2ManyZs

Besides Extend, you could use POR-15, or Eastwoods has a couple products you could use. I think about all you have to do is remove the loose rust scaling before you apply it. Either by wire brush, sandpaper, Scotchbrite pads or however is easier in the area you are working on.

Mike, I'm not sure where you mean. The only part of the headlight bucket I can think of that is seen when the hood is open would be the flange that it bolts to the inner fender. Got a pic?? If it's not in the flange where the mounting bolts are it would be likely on the inner fender (where the hood hinges are mounted). The headlight bucket deosn't have but 2 flanges, one where it mounts to the fender, and one where it bolts under the hood in front of the radiator support. If it's not there it's either the inner fender or the front of the fender where the headlight unit itself is mounted.

I'd like to add one more thing about Bryans reference to a Camaro radiator. I think that it is possible to use an aftermarket Chevy style radiator since the Chevys have the inlet and outlet on the correct sides. All you would need to do is measure the size of the core you need and perhaps tinker a little with the mounting points a little. You might need some different hoses to hook them up but you should be able to find the right hoses at most auto parts stores. I had always planned on using an aluminum radiator in my IT car but just never got around to it. The Chevy style is the only one that has the inlet/outlet on the correct sides if I'm not mistaken. Most radiators for a Chevy will be cheaper than one built specifically for a Z. In fact I think you can get an aluminum one for a Chevy for about the same price as one of MSA's Z-car radiators. Just a thought.

I think I know which one you are talking about and I'm quite sure you can get it from Motorsport Auto, and likely from Victoria British also.

I must be losing my mind because if my memory is correct, my 73 had one piece belts and retractors. I thought it was only the early cars that had no retractors and the removable shoulder belt. :eek:

Well, it worked on one other car so I'll suggest this again. Check your ignition switch. If the car is continuing to run at a somewhat normal idle it is possible the ignition switch is worn out and is not cutting off the current to the ignition. Since you seem to have covered most of the other causes this is a distindt possibility. Hope it works.....If it doesn't let us know and we'll try to come up with some other ideas. Oops, it worked on two cars that I know of. My first Z and one since I joined here.

That should work too. As long as you try not to hit the end of the stud you shouldn't have too much trouble. Once they pop loose you can take them out with your fingers, they just get rusted into the splines.

You should try to use a brass drift or a punch. The last thing you want to do is "mushroom" the end of the stud and have it get wedged into the hub. I have seen some people use a large 2 leg puller to pop them loose, but if the old hammer and punch works go with that.

A 280 radiator will work in a 240 without any problems, but, it is a little larger. The bottom tank will hang below the radiator support , although if I remember right it bolts right in. I believe the core is a little taller than the 240 core. If I remember right it hangs about 2 inches lower( I did this to my first car, almost 20 years ago) so my memory might be a little off. But I do agree with Daniel, a little more money spent now will probably save you twice as much later. MSA sells a three row radiator or a four row core. The four row is expensive, but the three row core would probably be all you need on the street if your fan, water pump, and all the rest of the cooling system are in good shape. One thing that is often overlooked is the fan shroud, if you don't have one you should get one. It will increase the fans efficiency ten-fold to draw air through the radiator.

Maybe if you could sneak a picture of them we might be able to tell you what they might be. I have no idea what she is talking about. Are you sure she didn't say "stolen" wheels?? If it's that eaten up with rust it sounds like it's probably going to be a parts car anyway, so maybe 500 isn't too much if it has a lot of original parts that are salvageable.

I believe they would have to be the round tops, either 3 or 4 screw. I don't think ZTherapy wants anything to do with the later flat top carbs. They only work on the "good ones". I don't think they want the flat tops for cores if I remember right.

That's a possibility, but usually the problems are in the plastic sockets where the linkage can be taken apart. A lot of times it is just accumulated grit and grime that causes the problems. It's a good idea to lube them and take apart the bell crank assembly where the linkage comes out of the firewall and lube the post on that. It comes apart real easy, just remove the snap ring and pop off the rods and lift it off.

