2ManyZs

:mad: It's just not fair!!!!!!!!!:tapemouth

Looks like the 15x7 Panasports I have, although these could be 16's. Hard to tell.

Must be why pickups are high on the list too, so Harley riders can get their bikes back home after a ride around the block.

Since you can hear it more on the inside than under the hood, I would suspect the master-vac. It may be leaking past the plunger from the brake pedal assembly and through the firewall. Anothe thing to check is the vacuum line check valve in the middle of the line to the master-vac.

Ditto Jim's comment on the steering rack bushing replacement, it will make a world of difference. You do not need to replace the sway bars right now, I would concentrate on bushings, rack bushings and steering coupler, springs and strut cartridges. Once you have these done, drive it a while and then decide if you really need/want to replace the bars. If you are going to change the springs I would do all four corners at the same time, get your alignment checked and you are done. it would be an ill handling and riding car if you did one end at a time.

Well, if you want a better suspension and still have a decent highway ride, you can get a set of Eibach progressive rate springs for about 275-300. A set of good quality strut replacement cartridges will cost anywhere from 250 to 300. Tehn you still would need to address swaybars, which will be in the another 200-250. That will still leave a good set of urethane suspension bushings to replace the old rotted out rubber ones. So, as you can see, 800 is not going to go very far, but it will be far less than 2500. All the parts could be purchased from MSA, or any one of a dozen other Z parts suppliers, all you have to do is add the labor. If you upgrade the suspension, you should also upgrade to stainless brake lines and a good set of performance brake pads at the very least. This will at least give you a good start on a better performing car, however, if you are on a budget, you can just do one thing at a time, and pay for it as you go.

Bill, try this link, it was posted on May 2nd, so he may or may not still have them. http://www.zcar.com/classifieds/class_parts/11983 240znz said he found an ad for a set in the UK without the manifold, if this set is gone.

I think I remember seeing a set in the classifieds on zcar.com or zdriver.com recently for 800. Can't seem to find the ad now though, I'm not sure if they were 40's or 44's.

It all depends on how much you want to spend. If the 73 for 1700 doesn't have any "hidden issues" that will be the cheapest and quickest way into a Z. But for the price it may have some rust hiding somewhere the owner doesn't want to deal with. A set of triple Webers will cost almost half of what he's asking, I'd check it over carefully. I'd have to seriously look at the one for 3200. It's not too expensive and it's not so cheap that it may have a lot of problems. Or, if you don't want to do any work and want a nice car to drive and show off go for the 72 for 5k. IMO the only way to decide would be to make a list of good points/bad points on each of these cars and decide from there.

shock96 you didn't read my post right, or I didn't word it right. Yes, the Quaiffe is a torque biasing diff, but like the Torson it is done with gears, not clutch packs that use friction for lock up. When the Quaife or Torson are transferring power from one wheel to another it is done mechanically, there is no slippage inside the differential, therefore it does lock up mechanically. The LSD will never truly lock up since it is made to slip to a certain extent. Shimming the clutch packs limits the amount of slippage, but like a clutch there will always be frictional loss. In a straight line the Quaiffe will transmit power to each wheel in a 50-50 split given there is no loss of traction, but in a straight line the LSD will not divide the power equally since there will be slippage in the differential itself.

Other than trying to seal it with a silicone windshield sealant, the only other alternative would be to replace the windshield gasket entirely. It's not a hard job, it will require a helper when you go to put the windshield back in, but for around 50 bucks for a gasket and an afternoon working on it, it's probably the best alternative. If you have had water getting under the gasket for a while you may have some rust developing under the seal, so removing the windshield might actually be the best course of action to keep from having more trouble down the road.

From what I've heard and read, some of the Subaru's had an R-200 with a Torson. Never have figured out which year or model it may have came in though. I bought an R-200 a while back with a Torson unit in it and was told the Torson was for a Subaru, that's about all I know. Never have taken the time to do any research on it. There were no limited slips offered from the factory in a Z until about 87 if I remember right.

I just used hose from the local auto parts store. Most will have fule injection hose, it's a bit stronger than the regular hose. BTW, be careful when you take the little clips off the injectors, they like to "fly away" and the wiring plugs probably are very brittle, so try no to force them if you don't have too. You can get replacement ends for the wiring harnesses if you need them.

Many years ago when I was first putting the 280 together I bought a set of Bosch high flow injectors from the local import car parts outlet. Had good luck with them. Not sure of any others that are any better, never needed them after I changed them. Is the cold start injector working? It's mounted near the front of the intake, it acts as a choke on the fuel injected cars. If not, it may be in the cold start valve or the water temp sensor. My 280 started up quite easily after sitting for over 5 years without running. You should replace all the injector rail hoses, they have a habitof dry rotting and the last thing you need is them to burst. Just take all the clips loose on the injectors and take the whole injector/fuel rail assembly off as one, then seperate it into two halves and replace the hoses with fuel injection hoses. You have quite a bit of pressure in the rail so regular fuel hose may not be strong enough.

