Zs-ondabrain

By installing the 3:90 diff and the 79' 5-speed, I ended up with over 390 miles to the tank on our trip to Anaheim, CA from Washington State. Thats over 25 miles per gallon. Not bad for 153,000 miles on the 36 year old engine. We had a blast and WILL DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!! I met a lot of great people and customers. Dave.

You've all obviously forgot about these.... Which I built and had on my Z for a few weeks untill I needed the carbs for something else....

I'll keep an eye out for it and I just put in an order for harness parts, that'll be here on Monday. Sorry I missed ya. But you probably saw my tail lights a couple of times and did'nt even know it was me (BRIGHT LED lights) Dave.

Thanks for the Great "plug" Mike. Now I know why every one gets out of my way when I'm going down the freeway. And I know that my exhaust does'nt help the sinus's but I'm also guessing that people did'nt like following me after I hit the brakes a couple of times. (L.E.D. tail lights) After a 2400 mile round trip, you tend to notice the little things that other people do as your cruising down I-5 at 80 or 90 mph. I got so many compliments on the harness's and LED tail lights while at the MSA event that my foot got tired from hitting the brakes while in the parking lot for all those who wanted me to "Hit the brakes again" and the now famous "Are those LED'S? DAMN Dave, those are nice, and bright" I took 8 Headlight harness's and 7 parking light harness's and sold them ALL in about 2 hours. And it helped to spread the word about the harness's and Tail lights. _________________________________________________________________ As for the Question about integrating the (black, round 3-pin) 260Z parking light plugs into the MY Headlight harness, YES I can do that!!! I need the 2 Male? plugs that are attached to the stock harness and I ALSO need 1 headlight side plug that attaches to those plugs. (as an input for the relays) Make sure that you give me at least 5 inches of pigtail when you cut the plugs off the harness. Send the plugs and the $125 money order to me at the address that is posted through out the forums. Use the link in my signature to get the address. I CAN MAKE A UNIVERSAL HARNESS for those who don't mind cutting into there stock wiring harness. I can also make a pigtail that wires into the 280 and 260 wiring by use of butt connectors and uses 240Z plugs (I charge $25 for the 4 extra pigtailed plugs) I will also give you somewhat detailed instructions on the installation of the pigtails. After you install them, you'll be able to reconnect the plugs if you decide to remove the harness. They'll just be 240 plugs but will serve the same purpose. Don't get me wrong guys, I almost think that 260 and 280Z's are as important as 240Z's (almost) But I keep you guys in mind with the hopes of coming up with solutions for all of our electrical and lighting issues that Datsun/Nissan left us to deal with 28+ years later. Dave. P.S. MikeW now has a set of LED tail lights and you can now get a second opinion as to the lights quality and affectiveness. Thanks again MikeW!!

Until some one shoots them in the head! :dead: Sorry, just thinking out loud again :devious:

I've seen fusible links at Pep Boys and Schucks (Kragen/Checkered) Find out what amperage they are and spend a few dollars at your local parts store. JM2CW Dave.

I filled the my almost empty tank yesterday and it only took just under 12 gallons. Do I have one of those screwed up tanks or does any one else know whats going on. More precisely, I just want to know if it's 12 or 13 gallon tank. I guess I should have asked that way the first time. Thanks Arne but I think mine is smaller than that. Arne, P.M. your address again so I can Make a side trip on the way down. It does'nt look like JZM is gonna go becuase of financial reasons (mostly gas prices and hotel) So me and Leah might just stop in for coffee on wed. evening.

Of coarse I'll bring extra harness's. Thats How I'm gonna pay for the extra gas prices that I've figured into the budget. Are you gonna get one or did you already? If you know of any one in need of one or the other, send 'em my way. My cell phone will be on at all times while we're down there. It's (360) 631-0757 Look in my gallery to see what my Z looks like and keep an eye out for me and the wife (photo of us is also in the gallery) With any luck, the harness's will go fast. I'll have PLH and HLH harness's along with some other items including a pair of louvered inspection lids, a headlight switch or two and some other stuff.

You're welcome, glad to hear that it suits all your needs. As for noticing anything this week, not likely. Considering how busy i've been trying to get ready for the 1200 mile trip to the MSA event. which includes.......... installed 5-speed ZX tranni installed an over-flow reservoir for the 280Z radiator after flushing it installed new (used) door panels valve adjustment oil change fuel filter and hoses repainted one of my inspection lids after dripping brake fluid on it polishing and painting little things here and there double checking every thing full interior cleaning including fixing a bunch of little things wash and wax with minor touch-ups burning new C.D.'s for the trip adjusting carbs for better gas milage (we're up to $2.90 per gallon) building a bunch of extra harness's for sale at the event and I'm sure there's more. Wish me luck. Dave

I don't know, I kinda like the mellowness of a long drive while high on fumes from the exhaust.