Stupid answer of the week. I dunno. If you have an early series 1 I believe the shoulder harness is made so that you can seperate it from the lap belt. I'd have to go look at mine to remember how they latch together. Which style do you have?

See the thread entitled There are no stupid questions for the discussion on that subject.

I don't know what the T-5 has for drive pinions, I was only speaking about the OEM Nissan units. Here's the list for anyone who wants to know. The drive gear must be used for the rear end ratio in the car, that will be the only way to re-calibrate the speedometer. This works for the 4 and the 5 speeds I believe. 3:36- Yellow, 16 tooth 3:54- Black, 17 tooth 3:70- Blue, 18 tooth 3:90- White, 19 tooth 4:11- Red, 20 tooth 4:38, Purple, 21 tooth This is the list from the Z Garage web-site.

You have everything you need except the transmission, so the can of worms can be left for something else. 77 and up came with the 5 speed so the only thing you have to do is find the trans. You already have the 3:54 rear which will serve you better than a 3:36 with the 5 speed. Best places to look for one would be here in the classifieds, or if you have a junkyard nearby give them a call and see if they have a 5 speed for a 77-78 280Z or a 79-83 nonturbo 280ZX. At one time you could buy reman. units from some of the Z suppliers but I don't think they carry them now. Maybe the local auto parts stores do, you might want to check. Another good place to look would be www.zparts.com or perhaps Arizona Z car. They are out there, just finding one is the hardest part. BTW, try to stay away from the T-5 from the ZX Turbo, with this one there may be some modifications necessary, but since I've never used one I don't know for sure. You will need to check to make sure it has the black speedometer drive pinion for the 3:54 rear to re-calibrate your speedometer.

Looks good. There is one small downside I see to this though. In order to pull the fenders you are going to have to pull the headlight buckets and air dam as a unit, or unbolt the headlight buckets from the fender. I hope you have good mounting studs on the headlight buckets, as a lot of times they snap off when you try to remove them. I'm not trying to "rain on your parade" just saw one potential thing that might spoil an easy job some afternoon, causing a few choice words being uttered in vain. BTW, is there any room behind this that a person could put some type of "bumper" or do you have to remove the bumper supports to make room for this to fit? Someone posted this question so I just thought since you were in the process of doing the job you could shed a little light on the subject.

You are right, the E-31 has the smaller valves as do the E-88's. However the 280 valves can be put into these heads. For the best info on heads I would suggest looking at the Datsun Garage web-site in the web-links section. There is a lot of good info on the different heads and there pluses and minuses of each head. There is no head that is really bad, just a couple that are better than the rest. BTW, the web-site is number four in the top ten web-links for a reason. It is packed with good info, not only on heads but the whole drivetrain.

Sorry Rattfink, I meant to reply to this post but it got lost in the shuffle. Rob is right, it takes something out of the ordinary to make the brake booster not operate correctly. If you aren't sure about yours I believe you can buy remanufactured ones to save a little money over a new one. I have never taken one apart so I have no idea what rebuilding would be like. If you are having brake problems, one thing to check before anything is the vaccum hoses to the manifold and the check valve. I mistakenly put the check valve in mine backwards once and took it for a drive. Talk about a scary feeling the first time I came to a red light. So be sure if you replace it to have the arrow pointed in the right direction or you won't have any power brake boost at all.

If there is no crease in the metal you should be able to get it popped out. There are shops that specialize in radiator and gas tank repair, perhaps you could find one of them in your area and have the tank repaired and re-sealed at the same time. www.gastankrenu.com is one that kmack recommended, but unfortunately the closest one to you is in Houston, TX. As far as the pipe idea goes, I don't know if I would try that or not. Not only could you create a spark, but you coud end up dislodging rust and all sorts of gunk that may have accumulated on the bottom of the tank. Plus you would have to be careful as there are small baffles built into the bottom of the tank. Might be better to try the suction cup suggestion, or possibly to remove the tank, seal all the openings and pressurize it with air to pop the dent out.

