Bambikiller240

Is that a "deer hunting" joke? I haven't heard of it before now.

I like the headlight covers too; but if you're just worried about the cracked headlght, why not replace the damaged headlight? The one headlight has got to be cheaper to replace than buying two covers. You can always get the clear or smoked covers later on. Am I missing something here? Carl

close enough

I haven't priced one, but I'd expect to pay well over $500 for a complete rebuild of a 5 speed in the Bay area. Call a local shop and ask. Estimates are free. If you're in the fremont area try Dando's.

Where in the SF area? What city? I'm in the SF Bay Area, but my work is so busy at this time of year that I can't get away long enough in the day to get to SF to do you any good.

Although, with women, sometimes it feels like "Can't live with them, STILL can't live witih them." When speaking of women, there seems to be a VERY few that don't eventually get around to the "game playing" that drives men NUTZ! Now I say that from the stand point of someone who 8 years ago thought he'd finally found a woman who hated the games as much as I did. After 7 years of a great relationship, suddenly those GAMES began to appear out of nowhere (well maybe it was menopause . Within a year, the relationship had to end. I just can't deal with that crap. Sorry to bore you guys with my opinion on this, but I can relate to ZmeFly's problem here. It is a tough call, but ultimately you have to do what makes YOU happy. No one else can do that for you.

This may be obvious, but the easiest way to confirm that, is to push in the clutch and let off the gas when you hear the tic noise. If it goes away, it is likely the exhaust leaking. If it doesn't change, (like on my car) it is related to "wheel rotation speed" and not the engine. The noise I was refering to on my car is definitely related to the rotation of the front wheel, not the engine.

Hmm,, I don't think the noise on my current car is coming from the dust shield. It could be, but on a previous Z I removed the dust shields to see if the noise I heard on that car was from it, and the noise continued. Kind of a strange situation. On my cars the noise is only noticable at low speeds. When I get up to about 20 or 25, I don't hear it any more. I usually hear it when making a turn from a stop light/sign. Gremlins!

Hi Burt: I do not know what this noise is, but I must admit that on occasion, I hear a similar sound from the front of my car when I have the window down. I also, used to hear it from other Z's that I've owned. I've checked to make sure everything is as it should be numerous times and cannot figure out what is the cause. But since everything seems to be OK, I've just come to accept it as a "normal" noise, and I don't worry any about it much. What do you think it might be? I'd still like to find the cause. Carl

Geez, alfadog, I hate to disagree with you on another thread, but................ Good Show Rick!, Thanks!

They may be successful in their own eyes, but I do not believe that Mercedes and BMW feel that Infinity and Lexus automobiles are in any way equal to their own products. Certainly not equal in terms of quality. Though I do not have figures to back this up, I do not believe that Lexus or Infinity sell anywhere near the number of vehicles that Mercedes or BMW sell either. JMO Carl

Granted, but he was successful in what he set out to do, just as Nissan, and Toyota have been successful in their chosen effort to sell the same platform to a different market segment. I'm not condoning anything that either Hitler or Nissan, or Toyota have done. Just pointing out that "success" does not necessarily mean the project is worth recognizing as beneficial, useful, or anthing else. Success is in the eye of the beholder. It means many things to many people. I think Toyota, and Nissan have been successful at making a certain segment of the population feel that a Toyota (or Nissan) with a bunch of extra "do-dads" added to it, is something different than the Toyota or Nissan that it really is. A turd with frosting on it is still a turd!

It is not as simple as pulling the regulator and installing the later altenator, but as I understand it, it's not that difficult to do the required mod. I believe that it involves making a jumper wire from one pin on the voltage reg connector of the wiring harness to another pin on that connector. (may need to do this for more than one set of pins) and intalling a diode in a specific location there as well. I do not know the exact pin locations for these mods, but you can probably find out by doing a search here or check the www.zhome.com website under "Index of Technical Articles", then "A 280Z Alternator For Your 240Z. " Many people do this when they want to increase the amperage of their electrical system. Good Luck! Carl

Make sure that the body shop measures EVERYTHING. Your radiator support can be pushed back towards the fan without appearing to be moved. On Bambikiler it was moved back about 1/2 inch at the top. It would have made installing a fan shroud at a later date impossible if it hadn't been caught. It's the DETAILs that will make the difference between a correct repair and an incorrect repair.

