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Hi everyone here's pictures of the tear down and the car being shipped off to Miguel's:

Back to the topic.... I got the block cleaned up and painted tonight. The oil pan needs to be done still and a few other things, but I thought it was as a good a time as any to slap it together for some motivation! As soon as the coil on plug units arrive, I can start mocking up the aluminum support for the spark plugs and coils. I think the cast iron paint will be a nice subtle touch in the engine bay along with the shiny black, chrome and red bits.

These are probably pretty close. Made these at my desk at work. Also, looks like stainless steel would work well in a gasoline environment. http://hayata.com/stainless-steel-chemical-resistance-chart-f-l/

I suspect the rest of the car looks fantastic for it's age, so with all due respect, I'm not sure I would consider those seat covers to be an "upgrade". Looks very geographically (regionally) appropriate, but if it were me, I'd go back to stock.

Yeah I don't know why the first one came out big and the other ones are small. I'll get it fixed. I'm new to this posting thing so you guys will have to bear with me while I learn.

1968 BRE Baja Team:

Our heat pumps pull humidity and blow hot air. It's very humid here. I can't sleep without my noisemaker. Neighbors slamming car doors, dogs barking and loud car stereos. Drinking helps!

Yup. Signed in 10/15/14, last visited 10/21/14. I sense a lack of commitment. Dennis

Hello all, my name is Lee Grimes and I am the Automotive Product Manager for KONI Shocks. I have been working with Greg and Joseph to get these new Z-car parts to market and help answer some questions. He pointed me to this discussion to maybe give some clarity or assistance. I won't be able to stay as a regular contributor but I will be happy to check in for a little bit to help people understand the new parts. A bit over a year ago, Motorsport Auto came to KONI to see if we could revive and modernize our offering for the early 240Z, 260Z, 280Z and 280ZX. Needless to say we jumped at the chance to offer proper products for these important cars. Off and on through the years KONI has offered the tradtional red painted KONI Special strut inserts with internal (off the car) adjustment for 240Z through 280ZX. In the late '70s-and early '80s KONI also offered an externally adjustable version for these cars excluding the ZX but they were discontinued by the mid-'80s. Now was time for an update. With Motorsport Auto as an exclusive partner stepping up to take full production run volume, we developed and tested new externally rebound adjustable (knob adjustable on the car) yellow painted KONI Sport strut inserts for these cars and a externally adjustable rear shock for the ZX. We started with the external adjustables from the 1980s as the launching point and even used the same part numbers this time with the SPORT suffix in the part numbers. We then updated the internals a bit (it was no slouch to begin with back then though) to more modern seals and guide components and set the valving to work well with either factory stock springs (starting baseline adjustment at or near full soft) or performance lowering springs for perforamnce street, autocross, track day, etc. use (starting baseline adjustment about 1/2-3/4 turn up from full soft setting). Like all KONIs, the adjustment range is about 100% so they are twice as firm at the maximum setting than at the minimum setting. This is a very large range of adjustment so we suggest that you start in the lower end of the range, drive it for a bit to get a feeling for it, and then tune accordingly from there for your ride and handling preference. I think it will be very rare that people will use more than 1 turn (about 50% higher than full soft) for normal use when they are new. Because the adjustment range is so large, it allows you to compensate for wear over extended time, tune it high for an autocross or track day, and then quickly turn it back down for street use. Because the range is so large, it is possible to overdamp the car for your needs and actually make it more harsh and have less grip than needed so do not just turn it way up figuring that "more is always better". Although these could be used for a dedicated track and racing car, their needs and expectations are different and we do have other racing options (e.g. 8610 RACE and 8611 RACE) where street handling and ride quality, high mileage longevity, etc. are no longer important. These new Z-car Sports are targetted to take you from stock Z- car to just shy of all out racing. They carry KONI's limited lifetime warranty against defects and materials to the original purchaser as long as tht person owns the car registerd for street use. Regarding the discussion about bump rubbers, you can use a good condition OE type bump rubber for a Z-car, one of the black urethane ones that Motorsport Auto sells, or the KONI Racing Silastic bump tops made for use on a 22mm piston rod. KONI does not have a specific bump stop length suggestions as different ride heights and springs will determine what length you need. The imporant part is that you have some bump rubber installed to keep the strut or shock from bottoming out internally which can cause internal damage that will cause loss of function and will not be covered under warranty. The first production runs of the fronts and rears for the 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z are currently in-transit from KONI in The Netherlands due in mid-March. The 280ZX fronts are in-transit as well but the 280ZX rear shocks are awaiting final production due to to different compponent sourcing but will be here ASAP. Please be clear that these were specifically developed only for these Z-car applications and they are not crossovers from ome other vehicle. Because these parts are exclusive to Motorsport Auto and no other KONI dealer has access to them, we will not be listing these part numbers on our official KONI websites for North America www.koni-na.com or Europe www.koni.com. If you have any questions, pelase contact our Technical Staff at info@koni-na.com or 859-586-4100 Option 6 from M-F 8-5 Eastern time.

