Kurbycar32

The automatic transmission is directly responsible for the pussification of Americans

The seals are actually salvageable without destroying a hatch if they are in good shape and still pliable. If the seals are old and crusty they wont be pliable enough to use with your glass anyway. So the way i see it, if you cant pull the seal out of another vehicle intact you didnt want it anyway. Black dragon lists new seals for that model pretty cheap actually: http://www.blackdragonauto.com/features/z/zrh3.htm

That worked, thanks for the measurements. I was able to install the evaporator and all the tubes lined right up, the factory grommet looks good too.

By the way your lucky that its not leaking all over your carpet

Thats definitely the heater box drain tube, but that's clearly green coolant on the outside of that tube. I suspect something is leaking within the heater box, or at least into it.

Lotus. Their whole existence has been based on the "light is might" motto. Their exige is basically a street legal go cart: http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/our-cars/current-range/exige-s Ive seen used lotus Elise models for around 30k

Ive actually been on the forum since about July but mostly just lurking and collecting information. About me: My first project was a POS fox body mustang that was given to me as my first car. It was a legitimate basket case but i ended up touching every part of it at least twice, swapping motors and even transplanting a fuel injection system. I then moved away for college, dumped the heap and concentrated on motorcycles. The bikes were easy to keep in a car port or even drag into the living room for work plus i learned a bunch about fiberglass and weight distribution. I started looking for a project car when i was about 27 with the following requirements: It had to be pre-smog (1975) for california It needed to handle well (most american cars out) my wife had to like it it couldnt be ugly I briefly considered a Ford Maverick due to my Mustang experience and it generally met my requirements but thought it was too ugly and my wife didn't like it. The Z series came up constantly and was always my number one choice, but the wife wanted a 4 seater so i ended up without a car. When I was 28 my father asks me to help him find a Z car for him to restore. He owned a 260z when i was a kid and he loved it but he needed a daily driver for his 160 mile daily commute. His Z was pretty reliable but he didn't have the time to keep it running, plus as a mechanic the last thing he wanted to work on was another car. He ended up with a series of Ford escorts that he literally threw away every 5-6 years. Since he hadn't been a mechanic for about 20 years he was ready for some recreational wrenching. So at this point I'm thinking dad is an A-hole for asking me to help him buy the car I have been lusting over for years, but he's the dad so i roll with it and help look. After a few months a 1974 260z came up for $2200 about 60 miles from home. The car had a really straight body and was surprisingly complete but didn't run, not a problem for a couple of mechanics. After some haggling and discovery of DMV fees we pick up the car for $1600. Dad has his Z, I go home and vent to the wife. Dad and i have some father son weekend mechanic action and get the car started and running the first weekend of ownership. After the second weekend its mobile and after 4 weeks its basically a car again though kind of clunker. During all of this dad has me sourcing all of his parts which was confusing but i figured he was busy or something so i just handled it. After seeing our "male bonding" activity's my wife decides that the Z is a pretty awesome car and decides I probably should get one too. I start looking.. My 29th birthday rolls around and dad just hands me the keys to the Z. It turns out that was his secret plan all along since he knew I wanted one. There was a reason i was always there when it was being worked on, why i was finding all of the parts, why i was selecting which things to upgrade, why i ended up buying all the special tools. Way to go dad Flash forward to now. I have owned the car since July and its now painted and in really good running condition. Currently I have the dash out, its been cleaned and had all the bulbs changed. Theres also an AC system going in. The goal is to have a daily driver with AC by the time summer comes. Thats the life story as it relates to the Z. Kurbycar32, owner of RLS30005643 I take pictures of everything i do. Im putting together a web site for the car project thats mostly just pictures but ill keep adding to it and eventually put some stories in. https://sites.google.com/a/thecomputerrehab.com/260z/home

nope no hole and i have the dash out too, nice and clean on both sides. Its virgin metal, even factory puke green on the inside

By the way the aftermarket AC system passed thru the passenger side of the car whereas the factory system passes thru the drivers side

The car i have came with aftermarket air that was in shambles and missing pieces. I took the entire AC system out of a 280z at a junk yard so i could add it to my 260 since I know it was available as an option and besides this missing set of holes everything was a simple bolt on. My car does not have a block off plate which is why i asked for the measurements. I have done this same procedure on a fox body mustang and also a '97 Ford Ranger, they both had block off plates so i didn't have to drill anything. Heres a pic of my firewall, you can see its just flat steel.

yup, thats the spot and im pretty sure its the same on the 280's as well. Some measurements would get me on my way. I wasnt thinking about it at the time when i pulled all of the AC parts out of the junkyard

I'm adding a factory AC system to my early 260z and need to drill the holes in the firewall to pass the AC lines thru. I purchased the correct grommet but i don't have another vehicle to reference the hole location. I'm sure i could line up where everything goes and guess but if at possible I want this to look OEM. If any of you have AC and can grab some measurements and a picture for me on the hole locations I would appreciate it.

you might try writing that in Chinese on one of their "I'm new to middle-class" forums, otherwise your out of their target audience.

