Everything posted by MikeW
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This is interesting.
Read the above two sentences and tell me you believe this is possible. The only way to become airborne and be going faster than you were on the road is if you hydroplaned off the side of a cliff. The real problem here is that you lose some reaction time when it starts hydroplaning because your foot is not on the gas pedal and you don't realize as soon. The extra time required to disengage the cruise control can be critical. The following has the best explanation of the situation: http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
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New MSA parts
I'm encouraged to see in the latest MSA sales flyer that they have some new 240Z parts. Besides a new aluminum radiator and aluminum driveshaft, there's a modern fusebox. It's apparently made more durable than the original and uses modern plug-in fuses: http://www.motorsportauto.com/flyer/flyer_13.htm
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rear control arms
FYI: I'm fairly sure the rear control arms were unchanged from 70 to 78 so you may not have to look as hard.
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Santa Cruz Chapter?
I was in Scott's Valley recently and saw a really nice orange 240Z. Not sure if the owner is a member here but I'm sure there are some in your area.
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Jasper engine side
It's a company that specializes in high-quality engine rebuilding. They'll take your old engine and make it like new with a 3 year 75000 mile warranty. http://www.jasperengines.com/
- Zxparts on Ebay
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350Z roadster
Actually, I was taking a picture of the car as she walked in front of the camera. It was purely an accident. The sad part is that the roadster was an automatic.
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350Z roadster
Check out my latest gallery upload. One of the local Nissan dealers just happened to trailer over a 350Z roadster to the Georgia Z Car club meeting last night. While I took many photos of it I figured you guys might be interested in this one as it contains a regular posting member of this club in the foreground: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=6375&password=&sort=7&thecat=997
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350Z roadster
August 2003 Georgia Z car club meeting. The car roof seen in the foreground is a 280Z so this picture is legal.
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Choke lever hassle
Years ago I fabricated a cheap aluminum bracket to mount the choke handle assembly to the transmission tunnel, not to the plastic center console. Now I don't have to worry about cracking the console since there's no longer any pressure on it.
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HELP! I can't find any specs
Well, I don't know what the tolerances are. Other than the obvious decimal place problem the .293 vs .291 may not really matter. However, if you're going to give the precision to 3 decimal places you might as well get it right. Me giving it to the nearest millionth of an inch is rather pointless as well.
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HELP! I can't find any specs
Well, they're both wrong: 6.7mm = 0.26378 inches 7.4mm = 0.291339 inches (divide mm by 25.4 to get inches)
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Front Valance
I'm happy with mine mainly because of the price. It was $189 from MSA and showed up a few days after I ordered it. To replace the 3 original metal pieces would have cost a lot more. Since it's a bolt-on replacement I can always go back to the original later if I change my mind.
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What brand of tools do you use?
I bought some nice wrenches from Ace Hardware recently. They may be cheapo Taiwan products for all I know but they work very well. I'm sure other vendors have the same product but the ratcheting action makes these better than a non-ratcheting combination wrench. I bought 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, and 17mm figuring that those size would cover much of a Z. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1286811
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An Idea
Personally I can't imagine buying any car on EBay without seeing it in person and thoroughly inspecting it first. How many ads say "rust free"?
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An Idea
I don't think I've ever seen a firewall for sale.
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Front Valance
My front was banged up as well and I went with the urethane air dam from MSA. It's actually made by Xenon. It replaces all 3 front pieces. You have to drill holes and move the turn signals (on a 240 anyhow). I think all of the commercial air dams work this way. The only kind that doesn't bolt on to the existing valance is the "spook" type. You can see what mine looks like in a few of my gallery pictures. It's still the un-painted black.
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An Idea
I'd prefer to see some sort of internal lists without prices. Occasionally people post that they're parting out a car or have something or other for sale. A bunch of people will chime in with requests. Sometimes 4 people will all want the same part or months later will ask if something is still available. People also say they're looking for certain things (seat mechanism screws or map lamp enclosure, etc.). I've asked for things and have privately purchased stuff from members here. I've also provided stuff. It would be great if there was a mechansim where everyone could simply create a list of "stuff they have" and "stuff they want". The going price is not an issue since there'd be simply too much variation in condition, etc. As things are sold you could then cross it off the list but list the price to give others an idea of market values. The important thing is that the list be kept up to date. If you say you have something and then sell it or if you take those doors to the landfill make sure that your list is updated accordingly. We all might have something that someone else is really looking for but it's just sitting there collecting dust. I don't think the current forum mechanism would work for this but perhaps there's something else that would. Instead of a "My Gallery" we need a "My Parts".
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A/C, MSA, Courtesy Nissan, Vintange Air, other?
As far as I know the 72's didn't come with any factory air. Mine (which I removed years ago) was a dealer installed option with a big Borg Warner compressor. I'll probably go with the complete kit just because it's easy. $700 or so for the Courtesy or MSA kit (they're probably the same kit) doesn't seem at all unreasonable. I've paid more than that to get AC repaired in more modern cars (i.e., a new compressor, etc.)
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dash restoration
I'm interested as well. The problem, however, is going to be finding enough people that are also willing to do it at the same time. Some already have their cars stripped down so it's not a problem. Others might still be driving the car and will need to somehow schedule the downtime.
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Makes ya wonder doesn't it?
You apparently missed out on 8 more: http://www.snopes.com/humor/jokes/fbitop20.htm
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Front quarter view
Nope. I actually picked the color out of a book at the paint store 18 years ago. DuPont Imron #44438 if I recall correctly. It's old and faded now so it will be getting new paint before long. The car was originally #113 green but had already been painted twice more when I bought it.
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Maybe some help
I noticed that as well before I mentioned the shipping costs being a factor. I have no idea what it would cost you to get a complete engine from the west coast to Oklahoma but you better figure another several hundred dollars. Air freight would certainly be more.
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Maybe some help
While the prices quoted are no doubt in Australian dollars ($2500 AUS = $1700 US) be aware that shipping will be expensive. Also, if you were to have a problem with your engine you probably wouldn't want to have to ship it back.
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A quiz for the freaks....
I recall having 13mm exhaust manifold nuts but 12mm intake manifold nuts. Of course - they might not have been original.