2ManyZs

If I am thinking correctly, the fuse block was not moved to the kick panel until the latter part of 74 here in the US when they replaced the carbs with the F.I. So if you have carbs it should be under the console. You should be able to replace it without too much trouble. But if someone has been in there and done a "hack" job on it, it is hard to tell what they might have done. The fuse plugs near the stereo might be for the stereo. The fuse panel itself is plastic and you can't take the lugs out of it as they would be open and definately cause a short. If you have a way of taking a pic of the area and attaching it, it might help one of us to tell if it has been messed with or not.

Well, one of the resons to start it is to make sure oil is up in the head to make sure the seals don't dry out. After sitting for a long period of time, the oil will eventually all drain back to the pan and leave the top side of the engine dry. I'd start it at least once if it is going to be sitting for more than 3 months just to be safe.

Interesting reading to say the least. Guess that was kind of like "The shot heard round the world" eh? :stupid: :stupid: Bet he sold his computer too!

Before you make too many plans, you should do a search here for all the posts on rust issues and go over the chassis of the car with a fine tooth comb. If there is significant rust in the chassis, you will be wasting your time and money. You wouldn't be the first person who bought a Z only to dig into it and find out someone has patched the chassis back together to cover all the rust that has eaten away a significant amount of the uni-body. Darius may have a nice car, but way he drives on the street will only end up getting him in a lot of trouble. Then all the money for the car will end up in a lawyers pocket.

It would be a good idea to start the engine and let it run a few minutes every other month if it is long term storage. Especially if it is not in a controlled temp environment. Lots of temperature variations will cause condensation. To keep your rings from sticking and any surface rust in the cylinders, I would start it once in a while just to be sure. Be sure if you do start it to let it warm up good, to get rid of any condensation in the exhaust system.

No apology necessary. I guess I should change my username to three2manyzs, to be truthful. I actually thought at first it was Mike making up a username to test the system after the "Crash of 02". Now, if I could find out who got my username on Ebay.......:devious: :disappoin

Seems like I remember someone looking for a short pigtail fuse block. There is one up for auction on Ebay right now for a 72 model. Just thought it might help. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1863672718

It is also a good idea to practice welding some scrap sheet metal to get your welder settings correct before you start welding on the car. Welding any thin sheet metal takes a fairly steady hand and lots of practice. When you are cutting out the old floor pans, don't cut out the old floors to the correct size of the new ones, leave a little extra to allow for final fitting and trimming. If you are using a Mig, use a gas set-up, not the flux core wire, it will be much, much easier to weld, and a leave a lot cleaner and stronger welds.

Give me a day or two to go check out the two parts cars. Might be able to come up with one or two used ones. One is a 74 and the other is a 76.

Motorsport Auto's old catalog has them listed for 37.50:disappoin Only other alternative is a used one of a parts car.

Which SU's do you have? If you have the later flat tops get a set of the early round tops and you'll have a lot less problems. FWIW, a 4 barrel intake and a good new carb are going to cost almost the same as a set of ZTherapy round tops. If I were going to spend the money on a four barrel intake, the Holley Pro-Jection might be my pick. Only problem is the price.:sick:

Stock coil would work, but if you are going to the trouble to go electronic, you may as well upgrade the coil for more voltage. Hotter spark, with better control of the spark equals improved performance. Or it should anyways. :cross-eye

Take your time. Patience is the key word! Remember the old carpenter's saying, "Measure twice, cut once."

The dust boots are not really necessary. In fact, you might have a hard time even finding a set of new ones to put on anyways. The bump steer spacers won't help the tire wear situation, they are primarily to correct the steering geometry after lowering. It sounds like you have either too much negative camber or possibly a toe-out problem. First thing to do is to have the front end alignment checked before you do anything. It could be just a simple matter of setting the toe, or in the case of too much negative camber it would be better solved with a set of adjustable camber bushings. The bump steer spacers might make a tiny bit of difference in the camber, but the result would be only a fraction of a degree, not enough to make a difference if the camber is off by a large amount. Their main objective is to return the control arm to its original plane relative to the chassis and steering mechanism. When you shorten the springs, you decrease the suspension travel, and therefore the control arm is angled upward to compensate for the distance lost between the lower control arm where the strut housing mounts and the upper strut housing mount. Mounting the bump steer spacers only increases the distance from the control arm to the mounting point of the lower strut housing, thereby making the plane of the control arm back to its original horizontal plane.

If they were older than you, they would have to race them at Charlestown, that's where they race the horse and buggies. :devious: GOTCHA!

Berrry fuddy geezer. You are still older than I am.:devious: Yup, some of the cars there might even be older than our beloved "Tater:.

If you look in the web-links here you will find just about every Z car parts supplier there is in the US. Look under Z car businesses.

I have heard of it, but would advise against it. It would only contaminate the new oil since you will not be able to get every bit of it out of the engine when you drain the pan. You would be further ahead to use some kind of additive like Rislone or something like that instead of using ATF. ATF is only good in transmissions, it has no place in the crankcase of an engine.

Ken Lewis recently forwarded an e-mail I would like to share with everyone who may be close enough to attend the upcoming SVRA races at Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia on October 3-6, 2002. I am hoping to attend Saturday and Sunday, unfortunately duty calls and I will have to work until the wee hours Saturday. If things work out I will be taking the camper and staying the remainder of the weekend and taking lots and lots of pics to post in the gallery. Just being able to see this one car in person will make the entire weekend worthwhile. You can find info on the car over at www.zhome.com if you are interested. From the e-mail: Everyone, It looks like we are finally going to have a vintage race weekend with Datsun/Missan at least sharing the limelight with Morgans as the featured marque! I expect depending on the turn out that Datsun/Nissan may get it's own race weekend in the future. The races are to be held at Summit Point in West Virginia, October 3-6,2002. The weekend includes a special Datsun/Nissan only race and a two hour enduro. I would like to invite all Datsun Z (510, Roadster, etc.) fans to our paddock. We plan to be there from Thursday through Sunday. If you would like any further info you can go to www.SVRA.com See you there, Tom Bork Doc B Racing HLS30-00008 vintage race car From the SVRA web-site: The schedule is for the Mason-Dixon Enduro on Saturday at 3:45pm The Datsun/Nissan Feature race will be Sunday at 1:00pm For anyone from our club that may attend, look for a tall, funny looking guy wearing a ClassicZcars.com hat or look for my blue Dodge Ram with a red and white Jayco trailer behind it. That will be yours truly.:cross-eye :devious: If you would like info and directions to Summit Point Motorsports Park go to their web-site at www.summitpoint-raceway.com/

Well Mike, you already know my preferences so I won't repeat them here. I did notice when you open the web-links it only opens a window in the center of the main page (?). Looking through the Z car businesses it shows 25+ pages of links and only shows 3 at a time. Like the old way much better.:sleepy:

While the site was down, I was off looking around at those"other" Z sites:stupid: and saw a 200SX R-200 advertised for sale on zcar.com, might be worth a look.

Hmm, you stumped me on that one.:stupid: Come to think of it, I haven't been seeing the 280zx discs conversion kits advertised anywhere lately. I know they should be out there somewhere. You will also need a caliper mounting plate (takes the place of the drum backing plate) to mount the caliper. Try Arizona Z car, I'm pretty sure they used to offer them. I looked on their web-site and don't see them though. Maybe they can point you in the right direction to get the parts to do the conversion. At one time nearly everyone had a kit, now they seem to be disappearing.

I think it would be much easier to take the engine out the top. To get it out the bottom would require you to either have the chassis 3 feet off the ground and have some kind of engine stand on a jack to take it out the bottom, or raise the chassis high enough to clear the engine on the floor.

If you can find one of the R-200's out of the Turbo sx it will require some changes. You will need the lower suspension crossmember from a 280, the 280 crossmember has a curve in it to clear the larger diff. You will also need to replace the front diff mount. I have not seen a 200sx Turbo diff, but it stands to reason that you will need to change the stub axle flanges and possibly the pinion flange as well. Not sure if the 200sx used CV joints or not, but I believe they may have. They only made the Turbo 200sx for 2 years, 85-86 so they may be hard to find in the junkyards. You would be further ahead to try to find an R-180 out of a 84-88 Non Turbo 200sx and only have to change the flanges over, or, find a front diff out of a 720 4x4, 6/83-12/85 which will also have an R-180 4:11. An R-200 is not really needed with the L series engine, the R-180 will hold up just fine. Easier just to swap over your axle flanges than to have to find more parts to bolt in the R-200. Your brake question is fairly easy. The 79-83 280zx came with 14 inch wheels, so the brakes should fit fine. The 84+ 300zx came with 15 inch wheels so if you were to go with 300zx brakes, you would need the 15 inch wheels to clear the brakes.