Jeff G 78

You posted the email addy, not the link to the sale.

Sorry to hear it won't be sold. Don't count autos off your list so quickly. The auto to manual swap is very easy and increases the number of potential cars you can buy. Many times, the autos are in better condition than their manual counterparts.

I caught that, but I took it as "it's an old Japanese car - it must be good". I too have an old 'Yota truck as well as my Z, so I just assumed that's what he meant. :cheeky:

It looks to be a no brainer, but just as a sanity check, take a very weak, flexible refrigerator magnet and go over the entire body inch by inch. You will quickly learn exactly how much filler is in the car. It doesn't look like it would have much, but you might be surprised at what you find. This shouldn't keep you from buying it, but it might change what you want to do with the car. If you find no filler with the magnet, it means the car is a good candidate for restoration. If a lot of filler is found, the car might make a better ugly daily driver with a cheap paint job. It is always good to know this up front rather than after you get into a project that isn't worth finishing. You can't go wrong for $300. I have paid much more for much less.

Every Z I've owned has puked a clutch slave cylinder at one point or another. I don't even think twice about it. I drive it without the clutch to get it home and buy a rebuilt one for $10-$15. The rebuilt ones seem to last fine. It is always the 20+ year old slaves that have crapped out on me. They take less than 1/2 hour to replace and I've never even had to bleed one due to the simple design and position of the system. I simply gravity bleed the new one for a few seconds and button it up. I've never had any air in the line. As far as Rock Auto goes, I've bought several things from them with great success. Prices are good and shipping is quick. I have a good import auto parts store locally though that almost always has most Z parts in stock. Unless I need a special item, I can pick it up the day I need it. Good luck with the car and hang in there.

Well, since Arne started the updates, I guess I'll do the same. About a year ago, here was my assessment Since then, I got the car on the road, did some tuning, and updated it with new wheels and tires. It is now a good sunny-day driver. It still needs a paint job and some finishing, but if I had to, I could drive it long distance without worrying about a breakdown. I put about 1200 miles on it this summer before it got too hot to drive it with no A/C.

I've bought lots of tires from both Tire Rack and Discount Tire Direct. I've also bought brake rotors from Tire Rack. Tire Rack has been great. I've never had any problems and have always received the tires within a day or two. Discount Tire Direct was good, but not nearly as seamless as Tire Rack. They don't tell you that tires are out of stock until after you order them. I waited several weeks for my Hankooks and I had the same problems with Michelins for my wife's 4Runner. With Tire Rack, I simply order online and wait for them to show up, but now I always call Discount Tire Direct and have them check stock before placing an order. One thing that Tire Rack does for sure and Discount might do as well is drop ship. If you have a local place that you trust to mount and balance, ask them if they accept drop ships. If so, have Tire Rack ship them directly there so you don't have to deal with the tires at all. Tire Rack's website lists local tire stores in your area as well, so you can simply choose one of them and drop ship with confidence.

I have a '78 FSM as well as a '76 FSM and I have not found the vacuum diagrams to be very useful. I would love to see a real photo with labels showing each vacuum line and its routing. I have one or two lines on my '78 that I simply cannot figure out. I have looked at the FSM until my eyes went blurry, but it didn't help :stupid:. I also have a '75 parts car to look at for help, but there are too many differences between the years for it to have been of any help.

The general concensus is that NGKs work the best in Z cars. Buy the cheapo $1.49 BR6ES-11 (if my memory is right). Don't waste your money on anything fancy. Your car will only run worse with expensive plugs. They are so easy to change and so cheap that I usually replace them fairly often.

Thanks Nathan. Something told me that they would give the car more 'pop' than silver. I think they look great on the car. I agree that changing the color of new wheels is a bad idea. I would do it on old wheels that need refinishing, but not new ones.

I got mine last year. They were the last set left from K-Speed before he closed up shop. I paid $900 for the set.

