norcal z

Well, I just joined the 50+ group on Tuesday, although I never "act my age" (and I don't even know that means!). Mine is a street machine. Originally when I bought it, I intended to set it up for racing, but decided against that for this car. At some point in the future, I'd like to buy another one that is already race-prepared. Back when I was in my junior year of HS, a friend let me drive his brand new '72 240Z. What a blast that was! But at that time, I too was into American muscle cars - a really nice '64 Chevy Impala SS, and in my senior year, a '69 Roadrunner. Beep Beep - zooooom! gary

This is great to hear, Victor! I am a bit surprised that you had to pay any amount to get your own property back, however. When my Houston, TX, apartment was broken into and my stereo stolen, I did not have to pay the pawn shops anything to retrieve my equipment when the HPD found it (through the serial numbers) a year later. But still, that was a small price to pay for getting your beautiful z back!

Damn, I'm sorry to hear this. But it might be found, so don't give up hope. I was told that my Z was stolen from the PO, and the police found it at a chop shop before it had been stripped (all occurred in the Stockton/Lodi, CA area).

Ahhh, I see now - you actually found evidence of some old vinyl. Even though you are not dissatisfied, I would report this back to DR so that they can determine whether to modify their process or not (I was formerly a field rep for a mfg. company, and I was occasionally surprised to find customers who had irritating little issues that they never reported back to us that were then resolved by a simple process change at the factory). It could also have been a QC problem (not removing all the old material as indicated in their sales info) rather than a process issue. gary

As explained in their recent e-mail to me, they strip off the old cover and pad, and replace everything. Perhaps it may be the case that the new pad is just a bit thicker than the original was? Here's their correspondence: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Gary, Quote #31058 As the exclusive North American Representative of Dashboard Restorations of Queensland, Australia, we thank you for your recent inquiry in regards to our dash pad restoration services. Our USA services include the restoration of Dash Pads, Consoles, and Arm Rests. Molded Door Panels may be provided for your vehicle depending on make and model. All work is done in our facility in the USA. We have the training from Dashboard Restorations in Australia and use the same equipment and processes that they have used for the last 20+ years. Our service will provide you with a genuine and professional restoration by qualified craftsmen. Your unit will be stripped, repaired, re-padded, reshaped, and recovered with the best quality foam and UV sun protected Bridgestone finishing material using our unique vacuum heat molding process. This process ensures that your unit will be finished to “as new” condition, in the color of your choice, at no additional cost! We offer our customers a 100% guarantee against faulty workmanship and materials! Our turnaround time is about 2 weeks, once at our shop. All units must be sent to us on the metal/plastic sub-frame – we are not able to accept the pad only. Any and all fittings such as vents, instrument surrounds, plastic fittings, and fitted gauges, etc. must be included to enable us to accurately size and refit these items following the restoration of the dash-pad. Send your unit either UPS, FEDEX, or parcel post, prepaid, to the street address shown above. Upon completion, we will return to you either the least expensive method, or any carrier of your choice. We will bill your credit card for the freight only. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- And their contact information here in the US: E-mail: dashrestoreusa@aol.com phone/fax: 360-892-4075

As I stated in my original post, he said to "remove the numbers from his e-mail address". I have corresponded with him at that address, and it IS valid. His name is Pete. I'd suggest you try again. gary

This is always an interesting topic for discussion, and one that elicits a wide range of opinions. On a the jeep forums I particpate on, the general impression is that if you switch to synthetic fluids from dino fluids on an older vehicle, the syn fluids find every place to leak out that they can. And in fact, on my now 6 year old jeep v8, they did just that. I once swtiched to a synthetic motor oil and had so many leaks by the next oil change (engine), I went back to dino oil and have kept it that way (that was with only around 35K miles, too). Also had to have the engine cleaned, and it's still ok now at 54K. As for racing, I agree with Rick Hanson's comments, as I was a former stock car racer (dirt modifieds) and both our machine shop and lube products sponsor (a local Quaker State distributor) recommended 20-50. We were running a methanol fueled 383 ci. chevy with a 6800 RPM limiter, and we were constantly bumping the limiter in dirt track racing. We had no lubrication-related failures with that setup.

