Captain Obvious

One of my best as well!! Was that really a year ago??

Wait, I have another idea. Maybe the problem isn't the valve cover at all. Maybe it's the motor mounts. I'm thinking if you put the mounts on the other way to rotate the whole thing 180 degrees and use a dry sump oil system? That... just... might... work! OK, I'm done now. CapO out.

Haha! All seven isn't necessary. One will suffice. I promise it'll run better. So, is that seriously how someone put that thing together? As a joke, or do you think they really didn't know better? Or do you think they were just looking for a place to hold the carbs so they weren't flopping around during transit?

I can see the problem easy. It's the wrong valve cover for that engine. If you send me the 2400 cover, I'll send you back the right one. You just cover shipping?

Now that's the kind of info that makes this place wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

Walter, Glad to see you're OK. Limit the screen time and do what the Dr. orders. I just didn't see any action from you and the last thing you posted included mention of a concussion. Just a little concerning that you went quiet. I'm not local to you, but if there's anything I can do from a distance, don't hesitate to ask.

So there's a lot of chatter on this thread, but one person is conspicuously absent... Walter. I hope he's doing OK. Is there anyone in his local area that can check in and make sure? Ask if there's anything the Z community can do to help out right now?

Sorry, I wasn't implying that it was all about the bling. Without the attempted humor, what I meant was... If you exhaust other alternatives and are completely stuck without a replacement, I'll make one. It's just expensive. But I do carve the distribution blocks out of what some would call billet. I'm surprised with how few options there are too. I guess that most people convert over to the internally oiled cams and get rid of the bar completely? It sounds like you found a suitable replacement?

Haha! Well if the owner is really desiring "billet" bling, send me PM. Bling $$ for something that not everyone has is something I can do.

You'll never get one of the early versions to hold together. It's really a botched design. The new version, however, is fine. I've never researched the timeline to figure out when exactly they changed it. My only data point is my old 260 built in 3/74 had the old style bar.

Yes... Yes it is. And I think you're out of your mind, yet wish you the best of luck, all at the same time.

Please. I know it's far fetched, but that would be a neat project. One of those "just because you can" kind of things.

I think so too. I don't know how much he's holding out for, but I'm still surprised he's got a reserve somewhere over 58K. I'm half torn between the two mindsets of A) "More power to ya!! The higher you can drive the price, the better for all of us" and B) the seeming arrogance of turning away a bid of just under $60K for that car.

Yup, That's the early and later version. I'm sure they're both NLA from Nissan, but they pop up on ebay. I certainly can't make a replacement for anywhere near the $60 that those sold for. If you can find one of the newer versions for sixty bucks, buy it!

This is a very sad event. Glad you're still with us, and I hope you figure out an acceptable path forward with the Z.

I haven't made one of those in a while. I've been steering people towards buying the second (improved) design bar that Nissan replaced the original with.

Out of curiosity... What is the cylinder to cylinder spacing on that Bimmer engine? That ITB injector bank would sure look neat bolted to an L6.

And if you are 100% sure, then is it worth over $60K to you? Because last time this thing was on ebay, it went "reserve not met" at over $58K. Here's the thread last time we talked about it: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55453-0064/

Mud, I think I've got one driver's side rubber end on the way, but I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to get them to look right. I cut my original passenger side up today (it was already cracked), and I'm not thrilled about how it turned out. I should have waited until I had a spare... So after you've given fair warning to the occupants, I'd love to have another set to refine the process. Gorilla tape or not. PM me if you get the chance.

Thanks to gwri8, I've sourced a set of spare bumper mounts for this project, but I'm still on the hunt for the front rubber bumper ends. Anyone have both sides available? They don't have to be pristine and can even be split in two at the accordion. BGM, I'm sending you PM about the one side you have.

gwri8, Sending you PM right now.

I've decided that I would like to move forward with this project and I would like a spare set of bumper shocks to modify. Any of you 280 guys who have changed over to the 240 bumpers got their old bumper shocks laying around unwanted after the swap? And if anyone has a pair of the rubber 77/78 bumper ends that have already split I'm interested in them as well. I'm going to section and shorten them, so it would be better if I started with a pair that are already damaged rather than sacrifice a good pair. Anyone got a pair that are already cracked?

Onions. I understand completely. I don't have pics, but I have seen the visor with it's skin off. IIRC, it's just a wire frame outline with a vinyl skin heat sealed around it. Should be pretty easy for someone of your skill to recover. I think if I were taking on the project, I would try to come up with a way to fill in the wire frame center with a piece of some kind of rigid sheet. Thin wood? Sheet metal? Something.

Congrats! I wonder what the guys with all the shiny supercharger bling thought about you pulling the best engine category!