled water then 10 -30 sec in yellow chromate solution rinse with distilled water and dry off the piece with air gun and heat blow dryer set aside and don't touch for 4 hrs

and then I get humbled Now admittedly I have some excuse. I was multi tasking on multiple cars and projects. Then I took a big swig of beer, which happened to have a wasp in it. Stung me in the throat, the little monster! Had to hurl him back up. When the swelling started to get spooky, ended up at Urgent Care getting shots in my rump. Spent the rest of the day asleep in my recliner. So the plating didn't turn out. I will strip them and try again on Saturday maybe