The new Datsuns will be crappy commuter boxes for third world countries, Im not interested in the vehicles. What does interest me is that we may potentially be able to get things like brand new seat belts and emblems that are Datsun branded. Edit: None of the images of the new logo showed up when i wrote the above, the new logos suck

I yanked my valve and cleaned it while i had my dash apart, it was also stuck shut. the valves are really expensive to replace but i think you could fix it like this: -disconnect the 2 hoses that pass thru the firewall at the firewall, the firewall pass thru tubes are only inches from the valve. your almost guaranteed to make a mess if your coolant is full -with the coolant out of the valve squirt in some wd-40 and let it sit a few minutes. That trickle should be enough to get the coolant at least lower than the valve -work the valve arm directly, don't use your heater controls if they are stiff or you might break something -it should break free and start acting like a valve again. If it doesn't try yanking the valve and cleaning it in the sink like i did. You wont need to pull the whole heater core or anything but the valve is pretty tight in there and likely attached to rotted hoses which will disintegrate on contact which is why i suggested trying the above method first. No guarantees, good luck

Complete dash removal shouldn't be necessary. Post pics of the new core when it shows up, id love to see it

Yup, depending on temp and humidity that paint could be off-gassing for over a month. NYC in the winter, could be longer. Ask your paint guy

basically the same thing but you could use JBweld. That stuff is so strong you could even drill holes in it an tap it for new screws if you needed to.

FYI i attempted to buy a heater core from both kragen(oriley) and autozone here in the USA. Both were from a company called Spectre and despite having a total of 5 heater cores delivered every one of them arrived rusted and corroded. I checked out Napa and rockauto, they listed the same manufacturer. The manufacturers website even shows the sample heater core corroded so i gave up. I found a local radiator shop that was able to get one for about $85. it looks brand new and they pressure tested it on the bench right there for me. The moral of the story is that if at all possible try an source it locally from a company that actually deals with radiators.

I used Megamat that was made out of butyl. 100% synthetic, sticks perfectly and zero smell. The traditional dynomat is made out of basically roofing tar so its got a bad reputation for stench. Butyl is also completely air-tight once its adhered so it should in theory make it impossible to rust from the inside. Just to be sure though i coated the interior steel with a rust proofing paint

Tips: Its tedious and boring, beer helps Warm weather helps. If its cold try storing the dynomat in the house before application It doesn't need to be installed 3 layers thick like the audio forums show I like to pull the backing off about an inch at first then remove as its being installed to prevent accidental sticking Measure twice, cut once. then swear and cut again, see tip #1 Really sharp scissors work well for odd shapes dont be afraid to put in a relief cut, it doesnt need to be water proof so shape it like fabric

i think thats part of your map light. I just pulled the map light out of my early 260z and it looked similar

I recently purchased the full cover from MSA and i think its great. This picture is of the cover not even installed, i just needed someplace to put it without getting damaged and figured on the dash would be a good place so i literally just pushed it on. I went with the full cover so there wouldnt be a line in the middle of the dash and the cover wouldn't be obvious. Also i was in a wrecking yard a few months ago and found a car that had a dash cover installed ages ago. Despite the Z missing a windshield and living in a junk yard for who knows how long you couldnt tell the dash had a cover on it without looking at the edges real hard. The moral of the story is to go with the full cover to avoid the line in the middle of the dash. In your extreme are you should probably get a carpet style dash cover too so protect the next one. how long did your old one last?

i bought butyl sound deadening material from megamat, zero smell. the lower level dynomat, like peel and seal, uses basically road tar so it stinks when hot and shrinks when cold so adhesion can be an issue. Dynomat makes butyl based material as well in their "Xtreme" series but it was super expensive.

If anyone cares: As stated by the OP, the 15/16" brake master cylinder is listed at most auto parts stores for about $35.. but they aren't available. I checked with every auto parts dealer within 50 miles of me and rock auto online, nobody could actually get one without the reservoirs. i had kragen and pep boys contact their supplier and they were told people weren't sending in cores for that model and they are now unavailable.