WHAT? no "THANKS DAVE" I see how ya are! Hope all went well and ya figured it out OK Dave.

excellent point, with my 4-speed, 3:90 diff and 225/50R16's my speedo was off and I had to do 70 to actually be doing 60. When I was doing 60, my tach was at 3600 rpm. Now that I have the 5-speed from a 79' ZX. the speedo is correct with the 3:90 diff and I am at 2350 RPM's at 60 MPH. And like you mentioned earlier, I can be at 80 MPH and be just under 3000 RPM's I think my gas milage just shot up quite a bit.:stupid: I'll know exactly what my freeway miles are, per tank, when we head to the MSA event. it's a 2400 mile round trip. So I'll have plenty of tank fulls to get a correct reading on miles per tank and per gallon. What is the exact size of the 1970 (8/70) fuel tank, please respond before I go on my trip on wednesday.

Different pressure plates make for different lengths in movement. the early (70 to 73?) style P.P's are deeper than the later style.74 and up. This info may be wrong but the replacement clutch assembly that I got for my 70'Z was 1/2" shorter than my stock one. I also know that the 5-speed that I just put into my Z had a longer (about 3/4") throw out bearing sleeve than my 70' sleeve FWIW, Dave.

When I did the under coating on the 70' Z, It was for 2 major reasons. The first was to protect the metal from any further abuse and the second was for cosmetic and sound. By undercoating everything under there, I have eliminated about 40% of the noise that you ussually get from large un-protected panels. My exhaust is loud enough and the stiffened suspension adds to the noise factor. I just got done (yesterday) adding precisely placed patches of "Dynomat" to the inside of each outer door skin and to the noisy panels that are visible when the door panel is removed. By doing this, in small noisy areas rather than the intire door, I saved an a$$ load of money. Dynomat is NOT cheap!! Result! Door speakers are louder and outside noise is minimized toa point that I can actually hear myself think. The new 5-speed and lower RPM's coupled with the dynomat'd doors and undercaoted underbelly actually allows the occupants to carry a conversation inside the Z at 70 MPH with out yelling. Keep in mind that each door also has 1) 4" 2-way speaker, 1) power window set-up, 1) door lock actuator and 1 led where the door lock knob used to be. The straps for the power windows help tie the panels together and bolting the actuator to the skin also helps reduse noise inside the door panel. FWIW Dave.

unless you're real strong, no. you cant move the fork by hand. If you want a little more adjustment in the fork, swap it for an early 4-speed fork with the hole at the end for an adjustable push rod out of the slave. thats what I have on the 70. I have a 70' 240Z w/ 79' 5-speed that has all the 70 style clutch stuff (flywheel, pressure plate, clutch, short TOB sleeve, and adjustable fork. The forks are identical except for the adjustment hole and a smaller hole for a tension spring that attaches to the slave cylinder.

we're also talking aboput 4-speeds that have at least 33 years under their belts. I blew mine up the first week that I had the car. Replaced it with a 72' 4-speed 3 1/2 years ago. And just put the 5-speed in last week, the 72 still works great.

any 5-speed up to 83' non turbo should bolt right up with NO worries. If you like the 4-speed, go for it. If you want a 5-speed, it'll bolt up just like the 4-speed. You got a lotta options. read the forums on front page that we've been writing all week-end http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16908

The first one I bought was only $77 and it came with the driveline, shifter, fork and throw-out bearing. After installing it and removing it 4 times in two days, I finally got to hear the bearings grinding and found out that It had a BAD main bearing. The 5-speed that I found just down the road from me was the only one within 50 miles that was'nt $400+ dollars. Snag that motor and trans for $150. you won't find a deal like that for a long time to come. Don't think, just do it! :stupid: Dave

mine were toast when I did the partial resto. The P.O. did'nt have caps up top and some how, the bearings were completely dry, rusty, and had flat spots in each of the inner bearing. they were'nt even re-packable at that point. And also consider this. Under heavy braking and turning, you're putting at the very least, 1/3 of the cars weight on that bearing. If the upper strut nut has ever had any play in it over the last 34 years, the bearing has takin the grunt of that slack. Thats the reasoning behind my suggestion. Dave.

there are 2 pivot points on each strut. Upper strut bearing (PN 23-4376) and the lower ball joint (PN 23-4301) PN's are from the yellow 20th anniversary Edition from MSA (copy right 2002)

I have 5 Z hubcaps that need a little TLC. Debating on selling not sure

No matter what it is (bearing or bushing) rubber or metal) REPLACE them BOTH! Your whole strut assembly pivets on that bearing and the bump stop helps to protect it. Replace 'em both. JM2CW Dave