MikeW

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Microsoft now offers a mapping program similar to Google maps that provides both maps and satellite images. It takes this one step further, however, and offers low-altitude aerial photographs of certain cities in the US. You can even view the aerial photographs from all four compass directions. They literally took multiple photographs from different angles. http://local.live.com When looking in San Francisco at the offices of M5 I actually was able to spot the white 280Z in question. Here's the direct link to that image: http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=37.750605~-122.395487&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1223181

Clearly this car was designed for the US market: LHD, temperature control in Fahrenheit, and an XBox 360 - none of which are even remotely popular in Japan.

Katz is merely a member here, not a supplier. He happens to live in Japan and happens to have what is one of the most technically correct restored cars around. Have a look at his gallery and search for some of his posts and you'll see what I mean ...

That page has always seemed extremely limited to me. I take it he actually sells way more than what's shown?

Considering that you live closer to Japan than I live to MSA and the other California-based vendors listed it seems like parts places there might be a good option for you, at least in terms of shipping costs. The communications barrier might be a bigger problem although we do have a number of members who might be able to help you out there. It would also help if you could list some of the specific parts you're in need of.

Ah, that makes sense. I forgot all about the steering.

Out of curiosity why would that be? I know the throttle linkage is different and the battery and master cylinders are swapped but I thought everything else was the same between LHD and RHD with regard to the engine and manifolds.

I hope you're not trying to do it the hard way but rather you simply consider turning the steering wheel to one side and removing 4 screws a pain ...

Keep in mind that there's a huge difference between "gas" fumes and "exhaust" fumes. I sometimes smell gas after filling up and making a hard turn. The gasoline is obviously sloshing around inside the tank and getting into a hose that needs replacing. Exhaust fumes are more difficult to track down and fix since there are so many ways for them to get in. This is the more common complaint. It's not clear to me from the original post which of these is the problem.

That was an old episode. From what I can tell the 280Z belongs to Scottie Chapman. I think we've talked about it here before. Much of the work is done in the shop at M5 Industries in SF. http://www.m5industries.com/html/MAP.htm They seem to go over to Alameda when they need a lot of space.

For years I have used a free personal proxy server for windows call Proxomitron: http://www.proxomitron.info/ Not only will this prevent a lot of bad stuff from getting on your machine it also makes web surfing a much better experience. It can automatically kill popups and can strip out embedded ads from within web pages. Because it's a proxy server it examines the HTML content that arrives from web servers and manipulates it before it even reaches your browser. Don't like flash multimedia? Kill it. Don't like animated GIF files? Freeze them. Don't like images that are loaded from a different domain? Remove them. It's highly configurable and very easy to use. Since it's a proxy server it will work with any web browser.

I've used SEM as well but at least on the door panels - which were originally tan but changed to black by a previous owner - I at least tried to remove as much of the black as possible using cotton balls and acetone. This was because the old black was cracking and flaking in places and I didn't want to just cover that up with new dye. I suppose it all depends on the condition of the top layer.

So where can I get one for $5-$10? If you're talking about an aftermarket blank then never mind. I think that people are only paying big bucks for an original Nissan key.

John Washington: http://www.reactionresearch.com/rrhistory.html

I'm afraid you might find that most places wouldn't do this kind of work for liability reasons. This is the sad result of a litigious society.

The TIR web page specifically says: NOTE: Product will be ship January 11th 2006 and we will pay the S/H within the USA for International purchases please inquire on the S/H charges

My usual advice to prospective first-time buyers: update your profile on this site to include your location. You should be able to find someone in your area who can help you go over the car. You may be able to find a local Z car expert who you can pay for an inspection.

It's a tight fit but you can get the bumpers on and off without dropping the tank. This is a good place to use ratcheting combination wrenches. Of course, I'm still missing the metal triangular plate that covers access to this area through the wheel well. Bambikiller sent me a paper template a while back to reproduce this part but I still haven't gotten around to it. If you unscrew this plate you'll find that you can get to the right side bumper bolt.

Unfortunately I think you'll find that rust is by far the biggest enemy of early Z cars as well. Putting salt on the roads certainly doesn't help so the best examples tend to come from the warm and dry Southwest US. If you already have a car you're looking at in your area you might consider posting pictures here to get some opinions.

You might want to update your profile here to include your location. It would be a good idea for you to find someone who really knows these cars to inspect whatever car you might be looking to buy as well as possibly give you a chance to check out a finished car to make sure you know what you're getting into.

No, that only lasted until the end of September. That caused another mad rush on stations in the days before the tax was reinstated. Stations were once again depleted. The other bone-headed thing our governor did (in my opinion only and I did vote for him) was to cancel school for a couple of days in order to save diesel fuel for school buses. I'm guessing that one school bus equals about four SUVs in terms of consumption and all of those parents had to take the kids somewhere for those days.

If it really is leaking only when driving you should see evidence of the leak on the engine itself. There are only so many places oil can leak from: oil pan gasket, head gasket, front cover gasket, oil pump, etc. You could always take it to a car wash for a good engine degreasing and then after it's good and clean take it out for a long drive.

Leaking and burning are the only two possibilities, although it's possible to have oil leak into the cooling system in which case you might not notice it right away. My guess is that it really is burning the oil and that it's not completely obvious. Back when my car was burning oil I really only noticed it when driving at night with another car following me. On hard acceleration I'd really see a lot of smoke in their headlights. You might want to look at your spark plugs for evidence of oil fouling.

I paid $1.94 today. It's funny how dropping back below $2 suddenly seems cheap compared to a year or so ago when it first went over $2 and that seemed so expensive.

Perhaps one solution to all of this misinformation is a collaborative effort by people who actually have the facts. It's difficult and expensive to get something properly published and the inevitable typos and other mistakes become rather permanent. I believe that technology can help solve this problem and a popular mechanism for dealing with this is a Wiki. For those of you've who've never heard of a Wiki here's a brief explanation. Perhaps the most popular Wiki currently in existence is the Wikipedia, the "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." As an example, here's the Wikipedia entry for "240Z". There's are probably mistakes in this article. For instance, the discussion of hatch vents is wrong. They were changed in 1971, not 1972. If you're sure you've found a mistake just go ahead and fix it. Want to add something? Feel free. While using the Wikipedia itself for this effort might not be the best location, I think the idea is sound. Anyone can host a Wiki, perhaps even ClassicZCars.com. As more information is unearthed the Wiki could be updated accordingly. In the long run you end up with a living information store that represents the best information from the most knowledgeable people. For all of you who will never go to the trouble of writing and publishing a proper book, here's your chance. Who knows, some of the original designers might even be willing to make small contributions or corrections.