2ManyZs

I won't be easy if they don't make them any more. Did you check out their web-site? It's www.americanracing.com Click on passenger car wheels and it is on the second page. They have one called the Vortex that look quite a bit like these except they don't have as many spokes. And the Vortex are available in 4x4.50 lug pattern in 14x6 or 15x7's for $100 dollars or less manufacturers list price! Not too bad! BTW, didn't I say the BBS wheels would be expensive?????

In IT the update/backdate rule applies to the specific model line. I'm not sure but I think SP would be the same way. For instance, later 280's cam with a 5 speed so any year 280 can use a 5 speed but not 240's or 260's. Also R-180's were used from the factory on later 280's so any year 280 can use either a 180 or 200. Subsequently since 260's came with either carbs or fuel injection either is legal, but most people went with carbs. Hope that helps explain the u/b rule a little better. And yes, in IT you can remove the undercoating but according to John you can't for SP unless it is an IT car which wouldn't be allowed to use SP prep rules such as the 15 inch wheels which are not allowed in IT.

The end links I believe should be pretty close to the same. About the only difference I have heard of is the bushings on some kits evidently are thicker requiring longer links. Most of them I have seen are just a long bolt with a sleeve to separate the bushings and washers. I'll get out to the shop tomorrow and see if I can find those instructions and the gauge.

Just my simple thought here. Yes, I think we should at least count the hits the site has on a daily basis or however you want to do it. Running tally, daily, monthly whatever. I think everyone who comes to this site should be counted as a participant. I don't, however, think we should make them register as members (unless they want to), is this a possibility? Many times there are 3 to 4 times the number of guest on the site compared to members. Just knowing how many people view the site on a daily basis would be what a potential sponsor would want to know up front. I don't think we should require them to register as members for the simple reason we now have over 1,000 members but only about half of them are active members. Why do we need to have them register if they are not willing to be active members? In fact of the 500 or so active members there are really only 100 or so who participate on a regular basis. Sorry, my fingers are getting tired......

You won't notice so much of a difference in steering but it will help any of the little shakes you get under braking. I did so many other things to mine when I changed mine over it would be impossible to tell you what the difference is. Somewhere in my tool box I have a gauge and the instruction. I'll try to look for them and if nothing else I'll give you a copy in a PM or post. Just have to find them first. The gauge is nothing more than a thin piece of aluminum to measure the distance beltween the mounting washers to gauge the pre-load on the bushings. Can't help you on the sway bar, sorry.

I got to thinking that there is another possibility. It could be a combination of the oil that you are using along with a worn oil pump. Or it is possible that the pressure spring in the pump is to the point that when it gets hot that it is losing tension and therefore letting your pressure drop. It is possible to replace just the spring with a stiffer one for more pressure, however, if your engine is one with high mileage it may be best to go ahead and replace the whole pump to cure your problem. Just another idea you might want to keep in mind and check out. I will tell you this though, changing an oil pump can be a maddening experience. It is not an easy job on a L series. Read your service manual before you decide whether or not you want to tackle this, it can get a little complicated.

Whatever you do don't buy those glasspacks some people are so hip to sell you. They are junk, and they end up being a straight pipe when the fiberglass packing burns out. Go with a "turbo-type" muffler for the best flow and sound. It's hard to say what is good since music to one mans ear is sometimes noise to another. You could try the Supertrapp muffler. It has plates you take off or add on to "tune" the muffler to the sound level you want. They aren't much more expensive than the better turbo mufflers on the market and they give you the benefit of being adjustable. The main thing about the header debate is this. If you really want one, don't skimp, buy the absolute best there is(normally the most expensive)and you shouldn't have as many problems. Some headers I have seen had such sloppy welding around the flanges they had 1/4 of the opening full of slag. Get done grinding them out and flat again and you've ground thru the weld and gone into the pipe. Break out the mig and re-weld it and start all over again. I have had fairly good luck with the MSA header as long as you file the flanges around the port to make sure it is flat. Will you miss it if you don't have a header? Probably not. A friend of mine had a 73 with a stock manifold with MSA's 2 1/2 inch exhaust and it sounded just as good as any car with a header and the same exhaust.

