Marty Rogan

It is 2 thumbs up on both counts. You should come on up to check it out. Any sports type car is welcome, as long as it can pass tech. We have instructors available for anyone who has not driven the track before.

Are you putting the stock dash back in, or going with a fabricated dash? Are you going with door bars on the cage?

I was able to get on it right away.

A good race seat makes a huge difference. It's much better to be using your efforts to steer the car than to keep you butt in the seat. Saves on all those black and blue knees, from bracing yourself against the door.

It has come a long way and is looking really good. Don't forget to have a harness bar installed for both seats, if you intend to carry passengers. I have the Ultra-Shield Aluminum seat and like it a lot. Marty

So, you just ground down the ears of the tranny where the shifter pivot installs and that gave you enough clearance to install the early style trans tunnel boot? Do you have any pictures showing that installed? Also, have you driven the car with everything put together? Did the rubber boot pull the shifter out of gear? I had that issue on my yellow car. Marty

Very nice! Have you completed a car, or is this as far as you have gotten? It looks pretty true to the original at this point. Any idea what the weight of a finished car would be? Marty

From what I have seen on most original cars, the upper half was painted black and the lower half was painted body color. Marty

Sounds good. I will send you a PM. Thanks!

I would be interested in those. Do airhorns come with it too? It looks like one at the left edge of the picture. Marty

The MFBA is renting the track out the weekend of April 28'th and 29'th, 2012. Full details and registration is available via our website: http://roadamerica.mfba.org/ All Make and Model Cars are Welcome to come out and Participate in this event!! We have 4 run groups based on experience that get 4-5 20 min sessions out on track each day. You will have a LOT of track time! Most people are exhausted by the end of the day. Instructors are available free (Including me!) of charge for people who would like them, and anyone who has not been on Road America will automatically have an instructor assigned to them. We also offer a lunch time touring session for those that just want to get a chance to go out on the track at slower speeds. Pricing..........................................Weekend..............Single Day Now till Feb 14th............................$395.....................$235 Feb 14th to Apr 13th......................$445.....................$255 Apr 13th to day of Event.................$495.....................$275 Touring Session........................................................$60 Spectators................................................................$5 We need to get 25 more cars preregisters by February 14th, 2012 or the event may be cancelled (if cancelled funds will be returned to participants). I have been doing this event for about 7 years. The MFBA puts on a great event. Plus Road America is one of the best tracks in the country. Come out and give it a try!! Marty

Very nice indeed! Love that color of the 260Z, as you can see it's pretty close to the color of mine. I used to track my yellow '71 Z for about 7 years. That was great fun. I see a lot of those Lotus' out there. They are really quick and handle great. I have always been fond of muscle cars too. Right now I have the blue '70Z, the Lemans Convert and the Mustang (took the place of the yellow Z). Marty

That's an impressive list of cars! Must be a pretty large garage to fit all those. Marty

You beat me to the reply Arne. I was trying to find some pictures to show the difference. The linkage on the early, versus late 4 speeds are different. The early one uses a completely straight stick that is bolted in at the bottom. The later style uses a fulcrum in the middle to bolt it in. Well, it's more of a pin, with a "C" clip that holds it in. I cut and welded the shifter in the early '71 first. It did allow me to fit it in their without cutting. However, the stock trans boot bunched up so badly that it made the trans slip out of 3rd and 5th gear. I ended up cutting the tunnel anyway, since it was not acceptable to have the trans pop out of gear on the track!!

I put an L28 and '83 5 spd. into my early '71 (same as a '70) track car. I did end up cutting the trans tunnel and trimming the console. If you go that route, you will need to get the tunnel rubber boot and hold down ring from a later 240Z to cover up the enlarged hole. I am considering doing this upgrade to my 6/70 blue car. I just can't bring myself to cut into the tunnel however. So if I can't find any other way to make it work, I may take Guy's advice and just stick with the 4 speed. It's shame, because that 5spd in far superior to the old monkey motion shifter 4 spd. I have a 4.11 diff that I can use. I wonder how well that will work with the 4spd? Marty

Very nice!

I have always liked 510's. Give us a peek at that too!

Hey Walter, Did you have to trim the trans tunnels to get the ZX tranny to clear? Did you have to trim the center console? Which rubber boot did you use? I did this swap in my early '71 a few years ago. I want to do the swap to my '70 now, but my memory is a bit foggy. I know initally I did not trim the tunnel, but ended up trimming it later because the trans was popping out of gear. Like I said, I am having trouble remembering. I think it was the rubber boot pulling the lever out of gear. After trimming the tunnel and the console, I installed the later style shift boot and had no problems. I really don't want to hack up my '70 model though. Thanks, Marty

Nice looking Z! What's lurking under the covers behind it?

The knob should be on the inside, by the console.

I bought a ZX distributor to convert my '70 to electronic ignition. It did not come with the base to attach it to the block. I put a want ad in the classifieds, but nobody responded, so I thought I would try asking here. If you have a base for a ZX distributor that you are willing to part with, please PM me with your asking price. Thanks, Marty

Thanks guys. This is real useful information. It helps to get the details. I agree that that the cost is secondary to being safe. Marty

Thanks for the reply Mike. Yes, I would like to get detail info on how to do this. Can you provide P/N's and wiring details? Marty

Blue, Can you give more details on this? What is it exactly and how, where is it installed? Is this a fuel cut-off switch that kills the pump when oil pressure drops? thanks, Marty