Marty Rogan

Well for those of you tuning in from overseas, it's offical. John Kerry conceded to Bush. So it's Bush for another 4 years. Only time will tell if that bad or a good thing. Marty

Vicky, You bring up a good point. Most insurance companies, specialty or regular, will not cover a car that is entered into a racing event. Read the ENTIRE policy. Most guys at the track tell you that, if you can't afford to walk away from a car and leave it at the track, don't bring there in the first place. There are always unusual circumstances, and you might get covered. Then they will either drop you or raise your rates sky high. One member of the Windy City Z Club crashed his Z at the track. At first they weren't going to cover him. His agent went to bat for him, because this event happened to be a "Driver's School". He got lucky. At a regular event, he would have been on his own. Of course, I have heard stories of a few guys that try to get around this by having the car towed out into the country, and then push it off the road into a ditch. Can you spell "Insurance Fraud"!!?? The penalties for that just aren't worth it. When in doubt, read the policy, and don't just rely on what your agent tells you. Marty

Hey Wayne, Every once in a while I get intrigued by the performance of the 300ZX twin turbos. They are supposed to be terrific performance cars. It just doesn't look like a Z to me though. There's nothing like the classic shape of a 240Z. When I was at Road America, there were tons of people stopping by to admire my 240. Many tooks pictures. Several Porche 928 guys were checking it out. One in particular was really admiring the shape from all angles. For the front Toyota brakes (wide, vented rotors) I went with Axxis Ultimate Pads. They are a Kevlar and ceramic formula. The specs rate them up to 550 degrees C and 1022 F. They have fantastic stopping power and virtually no fade. I got them off the net at Import Replacement Parts. WWW.importrp.com P/N D 1149 RU, $44.59 + $8.02 S&H. These are for the 1988 4-Runner (V-6) with vented rotors. That is the cheapest I have found. I am not sure if the chain stores handle them. I think Beck Arnley could order them, but their prices were higher. I can't say enough good things about this set up. I put 3 regular high speed AX days (on a 2 mile track) and one long day at Road America (4 mile, very high speed track, 120 miles) and can see no wear on the rotors. Well that's my two cents, your mileage may vary. Marty

Hi Wayne, Long time, no hear. I miss the 240Z Mail List too. I heard from a couple of racers on this subject. They said that they go through a set of green shoes in 2 race weekends. That is just not practical for their price. One of them said he just gets the cheapest regular compound shoes. Said they last way longer and work just about as good, as long as you have the brakes adjusted properly. So that's what I did. Got a set from Beck Arnley for $12.75. I did 120 track miles at Road America, with great stopping power and absolutely no fade all day long. Man what a blast! Can't wait to get back there next year. Marty

Bill, I had the same problem with my car. Took it a part and readjusted it ten times with no improvement. I doubt you have a regulator problem. What mine turned out to be is that the nylon guide got chewed up. When the window is rolled up, it cocks slightly before moving. This chewed up area then catches in the channel when the window cocks slightly and stops the window's upward movement. That is why the rear of the window goes up, but the front doesn't. I replaced the window with one from a parts car, with perfect nylon (parts car had 12k mile when totaled) and the problem went away. I am not sure if you can buy just that lower bracket with the nylon section in it. Check the Club Parts CD. If you don't have it yet, buy it. That is indespensible in working on these cars. If the part isn't available from Nissan, try ZBarn: http://www.zbarn.com/ or ZCar source: http://www.zcarsource.com/main.html Let us know how it turns out. Marty

Mark, I have both my 240's insured with State Farm. They have a classic car policy that not too many people know about. I have an agreed upon value policy for each car. For the '70 at a $9,000 value, I pay about $40/6 mos. Judging by the rising values lately, I should probably up the value. Marty

