Walter Moore

On the unleaded fuel issue, I have the feeling that the author doesn't live in North America. The cars that were sold in the U.S., (and I think Canada...) after 1975 came from the factory with a catalitic converter, and thus had the hardened intake seats installed. (Leaded gas plugs converters in only a few thousand miles of operation.) Leaded gasoline has not been legal for street use in the U.S. for nearly 20 years.

Somewhere years ago I saw a picture of a Dixie Chopper riding lawn mower with a jet helicopter engine on the back. Talk about overkill. Nitromethane is powerful stuff. They use it because it doesn't need air to burn. People have used it for rocket fuel, it doesn't require an oxidizer, it is its own. But then those motors are rebuilt after every 1/4 mile.

I know nothing about the car, except that it was in our employee parking lot about 4 or 5 times during the month. We could never find the owner... Or he didn't want to be identified.

Hi all, I spent most of November in Japan, and the only car that I saw that was even close to a Fairlady was this Skyline. I know that it isn't a Z, but it is pretty nice.

I wouldn't do that on a bet. If the jack slipped and that spring got loose it would kill you. I friend of mine (who I swear has an angel on his shoulder) had a car spring escape uncontrolled once, and it tore a hole through the outside wall of his garage. He found it out in the yard. In fact, I wouldn't try your friend's method with removing the nut then jacking up the car either. Saving time is nice, but I prefer to keep all my body parts attached.

For the record, the only DC motors that require an "electronic controller" are "brushless" motors, not magnet-less motors. They (brushless motors) have to be electronically commutated to keep the moving field produced by the stationary windings in the stator ahead of the permanent magnet of the armature. Permanent magnet DC motors of any size are a fairly recent development. It used to be that all DC motors had windings on both the armature (the moving part) and the stator (the stationary part). Really large motors (like the ones on train locomotives) are still mostly that way because the flux density of those motors is so great it tends to demagnetitize permanent magnets. Sorry, that had nothing at all to do with the discussion at hand... just painful flash-backs to my motor's class of long ago. I still remember that the equations for series wound motors were completely different than shunt wound motors vs series-shunt vs shunt-series vs... Arrgh! The MADNESS!!!!!

If it is like a 240z, which I suspect that it is, it takes an M8 X 1.25 bolt. The bracket has a blind hole 32mm deep, so somthing in the 40 - 45 mm length range should work.

As I understand it however it was more than just different badges. The 2.8 liter motor was sent to the states, but not to Europe. (I have no idea if it was sold elsewhere...) Several sources that I have read on other (non-Z) cars state that in most European countries there are significant taxes imposed on cars with "large displacement" engines, and that catagory begins at 2.8 liters. Many different explainations exist for this, but the one I believe rings true is that the displacement of the flat-head 4 cylinder engine in the Ford model T was 2.8 liters, (more or less...) and those countries were trying to even the playing field. Of course, a tax, once imposed is never recended. The U.S. federal income tax was originally said to be temporary, just until they paid off the debt from WWI. :tapemouth

I'm not sure about an L28 motor, but on the two piece, three row pulley that is on the front of an L24, the timing marks are on the back side (motor side) of the piece that is keyed. The front pulley is not used for timing the engine, and can go on in either of the two possible positions. I am sure someone will correct me about the later motors...

An RX4? Man I haven't seen one of those in over 20 years...

It is 27mm, but a typical inpact socket will not fit because the wall thickness it too great. I pulled my hair out trying to find a socket, until I realized that 1 1/6" = 26.9875mm... and that sockets aren't nearly that precise.

I tend to agree with beandip, don't remove solid paint unless you are not sure what it is hiding. As you can see from my picture I did remove all the paint on my car, but that was only because whever I hit it with a sander I hit bondo, and I wanted to know what I was up against. (old repair panels mostly, that some previous owner had "blended in" with body filler and an oar... in some places it was 1/4" thick.) But the factory paint, if it is solid and not hiding rust, is a better base than anything else you are likely to apply later. Just what I have come to believe.

The pump prices here change twice a day. There seem to be a ripple effect, as stations raise their price, lose business to a lower competetor, lower their prices to try and get some business back, and then have to raise their price again to make money... I have seen $1.91/gal to $2.08/gal over the past week... sometimes at the same station. Oh, and for those outside the U.S., back when gas was selling here for $1.00/gal taxes were about 35% of that price, where as in some places I have read that taxes account for nearly 90% of the price. Just an observation, not an excuse or a jab. Our taxes haven't gone up, so the difference between then and now is mostly oil prices.

You know I thought that the whole issue of whether or not the Z cars would get more respect if they didn't have "Datsun" badges on them was silly, until I ask a guy at work who recently bought a new Infinity "So how is your Datsun running these days?" His response was unprintable... Needless to say I guess my opinon has been modified somewhat...

Ok, really stupid question... Are you guys using those aftermarket coil-over rear suspensions to achieve toe in/out adjustment, or is there something that I missed when I put my rear suspension back together? I didn't see anything that looked even remotely adjustable on the entire rear suspension.

