ktm

FastWoman, if you read what I posted, you would see that I said exactly what you said.

Forget the early Miata seats. I ran with a pair for about 3 years until I got a screaming deal on a pair of 2008 MX-5 seats. They are just as easy to install as the early Miata seats though they do require a little bit more work.

What is your end goal? A car you would like to enjoy resale be damned, a car you would like to enjoy for a while and then sell, or a car you are looking at building just to sell (I know that many projects are that way - they owner just likes the build process)? If it's either of the last two, I would not look at 280z's as they do not have the same resale value as a 240z regardless what a 280z owner may think. The classic car market is not logical that way. I will add this caveat though: if you extensively modify it, all bets are off. In that case I would start with whatever vehicle offers the best value and has the best body.

Peak torque is typically around 4000 to 4200 rpm on a "stock" L-series engine and falls off rapidly. Revving to 5500 RPM as Zed Head stated is about the best you can do. Here is a good thread to show what I am talking about: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/engine-drivetrain-s30/13782-dyno-results-what-do-you-think.html

I just got back from Tokyo and Kyoto. Now is the time for cherry blossom viewing. I understand the desire to see something Z-related, but with all the young women wearing kimono's (yes, they really do) walking amongst the cherry blossoms, Z's can wait. Hit up Ueno Park, Tokyo Skytree, and Kaminarimon Gate/Temple. The last two are within walking distance of each other and Ueno Park is 10 minutes by subway.

This. If you have a stock car an engine bay painted the stock color is fantastic. However, once you start modifying anything in the engine bay having a black engine bay that you can repaint yourself is invaluable.

Are you in need of a replacement connector for your tail lights but don't want to use or gamble on a used connector? Would you like to upgrade to a different bulb type (3156/3157) that does not require a spring as well as twist in turn action? Well, I found just the one for you. Introducing the Dorman 85881 connector for late model GMs. It utilizes a 3157 bulb (two filaments) but can be used for every light in the tail light housing. For the reverse light you just don't wire up the third wire. Now there is just a tiny amount of modification that needs to be done to both the connector and the housing, but it is very, VERY minor. First, the housing. You need to trim a small portion of the housing between the two stock tabs that are at 10 and 12 o'clock to make it one big opening. The second thing you need to do is take some 80 grit sand paper and lightly sand the perimeter of the opening. The Dorman connector is almost a perfect fit and just a tiny bit of sanding will allow it to pop into the housing. As for the Dorman connector, you need to trim the tab that sits at the 6 o'clock position in half. You want to remove the portion of the tab that has the trapezoidal end so that the remaining portion is just a rectangle. The connector below does not appear to be correct where the wires attach (though that one could be better) but the bulb socket is correct. The Dorman 85881 connector I utilized has the body of the plug behind the black weatherstrip project 90 degrees from the socket. That's it. The 3157 is a two filament bulb and can be used for all of the lights. The connector is a three wire connector as well and can be wired up in any combination. What I like about the connector is that it eliminates the metal housing that is subject to rust/corrosion. It eliminates the spring as the bulb just snaps into place. I don't believe that the mods make the housing unuseable for the stock connectors either. You may have to modify the connector to allow it to spin 360 degrees instead of "locking" so that all three tabs are covered, but that's it.

I think you may be exaggerating about cars changing lanes to get out from behind you. Once you are 5 feet away from the car the exhaust smell all but dissipates. Tail light gaskets will cure your ailment inside the car. Also check the drain plug under the radio antenna (under the car), however, the tail light gaskets will be the primary leak source other than the inner hatch seal. When I got my car back from the painter I had to drive it without the rear inner hatch seal. I damn near passed out by the time I got home. Check that your smog pump (air injection pump) is also working if you have a stock car. This basically injects air into the exhaust to help dilute the exhaust gas. It's most likely been removed however. As FastWoman stated, a carburetored car will not run as "clean" as a fuel injected vehicle. If that is your goal, then you may consider converting to fuel injection which does help immensely.

I'll be the dissenting voice. The dash caps are known entities and you know what it will look like when completed. I have a half dash cap on mine and I think it looks great. If I were going to refinish my dash, I would send it out and be done with it.

225s on a +6 offset (assuming they are 7-in. wide) may hit the front valence. When I was running 14x7 Western Turbines with 225/60 I would clip the front valence. I have 16x8 +10 on my car now with 245/50 tires. I need a 10mm spacer to clear my Toyota S12/w calipers. If I had stock calipers a 5mm spacer would probably suffice to help the tires clear the spring perch. I do not have a spacer in the rear but trimmed the spring perch for the 2mm or so of clearance I needed. My car is also dropped 1-inch. I rub on the fenders and wound up rolling them. A 225 tire should not rub. A 225 tire on a +6 wheel (assuming its 7 or 8 inches wide) should have no clearance issues save for the front valence. Again, I have 245mm wide rear tires on a +10 8-in. wide wheel and I barely rub on severe transitions in the road when the rear compresses. A 225mm tire on a +6 7-in. wide wheel should be ok. If you are really concerned, you can always test fit if the buyer will let you. The front is more of a concern than the rear.

I personally like MAP as it is a bit easier to install and setup. You still have to return a MAF car if you change airflow too much as well (the LS1 in my 240z is MAF based), so you really won't be avoiding retuning either way. Tuning a N/A car is also a lot easier than tuning a forced induction car in that you can safely hit your load cells if you are street tuning. You can't really (safely) do that in a forced induction car. By safely I mean both personal safety as well as engine safety. The biggest tuning challenge you'll face is spark believe it or not. Tuning for fuel is easy if you have a wideband; you do not have a similar instrument when trying to tune spark. However, spark is not nearly as critical in an N/A car as it is one a forced induction vehicle.

