Oiluj

That is one lovely orange Z Steve. It's so shiney! Do you have to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare? Truely a car to be proud of...

No need to lie about HP when you've got a dyno chart... Besides, most of us rarely, if ever, use all the HP our engines are capable of producing. I agree with you regarding torque. It's torque that makes a difference in everyday driveability and low end performance.

OK guys, I tried the search function, but did not find a definitive answer. Will the shifter from my 1972, 240Z 4-speed work in a 1977 280Z 5-speed? From what I read it sounds like it will fit. I was planning to use a MSA short-shift kit, but found out today that they are back-ordered for 3+ months. If my 4-speed shifter won't fit, I may have to design & fabricate a custom part, but I really don't want to do that.

Pretty!

I'll second what Travelin Man said. My Rebello 2.7 L upgrade dyno'd at 212 HP and about 200 ft-lb of torque. Think my compression is closer to 10:1 with a stage 3 cam. Only downside is slightly rough idle. Not bad, but no longer silky-smooth. But if you want performance, it's the way to go.

I did the same as Arne. It works great!

I wipe the dash with a mixture of water & baby oil. It's what I used for many years on my previous Z with no problems. On my 1st Z I used "original" Armor All on a consistent basis with no issue. My car is garaged and I have a windshield reflector in whenever it's parked outside. I plan to sew a Dash cover before next summer, similar to what I made for my previous Z. I used "black-out" curtain material on the bottom and a tight-weave black cloth on top. Might try using a light weight vinyl on top this time to better match the interior.

NIce work, but why not just go to an RT mount? They are proven to work great are are not difficult to install. Just my 2 cents, and proably not worth that much...

OK. I did the "web chat" thing with Hagarty this morning. The operator said it was OK to use the car on a weekend pleasure trip. Also no problem to drive into work occasionally to show the car to co-workers, just that it should not be used as a daily driver. Both are very different responses than I got previously, (and represent what I was hoping to hear the first time). I don't understand why the first contact was so different, but I now plan to call them to get a quote for insurance and road service later this week.

Carl & Others, It's not a myth and I'm not making this up guys... I called Hagarty directly from the contact information on their website. I too was very surprised at the response I got, as it didn't match the verbage on the website. Like I said, maybe I got a bad operator/agent who was having a bad day, but that's exactly what I was told... Perhaps I'll give them another try.

Hagarty is great if you don't want to actually use your car as you want... When I talked to them recently, the agent said they would not cover the car for a once/year trip to Reno with my buddy or last weekend's non-sponsored sports car run to the Blackhawk museum. And forget even *thinking* about taking the car to work "once-per-month" to work to show it to co-workers... The agent told me the only allowed/covered usage was driving to organized car shows or club events. To quote her: "It's a collector car and should be treated as such to preserve its value". Maybe I got a retentive agent on a bad day, but given these restrictions, I may as well build a trailer queen. This seems unrealistically restrictive. After all, I restored the car so I could occasionally drive it! And yes, I have a clean driving record... Guess I'll stick w/ CSAA with the understanding that that they will only go as high as high bluebook, providing I have receipts & photos showing the cost of the car.

Great Shots!

Nice looking machine. I've been told AllState may write agreed value policies, but have not confirmed this.

I don't see the Porsche. The Blackhawk museum displays about 90 cars, but they rotate thier stock. Attached is a pic with a bubble canopy and the car on the elevated platform has a varnished wood body and all exterior metal is copper plate.

Bunch of us from work got together and drove from Foster City to the Blackhawk Auto Museum in Danville. Took a bunch of pics but not that many came out well. Taking pics wasn't easy, because it was dark with lots of hi-intensity spotslights. Long exposures and no tripods allowed inside... This particular car really caught my attention. Talk about some wild fins! Not much rear-side visibility, but who cares! It was a one-off design study and they had several different verions.

My tranny was rebuilt by Hillsbourgh Transmission in San Mateo.

It was $695 at a well respected local transmission shop. He completed the job in less than 2 weeks! I got 3 estimates. The low estimate was $495, but I found out the shop had a bad reputation for quality of work. The high estimate was $825.

Picked-up my rebuilt 77' 5-speed transmission from the shop today. Looks like they did a nice job. They replaced the seals, bearings & syncros. The gears all looked good, and spacing of components between gears, etc, was all within spec. I put together a rpm vs. gearing comparison spreadsheet. (attached). I'll install the 5-speed after the rainy season starts and see how it drives. I don't think I'll need to change-out the rear end, but can do that later, if required. RPM Chart.xls

Maybe next month, if it's not raining... Same day I've got a car run with a bunch of guys at work. So far we have caymen, 933 and 911 porches, a 350z, a jag xj12 convertible, a couple of older vettes, a mustang, a honda 2000, a hot rod & my 240Z. Should be fun!

James, Wish I could be there. Have Fun!

Mitchell, I can't claim any expert knowledge when it comes to breaking-in engines, but here's what has worked for me. Change oil at 100 and 500 miles. Used the oil Dave put in it for the 1st 100 miles. Probably the blend he recommended to you. Then went with Castrol 10-30 for the remainder of the break-in. Initial start-up break-in was done on Dave's dyno. I done the brake loading thing he described in the past. After that, I just tried to keep the engine from remaining at a constant load or rmp for an extended period of time. That's why my initial drives were up & down hills and on curvy roads with plenty of speed changes. Also, I endevored to keep the rpms below 5800 for the first 100 miles. Seemed to work well for me. Had a few puffs of smoke in the first 20 miles, then nothing. Engine uses no oil and oil is still looking clean. Now that I have over 500 miles on the engine, I have to decide if I'm going with a synthetic oil or sticking with Castrol 10-30.

What Carl said. I went with 15" and wish I'd gone to 16". The 16" wheels still don't look too big (modern), but performance tires are readily available. Harder to find performance tires for 15" rims.

My car still had the original u-joints with about 75,000 miles on them, but I tossed them and they are gone. If I had kept them I could have given you some info on the Nissan parts. I have driven the car and there is no unusual noise or vibration. My understanding is that Spicer u-joints are the best aftermarket product and are used by guys who race their Z's. If you are concerned about quality, I'd consider using Spicer.

I know this is not answering you question, but given the choice, I prefer no undercoating. Allows you to see corrosion problems before they get bad. Undercoating can hide rust till it becomes a big problem. My car has undercoating and I wish it didn't.

I went with "Precision" brand u-joints from Napa Auto Parts. They have std and heavy duty versions. Spicer u-joints would have been better, but were substantially more expensive and would have had to be mail-ordered. The Precision joints have a grease hole in the "cross", but come with a plug as well as the grease nipple. I hand-loaded the bearings and body w/ high-temp grease before installation as opposed to using the grease nipple. That way I "know" they are fully lubricated. Precision u-joints have a lifetime warrantee from Napa, so it's convient if I have any issues down-the-road. Warranty covers replacement of the part. Probably a mute point though. I kept the reciept, but it's unlikely they will fail anytime soon. Quality of the new u-joints looks pretty good, (machining & surface finish). We will see how long they last. My existing u-joints were just starting to go, (making a small amount of noise), but no play could be detected "by-hand". Now instead of three distinct "thunks" when the clutch is engaged, all I get is what is probably the play in the differential.