It sounds like a similar amount of damage to what Bambikiller had 3 years ago out here in CA. The cost for repairing (replacement of the Hood, Fender, Bumper, 1 Headlight case, and 1 Turn Signal lense) with the required labor and painting was $4500.00. Good thing that Foolio has insurance! Make him PAY!!!!!!!! Take the car to the BEST shop in the county!

Hi Ed: Money doesn't always do it. Ferrari pissed away a hell of a lot of money for about 20 years (from 1982 onward) without any sucess at all. Jaguar hasn't done squat with all of Ford's money for the last two years either. Now, having said that, In general, the "haves" will always outpace the "have nots". but no other major racing series that I know of limits the budgets of teams. The "haves" in F1 do spend way more money than makes sense to me, and the Minardi's, Sauber's, and Jordan's of the F1 world cannot even come close to the budgets of Ferrari, McLaren, BAR, and Toyota. Maybe it is time to put a cap on the budget. I'd hate to see the technology limited because that is one part of the series that really fasinates me. It's a tough call to make. For 2003, my understanding is that the race cars must start the race with the engine and tires (and the fuel load) that the car qualified with. I'm not sure what would be done if the qualifying engine "accidently" blew up on the cool down lap. Hopefully someone besides the teams have considered that senario!

Top picture is of the Flow Guide Valve. It routes vapors from the fuel system to either the air cleaner assembly or to the crankcase depending on whether or not the engine is running. Second is..............I don't know. Some kind of relay, not sure what. You must have a 73 240? Third is the Voltage regulator. (240Z's and 260Z's did not come with an internally regulated altenator) Tttthats all folks! Carl

Possibly stolen from the dealer as well. All US models would be required to have the Airbags.

Hitler was "successful" too. So is Sadam Hussain "successful". But success dioesn't necessarily mean that the game being played is useful or beneficial. Success for success sake isn't anything I care about. Make a better wiget and I'm interested in it. The quality of Lexus and Infinity isn't THAT much different from the quality of Toyota and Nissan. But they sure have found a way to appeal to a different market segment while still using essentially the same product. Yeah, there are a few more bells and whistles on them, but the design and technology IS the same.

Thanks for those graphics, Jerry. I especially like the "Red Baron" one! Yeah, the Suzuka race was special for Honda and Sato, it's too bad that Eddie Jordan couldn't have found a way to reward him with a seat for this year, I guess he didn't feel any loyalty since he wasn't going to get the Honda engines for 03 anyway. I think we'll' see Sato in another team within a year or so. That drive certainly added a bit to Jordans share of the "Ecclestone Money Pie". Should be interesting to see if Jaguar can pull themselves out of the septic tank where they've been languishing for the past two years. I wonder just how much money they have pissed away with essentially nothing to show for it? 2ManyZs: First of all, I agree about Road America. I wish they could get that track up to FIA safety standards, it would be fantastic to see a F! race there while munching a Brat and quaffing a cold beer. The majority of the driver aids are on their way out this year. Traction control, automatic shifting, even pit to car communications are expected to be banned. I suspect that radio communications may be allowed, but there won't be any systems management being controlled by the pit engineers. The economy has finally gotten the leadership of F1 to realize that you can't just fling huge sums of money into the F1 circus forever. The smaller teams are really suffering and Max Mosely has finally gotten serious about reigning in the costs. Hopefully these changes with the changes to the qualifications format will mix up the game for 2003. I do agree that the races of the past few years have gotten boring at the front of the grid, but the mid-field , and backmarkers still put on some good dices ( I just wish the local broadcasters would understand that). It's really neat when I can watch cars that go from 0 to 100 mph in under 3 seconds, and can get from 100mph back to zero in less time than that. And 18,000 rpm 4 cycle V10 engines have a sound all of their own! I think the show is going to be better this year than the cakewalk that Ferrari enjoyed last year. Now, if CART can see their way clear to stop with all of the damn full course yello flags everytime a car stalls on track. They just screw up the racing when it happns so often. Most racing series go through cycle where the racing gets better, and better, then for one reason or another it gets buggered up. CART was great in the eightys and early 90's too, then Honda and Toyota started flinging money around, and the series leadership got stale. They lost their way and played right into Tony George hand. I sure hope Chris Pook gets them back on track. I love most all types of racing. I'm even enjoying a bit of IRL (at Texas Motor Speedway anyway).

