tlorber

I'm taking my rear suspension apart to replace shocks and springs. The spindle pin removal was almost as much fun as everyone has described-(I've only done one side though). Do most of you guys replace wheel bearings, or lube them at this time? I have not heard any bearing noise and would strongly prefer NOT to, but if it has to be done, I guess now would be the time. Thanks for input.

So what exactly does that relay do? I have roundtops on my '73-does this mean that the relay does nothing anymore?

No offense, but I also have a set of 14's on my car and I'm not a big fan of them. I'll be swapping them out at some point in the future-maybe when I wear the existing rubber out.

I thought I'd seen an R180 4.11 in craigs list last week, (in Ontario) just in case you can use one.

I understand that the electric ones draw less than the thermal ones. Being the cheapass I am, I elected to spend the $2.00 instead of $12.00. Incidentally, you can probably remove the old one from the housing and place the housing over the new flasher. It looks original (not my main motivation) and allows you to mount it to the car the way the original one was mounted.

-Hijack- Anyone know of Z clubs in the Los Angeles Area?

I placed some electrical tape around the shock housing just below the gland nut so it wouldn't get marred so badly. Then I placed the gland nut in a vise and turned the entire strut assembly until it broke loose. You can put a pipe over the steering knuckle (fronts) for additional leverage. To remove the shock, put the gland nut back on just a couple of turns, and put the insulator back on. Suspend the entire assembly in the vise hanging from the insulator(the vise does not have to be tightened for this) and hammer on the gland nut from the top, tapping on alternate sides. Its better if you use a piece of wood in between so you don't damage the housing. You may want to mark the center tube with a sharpie to see if it has moved, and you will only get about 3/16" movement before you need to remove the gland nut again. At this time the shock should come out. This worked for me-I hope this description makes sense.

On a slightly separate, though related note, I found a vendor that sells both left and right handed mirrors for the Datsun roadster. I purchased these for my roadster and they are extremely nice. It turns out they are the exactly like the driver's side one that originally came on the Z, so I will be picking up a pair for the Z as well. Here is the link if anyone is interested: http://www.datsunparts.com/2323

Wow, when you said "3 boxes of duct tape" I was thinking "jeez, how bad could it have been." I didn't realize he had to wrap the entire fuselage. Nice body work. If just shows you, with a BFH and some duct tape, man is capable of virtually anything he puts his mind to.

Thanks to all for the input. I will be putting sway bars on both front and rear (if they ever arrive from MSA). One of the reasons I thought about wider in the rear is that I plan on doing some engine mods down the road that will increase torque. Ostensibly theses cars were enginerred for their stock power configuration. I just assumed that a car placing more torque at the rear would benefit from a larger contact patch.

I was reading that the 4 piston sumitomos were a very easy conversion. My only question is, do you really get much more stopping power if you are still using the same rotor?

Thanks. I wouldn't plan on "skinnies" on the front. My only thought was maybe 6's on the front and 7's in the rear, or 7's on the front and 8's on the rear. I have 6's all the way around on my roadster, and I definitely wish I had something wider in the rear. Also, I will certainly be changing out my 14" rims at some point. The only question is do I go to 15" or 16". I too am predisposed to Panasports, though I'm not crazy about the price.

Persuant to Joker's comment above, it looks like most of you guys go with 15" intead of 16". Any reason for this? Also, are the fronts necessarily the same width wheel as the rear? I'm not ready for new wheels just yet(heirarchy of priorities, you know) but I'm trying to assimilate info in case I see a deal. Thanks.

I saw a couple of old posts on this, but nothing real definitive. Does anyone know how much surgery is required to install ZX seats into a 240? Thanks.

IF you have put Armor All on it before, you need to do a really good job removing it in order for any paint to adhere. You may want to scrub it with TSP and a brush first.

What do you guys do with the chemicals when you are done? I imagine there is some pretty nasty stuff that Al Gore would have a huge beef with.

My understanding is that you should give it at least a couple weeks before you sand it out. If you use a fine enough grit for a final, you should not need to reshoot the color coat. If you are going to top coat it (by that I assume you mean clear coat) I would be resistant to using a compound after sanding. The clear coat may not adhere to that area.

" I might just heed your warning about the urethane bushings. Iv'e read numerous threads about how these bushings are a risky application on the compression rods. I agree with this concern. This fitting is truly meant as a pivot point. In fact I was looking at an old 944 the other day, which, along with many other cars I'm sure, has a tc arm with 2 hinge points, one of which is the rear anchoring at the same location as our bushing/washer connection. I don't know why Nissan didn't engineer a true hinge instead of a steel rod inside rubber, but that would have been a much more stable connection. If you look at most of the urethane bushings we put in, they are at rotation points, and are not really made to flex much. It seems to me that the flex at this connection would be very "reluctant" and if the rod were to give instead, you can tell by the geometry of the suspension that the results could be disastrous. I'm not meaning to open a can of worms here but I'm putting in rubber at this bushing, even though I got urethane ones with my kit.

My tach is definitely a 3 wire. I'll have to wait until it comes back to try the wire removal test. The shop I sent the tach to wasn't able to figure out the problem. There is a shop near me where the guy said he replaces the entire guts of the tach with modern components. However, I think he wants $190.00 for that. That's why I'd prefer to fix what I have.

Steve, I'm not sure if flat tops are the same as round tops, but on the round tops there is a small vacuum fitting that sticks up front the throttle body (actually on the carb itself and not on the intake manifold, next to the thick spacer/gasket that separates the carb from the intake mani). At the very least this should be plugged or capped since it will change the mixture if open to atmosphere. If you go on the ztherapy site you should see some diagrams or pictures of this. I believe it is also mentioned on the datsunzgarage site.

I am an industrial real estate broker. Now, maybe I've walked into too many warehouses while "filming" was going on, but am I the only one that thinks that first picture looks like the final scene of a B grade porno movie?

I don't think it is a great idea to pull the dipstick while the engine is running. I remember doing it once on a car (I think it was a 1200 in college). A lobe on the crankshaft launched the dipstick into the air and it landed in the dirt. Luckily those cars thrive on abuse.

Alhbln, When I turn on just the ignition switch, the tach goes to around 1000 rpm. At idle, the car shows around 2500-3,000 rpm and tends to run around 3-4k above actual (hard to know the exact number). It seems that it gets worse with heat. Would the parts to be replaced typically be the resistors? Many of them do not test at what their color coding shows they should. I know that tachs going out are a common problem. Maybe we here could do a group buy and fly you out our way.

Thanks, Chris. I see that you have one of the 4 roadsters in Denmark. You are probably aware of the annual roadster meet we have in Solvang, CA. http://www.solvangshow.com/index.htm I guess every day is Solvang day for you.

Sorry to hijack, but I am trying to determine if my dancing, incorrect tach is at fault, or if it is an in line resistor. This is for a late 240z (7/73). Assuming the wiring diagram will attach, does anyone know the actual location of the resistor in the red circle on the diagram? It is on the diagram just right of the ignition coil. Thanks.