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My two cents... some cars are too far gone to be saved. You may think they can be fixed on the outside, but the reality is that age and rust have made it just plain unsafe to own or enjoy. Take what you can, tell folks what you've got, and let the parts live on in Z cars that can still be enjoyed. Like mine, for example... I do like the idea of taking the VIN tag from the door jamb or dash and stringing it up...Sorta like a memento to a fallen friend... X PS: Where are you located in NC? I could help out if you need it.

I have not seen this material personally, but since CDM was involved in the factory-authorized Z restoration program, I figure it should be good enough... classic datsun motorsports Scroll about 2/3 down the page FWIW, Steve

Hey All: Wanted to post a little update... As you may (or may not) recall, I have been worried about the fact that my brakes don't engage until almost at the bottom of travel. Stopping, according to my car, was merely a suggestion, and had to be planned much far in advance. Impromptu braking? HA--a fantasy... Thanks to Alan Pugh who brought up the idea of the reaction disk, not uncommonly falling out when a new MC is installed! The PO had a new MC installed (which I thought was a 15/16" based on the size of the reservoirs, probably mis-order for a 280zx...) So I finally get some time off after working 68 days straight (including weekends). I crack open a beer and get to work. Drain the MC and pull off the steel brake lines from the master, remove it from the booster. Turns out it was a 7/8" MC with aftermarket fluid reservoirs...Go under the dash, pull off the four nuts holding the booster in (warning! The top left one is tough to get at, so be patient) and pry off the booster. Thanks to ZVoiture and Alan Pugh who posted how they got to the reaction disk! After removing the diamond-shaped aluminum flange, I managed to save the retainer clip, and pulled off the seal and pushrod. Well, what do you know! NO reaction disk! I spent the next 20 minutes shaking the booster housing hearing it rattle around until it finally fell out. Put a little grease on that bad boy, stuck it back on the pushrod and back it went into the booster. Added some sealant to the pushrod seal and replaced the retainer clip. Bench bled the MC, reinstalled everything and bled all four wheels. Now the pedal feels tight! Hopefully it still holds vacuum...... Thanks for the help--could not have done it without you. Steve

If you like to follow pictures, the Eastern Canada Z Car club at www.atlanticz.ca has a wealth of info regarding bushing replacement. Check out their "tech tips" section. Between the FSM, Humble's book, that site and here most questions should be answered... Yes, many conversations with the Almighty will occur, and be sure to use a torch to melt out the transverse link bushings--gets some of the frustration out, along with the bushing.... $0.02 Steve

SCCABrian: Gets a little old hearing the "do your own search" stuff, doesn't it? Truth is that it is out there, but unfortunately it's buried like a needle in a haystack and you have to spend ungodly hours sifting through mostly-worthless posts just to get the one statement that helps you---makes you wish people wrote up more tech-type articles and submitted them to an archive.... I found a link that may help you. www.atlanticz.ca is the home for the Eastern Canada Z Club. If you go under "tech tips" and look in the left-hand side you should see a link to a .PDF called "The EFI Bible" which deals with 280Z EFI. There is also an "EFI Overview" link which may be of some benefit as well. It should provide you with a good background, and better foundation for what should stay and what should go... I printed it out and slept with it under my pillow, but not much has seeped in yet-- Good luck, Steve http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/efisystem/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf (That's the link--hope it works...)

being a Southerner, etymology and colloquialisms can be a great pastime. I've found some great websites---try these (if you don't already know of them...) http://www.etymonline.com/ http://www.etymologic.com/ It's a weird interest, I'll admit, but I come by it honestly as my father had an etymological addiction as well. Steve

http://www.word-detective.com/061300.html Funny money. Dear Word Detective: I'm wondering about the term "plugged nickel," which would never have come to mind except that I work at a newspaper and I just noticed that someone used the term "plug nickel" in a headline: "Million Dollar greens not worth plug nickel to golden boy Garcia." (Whatever that means. I guess it's about golf.) I'd always thought it was "plugged" nickel and might mean that the coin isn't pure nickel (or whatever non-precious metal nickels are made of) but is plugged with something cheaper. Or maybe a gunman shot the nickel down and the big hole in it makes it worthless. Who the heck knows? -- Marilyn Lynch, via the internet. I agree. Who the heck, indeed. It's a nice day, far too nice to spend poring over dusty old books in a musty old office searching for word and phrase origins. I'm going for a walk in the woods now. You guys are on your own. Funny, my wife seems to have locked me in here. Oh well, may as well work. "Not worth a plugged nickel" as an Americanism meaning "worthless" first appeared in print about 1912, although we can assume "plugged nickel", along with the similar "plugged quarter" and "plugged peso," were in common usage long before they made it into print. To "plug" a coin means to remove its center, usually because the coin is made of a precious metal such as gold or silver, and to replace the missing part with a cheaper metal "plug." This sort of larcenous messing with currency has been popular since coins first appeared millennia ago, and Americans were plugging French, English and other nations' coins back in the days before we had our own to plug. A plugged nickel, while it may be accepted at face value by an inattentive shopkeeper, is, of course, fundamentally worthless. Incidentally, although we think of the nickel as the quintessential American five-cent piece, in 1857 the coin known as "the nickel" was made of copper and nickel and worth only one cent. A three cent all-nickel "nickel" appeared in 1865, but the nickel we know today (again actually a copper-nickel alloy) wasn't issued until 1875.

I can't believe this has sat on Ebay for 10 hours with a BIN of $1. Where's the love for the 2.4???? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7970152585&category=46098

Alan: Thanks! It is entirely possible this disk fell out based on your description of what should happen, as it fairly matches what I experience in the car. How do I realign the disk? I am also unsure of the MC, thinking it may be for a different model (late 280) or may not have been bench bled prior to installation. Steve

To clarify: It's a 1972. If the reaction disc falls out, doesn't that cause the booster to malfunction and not hold vacuum? The fact that it holds vacuum is the whole basis for my assumption that the booster is OK....

Hey all: So when I bought my Z from the PO about 8 months ago, the brakes were not all that great. He said he replaced the MC. I added new pads, new flexible lines, bled the system multiple times and still have problems! Here's what I know: 1) The brakes engage without significant effort, but at the bottom of pedal travel. So, while the car stops and the brakes engage immediately, I cannot lock up the tires, and have no pedal travel... The pedal feels very "loose" until it finally engages. 2) If I pump the brakes with the car off, I can feel an improvement in the pedal resistance, and it almost--feels--normal. Until I turn on the engine when the pedal goes to the floor and we are back to Square 1. 3) Bad booster, right? Well, the engine generates 17 inches of Hg at the intake manifold, and I put 15 inches of Hg on the booster from the engine side, and it held the vacuum for five minutes. So there is no air leak in the hoses, I think the check valve is functioning, and the diaphrgam doesn't leak, so is the booster really bad? 4) Mucking around some today I noticed a small amount of oil on the boot just inside the firewall. Is it possible to have good vacuum on the diaphragm side, yet leak from the pedal side of the booster? 5) The guy's replacement MC has me wondering--it has two equal sized fluid reservoirs. As we know, on the 240s the front wheel reservoir is larger than the rear wheel reservoir, so perhaps this is the wrong MC? I remember when we dealt with Capt Mark's brake issue back in February, Kinfish and BillCapp stated to the effect that if the rod in the MC is too long, the pedal will have to move a lot to "make up slack" in order for the MC to compress the brake fluid and engage the brakes? Do you think the MC is the issue? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks Steve

Brandon: Thanks for the DIY checklist! I am getting geared up to replace my clutch & Co. in the next few months, so any advice is welcomed for sure! I just swapped a clutch on a friend's Miata and the top bellhousing bolts were a nightmare! Did you have trouble accessing yours? They appear to be fairly direct, but did you use extensions, unviersal joints, etc/ to get better access? When you had the "incident" with the pilot bearing, did it make a nice snug fit after you finished? You don't think that could possibly relate to the startup noise do you? I listened to your .wav file and while a little startling, it didn't sound like something was loose or poorly positioned.... One last thing--I am interested in your engine setup-- Have you had it dyno'ed? How do you like the Mikunis--reliability, tuning, advantages over SUs, other brand of 3-carb setup? Did you alter the block at all? How does your 4.44 rear end feel? Thanks for your help! Steve

Turn in your 1973 FSM, dear brethren (and sisters), to the Book of ST, page 11: "Thou shalt checketh thy inner ball joint for play. When thine ball stud has worn itself to the end and play in the axial direction is excessive or thy joint is Hard to Swing, thou shalt replaceth forthwith as a unit." BK240, I could not find any direct measurement. Lots of measuring rack stroke and pinion thrust play, but nothing definitive about inner ball joint play. It does mention on page ST-20 that outer ball joint axial play should not exceed 0.5mm, FWIW. My thought is that if its dust boot is reasonably cleam, the odds of significant degeneration are low. The same is not true of the outer ball joint, and that piece should be replaced for sure. Not that expensive, though. I think they are like $50 a pair. Steve

Dude....suh-weeeet. My car is #112 also, and you may have a twin in the future if I can ever get off the horrid burgundy-gone-bad that covers my cool lime yellow Z....

Anything that isn't cracked or can be restored is worth saving from the interior and selling. Any exterior parts that have very little (or preferably no) rust. Chrome parts only if they are straight and have little or no peeling chrome or significant rust. Are you keeping the driveline intact? If not, the trans and rear end are worth saving, especially if you can document that they are good functioning units not in need of total rebuild... How is the engine? I may be interested in some parts since I live nearby... Steve

Tokico cat number BZ 3016 is the rear strut cartridge. A metal sleeve is on the bottom of the strut to approximate the necessary length dimension. Picture included. check link to confirm cat number. illumina cat number 240Z

The collars go on the rear strut cartridges. It's pretty tough to get them mixed up. HZ 3016 and BZ 3106 are the rear spring/strut cat numbers. xx3015 is for the front. Driving out on the grass is no way to go! I am sure your car will raise itself up a few inches, but will be substantially improved in ride quality. Good luck. X

Yes, they come from Tokico as a boxed set. 240z to early 260z is ILK-252. 280z is ILK-254. Both the spring set and struts have different cat no., so it makes sense that the 280z set is individualized(after all the 280z weighs significantly more than 240z.) Here's source (no financial interest.) upgrade motoring Steve

Umm, I hope my springs don't "settle." Wouldn't that mean they can't hold their form under load, and basically lose their "springiness?" The whole point of buying these (for me, at least) was NOT to have a significant lowering effect on the car. If you want that, look to Eibach or KYB or other brands. Tokico springs may lower a 240 about 3/4", at least according to the MSA website, and I have found that to be true. Best of luck in your search!

Agree with Bryan. Overstiffening, while benefiting in some areas, will cost you in others. Too stiff and you m ay lose traction at inopportune moments. Because I basically have little more than passing knowledge of the subject, I kept the stock sway bar, but added the urethane bushings. I am contemplating bump steer spacers (since the car is down about an inch), but I don't think I will be doing enough "serious" driving to warrant that addition. Steve

ZIII: Here's my car from the side, 2 views. Keep in mind the following: 1) Car already sags a bit because the 33-year old springs have probably sprung their last, well...you know 2) Car has 185/70 tires on it which lowers it some (not my intention to keep those tires, but they have 80% tread left on them). Having low tire pressure in front doesn't help much--ugh! 3) Rocker to ground clearance is just a shade over five inches. 4) Front has the Tokico setup, the rear is still stock (not a whole lot of time these days...) Hope this helps, X

As you can see, the top four turns are loaded when car is on the ground, and the bottom 5-6 turns remain open. I have not experienced the car bottoming out. Looks a little different, but I signed my warranty card, and if Tokico says this is what works with the Illuminas, then they are putting their money where their collective mouth is.... Overall, I am satisfied. They have been on the car 2 months (maybe 40 miles driven to and from mechanics and body shop), and it handles much better than I had expected. Good luck, X

I bought a set of these about four months ago, and paid $519. Shipping was free, but y'all look to have gotten a deal with total cost of $484. The front springs are progressive, and a thread started here a couple months back about how the springs looked funny mounted on the car, but sorta died. Maybe with the recent purchasers, some new insight can be shared? http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15948 For my 1972 240z, the upper four spring coils are fully compressed when installed on the car. The next 4-5 turns are not fully loaded. I thought this was odd, but I have seen now three other 240s with Tokico springs and they all look similar, so I suppose it doesn't translate into undo stress on the shocks. Since they are sold as a matched set (springs and strut cartridges) from Tokico, I am hoping this is how they are intended to perform. Hope everyone enjoys their purchase! Good luck, Steve

Well...misery loves company! My booster (or the hoses, or the check valve, etc etc) is bad and I was looking for parts last night. VB sells a rebuild kit (part #64-147) for $159, or you can get a remanufactured one for $130 (minus the $25 core charge). No typo. A $30 upcharge for the do-it-yourselfer! I inspected mine last night and could not find any markings which would uniquely identify it vs. a remanufactured one of the same year, so I guess I would forgo the "educational opportunity" of rebuilding and just get the remanufactured one. My hoses and fittings look pretty crapped out, so I think I will replace them first. Good luck with yours. Steve