Steve, congratulations on stepping into the 21st Century! You'll really want to get fueling as well since that is where MS really shines since you can tune it for all atmospheric conditions. Still, spark is the first step. When I did my L28ET conversion I opted for a different stand-alone, but putting it into a car that was not FI to begin with adds some wiring challenges. Check out Hybridz for all of your installation questions. It's been exhaustively documented there (use forums.hybridz.org - www.hybrid.org seems to be broken). Good luck!

No, not KtM bike as well though I do ride. My username is an abbreviation I picked up years ago from an old gaming name that I've had for 18 years. Thanks for the compliments all. I stopped by the bumper place today and it should be ready early next week. I am installing the interior again (did not paint inside, I took it out to help the painter remove the quarter windows).

The paint and new windshield (installed) was $3300. He did not blow the car apart and put it back together. The car was relatively straight to begin with and he just touched up some minor waves and dents. I told him it was a street car, a driver, and opted not to go crazy with the body work. I am rather pleased. The paint is not perfect and could use a good color sand, but all in all I am very, VERY happy.

I had some holes filled (mirror and spoiler related), rust on the lower fender rockers repaired, rear deck below the hatch replaced (some minor rust) and a few other issues taken car of. New front windshield without the blue stripe, etc., etc. I pick up my rear bumper from the chrome shop later this week. It needed minor straightening and a rechrome, but I am too excited to wait to post the pics. The color is Audi Solar Orange. It is a solid color and I went single-stage. I want to be able to repair scratches, chips, etc. myself with a bit of touch up and sanding/polishing. Yes, the Mazda 5 is MY daily driver........ At the paint shop (thanks to John Williams): Home in the driveway:

Your best bet (besides resurrecting a very old thread) is to search Ebay, Craigslist, or the classifieds here or on Hybridz.org. Hybridz routinely has part out threads and you could post in such thread asking for the part, or go to the Parts Wanted section and start a new thread.

Steve, I misread my wiring diagram years ago and was under the false impression. This thread caused me to re-read the wiring diagram......I stand corrected. Thanks, Bo

Yet another correction. The 1972 switches ground as well.

It's a sheet metal screw. The is no threaded hole as the screw uses the diameter of the hole to thread itself. I found a sheet metal screw that fit the diameter of the existing hole for the exterior tail light trim panel. It is not tearing anything up, I am not drilling a new hole nor am I threading anything. Maybe I am misunderstanding the part in question. Are they the four pieces on the rear deck under the hatch that secure the exterior tail light panels?

I went with sheet metal screws. Unless the car is a Concours restoration, the screws are a much better option

Just to clarify Steve's comment, the combo/light switch switches GROUND and not POWER. As Steve pointed out, all the Red wires (R/W, R, , R/Y, and R/B) would be considered "power" wires. The light switch simply selects which wire should receive the ground, either R/W or R/B. The R and R/Y wires run out to the headlights and provides power to both the R/W and R/B wires at the same time, however, until one of them (R/W or R/B) is grounded the lights will not turn on.

I can confirm, unless the gas station has rigged their flow meters, that my 1972 240z will hold 15 gallons of gas (most likely a gallon in the filler neck) until the pump shuts off. I know this may not be news to anyone else, but I was always struggling with filling issues due to pinched/clog vent lines. I finally cleaned the mess up when I was doing the Wolf Creek CV swap and fixed all the issues. I added 5 gallons of gas via a can at home, when to the same pump 30 minutes later and added another 10 gallons of gas. I also finally re-calibrated my Speedhut programmable fuel gauge. I swapped senders 1.5 years ago and did not recalibrate due to the PITA it is draining a tank. Well, now was the time and boy I am glad I did. My old sender was off a little bit on the empty side. I found out that it would read 1/4 tank when empty (the new sender was reporting 1/4 tank when the tank was empty). Still, I was shocked when I put a full 15 gallons of gas i my car. Hell, my 2012 Mazda 5 does not have a tank that large.

I have a 1972 240z and I have two adjacent contacts. Now that does not mean that my turn signal switch is original, but I do have two contacts. I do agree with Steve and Mike that it is most likely related to the turn signal switch, more specifically the contacts therein. You'll probably need to disassemble the switch and clean the contacts. Corrosion wreaks havoc. I had an issue 6 months to a year ago that was related to corrosion on the contacts (passenger side).

I would argue that you need a subwoofer in these cars. There is just not enough volume to produce much bass in the kick panels or even a rear box enclosure. Honestly, I would ditch the 6x9's and try to go with 6-in. if you can. 6x9's just do not produce the same response as a good set of 6-in.+ speakers. I have speakers right behind the rear seats as well (6x9 in order to fit - I know, ironic, but if I were to do it again they would be 6-in.) and they do not help with highs, but do help to fill out the sound a little bit. I also have a 10-in. Powerbass subwoofer installed in a custom built enclosure sitting in the spare tire well. You can definitely tell the difference in sound when it is turned off. My system is Pioneer 6x9s in the behind the seats (tool enclosures), 6-in. Alpine 3-ways with adjustable tweeter in the kick panels, MB Quart tweeters in the driver and passenger side vents, and a 10-in. Powerbass sub. One thing to make sure of when installing the system is to make sure that the speakers are all wired up the same. I just discovered an issue where I had 2 speakers wired off-phase from the rest of the system (I switched up the wiring when doing some work a year ago) and could not figure out why my system "suddenly" sounded crappy. Switched the wires on those two speakers and BAM, back to sounding awesome.

Technically, the hazard switch only provides power to the brakelight circuit. The power comes from the fuse block, to the hazard switch, to the brake switch at the pedal, then to the combo switch. If he is only getting power intermittently to one side, it is not the hazard switch.