We were quick to respond as we were just discussing tires for his car in the chatroom a couple days ago, so everything was still fresh in our memory.

As far as the frame rail question is concerned, you didn't say exactly what or where the rust is. But, if it is only in the frame rail there are replacement frame rails you can have put in. They aren't too expensive but if you have limited welding experience it might be better to have a body shop do the swap. If it is under the battery tray above the frame rail it will require some metal fabrication to replace the rusted out area. you really should check the area out carefully though, if one part is rusted through then it may have spread to another area that is hard to see. Check it out carefully. Yes, MSA sells a spring that is blue also, I believe they are called the Motorsport springs. It is quite possible they come from the same supplier.

Well, before I say anything more I better apologize for making a mistake on my post about the front vs. rear spring rates. I didn't proof read my post very well, what it should have said was that this is NOT the way it should be. Guess I should stay off this thing after work when I'm trying to stay awake. The rear springs are stiffer than the front for a reason. It allows the car to handle more neutral. A Z is an understeering car (plowing) so the rear springs should be stiffer to keep the understeer under control. With stiffer springs in the front than the back it would plow even more, while considerably stiffer springs in the rear than the front would make the tail step out more (oversteer) which could get a little scary at times. Now, you say you want to keep the car at the ride height it is now so you won't be happy with the Nismo springs if they end up lowering the car more than it is now. What you want is to level the car at the height it is now, correct? Not only that but the lowering springs will ride a bit stiffer than the stock one. If you want to try to keep the ride quality you have now you might consider the progressive rate Eibach springs, the more suspension travel you use the stiffer they get. So during everyday driving you wouldn't use the travel and not sacrifice the ride quality. Or maybe the best thing is to find a set of new stock springs and see how that looks, perhaps yours are sagging a bit. The bad part about that is the fact that a pair of stock springs will cost almost what a set of 4 lowering springs cost. Ouch. As far as the rear toe problem, the only way I know to correct that would be to use the adjustable camber bushings whereby you can adjust the rear toe in. And no, I haven't seen a BRE style chin spoiler in urethane either.:tapemouth

Bad Dog, there are still quite a few choices for decent 14 inch tires available from some of the better tire brands. For those of you with 6 inch, 5 inch or 5.5 inch rims there are more choices available to you than there are for the wider sizes. You can run up to a 195 aspect tire on a 6 inch rim, although with the 5 inch you might want to stay below a 185. So as you will see by the Tire Rack web-site there are quite a few choices to be had. The problem now is for those of us who still have 14x7 inch wheels or wider and can't find a selection of tires in the proper sizes. It wasn't too long ago you could choose from half a dozen brands, now it's down to just a couple. Most people have given up and gone to 15 inch rims. Silvr3r72, I hope those RE950 work out OK. I think those tires may fit into the Z driving style better than the Yoko's you asked me about.

As far as a CD unit goes , I have never seen one that would mount in the stock location. All the HU I have seen have been a DIN mount. Couple other thoughts. If you can find a compatible head unit to mount in the stock location why not use a remote changer mounted behind the seat. Or, this might be the better way for more than one reason, why not look into one of the remote HU's whereby you could mount it in a hidden location?? In the glove compartment or wherever. There are a couple companies that make these units for people with older classic cars but don't want to modify the dash to use a new style HU. Something to think about if you really want to spend the money to get a decent stereo. Crutchfield probably has them although I haven't gotten a catalog from them in a while. BTW, I have the MSA speaker box across the back with an old set of 6x9 Infinity's I had in another car a long, long time ago. Doesn't sound too bad with the rather sad HU that was in the 240 when I bought it. I plan on mounting a couple more Infinity's either under the seats or on the kick panel and use a better head unit when the car is finished. I plan on putting the HU in the console. Luckily I have a spare console to do this with or else I would be looking to mount it in the glove box.