Carl Beck

Hi Dave: Since you have a 72 240-Z - you just use the shift lever off the 4 spd. for the 5sp. If all you are changing is the transmission - no need to worry about the Clutch Assembly {Pressure Plate and Clutch Disc} .... However - you will want to take the Throw-out bearing collar off your 4spd.. and put it on your 5spd. Since this is the first time you have done this - BE CAREFUL NOT to get the two confused... don't hold them up together to look at them!......Take the throw-out bearing collar off the 5spd. and set it far aside - out of the way. Then take the throw-out bearing collar off the 4spd. and put it directly on the 5spd. If you retain the stock rear gear - you'll have to swap the speedometer drive gear from the 4spd. to the 5spd. {one bolt to take out, and the carrier and gear will lift out}. This will keep your Speedo accurate. Before you do any of the above - a) order a new throw out bearing from Nissan {cheap insurance} order new shift lever bushing for the 83 5spd. There are three of them. Two go in the sides of the shift lever at the tranny - and one goes on the bottom of the shift lever. Two different Part Numbers {cheap insurance - these always wear out} c) depending on the type of exhaust system you have - you may need to get and exhaust manifold to exhaust header pipe gasket. If the car is still stock - you have to loosen the exhaust header pipe to move the exhaust system aside - to get the tranny in/out. I also recommend that you order new nuts for the exhaust header pipe while your at it. You may or may not need them.. but better to have them on hand and again cheap insurance. As for changing the rear end ratio - I didn't. I'm perfectly happy with the slightly taller gearing in town.. all stop and go traffic can be easily handled in 1st and 2nd... Likewise on the highway - the taller gearing is GREAT....much lower engine RPM and a more quite ride... If you like drag racing from stop light to stop light - yep... you'll need the 3.9. If you put an L28 in front of that 5spd. - you'll have enough additional HP/Torque to easily pull the 3.3... and you wouldn't want to go much lower then a 3.7. FWIW, Carl B.

You can put a 280Z front fender on a 240-Z {the part numbers may all be the same now for that reason}. When you try to put a real 240-Z front fender on a 280Z you will find that the additional strengthening done to hold the larger 280Z bumpers and pass the higher front impact requirements - resulted in a 1/4" flange (where two pieces of sheetmetal are sandwiched together) right at the intersection of the headlight bucket and front fender. The 280Z front fender has a notch cut out - so it sits down over that flange - the 240-Z front fender does not. You will have to notch that area out on the 240-Z front fender... if you want to sit down where it should, and line up the hood... FWIW, Carl B.

Is the car For Sale? Does a lady own it? What's the Asking Price? Can you copy the ad to us? thanks, Carl

The Libre wheels work on the 240-Z. None were available for the 240-Z wider than 5.5 inch wide. I have American Racing Libre's on both my 72 240-Z's - wouldn't have anything else. You can run 185R70's or 195R70's (one or two sizes larger than stock) on them with no problem. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bob: I'll give you my take on the subject. A Concours Quality car would be one that is first a Classic, Collectible or Special Interest vehicle, that has been maintained in or, restored to "as it left the factory" condition. It would be judged by knowledgeable Judges of the Marque as being a #1 Condition example. You might get by with a #2 Condition example as long as a #1 Condition example wasn't sitting next to it. Judged right down to the level of every nut, bolt and hose clamp. Judging however infers that a person designated as the Judge - will be expected to use his judgment in gray area's. While the ZCCA for example has published Judging Guidelines or Standards for the Stock Class - there are many area's in which the Judges have use their judgment. Today - to restore a 240-Z to Concours Quality - I would expect to spend at least a couple of years and $50K+. I can tell you that if you keep very sloppy records, account for only the most expensive items and simply forget many of the items you've paid for - you can delude yourself into thinking that you have $35K in the project... In most Concours Events, and in many cases most car shows - Points would be deducted in the "Stock Class" - if after-market parts of any kind replaced the original factory part. Mag wheels would be considered as a "modification" since they didn't come from the factory. Likewise a carb change. "As New" and "Like New" might have different meanings to different people. When you restore a car you are attempting to put it in the same condition as it was when new....ie. as new. On the other hand I prefer to use the term "Refresh" to mean that you are putting the car in what most average people would say looks like a new car..ie... like new. When you refresh a car - you don't worry about every nut, bolt and hose clamp being the correct factory part - the day it left the factory. Rather you put the car in cosmetically beautiful condition as well as mechanically excellent condition - and for the most part you retain the stock appearance and overall form. For the most part, once the car is done - the joy continues as you drive the finished product on the weekends or nice days. The joy continues as you can take the car to a Z Car Club show and not be embarrassed by it's lack of proper condition... You can still refresh a 240-Z for about $15K to $20K depending on how much of the work you can do for yourself. When you restore a car - the finished product is really a showcase for each individual detail, every original part. You restore a car when you enjoy the process and the process is 90% research and searching for the rare NOS Parts you need, or restoring each individual part to as new condition before placing it back on the "display". When it is complete - most of the joy is over... Now it becomes a permanent "display".. but one that is done. Time to look for the next car to restore... the next collection of unique individual parts to gather... the next knowledge base to build... Is the additional cost of Restoring a car to Concours condition worth it? Only you can decide that. To a few people it is well worth it - because that is the process in total they enjoy - and it's the process they are spending their money and time on. It is worth it to the general market - no, not in the short run, maybe in the longer run. good luck with your project.. Carl B.

