thinkmonkey

It is a F54, it has additional webbing cast between the cylinders for more rigidity and to promote better cooling than the N42. This means it was orignally produced between 1981 and 1983. -David

I dug up the Remanufactured Engine Sticker from Nissan, and it says the following: Engine Type - L28 Part No. - 1010B-P7110RE Serial No. - OX 6697 Nissan Motor CO., LTD. Made in Japan It seems to me that this probably means it was rebuilt June 6, 1997. I attached a photo, but it hasn't work for me in the past. This is us hoisting the engine and tranny last month. I was planning on putting it back in the car after I repainted the body, but my friend convinced me a 350 was the way to go. With the 3.9 rearend and the 5 speed, my car was massively fun. THe previous owner did all the right things and removed the air gally, smog pump, and installed the electronic ignition and new plug wires. It has NEVER smoked on me and always starts. It still uses a choke, and it has the dome top carbs. It idles a little high, at about 900rpm when warm, I never synced the carbs (the owner lived higher sea level) because I only drove it perhaps 75 miles in February. If the pictures don't show, try http://www.echostudios.com/z

Actually I have a ton of parts to sell. I'll dig up all the info on the engine/block/tranny and the rebuild date and post some pictures tomorrow. Eventually I will be selling: -Tan Leather Miata Buckets -2 inch Lowering Springs -81zx wheels/tires -Black Leather Toneau Cover for the Hatch Area, really nice -All Emblems -Chrome Pieces -Antennae -Another set of 15 inch Black net wheels -Gas tank and Evaporative Emissions Box I'll post some more stuff here, and hopefully some pictures, tomorrow. -David

Has anyone deleted some/most/all of the chrome on their car, and if so how does it look. I've heard of some people cutting off the drip rails, and does this look odd or too custom. Right now the chrome that I still have is the frame around the windshield, rear hatch, the door windows, the mini windows, the drip rails, and the rear tail lights. I've decided to shave the bumpers, bumper mounts, side turn signals, handles, hatch key, fuel door, antennae, fender emblems, rear quarter emblems, and hood ornament. I'm doing this to 'release' the natural body lines of the z that are hidden by superflous junk. I may get the z emblem off the new 350z's fender and use it as the hood ornament, but other than the wheels and exhaust, that will be the only chrome on the car. Any suggestions are welcome. One more problem I have is with the stock seat mounts. I'm putting Corbeau Forza's in my car, and they will barely clear the ceiling of the car unless I remove the east to west seat mounts which I fear are somewhat structurally important. Can I do this and just reinforce the rocker to tunnel connection or am I fine? Thanks guys. -David

I bought a '73 240 in February and I am race prepping it from the ground up, including stripping the interior and installing a rollcage. The car itself was not pretty to look at, but had a lot of aftermarket items on it that were very nice. The previous owner installed a momo wheel, lowering springs, 3.9 R200 rearend, 80 something zx wheels, miata buckets, and a Nissan rebuilt L28 coupled to a zx 5 speed. I'm building up a 350 for the car right now, so I won't need the engine or tranny. The engine has 11,000 miles on it and is documented, so I'm pretty sure that I want to sell it and the tranny because it is such a strong motor. The camshaft is nice and shiny and when I drained the transmission I didn't find any filings (or sawdust). So would anyone be interested in buying the engine? It's got electronic ignition, and I'm going to paint the block/shine the valve cover to make it look nice. I wish that I had waited to yank the engine so I could have gotten some video of it running, it sounds really nice with the headers and single muffler. Anyway, shoot me a message if you are possibly interested, I live in Seattle. Thanks. -David

I have taken about 1200 pictures of my car as I restore it with my Digital Camera. It's great for rmembering things, and also will help the value of the car because I can probe the ground up work at every step. -David

Does this exist! I want a full electronic style (as opposed to electrician style, which is more of a wiring diagram) circuit diagram for the Z. I don't care too much about color codes, just how the car is actually wired. Thanks guys. -David