Hi Jerry: Thanks for the kind words! It sounds like you are an "extreme fan" of F1 as well. We have to be to get up at 4:30AM on Sundays to watch the races, right! The technology and heritage of F1 really sets it apart from other forms of auto racing IMHO. I've loved F1 for many years now, and have been following it as much as possible since 1977. I tape the qualification shows if I cannot be home to watch live, and I get up EARLY every race weekend to watch the festivities "live" and generally tape the race for later review and possible addition to the archives. Over the years a local friend and I have developed a ritual of either visiting one another to watch the race together or we spend the entire race on the phone chatting as it unfolds. While it is true that the outcome of many races in the most recent few years has been a predictable Ferrari domination there are generally some great dices back in the pack for position! (if the local brodcaster is kind enough to show them) I just hope that a way is found to get the Belgium race at Spa back on the schedule. That race, Monza, and Silverstone are my favorites. One week to go!!!!!!! Best Regards, Carl

I don't know how to spell what you sit on, but it's prnounces "toosh E" . What Mr. Camo posted is pronounced "Too-SHAY". Don't forget to put lights on your "Toosh E"

Single qualifying laps! They get one lap on Friday, then based on those times, the slowest runs first on Saturday, the Friday's fastest driver goes last on Saturday. THEN the cars are locked up in Parc Ferme. No major work allowed, only very minor stuff under observation by race officials. They must start the race on the tires they qualified with and they cannot add fuel prior to the race. This should mix it up a bit. The teams will have to take race stategy (# of pit stops planned) into account when deciding how much fuel to have on board for Qual. Yeah, I do know what you mean, I still have many tapes of the 80's and early 90's era that I watch durring the winter when I need a racing fix. I was never a Senna fan, but geez that guy could drive! Mansell was a favorite of mine as well. I remember him trying to push his car across the finish line when it broke down on the last lap of a race. He just couldn't accept a DNF. you don't see that kind of grit from drivers now days. Though I have enjoyed many CART races over the years, it seems that the people running the show in the past 2 or 3 years have gotten FULL COURSE YELLOW FLAG happy. They really ruin the races with so many yellows. Seems that everytime some car gets stranded on track they have a full course yellow; instead of just hoisting the car over the wall or pushing it to a safe location. If F1 can deal with cars that becaome stranded, I cannot see why these jokers (the officials) have to play this stupid game. Regarding the Gold Coast Indy race, the rain was awful, but they should have done something besides running the race under so much yellow flag laps then fudging on the rules for calling the race early after some teams had committed their strategy based on the "normal" rules for ending a race early. Again the officials are the problem, not the drivers or teams IMHO. Carl

It took Ferrari around 20 years to get back to the top after Jody Schecker won the Championship, let them enjoy the fruits of the hundreds of millions of dollars (billions of Lira) they've spent. Has Speed TV announced whether they have signed the contracts to show the races again this year? Last I heard they were still in negotiations with Bernie's boys for the rights. I just hope they stop giving the USGP, Canada, and Monaco to ABC. Those clowns can't cover a race worth wizz. Should be an interesting season with the new qualifying rules. Carl