MikeW

I can't really answer your first question (about transferring the interior pieces between models) but you can use SEM brand vinyl/plastic dye to change the color. It's even possible to dye to a lighter color. I used it on my entire interior (door panels, plastic hatch trim pieces, and vinyl window pillar covering). You can see a bit of the door panel here and window pillars here: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=11942&cat=500&page=1

That sounds more like a fuel-related problem to me. Not enough pressure?

The easiest way to produce hydrogen is by splitting water molecules using electrolysis. This consumes a lot of electricity which typically comes from burning hydrocarbons. I agree, cheap solar (photo-voltaic) cells would go a long way to solving the problem. However, with basically free electricity from the sun we might as well convert over to pure electric and eliminate the extra step of producing hydrogen. The problem there, of course, is battery capacity and life. Another problem with hydrogen right now is the missing infrastructure to sell it. That's why hybrid cars are doing so well since the petroleum infrastructure is in place. The electric infrastructure is also already in place. My personal opinion is that the eventual solution will be pure electric with standard replaceable battery packs. You charge your car overnight at home. For long road trips, you pull into a battery station and swap your depleted battery for one that's already charged up and ready to go.

Currently? $30,461.07

I'm afraid you misread what I wrote. No, I've never used it. Would you recommend it to someone who's looking for a paint remover that won't harm plastic?

Brasso is very mild. Toothpaste is also slightly abrasive but can be used to clean and polish things besides your teeth. I recall that I used brasso to clean up the clear plastic that covers my instruments when I had them out of my dash. I agree that if it does do an damage you could polish it back out. I've got a spare turn signal lens at home and would be happy to spray it a bit with paint and then test the various suggestions.

In this case he wants to harm the paint ...

All three of them? They do for some reason have a much higher hit count than all of the other mugshots ...

Same here. When I got to high school and started thinking about a car I considered a 914, a Fiat X1/9, and an Opel GT. I'm sure glad I got a 240Z instead. Edit: I suppose this is still appropriate but I didn't realize I was quoting a post that's a couple of years old. Sorry.

I'm not on the cruise yet; I'm in a hotel in Cocoa Beach with free WiFi. You certainly won't hear from me once on the ship. It's like $1/minute for internet access.

What poll? What options?

Speaking of car salesmen, here's a really cool story written by a guy who was hired to go undercover working as a salesman at a couple of dealerships: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html

It's funny how the so called tools are all so different. The fact is you just need something that will wedge in tight enough to keep the tensioner from popping out. I'm a little skeptical of the hose idea but I've even seen a big screwdriver used - on the ZTherapy video. I really don't think the dimensions and/or angles are critical; just jam it in good.

I recognize that video as the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The tunnel is "Fort Mountain Tunnel" just west of Asheville. The speed limit on the entire parkway is 45mph as there are lot of bicyclists and people driving slow enjoying the scenery.

You really don't need to buy any photo editing software. There's plenty of free stuff out there for manipulating images. Resizing is about the most basic thing you can do. I just started using Picasa from Google and it's amazing. It's a tool that allows you to manage all of the images on your PC and includes ways of editing images, importing from cameras, exporting to web pages, etc. While it's not obvious, you can export pictures and resize them at that time. http://www.picasa.com

Welcome. Yes, there seems to be a size limit of 1024x768. Try reducing them to that size and post again. Alternatively, you can upload photos to your personal gallery but there's a waiting period for those to get approved.

It's true that the tensioner addresses timing chain stretch but when it has stretched too much you have to move the timing chain sprocket to the next of the three possible positions. The main reason that the block is needed is to keep the tensioner from coming out. Keeping the chain properly indexed on the crank sprocket is also accomplished with the block. For the original poster: if you're planning on doing this job yourself you presumably what either a factory service manual or one of the aftermarket manuals to step you through the process. These manuals should cover this very issue and even give instructions on how to make the block. I don't recall but the FSM may only direct you to acquiring the "special tool" from Nissan.

