jmortensen

That's a bit of an oversimplification. If you have the "self adjusting" unit, you're stuck with wherever that engagement happens to be. I guess you could adjust in a whole bunch of free play or really drastically change the pedal height. If that is good enough for you then more power to ya. How many cars have you jumped in the first time and been less than happy with where the clutch engages? For me that's most of the time. By using the manual adjuster, you can change the point of engagement to suit your preference. Is that worthwhile? Depends on who you are. For me, I think it's very worthwhile.

It doesn't look weld thru. The weld thru stuff is basically just zinc, so it's shiny like metal. That looks closer to a rust converting primer like a Zero Rust or a POR-15.

Fair enough. My 5/70 had a Type A to start. I think the same fork is in the car now, but to be honest there were so many parts going around at that time and it was so long ago that I could be wrong, but I think I would remember if it needed to be changed out.

I don't think that's right. I've got the adjustable slave and throwout fork (I believe these were Type A only) on my 80 ZX 5 speed. Works just fine. I've had the non adjustable fork and the adjustable right next to each other and was unable to distinguish a difference aside from the holes in the adjustable fork that aren't there in the non-adjustable one. I for one really like having the adjustable clutch. This is very true! Especially if you have an aftermarket cam and make your power up top, that drop in rpms between 2nd and 3rd can be brutal when you're racing. I had situation with my old roommate where we had very equal handling cars, had about the same power to weight ratios, but he had a cammed 510 with Mikunis and a 280Z 5 speed. We went to the track and when we'd hit the main straight at the top of 2nd I'd jump past him when he shifted to 3rd. I gave him a closer ratio trans to fix that issue and we were neck and neck again after he got rid of the 280Z unit.

Shouldn't be that hard to find a used one in decent shape. Have you tried Z barn or zparts.com? I am 99% sure you can use the 280Z rack on a 240 if you swap out the rack mount bushings, if you can't find a 240 rack somewhere.From Steve Golik, Z car guru and minutia master:

I think I'm right on this one Tom. If you push on the strut, you have to first overcome the nitrogen pressure inside before it will compress. Same thing happens when it's bolted in, and that expanding pressure inside the shock is no different than the expanding pressure of a spring as far as the chassis is concerned. It's not a stiction thing. It's a pressure thing. Think of it as having a tiny airbag spring inside the strut tube. That's basically what's going on. It's purpose is to keep the oil from frothing, but it does also add some spring effect.

I used to use Matt's Brake and Alignment on TO Blvd. I wonder if they're still there though. Do not take your car to the Discount Tire Center on TO Blvd. They tried to sell my friend a rack because they couldn't get the tie rod loose on one side. Turns out they didn't realize that the rack is RH thread on one side and LH thread on the other. Morons... If you don't have any adjustable bushings or camber plates then all they'll be able to do is set the front toe, which you can do yourself very easily. They can also shim caster about .5 degree so maybe you might get that benefit too if your car has a slight pull.

There's the key right there. The struts are gas charged, so they will act as a spring to some degree and raise the vehicle's ride height. Plus you hadn't rolled it yet, and you hadn't done the rear.

I'll sell anyone my non bead blasted 2400 valve cover for $300. It's a bargain at that price...

Sounds like maybe you have the springs wrong front to back. The Tokico springs go for a bit of rake, so if you put them in backwards the front would be high compared to the rear. Also if you just set the car down off the jack the suspension will be really bound up underneath, so even just rolling it back and forth a couple times will alleviate that and it will settle quite a bit.

$100-$150 I'd say. Take a close look at the coolant passages where the head meets the block. They like to corrode on the E31 for some reason, maybe different metallurgy than the later heads or something.

That's a good choice. It is a graduated cylinder, not a burette or a beaker though. A burette has a valve down at the bottom, and with this you'll have to tip the thing to get the liquid out. A beaker isn't graduated. Might still find it cheaper/taller at a science supply place.

Yeah, a really nice burette like that kit has will be much more accurate, but it expensive. Find a store that sells medical and science supplies and get a graduated cylinder. You should be able to find a nice tall one that will be reasonably accurate, then you just test multiple times to verify your numbers. I want to say I paid $20 for my graduated cylinder, and I used a piece of Lexan from Home Depot which I stuck to the head with a thin layer of white grease around the chamber.

Stack the shims to .075. As far as the cc'ing goes, I used a reasonably tall graduated cylinder. That syringe looking setup doesn't have enough space between the lines to be very accurate. Phred also said in a previous post to use alcohol, I had used water and the surface tension made it difficult to get the air bubbles out. Also, I would put the inner valve spring on, then take it off, remove the valve, grind, then put the valve back in, put the valve spring on again, then test again. Phred's other piece of wisdom was to smear some white grease around the valve seats and on the spark plug threads, that way you don't need to keep installing the valve springs over and over. I don't recall what kind of rings I have, but they seem to be holding at 11:1 compression just fine.

44 Mikunis with my own stub stacks made with a 3/8" radius carbide router bit and a mill with an ITG filter. If I was going to do it again I would have made a solid piece to connect the two holes, then radiused the outside edge as well. I also would have tried to put the cap screws in from the back, and threaded the holes in the stack. Live and learn...

They definitely do not get any cooler looking than the TWM air horns! I salivate just looking at them.

This subject came up on Hybrid Z and Keith Thomas and Norm the 12 second SU dude both chimed in supporting the N36 manifold as an upgrade to the earlier manifold. Norm said that you get more even fuel distribution and you could tell just by looking at the plugs.

I believe Matman has a few N36 manifolds. You might try PM'ing him if you're still looking.

One of the nice things about the ITG filters is that clearance to the end of the filter isn't that critical since air can enter from any direction. Compare that to a K&N setup for SU's where the end of the filter is capped with a piece of steel. Still, it'd be interesting to see dyno results from stock to K&N to ITG with TWM horns and see exactly what the difference is. I would imagine that it isn't that huge a difference, because I think the limitation is the SU itself, not the air cleaner.

Yes the disk will work fine.

Sounds electrical. I'm just guessing, but have you checked for power to the ignition system when it dies? Could be that you have a loose connection or a bad ignition switch and it stops getting power for some reason like vibration breaks a connection somewhere along the way.

72 should have the curved transverse link. I think they moved the diff back in mid 71 and it was this move that required the curved link instead of the straight one.

Clunks aren't usually caused by a bad diff. A bad diff will howl or will make horrific crunching noises when you turn, but the Z is known for having clunk issues that have to do with the diff MOUNT or the halfshaft and driveshaft U-joints. Check these pages to get some info on common diff noises and their causes: http://www.ringpinion.com/content/technicalhelp/default.asp?pid=109 http://www.ringpinion.com/content/technicalhelp/default.asp?pid=110

Having worked as a mechanic for 8 years or so I have been thoroughly unimpressed with "remanufactured" electricals like starters, distributors, alternators, etc. If you go to an automotive electrical specialist they can do a good job, but your typical auto parts store job is crap IME. I'd rather reman it myself, especially in the case of a distributor where I think the most likely procedure involved in your typical reman job is cleaning it and putting a new dashpot on the vac advance mechanism. I've actually seen with my own eyes (enough times that I know it wasn't a fluke) a "remanned" part that has been SPRAY PAINTED SILVER RIGHT OVER THE CAKED ON DIRT instead of being cleaned properly!!! montoya_fan01 is right that a ZX distributor will 99% need a little attention to the vac advance mechanism at the very least, but they're very easy to pull apart and if you do it yourself at least you'd know it's been done correctly.

This has been beaten to death in the last couple months, but I'd like to say that it's not all that hard to find the ZX with the right module. I've bought 3 of them out of junkyards that I just happened across, and never paid more than $50 for the distributor with the correct E12-80 module. Carl is also correct that you can adapt the Chrysler or HEI module very easily, and both of those are available from any corner auto parts store in the US. The ZX distributor has a weak vacuum advance mechanism that is prone to breakage, but it has a much better mechanical advance curve and I run mine with no vacuum advance for that reason. Search and you'll find more info on diassembling and inspecting the bushings which don't go bad very often IME. I'm with Carl and would suggest the ZX distributor as the easiest and best solution to an old points distributor for a non-concourse car.