Yes, I report that he is credited with the design of the Silvia - in most of the articles I've written - because Nissan Did. If I had been at Nissan at the time - I would have credited both him and Kimura. One can only refute one Myth at a time Carl

Hi Stephen: The bad news is the B.S. continues into yet another year - the good news is most the people interested in the Z now know that it is B.S. Progress maybe??? The quote from Nissan's Legal Letter is taken completely out of context by Mr. Ludvigsen - from the entire text of the letter from Nissan's Legal Department. In reviewing the complete letter, I believe you have to keep two things in mind. 1) Nissan's Corporate People in Japan, wanted to avoid the publicity that would have resulted from a prolonged legal action taking place in Detroit - sure to be reported by the American Media as "Japan vs Detroit" and drawing unwanted attention to the growing threat of the Japanese imports to the big three .... So the letter is intended to sooth Mr. Goertz's feathers and settle the dispute quickly and quitely. 2) it is a very purposefully and craftily "weasel worded" statement conceived by corporate lawyers. With the above in mind - let's look at the entire text of that settlement letter... = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = Dear Mr. Goertz: At your request, we have examined the relevant evidence pertaining to the development of the highly successful Datsun 240Z which was first introduced in 1969. You were retained by Nissan during the period from 1963 to 1965 as an automotive design consultant. During that period, you consulted with Nissan on the basic methods of styling a general sports car. You were also the sole design consultant on a two-liter sports car which Nissan was trying to develop as part of a joint venture with Yamaha. This car was not produced. While it is our view that the design of the 240Z was the product of Nissan's design staff, Nissan agrees that the personnel who designed that automobile were influenced by your fine work for Nissan and had the benefit of your designs Sincerely yours, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. Signed Toshikuni Nyui General Manager Legal Dept. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = In the first place - Nissan stated right up front that the sports car Mr. Goertz worked on - was not produced. They then state firmly that it is their belief that the Datsun 240-Z was the work of their in-house people. Something that Mr. Ludvigsen either did not know - or chose to leave out by not quoting the entire sentence. (wonder why?). Seen in its entire context - we also have to keep in mind that Goertz Agreed to this statement - otherwise he wouldn't have settled. He accepted the statement.... "the design of the 240-Z was the product of Nissan's design staff"... and he took the settlement money. I think any honest designer would have either had to accept that and live up to it - or rejected that wording and insist on proper credit for the design of the 240-Z. Goertz could have continued his "threatened law suite". Keep in mind it was only a threat - never went to court... That sentence continued then "... the personnel who designed the 240-Z were influenced by your fine work for Nissan and had the benefit of your designs".... THAT Translates to: A) as a result of Mr. Goertz's fine consulting work - several design techniques were improved or added to Nissan's in house design capabilities.... ie. Nissan started using full size clay models during the design conceptual stages, Nissan Designers also started rendering design concepts in pastels.. That is really the "fine work" that Mr. Goertz did for Nissan's Design Dept....??? I believe it may have been.... knowing what previously displeased upper management - is just as important a "benefit " as knowing what previously pleased them. Goertz's concepts for the Nissan 2000GT didn't cause much pleasure with Nissan's Upper Level Management.. and the project was cancelled... So the "benefit" written about was most likely that of knowing what NOT to do again. While Mr. Matsuo maintains that he did not see Mr. Goertz's work - nor did any of the people that worked on the team Goertz worked with - serve on Mr. Matsuo's team..... Mr. Matsuo's boss and his boss's boss certainly did. Reading Mr. Matsuo's account - you can see that his management chain was not too encouraging of his original "Plan A" and they seemed more than a bit gun shy of making any real push to bring a new Sports Car Concept out of the design studio - and put it in front of upper management for approval to proceed from conceptual styling to automotive engineering. At least during the period from 1965 to 1967. { if you don't have a copy of Mr. Matsuo's account - e-mail me and I'll loan you my digital back up copy beck@becksystems.com} Note also that Nissan's Legal Response - which Goertz Agreed To... states that he was employed by them From 1963 To 1965. It does NOT say "into 1965" nor "through 1965"... it says "TO 1965" meaning that Goetz left sometime before 1965 started. However in his autobiography - Goertz says that he worked at Nissan for four years. The single most striking observation in Mr. Goertz autobiography - is the fact that he covers at least seven pages with his original sketches and pictures of clay models of the BMW 507 he did design. He also publishes his original sketches of his unsolicited and rejected Porsche design of 1958, as well as sketches of a later proposal to BMW - - - Yet when he claims to have designed the 240-Z - he can only show pictures of the finished product... the Datsun 240-Z. I believe there is lots of truth to be found here - the truth is that the initial stories written about the design of the 240-Z and associating it with Goertz - were all too typical of the writing we see in the automotive media... just like the one that started this thread. Very poorly researched, incorrectly summarized, phrases taken completely out of context, and misquotes galore! Goertz got just as caught up in them as the authors inventing them..and having failed to set the record straight from the beginning - he started to believe the myth himself... The truth is his own autobiography defeats his false claim to the design. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guys: First - let me make it quite clear that "writers" or "reporters" for the automotive media are driven by a personal goal to get something/anything published. Since they are simply "reporting" what others say, they seem to feel no personal need to verify facts, nor even accurately quote their sources - rather they paraphrase, summarize, edit.... all in an attempt to put a story together that captures the readers interest and fits within a very confined column inch goal. The paragraph that Stephen presents us with is a classic example of the above - let's take a look at it first. If you want the truth - it takes more than a couple of paragraphs and you have to do some reading... "In 1961, Albrecht Goertz became one of the first occidental designers to take up the challenge of Japan." Actually, Mr. Goertz states in his autobiography that he first thought of going to Japan News Year's Eve 1961 - and for the first few days of 1962 he tried to find out what major industries existed there. Hardly what any of us would report as "taking up the challenge of Japan".... and given that the thought popped into his mind a couple hours before 1961 ended... I don't think we'd report "in 1961". Mr. Goertz tells us that since he had been successful in gaining work on his visits to Germany, he thought he'd try Japan next. He was simply looking for work, and in his autobiography he tells us what methods were successful for him. "After five visits, Nissan assigned him a consulting contract." After five visits where, to whom? - To Japan or to Nissan? It was after this fifth visit to Japan, and after he had been to Honda, Toyota, Mazda as well as many other Japanese companies, that he signed a contract for design consulting with Nissan. {note: unlike his work for BMW where he was contracted to Design a Sports Car - here he was hired as a design consultant}. Mr. Goertz tells us that he returned to Japan every three months seeking interviews/work so his fifth visit would have been either in Dec. of 1962 or more likely Jan. of 1963. {keep this in mind as it becomes important later} At any rate he finally signed a ONE YEAR agreement with Nissan. Nissan's deployment of employees was related to its overall manpower, which meant that their Design Department consisted of one percent of the total. Otherwise, Goertz reports that the design departments were similar to what he had seen in the US and Europe, with closed-off sections, for the various models. He had his section, but was not permitted to see any of the others. (keep this in mind...as it actually supports Mr. Matsuo's contention that he had not seen the work of Goertz, nor did any of Matsuo's team work with Goertz}. Goertz contract required that he visit Nissan Tokyo every seven to eight weeks. Goertz tells us that Nissan's HQ was in Tokyo, but the factory that housed their design dept. was in Yokohama. Five Designers were assigned to Goertz, the lead was Mr. Kimura and he spoke a little English.. Goetz writes..."At Nissan my first assignment was the "Silvia" coupe, based on the existing Nissan roadster. Work on that model had begun, but management did not like what it saw. Nissan's real reason for hiring me was that they wanted to produce a 2 liter sports car especially for the US market, mainly California, the land of the MG, Triumph, Jaguar, Porsche and Mercedes. The development of a 4 cylinder engine for the anticipated car was entrusted to Yamaha, and my designs and spec.'s were made over to them. Yamaha was a very large, diversified company that produced pianos and other musical instruments, as well as motorcycles, in their factory at Hamamatsu. Like Porsche, Yamaha had a center to which other companies assigned projects for development, and since Nissan had commissioned them to develop the prototypes for the new sports car, I was frequently at the Hamamatsu factory." As you can see - Mr. Kimura had actually designed the Silvia by the time Goertz arrived. Goertz made a few minor - but very important changes to the overall shape and fine details. Maybe he should be credited with the design - but I would have reported that the Silvia was a joint effort between Kimura and Goertz at best. In Chapter Ten Mr. Goetz continues.... "The 4 cylinder engine developed by Yamaha for the 2-liter sports car (eventually to be named the Fair Lady in Japan and later exported as the 240-Z) did not meet Nissan's expectations, and collaboration between the two companies came to an unpleasant end. The metal prototype produced by Yamaha to my design and specifications was shipped to Nissan and the project came to a halt." Here Mr. Goertz is taking proper credit for the metal prototype, that was delivered to Nissan at the close of the project. This is very important to keep in mind - and to understand that it is the metal prototype that Nissan's in-house designation for was the Nissan 2000GT. Yamaha's designation for the Joint Nissan/Yamaha project was the A550X. Mr. Goertz's design, by his own account is reflected by the metal prototype delivered back to Nissan and always pictured outside the Nissan Plant: See: <a href=http://zhome.com/History/Truth/A550Xvs240Z.htm TARGET=NEW> You Can Not Get There From Here </a> OK - lets stop there for a minute.. and let some of this soak in... Next we will look at the complete legal statement from Nissan - and see how misleading Karl Ludvigsen's report really is.... Carl B.

So Far Nothing... but I'm still pressing them. FWIW, Carl B.

Upon what do you base the belief that the interior is "original"? Pictures of the car when new at the Selling Dealership? A signed waver - from the original purchaser to the Dealership stating he would not make them put the correct interior parts in at a later date? Sorry, I don't think you'd find a Datsun Dealer that would have sold the car with non-standard color mixed interior bits/pieces - - - without first fixing it and charging the factory - in the unlikely event that it somehow got out of the factory that way in the first place. FWIW, Carl

Photoshop Elements is about $79.95 - and in many cases there is a $20.00 mail in rebate if you have a previous version of Photoshop. Elements will do just about anything you want... once you learn how to use it. Runs on the Mac or Wintel type PC Carl B.

Hello Everyone: The following note is from Gayle Brock, Peter's wife: I forward it to you with her permission. Carl B. Gayle writes: "Sat January 20th, while shooting SCORE’s season opening off-road race in Laughlin, NV, Peter was hit by an off-road vehicle that went off course. The upper part of his right leg was hit by the front tire of the vehicle, he did a 360 degree backward flip landing face down in the dirt and his right foot/ankle were then run over by the vehicle’s rear tire. Other photographers in the area and the SCORE rescue team were onsite within seconds. Thanks to help from Mark Post of the Riviera team and a recommendation from the Herbst family of the Terrible Herbst team, Peter was taken by helicopter from the regional medical center to the well-respected trauma center at the UMC (University Medical Center) in Las Vegas. His injuries involve primarily that right leg with a broken femur a couple of inches below the ball and socket of the hip, a break in the tibia just below the knee and a broken lower fibula and ankle. Surgery from 1am-4am Sunday involved placing a rod down the length of his femur and installing a plate with screws to reconstruct his lower leg and ankle area. This is capped off with a cast from his foot up to just below his knee. The surgeons are very happy with how everything aligned. In regards to the most explosive area of the ankle they said that once they secured the bone pieces to the plate with the screws they couldn’t even see where the breaks were anymore. As you already know from the description of the accident, we are incredibly lucky! this is the primary extent of his injuries. His hip and pelvis area are fine. His left leg is fine. His back is fine. His arms are fine. His face, neck and head are fine (with the exception of some road rash on the left side of his head/face which is almost entirely healed). To those who’ve been asking about my experience, let me share that I was shooting in the infield when the accident occurred. The immediate response of the ambulance leaving the infield led me to suspect someone outside of a car had been injured (an unconscious driver in a car is not quite as apparent to onlookers as an unconscious photographer on the ground). I knew Peter was in that area and my anxiety rose when he did not respond to my calls to him on our 2-way radios. A few minutes later Peter’s voice came over the radio I was still unconsciously clutching in my hand: “Do you read me?” Upon my confirmation he relayed: “I’ve been hit. They’re putting me in the ambulance.” His voice was normal, clear and sound… and music to my ears. It’s a call Peter doesn’t remember making but I continue to thank him profusely for doing it, even if unconsciously. The call allowed me to report to the officials at the start/finish line who it was that had been injured and allowed them to get me in the ambulance. When the ambulance doors opened to let me