The indicator light is definitely for the parking brake. My understanding is that the light also comes on if there's an imbalance in the system. This is often caused by low fluid but it's not like there's a float in the reservoir that measures the fluid level. The fact that it went back out immediately after braking simply sounds like the imbalance was temporarily resolved.

It just snaps into place. The metal springs plates on the mirror itself bend enough to force it into the mounting bracket that's already attached to the car.

I misread that as "... does come off like something Madonna would wear". I went back to the picture to see if there were any appropriate places where an intentional wardrobe malfunction could occur ... :stupid:

I understand your concern and I'll defer to someone like Phred who knows far more about this than I ever will. I wasn't thinking about thermal expansion of the piston causing the gap to become even smaller. I'll be interested to hear more about this myself. I've attached a crude diagram that I just made that I think describes what you're running in to.

I think the thickness of the head gasket is all that really matters here and as you've observed it more than covers the slight protrusion. When the piston is at the top the valves are both completely closed. The valves are the only part attached to the head that ever protrude beneath the bottom of the head. Therefore the valves are the only part that descend beneath the top of the head gasket.

Insurance is probably going to be your biggest problem. A young driver equals high rates as does a sports car. Add the two together and you should know what to expect. Your best option is probably to have the car insured in the name of a parent with you listed as the primary driver. Unfortunately there's a trade off in terms of "daily driver" reliability. Just last weekend my 240Z let me down. I had just driven it for about 30 miles and a couple of times during the run it stumbled and lost power on me. I suspected it was fuel starvation because I knew my fuel filter with a replaceable element was starting to get clogged from debris in the tank. I was planning on replacing it but hadn't gotten around to it. I was able to get it running properly again a couple of times but it died on me 3 houses down my street and I couldn't get it started again. Total electrical failure. Very strange. I pulled it home and quickly discovered a battery cable was loose. That may have been the problem all along; taking a corner too fast might have caused the battery to shift a bit on me. It's all my own fault for not making sure it was completely secured and hadn't replaced the filter sooner. I went ahead and replaced the filter element today and took it out for another 20 or so problem-free miles. Total repair cost: about $2. Bottom line: when an early Z breaks it's generally easy to figure out what is wrong with it and the fix is usually cheap unless it's something catastrophic. A newer car is probably more reliable but when it dies on you you're having it towed to a repair shop where you'll likely pay a big bill. Newer cars are just so much more complicated with all of the electronics. My regular mechanic can't even work on some new cars because the manufacturers withhold diagnostic data that the cars themselves output. My advice would be to think about getting a more modern and hence more reliable and safer car as a daily driver in addition to getting a Z that you can tinker with. You'd then have something to drive when in Z is in the middle of some big project. That all depends on money and space, of course.

I understand what you meant now and you are absolutely right. What I interpreted you as saying was that it "doesn't matter what the average speed is" when in fact you were saying that it "doesn't matter what the average speed is in order to determine the winner". Absolutely. The elapsed time is all that matters. Most of us seem to agree with Stephen's original assertion that this hypothetical example represents a really close race. I was just attempting to put some numbers to it. If the race were a bit shorter than a quarter mile the Corvette would win. Any longer and the dragster would win by an even bigger margin. I've done some more calculations and it appears that in the worst case the dragster pulls ahead at approximately 4.35 seconds and 1276 feet into the race which is 44 feet from the finish line. This assumes that the dragster has stopped accelerating by this point and has reached its maximum velocity of 332mph for the last 50 feet of the track. If it is still accelerating when it takes the lead then the crossing point becomes even closer to the finish line. The original author's hypothetical example of a dragster making a standing start against another car with a head start which is already up to top speed and winning certainly puts the awesome acceleration of the dragster into perspective. I was amazed by the figures the first time this information was posted. Unfortunately the assertion "within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you" is simply untrue and the statement "but the dragster still catches the Corvette and passes it long BEFORE the finish line" is misleading and ambiguous at best.

If you consider 25 or so feet to be long before the finish then I'll happily agree with you. If not there seems like no point in discussing this further.