2ManyZs

Yup, but that doesn't help with the 78's, the ZXR was a 79 model year only and the ZAP was a 77 year only. The 78 Black Pearl was more of a market test tool as it was the first time a Z had come from the factory in black. After seeing the large numbers that were sold and the interest in them, the factory then brought out the 79 ZX in black, with the black/gold stripes being a very popular option. So, with all that, the only thing I can think of on a 78 2+2 would be either an aftermarket type conversion, or someone just liked the looks of the dash plaque and placed it there to make the car more interesting..... Or could it have been some kind of special promotion a dealer thought up? Sometimes you will see a dealer go out on a limb and have an aftermarket company do a conversion of some type as an advertising tool....:cross-eye

Mike, here is their online store. http://www.mechanixwear.com/store/fire.asp I use the original style gloves. You can also find these at Lowe's, Ace Hardware's, most auto parts store chains, Sears etc.... The prices are all within a buck or two from what I've seen compared to their store prices. And FWIW, I like using these with air tools such as sanders and stuff, they cushion your palms and you don't get that tingling feeling after you use a sander for an extended period. They do soften the vibrations quite a bit.

Well Victor, there is always the S2000..... but I doubt they have much more room in them than the Miata's......:cross-eye

Guess I must have been lucky, I used to drive for M.S. Carriers out of Memphis and they had a terminal just off 270 on Georgesville RD. Used to go right in the neighborhood of New Rome to a Sears warehouse to pick up.:cross-eye I never had much use for the majority of Troopers in Ohio anyways. They would target trucks on the interstates and let the cars get away with anything they wanted. They still have a split speed limit. 55 for trucks, 65 for cars and they will write up a truck for 56 while letting cars do 70 or more. I know, I got two in years gone by in Ohio, in fact, out of approximately 2 million miles behind the wheel, 2 of the 3 speeding tickets I ever had were in Ohio. Nothing is more dangerous than having two different speed limits for traffic. VA used to until they had three different studies on the split speed limit, they then changed it after it was proved that it was causing more accidents than it was preventing.

I've been using the Mechanix gloves lately and I love them. Not only can you still pick up nuts and even small screws and nails with them, they also help shield the knuckles from the inevitable scrapes and knocks. They are well ventilated, so your hands don't sweat, but they aren't much good in cold weather.... They are more expensive than the Liquid Gloves or the dishwasher liquid (both of which I have used) but after using them, I wouldn't do without them.... You can work around hot items without burns (to a reasonable degree) all the while protecting your hands from scrapes and busted knuckles.

Well, it doesn't help, but I did find an article that describes a ZAP Special Decoration Package that was offered form the factory, but only in 1977. It had a special decor package consisting of a limited-edition paint scheme, "racing" mirrors, and rear window louvres. The stripes on the side and hood were decals. I'll go through the rest of the books and see what I can find.... After looking through all the issues, I guess it must have been the ZAP car I was thinking about.

I seem to remember an aftermarket "Limited Edition" that was not done by Nissan, but by a company here in the US. The Black Pearls were the only ones that were done by Nissan as far as I know, there is a good write up on www.zhome.com about them, but if you read it right, they only did it on the 2 seaters, not on the 2+2's. I'll look through some of my old books and see if I can find the one I'm thinking about.

Well, the same pic is on zhome.com if you want to see it.....

Ah, that's better.... Hmm, looks better topless....still got ugly door handles though:ermm: Put a body kit on it like a few at the Tokyo Auto show and that would be sweet. Bet the top takes up most of the room in the trunk that the suspension brace doesn't, unless they used a different one.

What's official? That's a pic of a Ferrari F-40. Err, it was anyways...

Hmm, maybe I can auction off kmack's phone number.... :devious:

Uh, sorry, but it's N-P-T for National Pipe Thread.......

Steve, I can find some other things on the car..... I keep hearing the slogan, "Wonder where the money went..." over and over in my mind... I wasn't trying to trash the guys car, just point out, if he had spent that much money on it, I would expect a car that had been detailed to the "Nth" degree..... If you look at the dog leg area, you will see that that has been replaced as well, so the car has had rust repairs at one time or another. No crease where the dog leg meets the rocker, and the straight flange is a dead giveaway.... The stock dog leg didn't have a perfectly straight lower flange.... Caveat emptor....

It just isn't worth 28K not matter what he says he spent on it. It has a lot of polished aluminum on it, but did you notice how grungy the underside of the car is? Whoever did all that work to clean up and polish the trans case didn't even take the time to clean the trans fluid that was flung out of a leaking rear seal? Not to mention how bad the underside of the floor looks.... That car is no where near what you could do with a car if you spent that much money on it. Something just isn't right here guys..... Yeah, it's a nice car, but more like a 10-12K car at best. Chrome plated hinges and latches doth not make a high dollar car....in this case it only tries to overshadow what wasn't done to the car IMHO. BTW, the rear bumper is only part "Euro", the center piece is stock while the ends are the "euro" with no holes. Hope he was having the front sway bar fixed while it was in the shop, notice the mounting bolt snapped off in the frame rail? Bet there is some rust lurking in there, even if it is a little bit.

I'd say the reason they moved the handbrake on the ralley cars is that the drivers used the E-brake as a driving tool more than others. They probably used it to lock the rear brakes for a fraction of a second to help rotate the rear of the car. Think of a 90 degree turn on dirt, they would either use it too bring the back end back in line with the front, or to induce oversteer which is the faster way to turn the car on dirt without inducing wheelspin that would hinder their exit speeds from the corner. Now, why did they put it on the drivers side? My guess is for not only ease of use, not easy to move around while in a tight 6 point harness, but also to make it possible for them to finesse the brakes. I am a bit surprised the ratcheting lock mechanism is still in place though, but thinking about it, with it closer to the driver, it would make it easier to release it if they somehow locked it by mistake. One of the worst things about having the handle on the right side of the tunnel in a LHD car is when you try to push on the lock and release the brake when it is pulled up very tight. You do have a bit of a time, trying to pull back on the handle when the brake shoes are tight against the drum, all the time trying to manipulate the lock on the top with your thumb.

