ta240

are they familiar with Z's? They may just be guessing at the time to change it and not realizing just how easy the access to the plugs is.

I was surprised that it hadn't sold yet myself. I haven't seen an overall cleaner one on Craigslist that I can remember. The engine and interior look very well cared for. I'd been thinking it would be nice to get a 280 with AC to drive in the hotter summer months but now just isn't the time to be adding another car.

I talked myself out of spending the money right now and it is a longer distance to drive to look at than I'd want to do: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/1178628668.html I can't say if it is a good find or not but I did get some more pictures emailed to me from the owner:

Didn't take it as an insult on the exhaust system, just thought it was odd that it was a blanket statement that it had to be crap because it was from a catalog. Was merely trying to point out that the exhaust system in question wasn't crap, and even then what is crap to one person isn't always to another. To the guy with a custom stainless steel system a home built galvanized system might seem kinda cheesy. Obviously there are other options, but just as obvious there are or were much better options for some. Maybe I read your statement wrong that the catalog stuff was crap and there was no need at all for it to be available. Seriously? Rent a truck and a dolly to get an exhaust 'system' put on the car? This isn't some high-dollar prize car, it is a daily driver that I enjoy. I think the price starts running up quite a bit higher than the affordable crap that is sold in catalogs at that point. If it were somehow life and death, yes it would be possible to get it there, just saying that there are things that make some options less appealing. Personally, if I'm going to pay a shop top dollar to make one then I'm going to want to be there when they make it so I can make sure it is done the way I want. I didn't dismiss any of the options, just said that for some people some options are better than others. Every option listed above would work for some better than others.

I think the point of the original post is more of the exhaust system being the canary in the parts supply mine for the Z. And it is falling off its perch. The exhaust was just used as an example of another large manufacture stopping production on a Z item due to lack of demand. It isn't the first item nor the last. I for one like more choices rather than less. 20 years ago when I got my first Z I was so let down by the few and expensive parts choices. My coworkers would bring in their catalogs of parts for their old Chevys and parts would cost a quarter of what the Z parts cost and there were so many choices. They had all different quality and performance levels. The fact that so many of the same parts fit so many of the cars and that there were still so many cars out there made for great aftermarket support. As stated in above posts that just isn't the case with Zs. Thankfully MSA has been able to make a go of supplying parts and in some cases have even expanded their available options to help fill the ever growing void. Congratulations on your exhaust building ability, however the monza system fit on my Z just fine, went on easily and was quite solid. For those without the equipment/skill/interest in doing their own exhaust it is nice to have more options rather than less. I guess I could have taken a day off from work and spent it at a local exhaust shop having a custom one built or I could have driven 55 miles without any exhaust to go to a shop closer to work but those options had more downsides than up for me. Even if some of the options are 'crap', I still say more options good, less options bad.

back when I bought the monza setup I was looking at Maremont parts that offered a stock 'looking' muffler and a separate pipe setup in the stock size that was prebent. Just went back on the sites and it no longer shoes either.

dang, I should have asked more for the muffler part of my Monza system when I sold it. Probably should have just stuffed it in the attic. I was going to keep selling parts off my old white Z ( www.geocities.com/z-car ) but have decided that most of the usable parts I'll just keep aside for when I might need them for my 'new' Z. I can go weeks now without seeing another Z (240-280) on the road anymore and probably only saw 3 or 4 other 240's in the last year. As was pointed out above there are so few left and so few of those people want to keep them stock looking. I'm not averse to updating some items but I do like to keep the overall look clean and somewhat period correct. Read an article by Jay Leno the other day where he was saying that one of the biggest problems with collector/classic cars anymore is people just don't drive them so the parts don't wear out so nobody makes new parts. Then the few people that do drive and enjoy the cars have no source for replacements. Combine that with the number of Z's left that are highly modified and add to that the percentage that just want to keep their car running and don't have the disposable income and the demand even drops farther. The GTO is a great sleeper in my opinion. Tons of power without the 'look at me' of a vette.

