blue 72

I've got a '78 5-speed and had to replace the output shaft seal a few months back. Nothing tough at all, just remove driveshaft, pop out old seal, clean, install new seal, grease seal and reinstall driveshaft. Might want to drain the gear oil first just incase you don't like leaking all over the place.

Hmmm, loop pile and corresponding stickers? I'm going to have to throw in my vote for originals as well.

Hey, at least yours has paint on it. That's a great color, and the one I'd have gone with if mine weren't already blue metallic underneath the respray. There are plenty of sites including this one that can help you along the way, but it looks like you have something solid to start with in the first place. Congrats on the find.

I'll go with Brian Little on one thing, the 5 speed that you have is probably the one for you. Neal G might be in a different boat though, because he has his choice. I'd return the early 5 speed and try to locate a later one because that was what he wanted in the first place. I'll admit that I have an early 5 speed and 3.9:1 R200 and enjoy the combination because I don't happen to have an alternative. If I could I'd go with the later 5 speed if only for the better overdrive ratio to not turn 3,500 RPM at 75mph. Then again, what would I do with a used '78 5 speed in southern Utah? They just crush the cars here because no one is looking for parts for them.

I bought mine through MSA and they were genuine Nissan parts. Took alot of grunting and dropping screwdrivers to get them on under the dash though.

I just connected the two ports on the balance tube together with a piece of tubing. One of the vacuum operated bits had a bad diaphragm inside and squealed horribly. To the untrained eye it looks stock, but they're really not hooked up to anything, and it doesn't make any noticeable difference.

Looks great. I'm trying to convince my own father to get his '70 510 in running order so we can do the same thing. We've already got a '70 Blazer and Suburban each, so we could have an early 70's parade.

Better be on a track. I have had the same problem, but unique at the same time. One of the less educated previous owners of my car JB welded the vent tube on the gas tank shut and plugged the line leading to the expansion tank. I've soldered a metal tube back on the hack-sawed old one and reconnected the rubber line. Shouldn't have that fuel starvation problem again (I hope).

Your not likely to get much info from Nissan, so the P.O. would be your best bet. I know some of the history on mine from the man I bought it from and it looks like I'm about the third or fourth owner. As far as finding out where it was sold new, or if it had stayed in Arizona its whole life, that would require me to do alot more digging. Just speculating, but the DMV might have records of it being registered in the past.

I've seen 17x7.5 20 offset RBs on a 280Z and they fit with a 1/4 inch spacer in the front. Rolling the fender lip is usually required to fit these as well. Might be time for some flares or metal work to make the rear ones work without rubbing.

Oh good, I just ordered all the back issues I could with Z-car stuff, and the newest one just incase. Now I'll have a weeks worth of reading to do when it arrives.

If it was me I already would have given in and done things the hard way. I'd go ahead and unbolt the curved hanger from its support bars and unbolt the lower control arms to get at the thing. You might also try a brass hammer or something of the like to try and "jar" the plug loose. I guess I got lucky I drained and refilled my R-200 before I put it in the car. I did almost take the whole thing out again later because I had installed the mustache bar backward, so I can feel your pain.

My valve cover had been spray painted to look like aluminum. I used 500-800 grit to start out with and worked up to somewhere around 1000. After that I put in alot of elbow grease mixed with grocery store bought brass polish. Came out pretty well. Good links on valve adjustment: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1803105&uid=786489 http://www.biopatent.com/engine.html

I run 89 octane on my rebuilt P-79/F-54 combo with stock (for now) '72 SU carbs. On the highway with my early 5-speed and 3.9:1 rear end combo I average just a little over 25mpg at around 3700 RPM. I got horrible mileage once when one of my fuel lines on the bottom of the carb developed a pinhole and leaked all over for hundreds of miles. Had to hitchhike on the res to the nearest gas station.