EScanlon

Geez, after Chris' remark about being too anal and now you're complaining about over-complicating something. What's going to happen next? As far as a relational database, I bought one from a guy on the Roadster list, but unfortunately it's in Access 2000 and I only have 97. Since I've not been able to open it I'm not sure of what it will / won't do. I'm not sure if it can be saved in an older version of Access, but if someone with Access 2k is willing to try or knows..... Enrique

Your turn signals work ok yet the brakes are not? That is odd as the circuitry wiring is the same to the back from the dash. Could you elaborate a bit? E

A-------men. Brother, Hast Thou Forgotten? Thou Art Preaching to the Choir!

The purpose of those little cups is to seal the holes in the door needed for the panel clips. When I worked at the body shop, I recall that we had access to the clips in use on Mack and other trucks for their door panels. Those clips had the same basic configuration as the Z's, EXCEPT that they had a dab of grey "dum-dum" (to use W. Humble's term). That dum-dum seals the holes in the truck doors. When I did my car, and recently when we worked on Beandip's, we had access to the clips and caps (although they were old), but I think if someone can find those clips with the chunk of dum-dum on them they should work. I wouldn't recommend using the dum-dum clips if you plan on removing your door panels more than every once in a great while. FWIW Enrique

Lance, is the diagram you're posting only for use with a car alarm's output or is a diode required if you were to just use a switch to power the relay and hence the pump? Enrique

I agree with you...now. But for the first few years at this house you could only get a 28k modem connection. When they finally upgraded the phone lines we could get 48k, and finally a few years later DSL. That made me very conscious of file sizes on downloads. Granted phone connections are fast becoming non-existent, but parts of the world STILL have that as their only option. 2¢ Enrique

EXCELLENT!!! And Thank-You for having saved it in Excel 97 format. Would love to see the other sheets you've done. Maybe we can all colaborate and add the items that Chris mentioned. As far as putting them all in the same workbook, remember that that would increase the file size, which would be a burden for those of our members on dial-up connections. You can do the same interconnectivity between the sheets with workbooks. You just need to keep in the same directory and not change the names of the individual files. Enrique

I would tell you to not quit your day-job, but who cares?? ......

Congratulations on your purchase. Take a couple of minutes to go to Zhome and register her VIN for future reference. Here's the link for all of you who may not have yet registered your Z's: This link is for "The Classic 240 Z Owners Register " AND "The Classic 240 Z Owners Register - HS Series Right Hand Drive": http://zhome.com/IZCC/ZRegisters/#Classic This link is for "The Original Owners' 240 Z Register" (these owners purchased their 240Z's new in 1970, 71, 72 or 73 - and have kept them ever since) : http://zhome.com/IZCC/ZRegisters/#Original Various other Registers there as well, so check them out. Enrique

Rodger's Auto Upholstery on Highway 99 in Vancouver, just behind Bob's Paintland, 360-573-7171. Getting there is slightly tricky: Take exit 7 on I-5 N (99th St), go right (East). Take the first entrance to the WINCO parking lot (first right hand driveway (South)) go to the opposite end of the parking lot passing in front of WINCO. Turn Left (East)towards the light at the exit to the parking lot. At the light (Hwy 99) turn left (North) but get in the right hand lane right away. Rodger's is on the right hand side between Bob's Paintland and the used car lot there (Name tends to change every few months). If you miss the entrance to the WINCO Parking lot, you can get back via the Walgreen's parking lot, but if you pass Walgreen's, then you can try turning right onto Hwy 99 (South) and getting into the left lane to turn left into Rodger's parking lot, but you will be extremely frustrated after waiting for traffic to clear to allow you to turn. The examples of Rodger's work that I have seen are excellent. The prices I have heard about are also very reasonable. FWIW Enrique

So now that your car is all purtied up and you're getting all them looks you can sling poop at Dogma, Richard, me and Mike if he pops his head up........... Geez, the guy gets his car all renewed, it looks sharp, you tell him so and his head blows up like a Macy's parade balloon...... They say that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging. But I can see that you're just too good for the rest of us...... Keep on digging...... E

