Poindexter

I don't know about other states, but to get a new driver's license here you need an original birth certificate, SS card, utility bill, and a letter from the Pope. Things like this- and having to get my car inspected to pull into an underground garage in NYC actually are fine by me.

I wish I had a 1927D SG in MS-60. Then I might be able to afford this hobby and spend the way I wanted to! I'll give you the $20 face for yours. hehe

Usually I'd agree with NJ being temperate, but last week was 95 every day. Pretty unusual. Since my DD, GG, the golden girl, hasn't had her r-12 fix lately I just put on a headband and sweat it out. Once you're moving it's fine though. So any reasonable attempt at removing the moisture in the air would help. And I was joking about the RB26DETT in a 510. I would much rather build up another stripped 240 to put that monster into. Then I'd take THAT L-24 and put it into the 510! Thanks for the reminder to check with local building department. Even though I'm a builder, I totally forgot that they might frown on an 8,000 pound hydraulic lift system or a drive-over working pit. Or a 5,000 gallon diesel reserve tank...with an attached emergency generator. So much fuel for thought. (sorry, couldn't resist that one. )

Well, if somebody bearing ill will looks me up from my plates and decides to pay me a visit, perhaps they'll run into my next most enjoyable hobby- collecting WWII vintage firearms.

Jeez, the Red and the Franklin cars are so shiny it hurts my eyes! What the hell do they use for polish, liquid mercury? Seriously! That has to be clearcoat. My problem is that I would want to drive that car too much. A #1 can not be driven at all I'm sure.

Before the Patriot Act I believe all you had to do was send in a postcard with the VIN or plate number to the DMV and they would sent you the name and address of the owner. Now I think they've changed all that.

"The Wayward Datsun Garage" ™bigoak/Poindexter 2008 Sounds like a good idea. I'm actually designing a new house with a huge stand-alone garage with a hydraulic lift, tons of skylights, drive-in and out doors, walk-in cigar humidor and dining area...

Looks sweet! Do these have A/C I wonder? Looks like I better start cleaning out the other bay in my garage. I think I found the direction I want to take for my winter project- after I finish my Z. And the 89 Maxima. And the 1987 Albin 27 Trawler, with a Nissan 6 diesel engine. Sheesh.

Cheap, interesting 510 wagon for sale on ebay in California. Item # 200241646574 Looks like it might be a fun project car. It's cheap enough I guess. I've caught the Datsun disease bad and now I really want a 510 wagon too! This $4/gal gas thing is just never going away. I just hope they had A/C. Anyone? Would using an RB26DETT mill be going to far?

It was my faculty for verbal diarrhea. Perhaps exploitation of dramatic irony. :cheeky: And that $3 service fee was a rip-off, and I wouldn't have paid it. As far as Z's go- IMHO I believe that the ultimate state of a car to be "as originally delivered." This is supposedly a once-in-a-lifetime state. The old saying about a car being able to be restored many times but original only once best portrays how I feel. It also is increasingly difficult to maintain a nearly 40-year old car in "showroom" condition. I also feel that there should be- if there already is not- a class strictly for original cars- specifically NOT over-restored. As much as I admire and enjoy looking at these glossy shiny older cars with dozens of new but OEM parts, I feel that they're missing the patina that represents the passage of time, and shows that they've been maintained well enough to not require parts replacement with shiny, matching new zinc- for example. Were these cars ever so shiny that way anyway? There will always be a place for a magnificently restored car, but my heart lies with the unmolested versions most. BTW, that 920 Gold Z on ebay has been withdrawn anyway. I'd liked to have seen how it traded.

@MEZZZ- how long did it take you? I've been considering doing this same upgrade with the SpeedHut faces, and also adding a single UV led to the cases and painting the needles with clear glow paint for extra "pizzaz". Door jamb switches are definitely still available. I just got mine in from either MSA or Courtesy- I've been getting crates of parts from both recently. Both of these suppliers have them- and they are specific for L or R. Unfortunately PO hard-wired the switches into the car, so now I have to track down the appropriately-sized male & female connectors to make it right again. The switches look nice. Very simple, but nice. I also did get the parts for making my dome light into a switchable red/white device, with a DPDT microswitch, (too much time on my hands ) but in taking the dome light apart the switch parts popped out onto my bench. Does anybody have a picture of the parts of the "push-push" switch in their proper re-assembly order? It's very hard to figure this out without possibly ruining the delicate and tiny parts. It's very much like the insides of a retractable ball-point pen.

