cygnusx1

16x8 (zero offset) with most 225/50 tires will rub the rear wheel arch lips on a 280Z when the car is sufficiently loaded. Even rolling them might just buy you a little travel. I tolerated it with a stiffer spring and illumina sruts set to 3. This minimized the cars compression travel during daily driving. Oddly enough, the same wheels and tires on my 240Z, have a bit more clearance to the wheel arch. On a 7" wide wheel, you dont want much more than +14mm offset. The sweet spot for 7" wide wheels is 0mm to +12mm offset on an S30 with factory spring perches and wheel arches. beermanpete, something sounds strange about your 3" backspace wheels. Are you sure they aren't 4" or more back space? My 240Z currently wears 16x8 wheels with 0mm offset (or 4" back space) and has no clearance issues on the inside (strut side).

Yes it does. How far back were Turbo Tom, and the Cartech turbo setups? I remember the blow through kit from the JCR catalog but that was in the 80's.

The NA motor should be able to handle light boost with no trouble at all. Water injection was popular back then when the boost got higher. They also had some "better" fuels than we do now. Raising fuel pressures, adjusting air flow meters, and tricking the water temp circuit, are a few more tricks that can be done with the factory hardware.

As far as I know, the body kit is the Jim Cook California Z kit. I still have the catalog somewhere. It is a very nice car. It just has a different audience than a stock Z would have. No better, no worse in my book. I would definitely keep it, enjoy the heck out of it, and take my kids for rides whenever possible. Every car has it's own story. You get to write your own part of it. I actually created a history document about my 240Z based on long phone conversations with the previous original owner, and then appended my continuing story. Write it down as you were told, add your piece, and pass it along in the future. That alone, will add value and interest to the car. Good luck with it!

There is a small rectangular foil type sticker on the main tube of the steering rack. Mine was too far gone to read and was almost completely peeled off. It looks like it had numbers on it. (240Z rack, unsure of year model)

I love the pics and the Corsair too. But I really like the Spitfire Merlins. Language Warning...funny though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8_5Qc1mK54&feature=related

Drove it, washed it, waxed it.

The interior paints/dyes are very good. I agree with everyone above. Keep it white and paint the parts that don't look clean anymore. My 240Z was originally silver with a red interior and the PO painted the outside red and the inside black. Although nice looking, I wish it was still Silver/Red, a classy combination IMHO, as is your car.

Chris you might not have know that #13 was the first Z car sold to the public in the US. It has changed hands a few times since then. I think it even spent some time in a junkyard. Also, not sure if this is a global belief, but the #13 is considered to be taboo, or generally unlucky, by the suspicious, here in the US. There are however, people like Rick and Kathy, who consider #13 to be very lucky. They are the current owners of #13.

Yes, some of my points are general and obvious but I listed them anyhow. How about looking and commenting on the other points with an open mind instead of trying to pick apart the easy ones? Take a look at the 2000GT Plan views. Squint if you have too. Does it have similar details as the S30. It's a bit uncanny. Lines that similar do not get concurrently engineered by happenstance. Look at the door open view. Also look somewhat familiar to you S30 drivers? To me it's obvious that Ferrari, Jaguar and Porsche, and a few other smaller marques had tons of influence on both designs, but the small details like the cowl, inspection lids, door panels, seat upholstery style seem to link these two by some sort of DNA. I am not trying to say that the S30 borrows all from the 2000GT, it could very well be otherwise for all I know. That's not even my point. My point is, there are uncanny details that strongly link the two. Especially in a ZG. On somewhat of a side note: 2000GT kit for S30 Chassis http://roadstergarage.jp/

Stainless lines can fail just as any other part. I would say, "subject to inspection."

I am a designer. Not of cars, but of machinery, and consumer goods, so maybe my eye sees things in a different way. Here is my quick list. 1) Basic shape. 2) Part line for the doors. 3) Inspection lids. 4)Interior door panels. 5)Layout of interior door panel hardware. 6)Cowl design. 7)Drivetrain layout. 8) Seat upholstery design. 9) Forward opening hood. 10)Front turn signal indicators. In my unbiased opinion as a designer, one of the cars designers, got a peek at the other design for a short while, and seems to have designed the other, out of a mental picture, a grainy spy photo, or sketches. Again, this is all based on my intimate knowledge of the S30 design versus photos I have seen of the 2000GT. Call me crazy.

I don't have to imagine the feeling that came over you. A couple of years ago, the steering column locked up on me dead solid. I was only going about 40 on a single lane road with a gentle bend and had no choice but to follow where the Z car wanted to go. I slammed on the brakes and hung on for dear life. I went across the oncoming lane, onto the grass shoulder, partially through a bush and stopped inches from a stone wall. Yes, shaking hands and extreme confusion. I had been going 70 on a twisty highway minute earlier! Turns out that a stray bolt got in between the cross member and the lower u-joint of the steering shaft, and wedged.

Pardon my ignorance, but as an uneducated auto historian, there are apparently many similarities, and design cues shared between the 2000GT and the S30. What's the connection? Seems way more than a coincidence to my untrained eye. I do know that if Goertz could post here, he would say it was because he did both cars, but I do know that much is not true.

L motors generally love to idle rich. My L28ET needs around 10.5 - 11.5 to idle buttery smooth. Fortunately, I can dial it in with the programmable EFI. When I try to make it run stoich, anywhere in the load range, it really isn't too happy. It feels good everywhere if you let it have 12's and 13's. Highway light cruise, and high revs, will be the only places it can tolerate the leaner stuff. Disclaimer: the L28ET is probably quite different than an L24, on which I have little experience. Interesting data. I need to get one for my 240 with triples someday.

We are a four car family with a 1.5 car garage. Is this a trick question?

Head gasket is a relatively easy job. I do mine in a casual weekend, or a hustle half day.

$1,000 /year with Hagerty? Is the car agreed for $60,000 or something?

Is that the rare knob that goes to 11?

Yes my "grammer" needs to go back to "grammer" school. English was not my first language. It was unfortunate that I had to file a claim. It was a tough case due to my being under-insured. The claim was made even more difficult by my choice of an expensive restoration shop, rather than a corner bondo shop. Hagerty was a huge help. They kept the car from becoming totaled by haggling with the shop. Make more sense? Repairs were done to the wrinkled metal by removing it, re-dollying the metal to shape, and then welding it back into place. Then the back half of the car was impeccably paint matched with not only color, but finish texture. I could have taken the check and slapped on bondo, but I am not that kind of guy, and a Z is not that kind of car.

No issues after the claim. As a matter of fact after the claim, I had added a second Z to the policy, while I was restoring it, and the total policy price stayed the same! Since the second car was not being driven yet, it only cost me, for example, about, $30 to insure as a "jackstand car" for agreed of $5000. However, I was now entitled to about $30 multi car discount...so it was free! Even the agent had to call her boss to confirm it. It just didn't sound right, but it was. See you at Limerock Ted! (no hagerty coverage there)

MMS Billet stub axles in your future?

I drove my Z's two days in a row this past weekend. Now the salt level on the roads is back to where is was in the heart of Winter. For a dusting of snow, they dumped s-loads of salt last night. It's completely pathetic. I suppose the town truck drivers need the OT. My outrageously high taxes at work.

Yes, I had to file a tough claim with them, unfortunately, and they were beyond helpful at every turn.

Daily driving is way too risky for a $200/yr insurance fee.