This guy has good selection of all parts Z. https://zcardepot.com/collections/cooling-heating

The new MSA Sports are twin-tube low pressure nitrogen gas charged (8641 prefix with the 4 indicating low pressure gas charge) and the Classics are 86 (twin-tube hydraulic non-gas charged). Generally an increase in internal gas charge can have a pretty minor if any increase in static ride height and can vary from car design to car design, I think your 1 inch comment might be overestimated as most cars are more likely to see 1/4-1/2" difference with several variables involved. Any static height changes are going to be related to a mix of things including the amount of gas charge itself (from zero gas charge to low pressure gas charged (3-5 Bar usually) to a mono-tube high pressure gas charge (10-20 Bar usually) in addition to vehicle weight, spring rates, damper piston rod diameter (effect is more on a large rod diamete, less on a small rod diameter), suspension geometry, etc. How well and consistently you make your before and after measurements and do the installation may likely have a greater impact on a height change than actual internal gas pressure difference. KONI is one of the few companies who makes all three different shock designs (T-T non-gas, T-T LPG & M-T HPG). Very few people understand what internal nitrogen gas really does or doesn't do in a damper however the gerenal public's limited info perception (mostly old ads from mass market, commodity shock brands) is usually that gas charged is better than not gas charged so often we will include a small gas charge to satisfy that "Is it a gas shock?" question if we don't have the abulity to discuss it technically. In fact, we are working on a KONI video script now addressing the very common misconceptions of gas charging or not.

I've always said, "Long cold winters are the Mother of invention.". Having spent my first 22 years in Northern Wisconsin, I know from experience. Dennis

Found some mats for you https://www.zazzle.com/southwest+car+floor+mats?pg=2

The red KONI Classics that have been made in the last roughly 20ish years are the much younger siblings of the very old set that I discussed just above. Their part numbers will be 86 1811 and 86 1812 (for 240Z/260Z) and have the modern seals and low friction guides and pistons and 86 strut insert part number prefix that I discussed. These were out of production for many years but it was revived in the mid '90s when the car saw a popularity rise including Nissan's official revival/rebuild program on some early cars. They have stayed in low volume, limited availability since then. They are the internally adjustable (compress-to-adjust off the car) version so they are not as friendly to adjust for general tuning, going back and forth for street, autocross, & track day use, wear compensation, etc. Their valving is a bit softer (but certainly not a "soft" damper) than the new Sports that we have just developed with Motorsport Auto. These were of twin-tube hydraulic (non-gas charged) design so they won't self-extend if you compress them off the car but that has no relation to actual damper function on the car.

@wheee! Let me know if there is any way I can help you on your parts order. It isn't what I would call "fast" from the US to Canada but it might help.

