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I am looking for how you feel about the modifications made to a Z car, not what the state/local government fits it into their tax base as. John I want your emotional fluf! Don't take that the wrong way, Nudge, nudge, wink, wink! You are in good company, I had to get on Carl this way in the "Classic" thread. My first consideration in buying any Z is purely emotional, then I use condition/modification to determine what I am willing to pay for it. This thread isn't about pricing or buying a Z, it is about what you consider the essence of a Z.

Years ago-in my low drag Z stage I added a wide view panoramic rearview mirror to one of my Zs to get rid of the side mirrors. It had seven panes, and clipped on the visor mounts and after some adjustment I did not need side mirrors, Recently, I tried one in the convertible in getting ready for Z dayZ, and found that the single pane versions work better for people shorter than me. It might just be a solution for you-depending on your height. after a ton of research, this is what I bought most recently-this is not to endorse their product, but to give you a place to learn more about it-the site is very informative. http://www.allviewmirror.com/ Will

Arne, I poised the question for a personal answer because our car choices are so personal-most of us can respect the pride, effort and time that went into a car without getting into whether or not it is as we would have built it-much like Mr. K in the early reference to more power. Alan, I love it when you come to the table! There is a huge portion of Z-ness that is visual-the body and interior design team got it right-with some input from Mr. K. I think the body is what pulls people in and gets them interested to begin with. The shape is part of the uniqueness of a Z car, one of the things that grabbed me from the beginning was that an S30 only strongly resembles another S30. That silhouette is un-mistakable. The interior fits the car, and while I understand and agree with adding more comfortable seats, I would want to update the padding in original seats or reupholster others to favor the originals. To me keeping Z ness means every upgrade should match the essential design elements of the car, not use the car as a backdrop to make them stand out. FWIW: as an owner of an Alpha 1 GTO with an L28et with triple Webers-I agree it is no longer a Z, but an offspring, with some similarities and some serious deviations, but putting a body kit on a car is not done to keep the original character of the car-but to radically change it-but because of its vin it is still 17 letters or so part Z. My first car was a '76 2+2. It was a Z in my eyes, though I will admit adding an L28Et in 1984 gave it more Z-ness!

You can probably get the original screws from Z therapy, or use what ever you want with some slit lock washers and pay attention tightening them down. I would put a hex head on it to make it easy to RnR without damage. I would use antisieze on all threads that you put non original bolts into-though it wouldn't hurt them either. I can pick out the size, but don't remember what it actually is.

SO, if it looks the part to the untrained eye... meaning the inside and outside are pretty much left alone, but for the mechanicals pretty much anything goes?

What wouldn't you change-and why?

When does changing something make it no longer the essence of what it was? That is what I am after. Mr. K clearly gave a generic answer, he did not say "the Z needs the heart and brain of a Corvette." Note that Mr; Ks own Z was only lightly moded, and surely he could have done anything he wanted to it at any point until he gave it to Jonnie. If he was serious about adding power why did he choose not to?

Now, none of this is to criticize any car, or the love sweat or blood that went into making on what it is. or the money that went into buying it. This is just to get an idea of what makes a Z actually a Z to the group of people who participate in this thread. Shortly after I joined this Forum I posted a thread on what makes a Z a classic, this is to carry that same theme. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it just so happens I am actually interested in yours.

I have had several discussions recently about Modified Z cars, and whether or not they are still Zs. I know what I think, but what do you guys think? What makes up the Zness in a Z? What modifications don't affect its heritage?? What modifications do??

I completely missed the diode in the small picture-but there it is in the bigun!

The article is in issue 146 (September 2010) of Classic MotorSports Magazine Nothing to scan it with at the moment.

