Thecabtsmith

On Craigslist in Seattle are two 71 z's for sale. I called and spoke to the owner. I didn't right down the exact numbers, but one had a high 8k build number and the other was in the 9k range. These are very early 71's. They are listed for $800 and $1000. Both apparently have good engines, but have been sitting for a number of years. I believe they have been sitting outside, but who knows???? If I had the space I would get them both for the parts alone...but I believe low number cars like these may be worth saving. I think the owner passed away and the widow is selling them. Please be kind and respectful.

You are absolutely correct. I called Tokico today and assured me all is well. I completed the install tonight, and installed the new disc brakes. All seems good now. I will see tomorrow after we bleed the brakes, and put on the tires. John, thank you for your insight. I have shown these photos to numerous people and noone bothered to say anything about the jackstands not being in a good place. I will change them tomorrow morning 1st thing. I'll try to be carefull the next time I'm in Germany driving the tracks!!!! At least I wont have to worry about unseating my spring:) Thanks again!!!!

woops...yea 3/71. gotta fix that:stupid: I was second guessing whether to post here or in the help me area... Please forgive me if I made a bad choice, but I did decide to just continue this thread. I have received all the parts from Tokico, and the front install has gone well. I made sure the part number 5020-f springs were used in front. The numbers are facing upward, and the smaller turns are up and get larger as they go down.(they appear to be progressive springs up front). Anyway I am installing the rear strut housing and new springs. The problem is I can put on the upper strut housing together and tighten the bolt, but I do not have to compress the spring. As a matter of fact their appears to be about 3/8" play. I can move the spring up and down. It is very sloppy. The rear spring is 11 1/4" tall, and all turns in the coil are equally distanced. I compared the old shock to the new ones (new part # ending in 3016). The bodies are the same, but the new shock shaft is longer than the old one by about 3/8". It would seem the shock is the wrong part, but the part number on it does check out. The other option is the springs are labelled incorrectly. The coils in front have 11 turns while the rears have 9. They appear to be the same height, but unfortunately the fronts are fully installed now, and I dont know how much they are compressed. The car is still on 4 jack stands and suspension is free. I have tried to be as thorough as possible. I apologize if I have given alot of inpertinent data, or on the flip side missed something obvious. All help is appreciated!!!!

Isn't That saying almost the same thing:)

Thank you....great advise. I'll add that to the checklist of things to do. The list keeps growing, but that just means I'm learning more about me car:)

Here are some of the latest photos. Front Suspension rebuilt and installed. finished welding of battery box, Por15, primered and painted. Finished one side rebuilding lower fender mount area... I realized I never mentioned after driving the car for 3 days the winshield wiper motor stopped working. It was very slow to start with, but the plastic gear stripped out. Found a motor at the pick and pull from a 77 280z. The motor itself was different, but I took it apart and found the plastic gear is the same but installed upside down on this motor!!??!?! Anyway swapped out the gear and it works now...still slow of course. Thanks to everyone posting about the Honda civic wiper motor. I picked one of those up the same day, and will make those modifications toward the end of summer. Once this was fixed, I drove to work the next day only to find the head gasket was leaking:disappoin Found another motor on craigslist for $100.00. Apparently rebuilt with only 40k on it. Guy said he replaced motor with hi perf engine...and then sold car w/o engine....we will see:paranoid: Thanks again for all the old threads about reviving an aged engine. My new one(which looks very clean inside) has been sitting for about 3 1/2 years. I appreciate any comments or advise. I am a professional woodworker. This automobile/metal thing is new to me. I have never done this much work to a car before in my life. (I always paid someone else to do it.)

Well here are some photos of the car. As you can see the previous owner welded on a new battery box. Did an ok job, but didn't clean up the welds at all. Later on we found the entire box in the wheel well was siliconed in. He did the welding, but instead of using autobody caulk he just used a silicone caulk. That was all painstakingly removed. Welding new piece in back corner in order to finish the job properly. Por15 entire area including top of body under the fenders on both driver and passenger side. We removed the front suspension in order to change the bushings and new shocks and springs from Tokico. I went for the adjustable Illumina series, and Energy suspension poly bushings. It's also time to clean up 37 years of road grime and neglect. Quick paint job. and back to work. should make a big difference. Let me also mention this car is a daily driver. I work 6 miles from work, so mileage wont be bad, but I thought I would mention this so you understand why some things weren't done yet. I need this baby on the road soon!

You could try Z Specialties in Snohomish. I have not had any work done by them, but they were well known in California as being thorough. I am actually doing my own. I am in the process as we speak. Actually cleaned most of the front suspension pieces today. My or may not paint depending on time... and yes I am doing bushings as well as shocks and springs. good luck.