So I got the set from the bay seller and they are very good. they are the correct dimensions and are made of ABS. My only gripe is that the screws supplied are very tight and I think the ID of the parts is a little small. I used some Elmer's Dry lube on them and they are a little easier. The new screws are smalIer diameter than stock. I definitely recommend these for restoring light buckets. Another interesting change that I found and never read about before from series one to later versions of the lights is the recessed mounting locations of these nuts. On my original ones there's a stamped area with serrations so they don't spin. On later buckets I have, it's a more pronounced full rectangular stamping. Also on the early buckets there's no holes for the locating nibs on the new gaskets. I drilled 4mm holes so the gaskets fit. Another "why would they do that" find.

@Rod's Garage A suggestion. Please turn up the resolution on your camera settings and post the photos as large as possible so that we can see more of the details in the images. There is a lot in there that can't be seen and appreciated when the photos are so small.

Painted the engine bay front panels satin black. Also installed a few more parts; coil bracket & hood prop (Just a side note: with fresh paint, pretty much all holes need to be re-tapped before installing screws, otherwise they don't go in very well ?). Polished up and installed the trim that goes on the rain gutters. Also cleaned up the spare and set it in it's compartment. @Captain Obvious you were right about the filter being too long. I set it in the carb and it is pretty close to the threads as you can kind of see in the picture. Looks like I will need to find a different method.

Marginally better than the original power plant...

Thanks for the offer, Bruce. I have the fitting on order. I'm trying to line up all the support parts I may need so I don't have as much down time on the Z. I even have the 3 screw carburetors sitting in my garage, waiting for the conversion. I sent the check a month ago for the fuel injection kit. It won't be shipped for about another month. I'm guessing a lot of British sports car fans want a winter project, too.

Oh, and you're killing me with that. We just got four inches of heavy wet slush.

The ostensible reason is probably to collect tax dollars for roads, which in this application, the truckers are using but farmers aren't. The real reason is probably that agriculture has better lobbyists.

My Vote for a Truck - -

Well, THAT didn't take too long to go in the gutter.... Cliff, ya know, I love ya like a brother from another mother, but there are SOME things you should keep private, or, only share with you doctor, therapist, rent-a-wife.....

These pop in every other week or so on one of my searches.... https://row52.com/Vehicle/Index/RNDgnHZiE16jEbJn8HR50jcCU Great grandfather to the D21.... Just looked at the picture of the truck - do we call that one a conehead?

@Familyz - your location - wouldn't it have been easier to say "Miami FL" instead of directing to an actual address? This is the internet, and, these pages are public.... As far as your relay, all I can offer is that if you do get a replacement, make sure it is grounded when you turn the key. Don't be holding that sucker in your hand. Don't ask how I know..... Wayne

Truck and a hose. I watch the spot price sometimes to try to save a few dollars.

I love my '87 d21 but it's worthless in snow. It snows here MAYBE once a year so not a problem. 357,000 on the clock without any major work. Damn fine trucks!

The man who popularized the phrase "assembly is reverse of disassembly" has passed away. I was looking for a service manual 26 years ago after I purchased my Z. I had no idea factory manuals might be available. First I found the Chiltons manual, but it covered the S30, S130, and Z31 in the same book, so it wasn't that useful. Then I found the Haynes manual, and in comparison to the Chiltons, I felt I struck gold. I still remember using the Haynes manual to figure out how to replace the vent hoses in my 240Z since it had photos that the FSM lacked. https://haynes.com/en-gb/john-harold-haynes-obe-obituary And if you ever need to service your carrier fighter, who else could you turn to? https://haynes.com/en-gb/grumman-f-14-tomcat-manual I'm glad Mr. Haynes believed there was a need for his services. He was correct.

My 4th Z a 1980 (pic taken in 89) which I didn’t keep long after adding headers, complete Ansa exhaust and doing all that body work lol.

Thank you for taking the time to so clearly point this out. I know it takes time to make it this clear, but I really appriciate it.