charliekwin

I wouldn't. Just about any of the reasons you list above are good reasons not to: any newer car (even going back a ways) is going to be significantly safer, more comfortable and more reliable (if properly maintained). It's a fun toy, though. Parts costs: some parts are cheap, some aren't. It mainly depends on whether Nissan or the aftermarket still makes the part or not. Last time I looked, a clutch was like $80. But if you need a lower thermostat housing (a part that was $20 until Nissan stopped making them a couple years ago), you'll need to find a used one and be prepared to fork over $100 for it.

I'm starting to consider the possibility that I'm just not a great flocker. Used too much glue the first time and apparently swung too far in the opposite direction on the do-over. There are are some thin and almost-naked spots where the glue must have dried before I got it flocked. I really, really don't want to strip it off again. I'm hoping -- cautiously -- that I might be able to re-spray some of the thin areas and have it blend i. without looking awful, so I have a small test piece I'll try doing that on first.

Just to throw more ideas out there...any chance a previous owner screwed up the timing chain? Obviously, keep checking the easier stuff first.

Finished reflocking with zero minutes before the Super Bowl started. The second go looks much better than the first, which is good, because removing it was a real PITA that I'm not going through again.

Blew off the excess flock to see how it came out, and it needs a do-over, for sure. The glue that ran down isn't quite as noticeable as I thought it might be, but I ended up with some thin and bald spots that I can't live with.

The flocking is nylon fibers. It's supposed to have a suede texture. It looks a lot like suede, but I can't touch it for 24 hours until the glue dries. Happy with the look so far, just not happy with the application I did. It's tough to photograph the runs, but you can see the worst of it in the 3rd picture on the left side at the bottom of the dash. I might still end up looking okay or good enough for me to leave it, but I'm not optimistic. I spent a lot of time and effort trying to get the dash as close to perfect as I could manage, so if I have to spend an extra day stripping and re-flocking, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Today was the big day: flocking day! It went ...sub-optimally. Step 1 is to apply the undercoat/adhesive. This stuff is supposedly sprayable, but even with a big tip, nothing much would come out. The spec sheet says to thin with mineral spirits, but those aren't available in SoCal anymore, and after putting the gun down for just a couple minutes, it was starting to clog up. Called an audible and used brushes instead, which is where things went sideways. I watched some Youtube videos and one thing that kept coming up was that you need to work fast. So I recruited my wife and we laid the stuff down as quickly as possible, and also put it on thick. Too thick. The top of the dash in particular ended up getting some nasty-looking runs in it. I have to wait until tomorrow to knock off the excess, but I'm 90% certain that all the flock I just put on will have to be stripped off and reapplied. Bummer. The good: I bought plenty of extra materials. And it's cheap. The compressed air applicator was super effective, and I saved like $60 by just making my own instead of buying it. The parts where the flocking was done well ended up looking quite nice. The camera makes it look kind of sparkly, but it's much closer to flat black. It's better than I thought it would be. Not sure about the feel/texture since I can't touch it yet. The bad: I kinda screwed it up. It's not hard to apply, but I should have practiced on a small piece first. If you want to flock something, do a test run. Doing a job again sucks. Not a good way of doing your test run.

Whatever Napa sells, but I'm not home to look. And, yes, that's very much a possibility. Not blaming the kiddo here, but he's poked at (and through) things before, and even though I keep an eye on what he's doing when he's in the garage with me, he definitely could have hit the hose with something, which is probably more likely than a defective hose.

Sorry if it wasn't clear, SAE 30R9 (fuel injection hose) is the stuff I put in that split. SAE 30R7 is the lower pressure fuel line that I used from the fuel tank to supply the pump.

Yeah...lower pressure (R7) before the fuel pump, R9 after. New hose on the way so I can replace it all.

