Art@NissanSport

Copper slag is excellent. Zero dust and very reasonable in price.

A few guys who have had their cars published in recent magazines display the article in the hatch area. I see this at just about every show I go to in at least one car. It definitly helps sway voters in peoples choice if the car has had some national exposure. Perception means a lot in those kind of shows. Showing past awards is popular too.

Just found Dub City's version of the 72 240Z in white. I had only seen the red Z with #938 decal on it. Both were at Walgreens. I also picked up Hot Wheels "Modern Classics" #2 of 15 240Z. Its all black with red and white stripes Also saw a black 1:24 scale of the Nissan Silva there. Will be going back to pick it up soon.

Chris, you will see one of them in the mag, but not the leap frog one

Remember guys, to host a convention with the ZCCA your club must be a dues paying member of the ZCCA to even get a shot at it. MSA is a success for a couple of reasons. 1) track record-more Z's at one show then any other event in the country. 2) More vendor attendance due to foot traffic. 3) I think they have outside help in organizing the event. 4) a street fair style environment. If you've ever lived in NYC, you'll know what I'm talking about. 5) and the main reason-more Z's in California then in most all other states combined. Common sense tells me that if you have a national convention in a corner of the US like the New England area you can only draw cars from three directions with one of them being limited: south, west, and north (limited). East is out of the question due to the ocean. Florida is even tougher due to one direction: north The show in Cleveland will be a good indicator to see just how many Z club members will attend. There are a large number of clubs within a 500 mile radius in all directions. I see no reason for there not to be 500 cars in attendance. Granted, people from the southwest, west coast and northwest will produce low attendance numbers due to distance. 2000 miles is a lot to ask (4k round trip) on a weeks vacation. I always thought it would be good to rotate the convention every year in a section of the US - SE, NE, NW and SW. Pick a central location in each region and have the clubs in that region host the event. Problem is, its hard enough for 1 club to make a convention run smoothly, I can't imagine multiple clubs tying to work together. There is that old rule: 5% of the club does 90% of the work (or something like that). But maybe that is where the ZCCA comes in, they could be the outside organizers that cordinate with all the clubs in that region to make sure everyone does their part. National conventions are hard to predict, you just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Will, and he'll remember your name 5 years from now having only met you once.

Will, I couldn't teach anybody how to party. I just make sure to attach myself to the people that look they are going to have the best time. So far it has worked for me. I could never keep up with some of these guys. maybe when I was 20, but not now. I have a simple rule, if I can't make money then I damn well better have a good time spending what little I have.

The mindset of the convention is based on the people that go every year. That is why the format of a weekend show was changed to mid-week. We have a year to prepare for this and if you live in the area, getting one day off from work is not near as hard as having to take 2 weeks (for the people that have to travel hundreds, even thousands of miles). I doubt they will go back to the old format as long as the same core group is showing up every year. A weekend show would definitly draw more cars and people, but I don't see the ZCCA going backwards to make that work. With the foundation the way it is, the national convention depends on that core group showing up every year. Push them away and the conventions success would rest solely on the locals and from past experience that alone won't make it a success.

Everything that is being brought up here is nothing really new. Well, except for the bikini contest. Go to a few national conventions and you will see that it is not a NOPI style event. The average Z owner is probably in the mid-forties and there are also quite a few women involved. And from experience, every time we try to slip in a little skin in the magazine they (our women subscribers) make it very clear that is not why they get the mag. The national convention draws about 100 to 150 repeat offenders every year. Go to enough of them and you will see the same core group year in and year out. This is not a bad thing, I like the reunion aspect of it. The rest of the attendees is made up of locals from the surrounding areas. This is why I think it is important to have an OPEN event. How do you promote a organization or group if the general public has no access. I'm pretty sure Ohio will be doing this next year. People need to be able to walk in off the street. That is why MSA is/was so successfull. Having the car show on a closed off public street just off of a main street drew thousands of people that just happened to be driving by. Now that they have moved to a park away from the mainstream public areas, those kind of attendance numbers will surely drop. Some of the most successful car shows in my area are the ones at shopping mall parking lots. Exposure is everything. And if you remember, national conventions used to wrap around weekends. Would start on a Thursday and end like on a Tuesday with the car show being held on the Saturday or Sunday. That format was changed because regular attendees didn't want to use up 2 weeks of vacation time for this event. Moving it from Monday to Friday allowed them to travel on the weekends to get there and get home while only using 1 weeks vacation time. This was the reason explained to me so if it's wrong this is the time to straighten me out. My idea of a national event is one that is the largest, hense the word "national" and not the word "regional". I look at how many cars show up, not the total number of people. A regional event can draw 200+ cars so I see no reason why a national event can't draw 500 to 600 cars. Florida is probably the third most populated Z state behind California and Texas. There should have been 400+ cars in attendance. Granted, rain dampened alot of it. LA should have had 600+ and so on. Just the combined number of Z car clubs in the area should account for 70% of those numbers. You have to ask yourself, if you can't get the local population to attend, then what is wrong with the current system and what can be done to make it more accessible. Attendance has gone down from year to year when after 20+ conventions it should be going up. Remember when clubs used to compete for a convention. Now they just hope someone will step up and do it the next year. presentations are a thing of the past. As far as the northeast corridor is concerned there were three national conventions in 5 years in that area: New Hamshire, Kingston and Rochester and in 2009 it will be in Maryland.

It's not so much the miles as it is the adjustment. The original setup only allows for a couple of adjustments to timing stretch. if you go past #3 it's time to replace it all. But check it first before replacing it. The notches on the cam and sprocket should be in proper alignment and if the adjustments do that, your good to go. Do this at the same time as you adjust the valves. Two birds with one stone.

