Ricklandia

ShnikeJSB, If you're looking for a nice lookin ride for Dad to bring back some memories, maybe you should take a look at this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?p=135516#post135516

http://datsunprojects.org/zpaintcodes/

They can also be gotten from MSA, if you have no dealer close by

JMHO, but I think it's a bit steep. The interior looks average at best, and not original (seats). Some might see that as a plus, I wouldn't. Next would be the condition of the paint; it almost looks like it's in primer? You can possibly see the lime-yellow original color under the poor paint job. Another item is the tailights; not original. The rest of the car looks to be a 240Z (70-72) but the tailights are definitely 260-280 units. Again, not a big deal if you aren't concerned about originality but for $6500 I think you could do better. The only reason I would be interested at that price would be if it were totally (and I mean TOTALLY) rust free. From what I see, I would tend to doubt that. Again, this is just my un-professional opinion.

Sorry to dig this thread up guys but I'm at my wits end and wiling to embarrass myself in order to solve it. I'm basically still stuck at the same point surfsnake was... I can't get the damn tie rod end lock nut loose. I've been soaking the nut(s) for a couple of weeks now with PB Blaster Penetrating oil while waiting for parts to arrive and time off of work to finish this everlasting project. I've now looked and looked, grunted and groaned, but I cant get the damned thing loose. Here's the embarrassing part: I've read all of the messages advising that it's a left hand thread, and I've looked at the threads countless times but I still can't get my brain to wrap around the simple idea of which way I should be turning the damned thing! At this point, it's not breaking loose either way I turn it so I'm forced to either extend my wrench for more torque or break out the propane torch to heat it up, neither which I'm crazy about until I'm sure I'm turning it in the right direction! Okay, I realize I'm slow, I'll admit it. So if someone wants to be kind to a moron today, let me phrase it so I'm perfectly clear: If I'm sitting on the drivers side, facing the rotor, facing INTO the wheel well, with the tie rod (ball joint end) closest to me, with the wrench on the tie rod end lock nut, to LOOSEN the nut should I be turning it CLOCKWISE or COUNTERCLOCKWISE?

Craig, Not long after I saw your post, I ran into Dave on IRC and told him I saw his movie posted on our Z site. I asked him how this were going and he told me he's been bowled over with orders worldwide (latest order from Abu Dhabi). He's a really down to earth guy and it's great to see that his hard work is finally paying off. FWIW, list price is 28K without PC, 30.8K with. Dunno bout you, but I got my lotto ticket for tonight.

I know the guy who is developing that. I met him through an online sim racing league I was in. It's a pretty amazing piece of equipment, his developing stories have been very interesting. If your interested, here is his website URL: http://www.force-dynamics.com/ Am I the only online sim-racing geek in the group? I cut my teeth with GPL leagues many years ago for those in the know, latest sim on my machine is GTR. Any other league racers out there? or if anyone might be interested, I have a pile of URL's to get you started.

Jared, I was worried about my ball joints as well, after the pounding it took to break the tie rod ends free. But I took Carls advice: Drop the steering knuckle off with ball joint attached, remove the pin and castle nut, bolt everything back up and go at it with the pickle fork. It took a little pounding but not nearly as much as the tie rod ends. By the looks of it, mine were OEM ball joints so I was worried they were gonna be a monster to break free, but it wasn't too bad.

I still don't understand how anyone can blame Tony George or IMS for any of this? Believe you me, I an NOT a big supporter of TG although I do give him credit for bringing back F1 to the USA after a long and embarrassing abscence here. In fact, looking back on it, even when it WAS here, some of those races were pretty pathetic...Las Vegas parking lot??? Anyway, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the EXACT track layout as last year? And aren't these the same teams that were here last year? Face it, Michelin blew it. I don't blame the teams for not fielding thier cars if they thought it was unsafe, but don't blame the FIA for not bending the rules just to fix your own errors. If the teams that refused to race have any beef, it's with Michelin, not the FIA or IMS. I merely suggest that the "Michelin" teams grow some nads, and take responsibility for thier error, stop crying and DEAL WITH IT. This crybaby approach is what makes F1 so unappealing to so many. The unfortunate participants in all of this are the fans, and unfortunately nothing will likely be done to compensate them for this debacle. If the FIA is truely intent on making Michelin and/or "the 7" pay for thier bellyaching, they should levy fines and send the collection to the ticketholders at IMS.

