MikeW

That's funny, I saw it in person last night as well. I'm not a big fan of the 280ZX but it's quite amazing (along with the rest of the collection, of course).

I would think that people with other low VIN cars would be those who would most prefer to see this one parted out despite pleas from others in this thread for the car to be saved.

Is that Mom and Dad in the picture? If so one of them seems to be sad to see it going, the other happy to finally get it towed away so she can start parking her Maxima in the garage. Of course, I'm probably reading way too much into that picture.

Did all of these things quit suddenly? It's not so much the 30 year old wires but rather the 30 year old connections between wires. When multiple things fail at once it sounds more like a fuse or fusebox issue.

Must be some really tiny valves to be able to fit 8 per cylinder.

Oh, that's right. I recall using one of those as well. Sorry I didn't mention it sooner. It certainly is a tedious job which is why I remember trying so many different methods.

It's for people who have recently supported the club by donating. It was covered in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29161

I've even referred to myself by that term a few times since I bought my 240Z 23 years ago as a teenager and didn't always know what I was doing back then - not that I know what I'm doing now, of course.

"Private Message". It's a mechanism to communicate with other members privately. Click on hls30.com's screen name and choose "Send a private message to hls30.com"

At first I thought the slogan was on a license plate frame but it's actually on the plate itself: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1151/SAMPLE-DC.html

This is likely due to the difference in URL: http://classiczcars.com vs http://www.classiczcars.com. Both point to the same place but would have different cookies stored by your browser to remember your credentials.

I suspect you are correct and I have to be careful with my wording. Let's get one thing straight: Nissan themselves didn't make any of these parts. Suppliers to Nissan made them and sometimes put the Nissan name on the part and sometimes put their own name on the part, e.g., Hitachi Radio or SU carbs. That same supplier may well offer parts direct which may be identical to the parts that come through Nissan with only different markings. I have no doubt that many parts have been superseded by other parts that may even be of higher quality than the original. Once again I don't think you have been cheated in any way. My master vac hose is not braided either and doesn't have any markings that I can see so yours may well be of higher quality. My complaint is really just using the description NOS. To me that literally means OLD stock and as such may have been sitting on a shelf for 30 years. In my mind using that term in an auction implies that it is an original part that's been sitting around - not something manufactured recently.

I recall trying a bunch of different abrasive disks on an electric drill for this same job as there are a lot of bends and hard to get to places like under the seat support. Some of them worked quite well; here's an example: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1287722&cp&kw=2004919&origkw=2004919&sr=1

I think that's a perfect example of the problem here. The auction you won clearly states NOS yet I'm fairly certain that the hose in question should have a braided cover which is not what the picture shows. I don't think you got a bad deal for even an aftermarket molded hose like that but it still seems a little deceptive to me. Perhaps it's he difference between what the seller describes as "*New* NOS" and plain old NOS.

I regret that I've been negligent in changing my oil. It's been about 2 years but I've probably put less than 500 miles on the car in that time. However, I know it's bad to go so long between changes and to request forgiveness from the car I decided to swing by the Nissan dealer and pick up a genuine filter to take to my mechanic. I would change it myself but disposing of the old oil is as much hassle as just getting someone else to change it. In any case, when I went into the parts department the parts guy had to look up the part number in a book as the online inventory didn't go back that far. Once he got the number (15208-W1106) he was able to quickly find the filter itself. The interesting thing was because it wasn't in his inventory system he couldn't even sell it to me; he just handed it over. At that point I got a bit greedy and asked if I could have another since he couldn't sell them anyway. Now I have a spare for the next change. Has anyone else run into this scenario with other, more expensive parts? It seems like this kind of thing will become more and more common as our cars get older. I realize that a lot of the old inventory gets cleaned out periodically but it seems like small parts might not be as much of an issue since they don't take up as much space.

More like an old coaxial antenna cable. After all, that's exactly where that cable should be. As far as the condition of the car goes it's really hard to do a good analysis from the pictures provided. Even if Chris thinks it's just bad as #27 I think this one is in better shape. The only real body damage I see is the hood and the area around the tail pipe.

Does it have the original differential? Changing that without changing the speedometer gearing would cause the symptoms you describe. Running really small tires would also cause this problem.

I was thinking that it was probably originally #918 Orange based on the interior door panel shot.

I don't know what my offset is but I'd be happy to attempt to measure it if that will help you. My wheels do have a deeper dish than similar wheels I've seen but that's purely from visual inspection. However, the fact that they're not Appliance wheels might not make a good comparison. My instinct says that if you really don't care for them then you shouldn't use them on your car. They certainly do have a certain value being NOS so if you have a place to store them and can get them at a reasonable price I see no reason not to grab them in case you change your mind later.

Sorry, I missed this thread earlier. My slot mags, which I believe were dealer-installed, are stamped "US Indy Mag" on the back side and are 14X7. I'm currently running 205/60-14 with the Tokico performance springs sold by MSA with no clearance problems. In fact, the original springs that I replaced sagged so much that the lowering springs actually raised the car a bit.

It actually doesn't look as bad as I was expecting from your description. Lots of people here have replaced floor pans and frame rails so if you're going to do that anyway I suppose it doesn't matter how far gone they are. The body doesn't look that bad, the bumpers look good and even the battery tray appears to be present. Obviously I'd want to see more pictures but it certainly looks better than Chris's #27.

That's scary, my birthday is Oct. 2. Technically it's not 9 months but rather 40 weeks. Even more technical is the fact that the clock starts with her last period which is about 2 weeks before conception so the middle of September would be more accurate. Even though 40 (really only 38) weeks is considered full term babies can easily be born a couple of weeks early with no problem. My wife is currently at 34 weeks but we'll probably induce a week early. The OB is even willing to induce two weeks early.

When Will said started in a Z on New Years eve he wasn't talking about being born in a Z. That would be really amazing. He should have said working the math forwards instead of backwards.

This place may not be there any more but if it is it might be fun to stop by: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/03.24.04/z-zone-0413.html