True Nigel1943. I am 6'-1" and have a long torso, so I am always fighting headroom with a helmet. I know guys that are 2-3" taller than me and can easily fit in cars that I have no chance in. The best example is the Ford GT. It's a sweet car on the track, but I cannot fit in it with a helmet. The shape of the seat keeps me from slouching and reclining back doesn't help either. I can do very short stints and then my back is shot from trying to twist just right so my neck isn't bent sideways. Other guys that are 6'4" with long legs fit no problem. :disappoin

It's a simple mass damper used to reduce driveline vibrations. Almost every new car has them somewhere. They are common on exhaust systems, differentials, and frame rails on pickups. By adding mass to a component, the vibration frequency is changed and certain error states are moved or eliminated. An exhaust, for example, might have a vibration at 3000 RPM - right at cruising speed. By adding weight, the RPM could be raised to 4000 RPM which is only briefly seen. The new NISMO 350Z uses them in the body and Nissan has been advertising them as a performance feature. In reality, all mass dampers are band-aids to cover up a noise or vibration issue.

Try http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&C=5 I'm not sure how good the Jeep forum is, but I go to it for the Toyota section and it is a great site. If nothing else, you might find references to another Jeep forum

Same thing here in Michigan. I tried to order rocker arms and lash pads about 8 years ago and the parts guy told me that it wasn't worth his time to sell them to me. He didn't have the microfisch for the 280Z or the microfisch reader and couldn't look up the numbers. Ever since then, if I need a dealer part, I call Courtesy Nissan in TX. They stock an amazing number of Z parts and give club discounts. I usually have the parts within 4-5 days. They have a few Z parts on their website, but I always call them. They usually know what they have in stock without even looking the p/n up.

I got mine in the Detroit, Michigan area today. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I will for sure tomorrow. Thanks Art!

Yes, it did exist and the cars were good. That said, there are MANY good non-program cars on Ebay, Craig's list, etc. Cars that are in great shape and need nothing usually go for between $10000 and $15000 depending on originality, collectability (low VIN), etc. If you want a perfect car, but don't want to spend quite as much, there have been several awesome 280s sell lately for less than $13000 with very low miles and pristine, original bodies. If you don't need an original, low mileage car, you can get one for much less and still get a car that needs nothing. Generally speaking, the early low-VIN cars bring the big bucks, but there are many cars that would fit your needs.

Sounds like a vacuum hose problem. Every Z I've owned has had cracked vacuum lines. I usually replace them all right away. Interestingly though, if you have floor only, you SHOULD have heat. Normally, when there is no heat, the problem is that all the air is flowing through the center top vents. You might have two issues. One with the vacuum system and another with the heater control valve, thermostat, or heater core. You might also do a simple check to see if the heater hoses are even hooked up to the heater control valve at the firewall. Start with the vacuum hoses. They need replacing. Once they are fixed and the air flows from the selected location, check the water circuit. When replacing the vacuum hoses, don't forget to check the rubber elbows on the vacuum bottle for cracks.

Just an FYI, You might want to update the link in the other 350Z post as well.

I'll have to try again at home. Edmunds videos always buffer several times and then crap out completely for me at work.

Nothing here in Michigan yet. I'll let you know when it arrives.

I bought Moog ball joints from them and everything went smoothly. They had the best prices as well.

My car with a 5 speed and stock gears gets about 22.5mpg in mixed driving. I haven't done a pure highway drive yet to see what it is capable of. See sig for specs.

Cool. That must be quite old as it has the TNN logo imbedded. Jim Scouten did C&D TV what, 5-6 years ago at least? I've met Jim a few times when he came to test our cars at SVT and he is EXACTLY the same guy in person. He talks just like that all the time and is a real nice guy. As you might guess from the voice, he's quite the chain smoker too. Another guy that's exactly as seen on TV is John Davis from Motor Week. He's a great guy too. Very friendly and funny. He is a BIG dude. He is usually standing alone on the MW set, so it's hard to tell how big he is. He must go 6'-5" and 280-300 lbs.

What's the best grease to use for the wiper arm pivots? I need to do mine as well.