datsunrides

Saw that posted on another site about a week or so ago. That is such an awesome sound! Mark

For wreckers, you are pretty much stuck checking the San Jose pick and pulls (there are 2)if you want any chance of finding Z parts. There is one in Moss Landing that has one or two on occasion. Other local places in Salinas, Watsonville, Santa Cruz, etc. usually don't bother with the "old" stuff anymore. I have had much better luck with the pick and pulls in the cental valley when looking for old car parts, but would be an almost 3 hour drive from Santa Cruz. One vendor of Datsun parts (new and used) close by is Rod Eaton (Rod's discount datsun parts) Prices vary from reasonable to "you want how much?" but does keep quite a bit available and is in San Jose. Mark

That's probably the new GTR.

Redline also has a DCOE type fuel injection throttle body. Mark

I'm no expert but I have painted a few. Here is my thought. There should be no problem with getting the primer wet after a couple of hours. My experiances with a catalizer primer is that it is dry within a half hour or sooner depending on temp. Now, if the paint has wrinkled, I doubt it has to do with water, most likely reacted to something like oil or such. Primer, especially epoxy should not be pourous, so to speak. I'm not clear on whether the primer or paint wrinkled. For fenderwells and such, I epoxy primer and then spray on an automotive grade undercoat. I have not got a result I like with the spray bomb stuff. Probably OK for touch up. Sounds like you have a compressor so use the good stuff. It is not pourous and is tough stuff. Mark

My favorite series was/is Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) That should get you close to my age!! I also enjoyed the Dragon Ball Z series. Not too much else interested me for whatever reason. I'm 38 FWIW. Mark

1-I can see your point if your talking about the stereotypical used tire shop. However, at least in my town, the "used tire" shop has equal or better equipment than the new tire dealers and does similar volume. (sells new tires too) They have been around longer than I've been here (12yrs) and have a great reputation and very fair pricing and don't care where you got the tires from, it's $10 to mount and balance. All I'm saying is don't dismiss a business just because of a stereotype, check them out! I will say that I take the wheels to them loose as it does save me a couple of bucks each. 2-I myself prefer static balancing. Dynamic balancing just doesn't seem to work as well IMHO. If I had a dollar for each time I had to have a "computer" balanced tire rebalanced due to a vibration, I would be able to buy lunch! (this was at new tire dealers BTW, haven't had an issue at the used tire place yet) 3-The Falkens I got at Vulcan were $44 ea. and shipping only ran $55 for all 4 tires IIRC.

That's another reason I bought online. When I did have a legitimate problem with a tire (tread separation), a local dealer would have nothing to do with it. I was left to deal with the district manager on my own anyways. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions with different "dealers" so if I have to go direct anyways, why give the business to someone who won't even help with the product they sold me when it's defective? Mark

My opinion is this, its your car, do as you want. As an early model, it would be a shame to cut it up, which doesn't seem to be your direction. If you wanted to cut it up for a cage, flares, v8, etc.. I would say sell it to someone who wants to restore a early model and get a later model. I have a very clean 73' model that is so close to original that I can not bring myself to even put wheels on it! (personal hangup although I hate worrying about the stupid hubcaps) My original thought was to get a clean, less desirable (somewhat) model and modify it to my taste. Now I plan to get another one to go wild on that is not quite as "original", maybe a 260....then again, those were only made 1 year.:nervous:

I bought a set of Falken's from Vulcan Tire online. Very easy and fast shipping not to mention a very good price. In my case, the cost of the tires + shipping + local mounting and balancing ( $10 ea. ) at a used tire place was about $10 cheaper per tire than the local places were willing to sell them for. Now, I'm all for buying local when feasible, but when they want over $40 more for a set of tires not including sales tax and mounting and balancing and not lowering the price to be competetive made my choice easy. Now, warranty issues may be a problem, should it arise, but I would expect those to be handled by a local distributor of the brand. Mark

Here is a link to a site that I posted pics and a short writeup of my homebuilt rotesserie on. Worked well for my Roadster and you can store some engines when your done! http://www.311s.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4862&highlight=rotisserie