That is why the PO of my car cut the shifter opening of the transmission tunnel up. When I first removed the engine and transmission I noticed that the sheet metal had been cutout at the front of the shifter opening. All they did on my car was to make two cuts on the side of the opening and roll the excess forward. Be careful however, as somewhere in all of that the plastic piece on the leading edge of the console ended up cracked slightly. I suspect from hard shifts into third.

Don't take this the wrong way, but the 318 was never exactly a power house of a motor was it? Now the 340... that is a different story.

Good plan... remove the car from the grips of the V8 guy. My guess is that he only understands Holleys. Not that there is anything wrong with that, if you only work on old Fords...

Yes, the late 60's and early 70's muscle cars were cool, they could pass anything except a gas station. 7 to 9 miles to the gallon of gas is pretty typical in those things. And they don't corner very well. :classic:

Did anyone else here post any information on Automobile Magazine's list of "The 100 coolest cars of all time"? I only ask be cause the 240Z made the list... at number 55. That is in the bottom half, and way below their opinon of the 63 Corvette and 911, but it did beat out the "Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee" 68 Charger :cheeky: I am not sure I would agree with the list, but at least they agree that the Z is "cool"

Apparently the seller can't count. There are 6 wires coming off of the distributor... Perhaps he means that only 4 of the cylinders work.

Do not take this post as a flame on anyone. I do not ever intentionally try to provoke people. (Is that spelled right? :stupid: ) Ask Vanessa Williams or Dr. Laura what's her name who owns the rights to photographs... (They learned the hard way.) The basic law in the U.S. at least is that the photographer owns ALL rights to the photographs that he(she) takes. This is particularly true of photographs taken in public places. (Like car shows.) The doctrine of fair use generally only covers casual or academic settings, and would never allow for a photograph to be "harvested" off of this or any other web site for use on another without the owners express permission. (excluding cases where the owner had expressly relinquished those rights of course.) You do not have to apply for a copyright for material that you have produced. It is yours plain and simple. Unless the posting agreement of this site explicitely permits the re-posting of these photographs everywhere then copying the photograph to other web sites is not an allowable act. I doubt that anyone is actually interested in enforcing it, but posting pages from a technical manual here without permission is essentially a copyright violation. It may be covered by fair use, but be aware that the whole issue of fair use is once again under attack in the U.S. because the movie industry and the music industry are rabidly trying to protect their questionable claims to the intelectual property they control.

Let's hope the "fat DMV lady" doesn't read this thread. :paranoid:

I really don't know when they first REQUIRED seat belts in cars in the U.S. I THINK that they were optional until the 1967 model year, but I could be wrong. I know that the first shoulder belts that I ever saw were in a 1971 model. (Maybe they were required for the 1970 model year?) The 1968 Ford Fairlane my parents had only had lap belts. The early shoulder belts were really uncomfortable, and they were separate from the lap belt. Normally they were also non-retractable. The first three point lap and shoulder belt fully retractable setup I ever saw was in a 1974 model. That was also the model year that the U.S. government snuck in some un-announced requirement that the car makers had to disable the ignition unless someone first sat in the drivers seat and then buckled the seat belt. :mad: That lasted all of about 6 months before Congress got the message that there was going to be a backlash at the polls and the requirement was suddenly repealed. I don't think the N.H.T.S.A. even existed in 74, wasn't that a Jimmy Carter era creation? Well whomever it was they got their hand slapped. :devious:

Cars manufactured before 1982 do not have what the U.S. DOT considers a true VIN, they have manufacturer's serial numbers. I have read that there is no reliable national database that can be used to trace stolen, or wrecked beyond repair, vehicles of this age. I did not spend a dime on my restoration project until I recieved a title for it in my name from the state BMV. The title that I recieved with mine was a 1984 duplicate title issued to replace a lost 1981 title. But it was at least an Indiana title so I didn't need to have the VIN plate inspected by a state offical. I have bought a lot of older cars, and very frequently I have discovered later that the person who "Sold" me the car was actually curb-stoning it. (That is they bought it but never titled it, or paid the sales/registration taxes on it...) That is a frequent enough occurance to explain Bill's mystery of the car from 95. I wouldn't even consider moving VIN plates from one Z car to another, because that serial number is on the car in 4 places. Not to mention that it is a felony in most states... Eventually it would catch up with you. What has to be done here (in Indiana) on a title mixup is to find the legal owner of the car (According to the state BMV) and try to beg them to sign the title over to you. There is a standard form available from the BMV that is a power of attorney certificate valid only for the transfer of a title. Once that form is signed and certified by a notary public, the license branch can request a duplicate title which is mailed to you, after which you take it, and your POA form back to the license branch and transfer the title into your name. In Indiana, the hard part is getting the owner of record to cooperate. There is no way to force them, and if they refuse you are simply out of luck. I know this because a car that I gave away to charity came back to me via the Indianapolis Police department.... along with an inquiry about whether or not it had been stolen. What a mess.