MEZZZ

She is very cute, almost in an impish kind of way and she has a great, genuine smile. Nastia looks like she forces every smile. Sure, she got screwed on a couple occasions, the judges seemed to lean towards the Chinese (my wife is Chinese so I had to be careful with what I said). Nastia and her father seemed to me like they acted "above it all". It was heartwarming to see Shawn win the gold last night, that smile, her parents tearing up and embracing. It was great to see. Lola was a heartbreak. Phelps? Great to see him win the record for golds. I am old enought to remember Mark Spitz and how pompous he seemed at the time. Greatest Olympian ever though? That is speculative at best.

I know you didnt suggest it, you actually said in a previous post you normally would not recommend a chain for alot of parts and I agree. If I remember, the search on a few chain sites brought back the same brand distributor. Heck, some of the products I bought from MSA are the same brands I have seen at a chain and I would hazard to guess, I paid more for them too. The guy from work told me he used dist. a couple times from chains in the past and in both instances, had to bring them back. He was going to give me the name of a speed shop he used to have them do the rebuild. Actually, he told me they send them out for a rebuild. Quite a bit more $ to go that route. I dont want to buy junk, Im a firm believer in the you get what you pay for line. As long as they stand behind the product, I am ok with trying it at least.

I feel sooo much better now, thanks for the clarification! I'm going back to MySpace now and flirt with some women

Steve, I agree with alot of cars on your list. Going through it, I was thinking, yep...that has to be in there. The Vette is an obvious, as is the Ferrari, but they probably always will be. The Mini Cooper and VW Beetle (too cute girl cars in my opinion) will have staying power as well. I always thought 1st gen RX7's would be and already are..but they have been around since the late 70's. You are spot on the 1st gen Civic SI's, I had a 2000 model and "riced" it a bit, what a fun car that was! Any M series has to be in there as well. Thanks for the input. And Geezer, looking at the photos, I agree any American muscle for decades to come. Even though its a GM product, I hate to admit I like the look of the new Camaro, as wll as the Saturn Sky.

My feelings are STILL hurt over someone calling my Speedhut gauge faces ricer

You are welcome, you deserve that and alot more Stephen. If I ever make it out close to you, I would love to meet you and take you out to your favorite dining establishment. Now please dont think I am hitting on you, I would hate to see you leave this site

I would agree that it would get out of hand. @ things should be off subject here (females not one of them)...politics and religion! Speaking of stats, here is a site I came across a couple months ago (when this board was down for days) using Google. Shows alot of stats, including who the most frequent posters were in the past week (I saw my name on there, maybe my wife was right about me sitting here too long http://boardreader.com/sp/Classic_Zcar_Club_17233.html

Okay, I agree with these. Maybe collectible was a poor choice of words. I started by saying "classic". Maybe not collectible in the pure sense of the word. i.e., 1st gen low VIN 240Z would be considered a "collectible", other s30's not so much so, except perhaps a '77 Zzap or '78 Black Pearl becasue of the limited edition value. I was more thinking, just looking around, what modern cars would generate the passion that so may others have from long ago. Maybe I a missing something but there just arent that many new cars that evoke that type of feeling from me. Dont get me wrong, there are some gorgeous new cars out there. Then there are some that are not much so. One that will not make my list that I saw driving home today... a Plymouth Prowler, low production number or not, that car is just hideous IMO.

I guess they do not have "boobs" thread then??

You know, until I read this post, I didnt really relate the chasing off men comment but I have to agree. There are a select few that seem to like the phrase "Use the search feature, this has been covered already" I for one think this would become a less desirable place if it were not for people actaully POSTING on here. I would hazard to guess that just about EVERY concievable topic has been covered on this forum over the years. If I could do a little (butt) kissing up...I nominate SBlake01 as the user of the year! I have used the search feature (ad nauseum) on here and have read Stephen's posts from years ago and pretty much the same thing from months ago. He is always there to offer help and great advice to people (like me) that dont really know there way around cars, to the more experienced home mechanics. I am grateful for this site and users such as him.