A small (~1/4") lengthwise split opened up on a short section of hose that runs from the pressure gauge I installed between the fuel filter and the beginning of the fuel rail. It was installed when I was going through my smog troubles back in spring of 2015. Pretty sure I bought it from Napa, so it it should be decent stuff. The two most likely things I think happened are either simple dumb bad luck getting a bad piece of hose, or my boy (5) poked at something. He likes to "work" on the car with me and it wouldn't be the first time he's run through something he shouldn't. Dread is the word to use. I was cruising along and thought to myself "hmm, smells like gas..." but dismissed it, since it seems like something always smells like gas, but it quickly god worse, and just as I thought I should probably pull over and investigate, I saw splashes on the windshield and noped straight into the parking lot, with visions of this and similar fires dancing through my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbtL7darPV0

So I'm telling myself this is one of those post hoc fallacy type situations, partly because the first time I've broken down (ever, in any car, even) was this past Saturday, and partly because I don't want to be mentally preparing myself for potential disaster every time I take the car out For now I'm just considering it an interesting coincidence. Like (I presume) most of us here, I do carry around basic tools to hopefully be able to cobblize a fix that's good enough to get me back home if it's really necessary, but waiting 45 minutes for a tow seemed like a better option than hosing down myself and the chamber of commerce parking lot with gasoline and driving my potential fireball two miles home. I did order a fire extinguisher. That seemed like a good idea.

This one's bad luck. The hose that went is one I replaced less than two years ago. Getting good use of my roadside assistance, at least.

And here I am waiting for a tow. Again. Fuel line ruptured. I think the wheels are cursed.

Bit of a long shot, but a set showed up on LA Craigslist a few days ago: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/pts/5949345315.html

$51 was the cost of the tow to get home I replaced the hose that connects to the rear-most outlet on the thermostat housing. I'll admit to having to do some Googling to figure out what it was and may have my parts wrong. The hose I replaced is what's on the other end of the circled one here:

Replaced the hose to the aux air regulator and checked all the others (they look good), and now I'm back on the road. I think I've bought more coolant in the last two months than I have in the rest of my life combined. No rubbing with the wheel and tire combination and low-speed steering on the 225 Nexen tires is actually easier than on the super cheap 195 tires that were on there before. Much better, quieter ride, too. Other stuff: the plastic cover to the throttle position sensor was somehow lost during yesterday's adventure, so I gotta cobble together something. Little bits like that make me want to buy a 3D printer. After watching some more of Chechaflo's videos on Youtube (which are awesome), I've decided to just flock the dash and save the upholstery for some other day. Flocking materials are on the way. And have been playing around with some gauge lighting options. I picked up a pack of 20 4W drop-in LED bulbs on eBay for $7. Tried different combinations of the green lens, scuffing inside of the enclosure to increase reflectivity and painting them white (interestingly, the various forums dedicated to growing pot have a veritably monopoly on Google searches for surface treatments best for reflecting light!). The LEDs have a much cooler color temperature than the old incandescents. Popping out the green lens and painting the cans white was the combination I liked best.

The $51 hose responsible...

Here I am with my nice new wheels, waiting for a tow truck. Puked all the coolant on the way to the gym this afternoon. Happy Saturday!

Think I agree with Mark. The biggest problem, to me, is that nothing under the bumper matches what's above it, so all the lines just hit a visual wall. The support piece right in the middle is the worst offender. Or at least it's tied with the two nostril-looking holes.

Interior Innovations makes a set as well: http://interior-innovations.com/index.php/welcome/product_detail/187 http://interior-innovations.com/index.php/welcome/product_detail/185 I did some half-hearted searching but haven't seen any reviews on those, though their seat covers are quite good.

Here's what I got for my car: http://www.nickkeezer.com/blog/2016/datsun/280z-floor-pan-plugs That takes care of the floors. I have two unplugged holes in the hatch bottom myself!

That's because the pictures don't really show how bad the paint and body is...or stuff like the duct tape that's holding the air dam together 16x7 Rota RB wheels. Nexen tires sized 225/50/R16.

Like siteunseen said, the plugs pop right out. If the rubber's broken down with age, you can replace them with 1 7/8" plugs for old Fords; they cost about $2 or $3 each.

Emailed a couple people for quotes on wrapping the dash. One didn't reply and the other punted, which is probably the right decision. I'm not 100% in love with flocking the entire dash, so I've been kicking this idea around in my head: Flock the area in blue, since that's all the trickiest shapes. Then cover the rest of the dash in vinyl. The sides would need to be stitched to the top and front, and I don't have a good idea of how a hem where the vinyl and flock meet would actually look. I'm also considering the possibility that this is in fact a terrible idea. In other news, USPS picked up the lug nuts I ordered on the 28th and immediately lost the package, so I still haven't been able to drive on the new wheels. They only had to ship them 25 miles.