there's an advertiser here that sells flush mount side light kits: http://www.preeng.com/xcart/home.php?cat=3

actually I had posted a question that had already been answered up above and that was the only way I could see to 'erase' my proof that there really are stupid questions

I thought the aerospace and automotive museums were a bit small and overpriced. But half the aerospace one was taken up with a star trek display so it could be better at other times. Unless I somehow missed a big portion of the automotive one it was quite small and granted I'm not a hard-core car fan so someone else could have found a lot more to look at there than me but we were in and out of that one fast.

my stomach often guides my stops on vacations. That mootime place has great ice cream and is walking distance to a nice chunk of beach on Coronado. I think there is a mootime in the fancy hotel on the beach too but the downtown is a nice enough area.

http://mootime.com/ not doing Disneyland/California Adventure?

I was thinking that another light coming on would draw that much more attention to the fact that I am braking or turning, even it it wasn't an extra bright light. I figured it would add a bit more brightness overall.

I'm always for making the car more noticeable, especially in rain/fog. Great idea, I didn't even think of popping the plug out of that spot on the lights. You've been running it for 3 years and there aren't any problems with too much heat on the lens or anything like that? I might be tempted to run it as an additional brake/turn light but it could easily be changed from being on with them to just the parking lights. -Trevor http://www.geocities.com/z-car

on my white Z http://geocities.com/z-car/myzfl.html I replaced the stock fan with an electric one. Didn't have any problems with overheating till head problems ended up with coolant leaks and then it would run a bit hot. Bought a fancy controller for the fan that would turn it on at half power when the temp hit one level and then full power when it hit a second level. But never got around to installing it before that Z wound up being a parts car :disappoin due to rust. I also had switched it over to a crossflow single row aluminum radiator (I think out of a full size chevy van or something like that). Used the JTR V8 conversion bottom mount for the radiator and then slightly custom top mounts. And the hoses listed: http://240z.jeromio.com/camaroradiator.html It would have been nice if it had a shroud but I was able to mount the fan so that the blades were really close to the radiator. So that helped some. I liked the setup, but just decided on the replacement Z to keep things a bit more simple.

good lord, I'd be taking them off almost weekly. Dang, my OCD is showing again. Curse those waxes that layer up for a deeper shine.

I do like the look of the original better than the reproduction I bought. I may have to get brave and try removing the emblems. I can already hear the plastic pins snapping off in my head though. I thought about trying to cut out the area of the stripe where it goes across the emblem but thought that might look cheesy

I can't imagine with my luck the pins staying in place on the emblems and popping cleanly off the car then just popping back in place.

I bought one of those from MSA but can't bring myself to pop the side emblems off their pins and then use tape to put them back on.

that has to be a joke right? This is too timeless to get lost once the auction goes away: One and only - 1974 Datsun 260 ZX, factory V-8 and original. Desert garaged for 14 years. Very, Very Fast. 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds at 4,500 feet elevation. Nissan Y44 motor, factory aluminum heads and aluminum 4 barrel intake, factory exhaust headers, factory 3 speed automatic. NO OTHER Z known to have this motor. The value of this car is what is in it. Have DMV certificate. It took me 3 years to get the certification because this Nissan factory motor has never been introduced to the US. I acquired this car through a friend who garaged the car for 14 years when his in-laws passed away, so any technical details of exactly HOW this particular engine ended up in my Datsun are lost. What I do know is that this is a one-of-a-kind car. There are NO OTHERS like it in the United States, and probably not in the entire world. The experts have heard of this car and now you can buy it. This is a running, registered vehicle. Bidding starts at $249,000. Buyer pays all shipping, insurance any other costs.

they say they will be back: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090227/CARNEWS/902279984

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090225/CARNEWS/902259979

Now that we've settled that, how about some more pictures of the rest of the car

looks sharp though.

It isn't the best picture: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=29801&ppuser=6558 and I'd like to get them recovered some day but I do like the way they look in the Z. Similar outline to the stock seats.