ajmcforester

I've wanted to have a company call Krown treat my cars, but they are in Canada. They do a detail job and use several different oil-based treatments that they guaranty to protect your car from corrosion. They have tools also to get in the door seams and other spots that you can't get a spray can into I used to use a product called Corrosion Block it was clear but the exhaust would smoke for weeks if any fell on it. Now I use Gibbs penetrating oil wich is also clear and seems to work better, and does not smoke for long and only when I hit the cat. my FJ Cruiser. Using oils are great for protection, because it is a lot easier to clean off when servicing the car and when your done working you just spray that section. It undercoating to servise an area you need to scrape clean then make a patch of the undercoating that will look bad over time with a lot of patches under the car. I like using the clear oil because it looks better, but you can use Bo-shield from the aircraft industry it works well but it leaves a yellowish residue so it is only good for inside panels.

You want to go lower in numbers not up 4 is great!! We even have a brewery at 4.

That's a New Yorker accent when they pretend to be a Jersey man.

Might want to get a new hose while your at it, that way you don't have that brake also. If the hydrological parts are worn I bet the hose in just as bad if not worse shape.

Test the alternator I know in the USA the part stores will test for free, and I don't know why they wouldn't in your neck of the world also.

Painted fiberglass tends to fade more than painted steel so you will get a color difference over time. The amount of change varies by color, red being the worse, while white you can barley tell. Nice thing about glass once you know how to work with it, in some cases it is easier to repair.

These are cars built for the twisty roads. When you learn the car you will find how great they are in the turns. Get into a road course class and learn some technique, in the long run with the Z it will pay off greatly. Beside you won't be the next Shelby trowing in a V8 in a Z, people have had 40 years to figure out how to make that work, it just wasn't built for that, but if you get a R32 motor in you might have one of the baddest Zs on the road.

Make sure you check out hybridZ forums they tend to cover more of the mod stuff and engine conversions. Also in the 70's a company made Chevy V8 Z cars and I think they also had conversion kits, you might want to collect information on the Scarab Zs. It sounds like you plan to put more power than they did, but it would help you determine some of your starting points. The Z is a very responsive car in turning, when a V8 is added it louses a lot of the responsiveness. I think the V8 adds more weight higher in the car by how it fells driving one with a V8. Try to get the engine low as possible (what anyone wants to do), and buildup the support in the front suspension area to gain as much as possible back. If your planning to build a car for straitline speed you need to look for something with a solid axle, not independent rear suspension it will put the power down better, but does not turn as well. I forget what magazine I read the article from, but Peter Brock put an LT motor in a 510, really nice job. The article came out about a year or 2 a go, was in a fairly popular magazine. If I remember correctly the 510 has a solid axle disign.

I found pipe isolation wrap Rubatex brand also works well. Its a rubber based high density foam. Dont put the rubber back (won't seal well) on it just use the foam if you use it.

Just don't buy the cheapest ones you can find, if you con get the Nissan still they are great. If the U-joint were not greased regularly or someone drove the car very hard over a long period of time they will wear or develop flat spots on the needle barrings. If you can wiggle the shafts while the car is on the ground or the rubber seals are shot, I'd replace them while you have them out. Also if it is just for your piece of mind, it isn't that hard to do with a table vice or a press.

BRE just re-released their spoiler, you can also find replicas. www.bre2.net Good luck the 72 is the best balance for a street car they corrected some drive shaft angles that reduced vibration in the car, and was really the last year before emissions really killed performance. The 73 wasn't bad, but the flattop SU carbs came on the latter 73's. FYI it help to refer to the production month/year you can find this in the door jam, the Z tends to have a lot of midyear changes.

U joints are not hard to do, just ask any 4x4 guy, unless your replacing one you broke on the trail over some nasty rocks. You might want to see if your body guy has your shafts. The shafts are balanced a certain way,and if you don't connect the shafts the same way to the car you can get some bad vibrations from the shaft. Before they would have taken them off they would have marked them, if they are a good shop. If you can't get your old ones look to see if you can find something at the connectors to help you line up correctly the replacement shafts. with three shafts this could take a while to find out which one is out of balance if you don't get it right. Trust me you will know when you drive the car that you got it wrong.