in, there was Peter on the gurney chatting away with his hat on his head (yes… although the hat did not take the entire 360 degree trip, it lives and will be back soon to a race track near you! most namely the 12 hours of Sebring race). I’ve been able to stay with Peter the entire time and as always it’s an incredible pleasure and honor. In addition, Peter’s oldest son, Ian was at the race, along with his fiancée Nikki. They immediately spotted my “focused” actions in the infield and have been by at our side ever since. They allowed me to focus on Peter as they took care of everything else such as retrieving his equipment at the track, retrieving our rental car from the track and packing up our hotel room in Laughlin as I went with Peter to the Vegas trauma center. They followed us to Vegas and allowed me to take some needed breaks those first couple of days when otherwise I wouldn’t have left for even a minute. We are so blessed to have you and these great people in our lives. Peter’s been in great spirits and we think we’ve discovered a great new talk show skit called Stupid Patient Tricks (if you haven’t heard of Stupid Pet Tricks before let me explain the Stupid refers to the Tricks and not to the Patient). Peter’s repertoire of stupid patient tricks grows every day and we should soon be ready for the talk show circuit (I say “we” as some of the best tricks require a partner). So as you can tell, we’re having a good time together, even under these circumstances. Going forward, a femur break requires no weight be put on it for 2 months. In a couple of weeks Peter will be sporting around on crutches which will carry him thru that time period. After that he’ll gradually be able to increase the weight he can put on the leg. In the meantime, he’s really enjoyed catching up with friends on the phone (so feel free to call him. Good hours while he’s at the hospital are 6:30am to 9pm). There’s no internet access at the hospital so I’m sending this from a nearby Starbucks. It’s my first time online since the accident and I’m not sure when I’ll be online again. We want to thank everyone for their calls (and I’m sure there are e-mails waiting for us too) and the beautiful flowers which have begun to fill the hospital room here in Vegas are a real bright spot. At one point today Peter exclaimed: “They really do make the room look nice.” It’s all greatly appreciated! And last night we got a special treat as we got a call from Daytona where in a meeting of the Road Racing Drivers Club they announced Peter had been inducted into the club as an honorary member (a decision that was made prior to the accident). The crowd was still clapping as the call came into Peter’s hospital room. Peter’s immediate response: “What an honor!” We’ve started working with physical therapy here at the hospital and our goal is for Peter to be discharged Saturday at which point we’ll take a flight back to Seattle late that afternoon. He can’t wait to get back home and back online to all of you. I’d say he’s also anxious to get back to racing but he’s never left. His first call Monday was to an editor regarding a story idea and most, if not all, calls since have been racing related. He’s so totally committed to this sport and amongst other things it’s been great to see a young driver he’s believed in the last few years come to the hospital every night to visit him… every night. And you should see the light in his eyes every time this young talent enters the room. He’s thrilled to be able to give his “all” to this sport and we’re very lucky it wasn’t taken to the most extreme of meaning this last weekend. We want to thank all of you for your thoughts and well wishes. It means more than you can possibly imagine and we’re thinking of all of you too. Best regards, Gayle & Peter