Dennis, you are absolutely correct in pointing out the declining value of the dollar (re: inflation, etc.) with respect to my comments. I was actually just making a flippant observation on the "doubling" of the value of a car as a literary device. As has been brought to my attention recently, "replacement cost" with regards to "agreed-value" insurance also has implications way in excess of a simple calculation- in that it should include paying sales tax, inspection and transportation, etc. In these cases, these mistakes were solely due to my imprecision in wording, and failure to minutely examine the points I was trying to make. I'm usually more precise, and had lazily regarded some of my posts as simple fodder for discussion. But I might as well be right while I'm at it. Thanks for correcting me. I so appreciate it when I'm shown something new, or equally, when shown an error in my thinking processes. This is especially important around here- with an incredible abundance of knowledge about a myriad of subjects. Now if I could just learn to be a less wordy SOB, I'd be getting somewhere. PS- Can anybody post a link to a real #1 car? I don't think I've EVER seen one. I have pix coming in from a collector friend on the West Coast with an original, true rust-free #2 car for sale so I really would love to see more examples of what real 1's, 2's and 3's look like- at least in photos.

Sorry, but after seeing this one I had to share it. A 1,000BHP TWIN-turbo'd Ferrari F-50. Suhweet.

Thanks 26. I guess I could look at this 3 ways- among many. 1) The car's value has doubled since new. 2) It's taken nearly 40 years to do so. 3) There are still too many cars less-deserving (yes, in my eyes) who have eclipsed this figure. Damn. I get very "protective" about these cars, especially in the day of the plastic, disposable car- all of these "indistinguishable soap bar/shoebox cars with raspy exhausts" flooding mall parking lots. The Z's are such great products in the broad sense of the word. It can be considered a very subjective opinion, one which many here are in agreement with I'd assume- but I'm still incredulous that more people can't define- let alone recognize- what makes up a truly great GT car. Especially as I believe that this segment is one of the most enjoyable to drive. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" summed it up quite well, using the metaphor of a BMW motorcycle rider- who has no idea what makes his bike run, and just wants to go fast and look good. The Triumph rider- ( as I seem to recall) checks his chain flex and tire pressure, changes the oil, and is mechanically knowledgeable - or even more importantly- WANTS to be intimately involved with his machine, needs to be involved, as it's all part of life and experience. The path is as important as the objective- is part of the objective. I can't imagine another car that so fits the bill for a type of driving that I find is a huge part of my life. I wish more people realized it too. Prices are but one concrete way to track that interest unfortunately. All hail Mr. K!

I really want to switch to LED lighting throughout my gauges, or at least swap into higher wattage bulbs as discussed here, but I'll tell you what worked- at least for me- in the short term until I can accomplish that: I twisted the dimmer back and forth, stop to stop several times, to clean any corrosion off the potentiometer/wiper. It worked and now my gauges are almost bright enough to see during the day! Well, at least I can tell if they're on or off. Now I'm in no rush to tear my dash apart.

Here's a shot of the original "Cobra" center caps. I've retired them and replaced with new. I am fairly certain that they were dealer "extortio..." ahem, options. I believe that's why they have a slightly higher value than other slots. I also actually bought a set of metal knock-off 2-wing spinners to try as alternates. Obviously not stock but they look cool, IMO. I had my my original metal wheels & D-caps stolen, unfortunately.

In my experience it sorta depends on the maker. Check to see if they have the maker's mark in raised lettering on the inside. If they're Carroll Shelby Cal 500's I have seen them go for between $175 and $400 for the set depending on condition and the presence of original 4-ear screw-on caps. There are many different manufacturers. Catalog page courtesy of Mike B.

Nissan owes you matching funds after all this time!

Beautiful job. Classy look. Especially the Cal 500 slots. Own it that long and you can put shag carpet inside if you so desire.

