Brubaker

Rainman, what did you do to refresh the rear brake cables? Looks great.

Be great to donate to a local high school offering auto shop.

My local Ace hardware has been an invaluable source for metric bolts, nuts, washers and screws, cadmium plated, stainless, zinc etc. You probably have one in Manteca you can bring your old ones to and match up. The nice thing is you can usually just buy one or two and not a whole box. For suspension make sure you get the proper strength class as John Coffey stated.

Here is the link. http://account.autoglasshosting.com/nswizard/?zip=30188&year=1971&make=Nissan&model=240Z&bodystyle=2+Door+Coupe&_ob=WS&_os=&opening=WS&A=Q&acct=w2g The windshield will have the tint band at the top and not be OEM without the band. I know some want an exact replica without the tint band, but it is more expensive. If you are ok with the tint band it is not a bad price. Once you order you will have to pick it up at one of their warehouses in the ATL area. For me the Norcross location was closest.

I am in metro Atlanta and for what its worth bought a windshield from Windshields to Go for $120 and picked it up in Norcross. I ordered the weatherstrip from Black Dragon and the trim pieces from Courtesy Nissan. I am attempting the install myself and have put the weatherstrip around the windshield and put the trim in as I thought people said it is easier to do it this way before installing the windshield. The lip on the weatherstrip is not covering the trim in the lower corners properly. I don't know if this will rectify itself when the windshield is in. Post how you make out with Eddie and I'll post when I solve the problem I am having. Good luck.

Just curious, are you talking about the corner piece that overlaps the long trim pieces? or the lower trim that starts at the top of the windshield corner and bends around the lower corners and meets in the lower middle on the bottom? I was thinking of removing the left and right long trim pieces installing the windshield and than putting in the trim hoping that once the weatherstrip and windshield is installed the gap I am getting with the trim would go away. What did they charge to install the front and rear glass?

Oops. At least we didn't call it a beta.

Is that Scotty from Star Trek checking out the Alpha? Must have just beamed down to check it out.

I can't help with the rear hatch, I haven't started that yet but was wondering if you did the front windshield and are using the Black Dragon weatherstrip for that. If you did , did you have a problem with the lower corners on the outside of the windshield covering the chrome trim properly? I have a post with pics showing what I mean.

I wedged playing cards under the inside corner of the seal and kept adding cards until it lifted the rubber over the chrome and now looks right. But that creates a separation against the glass that will need to be filled. I imagine if I fill it with black silicone, I'll be able to see it from the inside of the car. I wondering if the problem is the Black Dragon aftermarket seal. Has anyone used the aftermarket windshield weatherstripping from Black Dragon and had a similar problem? I think if I attempt to bend the chrome, I may regret it.

Amen to that. The fronts were nothing like the rear. I have no idea why they were so tough. They were much harder than the spindle pins. CG, great looking assembly. Better than new. Keep it going.

I saw that and don't know about trying to bend them out. I was afraid I would make it worse. It makes me wonder what has changed as these were genuine Nissan trim pieces. Is the windshield different or the weatherstrip? It only set me back an hour putting the pieces in but my thumbs are still sore. I may try bending them before I finalize or get an installer to put the windshield in.

That was a great commercial. Now he can finish the job and put the car back in drive. J.K. I thought this ebay item best expresses how some feel. http://www.ebay.com/itm/170580268408?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Black Dragon was actually more than Courtesy. I paid $85. I have seen them on ebay for as low as $40 after I already bought it. I have read people advise doing the trim before you put in the window as it is easier. Since your window is in, I certainly would leave it in and work with it. Working the rubber lip over the trim was not hard but it takes time and will result in thumb blisters. I tried the green tool that you see in the pic, but I couldn't get it to work for me. I only used the hair dryer on the corner trim pieces. I am hoping the gap I am asking about goes away once installed but I doubt it. I guess I will be left with blending in a bead of black silicone to seal it in the corners. The next thing is the rope trick after I get the original out and clean out the caulk.

I installed the weatherstrip around my new windshield. The weatherstrip was from Black Dragon and not perfect. The top left quarter had a squiggle in the rubber. The trim I got from Courtesy Nissan. My window was a hack job by the po using silicone caulk. Besides looking like crap it leaks. Installing the trim pieces was not to bad. I started with the left then right then top. I put the trim in the outside lip and using my thumb rolled the inside lip over the trim piece. The corners were tough but I heated them with a hair dryer and it went in ok. I did not use any sealant for the weatherstripping or trim. The left and right pieces overlapped in the center by 5/8 of an inch. I debated cutting this off but decided to just overlap them thinking I may bend the trim. I put the finishing small trim pieces in, again with no sealant. I could not get the lower corners to push tight up against the trip. Here are some pics. The second two are the lower corners. Some questions. Is there a solution for the corners? Is installing this without any sealant ok? Would a window installer really have done this for $50 total? Thanks.

