Arne

Can someone tell me why this was posted here, rather than in the Classifieds? I'm certain that is the correct place for this stuff.

I ordered a few items a little over a week ago, noticed no difference in service. I also believe that MSA will not suffer. Sure, Sal was good. But a company's philosophy comes from the top. It will likely continue.

No, I got mine from Les at Classic Datsun. The MSA units are cheaper, but Les apparently owns the original BRE molds, and I decided to pay the extra, assuming the original might be better. Can't say whether that is true or not, as I've never seen the MSA part in person. I can say that I am happy with the workmanship on the one I got, but perhaps the MSA part is just as good. Don't know. Yes, original 905 red faded until it is indistinguishable from 110 persimmon red. It's fairly presentable, and will have to do until the yellow car is finished and sold. I thought about the duct issue and rain here in Oregon, but the ductless version isn't available from Classic Datsun, and I don't really drive the Z in the rain much anyway. And the ducted version looks better to me, so that's what I got.

I totally agree. The BRE spoiler is a nice accent to a 240Z and it's small bumpers. But a 280 needs something more imposing, a small spoiler would just get lost under the big bumper.Just my opinion, though. To each their own.

I ended up using 9 bolts, two outside each duct, and five across the front. I can see no way on my car to use holes in the back row, on my car they don't touch metal at all. But by using 9 across the front I was able to pull it nicely snug up to the valance, Doug. I suspect you need more bolts.

No, that's the same guy selling his repros.

Very true, you always need to take those numbers with a grain of salt. Especially when the stock original pulled 137 RWHP on that same dyno. My thought was if the engine is still that strong, why bother?But regardless, the 30+ HP gain would be nice.

Oops! My bad! I totally missed the $1000 part. You're totally right, best bet for that budget is a good used L28.

The point set is supposed to move, that's how the gap is set. I can't place the "lever", can you post a picture?

Yeah, James and Jim (a7dz) are doing fantastic work, both single-handedly. They should stand as inspirations to us all. No way I could do the job these guys are doing. I think Jim's car is getting close to done. Should be on the road before the year is out. Although I suspect he's shooting for Thanksgiving...

I'm going to use the 12 holes shown in the picture Will posted in the other thread. Pictures tomorrow, probably in the other thread. (Done hijacking this one, sorry!)

I just picked up the 12 nuts, bolts and 24 fender washers, Doug. So I suspect mine with all that pulling it into place may fit better than yours. Pictures later tomorrow, most likely.

Weather is forecast to be about ideal for non-A/C equipped Z-cars - partly sunny and lower 70s. Bring a picnic basket and join in!

Summary of the Classic Motorsport build up: Bored 0.040" All rotating parts balanced 280ZX Turbo oil pump E31 head shaved 0.018", no port changes Good valve job (3 or 5 angle, can't remember which) Mild cam Rebuilt SUs Pertronix ignition in stock distributor MSA 6 into 1 header MSA 2 1/2" exhaust All the normal rebuild stuff, new guides, timing chain, etc. They did a baseline pull of 137 RWHP before the rebuild, got 169 when they were done. Not bad for a totally streetable L24.

Get a copy of the current (Nov. 2007) issue of Classic Motorsports. This issue outlines exactly what you have in mind. They did a rebuild and mild upgrade on an L24 and got 167 HP at the rear wheels. The main difference is that they used the early E31 head, that you don't have. But for street use you should be able to come pretty close to that even using the late E88 head your car came with.

Well, if I was going to drill 9 holes anyway, an extra 3 won't be that much more to deal with. All 12 it is.

Hmm, I can certainly see how that could help a bit, but considering how seldom I'll exceed 80, I don't think I'm willing to mess with the classic looks of the spook for a small additional improvement. Besides, my spook (from Classic Datsun) is very nice quality hand-laid cloth fiberglass, and is much more rigid than I had expected.

Thanks for all the replies, folks. I'll hit the hardware store on Saturday morning and get to it. I'll probably either use 7 or 9, maybe the 6 that Will uses plus one extra at the front center.

Me personally, I'd prefer to stay with the L-series inline six, even if it wasn't the original one. But I too would want to save the original block for the future.

Anyone care to share what they've used for mounting a spook? Types and sizes of fasteners?

I got my BRE from CDM today. Haven't installed it yet, obviously. But holding it up to the car, it looks to me as if it will fit very nicely. Good quality glass work, too. Hand laid cloth, not blown chopped fibers. Any recommendations for mounting hardware?

Guys, I've got a BRE spook coming from Les (Classic Datsun), should arrive in a day or two. I'll post a few pics when I get it.

Further info, now that I am home. My cap is apparently not original, but probably a later factory replacement. It has aluminum contacts, not brass. But my rotor my well be original, judging by the color, brass contact and the logo on it, which I have seen on other early ignition parts. And my car is not a "Series 1" but is actually a late '71 "Series 2". So the color of mine may not be indicative of the true first generation factory original, even if it is original. Probably close enough for me, but maybe not for others.

Chris may be right about the early cars having black. And he is definitely correct about the brass contacts. My original cap is much higher quality than most anything you can buy these days. However -- I can't consider the original sales brochure to be the definitive source for the color. Not because of pre-production photo cars, lack of clarity of the photo or anything like that. But because the camera can't pick up colors buried in the dark and covered by black plug wires. I know this for a fact, because the cap in the attached picture is the pale gray-green cap that I now have safely tucked away. Looks pretty dark in this picture, even though I lightened the exposure a bit. But trust me, it's not black.

Not faded, as I've seen an NOS unit that was the same as mine.