George, The guys are right. You will never be able to replace this Z. And you WILL regret it. In the land of OZ it will be even harder, due to the limited number that are available. And when you just have to have another one, and you will (these cars get into your blood & there is only one cure) it will cost you way more than the small gain you might get now. I too have been there. Although, I didn't sell my first 240Z, it was lost in an accident, I never could get the car out of my mind. I did the responsible thing. Took the insurance money, bought a house. Then got married, had some kids, ... more houses. About 11 years later, the Z disease came back in a BIG WAY. I just HAD to have another. Now I had to convince the wife that this was a good idea. Not so easy. But she was a good sport and finally said ok. It took me over a year to find a suitable car (early '70), and this is in the US where we have a much larger supply than you. After 6 years of work, I just about have it where I want it to be. As I said before, the Z disease came back in a big way. Last year I bought a second 240Z, a '71. So, speaking from experience, I would not sell it. There are ways to get more money for a house, but not very many ways to get a good Z. You will never regret keeping the car, but you will always regret selling it! Hang in there. This insanity will pass. Marty

I am running the stock 4 screw SU's. The PO had them rebuilt and I haven't noticed any other problems with them. Marty

Craig, It was a blast. I am hoping to make the next Speedseekers event, but that is not until April. :disappoin Our season is over now. Damn, I hate the long winters around here. Oh, well, I have the winter to collect parts and do some projects. Going to put in PU bushings and POR 15 the whole suspension. I plan on replacing the tie rod ends and ball joints while its apart. Koni's are still good, so those will stay. Have not found the right spring rate combo yet, so I might just keep what's on there. I think they are stock, but the car still corners pretty flat with the beefy sway bars (1"frt/ 7/8"rear). I went through about 11 gallons in 120 miles. It did have the most trouble after the 2 long sweepers on the track. It suprised me how long it took to recover though. You would think it would come right back when you hit the straight, but it didn't. Enjoy that open track day! Marty

Hi Bret, I was afraid it probably wouldn't help, but was not sure. This is an early '71, so I am trying to keep the mods to a minimum. That would rule out a fuel cell. Looks like I will just need to keep it filled. Thanks, Marty

Steve, Yep, that would be me. It was a fanatastic event. Very well run. We got 5 - 20 minute sessions. Too bad you didn't stop by, it would have been great to me you. RA can be VERY tough on brakes. A couple of the Vetts suffered cracked rotors. One of them broke and seized, causing a horrible crash. The driver broke some ribs and puncured a lung, but was ok. The car was a total. My car has the Toyota 4 pot upgrade with vented rotors and ceramic pads. Stock shoes in the back. Brakes performed great all day with no fade at all. This set-up had 3 previous (but less demanding) track days. I haven't had time to check pad wear since the event, but my feeling is that they would have minimal wear on them. I can't say enough about this set-up and would highly recommend it. Have you been out on the track at RA? We could use another Z out there! My buddy Bill came along with his '73, but it blew its rear main tranny seal as we pulled up to tech inspection. He had to bag the day and limp home. What a bummer! So, by all means, sign up for April. I will definitely try to get there again. It was a blast. Marty

I was at Road America on Sunday for a lapping day. What a great track! It was BIG-TIME FUN!! Got in 120 miles of track time. The car performed really well until it got down to about 1/3 tank of gas. Then it started stumbling and sputtering. I put in 3 more gallons of 110 octane race fuel and that cleared it up for most of the rest of the day. I didn't want to fill it up at $6/gallon! My guess is that the gas is being sloshed away from the pick-up. I had the tank out this summer to replace all the vent lines and to eliminate the non-essential ones, per the advice on the boards here. The inside looked very clean, so I don't think it is plugged up in there. Would and electic fuel pump help with this situation? Or do I just need to keep the tank full? Looking forward to you recommendations. Marty

Yep, that is where I saw the number. Look a little further down and you wiil see a link I provided that shows a picture of the part. Marty