I understand the frustration in the bay area. I was in SF and was driving through the business district. There were lots of traffic lights and lots of bicyclists. The cyclists would manuever and spread across the road at the red lights in front of all the cars. Once the light turned they would head off and slowly migrate to the right by the time you could get around them they delayed you so much that you would get stopped at the next light and they would catch up and pull in front of you again and the whole process would begin again, light after light. It was not pleasant. The problem is that cities have not built enough bike lanes. It should be a mandate in areas where bikes are prevalent that roads install bike lanes or at least any improvements or new roads include them. When roads are barely wide enough for a car that is when most of the problems arise with cyclists, same problem with joggers. More cycling would reduce the demand for gas and that is a good thing. I don't understand the aggressive cyclists. Going up against a car, an unknown driver, maybe aggressive as well? Right - you lose.

Mike, I did see the other posts but decided to leave as is hoping that you or Carl would respond and hopefully have some information on the car. I also saw you posted an article about Wick's car for sale in some magazine you had from the 90's compared to the first z officially sold in America (#16) asking "which would you rather have?" The search continues...

Wick, great book and I am glad some money is still coming your way. I have been though the book numerous times and you gave great tips and insights into restoring these cars. Thanks for publishing the book. The vin # is HLS30 - 03547, you cover that in your book on page 203, chapter 13 "Z-Car Identification" middle of the page second paragraph. I liked the copy of the invoice on page 200, that shows the vin as HL530- 03547. I don't know where the 5 comes from. I googled the new number and Carl Beck a member of this forum posted the following in February, 2009 Enjoy "HLS30 00026 is of course Chris's... and HLS30 03547 was Bill Regan's. You'll note the lack of the "Rear Window Defroster" being listed. The later 70 Window Stickers included it. FWIW, Carl B" I am sure you will find the owner of this car with such a famous pedigree. Good luck!

Thanks for the link, Sounds like the booster. It happened again when I left work last night and it was only 30 degrees out. I didn't like the instance where someone had it happen when they were driving on the highway. I called the dealer service department and the guy said my pads were probably frozen to the rotor. I would think from your link this should be a tsb due to the severity of the problem. I am going to check the booster hose. A few months ago I did do the seafoam cleaner method of sucking in through the booster vacuum. I wonder if this messed up something.

Forgive me for posting this and moderators please move or delete if it is offensive or out of lone, but I respect the collective knowledge of this forum and hope someone may know the answer. I have an 04 3.5 Altima. This morning it was 18 degrees, colder than normal for the Atlanta area. The car was left out overnite and when I backed out of the driveway and hit the brakes to stop, there was no stopping. The pedal was hard and fortunately I was going slow so didn't roll to far and no one was on the road. I pulled forward and still no brakes for around 45 seconds when it finally loosened up and I had brakes again. I have never experienced this in any car. So I am wondering is it water in the fluid that froze and formed a plug or something else? I am thinking at a minimum I will change the fluid.

Is there that much of an advantage in swapping to a 3.70 from a 79 280ZX over the stock 3.54 it came with? I am assuming the 7/77 build date came with a stock 5 speed and 3.54 rear. Is this not right? Thanks Leon, ZH and Greg. I'll look at the sites mentioned.

I have my differential cover off and both of my rear brake drums. I am getting ready to take all of my suspension parts to be powder coated. I am wondering what is best for the aluminum pieces - differential and drums. Is it ok to sand blast these parts or is the aluminum too soft. What is the best way to clean the aluminum to get it looking shiny and new. If I can get it shiny and new I can either leave looking this way and clear coat them. What is the best cleat coat for these parts. The drums probably need something that can handle the heat. If the aluminum is too hard to get shiny and new looking, would you just powder coat them in silver or whatever other color one chooses? Thanks all.

I am guessing 79 280zx as it had the 280zx written on the case. Also if it is not lsd that would also indicate the 79. I was just wondering as the write up in the datsun garage listing all of the differentials did not indicate the 3.70 was available prior to the 300zx. Thanks for the help.

I am counting 37 teeth on the large ring gear and 10 on the pinion - 3.70. What year was this made for? I read on the Datsungarage site a 3.70 was a lsd starting in 1987 which would be a 300zx. The stamping on the ring gear H37 10, does this refer to the 3.7. The yellow paint on the case showing 280zx has me confused. It definitely is an R200.

I got the cover off using a punch. There are two extra holes in the cover that line up over the cover. These holes were somewhat sealed with grease and dirt so had to look for them and clean them out. I took a punch and tapped. I covered the end of the punch with electrical tape to not score the cover. I knew I had success as the sound of the tap went from a higher pitch to a lower pitch.