John Coffey

Just be careful. There are a lot of no sales on eBay even though the reserve is met and the auction completes. That's a nice car and I would offer just under $20K if I was in the market. It will probably sell for more because my pricing tends to lag the market.

A kill switch with with an alternator ground is a good idea. Keeps from burning a diode if your alternator is internally regulated.

Outstanding product and I've used it for years to repair stub axle threads. You start from the root of the thread and work up. http://www.nes.co.il/158905/Nes-External-Thread-Repair

Its obvious you want a baffled pan when you have no real need for it. Here's the best available option. Part number 139-1006. http://www.dpracing.co/#!engine/c1pj

I autocrossed and tracked (track days only) a 240Z with a stock oil pan and turbo oil pump. With 5 qts of oil I would see flickering on the oil pressure gauge at Willow Springs in Turn 2 which is long (sustained 10 seconds) right hand turn. The car could pull 1.25G in that corner for that amount of time. I never worried about it. Engine lasted for 10 years and finally got rebuilt as part of an upgrade. No internal oil related issues ever.

Hargerty speculates a lot and they are mostly wrong.

The Arizona Z Car oil pan is fine for a street car. Its OK for competition use but it has a drain back problem if the car is run at sustained high rpm on a race track. Autocross use is fine. An oil cooler is mostly unnecessary on a street car unless, again, you run at sustained high rpm. Tony D had oil temp issues running across west Texas in the summer at 110mph. Most everyone else won't because street drivers rarely run above 4,500 rpm for any length of time.

Don't bother to blast the powder coating off. Sand it, bondo it, sand it, and send it out for paint.

I'm pretty sure this is the car that was at Pierre's Z for a long time.

Looks like a Tilton to me. There should be that manufacturers name stamped on it along with the Nissan part number 12310-F1011 for the 225mm unit and 12310-F1013 for the 240mm unit. The replacement friction center is Nissan part number 12311-F1011 for the 225mm. The replacement friction center for the 240mm is NLA.

MSA, Zedd Findings, and Tabco.

The Bad Dog frame rails/subframe connectors are two parts as shown above. Weld them together. There are also John and Pete's pics of the extensive frame prep for the BRE cars. One big thing that helps in front is a tubular brace going from the outside of the TC rod mount to the inner front of the rocker panel. Its crosses the rear of the wheel well. Another good reinforcement is to box the connection of the lower and upper frame rails behind the rear of the front fender. If you guys go on Facebook and find the old Betamotorsports page you'll see a lot of reinforcement I just did for the Peking to Paris endurance rally car.

Bad Dog Parts makes weld in subframes. Regarding the Fox body Mustang, I built an NASA AIX 1991 hatchback for a customer in Seattle. You basically have to replace the rear suspension and the front K member and suspension to make those cars handle. A lot of work.

Don't change gearing to fix an exhaust problem. Add an 18" resonator in the tunnel.

FYI... One of the issues Daryl found when he disassembled the engine was two piston pins had walked and were scraping the cylinder walls. They were worn and undersize by .010". I guess a micrometer is beyond someone's skill level.

A braided stainless line (any braided stainless line) is a file. I will cut through anything - metal, plastic, rubber. The lines must not rub one anything. You are lucky. Re-routed the braided line and replace the brake hard lines.

No. Daryl is spending another $1,000 getting the engine rebuilt correctly.

These guys made the Nissan Motorsports intake/exhaust gaskets that never, ever leaked and you could grind on them for ported heads. No longer available but a phone call might get then built again. http://www.garlock.com/en/products/gasketing Looking at their site I think the gasket was style 706 which is discontinued.

Which is it?

The issue with the Pinto fuel tank was the tank filler connection to the tank and protruding bolts that punctured the tank. The problem was not where the tank was positioned.

In California any price you give a customer is considered an estimate by the BAR. Its a legal thing and not BS.

I've done a few restorations. I currently work at Benton Performance and its generally $80K to $125K to do a complete restoration on 901 chassis Porsche. We are finishing up the Peking to Paris 240Z build and that was a complete strip and rotisserie build and the customer will probably have over $80K in the car. The $80K estimate you received is reasonable given the unknowns the shop fears and the vague nature of your e-mail. We would not even send you an estimate based on your e-mail. You would have to bring the car in and pay for a vehicle safety and condition inspection ($260.00) before we would write an estimate. It would also take us a couple days to create the estimate. In California an estimate is a legal document and a commitment on the part of the shop and the customer. Shops have to be very careful and act in a very professional manner from the fist contact with the customer.

BTW... caster on the front is adjustable using washers between the TC rod and the first big washer and compensating for that thickness when you tighten down the 17mm nut on the backside of the TC rod mount. You can also adjust rear toe slightly using brass shim stock between the inner LCA bushings and the front body mount and the rear transverse link mount. Camber is adjustable up the .5 degrees on all 4 corners if you slot the strut tower mounting holes.

A laser alignment rack improves speed and efficiency - period. All the geometry involved can be measured with lasers, string, angle finders, plumb bobs, tape measures, metal rules, dial indicators, etc. Accuracy is 100% down to the skill of the operator, whether using string or a laser. A laser alignment rack lets a less skilled and low payed technician do the work while getting good results (make it all green). A few times I've had customers bring in a "laser race aligned" 240Z and found that the alignment was off - most often in thrust angle and caster. I've fixed it using string and other manual tools. One customer took the car back to the shop that did the "laser race alignment" and the techs said the car was perfect (thrust angle, cross camber, caster, etc.) They had told the customer that the only way to fix the car was to pull the frame.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/ctrp-1204-determining-wheel-alignment-string-your-car/