Ok, fine,.....sure. I see how you are! :tapemouth Easy to tell who your friends are.......you don't come over for a few weeks and they go and talk bad about your car. :mad: Next time you're coming up to Vancouver, I'll be sure to put some Ex-Lax in the bird feeders....... I may p off most of Felida / Hazel Dell, but if your car gets hit........ Enrique

That says it best. Another way of saying it: You Choke the engine to get it started, once started you no longer need to choke it, you just need to keep the RPM's up. So you can put a foot or a brick on the accelerator pedal or use the hand throttle. E

The full bed trailer is the BEST option. You don't have to worry about the condition of the car, nor of any damage that the tow might incur. If you can afford it, then it is the best way to go. E

One very important point to consider is the condition of the car. If the car's body isn't in good enough shape to be driven, then is it good enough to be towed? If the rocker panels, floors etc are all rusted out, then you might be better off using a full bed trailer than a 2 wheel dolly. Only you know the condition of the car, and if you aren't sure, then check into it. It may save you the problem of literally draggin' her home. 2¢ Enrique

I find it interesting that while we are glad that the Z's we own are appreciating, we denigrate anyone who would pay the higher prices for parts or cars. The scarcity of tail lights in NOS condition is apparent to all....there are none or they are outrageously priced. That forces anyone who is looking to replace the ones on their car to look at used parts. Used parts are by definition not new, but the degree of abuse they have suffered will determine their value. A poorly maintained part will not be worth much, yet a well kept one will be worth more... to that person that needs it. And that is the key. As long as you don't need the item, it's easy to say that the buyer is foolish. By thinking that we could get it cheaper we can sit back and gloat over someone's extravagance.....until we also find ourselves looking for that part. At that point we might find that what we thought was extravagant was actually a bargain. In the long run scheme of things, we all secretly and quietly hope that our cars will increase in value. In order for that to happen, more people must want one than the supply of cars being sold. (Remember Economics 101?) But if we're constantly denigrating and ridiculing those who have paid the increases in prices, then we'll find ourselves bemoaning the fact that so many parts will get thrown out in the trash. Remember what happened to the first generation of Z hubcaps. Aren't they currently selling for over $1k per set in NOS condition? Yet they were being thrown away at one point. So you may feel that $500 is too much to pay for a set of tail-lights in useable condition (and they may be in close to perfect condition), then why don't you offer up a pair of the ones you have stashed away? The answer for most of us, is that we do NOT have the spare set. When we find ourselves in need of a new set, then we find that we can't find any (they all got thrown away) or the price is simply exorbitant because someone is trying to buy it away from us. And as a last note, if we EVER want someone to jump in and produce Reproduction parts, then the market's price MUST go up. So, in my book, that $500 is an EXCELLENT price. Enrique

The one in Gresham closed about 2-3 years ago. It was called All-Z . Don't know about the one in Scapoose, but you might check Danny's Datsun down in Eugene (I believe). Enrique

You need to remove the wiper arm to determine the problem. Both of your statements are correct for EITHER of the two items, Arm or Shaft being stripped. You need to determine which one it is, THEN you can take corrective action. The only thing that you have noted is that it isn't the CONNECTION to the pivot shaft from the wiper motor. Since the arm isn't falling off the shaft, I presume that the wiper nut is still on the shaft and that the threads are not stripped. To get the arm off the car you need to remove the cap nut that's holding it onto the shaft. Once you remove the nut, lift on the arm base in parallel to the shaft. Once off take a look at the hole the shaft goes through the arm and the shaft. There should be some grooves (lines) going up and down the shaft and the hole in the arm. (Kind of looks like the end of a radio tuning shaft without the slot in the middle.) One of the items, either the arm of the shaft does NOT have the grooves. This allows the shaft to rotate within the hole in the arm. The shaft on the Z, unlike many U.S. cars that had a beveled shaft, is a true splined shaft (think of the end of your driveshaft where it enters the transmission). The diameter of it does not increase top to bottom. U.S. automaker splined wiper shafts (not all), increase in diameter (coned shaft). This is so that as you TIGHTEN the nut on the wiper arm, you force the arm deeper onto the shaft to attain new "bite". This was a "sacrificial" joint. If the wiper arm met resistance enough to cause it to stop completely, you needed a "breaking" point to avoid having to replace the whole wiper motor and linkages due to the stoppage. The Z's sacrificial joint IS the arm base's metal, which is softer than the steel on the shaft. A sacrificial link is needed because of the torque of the motor...at least on U.S. cars. Sadly the Z's wiper motor's torque ......sniff....just is NOT there. Hope this helps. Enrique