I think 15's or 16's will be the easiest to find. You should find a fairly decent selection of wheels in those sizes. 17's are probably a bit much and you'll have a really hard time finding them to fit a Z. Simply because they won't have any four lug bolt patterns to fit. It isn't so much the offset that is the problem most of the time, it's the bolt pattern. Not only that but I hope you realize how much a 17 inch wheel and tire will cost over a decent set of 15 inch, you are talking a large price difference. Not only that but I think 17 inch wheels and tires are going to be really hard to fit without a lot of rubbing problems. I believe you will run into suspension as well as fender clearance problems.

Well, if it is running and in fairly decent mechanical shape and just needs mostly cosmetic work it could be anywhere from a low of $1,000 up to more than you want to spend. A genuine rust bucket parts car could be worth 500 if it had a lot of original parts. How much is he asking?? That's the main question.

While the oil you are using could be a major factor (what weight are you using?) it could also be a sign of something more serious. I recommend putting a mechanical gauge on it and finding out EXACTLY what kind of oil pressure drop you are experiencing. I'm not trying to scare you but it could be a sign of an impending problem, you may have a bearing on the verge of going bad. If this happens it could cause major problems. After you find out what kind of oil pressure drop you are experiencing you could try a little heavier weight of oil to see what difference that does. But in the end I believe you may find you are on the road to a mechanical breakdown. How many miles are on the engine? If you are up in the 70,000 or above I would advise you to check this out carefully. If the oil pressure is dropping 10 to 20 psi I believe you have an internal problem that will require your attention very soon. It could be just one bearing or all of them. Take your time and check it thoroughly.

What a shame. The most important thing is that although the car may be gone you are still here. Anyone walking away from that should be thankful. Cars can be replaced, people can't. Looks like you have everything you need to start another project. You have have everything you put into this car and the good health to be able to do it. Sorry for your loss but it could have been much worse.

Yeah, that is sweet. Yes, they do look like a BBS wheel, but there are quite a few that look very similar. I have seen some like this before but I can't remember what brand they are. They look like 15's or 16's. That may be why the car looks like it sits a little low. Sit's pretty good if you ask me.

Well, who likes needles anyway?? Good thing you aren't an MD. BTW, I have monitored the chatroom when you were online to see if you logged into the chatroom but you never did. Hmmm..... And I'm not that smart, Mike told me about it one of the first times I chatted with him in there. Funny thing is, I hardly ever see him in there now.

To those of you who don't know, there is a way to monitor the chatroom. If you log in and don't find anyone there, click on the push pin icon under exit. Then exit the chatroom and while you are on the main page you will have a box in your tool bar that will tell who ( if any) log into the chatroom. It works well if you remember to look on your toolbar once in a while to see if anyone has logged in.

Although Mike told me what it costs to operate the site on a monthly basis, I'm not going to say. If Mike wants everyone to know then I believe he should be the one to say. I will say this. If every registered member gave $1.00 per year it would go a long way towards the operating costs for six months. Most of us spend a dollar without even thinking about it on something every day. So, if you think about it, it really won't hurt anyones budget too terribly to lend a hand. Yes, it would be nice to have t-shirts, key fobs, license plate frames, sponsors etc. But until it becomes an absolute necessity I think that we as members of our "Z family" have the means necessary to make sure that this site will be here for us to enjoy. I personally like the fact that we are more of a close knit group instead of having hundreds of posts in a day. If you think about it, how many of those posts on those other sites are redundant? This is the main reason I chose to participate on this site in the first place. If it is feasible to get into club merchandise in the near future then I am all for it. But until each of us decides whether or not we can devote that much time and energy into the project, I think we all should just try to help out when we can.

