Ed

That's what I figured. Oh, well.

I 've been watching the race and I've got a question. On lap 10 there was a Mazda that goes off, the driver clearly stayed on the gas, looses control, the car sling shots back onto the track and "T-bones" another car. Needless to say they had to stop the race for clean-up. Now, I'm not familiar with any type of race etiquette or rules but, my question is would the guy that plowed into the other car be responsible for the dammage to the other car? Or is this just part of racing?

Alan, you ARE a lucky person! Either lucky or you have a great job . Thanks for sharing. Cheers!

Sorry but, I'm not clear on which spring your talking about. I've had luck finding a pretty good assortment of springs at Home Depot and Sears hardware.

Looks good, I too thought about replating my lines. But after finding out that the platers tank was only 5' wide I realized that I wouldn't be able to replate all the lines. So I opted for the some paint instead. As long as the lines are removed and done correctly they look good.

It doesn't hurt to take a break. I do it all the time. Keeps a fresh perspective on things. Enjoy your Z and enjoy your family. :classic: Happy Holidays! Ed

I'm thinking about installing an oxygen sensor on my exhaust. Edelbrock has a kit that has everything from the display guage, O2 sensor and the bung that needs to be welded to the exhaust. I want to do this so I can monitor my air/fuel ratio at different RPM's. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts about this? I currently have the MSA 6-1 jet hot coated headers and a custom 2 1/2 exhaust. Thanks Ed

Hmmm, could you describe the squeaking a little more? Does it sound like it only squeaks at one point in the rotation of the wheel? Or, is it a constant squeak? What year Z do you have? Do you have drums or rotors in the back? Where is this grease fitting? One thing I can tell you it's probably not. A bearing. When a bearing goes bad it usually has a "grinding or rummbling" noise. The same with the gears in the diff.

I went to the club web site but didn't find any information on the calendars. The club itself supports all years of Z's so one can only assume.

Are these calendars strictly Classic Z's? Or are they a variety (ZX,300,350)?

For a car that has been sitting for a while it definately has a lot of rust. Most of which is covered with that fresh undercoating. I would bet my Z that if you took a putty knife to those frame rails you would go clear through the floor. Granted he does offer new floors, I think that is the least of your worries. This is a northeast car, and it has definately been driven in the snow/salt. Also the paint is shot. Cracking and rusting. The engine, at a minimum needs new valve stem seals. This car has not only sat, it has been neglected. The interior is intact because nobody has been in it. But the outside is in serious need of some $$$$. $1500-2500. Tops.

It would be nice to see what each of these lenses looked like. I know that some of them probably don't even exist yet so we can only imagine. Personally the clear looks too "high tech" or "ricey". We've seen the euro and the american. I'm wondering what it would look like without the reflector? Maybe someone with a photoshop can help us out. My vote goes for the chrome strip. I bet people need these far worse than the lenses. Just for info here is a stock American market lens:

I used Duplicolor HWP102. It's pretty close to the original grey. To give it the matte or dull finish, after you have a few coats on there for the final coat give it a real light "dusting". Here is a link to the same subject. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13593&highlight=duplicolor

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-240Z-Euro-Tail-Light-Lens-Set-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ46093QQitemZ4592035817QQrdZ1

Don't despair. Take a deep breath and do one thing at a time. 1. Turn the crank until piston # 1 is at top dead center (TDC). 2. Remove, crankshaft pulley, oil pump, water pump and the front cover. Note. You will have to loosten the oil pan to remove the cover. You won't be able to remove the pan unless you undo the motor mounts and raise the engine. 3. Prep the head so you can place in on the block. Clean block surface with some carb cleaner and the head surface. 4. Make sure your allignment dowels are still in place. 5. Place the head gasket in place. And carefully put the head back on. Put the bolts in and torque according to you manual. 6. Make sure your crank has not moved by making sure piston # 1 is still at TDC. 7. Turn your camshaft so that both lobes of the #1 piston are pointing up. 8. Using your manual for referance reinstall your timing chain & tensioner. 9. Quit for the day. 10. Next day. DOUBLE CHECK that you have the engine timing set properly. Crank-cam timing. 11. Install the front cover. Tighten the oil pan & front cover. Don't forget the two little bolts that go from the front of the head to the top of the front cover. 12. Install the crankshaft pulley and make sure everything is still at TDC. 13. Look through your manual before you install the oil pump and the oil pump shaft. These have to be set in proper timing also. 14. Turn engine over by hand a couple of times to make sure everything is turning smoothly. 15. Adjust valves. 16. Smile your almost done. 17. The rest is cake. Good luck and let us know if you have any trouble.

As far as I remember this is how mine ended up too. They rotated just fine but they didn't "free spin" like a bicycle tire. Once the tire went back on they rotated just like before they came off.

I'd like to thank all the members that have taken the time to help out a fellow Z. Without the community support many Z's would not live as long. And THANK-YOU Mike, for creating such a great place for our cars!

Hey Zak, I'm sure you will get different answers on how people check their compression. But, I warm up the engine until it reaches operating temp. Pull all the plugs. Disconnect the coil. Start with #1. Open the throttle and crank the engine until the needle tops out. Usually 3 or 4 compression strokes. Your numbers look real good. Basically what your looking for is that all cylinders read about the same. Which yours are. Each engine is different and you never know if the engine has been worked on. For example, two identical engine's. Both in new condition. One is stock and the other had had the head shaved, or has had piston work. The one with higher compression will give you a higher reading. Hope that helps.

For your exhaust any good muffler shop can take care of you. Just specify that you want either 2 1/4, 2 1/2" aluminized steel tube. Welded together not clamped. Resinator yes/no, and what type of exhaust. And a chrome tip to finish. You could also buy one of those pre-bent systems from Motorsports but you will end up taking it to a shop anyway because they are a pain to install. On your carbs. Here in the Great white Northeast Z mechanics are pretty hard to find. Z's up here are pretty rare and thus are the mechanics. You might get lucky if you grab your phone book and see if you can find an export specialist that can tune dual S/U carbs. Don't go to the shop that says "Yea, sure, bring it in and we'll take a look". If your not planning to drive it until spring then I would suggest getting the video from Ztherapy. It will teach you how to take your carbs apart, rebuild them, tune your engine first and then tune your carbs. It's real easy work once you see how it's done. Good luck, Ed

Don't the later model 280's have a pull handle? Or an extended arm rest?

It makes it easier to find bad bearings.

Check is in the mail

Disregard my last post. I thought you were someone else. You might have bad valve stem seals.