I have pulled a 91 civic motor, and am ready to do the conversion. My question comes to the relay. I saw the diagram that shows the wires from 240 and wires from honda and how they hook together. What I seem to be missing is where does the relay get hooked up to? The diagram doesn't show the relay wiring...did I miss something? well obviously I did:)

Great advise...thank you..would you say if I was lowering the z by an inch I should cut at inch off total? Or should I get everything together..roll the car back and forth, and then check spacing and cut based on actual measurements. It seems the latter would be safer, but if the other way works it eliminates some time. Thanks again for all the great help. Gregg

Well hello everyone, I have really been enjoying the technical information and community here. Its been a blast checking out all the z's. So here we go... I bought my 71' z when I was 20 years old. The paint was cracked all over due to a really poorly done paint job. The clutch was slipping, but the interior was in pretty good shape and she ran well overall. I borrowed $800 from my then girlfriend to help pay for the car. She was a daily driver for the next 4 years. I found a great mechanic, and spent every extra dime I had fixing her up. It was a really early 71. still had the vented rear hatch and the 240z emblem behnd the rear window. Unfortunately I blew a head gasket and she spend several months in the garage. I decided to save money and do the work myself. Several months later I took it to a shop so they could reassemble the parts and get her running. (I wont go into the details...but a manual would have been helpful) Again drove her for another year or so. One beautiful day I called Greg Scott at Scott Performance. He was the mechanic I used when I first bought the car, but I had moved about an hour away. Foolishly other mechanics touched my baby...causing the phone call. He told me about this motor he wanted to put into a z. It was a 3.1 liter. That saturday my wife and I met Greg at his shop. We went over possible configurations of heads and othe juicy options. I decided it was also time for the paint to be fixed. After many hours of going over options...and many days of me kissing my wifes arse(yes this is the same woman I borrowed the money from to buy the car originally, and no I never paid her back:)), I called him and setup a day to drop off the car. Many thousands of dollars later...not to mention the 3 months of waiting, I went to pick her up. I had her painted Lexus pearl white. I have actual photos, but I need to scan them to post...I will have to work on that. Anyway words cannot describe the differences in the handling and power. The motor was brand new from Nissan. The motor was strong, but took a few thousand miles to really show its potential. I put it on a dyno and it averaged 189 rwhp. One day at the mechanics, we were discussing what the engine would be like if we installed a cam. After thinking it over he had a am taken from a 280 that was built. The guy went to a bigger cam and this one was almost new. We swapped it in(he did it, I paid for it), and what a difference. Before the car really pulled off the line to about 4500 rpm. With the cam it pulled hard all the way to 7000 rpm!!! The torque was incredible. This was still my daily driver and I loved every day I had to work. I drove the car from California to Washington a couple of time. Even drove cross country to the midwest. (Got arrested at 3am on a deserted highway. Car impounded till they could wake the Judge. Apparently 130mph was not appreciated in Kansas) Anyway paid the fine, finished the trip. Sold the car when I found out my wife was pregnant with our second child. Too many bills to pay. Mortgage to high blah blah blah.... Now its the second time around. Its been almost eight years since I sold my z. I just purchased another 71 a couple weeks ago. build date 3/71 hls30-025xxx. I dont have it in front of me, but if interested I can post actual sn. I feel like a giddy school kid with a new christmas present. I live in Western Wa. and the moisture up here can be tough...this one has some issues, but overall is a survivor. I have a great neighbor that is going to show me how to do the body work, and I plan on doing alot of the wrenching on this one. I LOVED my old z, but I didn't build it...and when people asked about it I didn't have all the answer because my mechanic built it. I have alot to learn, and a long way to go. I posted picks of the car in my gallery. It ran when I bought it, but I am plagued with another blown head gasket. Found a running engine on craiglist for $100.00. Bought new Tokico Illumina shocks and springs and new urethane bushings. Should do the trick while I pump out the original motor, and save for paint. Lucky me:)...glad to be here:D

Have you checked to make sure the fuel filter isn't clogged? If it kicks over just a bit maybe one carb is clogged. if you pull the spark plugs you can tell by the color if it is firing or not. Maybe a weak spark? What kind of ignition? I'm pretty new here and it sounds like you know what you are doing so I apologize if these sound really obvious, and/or beneath your experience level:)

He always said he would prefer people have a big party when he dies, rather than be depressed he is gone. So George, Heres to you!!!! Thank you for the laughs and the memories. You will always be loved and remembered for your unique insights. CHEERS!!!

I purchased an item from Reddat as well. Charged $7.00 shipping, but only paid $1.52. Never received feedback from him, but I left positive feedback. Its too bad he does have things interesting items sometimes. I wont purchase from him again either...even if he agrees to lower his shipping prices. First we bid and then we bicker on shipping...no thank you. I'd buy a set too.

Well I am happy to say I have the hardware for the struts. Unfortunately the first box I opened did not have the hardware. I should have looked in the others...they had h/w. Tokico is sending 1 set to replace the missing one. Thank you for your info. Both were 100% on the money. I will be installing the energy suspension urethane bushings kit along with the new shock/spring setup. I believe it came with the bump stops...and yes the stock ones rotted away along with all the other bushings. Apparently the pacific northwest can be brutal to these.