kmack

I'm in the process right now of searching out new tires for my car. But the Yokohama AVS's are a little on the high side for me right now. I'd like to have them but there are cheaper alternatives. For those of us out there that like to race though, another tire was suggested to me by a Porsche guy. Falken's AZENIS RS. This tire is one step down from an actual race compound for the street. I have seen this guy run an 8 cyl. 911 on these tires hard through an endurance race and they stuck like glue! And they are cheaper than the Yoko's. They are good for driving on the street, too. Although I was told you won't get more than about 20k miles on the street with these tires. Check 'em, out.... Falken AZENIS RS

Rick is correct, the ball joints from VB are aftermarket. As for MSA's $34.95 price, That is what I thought the price was earlier this year when I was looking for mine. But MSA said they no longer could get them at that price and was only ordering Nissan replacements @ about $52/ea. Victoria British got my business...

Alfadog, In your picture, you outline the doors, hood (bonnet, I forget I'm a Texan sometimes!), hatch, access panels as being bent. Where are they bent or are they just not aligned? As for the scratches, you can sand the paint and the scratches down. But if the scratches are deep, you may need a light putty filler (usually comes in a tube) to fill the area slightly. It's a pretty easy process to do by yourself. As for the rust, the areas you show and typical. On the lower fenders, if the scratches on top are deep ones, it'd be easier to just replace the fenders. The wheel arches are going to be a little tough and it's best to let a body/restoration shop tackle those. The area underneath your hatch is a place I had to deal with on my car. I actually have write-up on making a repair section for that exact spot (except on the other side) on my website. I'm in the process of re-writing it for this site, but that'll take another few days. As for using bondo or replacing the metal, go with the metal. Bondo will work good but only if it's applied correctly and the metal underneath is prepped correctly. To use bondo, the metal must sealed first before the bondo is applied. DO NOT APPLY BONDO TO BARE METAL! Over time the metal will absorb moisture from the opposite side (through the metal, think osmosis) and will begin to rust under the bondo. Then it all peels up. Also, bondo should not be applied to areas that will require more than 1/8" or 3/16" thick. If Bondo is deeper than that, then you need to shape the metal more. If you can afford it, definitely go with a shop that does professional restoration work. They will have the knowledge, ability, and pride to do the job right.

The old steering wheels are very easy to refurbish. There is a write-up in Sport Z magazine about it. I think it was June of last year (2001). I did mine a few weeks ago.... took 2 days working in the evenings (had to let things dry a bit). Turned out looking VERY nice!!!!

I understand you feeling about living out in the middle of nowhere...I grew up 7 miles north of Mexico. We had a 1000' landing strip out back, small rifle range, decent driving range (I played golf, too) and enough woods out back to go camping in the "back yard." Also was great in high school because I could stay close to home and still "park" with the girls! I'm still looking for a place like that, but a little further north of Mexico.

Well, I might be "far away", but it's still rather warm here and we don't have to worry about snow. I've actually only seen snow twice in my life. Comes from living no further north than Houston, TX!

Do you have to ask? :stupid: Glad to see there really are women out there that love these cars as much as us guys do. Welcome!

We hit the lottery last weekend! But it was only 4 numbers and turned out to be only $113. Hit it once before, 5 numbers. But still only got $1500. That barely puts a scratch in the credit cards....

You should have 2 "loops bolted to the sides of the head. One should be located just above the fuel pump and the other on the last exhaust stud on the back of the engine (opposite side from the front one). If you don't have these "loops", then either just bolt the chain directly to these lcoations or get something that'll work.

Hey, Fred! Haven't talked to you in awhile...I check in on the chat room periodically from time to time, but things are starting to get a little busier here at work so it's tough to get in sometimes. But like you, I have noticed that there seem to be less and less people in there when I show up. (Maybe they smell me coming!! ) I do get in on the weekends in the evenings sometimes, but by then all you guys across the great pond are already in bed. Maybe I'll run into you there agains sometime soon, until then...take care.

I do searches myself on old posts, as well as old threads I have started. Some of the threads I've started were questions, and it can sometimes take me awhile to get around to doing some of the stuff that other people recomend. So I need to be able to search out the answers that were postsed for me.

Like Daniel said, I would check out the "spray bar" on top of the cam. (that's the oil tube he's talking about) It has little holes above each cam lobe and they can get glogged over time. The bar also splits at the "boxes" where it mounts to the cam towers. A little JBWeld fixes that nicely. As for pulling the engine, I have gotten the engine and tranny out (in one piece) in about 50 minutes by myself. Figure it'll take 1-2 hours. There are not many wires to disconnect and the biggest thing to remove (besides the engine itself) is the hood. If you still have the stock exhaust manifold, then the down pipe going to the muffler disconnects at a flange on the bottom of the manifold. There should be 3 nuts on studs coming off the manifold itself. I'd soak these real good for quite awhile before attempting to remove them. I broke one before and had to drill and re-tap it. Everything else should be straight forward. Good luck.

If you want disc brakes on the rear, then you need to look at getting the rear set-up from a 280ZX. (OMG! I said the forbidden word! :tapemouth ) Try doing a search on this site. I'm not sure if there is a write up here or not. I'm pretty sure there is one at www.zhome.com There are also very good write ups around the net, you just have to do a little searching. This might be a little involved as I believe you also have to swap part of the half shaftes because of the different stub axles from the 280ZX. Good luck on the project, though.

"If you don't get hurt, then you weren't really working."

If it's just the u-joint that is bad, just take it to a local drive-shaft place and they can replace the u-joints. Probably for less than $40. If your drive shaft itself is breaking apart (the tube body is coming apart) then you are doing some serious damage to your car! I've seen lots of u-joints fail, but I've never seen an actual drive-shaft come apart, even in a research facility where that was the goal.

Hybernation? Winter Storage? What the hell does that mean? Doesn't it stay nice all year round like here in Texas? Oops, sorry. What was I thinking? Make sure you also change the oil before putting it up in storage. There are acids and such left in old oil that can attack the engine and it's internals. Ask anybody storing motorcycles and they'll tell you the same thing. And since you'll be in a heated warehouse, I'd leave the battery in the car, but connect it to a Battery Tender. That way you won't have to worry about where to store the battery. And you'll know it has a charge at all times.

I also have a demented friend that likes to collect wasps nest. He used the biggest one to scare the crap out of me one day. We found the biggest one one day at work up on the side of the building. It measured 10" across the longest part! After we killed the 20 or so wasps on it, he spent the about 15 minutes picking all the dead wasps off the ground. Then he took it home and glued them all back on the nest. He kept it on top of his tool box at work and loved to put it behind corners and such. I always hated when he did that...

I don't worry too much about spiders, but wasps are another story.... When I first got my '71, it had been sitting in some guys backyard for at least 5 yrs. Now for those that don't know, here in Texas, wasps will build a nest anywhere that has protection from the rain and hasn't moved in a few days. Well, I'm laying underneath my car pulling the rear bumper off using a wrench and a hammer (to bang on the wrench) one day behind a friends barn. My goal was getting the gas tank out. After about half an hour banging on the rear bumper, it finally comes off. Now for the tank. So I'm under the car, gas tank laying on my chest. As soon as I lower the passenger side just enough to clear the lower body section, I notice 2 wasps nest about 4" in diameter! Each one had 8 angry looking wasps just sitting there staring at me! Now I'm prone to freeze in fear at the mere sight of a wasp buzzing around my head. This was absolulye terrifying. It took me over five minutes to slowly slide my way out from under the car. To this day, I will always shine a flash light up under fenders, and under any car that has been sitting for awhile before my body goes underneath it. I still get chills recounting that story...

As I understand it, the only piece that is different is the one going from the bell-crank on the firewall to the intake balance tube. One is longer than the other. Not sure which one though. But this assumes that you're switching out the '73 balance tube with one from a 70-72 model. If all you're doing is using the existing balance tube, but plugging up all the unneccessary ports, then a new linkage is not needed.

First check out the carbs to make sure they are set to pre-tune settings. Since they have been replaced, we'll assume that they have been apart and/or rebuilt somewhat. In that case, they need to be set at a pre-tune setting so the car will start, and then they can be properly tuned. Do a search on carbs here in the forums and you'll come up with a wealth of info. Also check out a Factory Service Manual or Haynes manual for additional info. That will get the carbs in the ball park. If the engine ran but then sort of quit, then you can assume a few things there. One is your getting some fuel, but are you getting enough. What kind of operational condition is the fuel pump in? Another thing is the carbs may be close but not close enough. Do you know if the PO was able to get the choke operational during these times? These engine can be rather cold-blooded when first started and the choke helps a lot. It sounds like most of the general electrical stuff has been taken care of so I wouldn't worry too much about those items. But I would focus on the fuel delivery system and the carbs. Check out articles on www.zhome.com and maybe do a search on SU carbs out on the net. There are quite a few places that give good descriptions on tear-down and rebuild procedures for these carbs. Good luck on getting your car started. BTW, definitely get a little oil into the cylinders and if you might even pull the valve cover and pour a little oil on the cam. It couldn't hurt...

I just emailed you all the pics I have so far. It's at my house now (wasn't before) so I can get pictures of whatever soon. Might take me awhile to get pictures of the underneath, though. But I'll see what I can do. Also, the complete wire harness is all there, but I think the injector clips are getting a little brittle. The dash and one seat make up everything in the interior. I also don't have the gas tank.

I have a '76 280 shell that needs a good home. Only rust is in the battery area and front section of passenger floor. Frame rails, rocker panels, and rear quarters are rust free. roof has some light surface rust from thinning paint. Clear Texas title. $200 obo. Located in San Antonio, TX.

I've been a memeber of the email list (from this site, great job on that, too Mike, btw) for about 3 years. When Mike first mentioned the beginnings of this site, I started to keep an eye on it from time to time. Although i didn't officially join for sometime after that. But I've been here for almost 2 years now and wouldn't go anywhere else. :classic: