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Great job, John! Great weather for a race day. Thanks for the vid! Steve

Glad they went to someone who will use them...

16 x 7 gunmetal panasports anyone??? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8056394957&fromMakeTrack=true Steve

Direct quote: "BEST CASE IT CAN PROBABLY BE RESTORED BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S WORTH IT" What more do you want to know? Standard issue East Coast unrestored Z...Count on replacing frame rails, floorboards, both fenders, both wheel arches +/- inner fenders on rear, probably rear hatch, battery tray.....blah blah blah. THEN, dash, new trans (can't shift to fourth), etc. And that's just what he's disclosed! Who knows what lurks beneath? Remember, Zs rust from within, so it's always a "tip of the iceberg" phenomenon.... With that said, why not road trip and see for yourself? Take some pics, post 'em and ask for advice. We are always willing to help out! In sum, I have two words: parts car. Or: money pit. Or: caveat emptor. You choose. If you bid, Don't go a nickel above $500 unless it looks better in person...don't forget about shipping costs (Culpeper is about an hour north and east of Charlottesville, headed toward Spotsylvania) since you shouldn't dare take it on the road. Good luck, Steve

Interesting link....shows three groups there in the Roanoke Valley, 2 formed and one forming?...maybe they should all get together! The ZCCA homepage doesn't list them, so hopefully they are just getting started!

Hey there, and welcome to the forum! I don't know of any Z clubs in Roanoke, but I have heard there's an ultimate Z guru living in the Star City. His business is the "Z Doctor" and he's been referenced a bunch of times on various Z-related tech sites. Google search shows this info: Z Doctor 420 Rorer Ave SW Roanoke, VA 24016-3616 (540) 343-1332 He is particularly mentioned with having a good way to make the P79 head a higher CR head while maintaining good cam geometry and timing, but if he can do that I'm sure he can do almost any other repair/project most of us Z car owners would have need to be done. Good luck! Steve

Now THAT'S good info. Pretty ingenious, IMO, and explains why a lot of his posting deals with pics of his shop and his resto process... Enigma, There's nothing wrong with discussing cars we see. Happens all the time. No disparaging comments have been made, and it's fair to critique what we see available on the marketplace. I would not participate in over-judgmentalism, personal attack, heated criticism, etc. and I'm sure no one else would either. $0.02, Steve

Based on it's size and chromed-ness, I figure it's there for looks only. BUT, trip Webers without a drip-pan between it and the exhaust manifold, who knows??? Steve

ebay 240Z Flame job is a little much for my taste, but otherwise nicely done! Even the chrome fire extinguisher and oil filter fit in pretty well....

Good luck Chris! I've been looking for a set of N36s, too...guess you beat me to them. Look forward to seeing the end results (with dyno proof) to confirm/deny the myth! Steve

BUT, 1st gen Miatas have 14" rims, so they may not be extinct for a while. I'm sure other subcompacts run 14s, but names escape me...Plenty of tire options exist at Tire Rack.com, and I bet a little snooping will gain some more "local" sources. With that said, probably not a bad idea to get a second set of 15 or 16 inch rims if you're going to drive your Z as a daily car, since tires for those are still ubiquitous... Steve

Arne: Too much Italian roast coffee for me tonight, I guess. Just checked my FSM (1973, mind you), and it looks like the fuel pump wires, while taped up at the tank side, are connected to the wiring harness. Solid green wire at the pump connection passes into the body harness, and connects to the dash harness via bullet connectors. From there, the green wire splices in to the Black wire w/ White trace which connects the ignition switch to the fuseblock and its 20A fuse. The second black wire at the fuel pump is a common ground wire which also serves the domelight, among others.... I confirmed on my 1972 that the green wire connects to the dash harness, but am not too terribly interested in opening all the tape to find if it's spliced to the ignition circuit. Circuit tester might be a better option! Which pump did you use? JC Whitney has a number of them, and this one has been recommended as a direct replacement for the pump at the tank location http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2005664/showCustom-0/p-2005664/N-111+10201+600002064/c-10101 Is yours something more like this one? http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2005671/showCustom-0/p-2005671/N-111+10201+600002064/c-10101 Steve

Thanks, Arne... I have always been told that electric fuel pumps are better at pushing fuel than pulling it, hence the tank-mount location. Any problems with a forward-mount? I wish I were more electrically-inclined--what kind of relay did you use? Was it connected to the ignition wire at the coil, or closer to the ignition switch? How much splicing of the wiring harness did you do? Any inline fuses placed? How do you propose to make your safety cut-off switch? Sorry for the questions. Thanks for your help, Steve

Hey all, Couldn't find much info on this after some searches.... I am replacing my stock L24 with a reman 280 ZX F54/P79 motor, and am trying to figure out fuel pump issues. Here's what I know: 1) The P79 head has the mech fuel pump hole blocked off (or rather, not cut out of the head casting) because of the nature of high pressure FI setups, and that all 280ZXs came with electric fuel pumps. 2) Low volume/pressure fuel pumps (3-4psi) are available for 240Zs. 3) The wiring for early electrical pumps (1973-74 carbed 140/260Z)seems to be relayed such that the pump is on to prime the motor, then essentially off when the motor is running (most of the work done by the mech fuel pump)... 4) My 5/72 wiring harness does not have the same relay setup as the 1973s. The car has the wires for the fuel pump near the tank, but I don't know where those wires go, because... 5) I don't have a reliable 1972 240Z wiring diagram:dead: So...what I want is an electric fuel pump that is on when the key is on the "on" position or the "start" position, and off when the key is "off." Does anyone know the way the early harnesses are wired for fuel pumps? Is this possible? Can I have the P79 fuel pump hole cut out and install a mech fuel pump (is that worth it?)? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your time, Steve

On the classified section here there is a 77 green 280z for 5k. It came from a club member (Triangle Z Club) before it was sold to the guy who is now relisting it. It's a solid car (with some goodies added), and is a good deal for the money (provided it looks the same as when I saw it last). http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=1046&sort=1&cat=1&page=1 The 280Z in question on your post looks like it may have a sunroof on it, which is definitely aftermarket and may be prone to leaks. Caveat emptor. You can check out the original ad on our club website: http://www.trianglezclub.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=520 Good luck, Steve PS--grew up in Richmond, went to MCV for my MD degree. Sure miss the place.....

Correct, sort of... Here's how I'd do it: 1) Separate tie rod end from the knuckle (pickle fork and big hammer) 2) IIRC, one should remove the cotter pin on the castellated nut, then work the nut off. 3) To remove the steering knuckle takes a bit of controlled fury. The bolt portion of the ball joint is at an angle as it passes through the steering knuckle, and requires some extra force to get it to break loose. I put a pickle fork in between the bottom of the knuckle and the ball joint and whacked it with my fave 3-lb sledge to break it loose. Your ball joint looks to be trashed, so don't worry about saving it. Have fun--whack away! If you were planning on reusing, you should get a ball joint separator (Harbor Freight et al) for a more elegant method of disassembly.... There are two bolts which hold the ball joint to the transverse link, from underneath. Hit it with some PB Blaster (or similar) and remove them slowly--they may be rusted solid. You should be able to remove the ball joint from the transverse link with some taps from underneath with your hammer Good luck! Steve

That Speedster is a beauty...cracks me up that the American muscleheads don't know what decade it came from. (Venting here) Typical one dimensional American car show mentality. US marques have 100s of examples (yet aNOTHER Camaro. Wow---a "rare" 57 BelAir--blah blah) at these shows, while Foreign marques are stuffed toghether into the "import" category. Puh-leeze. Thanks for representing, Ed. Glad to see your ride back on the road after the vlave mishap.

From what I've read, that's close to the maximum CR you want before having to retard timing, use race fuel, or other things to prevent detonation. 93 octane is a must--one advantage being am East Coaster, I guess... Out of curiosity, why do you want to carb a 280ZX? Seems it would be easier to turboswap and get 300+ HP for the cost of triple Webers, especially since the fuel injection wiring is already there...check out member Proxlamus (sp?) and see what he's done... Steve

I am getting that tool tonight! That is exactly what I need! Thanks a ton, Mike. Steve

Hey all, I have been trying to remove the vinyl seat covers for the past few days, and cannot for the life of me get the four large Phillips screws loose which hold the seat back/reclining mechanism to the seat base. There's no rust or corrosion, but those guys just won't budge! Humble's book says to use an impact driver, and shows a photo of a guy hitting the screwdriver with a hammer while trying to unscrew them, which I've tried without success. I don't have access to air tools, so that's out. Any other ideas? I'd really like to avoid the upholstery shop, but only for pride and pocketbook reasons. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve

I don't have "more expertise," but every stock 240Z I've seen (from shows to original 70s photos to recent restos) has the hood hinges painted. The hood latch, however, is plated. Steve

With the limited info available (pics in the thread), plus watching innumerbale EBay auctions, I would theorize that (a)the bar for allowing a Japanese GT into BJ auctions may be lower than you think, ( EBay has been closing auctions on similar cars for $5-7k, © the clientele at EITHER BJ location have WAYYYY too much money on their hands, and are (I would presume) a little starsturck by the "glitz," not to mention the intense pressure those folks put on bidders to pay big money for cars. Seriously, you'd pay 10k for a 1972 (Ahem, "high VIN") car that needs pretty close to a full-on restoration done? (Engine bay, undercarriage, dash--who knows what else needs work. It's got shiny paint, I'll give you that.) I wouldn't (maybe 6-7k depending), but someone obviously will. And BJ knows how to attract that certain someone who wants to pay too much for a car. And I will pay $500 plus 8% to have the opportunity to make that sale to that special someone (especially if they've had a couple drinks, stand next to that brown-haired hottie chick, and have TV cameras shoved in their face... $10,500 - $500 - $840 (8%) = around $9160 take home. Sure the dude took a bath on the sale, but that's more because he BOUGHT at BJ Scottsdale, not because he didn't get good money for his car at Palm Beach. Just guessing here, but I am not confident he'd get $9100 for that car on EBay... With all that said, I'm very glad he got over 10k for the car. I think that BJ putting 20-footer Zs on the block may mean that they see a potential market in our cars... Not the next muscle car mania, but maybe gaining some ground on British roadsters, Alfas, etc. It's fun to speculate, but it's only $0.02, Steve

I need to list my Z with BJ when it's done being restored. $10k for a car that needs big work done (at least dash, suspension and engine bay from the supplied pics) to be a #2-3 car??? Screw EBay--lemme sell it at Palm Beach/Scottsdale, baby! The folks who go there to buy cars really must get caught up in a frenzy. The prices they are willing to pay for some cars...

Thanks for the update....never got a chance to call as (A) the wife has me doing spring landscaping projects and ( couldn't stomach the thougth of ordering one of each... I'd like to stick with the original look of the welting. Do you think the "genuine" ones without attached welting will do the job? Did Sal have specific opinions about the types? Thanks again, Steve

Can you fit 205/60s on your rims? Yokohama AVS E100 may be a good alternative...or the Yoko AVID H4S in 195/65? check tirerack.com, they may have some other options. 0.02, Steve