In the not to distant past one of the Magazines(I believe it was either ClassicMotorsports or GrassRoots Motorsports) did a head to head contest between Webbers and Sus on a given engine, I have it somewhere, and I believe the result was six of one half a dozen of the other-meaning only marginal differences when both are tuned properly. If my memory serves that article correctly, that means there are more effective ways to spend that money. I'll hunt the article and post it when I find it. On the other side of the coin, Nissan did choose Mikunis for the performace sports versions for a reason. Will

You would have to want that car saved- and find a healthy doner. I have seen worse damage repaired-somewhere I have pictures... Will

I can't get your picture to open up to get a closer look, but if I am right, it is a wire wound resistor the "box" should be ceramic and there should be an ohm rating printed on it, and possibly a voltage rating. That looks like a wire wound resistor-probably there to drop the added power from the upgraded alternator. I would have mounted(and probably arranged a clamped and compounded heat sink) it better than taping it into the harness-the nature of a wire wound resister is they get hot.

if you've not found what you are after yet, Do a search on "chook Chute" on of our members from your side of the pond, Rick O'brien, sought those out years ago-he might have some good oil for ya! if you've got a shiela, you would do well to keep her away from that lot-and if you find a new statue in your bed room-well thats the subject of another search!

I have used several things over the years, from Home Improvement store weatherstripping to headliner to Neoprene, Of the off the shelf materials, the headliner material worked the best. I bought it from a local Handcock Fabrics store, far more than I needed for $5, but it has come in handy for Door covering the rear panel on several hatches as well. Obviously color in your situation does not matter, I bought black because it was there, and I could use it elsewhere. As a material is is very supple, and forms so easily a seal is assured- I also used it on all of the crumbling foam gaskets through out the hvac/defrost systems and on the edges of the ridgid plastic interior panels to stop squeeks-even on my Z32 convertible. The foam is about 1.8" thick and compresses to nothing if look at it too hard! The covering material is seriously thin as well-seemed to me to be the perfect answer-and readily available. Will PS if this helps you, give Greg and Roger a hand in Phoenix if they aren't already putting you to work-tell Will sent you!

Even with the 1974 date, I have a hard time figuring out what car specifically that artwork would be in an ad for. It has side body lines influenced by a 280ZX, Quarter windows from both an S30 and an S130-in line with each other, S130 hatch too(squared corners in the chrome trim)and the tail and tag lights of a B210...bits and pieces from several cars, but the defining caricature of none of them. Maybe I am recognizing the taillights(because I have a set) and not the rest of a B210 because I don't have the whole car...but I do have a nutshell ad in my literature...somewhere! Will

Beautiful!

I have a complete Original York setup available as well, and have the parts pulled from a recent upgrade-using a Sanden compressor. Merging the original dealer interior peices with the upgraded sande compressor gives the vintage look with actually efficient and cold AC! Will

in my younger years, I built a set out of schedule 40 pipe-and painted them, Hard(did I mention it was hard) work but cheap to do. Typical time, energy, money stuf. I die grinder, a drill, Oxy/acet, the sledge hammer I used for splitting wood, and all of my patience. Notched the corners with the grinder, bent then hammer welded and ground smooth. Just basic metal working skills were required, and you can make them fit as well as your patience will keep you working. I'll see if I can round up a picture or two over the next few days. You could certainly do the same thing with thinner pipe, but I wanted something more than a cosmetic piece where a bumper should be.

Good points Carl, superseded parts can keep a car on the road, but are not original! I am going to be adding some fuel to that in the parts differences thread, I am parting out a low 800 vin (1/70) car that was sacrificed to the rust god too long ago to keep, I will be removing, cleaning. bagging, tagging and photographing everything-lots of early stuff on it that proves your points! Metal emblems, Toshiba branded beezels on the antenna and other parts, plastic fuel door twist, seat protectors, flat map lens, un-reinforced center vent, red dot mirror, , to AM radio, 2400 valve cover, early hose clamps, even the air pump is there! None of those can be found at the dealer, and all of those parts have been superseded with proper fitting though cosmetically different part. I'll add these parts to the parts differences thread as I picture them. Even our local dealer is directing our club to order on line-we have been ordering with part numbers for several years...they are trying to consolidate personnel between two dealerships.