Hi 260z - I beleive it probably is as good as his brief description, since he apparently is the original owner and because in Orange County, California (Southern Calif.) it doesn't rain much, so there's a lot less opportunity for rust to develop (I was born in Long Beach, which is "next door" to OC) than with other locations, even here in Northern Calif. The owner did send me a note back yesterday, thanking me for putting this thread up. He also said that he doesn't drive it much, but does enough to keep it running. His name is Pete. As for his asking price, I only paid $1000 for mine (OK, that WAS 4 years ago), and while it was in running condition, it needs everything rebuilt or replaced mechanically and cosmetically. It has almost no rust, however (even under the battery tray!), and that's what I was mainly interested in at the time. It spent it's life in and around the Sacramento, CA area (N. Calif Central Valley). If I had it to do over again, I'd probably look for one in a little better condition, but this stuff is FUN, right?. gary (who needs to get to work on that thing!)

I was looking at the newsgroup alt.autos.nissan.z-car and saw an ad for this car. The picture is fairly small, but it looks like it might be in decent condition. Copied below is the text message and jpg. NOTE: I do not know this person nor have I seen the car, so please contact the owner directly (the message says to remove the numbers in his e-mail address):

Thanks for the tips, Carl. I'd forgotten about Scott Performance - I actually went there once with a friend who used to have a Z. g

Thanks, Znut. I'm going to be down that way in a couple of weeks - I'll check them out.

Well, I do like most of the changes you made, but I went back to the old theme because of the colors - the various shades of blue make it easier to view the page, IMO (IOW, not as "bright white").

Upon reading this, I ran to get my bottle of STP Son Of A Gun! Protectant, to read the label. Lo and behold, it says it's a polymer silicone formula. It sounds as if this is similar to Armor All. I've used it for years on various cars because it doesn't seem to attract dust like AA, and it's not as slippery. Guess I'll have to start using somehting else now. ES, do you have any info on this product? TIA.

I don't have a pic with my z car, but here's my ugly mug at our annual Jeep Grand Cherokee extreme wheeling trip to Moab, Utah, this past June:

Oh, shucks, that's a good one on me! ROFL gary

Well, you shouldn't feel bad. Mine looks pretty good in the avitar here, but if you saw it in person you'd see how bad it really is! Don't worry about it, just enjoy what you have as you prepare to bring it back to its former glory. As for a cruise up to wine country, well, mine won't be ready for that for some time. I'm still debating what I'm going to do now that the head gasket is blown and I've got to tear into the engine. gary

Sounds good, although I blew a head gasket recently, so mine is "resting" for the time being, while I decide whether to just get started on the whole restimize project. And my Jeep is in the body shop getting repaired from a hit and run, so I'm in a cheesy rental car this week. gary

Hey, Mike, what happened here? I responded to this thread a couple of days ago, as did several others (seems as though I was about the 11th post or so). Now, there's only posts up to 10-23. Something weird is going on... gary

yes, there are quite a few. Hi!

I'm really sorry to hear this, as my sisters and I went through a similar situation not that long ago. My thoughts are with you and your family in this difficult time. Gary

OK, I know Rebello Racling is over in Pacheco, but can anyone recommend a shop closer to San Jose or better yet, on the Peninsula? I've definitely got a bad head gasket. As I suspected last night when it wouldn't turn over, today I found the #6 cylinder hydro-locked. I'm sure it also has bad valve seals and needs hardened seats installed. Yes, it would be best to rebuild the entire engine, but I'm not ready to do that yet. Right now I just want to get the head work completed. Any suggestions from some of the locals around here would be appreciated. TIA.

STOP! Let's clarify this mistaken notion about California's smog regs: While it is true that they don't have to be SMOG CHECKED, I do not believe it true that you can just get rid of whatever is there, or install something that is less protective than the original equipment without penalty. If, for instance, you get stopped for another violation and the officer finds that you've removed or otherwise altered the original smog equipment, you face a penalty and must then make repairs sufficient to bring the vehicle back up to original specifications and have it smog checked to prove it. You may be able to get away with removing/altering smog equipment, but it is not "OK" to do it.

No Banner! Thanks, Mike. gary

Hey, guys - Please post these issues over in the Website Development & Bugs Forum, so Mike can check them out. That is the forum he's watching more closely for "bug' reports. I just posted a nerw thread about this over there, and Mike replied that it's a "bug" that should not be there (not his exact explanation, but close). Basically, if you change your bookmark (or Favorite in IE) to the new classiczcars.com URL, it won't show up, but Mike is going to get the older 240z.org URL fixed, too. gary