Sorry for bringing up an old post, but I thought it was better than starting a new one on the same topic. I got a new BRE Spook from BRE. I want to copy the mounting as close as original as I can. I found one of the 9 mounting marks, and with psdenno measurements and the instructions I should get close on the holes between the two air ducts. I could use a little help on the mounting points outside of the ducks, on the ends. The instructions Carl posted states the general bolt size, could someone find out how long the bolts were and what was the overall diameter of the small and large washers. If someone fells really ambitious a picture of an original bolt head, so I can try to match exactly would help. The new BRE spooks look very good no twists or warping. The only thing that could have been done better was the gel-coat it has some scratches and was not laid as well as it could have, however the glass work is great.

I prefer TIG, I found it easier. That probably from the fact that I learned to weld with gas first. The only problem is it can be a pain in slightly tight areas or spots that you haft to get into that aren't comfortable to work in. In patch paneling their is a lot of advantages, like better control of filler material that aids with gap variances, and tighter welds for less grinding. Of coarse a wire feed with foot control on a MIG would take care of most of those advantages away, but I have never been lucky enough to try a foot control on a MIG the dollars realy start to go up at that point.

I'd talk a couple good welding supply stores. I think you want one with a lot of adjustment so you can do well with thin or thick metal. Miller had one I almost picked up, for 3Gs it was a MIG/TIC combo designed for contractors to do small jobs in finished homes and building. It would have been perfect for me, but I get to barrow one for free which is always better, I just fill the tank. It might be good for you to look at a good unit they can last you a life time and more.

It might help to get some metal of the same gauge and do some practice welding. It is an art that once you figure it out isn't all that hard to do a good job. Get the gas for shielding, you got a lot of welding. The flux wire is good for a small shot job, and then not using the welder for months at a time that way you don't need a tank sitting all that time, but your car needs a lot of welding from what I see in the pictures. Always try cutting a little large and bring the piece down to proper shape and size. If your welding to an edge try keeping the new piece a little long by 1/16" or less and weld down the extra material. Another thing if you distort a panel try the techniques for crush welding. When panels distort it usually is from the fact that welding pulls the metal in and shrinks the surface. If you use a hammer and dolly to flatten the weld it pushes the material out. Some of the high end restoration shops on panels they can get from to each side will just lay a continuous weld all the way down (no stiching) then crush the weld bring the panel back to shape. It can make a smoother surface and less grinding which always takes some of the adjacent metal.

Fuseble links are so much fun:rolleyes: I had a 87 Ranger and the alternator changed polarity well poof all the fuseble links go and some kept going with the wire well I got that to stop. Hot fuseble links are not good that is how they go, the idea is burn out one section of wire and not the whole car. Do to how the wire is made they will corrode quicker than normal wire and if you see any corrosion you need to replace them. Test to see if you are getting a lot of resistance in the, test the AMP and volts before and after the wire. Do you have any corrosion on any of the major wires, is the grounds still good, these can cause resistance making the wire heat-up. You should test around 12-14 volts and 35-45 amps, at 4.1 oms while running

I've used a body adhesive instead of using roset (sp?) welds on a truck bed panel and it has held for the last 7 years no problem. FYI spot welds are made with two panels roset (sp?) welds are the ones when you drill a hole and weld, and with a little paint look like spot welds. The truck had 86 spot welds that I would need to roset weld, so the adhesive looked like a good idea. I don't know if it would be a good idea to weld metal with the adhesive in the middle. You would damage the adhesive bond and contaminate the welds making poor bonding on two accounts. On my 240z the have seem sealer along the seems in this area and that kept it from rusting from below. I have the rust in the corner from the top it got a little thin and pin-holed so I'm replacing and will have it spot welded and put on new seam sealer. However if I was not going for an original, or I was replace this panel, but was not stripping the car to a shell I'd consider using these automotive bonding adhesives. It is easy just get a whole bunch of clamps, and you won't need seem sealer.