Carl, you are right, again, of course. 40 years experience within a particular marque can't be beat. I never even figured on the additional costs to secure a replacement vehicle, like sales tax (7% in NJ too) travel to inspect or a local inspector, and transportation for the vehicle. However I do have a friend in California who is one of the premier collector/buyers in the US, shipping to buyers all over the world for almost 25 years. He's my personal shopper, as he got me every one of my cars over the years. So I have the West Coast (rust free) connection for replacement cars hopefully sewn up. This all being conjecture of course, but that's why there's insurance, right? With premiums being affordable as they are, I made the decision to go for greater agreed value- which I will definitely have to ratchet upwards as I complete my refreshing. Hagerty is in full agreement. I currently have $10k coverage for about $140 (+$40 "membership"). I'd also rather leave all of the financial risk on my insurer by paying slightly higher rates. And everything I've read about Hagerty implies that they are good with covering high-quality repairs. My other purpose for having 100% coverage (now much less after considering your points) is imagining that a serious accident would no doubt impact ( ) the unit-body, permanently. I doubt that these cars could survive something ( to drive again) with any twisting or serious off-axis impact, like getting wrapped around a pole. Assuming of course that the driver makes it too! Do you have any empirical experience with how Z's survive impacts? The physics are not that great, I'm afraid...it's the 2,300 pounds versus the 4,000s lb thing... and up. F=MA. Survivability is also why I installed a Fiamm triple Ferrari compressor/airhorn setup- after nearly being run over by big SUV's twice in one week. They just don't ever seem to look down. So I rigged a country/city horn switch wiring the airhorns and the neep, neep horns to a 4-way flasher switch as a simple DPST in the hole above the existing flasher. -5 points, I know! They'll definitely hear me coming. The other thing I have happening lately is when a big truck with airbrakes comes along side, why is it that they always have their air pressure pop-off valve let go right into my left ear? And we're right even with their axles. It's worse than a gunshot. Anyone else have that happen?

I have the close-ratio. I'd much rather have a longer first gear, and a wider spread on the rest of the gears, based on my typical usage pattern- which of course might vary from yours. Having never driven this other trans, I unfortunately can't compare based on my actual experience- something I really want to do for my own knowledge. But as much as I love my Z, I do wish I had different gearing, FWIW. As well as adding an LSD too. FYI I turn 3,500rpm at 80mph in 5th on the flats, which is not bad at all. Allegedly, ahem. I'll do this when the rebuild time comes- hopefully in many, many years!

I guess I may paranoid, but I think that the primary reason for having agreed-upon coverage is to provide for replacing my car with another of equal rarity should it unfortunately ever come to a total loss. This certainly has precious little bearing on the current worth, market value, etc. of this particular car- but my concern is being made whole if I'd ever have to replace her. That means being able to bid up to whatever it would take to put me in *another* of equal quality. I had a loss a few months ago (hotel break-in) and had my insurance company depreciate a simple gold bracelet that was worth almost 10 times what I paid for it on gold value alone. They paid a fraction of the replacement cost. I swore that would never happen to me again- on anything. Bids are almost always lower than offers anyway, it appears. While I'm certainly not a bona-fide collector, I do feel a responsibility to maintain something that is considered very rare- an original, unmolested car nearly 40 years old. And the best way to do that, IMO, is to have full agreed-value replacement coverage. The next best way is to "train" the next generation of collectors. My stepson happens to *love* many of the things from the 70's and 8-'s too. This is very gratifying, and will insure that our special vehicles- among other things- will always have a generation of custodians.

My PO removed the rear muffler, leaving only the middle resonator with plain pipe the rest of the way, and then welded the entire length of the exhaust for some unknown reason, and due to his misunderstanding of the raw gas smell (vent piping, reservoir issues) he turned the pipe out hard left to exit just behind the LR wheel. I guess he thought he was smelling CO from the exhaust. At idle my Z is quiet, even during normal acceleration (like I've EVER done that!) it is un-noticeable, but as the revs approach 3k- if you have your foot in it- it starts to really rip, and with the pipe outlet being mere feet from my ears it makes the car sound heavenly, especially when driving alongside a concrete barricade/divider. It makes the roar bounce straight back into my ears. Not ricey, very much a growl at first then a howl. And totally controllable, if you don't want to wake the dead or inflame the local constabulary. And very addicting. I 'm afraid to touch it and sent the exhaust back to the rear for fear of losing my "signature sound". When I drive away from the regular Cruise-Ins I attend, some of the people actually head over to the road to hear me rip through the gears as I pull away. Hot rod people, too. As there are no inspection requirements for my car in NJ, I can't imagine ever having a normal exhaust with a muffler, ever again. It's the best of both worlds.

Does anyone have an answer to my question from Post # 30, regarding what constitutes "original paint"- and just how much spot touch-up work can be done before it's considered truly altered, in case I ever want to show it in the future? I'll never put it up against a 1 or 2 car- I just can't justify the expenditure, and besides, I still want to drive it a great deal more, but I am still very aware- and proud- of its current state of originality. I just keep hearing "a car can be restored over and over again, but it's only considered original once" and I certainly don't want to make improper claims. But then again can't most judges notice spot touch-ups in the first place, or can they be done essentially invisibly and without ruining a car's value as "original"? What are the rules and precedents? Thanks. It can't be thread-jacking if I began the thread hoping for a wide-ranging discussion- such as this, can it?

Lemon Green......or perhaps another name I just came up with- Mountain, Do! It's actually very close to a color used on fire engines or offshore boating gear, called "Saturn Yellow".