Not to toot my own horn here, but I've been suggesting the one tire rule for years (and gotten plenty of flames for it), and I'm glad it was adopted. I think it's exactly what F1 needed. Here's my logic: 1. We know that although F1 is considered by many to be the "pinnacle" of motor racing, a contest of the heavyweights where no-holds-barred is the norm, that's actually not true at all. If that were the case, F1 manufacturers would long ago have gotten rid of drivers completely and simply replaced them with computers, servos and the like. Think back to the early 90's and take the technology to it's logical end. 2. If you want to keep manufacturers interested in the sport (ie more makers, more teams) then you need to tailor the rules in such a way that they can actually benefit from them in the long run. In the days of old, it wasn't so hard for car makers to justify racing because things they learned on the track could and often did make thier way onto the production line. That includes the tire manufacturers. Now if you are asking the tire manufactuters to invest MILLIONS upon millions of dollars to develop the ultimate racing tire that only needs to last 20 laps, and is of virtually no practical value other than PR, it won't be long before they'll lose interest too. Now, ask them to compete in developing a tire that is not only fast but must LAST... see my point? THAT has real-world application. 3. In these days of super high downforce, super-goopy tires that are so tuned and specialized that they either work perfectly of not at all, what you end up with are 10-20 laps of racing followed by 50 laps of follow the leader because no one can risk racing "off-line". At some of these tracks, roadside marbles are so bad that even 1/2 carwidth offline and your spinning. What's the challenge in all that? IMHO, the "One Tire" rule brings back the skill and strategy of racing that F1 has lacked for a long time. I'll give you a case in point: Kimi Raikkonen's finish (or lack thereof) at the EuropeanGP just a few weeks ago. Raikkonen's last lap tire failure and subsequent loss was a direct result of flatspotting (badly) his tire mid-race. Driver error = Driver loss. Simple. I think it would have been a true treat to see the likes of Ayrton Senna four wheel drifting a F1 car around. Or Schumaker for that matter. These drivers have skills most people can't comprehend, why not let us SEE them, instead of burying them inside of tens or even thousands of seconds on a laptime sheet. If it were me (cough, cough) I'd give 'em just one set of tires, rain OR shine, every three races. Since when do YOU change your tires every time it rains? Hmmm? One mans (humble) opinion, that's all. :tapemouth

HOLY....!!!! I missed yesterday's race as our company had it's yearly Golf tournament (won it, BTW ). I am a long time F1 fan, having seen my first race some 30 years ago as a kid up in Watkins Glen, and look forward to watching them live no matter the time of day. I was hoping to avoid any press coverage (not hard to do here in the States) so that I could watch it's rebroadcast on Friday with the same enthusiasm I always do. When I saw this thread, I couldn't resist taking a look. To be honest, I couldn't figure out WTF was going on, so I hit up F1's official website. I still can't believe what I read. I can appreciate Michelins position and concern for safety, but MAN did they screw up! And for the Michelin teams to even suggest adding a chicane is not only ridiculous, but also pretty selfish. None of them were shedding tears for Bridgestone/Ferrari earlier this year when they were struggling. As for the fans blaming Ferrari, shut up and go back to watching NASCAR... please! Some of the press were suggesting that this incident might kill F1 in the United States, and I honestly don't know why? The USGP has had some pretty good attendance since it's reinception at Indy. I'll admit it's not as good as some other countries/tracks, but OTOH, the IMS is collosal in size and has done a very good job filling seats. Dead? I don't think so. It's just sad that F1 in the US can't visit some of this country's truley great road circuits, but it's easy to understand why.

Too much IMHO. My local shop (good but pricey) only charges $9.99 for a leak check. If it's got some R-134a in the system, ask em how much for a leak test before you agree to anything.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=4555693015&rd=1 I want a custom paint job like this one! And just think, it's only $6000! :sick:

The day prior to my taking mine off the road for repairs, I was stopped at an intersection to head home when the owner of a 350 spotted me. Not only did I get a wave, but a honking to get my attention, a huge smile and thumbs up. It could have just been a figment of my imagination, but I could swear I heard the faint yell of "Old School, Baby!" as I drove away. :knockedou

SWEET!

Love the attitude, dude! Welcome!

I'll preface this by saying it wasn't on a Z, but I had a very similar problem on a Jeep I owned a few years back. Drove me nuts. I thought it was ignition (points, cap, etc) so they were replaced. Still happened. Fuel pump, and carb were next (they were old anyway) but it still kept happening. Finally I replace the entire distributor, problem solved. To this day I haven't figured out why replacing the distributor housing solved the problem, but it did. When cold, she started up fine but after driving any more than 10 miles it would sputter and die. If I let it cool down completely, it would start back up like nothing was wrong.

Kenny, that was exactly the issue I had with mine. They have no manufacturer stampings on them so I have no idea who made them, no tag or ID on the plastic packaging either. Someone gave me a card of a Japanese-only parts place down in Miami. I'm gonna give them a call as the other more local parts people can never tell me what brand the parts are before they arrive.

Chris - thanks for the link. For those willing to try it (Mousemilk), I strongly suggest you read the MSDS first: pretty high concentration of toluene so use with care.

Gary, I see what you mean about the PB smell, not that I object. My wife, on the other hand, came in from the garage in a panic as she thought something toxic had sprung a leak. And that was with the garage door having been open the entire day. Of course, it's been raining for 6 days straight so the humidity has been like a sauna. I didn't see Kroil on the shelves at the local parts place, but I'll keep an eye open for it. Gonna let things soak for a few days and see if it helps. I did find an EZ-out set at Sears and will heed everyone's advice. I can definitey see that snapping one off would be "not good". A bit off topic: since I have the front suspension apart, were the parts originally painted from the factory or bare metal (ie steering knuckle, sway bar, tie rods, etc.)? I'm not shooting for a show car resto, it's just that some of the parts show signs of having paint on them and I'm curious if I need to recoat them for preservation purposes or if it's only cosmetic.

hehe well I was out and about (tool shopping :laugh: ) so I popped into the parts store and bought some PB Blaster penetrating oil. Can't hurt to try, it's only a buck or so more than WD40. Personally, I've always used WD more outta habit than anything else. Love the way it smells when sprayed on hot metal (smells like chocolate). I'm having a hell of a time cracking loose the lock nuts on my tie rod ends, hopefully this PB Blaster oil will show me I was wrong all these years.

Hehe, tell me something I didn't know! On a more serious note, what makes these oils "penetrate" better than WD40 or other similar oils (CRC for example)?

I emailed Courtesy Nissan and they quoted me $95ea for the ball joints. A bit stiff compared to the aftermarket units, but coming from them I am assuming they are at least Nissan parts. The rod ends they have pictured on their website look to be true Nissan (at least compared to the aftermarket ones I've seen). At this point, I don't mind paying the xtra money compared to the frustration of getting parts that dont fit properly. Speaking of frustrating... Any tips on breaking the Tie Rod ends loose? I have the ball joints out already (amazing how easy the second one comes out compared to the first!). I heated up the locking nut on the rod end, but cant get it to budge. I started looking at the threads on the inner rod and began to question if I was turning in the right direction, but either way produced no progress. To gather up torque, I simply hooked a box end wrench over the rod end and held it pinned to the floor with my foot (big wrench) but using all my strength I cant get the F'n lock nut loose. Any suggestions would be appreciated at this point, otherwise I'm hosed.

Been searching for threads on rusted/snapped bolt removal. I managed to snap off one of the sway bar mounting bolts flush with frame rail. Some of the threads mentioned an "Easy Out" or "EZ Out". Can someone elaborate on this, or point me in the right direction? I've never heard of this gadget before. My bolt is snapped flush enough that I have no chance of getting vice grips on it, and unfortunately I dont have a welder either to tack an extension on. :disappoin

Okay, this time I am the moron. In a moment of weakness, I bid on a pair of ball joints on eBay. Unfortunately, as I was to find out yesterday, I won. I say that after spending 2 hours trying to get the new ball joint bolted back in. I hadn't dropped the traction arm completely off as I don't see that it's necessary, so I thought that might be it. At one point, I packed up my tools and thought I'd call it a day as I was so frustrated. I went back about an hour later to look again, this time unbolting the steering knuckle from the strut and laying the entire ball joint/steering knuckle assembly onto the traction arm. And what did I find? The bolt holes on the "eBay" ball joints dont line up. :mad: So I'm thinking, are the left and right ball joints different? I open up the other ball joint, same thing, the holes dont line up. Mind you, they're not off by much, a couple of millimeters perhaps, but enough that it will not bolt back up like the original does. In fact, it wont bolt back up at all, once one bolt is installed, the others are off just enough that it cannot be threaded. Just plain poor QC as I see it. So... The local parts house is unreliable for parts needed (tie rods and ball joints), the local Nissan dealership says they can get neither (unless I buy the entire tie rod assembly @ $180/side). Any suggestions for NOS ball joints and/or outer tie rod ends? VB lists the tie rod ends but not the ball joints. Does anyone know if Courtesy has Ball Joints? Or if the parts they stock are true NOS parts?