Looking at Alan T. picture, andvthe car in question; it looks like someone tried to use a 280ZX as a parts car to get this car running or keep it running. The intake looks like 280ZX more than Alan T's picture, the zx wheel, and the emissions controls looks what was on the ZX

Actually someone might have added the required emissions. I have "The Z-series DATSUNS" by Ray Hutton, in the book their is two pictures of the 280ZX engine compartment one from Europe and one from the US to show how much emissions equipment was required (sorry I would scan the page, but it might damage the book the spine is very stiff). When you compare to Arnie's Fairlady picture you see most of the emission equipment found on the US version and it doesn't look like the European version. Some of the emissions parts, looking in the book on the car I can only find on the 280ZX. I don't know what that means, but I'm curious why. Arnie, If your going to let it sit for a while (knowing a little about your current project not a bad idea) make sure to put a good rust blocker on, and remove anything that is very rusty. Just remember rust never sleeps. This company might help, since you might want something that would last longer than WD-40 http://www.daubertcromwell.com Also consider cleaning the interior panels very well and using a long lasting protectant

Arnie that was a interesting find. Well you could have a nice family car, and give you son a fake steering wheel for the left side and see how many looks you can get. What fuel delivery system does it have? I'm interested to see more pictures

I didn't notice that you did that you need air to get in, if it creates pressure it will push the float down making the gas pour in. Also I'd check to see if the float is sticking or the valve. Adding the oil should not make a big difference in the mixtures between the carbs. See if that fixes the problem. You might need to adjust the carbs a little, but you should be close so something is not right. If you wanted to you can remove the other emission control devices and cap the smog system at the air tubes. The anti-backfire devices are not really needed without a smog pump.

From someone who bought a car he found on ebay after it didn't sell take a look. If I bid what I thought it was worth I would have been taken. I talked the price down $3000 and got what I felt was a fair price. Go look at the car figure a good price and place a bid. More than likely you will get it, ask the sell if you can pick it up within 5 days with money in hand. I'd use travelers checks if you can they have guaranteed funds, that he can cash at any bank, and they are not reimbursable without signing them over, a lot safer than cash. Money orders are no safer than cash. So if he states money order or cash only just pay cash and watch your back.

I emailed about the enclosed duct that Mike B posted without the picture just a description. Direct from the Email: I'm woefully without a lot of details. I tracked the shop down that made the parts originally for BRE, talked to the new owner (who was a worker there in the '70s and now owns the place), and he didn't know what he had but said he never throws anything away. Peter and I stopped by there on a trip to LA and Peter and the guy went thru the pieces so quickly I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. The guy or Peter would grab a piece and Peter would say: "yeah that's our..., yeah that's our..." etc. I made a list and then worked with the guy on how he'd sell them to us, how they'd get shipped, pricing, etc. Now with that said, Peter says the brake vents were not an enclosed tube as they couldn't be fabricated that way with a mold. So the ducting that runs out the back is open on the top and then there was an additional piece that fit on top of the ducting to make it an enclosed tube. We didn't ask the shop if they still had the mold for that small piece. I've now asked Peter why we didn't look into that and he said it was because the primary purpose of the spook was down force and not cooling the brakes and even fewer people today would use the piece to actually cool the brakes. With all that said, I'll call the shop in CA and see if the guy still has the mold. Even if he doesn't it shouldn't take much to make one. I kept his info out since I didn't ask if that would be OK, and some personal information for my order. I'm not posting to this tread anymore I've seen this spitball war one to many times.

Let me go through and check the books so I direct you to the right ones, a couple of the ones I have are from Australia, and the US so I don't know hard they will be to find. Their was not much detail on what Shelby did just a mention that he had a part. It would not surprise me to find out BRE had some influence in the Z they were having good success on the track with the roadsters, and helped out with the marketing of the Z. It just makes since. Yes BRE are out to sell something, but looking at the sight they are more for nostalgia. I think the release of the parts have been from a large interest in the Z again, and people calling to get original styled parts for their Z cars. I don't see any true performance parts. I think the demand is their, look how many reproductions are out their. That detail is small when looking at the overall picture. Not to say it isn't important especially when understanding the cars history.