Goose52

Just got back from the MSA show. Same location and format as last year - separate areas for each Z model. I counted 94 240Zs at midday - probably more came in later. Pretty hot out there today but worth it. THANKS MSA ! Met some of the members from this Board, Hybrid Z, and Z-Car.com - nice talking to you all. The guy staged next to me had an 828 hp SBC in his car - sorta made my announcement that I have SM needles in my SUs a bit underwhelming! At least we could swap stories about when I ran a 331ci SBC in my car from '77 to '82. All in all - a good show - they keep getting better. And it seems like the quality of the cars keeps getting better as well.

Agree - it's an outstanding site. It's still out there - just at a different address. Try: http://datsunzgarage.com/

The console is original - there was no console lid from the factory. The plastic strip on the door panel originally had a 'chrome' plating ... which after all these years often flakes off the plastic strip... Goose

Not the Crown kit - it used a single SU in front of the turbo - the turbo then fed a manifold that was bolted to the two stock SU intake manifolds.

Dang that 15-minute edit lock-out. I was going to add this to my earlier post. The number one songs in the U.S. when my car was built in June 1972 were Sammy Davis Jr. - The Candy Man, and later in the month Neil Diamond - Song Sung Blue . Of course, the folks building the car in Japan may have been listening to a different number one song.... Check out: http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/number-one-songs-by-year/

I bought my car new in September 1972 and immediately named her Brandy - after the song of the same name (Brandy - You're a Fine Girl) by the Looking Glass. This song was the number one hit for only one week on the Billboard chart of August 26, 1972 - about 2 weeks before I bought the car. I still have a brass plaque on the console that says "Brandy - 13 September 1972."

Drats, I think I will just call them "P/S" mags !

Sure enough - I just googled on Sunbeam Tiger and saw a number of cars with this style of mag. DetroitZ - THANKS for the info ! OK - looks like I will have a set of "Performance Systems" mags for sale in the classifieds soon !

No model or design name on the back of mine. See the photo - just P/S and the size.

They were also made in a 15" with a lug pattern that would fit VW Beetles. I don't recall seeing them on Fiats back in the 70s but I guess they were probably made for quite a number of fitments. I just got my mags of this pattern down from the attic a few days ago and you will see them in the Classifieds sometime in the next week or so .... I've got to take some photos this weekend. Goose

Sounds like a great event. I can't make it this year as I'm currently living in Southern California ... but by next year, I will be living in Cumberland County TN and will be sure to try to make the 2009 event ! Goose

Re the comments about the potential for failure of the electronic module on the ZX distributor, and the relative reliability of a points system ... In 1974 I was driving my Z in the desert - probably 30 miles in either direction to civilization. Suddenly - the engine dies. I look at the tach and its reading 0 so I figure that it's ignition related - not fuel or air. After coasting to a stop, I pop the hood and look around. Pulled the distributor cap and it took a while for me to notice that the follower on the points (that rides the distributor cam) had broken off ! Luckily, I had a habit of always saving my old ignition components after each tune-up and storing them in the compartments under the luggage deck. So, I had a spare set of points in the car ... and even had a dwell tach in the car as well ... so I was back on the road in short order. Today - I run a ZX distributor with the 12-80 module. I have a spare module in the car. I guess the "point" (pun intended) is that either system can fail ... and you might want to plan accordingly ...

I was following this over at HydridZ - very cool. Congrats on cracking this nut after so many years of people playing with it. Now, are you giving any consideration to creating another finely crafted conversion kit for the electrical portion (the relay, box, and plugs that would insert between the Honda motor connector and the Datsun plug) ? Can you source the Honda plug ??

Well, I never had any Zeppelin 8-tracks, or later casettes, so no pre-recorded Zep. Maybe on the radio ...

To add some "technical discussion" about this product ... I received my side marker conversion adapter and installed it today (and left a review in the Product Review forum). I did have one installation glitch. Pay attention to the caution in the instructions about assuring that your side marker is insulated from the fender. In my case, one side marker was properly inserted in the rubber insulator, but at some point in the past (probably when it was in the paint shop), an oversize screw had been used to secure the side marker to the fender. This oversize screw was making contact with the metal part of the side marker, thus grounding it to the fender. Until the right screw is found, I drilled the hole in the side marker a bit larger, put some shrink tubing on the shank of the screw, and I was back in business. So, if you have a problem with the install, check that your mounting screws aren't grounding the marker to the fender ... Wayne J.

Wow - that looks good. I still have the original spare (Bridgestone RD-150) in my car but it's been on the ground several times when I've had flats. One of these days I need to pull the Bridgestone off and put a new tire on. Not sure I would want to drive very far on a 35 year old tire ...

Here's Steve's (ZTherapy) rig and the thread where this was discussed a while back: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21410

Yep - the side molding was one of the things that the dealer loaded onto my car when I bought it in '72. The molding on mine (thankfully) was attached with the two-sided tape. I removed the moldings within the first year with no damage to the paint.

I bought a module from the same eBay seller. Like Arne said, the case and terminals were cleaned. I run this unit as my primary module and keep another known good one in the car as a spare.

I put in a 331 small-block Chevy back in 1977 and still have wrinkles in the firewall from the unit-body winding up ! I went with the SBC as triple carbs on the L motor weren't going to give me the power I wanted with streetability, and turbos were mostly still in their infancy back then, as was electronic controls and aftermarket FI options. It was the best way to make big power. OTOH, it was before the easy availability of things like aluminum heads and the other neat stuff used on the later Chevy engines that would have improved the balance of the car. I ran the SBC for 5 years and started getting caught up in smog issues as well as other factors and ended up putting an L-28 in the car in 1982. I sorta miss the "sleeper" days but the L-28 is still fun, AND, I'm more than 25 years older and don't drive quite as fast any longer ...

Hi Carl, Yep, having the SAME car for all these years provides a direct connectivity to our youth - a "time machine" of a sort. Of course, my illusion sometimes gets shattered when I get into the car and hear the bones creak ... and sometimes I have to use my hands to lift one leg over the door sill if I'm having a bad day in regards to my bad back and knees ... ! But, it's still great fun ... Wayne

I'm the old guy blocking the view of the car at MSA 2007

Hi Carl, No, I probably had a Mk II ... I just didn't describe the confiration of my duct very well. The duct was integral with the Spook (not a separate piece) and was circular at the end. The ducted Spooks shown in this thread only have a trough extending rearward - there is no true duct. What I meant by an "upper half" on my Spook is that it had a true duct - the top of the trough was enclosed. This top portion was a separate fiberglas lay-up that was bonded to the main portion of the Spook and formed an "upper half" ... Here's a photo of this duct configuration (albeit on a 510) from page 167 of the original "How to modify..." book: Wayne

Looks good indeed - as does Arnie's red car - and isn't that original paint Arnie? Something else interesting - the Spooks on this thread are ducted, but the duct portion is only the lower half. My original 1972 BRE Spook had an upper half to the ducted portion - forming a true duct. If you were so inclined, you could attach a hose to the end of the BRE duct and run that hose right up to the brake caliper. I never did that but I did keep two tennis balls in the car - if I was driving in the rain, I would jam a tennis ball in each duct to keep the water from being directed towards the brakes...