26ounce

On a related note (well sort of), does anyone know how much these R200 3.9 LSD diffs were being sold for? http://www.datsport.com/R200_diff.html The open 3.54 is just not working out for me. edit - found it, $650 - seem quite reasonable.

Amazingly, I just did the same thing myself this morning. Got home from a week on a drilling rig to find my battery dead. Went out and got a new battery, exactly the same brand and type, and put it in. To my surprise I fried a fusible link! As it turns out even though the battery was identical the makers had reversed the +ve and -ve. I guess they do this so it can fit different cars??? Anyways, I now know to always check the terminals no matter what. +ve to starter, -ve has an the earth on it. FInally got to work at 10.20am :disappoin

Great setup there Ken. I always thought twin screw superchargers would make a great addition to a Z. Is it my imagination or have you altered the hood to fit the blower under there?

And another thing, I also agree that 15" wheels look the best on old Z cars. They have the right ratio of tyre to wheel for my eye. As a bonus they are also cheaper. For some time I was determined to get 16" wheels but could not find a set I liked. In hindsight I am glad I could not find any and went with 15".

FYI, the hyperfang IIs will fit in the 15x6.5 20p. But only if you run 205s up front and even then it as tight as buggery against the strut (it does clear the strut though). Tire bag being the main problem. Given that, I think you will have real problems with the Sirocco IIs in the 16" size as you have lost another 5mm clearance. If you are set on these wheels you might consider modifying the front suspension to take 2.5" springs to get a bit more clearance.

I take it you got the head off and now have a broken head bolt remaining in the block. If there is much of the bolt sticking out I would get a welder, or someone who knows how to weld, to weld a nut onto the end of the remaining bolt. The you get the breaker bar back in action. If the bolt is flush with the block, or inside, be careful about using those cursed ezy-out things. They have a nasty habit of snapping and leaving the tip inside the broken bolt. I don't know what they are made out of, bloody hard whatever it is, but they are an absolute mongrel to drill out. If you have the block out of the car and stripped down (ie easy to move) I would consider taking it to a professional.

I went with the precision kit from the US (MSA). It seems pretty good quality and was cheaper than local sources (even after import duties). I only had two complaints: (1) nothing was labelled, just a box full of rubber bits. (2) it is bloody hard to change the seals on the quarter windows and get it all to fit back together. The bottom corners still don't meet on my quarter windows and I am considering getting them spot welded.

Cool article, thanks for posting it. What I wouldn't give to have a look through that collection. Its funny how you run into Zs in weird places. We employed a contracter off and on here at work, I had known him for about 8 years. Anyways, a few weeks back we got to talking about cars and I found out he had a 260Z 2 seater that he had owned since 1981. I got him to bring it in and it was probably the best condition unrestored Z I have have ever seen, we are talking virtually no rust even under the battery. Even had the rear louvres and lip spoiler. Turns out he had tried to sell it in 1999 and could not get the aus$5 to 6K he wanted and gave up. After speaking to me, and I virtually offered to buy it, he decided that since the Z stocks have had a revival he would hang on to it. I'll keep working on him though.

I don't mind the ZX coupe at all. Damn shame they were never sold locally. In fact had there been a turbo one for sale when I was shopping :tapemouth :tapemouth :tapemouth

I noticed that your fuel lines aren't insulated datto-zed. Was it always like that or did you remove it after you put the heat shield in?

Well I maybe alone here but I have only found limited use with the Humble book while restoring my Z. I guess my complaints are mainly based around his use of part names that I don't know and accompanying them with grainy B&W close-up photos that are hard to see. The most valuable part of the book I found is the exploding diagrams in the back. I have also bought the "How to rebuild your L series motor" which is from the same publisher and, oddly enough, have found that to be great. I understand the service manual is pretty handy, FWIW I would advise you to get that before the Humble book.

Definitely against this move. They have already changed the P plater regulations to make them significantly harsher, to add this on top seems an erosion their rights as adult voting Australians. Like s130, the approach of our government agencies to road safety is really starting to wizz me off.

halz, PM me this guys details if you don't mind. In the next millenium when my Z is going he might be a handy guy to go to. Chris

I was about to suggest just getting it re-upholstered. I mean if you are dropping a RB into it I can't imagine why you would get caught up over the originality of the interior - not that there is anything wrong with that, everyone has there own ideas. So, did you buy it or what?

There is a sweet looking 2+2 for sale on Marmion Street (south of the river). Very dark blue and looks in great condition. I wonder if it is the same one. Hope he sells at that price:D As for the car that started this thread, for god sake put some wheels on that fit that wide body kit. And that front spoiler is waaayyyyyy too aggressive for my eye.

I not an expert on RBs but I can probably cover your questions zeiss. Firstly you'll notice the posters are from Australia and we never got the L28ET here. You could build an L28ET up at a cost but it tends to get expensive compared to the RB motors. Now the RB motors are a newer generation of nissan straight sixes that succeeded the L series. They were mainly used in nissan skylines since the late eighties. They have been DOHC for some time now. Through the nineties the skylines were not sold much outside Japan, however, Japan has very strict licensing rules that makes it expensive to keep older cars on the road. Now a thriving trade of japanese engines occurs where they extract engines from unlicensed cars (or cut the back end of the car off behind the firewall) and send it off to other countries to sell. In australia you can buy these engines relatively cheaply and they have the virtues of modern engine design compared to the old L series. Doing an RB swap into our Zs is more difficult than a L28ET swap because you have issues with sumps, gearbox and engine mounts, and finally because we never got fuel injection till the 280zx (so we have simpler wiring harnesses and no baffles in the fuel tank). Here are some examples of imported Japanese 2nd hand motors.. http://www.adelaidejap.com.au/nissan.htm

Yeah, the tiburon looks bloody nice. Too bad they could not make it rwd and get a bit more oomph out of the v6. They also have a model called a grandeur in aus which has a classic sedan design that I really like. Hyundai have shown a rapid improvement over the last 10 years. While I won't be rushing out to buy one any time soon I am finding a grudging respect for them. If Hyundai Aus had a similar warranty to the US I would definitely consider a hyundai as daily basic transport. On the flip side though, what is up with Honda? Lately they seem to have gone backwards. It's like they forgot everything that made them successful in the nineties.

260det It has a flat rectangular section in the middle to mount the license plate on. On that site they had blacked out the license plate so it looks a bit odd. Brett has a good shot of it. Brett How much cheaper? No wait, don't tell me! I was still impressed with the service which stood in direct contrast to certain well known Z business who supplied me a glass hatch (eventually).

Got my airdam from these guys: http://www.sickdivision.com/pages.asp?group_id=18 It is one where you keep your original bumper and looks pretty similar to the MSA design. Don't let their name put you off, I found their service to be excellent. They got the spoiler made and sent to me in 5 days - not bad for the other side of the country.