MikeW

I'm not sure that any prices have gone down. I think that some stations aren't raising them as fast as others. The governor has said he's going to crack down on price gouging so we'll see. Here's a site that it providing up to the minute prices: http://www.atlantagasprices.com/ I suspect some of the "high" values shown are bogus and some of the low values shown might be already sold out. I saw one station earlier with no lines and reasonable prices (compared to others, anyhow) but when I pulled in I realized why there were no lines: that had bags on on the pumps. Other stations who've run out are simply taking down the prices from the sign which seems like a better approach. I passed a QT that only had a sign up for premium at $3.09 so perhaps they ran out of the low grade. My understanding is that the middle grade is actually mixed on the spot from the other two. However, just as I passed a tanker was pulling in.

My father had the same problem in Savannah. In his case I'm certain that it was due to a neighbor calling and complaining; I'm sure the police have better things to deal with. Someone apparently thought the car was abandoned, in his driveway, because it appeared as though hadn't moved in such a long time. I think he just cranked it up and backed it out of the driveway to prove that it wasn't derelict and that was good enough. It does still need a good paint job, however ...

Well, I just became part of the panic myself and went and filled up. Actually, it's for my wife's car which really was almost empty and I didn't want her having to deal with it in the morning. I went to the Shell station closest to my house and there were about 10 cars total waiting at 9:30pm for the 4 islands (8 pumps). It's kind of a tight space so it looked a bit chaotic but at least there wasn't a line down the street. I was fortunate in that even though cars were waiting at other pumps the one that I needed (for the right side of the car) was wide open so I quickly pulled in. It ended up being $2.99 for regular.

It's even well over $3.00 here in Atlanta. People here a panicking because of a looming crisis. It turns out that all of the gas in this area comes from the Gulf of Mexico in two pipelines. Both of them are out of commission due to loss of power in Mississippi. There is supposedly 8 days of fuel in storage here in the Atlanta area but everyone is freaking out and filling up right away. Some stations have run out and lines are forming at others. In a way it's funny that the people themselves are causing this problem. Apparently one of the pipelines is now partially operational using generators. Hopefully the other will be up soon. However, with all of the people making a run on the stations now the problem becomes much worse.

I agree with you there.

Unfortunately it's a question of supply and demand. Demand is way up; not just all the SUVs out there but the explosive growth in China. The supply hasn't changed to match the increased demand so the prices rise. Not only has the hurricane shut down much of the Gulf of Mexico oil production but it's also closed some refineries.

According to the member list information he hasn't been online since 8/19. What problem are you having? His harness went in easily for me other than mounting the relays securely and finding good places up front to ground the wires.

They look original but could be exact OEM replacements. The braiding on the hoses is the key. I don't know if those MSA sells are OEM or aftermarket.

There's a 280Z near me with that kind of paint. It kind of switches from green to purple depending on the viewing angle. I've seen it parked in the same spot with a "for sale" sign for a long time but have never bothered to stop and look at it up close. I'm not sure how well it would photograph.

If the coil is bad I think it will be "open", i.e., no reading across it with an ohm meter. At least that's what happened to me a while back when I accidentally left the ignition in the "on" position all night.

I didn't realize the pan was stock on all cars. Somehow I thought it was an optional item. I've never even seen one installed so I suppose a whole bunch of them got discarded.

Not everyone has them. I've personally never used IM. On the other hand, e-mail is instant enough for me. Just last week I was hiking in the Canadian Rockies when someone here sent me a PM which triggered an e-mail notification on my BlackBerry 7100t with a link to this site which I then used to web surf over here to read the message.

I case you hadn't noticed your profile here allows you to enter all of your instant messaging ids. You can even even click on the symbol beneath your avatar to send a message to someone.

I used SEM to go from black and tan panels to a light gray (both plastic and vinyl) with excellent results. Since it comes in white I'm sure it will work just as well. I have some interior shots in my gallery.

The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder + combustion chamber when the piston is at the bottom of the stroke and when the piston is at the top of the stroke. Higher compression ratios can generate more horsepower but make pre-detonation more likely. Unless your car has been modified (pistons, head, crankshaft, etc.) then your compression ratio should be whatever was standard for your model. I don't know of a way of measuring the compression ratio without removing the cylinder head.

Interesting; I didn't know that.

I would think you could even temporarily remove the thermostat and see how hot it gets. The thermostat should be completely open at 160 degrees, which, in Las Vegas in the summer is about 2 minutes after starting the car. After that the thermostat serves no real purpose. If at that point you're still running hot then you know it's not the thermostat ...

I'm just going by the quote on the MSA page that I referenced: "This is a very high quality aftermarket replacement pump. For Carburetor fuel systems only." You may be right in that it could be made by the same manufacturer that Nissan used but just doesn't come in a Nissan box. I'd certainly use it. I've even bought fuel pumps from the local auto parts stores.

The weight is not on the door tag. My 1972 Factory Service Manual lists the following. I copied this exactly but note that there seem to be problems with the numbers. In the US and Canada the automatic seems to weigh 50lbs more but in other areas it only accounts for 2kg (or 4.4lbs) even though it's listed as 70lbs more. I tried to format this as a table but it wouldn't happen. HLS30UV 1,066kg 2,350lbs USA and Canada 4-speed manual HLS30AUV 1,089kg 2,400lbs USA and Canada 3-speed automatic HLS30 1,043kg 2,300lbs LHD 5-speed manual HLS30A 1,045kg 2,370lbs LHD 3-speed automatic HS30U 1,043kg 2,300lbs RHD 5-speed manual HS30AU 1,045kg 2,370lbs RHD 3-speed automatic HLS30Q 1,043kg 2,300lbs LHD for Europe 5-speed HS30Q 1,043kg 2,300lbs RHD for Europe 5-speed

As I recall you can take off the valve cover and easily see the offset cam lobe. However, before you do that, are you sure the fuel is actually getting to the pump? Since the car sat for so long you've presumably drained the bad fuel, blown out the lines with compressed air, and added fresh fuel.

I'd suggest using the private messaging system of this site to avoid publicly posting your e-mail address which could make you a spam target. You can edit the post above to remove your address if you like.

There's a lot of confusion regarding model years. There's whatever the dealer originally claimed as well as when the car was originally registered. Another factor is the "series" of the car. Your car has a lighter above the fusebox which is a sign of an series I or II car. My 9/71 model, which is titled as a '72, has the lighter in the dashboard which was a series III change. 9/71 and 10/71 were certainly transition months and it was quite possible to have overlap during that time. Here's a place to see production changes: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm

My first car was my 1972 240Z. Purchased in 1985 for $2450 with 140,000 miles. Drove for 5 years in college and then let it sit virtually without cranking for about 12 years. Fortunately most of that time was in my semi climate-controlled garage. Now refreshed for a whole lot more money than the original purchase price and has about 190,000 miles. My daily driver is a 1990 240SX that I bought new. The only 2 cars I've owned in 20+ years if you don't count my wife's cars.

Well, a speck checker doesn't help when you spell "site" as "sight". I have that problem all the time. What we need is a proofreader. Have a look at the Google Toolbar. Is has lots of great functionality including spell checking any web page which contains input fields. It's free and available for Internet Explorer and just recently FireFox.