Everything posted by Arne
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SpareTire
Me? Stock 14x4.5 steel with stock size 175HR14 Michelin XAS. But that won't help you.Big brakes do complicate this. I'd check the wrecking yards for one of those skinny high pressure spares the late model cars come with. Try one for a four lug Honda Accord. Same bolt pattern, steel wheel with lots of caliper clearance. Might work well.
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Whats your fuel economy?
Luke, my red '71 is totally stock with 4 speed, like yours is. I've only put 1300 miles on it since I got it, but I seem to get 18-20 MPG in mostly town driving, and 28-30 on the highway, depending on speeds. If I do freeway at 70-75, figure 28. Back roads at 55-60 seems to give a solid 30.
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MSA rebuilt head - any experiences?
Oops! I guess I never closed this thread out. I ended up buying a parts car instead. The parts car had a complete, sound L24 with E31. Runs pretty good as is. Head rebuild was cancelled.
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Hot Starting?
Pumping it won't help. But depending on how your carbs are adjusted, holding the throttle open slightly may be necessary of helpful. But not pumping it.
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chrome or polished slots?
Because if you compare it to real orange, it's nor orange either. It's a half-way in between color, neither true red nor true orange.It's actually similar to the "Mars Red" color that VW used on '79-81 Sciroccos. That wasn't really red either...
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240z linkage
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chrome or polished slots?
Clear coat over polished aluminum never lasts, in my experience. Problem is that if the wheel is polished well, it is very smooth, and there is no "roughness" to help the clear coat adhere. POR is great stuff, but that doesn't really change the surface condition of the wheel.
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Couple Odd Questions
Plastic evap tanks were used through at least 4/71 production, as I have a spare un-cracked one from my parts car, as well as the one still in my 10/70 yellow car. By 7/71 production they had changed to metal, as that's what's in my red car.
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Dash light question
Argh. There is no "easy" way to change it. Something needs to be removed to allow access to the back side. The simplest is probably to remove the inner glovebox, although that's not as straightforward as it sounds. As for the bulb, it's a fairly standard small bayonet-type bulb. Don't know the bulb number off hand. But once you have one out, you can take it to the parts store and match it. Then buy at least 3 of them, and replace the bulbs in the other two center gauge bulbs while you can get to them. As for "brights", do you mean high beams on the headllights? If so, you bet they came with them, high beams are required by law. The dimmer switch is the turn signal stalk. Pull once to switch from low to high, and again to switch back. If you make it down to Eugene/Springfield some time, maybe we can look at it...
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chrome or polished slots?
Good quality aluminum alloy - dense and consistent - will polish just like a mirror. But it is VERY difficult to find vintage 14" wheels of requisite quality. The set I found and had polished was not even close. But the only way to know how well yours will clean up is to polish one or more of them. And don't be surprised if the results you get vary from wheel to wheel.
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electrical problem
It would be easier to help if we knew what year and model car you have. But in general, what you are describing sounds like an internal dead short inside your battery. That would be my first thing to test.
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chrome or polished slots?
Sorry, I don't agree. My years of experience selling and servicing vintage mags lead me to conclude that those are far more likely to be polished, rather than chromed.First, chrome is a big problem on old school wheels that use shank lugnuts. The chrome-on-chrome contact galls and chews both the wheel and the nut. Secondly, the alloys used back in the old days for these wheels don't take chrome well. It would be difficult to get a set of four that didn't have rather serious chrome flaws. And if you got a set, having the chrome stick will be a problem, partly because of the alloy, and partly because of the aforementioned galling at the lug holes. Once the surface of the chrome is broken, all durability bets are off. It is possible for decent quality aluminum wheels to be machine polished to that level, although it'd be hard to keep them that shiny. But you might have to polish more than four to get a full set of that quality. If the alloy is porous or inconsistent, machine polishing will reveal every pore or soft spot in the wheel. My wire mags aren't that shiny, but look pretty good from 5 feet or so. But up close they have bad spots from porous and/or soft spots in the alloy.