If you are referring to the splines in the Wiper ARM as opposed to the Wiper SHAFT, then the only solution is to buy a new Arm, or drill and tap to accept a screw to lock it onto the shaft. The shaft is hardened steel and I would be very surprised to find that it's stripped. E

It all depends on how deep you want to take the color change / repairs. Here's my suggestions: If you decide to leave the hinge on one or the other, make it the body that you leave the hinges on. The doors are heavy enough as it is without adding the weight of the hinges to make the door nose heavy and that much more difficult to locate on the freshly painted body without chipping something. If you decide to remove the hinges completely then do yourself a HUGE favor if you're not used to / good at aligning doors, scribe the location of the hinges on the body (and door) to give you some reference lines to align to. When the door is back on and aligned, you'll barely notice the scribe marks, but they will have helped on re-assembly. On re-assembly align the hinge to the scribe marks on the pillar and then mount the door. Use a floor jack with a 4x4 chunk of wood (1-2ft long) and balance the door / wood on the jack. Then you can maneuver the door right into position and hold it while you insert the first of the bolts to afix the hinge. Once you've gotten one started, you can then use the jack to hold the weight of the door until you're ready to test-close the door. By the way, check your hinges while you have the door off. If you need to fix / replace because of some play at the pivot, then it's easier to scribe and re-mount now than after the paint job is done. FWIW Enrique

Basically the same way. My Acura has the vents in the tail-light housings. Look at the side of an 88-91 or so Acura Legend and you'll note this diagonal "stripe" with a grill. That's the exhaust part of the vent. The cabin connects to the trunk via the grills in the rear window deck. 2¢ Enrique

As Gary mentioned, use the Lacquer Thinner, but do be careful. If your rag is soaked, you can cause as much damage as you can with Acetone. Acetone is way too agressive for the vinyl and will mark the vinyl in nothing flat. Isopropyl Alcohol is good for degreasing and opening up the grain when you're ready to paint (and back-rubs), but I prefer SEM's Vinyl Cleaner. It works quickly and leaves the surface ready for paint. 2¢ Enrique

Sounds like a very "experienced" 17 YEAR OLD boy. That means that you have at BEST, 20 months of licensed driving behind you. Which of course gives you the THOUSANDS of miles of experience the rest of us have logged. Of course you know exactly what to worry about and have the YEARS of experience to know what, where, how, and why to avoid certain dangers. Like the typical smart-aleck know-it-all teenagers you both seem to be, you fail to realise that the reason we're all advising you to NOT do it, is because we HAVE done it and have either almost paid the price or seen friends of ours actually pay the price. Sometimes the price is your life. Other times the price is a loss of a limb or two, maybe an extended stay in the hospital, and often times a lot of worry and anguish by your family. But since you know all the answers, go ahead. Just make sure you take out some form of insurance to help your family out of the financial hole you will be throwing them into. Don't you think the rest of us who have SURVIVED those years remember friends of ours who did NOT? Excuse us for having cared enough about you as to offer words of caution. Enough........... E

Lachlan: No, I had not seen those pics. Yikes, what a mess! Chris: From the tone of your post it's obvious that this thread has become a laughing matter to you. Your signature states that you are a "Poor College student now excepting donations", (by the way, it's ACCEPTING, not EX-cepting...but I'm sure that you knew that) which says that your car isn't in the best of conditions. Then you state that you will be modifying the heck out of it...hopefully with / by someone that knows what they're doing. Then you justify your "need to speed" by the length and solitude of the roads in Nebraska. Since it is obvious that you will not listen to the reasons, examples, stories, and other cautionary advice being given to you, then at least make sure there are a bunch of video cameras both in the vehicle and on the road. That way when you cream yourself against the back of a combine doing 12mph, or a tractor with a trailer full of hay, or take a pheasant through the windshield, we can see the video on "Maximum Exposure", probably on their "What were they thinking?" segment. 2¢ Enrique

Most hotels nowdays have internet access not only in the rooms but also in the "Guest Office Center", where you can use their computers to get online. So there's no excuse Rick..... Enrique