As far as the R-200 from the Z cars go, any 280 after 1975 will have the R-200. The late 300ZX's also used an R-200 variation, but these will require quite a bit of work to use in an early Z, they used CV joints instead of U-joints so they won't be a simple bolt in. I would look for one from a 75-about 84 for a direct bolt in. The R-180 won't hold up to a V-8 conversion for very long, it might work but won't last very long compared to the R-200. In a side by side comparison an R-200 is considerably larger than the R-180. Not sure about the Audi, but I do believe some of the Subaru's used an R-200 diff. Not sure which ones but I'm quite sure that the Torson unit I have for an R-200 was made for a Subaru application.

And I'm stuck in Massachusetts for the weekend on the job:mad: Can't work on my car, play with my dog, all I can do is sit here and play on the computer while I'm bored to death. At least the dog can keep Mom company, but I doubt she'll be taking her out to dinner. BTW Dan, buying something for your wife from Victorias Secret is really more of a treat for you than her now isn't it?

Won't hurt anything to bypass the heater core at all. You could just run the hoses into one another or block them off completely. I plugged the hoses off on my IT car and ran it that way for years.

It could depending on the color of the smoke, if it's black smoke it could be running too rich which means too much fuel (carb problem?) or not enough air is getting into the mix. Seems like there is always more than one having the same problems, wonder why that is?

Well, that blows that idea out of the water. Probably not ignition then, so that leaves air and fuel problems, of course the valve springs are still suspect. Another idea is cam problems either the cam lobes are worn, maybe the timing chain has so much slack the cam is out of time, or the rockers are shot. Guess this will keep you busy for a while. I'd try air and fuel next. If you are running the stock mechanical fuel pump you could try changing it or maybe using an electric as a back-up. Another idea, probably an "off the wall" one but it will do the same things. How is the charging system and battery? If the alternator and/or battery is weak it might not be supplying the voltage necessary for the ignition. Just an idea, but one that is worth mentioning.

Have you checked your points, cap, rotor, plugs, plug wires and the distributor internals? I'd check there before worrying about the valve spring condition. It sounds to me more like a ignition breakdown. How about the coil? If you go through a complete tune-up of the ignition and it still does the same thing, then it would be a logical step to look at the valve springs. Another idea, what is the condition of the fuel filter? What about the air filter too? 10 degrees advance sounds right on to me.

Personally I like the idea of the translucent powder coat over chrome. Especially if you can find a color that closely matches the body color. The only drawback to powder coat is the fact you can't repair a scratch like you can with paint. I think the stuff that kmack is referring to is the old black out tape that used to be on the market to cover chrome trim (might still be on the market, just don't see it very often) that was nothing more than a tape applied over the chrome. You only have a few choices, leave it alone,replace it, re-plate it, paint it, powder coat it, or have it anodized. Painting and powder caoting would be the cheapest if you really don't like the looks of chrome. Some people like the looks of chrome and some people prefer the monochromatic look. IMO it might look good if you painted or powder coated the windshield and rear hatch window trim in black so that it doesn't stand out from the black gasket, and then powder coat the rest of the trim with a translucent color closely matching the body color. It would appear to be body color until the light hit it just right and then it would really stand out with the chrome reflecting through it.

I don't even remember a buzzer on my 75 unless someone else had already unhooked it. But the Seatbelt warning light on the console would light up, which took me about 20 minutes to get annoyed with and unhook it too.

Be sure to check the frame rails under the floor for any signs of rust while you are at it. You can replace them without replacing the entire floor pan if necessary. If you can cover the holes in the floor pan with your hand, I agree with the previous posts, just make up some patch panels and weld them in. If you have a lot of them or the rust has gotten into the frame rails then it would be time to go with new floor pans.

I agree, I have used nothing but genuine Nissan parts or parts from MSA since the mid 80's. Of course, a lot of parts you get from MSA are Nissan parts in the first place. The only way I would buy anything from VB is if no one else has it. Too bad a buddy of mine who was a parts manager at a Nissan dealer decided he wanted to try his hand at self-employment.

Probably the biggest issue with a Z car electrically was the fuses getting hot and melting the fuse block. Most if not all Z's have had this happen at one time or another. Most of the time it was caused by a little corrosion either on the fuse holder or in the wiring somewhere, but once the damage is done it doesn't matter. Some cars I have seen actually set the plastic on fire. You should be able to find plenty of threads and posts discussing this on the site. It's happened to everyone sooner or later. Other than that, the Z is no more prone to electrical problems than any other 25+ year old car.