ainokoz

Not sure if this helps, but I was able to put on a friend's 15x8 J (zero offset) RS Watanabe rim on the back without having to use over fenders on my 240. It was a pretty tight fit, but I thought looked nice. On my car now, I'm putting on some Watanabe RS-8's on the back that are 16x9 J (+13 offset and 7mm spacer) without over fenders--really tight fit. With this setup I had to go to a much smaller tire to make the wheels fit. Clearance is OK, but have yet to drive it as it's still in the shop although my mechanic says it drives fine . Only going with this setup as there's no way I would get rid of the rims. Hope this helps.

Not sure if this counts, but last year I was able to get a hold of a new, out of production TRUST header and dual exhaust system from Japan. My mechanic at Shinzo Auto Service installed them yesterday and called me because he was worried that I might not like it because of the loudness. He revved the engine over the phone and it was awesome. I'm heading down there this weekend to see and hear it in person. Shinzo said that it sounded just like his race-prepped 240--which put a very big smile on my face:) Here are some photos.

Yeah, I'll feel a whole lot better once I get 'em tried on. It would be such a big downer if not one of them fits. Although maybe a sales pitch, but the folks I bought the header from told me that they did a few LHD installs. Also here's a pic of the muffler I got shipped in--original Trust dual setup . I was soo happy to be able to locate both items from one shop. It's all going down to Shinzo Auto in Irvine this weekend in order to finish up the project and get it on the road. If you're still interested, I did pick up an extra header gasket. I'll send you a pic and dimensions and you can let me know if it will work.

Thanks for the comments:laugh: As far as the mufflers go, I think they're resonators. When we spoke to a few shop owners in Japan about the reasons for the businesses going down, we mostly got the impression that there just isn't the same demand as it used to be "back in the day." Especially when you can spend as little as $5,000 over there and get a sports car or touring sedan that is already semi-tuned and puts out over 280 hp. The interest with the younger crowd doesn't seem to be there right now. As far as the fitting goes, I'm pretty sure it does have to do with the LHD steering column more than not wanting to sell me parts. All the places I went were more than willing to sell me stuff, but warned me about the fit issues. The Fujitsubo header is way nice but does seem to protrude out a bit verses the Trust header. I also know that Kameari Engineering states in their catalog which headers will fit on LHD Z's. I just wasn't 100% sure about the Trust one. Now I just need to find a place to get them jet-hot or ceramic coated. Do any of you have any recommendations for shops that do this in the SoCal area? I've already contacted Jet Hot directly, but am also hoping for more options. Thanks

Well my trip back to Japan and Okinawa was pretty good and I was able to find a few parts for the car. While there I was fortunate to find a brand new Trust exhaust manifold on clearance sale :classic: and scooped it up immediately. Seems like the old school car scene is diminishing over there as I was told this part was sitting for quite a while before I picked it up. I was also able to meet up with a local speed shop tuner in Okinawa who specialized in Z cars back in the day and he convinced me that the headers would fit a LHD car. We talked for about an hour about L engines, tuning ideas, and how it used to be...He actually had a 280ZX on the rack that he was restoring with a full-tuned engine. At one point, the guy (Tomei-san) started digging into a parts pile and came up with a rusty square-port header. It had a hole where one of the collectors came together and he was like "you can have this if you want and I'll even cut out the section where the hole is and patch it back up." It was great! All in all, it was great to go back. And here's the proof: came in just in time for Christmas!