Hi Don: In my experience - your speculation would be quite wrong. If it's been sitting in a garage for 16 years, it would need MAJOR and CAREFUL preparation prior to any attempt to turn it over with a battery. Throw a new battery in it, crank it over and you run significant risk of totally screwing it up - and the following expensive and extensive repairs. Do a lot of pre-wake-up work - and you might get away with only having to spend a few thousand dollars on it to bring it back to roadworthy condition. You can bet at this point, it will need front calipers, rear wheel cylinders, all rubber brake lines and a new Master Cylinder. Most likely the radiator will be rotted out and you'll have to replace all coolent lines and heater lines. Figure a new clutch master and slave cylinder as well. All these things freeze up, corrode, or otherwise rot when the car sits in storage for more than 10 years. Often in less time than that. The carpet will more than likely be dry rotting as well. Then there are the tires too. As to value today of the RHD cars in North America - everyone likes to look at them at shows... but very few people will buy one. So their market prices usually run about 75% of what a like condition LHD car will. Keep in mind that if it's a 70 240-Z with RHD - it is most likely to have come from Australia or GB. If on the other hand it is a 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z - it isn't a 240-Z. Rather it has a smaller and less powerful 2.0L engine. (if it's still stock). FWIW, Carl B.

What is the most you are willing to pay for a good 240-Z Body?

Clean car - if it checks out upon close inspection.. A/T most likely driven with more care and therefore in better than average shape. With 39K miles - you aviod having the rebuild the transmission, rear end and engine!! That's a major expense and very time consuming process. Well worth an extra $5K in my opinion. Many of you guys in the Pacific Northwest and California... seem to be actually spoiled by the ability to go find solid 240-Z's at really cheap prices. You still seem to have it in your mind that these cars will always be worth $6K..... If I lived in those area's today - I'd be out buying ever car like this one that I get my hands on for $6K ... and sticking them away for future sales... I personally agree that this one might be priced a bit higher than I'd like - but.... if your going to put $30K to $45K in a full restoration, does it really matter if the starting point is two, three or four thousand higher? What really matters is starting with a good solid, mostly rust free and all stock, complete car. This one might not bring it's BIN but it will finish close... Carl B.

Wonder why it had to be repainted with only 38K miles..... or why the owner thought that painting the front bumper black and leaving the rear chrome was a good idea... It's most likely already been bid up beyond it's value...

Hi Bill: You do have all the spark plugs out - right - and you are sure you have all the head bolts out.... da.... OK - put a 2x4 against the upper part of the head (2" side against the head) - where the top of the intake/exhaust ports are - in front first and then in the rear - SMACK the 2x4 with a heavy brass hammer - repeat if necessary - and use serious force .... Just like an impact wrench - Dynamic Force will break the seal between the head gasket and the head/block (or it will tear the gasket itself). As you have already found out - it's a strong bond - so applying slow force - just won't do. I don't know if you remember Rich Bluder from where you were here or not - but the first time I saw him use that technique, I thought he'd simply lost it.... he said that was part of the Factory Training... I'm sure he was just kidding... but it worked like a charm and no damage to the head... Sometimes you just have to man handle it I guess. FWIW, Carl

Hi E. .... "sheet metal is permeable" what the heck was I thinking?. electromagnetism... Magnetic permeability... Nonetheless - the statement was a brain fart in this context ......vbg... No insult intended. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Ed (everyone) The L24 was rated at 150 HP SAE. (that is NOT NET nor is it GROSS - it is the interim SAE spec. between GROSS ratings and the final SAE Net Rating standards - as the draft standard stood in 69/71). First 150HP is the rating at the flywheel. His run was on a chassis dyno - which gives Rear Wheel HP. Most pure stock, good running 240-Z's will put out between 115HP and 125HP at the rear wheels. A 2.25 or larger free flowing exhaust will pickup between 10 and 12 HP at the rear wheels (as demonstrated by other controlled dyno runs) Removing the top of the stock Air Cleaner will yield another 4 HP. So 115 + 12 + 4 = 131HP at the rear wheels... Adding headers to an otherwise stock engine - added nothing. So he may have picked up a couple of HP with the mild cam and headers... None the less - 134 RWHP shows a good strong running L24. All chassis dyno numbers are relative not to be considered absolute my any means. See: <a href=http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/SAEHPRatings.htm TARGET=NEW>SAE HP RATINGS</a> See: <a href=http://zhome.com/rnt/Dyno/KThomasHeaders.htm TARGET=NEW>Dyno Runs</a> Note: Note: Mr. Thomas is by profession an M.E. with Lockheed Space Systems. However he has built several SCCA ITS ARRC winning L24's. FWIW, Carl B.