I have a pair of slightly worn tan miata seats I'm going to sell on ebay or something. Heres a picture tell me if you're interested. They've got the speakers in the headrest and sliders. Leather, really comfortable (although I prefer wedged in sports seats), and they look cool. -David

I suppose this should be in a different forum, but it applies to the body of the car. I'm building my car from the unibody up as a weekened racer and so I've been addressing certain issues as they come at me. Lately the issue of high speed aerodynamics has come to my attention. The smooth sweeping shape of the roofline into the hatch of the Z is very aerodynamic and creates a low pressure zone because the air flows faster over it. (Bernoulli) On the other hand, underneath the car the air is very turbulent and creates a high pressure zone. All this adds up to lift at the rear, and I've heard at 70mph anywhere from 120-180lbs of the rear tires! This concerns me because I live in seattle, where it rains like the ****ens, and we have very wet roads. AT 70mph my car oversteers which is not a very good situation. I can come up with a few solutions to this, and I want your guys opinion on effectiveness. Front Air Dam: I'm going to get the MSA II one, no question. It is stylish and is supposed to force air underneath the car in order to create a low pressure zone by moving the air faster. Skirts are to keep the air trapped underneath. Has anyone noticed a significant handling change as a result of this airdam, or is it more cosmetic. Flat Underbody: This is less practical because it would require a lot of work and have many problems, but would be very effective. Smooth out the airflow, create low pressure, less lift maybe downforce. Mclaren pioneered this in the 60's/70's in F1. AIr diffusers could be built into the underbody. Diffusers look like channels pressed into the underbody that widen towards the back of the car. High pressure air goes in, expands in the channel, creating a low pressure zone. Thats the basic theory. Visually and Aerodynamically distracting spoiler: I have to say, I'm not a fan of the wing. Supra's, F40/50's, Rice, Countach's; all very tacky with the spoiler. I've come to realize though that this may be my only option. Cosmetically, I tolerate the molded lip spolier the most, although I doubt it's effectiveness. What I'm looking for is a removable and adjustable wing to go over the hatch so that I could keep my pride during the week, and save my neck on the weekends. http://www.geocities.com/spized1969/ has a wing that I may look into. I H A T E how it looks, but it looks very functional. When it does come to traction and aerodynamics, let me clear up a few things. On a three box car design (like a sedan) a spoiler actually does improve drag. The trunk area creates a lot of turbulence, even with a swept window. The wing helps to smooth out the air and guide it away from the body. On the Infiniti G35 it improves the drag coefficent .01 from .31 to .30, which is somewhat significant. But this is why the fatback was invented, to help improve drag. On a Z it will only decrease top speed, but will increase top speed handling. With fatter tires you do not get more grip. Plain and simple. The force of friction, which equates to how much force you can apply to the road from the engine, is dependent of two factors. The normal force (weight of the car) and mu (the coefficient of friction). Mu changes according to the to the two surfaces in contact, and temperature. Hot Pirellis are sticky, while cold firestones are not. Fat tires do however improve handling and can take more stress because there is less weight per square inch.

With my roll cage I want to put a bar behind the dash, or else I'll have to install it infront of it which would be too intrusive. Has anyone else done this? Any problems, pictures? Thanks guys, I love how everyone responds so quickly and helpfully. Great site this is. -David

That rubber/plasticy/gooey insulation on my z is all cracked and peeling, so I want to take it out. I'm not putting my interior back in (sleeper baby!) and I am painting the interior body color, so that crap would be distracting. Has anybody else done this? I remember someone mentioning they used dry ice, but does that work? Thanks guys. -David

I bought a 73 Z this past month and the guy had new front struts installed, and gave me the rear ones to install. I pop off the rear tires, pull out the old strut (completely shot), and put in the new struts. Well, aparently the guy bought two sets front struts (which are shorter than the rears) and now I'm left sitting here with no reciept and no intention of letting these go to waist. I'll do a sale or straight swap with someone for rear struts. I think they're about $50 a piece, so make me an offer. I live in the Seattle area, e-mail me for some pictures or more info. Thanks. -David C. Hansen