And a good strip joint beats (no pun intended) a bikini contest any day of the week. Just ask the guys that were in Kingston. $7.00 baby. Roger, I think I would run the other way if you tried to fit into a bikini. Stick (no pun intended again) to cars.

If the fiberglass hood has a oem style lip around the edges then I would say go for it. if it doesn't, there will be a gap larger then you might like between the fender and hood on both driver and pass side. You will be able to see the engine compartment through it. I did not care for that. Just my 2 cents. And go with a fiberglass hood that uses the existing latch system so that you won't have to pin it. Now thats 4 cents.

Hey John I'll be pissed for ever. Oh wait, now I'm even more pissed. I didn't get no stinkin lobster dinner. Shrimp at the banquet? Dang, now I'm triple pissed. On a good note I did enjoy the ride-along with the SCCA Champion in his Corvette. Nice to experience a ride on a track that the driver knows every inch of. I go to every national convention with very high expectations, maybe too high, but I'm an optimist. The best part of any convention is the people. Thats what I enjoy the most. You'll see my point when you read my little writeup on this years convention. Did it meet my expectations as a vendor? No (to date, no convention has done that), but that didn't stop me from having a great time with good friends. I will go into Cleveland with the same high hopes and knowing Chris Karl, he'll break the streak from my vendor point of view. Can't wait to see the hot spots with some good drinking buddies. Hey Bill are you listening? Oh, and if we drive the dragon, I'll drive and somebody else can ride bi†©h after breakfast.

1) Georgia Convention - Best all around event to date 2) Colorado Convention - cool site for car show 3) Kingston Convention - spent most of the time drinking - great time 4) New Hampshire Convention - couldn't wait to get home 5) San Antonio Convention - Great people - car show in the boonies 6) Los Angeles Convention - Should have been biggest 7) Albuquerque Convention - To much hate 8) Florida Convention - Singing in the rain 9) Las Vegas Convention - Great location - convention troubles - most know Something not in the voting: Have the car show in an open enviornment, not an enclosed track that doesn't allow outsiders to attend. Exposure is the key word here. Can't have it if the local public can't attend. This in turn will give more exposure to vendors that help support the event. Foot traffic baby-see MSA

Backfire issue is definitly float bowl adjustment. The 1/2 drill bit works but make sure there is a hair line crack between the float and bit in making the adjustment. Straight from the mouth of Steve at ZTherapy. It worked for me.

Dave, I think I'm going to do this upgrade and write about it in my 240Z project article. I will make sure to give you credit along with Michael Williams combo switch repair write-up that I plan to talk about as well. I wanted to get the combo switch in the Fall 07 issue but ran out of room so I will piggy back it with your wiper motor upgrade in the Spring 08 issue. Just a heads up, thanks Art

Have you guys seen the new (new to me anyways) 72 240Z from Dub City? I just found it at Walgreens. It's the red one with a black hood and fender flares with the numbers 938 on the hood and doors. Pretty cool, first time I've seen it and was shocked to find it at Walgreens. They also did a Nissan Maxima but have yet to see that in any store.

Roger, had I taken your cars for a spin, that would have been tops on my list. But your 2 year sub is a close second. I'll download the pics from my camera tomorrow and send the ones of your car.

That was cool, I ended up in six of the track shots. I just need to decide which one to put in the mag. Probably the one where I pass the orange Z higher up the bank. Not sure that was legal, but the official track car behind me didn't do a thing but follow behind. I just wanted to see what it was like to go over 100 mph on the small bank and the orange Z didn't. The coolest part of the trip driving wise for me even if it only lasted 10 seconds or so.

I was at the Dollar Tree today and in the toy section is a twin pack of hotwheel type cars. One was a pickup and the other was a 240Z. It was packaged in a 7UP theme. The front seems to have good detail but the rear is totally off. I will go back and buy a few since they are different.

I think what Arne is trying to say is that if people start posting for sale ads outside the classified section then this forum will be overrun with them and you will start to see them in every section. I'm sure Mike created classifieds for a reason. And this must be one of them. Come to think of it, with the kind of response this post is getting I should start doing the same.

saw that at Walmart as well

I also saw the 5 pack from DUB with a 510, S13, S14, S15 Skylines and a G35. I plan to pick them up as well as look for the 240Z in this post. Still haven't been able to find the 5 pack of Z's from DUB.

There are so many things to consider. Did you pass the low or high rpm's? Fail both? Most pass the high and fail the low. If it is close then running a higher rpm at idle could help. other things to do is do a basic tuneup: plugs, oil, filter and the fuel cleaner like Stephen said. Lucky for you its not computerized or you'd be worried about a closed loop.

I will try to explain how to adjust the carbs as best as possible without visuals. Take the top of the float bowl off. If it's a 4 screw SU this is easy since you don't need to take the carbs off. If its a 3 screw SU, it might be easier to take the carbs off the mainfold. 1) Unscrew the top of the float off. And of coarse unhook hoses(unhook the hose from the fuel rail side because you will need it attached to the float top). 2) Hold the float top with the float attached vertically straight up and down so that the hinged part of the float is at the top. Using the attached fuel line hose, blow into it while at the same time starting to tilt the float towards your right (holding float in left hand) When it is staiaght up and down you should not be able to blow air throught it. But as you keep tilting it there will come a time when air will flow. Once this happens, back up a little bit (less lean) and blow air until you get back to the same spot. This is just a double check to make sure you know exactly where the air started flowing. 3) Once you have got the exact spot use a 1/2" drill bit to measure the space. The space should be a hair over 1/2". Adjust accordingly by bending the plate that attaches to the float. This is not an exact sicence but it will get you close enough. It did the trick on my Z and now it runs great.