I don't understand how they can say that - without first knowing how much has been milled off the head - or what the current thickness of the head is (same thing). I agree with Ed... if the cam towers were sitting too low, relative to the crank center... all valves would be effected.... and you'd have problems with the tension or lack thereof on the timing chain... Like Phred suggested - it's time to pull the head off and put in on the bench, so you can check everything. Also - you'd have to supply far more details about what all work was done on the head and valve train... There are two lengths of valve stems.... as I recall... and long ago I did see a problem caused by the Parts Dept. getting them mixed... the result was the machine shop put them in and a couple of the valves had almost 0 adjustment.. I believe that happened partly because 280Z valves were ordered for install in an E-88 head... I really can't see it being a problem with the height of the cam towers... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guys: Sorry I didn't see this thread when it was started... At any rate this might help someone... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Donald: The first problem I see is - body filler on bare metal. NEVER put any type of body filler other than lead on bare metal. All modern body fillers are some type of plastic... ie epoxy fillers. As they dry, they will suck moisture out of the air, and through the metal they are in contact with. Actually "suck" is figurative - the process is osmosis and sheetmetal is permeable. Always cover bare metal with an epoxy primer - to seal any body fillers away from the metal. Then allow enough time for the body filler to dry, shrink etc. When you see a paint job that is less than 5 years old - with the body work bubbling up.. you're usually seeing the effects of body fillers that were not sealed away from the metal - or body fillers that were used to fill holes that should have been metal patched. When you see fine cracks in the body fillers, it is usually because not enough time was allowed for the filler to dry/shrink completely (90 days isn't unusual in the better restoration shops and many allow 120 to 180 days) The glazing putty - is used for final filling in very thin coats. It dry quickly, and sands out less porously or smoother and shrinks less. Some types resist absorption of the primers/paints applied over the top to provide more uniform color with thinner coats.. FWIW, Carl B. BTW - if your body man tells you it doesn't matter - go some where else.

Since we are wondering off track a bit anyway - Your local Nissan Dealer's Parts Dept. would most likely tell you that "paint" for a 30+ year old car is NLA from them. That simple can of paint pictured by Chris - really is a "symbol" of multi-millions of dollars in capital investment - planned and made over a five year period by Nissan Motors - all to eliminate the need for that can of paint. (well that was one main benefits anyway). Nissan originally supplied a can of paint, in the glove-box of all their Datsuns coming into America (and most likely North America) because of the rather common "shipping, handling and/or Port damage" on cars prior to 1972. More than a mere "touch-up" tube of paint - it was a can of lacquer mixed to match the original factory paint (enamel) that could allow entire body panels to be repainted if necessary. (and many many were!). Lacquer was used for touch-up/repairs because it drys far more quickly and can be buffed down without loss of the skim coat found on enamels. (pictured is the can that came with my Metallic Blue 72). By 1972 Nissan had many of it's new fleet of leased car carrying ships in use, which allowed vehicles to be driven on and off the ships. They also had greatly expanded their Port Facilities in both Japan and the US. All this was an ongoing project initiated in the mid-60's and pretty much put in place by 1971.. By April of 1972 Nissan had eliminated the need for the can of paint, because they had eliminated 90% of the damage to the new cars - and thus quite putting it in the cars and trucks. FWIW, Carl B.

If your car was recently painted - just go get another rear hatch. Drill that one, and then have the body shop fill the holes from the badging, and paint the new rear hatch at the same time as they paint the rear spoiler. FWIW, Carl B.

Thanks Mike ! I think utube will have an impact on our world... Carl