Only thing I tend to disagree with is the rear diff choices. I'd stick with the R-180 rear if at all possible, just for the difference in weight. You should be able to find a 3.90 or 4.11 R-180 without too much trouble, there are a lot of racers out there selling them, and there are ways to get the R-180 with the gears you want out of a 720 4x4 Nissan truck, and a few of the 200SX's had them as well. The P-90 head doesn't have the bronze valve seats if that is what you meant instead of rings.. They should have the hardened steel seats in the P-79 and P-90 heads as they were used with unleaded.

Before you start taking it apart and replacing parts, the question I have is have you tried to lube the linkage? Not just the plastic ball ends, but the pivot on the firewall as well? Take the E-clip off, unhook you ball ends and lift it off the mount, and see if it is rusty under there, clean it up and lube the *%# out of it and put it back together and see how it works then....I had one that was stiff, lubed everything and then took the "bellcrank" or whatever you wish to call it off the mount on the firewall, and voila, it was rusted terribly. Guess at one time or another the washer line sprung a leak and soaked it with windshield washer fluid as I found "blue goo" under the pivot.....

From what I can gather, the 70-76 strikers and stoppers were the same, while the 77-78 were different... But, it seems like if you have 78 doors all you would need to do is change to the later strikers etc.. and they should work OK. Andy Russell has the door striker kits listed as up to 76, but unfortunately I don't see the parts listed in his 77-78 price list. You might want to call him(480-343-2962) or e-mail him at z@datsundude.com to see if he has them available..... His hardware kit is $69 for everything including the receivers, shims, strikers and mounting bolts up to 76, so if he can get the later ones, they are quite reasonable.

Godfather? I don't look a bit like Brando, I can still see my shoes... And don't even think of "daddy" or "grandpa" either Jaymes:devious:

He was as of last month. I bought a bumper from him last month, at that time he was no longer in partnership with Z cars of Arizona. He is going to finish his real estate licensing and do the parts in his spare time. He was in partnership with Z cars of Arizona, so they may have his contacts for suppliers of parts as well. At least that is what he told me in an e-mail about two weeks ago. His e-mail is z@datsundude.com Victor, if you want a new price list from Andy I can e-mail you one with his phone and e-mail if you PM me your home e-mail address.

I'd go with Andy for most of the pieces, because his service can't be beat, and his prices are fair. Second would be Too Intense, so they will continue to advertise on the site and help pay our bills. MSA would be the third choice, they will have anything the others can't provide. VB? Never done business with them, as long as there are Datsun specific suppliers out there, why bother.....

Couple things on your list in the first post will work. Tranny, they are all the same, unless you are running a 5 speed, which will be illegal in a 240 in ITS. The 4 speeds are all interchangeable, but it is better to use the later B model than the early A model with the "monkey motion" shifter linkage. Does you 77 have an R-180 or R-200? Later 77-78's had both, so if it has an R-180 it will work. Radiators are different, but either can be made to work and shouldn't result in a protest as radiators are free in the rules IIRC. Rear brakes are the same, as are the fronts. Exhaust is the same, except in the case you have a N-47 with the round exhaust ports, but the rest of the exhaust is the same. Fuel pumps off a 280 will work on a 240, they were actually used on the 73 models, so only a wiring issue on an earlier model. Fuel tank might work, if you use the straps from the 280... but I would run a fuel cell instead for safety..... The fenders and hatches are the same. Hoods are the same except for the hood vents, they might be protestable under the IT rules. You should be able to use the suspension with no trouble if you are using coil-overs, the sway bars should work, the rear might be the only one as the 240's had two different sway bars, one that mounted in front and one behind the diff. Too bad you can't get away with the L-28 in the 240, it would help get the 240 back in competition with the RX-7's etc.....:devious:

I'm tending to agree with Daniel on this one. I think the problem may be in your calipers or possibly in your vacuum hoses to the master vac, or it could be the master vac itself. You do have a check valve in the vacuum line to the master vac that is operating correctly right? Having raced and boiled the fluid on more than one occassion, the pedal gets soft and goes to the floor, I've never had one get harder. The only time one got harder was when the check valve to the master vac failed and therefore the master vac was not operating at all. So the first thing I would do it to pull the calipers, check your pistons and pad hardware to see if they are seized and/or binding. Then do a vaccum check on the line to the master vac, and verify the check valve is operating. The next thing would be the master vac itself. When you boil the fluid due to overheating from whatever source, the air pockets formed from the vapor will displace the fluid in the lines. Air will compress easier than fluid, and you can compress a larger volume of air than fluid in the same space.The result is the pedal will travel further and easier with little or no braking being done, because it is compressing air instead of fluid.

Or a politician...

There was a couple that had been married for 20 years. Every time they made love the husband always insisted on shutting off the lights. Well, after 20 years the wife felt this was a bit ridiculous. She figured she would break him out of this crazy habit. So, one night, while they were in the middle of a wild, screaming, romantic session, she turned on the lights. She looked down... and saw her husband was holding a battery-operated pleasure device... yup, a vibrator! Soft, wonderful and larger than a "real one". She went completely ballistic. "You impotent bastard, " she screamed at him. "How could you be lying to me all of these years? You better be able to explain yourself." The husband looks her straight in the eye and says calmly: "I'll explain the toy..... you explain the kids".... :devious: