Pop's Z

Happy 50th also to the "Renowned Mr. Brown"...6/73 HLS30 163874. Cheers, Mike

In answer to your question, no you don't have to remove it. A resonator (that looks like a glasspack) can eliminate an unpleasant droning at certain rpms due to the length of the exhaust pipe. Leave it and enjoy your new sound. Cheers, Mike

Used up head bolts work perfectly. Just cut the heads off and put a slot in them. Done this several times. Good luck. Happy wrenching. Cheers, Mike

I did the Silvermine Toyota upgrade like you are talking about. I didn't change anything but the calipers and rotors (mine were original and no longer able to be ground down). I got the drilled rotors. The only noticeable change was the pedal had a bit more slack before the brakes activated...like maybe 1/2". Did I notice a great difference in braking efficiency? No. A new set of OEM calipers and new discs would probably be similar, but hard to come by. Cheers, Mike

My guess is that like many of these cars that are 50+ years old ALL the hoses in your car will need to be replaced, not just the one you have found with an issue. If you have looked at the service manual (available on this site by searching)you will see that there are a number of hoses attached to the tank. All will need to be replaced for peace of mind at least. Once again, search is your friend as the gas tank and it's various issues has been discussed with great regularity here. You won't be able to easily just drop the tank part way. This is one of those jobs that will become..."while I'm at it, as long as I have it out..." Ask me how I know. Good luck

I also found the Langes to be painful. I also changed to Nordicas...much better. Head offered us National Ski Patrolmen a serious discount on their Jean Claude Killys celebrating his Olympic victories...great skis. Prior to them I had a pair of Harts, and before that wood Rossignols. The Heads were the best powder skis. GEEZER ALERT! Todays skis make it too easy. Anyone can ski, now which is why I don't any longer...too many people. too expensive...don't get me started on snow boarders... Mike, I actually had a ski rack on my '73 Zed back in '75 that attached to the left side of the hatch and held two pairs if skis. 4 studded radial snow tires made the car less squirrely in the slick...it could be an adventure... Cheers, Mike

Langes and Heads+Scott poles. Made ski patrolling fun. Well, that and skiing free, too. Cheers, Mike

Years ago when I worked in a tire shop we static balanced and re-balanced a customer's car because it had a vibration at speed. We finally re-balanced the tire on a machine that could go up to 80mph. That worked. Now I don't know whether or not that can be done today, but it might be worth a try. Your vibration looks like a tire issue. Have you tried switching your tires front to back? However, I had a vibration like yours on my Zed and traced it to a bad wheel bearing. No matter how I tightened and re-tightened it just kept coming back. I finally replaced all the wheel bearings, torqued them to spec, and the problem went away. Hope this helps. Good luck. Cheers, Mike

Wow! I hate to be "that guy", but we just got on with Infinity/Comcast and my speeds have increased. Before with a phone line modem things were very slooow. I have NO loading problems with the site. Thanks Mike. Cheers, Mike

WOW! A trip down memory lane. I actually built one of those for my VW bug. I could not believe how much more power I got after installation....LOL. 0-60 in 2 or 3 minutes. Cheers, Mike

Zed Head is absolutely spot on. That is exactly what I have thus the high compression (approx. 10:1) and high #s on the gauge all very close together. I get by on 91 octane gas with no problems except the price. Cheers, Mike

FWIW, I just did a compression check on my motor using a C.T. from Auto zone. I was pleasantly surprised to find cylinders 2-5 at 180 and cylinders 1 and 6 to be between 178 and 180. It was hard to extrapolate the latter due to the gauge using 5# increments, and the variation could be due to slightly off valve adjustment. I'm actually very pleased with the results as the F54 block came out of a high mileage 280 ZX ( are these engines strong or what?) and a rebuilt N 42 cylinder head from a 280 Z FI car with a Delta stage 2 cam. I didn't do a wet test as the numbers were so close and in a good range. Now all I have to do is change out the elderly valve stem seals, but I think that will be after it's long winters nap. Cheers, Mike

Yes, this is the exact same issue I had. I also had a full tank of fuel and didn't want to mess with emptying, dropping, etc. I didn't have a delivery issue, though. Like I said JB Weld "fixed" the problem. Cheers, Mike

No, they are not supposed to move. I did not want to use heat to fix mine as I didn't want to drop the tank, fill it with dry ice and solder it in place, so I used JB Weld. It's held up for the last 10 years. The proper fix is the one I didn't do... Cheers, Mike

Thanks for all y'alls replies. I am planning on ZCon, but there's no way I'm moving away from my 5 grands. If I was going to do that it would be to New Zealand. I hope to meet up with some of you in CSprings. I last went to a Z car show when MSA did there's out in Anaheim. I even met the esteemed Mike G. who is our fearless leader here. For now Mr. Brown is in his Winter hibernation under cover with a trickle charger. I should be bringing him back to life sometime in April. Anyway, sometime in the next few years I will have to make the decision about him, but for now I'll just motate along. I've thought about the power steering option, but it is just a bit too pricey for now, and it is one of those contortion jobs which are painful to old bodies. If I got a few more years I just might re-think that, however. Thanks again. This is a pretty good place to hang out with all you crazy Z guys. Cheers, Mike

I know that the thumb surgery will be successful, but as you say it won't help the arthritis. I may be able to get a few more years, but the end is coming... For the most part ZCCC is Denver based and later car oriented. I was not impressed with one of their VPs when we did a meet-n-greet at a Nissan dealer in Greeley. He was very arrogant and dismissive of the older cars and he treated one of our friends who was actually a ZCCC member very poorly. So I don't think the answer lies there. I do have a friend who is much younger and we have done many Z projects together, but I don't want to tie him up on my stuff as he has a life and his own things to do, so that would only be a temporary solution for me. As far as a younger family member goes my 16 year old grandson is not really into cars, and my 6 year old granddaughter who loves "Grampa's brown car" can't reach the pedals. I can still drive the car and do enjoy it although long trips are a thing of the past. Thanks for the input, though. Anybody else have words of wisdom? Cheers, Mike

Hi all, I am wrestling with the rot of old age. I have a "trigger finger" in my right hand. It's looking like surgery is going to happen. My hands both are being invaded by arthritis which makes wrenching difficult if not impossible to do. As this is what gives me the most satisfaction it is becoming obvious that I may not be able to continue to maintain "the renowned Mr. Brown" in the way he needs. I've had him since 2005 and I don't want to see him go to someone who can't or won't maintain him to the standards necessary to keep him going. So, what to do? I hate to admit that I may not be able to continue in the Z world because my body is letting me down. I have a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money invested in this love affair. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers, Mike

I put seats from a '90 300ZX in mine. I first saw some at the old MSA Zcar show. Asked the owner to sit in in his car. They were way more comfortable and supportive. He said it wasn't too difficult to install. He and I used the original adjusters from our S 30s and drilled a couple of new holes. Went right in and I've never regretted the swap. My old tired butt and back thank me whenever I go for a drive. Cheers, Mike

Thank you Mike, and thanks for this site. It is unique and the total knowledge is extremely helpful to us all. Some here are more "expert" than others. I go for the information and try ignore the editorializing. I have learned more about my car than I ever thought possible. Cheers, Mike

I did the same. I told him that my New Year's resolution is to drive him more. Cheers, Mike

I, too, see my Zed as a time machine. When I drive it I listen to cassette tapes I made when I had my first Zed in 1974. At 75 I won't see the end of gasoline powered cars so no worries there. I love my '17 Subaru Outback for its modernity, but the Zed makes me smile more. All my kids and, so far, all my grands learned to drive stick shift. I think it makes them better drivers. I'm loving this thread. It is a great discussion in these troubled times. Cheers, Mike

All you have to do is cough up about $50 large......Quite a difference from 1969-70...$3500. Cheers, Mike

As a Marine Vietnam veteran(1966-1967) I honor your father. Peace to you my friend. Can't wait to see your restoration. Cheers, Mike

I have always used ethanol 91 octane. There is only one place in Ft. Collins to buy non ethanol gas and it is $4.50/gallon...too rich for my blood. I have a 10-1 compression ratio with my N42 head on flattop pistons, too. My carb lines have the original asbestos heat wrap and I have a Carter electric fuel pump. I've never had any vapor lock problems. Cheers, Mike

Speedo "bounce" is usually due to a lack of lubrication. It has nothing to do with the coil. After I lubed my speedo cable the "bounce" went away. Cheers, Mike