sleepyzzz

the 91 will have a driver side air bag,which i felt was best for my daughter driving a z. we started with a 90,that her boyfriend now owns. check to make sure that a recent timing belt and water pump maintinence was done, this is very costly if you pay someone to do it. last one ran about $600 at the shop we use,and they require that every 60 thou miles. good luck on your search.

correct, graphite powder is what you want

my father and I used to own a welding and machine shop in the Mississippi delta,where we worked with frozen bolts all of the time. heating the transverse housing will deffinitely work, but we always cooled everything down with water and then applied penetrating oil before trying to move anything. if there was too much heat applied, and the inner pin was heated also, it would just swell even more and make it tighter and possibly cause even more problems with metals gaulding. my 2cents for what its worth.

we used to own a '90 300ZX that had a tiny push switch mounted under the dash that made an electrical connection to the starter. you also had to have the lights on to give the switch power to work. two items that had to be done in order to start the car. this seemed very simple and inexpensive to wire in place. the switch had to be pushed in when the key was turned or the starter wouldn't engage,and most folks never found the switch and sure didn't make the connection without knowing to turn on the lights first.

25 when sitting in the seat of my z, and about that age when i owned my first, a '79 280ZX. oh, 51 when i get out of the z though:cry:

the only thing i found out for sure is that i don't have deep enough pockets to do everything i want to do to the car. . the engine is sitting ready after being boiled and rebuilt. we have gone thru the the suspension, with new bushings, struts, and springs. gas tank was dropped, cleaned out, and repainted. new low pressure fuel pump,door handles, and other minor things are ordered. have new toyota 4 piston callipers with the vented rotors for the front, and converted the rear drum brakes to the 280zx callipers and rotors, with stainless steel brake lines all around. so we should have the car back together and running next week, then i will have to save my money for new paint and interior work. still trying to decide what to do on the wheels and tires.

you wouldn't have a pair of those strut towers laying around would you? i haven't turned any up around here. sad to say, but when scrap iron got so high, most of the old stuff was hauled off and crushed. i know of one yard that had 6 or 7 later model zx cars, and all of them are gone now.

after five or six phone calls back to Ray @ tokico, (i bet he was getting tired of that) we deternined that the front of my car was the early production model wuth the smaller strut towers, like in the 240z and my rear struts were of the later model 260 and 280z. and again, i asked for the longer spacers to get my height correct on the rear struts and he wouldn't ship those to me. he did say that i could swap my rear struts out and get the correct ones. so, i called Motorsports Direct and they are having my rear struts and springs picked up, and as soon as they are notified with an email to verify this by the shipper, new rear struts and springs out of the HP253 kit (with the longer struts having a 3 1/4" spacer, and larger springs, i forget the actual numbers of each) will be shipped out no charge. the only thing i didn't care for was that i was paying frieght both ways, on the return and replacement of correct parts. now it gets worse. upon checking our front strut towers, getting them ready for assembly since we had all of the rear problems worked out, we found two different sizes on the front. not having the history of the car, but knowing that it had been in a wreck,i figured the previous owner either replaced the torn up strut with the smaller strut tower, because it is in alot better shape than the other side. if so, then that would mean i needed the entire HP 253 kit all along. so we are still scratching our heads, trying to figure out what to do,as i doubt that i will find a donor car around here with a good pair of matching front struts. the larger front strut tower, which is same size diameter as the rears, looks really bad, all rusty and pitted. so if i could get a right front strut tower from a 240 or early 260 then all would be ok. worse case, i can always clean this one up and go back with it until i can run something down. Ray at tokico is sending me the 52mm gland nut i need to run the strut in that tower. what a mess, but we have to get this back on the ground as my mechanic is not happy with me having my car tie his shop up and no parts to work with.

this is what i bought from Motorsportsdirect, thinking they were a division of MSA but not so. $322 with free shipping i had to take a chance, since my money was tight, and i still had so much more to deal with, as in all new brake system, and clutch slave and master yet to pay for. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKIC...93552307QQrdZ1

thanks for the compliments. as you can see from the engine bay i did change the color while the engine was out being rebuilt. i will one day have the bucks to have the entire car redone, but that will be awhile, with two kids in college now and a third coming up behind them. i also favored the green,but the wife wanted red. we may just go back original, since the car is complete, even with the old radio.

yes sir that would be the same as mine.

i agree with you, i do need the longer spacers. Ray @ tokico says that my rear struts with the 2" spacers are the correct ones,according to my year model z. and again, i ask would it be possible that i have the LATER model rear strut towers on my z?????? i don't have any history of the car, and i doubt that the previous owner swapped those out, but,,,,,,,maybe Datsun went to the later model parts for those going to the 2+2 model???????

as i stated in my last post, i was on the phone with the tech department of tokico. talking with Ray, he assured me that i had the correct struts for my year and make. the manufacture date of my 260 2+2 is 2/74. i wonder if this being a 2+2 model that they went with larger strut towers for the extra weight in the back. i even asked if a longer spacer was available and he replied that what i had was the longest they offered. the Datsun numbers on my strut towers are 55303N3700 and 55302N3700, could anyone maybe check their 280 and see if these are the same as yours? also, the rear strut towers were a larger diameter than the fronts. when trying to use the gland nuts packed with the kits, the nuts didn't even touch the threads of the tube. thanks for the info.