Early style carbs will work on the L-26 but you will need to use the carb linkage that came with the early carbs. If you have the 240 carbs on an intake just swap the whole thing over, the 260 manifold had provisions for the smog equipment you may not need. If you can register the car without the smog equipment you can take all that off and plug off all those hoses and save a little weight there. The early round top carbs will be much better than the later flat top carbs. The flat tops were a PITA, that's why Nissan only used them from 73 to early 74, then changed to fuel injection in 74 1/2. The displacement is slightly higher in the L-26 but as far as I now the weight is pretty close to the same. The only added weight came when they added the fuel injection.

If you use an L-28 for the 75-78 280's you will get a better compression ratio with the flat top pistons. About 9:1 versus 8:1 (approx) with the later dished pistons from the ZX. You can use the E-31 head for even more compression, but an E-88, N-42, N-47, P-79 will work just fine. The E-31 and E-88 will have the smaller valves but can be upgraded to the larger 280 valves.

Just in case anyone ever gets the two mixed up, here's how to distinguish between the two.. IN PRISON.. you spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell. AT WORK.. you spend the majority of your time in a 6x8 cubicle IN PRISON.. you get three meals a day. AT WORK.. you only get one break for one meal and you have to pay for it. IN PRISON.. you get time off for good behavior. AT WORK.. you get rewarded for good behavior with more work. IN PRISON.. the guard locks and unlocks all the door for you AT WORK.. you carry around a security card to open all the doors yourself. IN PRISON.. you can watch TV and play games AT WORK.. you get fired for watching TV and playing games. IN PRISON.. you get your own toilet. AT WORK.. you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat. IN PRISON.. they allow your friends and family to visit. AT WORK.. you can't even speak to your family. IN PRISON.. all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required. AT WORK.. you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for the prisoners. IN PRISON.. you spend most of your life looking through bars wanting to get out. AT WORK.. you spend most of your life wanting to get out and go inside bars. IN PRISON.. you must deal with sadistic wardens. AT WORK.. they are called managers.

Yup, the steering coupler can be a major PITA. But as you found out (like the rest of us have) it can be done with a little extra work. I don't know about the end link, I have not used the Energy Suspension kit so I don't know if their bushings might be a little too thick or not. The "cup" on the control arm should be OK as long you make sure the end link is tight and does not loosen up. It could wear the bottom bushing if it were to move around a little due to under tightening. You could use one of the old washers in its place, perhaps with a little dab of JB Weld or even silicone to keep it in place. By shortening the end link you may have changed the stiffness of the bar slightly, but I don't think 1/4 inch will make a noticeable difference. Calling would be a good idea since all the urethane sway bar bushings I have used fit with no problem.

Does that mean I can "snort too"?? A thesis is a good thing, that's what my teachers always told me anyway.:sick: I agree with many ideas that have been "put to page" since this discussion started. I also agree that we don't need to try to be the biggest site on the net, just the best! I personally don't like the other sites as many of the questions are not only redundant but at times very naive. It is easy to see that this site hosts a large group of true Z enthusiasts. Why do I say that? Well, how many people have taken the time to take apart a tachometer and knows how to fix it on those "other sites"?? Not many, I'll bet. I believe what we need to do is this, let's not change too much, let's not get greedy, and let's all work together in whatever capacity we are able too, and let's keep this site just like it is. Period. We don't need all the latest and greatest, we just need to support this site. I'm a "techno-idiot" so I gave Mike a donation so that he can put it to good use. If someone else can't donate money but can donate time, great. If Alphadog has time to moderate and I don't, why does it matter that I gave money? We are both working towards the same end. If Mike needs help all he has to do is ask. I think it's says something that he has never asked before. So let's all just pitch in however we can and not worry about stars or titles or any of the other petty little things. My $.01, after my 401k contribution.

Great, I'm glad it worked. Now, if your palms aren't too sore you can pat yourself on the back!