Check out this site for roadster info. http://www.311s.org/ Bunch of great people there that will help answer any questions you may have. Be aware of "low cost" roadsters, as they almost always cost more than you think. I would personally buy the best example you could afford as parts, while still mostly available, are sometimes suprisingly expensive. I have probably over 10k in my frame off and it's not even back together yet, but I do have a lot of "custom" touches I have done to it. R16 engines are very durable and while not as powerful as the U20's, are easier and cheaper to build and maintain. Price a U20 timing set or oil pump lately?:eek:

I have got stuff from them also. Good pricing and availability but shipping can add up quick with them if you order a lot of stuff. With the way they add shipping charges, it would seem they do a lot of stuff by either drop ship or order in and ship out. Never had a problem with them so far, other than shipping charges. There are many places on the web you can get comparable stuff cheaper with free shipping, when you add Rock's shipping to their parts cost. FWIW.

Wow, that thing must have sat underwater for that much damage. Funny, I have had one of those sitting in my garage for 6 years. Wonder if all the hullabalu will raise awareness in these old mopars? I NEVER though I'd say it, but mine is in WAY better shape than that, and mine is pretty sad, interior wise. At least it's not rusty. Mark

I would think a good price for those would be $300, without tires and in the condition you describe. Original centercaps (not tawain replacements) will add to the price as would tires in good shape. I have sold Libre copies for $75 ea. in the past. As everything, how bad do you want them? Mark

I agree, MUCH better location than in front of the store. I also liked how the cars were separated into groups / class. Mark

I too have bought from Carl and has always been easy to deal with. Never got Z parts but have bought roadster and 1200 parts from him. Only guy I know that could still get a new, factory 1200 dash pad! I have never price compared Z stuff but on roadster stuff he is right there and he is high on the 1200 stuff, but where else you gonna get some of it? Supply and demand. Mark

Looks to be the "valve" for the vapor recovery system that has obviously been disconnected. Mark

MSA show

Boy, talk about some sharp eyes! I always thought the bumper guards looked funny, and even asked the PO the same question. He told me they were like that when he bought it from the original owner in 80' so I left it at that. The battery is "correct", somewhere along the line the battery cables were replaced and somehow, the red is the ground and the black is the hot. It is on my (small) list of things the fix. I have no plans to competitively show this car. I enjoy driving it too much and hate cleaning it plus I do not need anyone "nitpicking" my car and telling me "oh, I'll have to take a point off because you have incorrect hose clamps" sheesh! I'm just trying to keep it as a clean example of a 240z without going into a full on restoration. That leads me to the comment on the 57' Plymouth. Yes it is a 57' and it's a Belvedere 2 door post (don't see too many posts!) It's my wife's "project" that will start when I finish all of mine up. (Still have a roadster (311), a 72' TE28, and a couple of motorcycles to go) She actually bought the car herself about 8 years ago at the goodguys swap meet at Pleasanton! I'm kinda suprised no one noticed the front of the roadster peeking out in the last shot. And nobody has commented that the carbs are not original. I was kinda expecting that one to be the first comment. Without running on too much, the PO told me he replaced those in 85' or 86' with what he told me were one of the last sets of factory new SU left. I have tenative plans to go to Blackhawk and the All Datsun Meet and will be stopping by the Solvang roadster show on my way up to the Nationals and "showing" it there too. Mark

Thanks for the positive comments. The car was repainted in 1980 (!) by the PO. That is 27 year old paint! It is my no means perfect, but you can see your reflection in it. The guy I bought it from 2 years ago was REALLY anal about keeping it in tip top shape, thankfully. Mark

Just spent all day getting the Z all shined up and looking good for the nationals. Thought I share a couple of pic's since I have never posted any before. (and I'm proud of my work) Mark

I have had similar issues to your and one time it was a bad driveshaft(ujoints and balance) creating some harmonics that transmit thru the body, another was a bad trans mount creating the same "symptom". I also had a bad tire cause a similar problem. The tire drove me nuts because it was an internal tread separation, the outside looked fine until one day a bubble formed and exposed the problem. Some food for thought. Mark

I am located in Hollister. See my sig for my fleet. Mark

Here's Rod's website http://www.rodsdatsun.com He is more like a vendor than a junk yard, although he does have some used stuff. Stuff for all Datsuns too, not just Z's. I have found stuff in Salinas on rare occasion, but the San Jose yards are much better for selection, IMO.