i finally got thru to the EBay seller today, and was given the number to reach Tokico direct so that they could deal with the problem. talking with Ray at the tech department, he assured me that i had the correct struts,after giving him the numbers directly off of the cartridge. but my mechanic that is installing them, still has a problem with the rear struts being too short. we didn't have the correct gland nut to attach it to the strut tower, so Ray @ Tokico is shipping a pair out next day air. you can't ask for any more than that. when setting the strut in the tower, and taking the gland nuts that came with the kit and setting them at the bottom of the threads, there is still about an inch or two of play, so i am still not sure about this. maybe the larger gland nuts that actually fit my strut towers are made different so that they will go farther down and against the top of the gas cartridge. i can see where my mechanic has a problem with this, as the first time i hit a good bump the cartridge will be rattling around in the strut tower.

can you explain why? i am new at all of this and the kit is still in the box and can be returned if need be. have you run this set already? or maybe know of someone that tried it and didn't care for it?

just a few shots to give you an update a year later on where we are with the car. the motor was boiled and rebuilt with new timing chain and head gasket kit. head was milled and new valve seats installed. all of the suspension was dropped and cleaned up and reinstalled with new poly bushings. we are held up on finishing this because my strut and spring kit that i ordered off of EBay was not correct. i have new 4 piston calipers with vented rotors coming for the front, and converting the rear drums to 280 callipers and rotors, along with stainless steel brake hoses all around. we even dropped the tank and cleaned it out good, finding no rust which surprised me. new gas lines run to the vent tank and main tank. i added a shot of the spare tire and wheel well to show you how rust free the car was. rails and floor boards,even the battery tray looked great. there was some frame work to do, from a previous wreck, but that is all good now. also i got brand new Datsun front and rear bumpers still in the package, that were never installed. only problem is, the rear bumper is missing the two end pieces that wrap around the car. we are very close to dropping the engine back in and i lucked out on my carbs, as a fellow club member doing a v8 conversion, gave me his old engine, with round top carbs, new clutch,altenator,and starter already changed out. i also have a five speed tranny to swap out on this also. when my money gets better i do plan on painting the rest of the car AJ4, which is Nissan ultra red used on the twin turbo 300zx. a friend has that color, and i have always wanted that on my car.

not sure how to attach more than one pic, i add a shot of the front suspension as well.

hope that i hear back from the company today to see what they will do as far as fixing this problem of the rear struts not working on this application. here is a pic of our rear strut tower all cleaned up with new poly bushings on the assembled part.

after trying to install my set that i bought off of EBay, and finding that the rear struts were the wrong size, i called MSA since the seller from EBay wouldn't answer my calls, and was told that they are not affiliated with them at all, and even said that they never heard of that company. they did however state that was an incredible price, but i allowed that price wasn't that important at this time as it wouldn't work on my car. also, the man i had installing these, had never done lowering springs before. he didn't understand how the springs were not even reaching the top of the strut tower like the old ones did. i had no experience with it, as this was my first set, ad couldn't convince him that putting the car on the ground, would compress everything in place and it would stay that way even jacking the car back up. does that sound right? i sent an email to the seller of the strut package, and probably won't know anything until Monday if i am lucky. not sure if he will want the entire package returned or just the rear struts. we also ran into another problem with my polyurethane bushing kit that i bought from Black Dragon. that will have to wait untl Monday also. to be so close to having this back up and running and run into problems is very frustrating at the least.

i will be glad to let all know how it turns out, but right now, there is no engine in the car. it may be a few months before i even have it running. still debating on what to do with my brakes front and rear. this car has sat for the last twenty years without being cranked. everything needs going over and re done. at least the suspension is almost behind me.

I saw this package tonight listed on Ebay by motorsportdirect for 4 Tokico HP struts and 4 Tokico lowering springs for only $322.00 for the entire package with free shipping in the lower 48 states -sounds like even a beter deal. How do these Tokico springs compare to the Eibachs? Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKICO-HP-SHOCKS-Struts-SPRINGS-70-74-240z-260z_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQihZ014QQitemZ330093552307QQrdZ1 i just ordered this set for my 74 260 2 + 2, to go along with my poly bushing kit that i ordered from Black Dragon. sure hope that it all works great, we will see.

yes i didn't try searching the forum before asking, my bad. thanks for the link though

not trying to hijack the thread here, but i am trying to get a '74 260 back on the road, and i wonder if this set up will work for mine? also, what year Toyota calipers to buy? will i have to do any major changes on my 260 to make this work? thanks for any help

i don't have a clue on carbs, all of this is new to me, which is why i am here asking for ideas. my other z came from California, was in great shape, and i drove it back home, over 2000 miles with no problems. i haven't turned a wrench on it as of yet. i think that after looking at all of the work ahead of me, you may find this on ebay or..................anyone want a 10 year old 260? (that is according to Bruce), just send me a privite message with an offer. i posted a link with pics earlier in case you missed it. too much work, no good place to do it, and lack of cash being the most important part of this, makes me think i am in way over my head.

ok, sad to say the compression check was not that great. i am somewhat dissapointed in that, and wondering now what to do. the engine did turn over, maybe not as fast, since my mechanic didn't install a new battery ( just took jumper cables to the cable ends , and one of those was missing a battery clamp ) and he did say that maybe that wasn't the best way to do it. a tear down on the engine, and getting the heads rebuilt, i am hearing prices of 1500 to 2000 dollars. this is making me want to just drop a v8 in there and be done with it. anyone have a suggestion on what to do next?