bobs77

Mike and John, Thanks for the pics--that's what I need to clean up my engine room. Bob

Gary, can you send a pic of the valve cover after polishing? Bob

Switching to a 5 speed to improve mileage came up before. Problem is the first 4 gears in a 5 speed are exactly the same as in a 4 speed; the 5 speed only adds an overdrive. If you don't do much freeway driving you won't see any benefit.

"...Banzai said they dont make that part anymore and yes Z man is a little high..." Zman is very proud of his parts, and prices them that way. Same for service work. They do good work, but you WILL pay a premium for it--more than it's worth.

Courtesy Nissan has the FSM on CD: http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CP&Product_Code=CD28077A Buy it--it'll pay for itself in no time. Bob

I'm about to buy tune-up parts for my '77 and noticed quite a cost difference between MSA and Courtesy Nissan for the distributor cap: MSA charges $6.95, Courtesy $28.84 (with our discount). Anyone have any experience with either?

Wonder if they changed that starting with the '78? My '68 Cougar also had separate keys for the locks and ignition.

I have what I was told were the originals for my '77: the door / hatch lock key is oval and igition is square, both with the same Z insignia. That dash crack has got to be the largest 'small' crack I've ever seen; I'm curious how he's planning on fixing it. Bob

66,250 on my '77. Which I thought was good until seeing how low your mileage is! Arne--first project this spring is cleaning up the wheels I bought from you last fall.

That's BS! The cold start valve IS an injector. Try this guy: Mr. Injector (Bill Johnson) 6280 N Government Way, #44 Coeur d' Alene, ID 83815 208-762-3450 bjcda2000@adelphia.net He did a great job last year on my injectors and cold start valve. Bob

And include the cold start valve with the injectors when you send them out for cleaning too. (Does that make it three birds, one stone?)

I'm having oil pressure fluctuations after about a hour of steady highway driving in my '77--drops from ~50 to 30-40psi, floating between the two even when there's no change in engine speed. I already replaced the sending unit, which reduced the fluctuation but didn't eliminate it (it was ~25-50). If I can still get a new pressure regulator valve assembly (#15102-21005) can this be replaced with the pump still on the engine? Or is it even worth going this route since MSA sells new pumps for $50? On a side note does anyone have experience with the high pressure oil pump springs MSA sells? Thanks!

I've also been buying tires and wheels for years from Tirerack.com with no problems. No problems with the local Les Schwab Tire Store mounting them either. bkelly--sounds like the main problem is with the tire manufacturer, not Tirerack. Yeah, they asked you to pay to return ship them--I'd do the same if it was my business. But if they found the tires were defective did they offer to refund the return shipping, plus replace the tires at no additional cost? Bob

Guess we'll let it slide (I tried to buy the rear view mirror from you earlier this year). Your car's looking good--expecting you to kick some ricer butt!

Here's a plug for Zclocks.com: I sent him my original, non-working clock 3 years ago. He replaced the working mechanism with quartz and it's worked fine since. Very fast service, and reasonable cost too.

What year Z are you looking for a shroud for? I have an extra plastic two-piece shroud that looks just like the one in your pictures; should fit a 260 up to a '76 280 (I was sold this one for my '77, then found out it was incorrect when the mounting holes didn't match up).

How noisy are they? I've heard a few complaints about that with these tires.

Try Classic Datsun Motorsports: http://www.classicdatsun.com/.

It's ALWAYS like that here! Pass it on.....

Thanks Enrique and Arne--there was more to this than I thought. PNW comes through again.

What would you guys suggest to use to prepare the rear panel for painting? I just got a spray can of gray paint from Les at Classic Datsun Motorsports and want to do this right. Thanks, Bob

I've been thinking about coco mats for mine. I made the mistake of buying the 280Z logo mats from MSA--very cheap. The foam backing doesn't grip the carpet at all so the left mat occasionally slides under the gas pedal causing it to stick open. They also develop a permanent bend to match the tranny tunnel curve, which isn't bad until they slide away from the tunnel, leaving a gap.

Another "rare" Black Pearl Z showed up on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=140140951737&rd=1&rd=1 Along with some obvious errors ("extended hatchback") he does mention a low build number. Anyone know what the real build quantity was for the 1978 Black Pearl edition?

The weatherstripping keeps the louvers from rattling against the body. Thanks for the suggestion--I'll see what our hardware stores have. Nice orange '77!

I spoke to Les last week about the Konig Rewinds. He said he's not selling them any more because they break when you race on them. He recommended the Panasports.