Well, its a long shot, but I thought I would ask. I am looking for a shift lever kit that allows you to put a 5spd trans into an early 70/71 240Z without having to cut the tunnel or console. The Nissan P/N is 99996-E3030. If you have this part and would like to sell it, send me a PM. Thanks, Marty

Carl Beck had told me a long time ago that the factory took black parts out of stock and painted them blue to match the engine. Over time, most of the blue paint would wear off. That's why most of the ones you see are black, or look like they have over spray on them. We probably need someone like Kats or Alan with access into people from the factory to chime in confirm that though. Hey Vicky, would color is the oil pan on your 240Z Restoration Program car? Marty

Adrew, Follow this link: http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/AandBtranny.htm It shows the part that Alan referenced and will give you an idea of the required shape. Hope this helps. Marty

Well, that's a partially correct answer. At the factory, the pans were painted black while in the parts inventory. When they were installed on an engine, they were then sprayed with the matching engine blue. So to have the correct look, painted it black first, then spray it with a coat of engine blue. Classic Datsun Motorsports has the correct engine blue if you need it. Hope it helps. Marty

According to MSA, the Tokico's are 140 lbs in front and 165 lbs rear. The MSA springs are 129/188. Another member told me once that ST's were 160/200. I have Tokico HP'S with Stage I Euro springs 101/112 (with oem rubber bushings), and they are plenty stiff for a street car. It does handle very well and corners flat. 200 lb springs would be VERY stiff on the street. I had a discussion with another member recently about springs to use on my track car, which is about 60-70% street driven. We decided the ideal rates would be about 129/165. Now if I could find somebody that made a set at the those rates (basicall hallf Tokico, half MSA)! Just some info and my opinion. Marty

Ed, You can download the rules off the Z Club Assoc site: http://www.zcca.org/ It gives you a bunch of detail of what they look for. Marty

Ouch!!! That's pretty steep!! I wouldn't want to spend more than about $50 or so. I got the ceramic pads for the front for only $55. Marty

Mike, Lake Geneva is probably an hour to hour and a half away. Unfortunately, I never get up into that area. I would suggest you post again with a different subject to attract more attention. Maybe "Starting Problems". You would be amazed at the knowledge that can be obtained from the Z guru's on this site. You should describe the problem with as much detail as you possibly can. Describe what you have done to trouble shoot to this point. Has this car been sitting for an extended period of time? I am not aware of any Z Specialty shops in WI. If you have access to a trailer, I have a good shop in DesPlaines, IL that I highly recommend. Marty

Mike T, I live in Arlington Heights, IL and am a member of the Windy City Z Club. Where is Williams Bay? You are welcome to bring your car by for a look see. What is the problem that you are looking for advice on? Marty

Victor, I am not sure how you would calibrate your pants!!! I did see a report though, where they compared several headers back to back on a dyno. Stock motors showed almost no gain over the stock exhaust manifold. I think their L28's showed about 3 HP gain. As I recall, the NISMO header showed the highest gain. To me, a 3 HP gain is not worth all the headaches and extra noise/heat from a header. These motors need some back-pressure too. If you reduce back-pressure too much, you can actually lose HP! I'll have to search around to see if I can find that website again. I remember that after I read the report I decided on stock manifold, 2.25" pipes ending with a turbo muffler. My seat of the pants dyno was happy. It has a nice growl, without being too loud. Marty

Zover, It depends on what you have done to the '73. If its all stock, skip the header, as you will get almost no HP gains, will be a lot louder and cause more heat. Headers also are hard to fit up sometimes and are prone to leak. The stock manifold actually flows pretty well. Nissan Engineers weren't dummies. From there I would take it to a good muffler shop and have a custom 2.25" system bent, with a turbo muffler at the end. This will give you a freer flowing system, and a nice sound without the booming that 2.5" systems often give. Now if you have an L28, with a more agressive cam, go with the headers and 2.5" pipes. That my 2 cents worth. Marty

Thanks Visctor. Any idea what the part number is? Can these be ordered from any dealer? What about price? Marty