tlorber

Thank you.

Is there anyone out there that has a mustache bar out of their car that could measure a dimension for me? I have a '73 (I think '72-76 all used the same one). I am looking for the height of the eyelet? where the bushings go through. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I guess the term "classic car" is like "pornography". You can't define it, but you know it when you see it.

Jay, Congrats on the mid life crisis. Definitely do not be afraid of carbs. As stated above the '73's and '74's were kind of a pita, but once you get the earlier ones dialed in, they're bulletproof-so don't base your determination for model year on them. The main differences you'll find between the early and later Z's are aesthetics and body weight. As far as valuation, I think most here will agree that these cars will be worth at least 70% of what we all have into them, so that should not be your barometer either. Look at pics of each (focusing mainly on bumpers, running lamp/tail lamp location, and interiors) try to see some side by side (at a Z meet if you can) and see what YOU like best. I think most here will agree that it is better to pay a bit more for a body and electrical that is in really good condition. Mechanical stuff is easy, very interchangeable, and not that expensive.

For those of you in So Cal there will be a New Years Day run starting at TRE Motorsports in Van Nuys (7:30 am New Years morning) and going through Angeles Crest/Lake Hughes etc. I did this 2 years ago (similar route) in my topless 311-there was some snow on the side of the road. This year I'll be much warmer in the Z. It would be nice to see some more Datsuns out this year. Also, for you northern/central and so cal people, keep an eye out for the Targa California in the first week of April. This is without doubt the best 3 day run of the year through some awesome Central California roads. I've done this one for the past 2 years in the roadster but plan to use the Z this year. I posted about it last year and got.....pretty much no response or participation from this site. Come on now, if we're not driving these cars on these types of roads, why do we have them?

I would estimate that the 5 speed weighs in at 60-70 lbs. As long as you can get the car up high enough, you can use some 4x4 blocks and work each end down/up bit by bit. That way you are only carrying 1/2 the weight at any time. To do this, you will need to jack up the front of the car, and place a support under the oil pan so that you can control the pitch of the motor as the tranny pulls the rear down. Just make sure you keep an eye on the fan blade so that it doesn't smash against the shroud. This all makes more sense when you are going through it.

The type B 4 speeds and all 5 speeds (not counting T5's) have a bell housing on the front of the tranny that separates by removing 5 bolts inside the bell housing and a large snap ring over the bearing. Obviously these will bolt up the the L6, but I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for.

The other thing you can do is to double clutch on the way down. This will definitely prolong the balk rings.

I used Red Line in my Roadster. It did help the grind [a bit, not completely] but it is also a thinner oil. I have had a bit of seepage past the seals. If you already have a leaky seal, it will probably get worse with the thinner oil. Have you bled the slave cylinder yet? That may gain you some travel in the throwout fork. Also, I recently rebuilt a ZX tranny. It is not terribly difficult, but you have to be diligent about where you put all the pieces. I used a couple of dowels to simulate the shafts, and placed everything in the exact order as I took them off. The rebuild kit cost me $130.00- a shop would have charged me $600+. If you do it yourself, just study the FSM a number of times-especially the exploded diagram of the tranny guts, so that you understand where the pieces go and what they are called. Also be careful when you pull the synchronizers apart so that they do not detonate on you. I borrowed a gear puller for the job, and it helps to have a vise and some pipes of varying diameter so that you can drive the new bearings into place without damaging them. I fabricated a metal bracket to hold the tranny in a vise which made the job much easier/possible at all. I'd be happy to send you the bracket if you paid the shipping.

After rebuilding the tranny I had bought, I finally got it and the "new" diff in the car and was able to take it out for a spin. My '73 feels like a different car. Gears are closer together, it is faster to shift and cruises on the highway. Yahoo! The combo is as follows: -'82 5 speed -3.70 diff w/ GM mount above and stock mount below. -4 speed shifter with 1.5" cut off. (this is about 3/8" longer below the pivot than the '82 shifter). Shifting is now more with the wrist than the arm. At 75 mph I'm loping along at about 2,800 rpm. This feels like a great upgrade for those of you contemplating it. I'm really looking forward to driving through the canyons.

I spent $27.00 for a new brake cylinder for my '73. If you have any doubts you should replace it. I would imagine that it is more likely the cylinder than the rear bearing.

Thank you all for the input. i really like those wheels.

Very cool. I've been contemplating those wheels in 16x8 for the rear and 16x7 for the front. Like you, I keep hearing different results on whether the 8's will clear or not. Do you have any pics from the rear of the car?

Thanks for the replies guys. I just found out that cutting 1.5" of my stick [shift] is going to run another $40.00. From everything I've read, when you replace the slave cylinder,(even at $23.00) you are supposed to replace the master ($42.00) and the hose ($27.00) as well. So now my piece of rubber will run me $92.00+ shipping. As a first pass I've tried siliconing the 2 broken pieces together. If I have to replace everything and bleed it out later, it's easy enough to get to. Hoping to avoid the child support-although the Z hobby is not helping much.

I just got my 5 speed into my '73 yesterday-looking forward to the new ratios. Anyway, the boot that protects the slave cylinder is shot. Does anyone have a lead on where to buy these? MSA sells them-complete with the entire slave cylinder. I'd rather not spend $40.00 for a piece of rubber. Thanks.

Getting rid of the smell. Yes, I already voted for it, but I feel that strongly about it.

There is a rod that attaches to the handle inside the door. It is held to the handle by a plastic clip (at least it is on the older models). You need to remove the door panel and get to the inside of the door. Hopefully the rod just slipped out and can be put back in. If you get hold of a diagram this will be simple to understand.

Sorry, I was unable to view your video. However, I went through a similar situation with my car, where there there was a sudden "jerk" upon acceleration. Any point at which you can increase the radius of the "driving" member, and decrase the radius of the "driven" member will assist in smoothing out the transition. I believe there are at least 3 adjustments in the system where I bent the linkages to accomplish this. I even took off the accelerator pedal and bent the heavy rod beneath it so that my foot would contact the pedal further down. All of these together really helped the problem that I was having. I also rebushed the linkage that is attached to the firewall.

Nice work on that Derek. Even aside from the speaker component, the panel fit looks much better than stock.

The clutch disk, pressure plate and throwout bearing collar must match-i.e. taller pressure plates go with shorter throughout bearing collar and vice versa, so you need to know which collar you have. I believe there is a writeup somewhere here about that. You should be able to measure the collar height and MSA can tell you whether it is an early one or not. As far as the pilot bearing, can you compare the inner diameter of the new pilot with the old one? As long as they are the same, and you l know the tranny came out of it you should be fine. In fact a tighter fit just means less slop when tightening down the disk. That is the only purpose of the alignment tool.

Not sure if you've figured this out yet, but make sure that you are not 180* out of phase. This happened when I first put my zx dizzy in and I had the same symptoms you described.

I had asked this question previously but received no response. Installing the GM energy suspension mount would lower the diff about 3/4", and this would interfere with my rear sway bar (the front diff flange would be grinding on the bar). I am going to try to heavily carve up the GM mount and still utilize the stock lower mount to preserve the position of the diff. For those of you that have suspended the diff from the top using the GM mount, how did you NOT interfere with the sway bar?

Of course, nothing in California

I wonder how long it will be until the dollar is worth the same as an INR.

On a not completely unrelated note, has anyone here ever sprayed or coated the plastic interior panels with a sound deadener or insulator? Seems like a decent way to cut out some noise without gaining much weight and I happen to have a few of the pieces out right now. TIA for any input.