Arne

I think that center gauge face is incorrect for your car. Later cars should have a voltmeter, not an ammeter. The ammeter would be centered when the car is off, but a voltmeter will be pegged at the right side. Totally different gauge functions.

I believe it is 10mmx1.25.

Saw these on Craigslist. Don't know if they are real or copies. No connection with the seller, either. Thought someone might be interested.

Flipping the springs is the correct thing to do, but don't expect a big difference in ride quality. A small one at best, and probably un-noticeable at normal road speeds. Will have increasing effect the harder you work the suspension.

The euro springs are a good compromise, once they have been cut down to correct the ride height. (Mine are cut 1.5 coils in front, and 2 full coils in back to work with my KYBs.) But - as you've found - Courtesy is sold out now. All of the currently available third-party springs except one are designed to lower the car, and are therefore harsher riding than the euros. The exception is Arizona Z Car's springs. They don't lower a 240Z, and are linear, not progressive. But their spring rates are much higher than the euros, and so are probably quite a bit harsher. Watch the classifieds here, as well as eBay. Every once in a while a set of euros is offered.

I'd have a hard time convincing my wife that it was OK to buy either a lime or gold 240Z, regardless of condition. But I'm thoroughly sold on the fact that the color doesn't matter, only the condition.

Looked at that way, this was still a 'popular vote' event, albeit a vote of only the four judges. There was no scoring, and the judges weren't trained or schooled in any of the various models. They were just Datsun enthusiasts. My understanding is that they were selected from volunteers with an eye towards not loading the panel with people who all had 510s, for example. Since there is a very active Z-only club in the region, the sponsoring club is pretty light on Z membership. So I don't think any of the four judges were truly Z-knowledgeable. Regardless, I think they did a very good job of picking the best cars, regardless of the fact they happened to pick mine as best 240Z. Good background. And the thought that we need to support these events regardless who is sponsoring them is very true. I just wish some of them were held closer than 100 miles away...I'm getting pretty tired of that jaunt up I-5, these cars were meant for back roads!

I agree 100% for those of us who already know 240Zs, but well-heeled first-time Z buyers may not have yet learned that condition is far more important than color. There's two or three colors I'd have rather bought than 905 red. But red is what I have, and I'm lovin' it!

I think that at Canby the People's Choice vote was open to all attendees. The other categories were selected by the registered attendees. I think.

T'would seem so to me as well. But that has been traditional for this gathering, as I understand it. I think they were more concerned with the overall quality of the cars and whether the vehicle's intent (original vs. period-correct vs. modified) was consistent than anything else. That's about the only way you could mix it up that way.In fact, some of the categories were a bit curious, to say the least. There was a single category for 240Zs, and also one for 350Zs. But all 300ZXs were lumped together, and 280Zs and 280ZXs were combined as well. No category for 260Zs at all. Three separate categories for 510s (2 dr, 4 dr and wagon), a single category for any Maxima, and one for 240SXs. But if you had anything newer than '79 that didn't fall into one of the above, they were dumped into the catch-all "1980-2008 modern" category.

Didn't meet the owner, Mike. Fairly clean and straight car with a Chev 350 crate motor in it. He was asking $6000 for it - probably a good buy for a V8 car. Well, I wasn't going to bring it up myself, since I wasn't there to try to win anything. I didn't even clean the bugs off after the 125 mile drive to get there.BTW, since he squealed on me, I figure it's only fair for me to note that the Second place 240Z was Gary's yellow car... Well, it wasn't a popular vote deal, Mike. There was a team of 4 judges who handled it all. All in all, I think they did a pretty good job balancing shininess, originality, overall condition, and quality of mods (if any). The 240Z awards went to my mostly original car, and to Gary's obviously non-stock car. The top 510 four-door award went to the bone stock dark blue car from BC, but the best pickup awards went to a wildly modified (but beautifully executed) blue 620.

It was a good little show. Better attendance that I had expected. A bit light on early Zs and very few Roadsters, compared to Canby. But good fun. Lots of dimes and trucks. This group is not afraid to drive the rat rods and works-in-progress, either.I uploaded a pile of pictures, but they're not approved yet. Here's a few overall shots to whet your appetites.