jfa.series1

Yes - a dog with his own set of wheels. Some serious heart in that cartoonist. Go Buckles!

Jeff, My thin seat back foam was in good shape, left it all in place for the new covers. I suggest you replace yours, it will soften the feel of the covers and absorb small impacts that might otherwise ding the vinyl on the seat backs. Jim

Another welcome from N. TX. Its a big state, where are you located?

I've got one of those on display at my home, just did not save the packing materials. Strange that his description says it is in white when it is clearly orange - just like mine. A backstory on this model is that the mint used a car restored by Bill Reagan of the Z Club of Texas for all of its detail work.

Check out his profile - you will find a serious enthusiast, no doubt having some fun with his user name.

If I recall correctly, the FSM has some specific guidance on setting the "at rest" position of the slave rod. It should not be way loose as you say, should have a bit of pre-tension on it. Your problem does sound like you are not getting a full disengagement on the clutch.

I bought a regular set of replacement blades that now seem to come only with a frame. I stripped out the blade portion and fitted them directly into my old style wire-type frames. Direct install, no jury-rigging.

16 x 7 Konig Rewinds and BFG g-Force Sport tires purchased as a package from Discount. FWIW - They ARE negotiable on a complete package. The in-store prices were the same as online. I went into the store and we worked down from there. Jim

There is obviously a premium being placed on the original bill of sale!

Jeff, Thanks for the tip. Yes, all were replaced at the same time. I'll attack it piecemeal with the T/C bushings first as you suggest. Jim

Mother often said "Be careful what you ask for... you may just get it.". Agreed, poly bushings do a much better job of holding the rack tightly in place. With that comes a significant loss of compliance in absorbing minor road bumps. I installed poly rack bushings and the steering rod coupler in my rebuild (poly also in the T/C rods, Delrin/aluminum camber adjustment in the LCA). Every road bump is now transmitted directly to the steering wheel, sometimes with some unwanted snap. If I can locate rubber rack bushings, I plan to go back to OE style mounts to reduce harshness. For a car that is tracked, A/X'd, or similar events, poly is probably the way to go. My ride is strictly for weekend cruising and some shows, a more forgiving steering feel will be just fine. As Carl says, FWIW. Jim

If they do not adequately "plump up" to push out the wrinkles, consider adding some high density unholstery foam available from hobby stores, craft stores, ...etc.. This is a pic of 1/2" foam I added to the bolster areas and around the skirts. I was reusing my original seat foams since there was no deterioration in them. Jim

Well... we all know it is a bit damp up in the NW but this seems excessive.

Here is my tush with a shaved skinny bumper in body color. The same for the front bumper - I was looking to strengthen the horizontal lines across front and rear. The BRE Spook and spoiler bulk up the look a bit. Jim

Have patience. Look at other current threads, you will see similar view vs. reply rates. Not everyone looking at a thread has experience with your topic. You can always use the search function to get a look at old threads related to weatherstrip.

Yes. The BD pieces are typically made by PRP. BD's customer service is not set up to answer product questions, they are focused on ordering merchandise.

I bought the Beck-Arnley 1515725 from RockAuto for $40.79 in Nov., 2010, it is a Kyosandenski unit. They are now listing only the Airtex and Carter units for my car.

Like Bruce said, not too many kits around so may have your best results by building it yourself from multiple sources. The folks at Vintage Rubber are advertising two kits, they are anything but cheap. If you decide to order, I suggest you check in advance to see if all parts are available. The VR products are excellent, they have cured most or all of the fitment issues you get with some other products. Most of the aftermarket items are made by Precision Rubber Products (PRP) and are generally good products. The most troubling fit areas with PRP are the big gaskets for doors, windshield, rear hatch. Genuine Nissan gaskets are also available for these areas, try Courtesy Nissan for help. They know the old cars very well and provide excellent service (a lot of international shipping). http://www.vintagerubber.com/ http://www.courtesyparts.com/ Be cautious with going with all poly bushings. You will get a very hard and potentially noisy ride if you move away from rubber bushings. I know - I did this and will begin the switch back to rubber in the near future. Hope this helps. Jim

My 12/70 car had a only a jute pad between the metal body and the carpet (looped). The carpet did have velcro at the rear corners with corresponding velcro on the metal body to keep the carpet corners secured. Hope this helps. Jim

I damaged the visible threads on a stud in the re-assembly process and a pro showed me a good trick to help break loose the damaged stud: he gave it a couple of good whacks with a hammer to break it loose internally before attempting to unscrew it. It came right out! Jim

Lee, thanks for the additional comments - they help to clarify things. I really like your silver/red theme, red seats will make a significant impact. The means the "deal" stock seats aren't intended for the car anyway. Excellent rationale on the bumpers and lights and it suggests these items are not all that important to your vision for the overall results (letting us into your head a bit more). Since the items are important to someone else, you get to free up a bit of liquidity for your own personalizations. I'm in your camp on nostalgic/classic - keep working to make it YOUR car; my few resto mods also took me away from purist. Jim

I suspect there were many things about your new car that attracted you to it, beyond the LS1 conversion. Those would probably include the unique appearance items you identify. Ask yourself if you will still be as satisfied with your car if it substantially reverts to a stock appearance. We already know it is not about the money - so I think this is a question only you can answer. Jim

At our monthly Z Club of Texas meeting this week, "Mad Mike" Taylor specifically commented on Mr. K. He continues to do well, still retains his driver's license and is unhappy because his 98-year old wife will no longer allow him to drive (he does have very bad knees). Mike talks to him on a regular basis. Jim

I think this is a variation on the very old "water injection" scam claiming that water can be broken down by a "patented and revolutionary device" into its hydrogen and oxygen elements to aid the combustion process and provide massive increases in mpg. Pure hoakum!!! Jim