I dont know if this has ever been done on here before, if so, I apologize. I searched and did not see anything and I have been wanting to ddo this for a couple weeks now. Modern classics? Looking at what the automotive industry has been churning out I look around and wonder, what cars will be "classics" or "collectibles" 20-30 years from now. With cookie cutter designs, etc, will there be such cars? I like the retro look of the Mustang but dont think they will have that appeal, with the exception of some of the hi output models. The new Challenger perhaps? I think the Honda S2000 might fit the bill, perhaps the Miata. I saw an original Toyota MR2 a couple weeks ago that started me thinking. Kind of an ugly car in my opnion but the thing was perfect. Any comments?

Sounds good to me, I appreciate the reply. I spoke to a guy at work today and he told me to go to someplace other than Auto Zone/Advance, etc. I value your opinion (you havent steered me wrong yet) so its off to order one from my local chain store. Thanks

They look great. I recovered mine and used the MSA seat foam as well. MSA told me I may ahve to modify the foam a bit for the 280 seat frame, i.e., triming a bit off the headrest. My covers went on almost too easily and instead of trimming the foam, I cut open a pillow and started stuffing extra around the headrest area. I still have some wrinkle issues as well. They looked pretty good when I finished and reassembled them. I put them out in my garage and with the summer heat it seems as if some wrinkles have reappeared. Your carpet ought to go well with your silver paint job, post some pics when you get the interior together. Are you doing the Dynamat type of insulation as well?

I personally did not find this comment objectionable, flippant or arrogant. Just kind of said "tongue in cheek" and it is a matter of fact regarding the Internet. If we are speaking of the Sexiest Girl on this site (hopefully I can use that), I too did not really see anything objectionable posted. Possibly in a P.M. but nothing that was out of line. The post regarding use of "txt'g lingo" was about as bad as I saw. I kept in mind the girl was only 16 first and foremost. I did get a "friend request" from her and accepted but would have done that with any user on here. I hate to post this comment, but will anyway. Is it possible that she may have brought some of the unwanted comments by her own posts? I hate to sound like a sexist pig but a few of her remarks left me wondering if she welcomed that type of thing. Far be it from me to claim a holier than thou attitude, I like women as much as the next guy but this board isnt the place to engage in that type of activity. Go to a chat room I think that she should be more than welcomed here, afterall, she has an appreciation of the Z as we all do. I hope no one takes this the wrong way, just my 2 cents, I dont want/need to trun this into some type of a "flame" posting.

I found a rebuilt one from Advance Auto (chain) for $112 last week with a $1 core charge. I just spent $38 for a pick-up coil alone so not a bad price. Whats another $112 into this car at this point I looked into a Mallory type dist. but the prices start to rise quickly. I will go ahead and try that and get back to you. I am concerned with the broken plastic piece anyway and the slight wobble in the shaft. Thanks as always

3 o'clock per the photo, aprx. where the # 6 wire is in the photo. I will try that finger over the hole suggestion, thanks. I was thinking (after alot of searching and reading) the oil pump might be backwards because I can tell from the cleanliness of it vs. the rest of the motor, it has been toyed with. It was fairly clean. I've spent hours and a couple bottles of Simple Green trying to clean it up, I wish I had taken some before shots as it looks so much better.

I think the Vette had a lock on the quad round tail lights long before the GT-R did. I was actually just looking at the sharp lines of the rear, the wide look of it. Nice car to be sure, way outta my price range as well. I am not crazy about the styling but I bet it is a blast to be behind the wheel of one.

, I keep offering you an all expense paid trip to Cincinnati! I think I get what you are saying and no, I am not sure I was at TDC, I will keep playing around with it until I am sure. I did the straw trick thru the #1 cylinder and did the best I could to watch the straw while under the car turning it. The straw seemed to move more "outwards" than up and down when I turned it. I finally had my 7 yr old get off his Big Wheel and come look at it, I actually tried to get him to turn it while I looked but he wasnt strong enough I finally saw it move, the pulley notch was at 0 and the straw had some resistance when I moved it, so, no, I am not positive. I suppose I could pull the valve cover and see if I can get a better idea of TDC by looking at the position of the valves as I have read on here in the past and see if that helps me. On a side note, I just went out and hooked up a hose to the vacuum advance and sucked for all I was worth and couldnt get anything to budge except my eyeballs. I am to assume the vacuum advance is toast? I also just took a pic (albeit it slightly blurry) of the plastic piece I saw sort of floating under the baseplate inside the dstributor. Maybe a new/rebuilt distributor should be on my long list of stuff to buy? Thanks...Mark

So are you telling me that when I took off the cap and the rotor was pointing to 3 oclock, as long as my #1 wire was to coincide it would run? I tried to run the #1 from that position, with the correct firing order to follow and it did not run at all. Im confused now, sorry. Or are you telling me that if the oil pump was installed for all intent backwards, it would still run with the wires in the correct position for a properly installed one? Here is a pic I posted of my distributor from awhile back. The car starts with the wires in this order. Sorry if I am missing something, 1st day back in the office after a week off, 13 hour day and more to follow, Im a little off tonight

Same here in Cincinnati. I called a bunch of yards around here, same answer, havent seen one of those in many years. I did see one listed in Craigslist and went to see it last week. They guy wanted $1500 for it, said he was practically giving it away. It was an overstatement to say the least Rust, bondo, missing parts, flat tires, bad interior etc, etc. I passed. Then he told me he had a mint "78 Black Pearl he paid $3000 for and said he would sell it to me for $15,000. I almost wanted to go see it at his fathers house just for the helluva it, his "mint" is probably alot different then mine

Is it just me but is the back side of the GT_R slightly reminiscent of a Corvette?

Oops, I blew not sucked, no pun intended. I have read so much I must have mixed some things up. I will go and check that out and see if I have movement. What about the slight wobble in the shaft? I am guessing this isnt normal? I set the air gap and if I push the shaft the gap opens up a bit, not much but definitely more than the .012-.016 limits in the FSM. I will check out the advance and then pull the distributor, set the pulley at 0 TDC and look at the shaft. If it isnt at 11:25, with the wide end to the correct side, I will drop the oil pump and realign. Is it possible for the car to run 1/2 way decent if the oil pump was installed 180 degrees off? I did what Beandip recommended, after setting the car at (what I beleived to be) TDC, pulling the cap and resetting the #1 wire to that position and then the correct firing order from there. The car would not start, I put them back how they were and it fired up at the flick of the key. I appreciate your help (and all others) as always.

I had a couple hours to play this morning. I did the straw trick with the #1 cylinder. It was hard finding a 29mm socket btw...I went several places, I ended up with a 1 -1/8, it worked well enough. I removed all plugs to make it easy to turn by hand and used 2 straws so I could see it from underneath as I turned the crank pulley, not the easiest thing to see. I eyed it the best I could and the timing mark was on 0 and the straw had some resistance pulling it out. I pulled the dist. cap and the rotor was facing the #6 wire, about the 3 o'clock position. Obviously, this isnt correct, at least if I was at T.D.C. as I am thinking, but still not sure. If this is the case, I am thinking a P.O. put the oil pump in backwards as Ive read on here, would that be accurate? Also, on the advance question. The only thing I did on this so far was remove the vaccum advance hose, put in a longer piece and blew on it. I did not see anything move in the housing at all. I also re-checked the air gap and noticed a little play in the shaft. When I went to gap it, I could actually move it a little, therefore in my limited opinion, the gap is not staying correct if I have movement. I am thinking this should have no play in it? On the plus side, it did seem to run a little better, not much smoke at all, only if I rev it very high and then the smoke is minimal. I was actaully able to drive it a couple hundered yards without it belching smoke, backfiring or stumbling terribly. It is still not right, but better, so I have to be on the right path.

I agree, my '77 did the same thing. It would work fine for a little while and then stick where I last revved, usually about 3000 or so. After I turned the car off, it would stay there, if I tapped it, it would peg down to 0. It seemed the hotter it was out, the quicker it stuck. I read a post on here about something swelling a little with the heat. Regardless, I bought a new (to me) gauge set from a '77 on Ebay for $10.00. Everything but the clock worked I was told. I finally put in the tach a couple weeks ago and it was working flawlessly. Keep an eye for a tach on Ebay, I've seen them listed for next to nothing. Its in my opinion, the easiest guage to replace too, unless you have a dash cap

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SFC03G/11-3460 Motorsports Auto $64.32 There is also a guy on Ebay that always has one listed, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__Datsun-280z-280zx-Thermotime-Switch-Washer-NOS_W0QQitemZ320283908487QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320283908487&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C65%3A1%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245 Not sure what his reserve is, Ive bid on several items and never hit the reserve, he seems very proud of his items.