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Looking for 14x7 wheels cheap
While I also personally prefer the look of the tall 14" sidewall on a 240Z, be aware that 14" tires that are wide enough for 7" rims are rather hard to find these days. Lots of used rims on Craigslist and eBay, but most 14" are only 5.5" or 6" wide. Or there's this set, but I'd verify condition and whether they have center caps first. And being Appliances, they'll need 0.55" shank lugs. But lugs are still available, and third party caps too. http://centralhp.com/viewitem.php?productID=APW-0304
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gross jets
Well, "majority" might be a bit strong. I've used them in an MG years ago, and they were OK. But not something I'm all that concerned about for my Zs. Don't know if they are still available for Datsun SUs. But here's the contact info: D & G Valve Mfg. Co. ( Grose- Jet ) 8 Mt. Vernon St. Stoneham, MA 02180
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Frame rail carnage. Fix or forget.
90% or more of the Zs left on the road today will show similar "damage" - both of mine do. Too many years, too many opportunities for the tire monkeys to jack up the car in the wrong spot. (Yes, I can say that safely, I was a tire monkey for many years. A good one, I hope, but a tire monkey none the less.) I agree with nwcubsman, if you know the car is alignable as it is now, POR it and forget it.
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Plastic Headlight Covers
The factory covers with the chrome trim have not been available for a good number of years. Other than used, assuming you can find anyone willing to part with them.
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my version of twice pipes
Sounds good. With 2" I'm pretty comfortable that a pair of 18" should do the trick. The cross-over should even out the pulses and smooth the exhaust note. I'd love to hear it when it's done.
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my version of twice pipes
Yes Steve, longer is quieter on glass packs. My red car has a single 24" glasspack on it. The muffler is 2", the pipes are 1 3/4". (Not my favorite part of the car, performance-wise. But that's what the original owner put on it. And after all, it's only a stock L24.) Anyway, with only that muffler on it and the small diameter pipe, it's not too loud, and has a nice mellow tone. Burbles and pops on deceleration, too. Your pipes look like 2 1/4" to me. If so, I'd put 18" on it for street driving. The larger pipes will make it louder, so more muffler might be better.
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hls 51 for sale
Hmm. Presumably a California car, and #51? With original engine? Definitely worth a look.... Who lives near Ventura?
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Blue 510 on E-bay
And the reserve's not met??? This is nuts! Nice car, but.... :stupid:
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Z Experts - Arne, Marty, Carl - This one is for you....
They appear to be a rubber material to my eyes. Fairly hard rubber, but I suspect that's more of an age issue. Good luck on this, and keep us posted.
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Where to get Panasports?
I actually prefer the Konig look, myself. Panasports are a bit too modern-looking for my tastes. But with Konigs you still have the center cap issue.
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Tokico HP - Z is two inches taller
Thought it was time to revisit this topic, as lots has gone on since we last posted. Summary - I have moved the euro springs out of the yellow car, cut them down and installed them in the red car, and later removed them. In the mean time, Gary (beandip) has finalized his installation as well, but I'll let him chime in on his details. I had installed the euros in the yellow car before I bought the red car. Since the springs made the car's ride height 3/4" too high, and also since I plan on keeping the red car, it seemed to make sense to take them out of the yellow car, cut them down and install them in the red car instead. Which is exactly what I did. At the same time as the springs, I installed NOS Mulholland strut inserts (non-gas). Ride height results - I cut 1.5 coils from the front, and 1.25 coils from the rear. The ride height was 8 1/8" front, and 8 1/4" rear, or just a touch taller than stock. (Reference - the red car with 60k miles on stock springs sat at 8" front, 7 7/8" rear.) Ideally to give close to stock ride height for non-gas struts I'd probably cut another 1/4 coil off both ends. For KYBs probably 1/2 coil more each end. As a side note, the euro springs are actually a very poor match to the Mulholland struts. The ride was incredibly firm and bouncy, as if I was riding on the bump-stops. (Which are new, BTW.) My theory is that the euro springs were designed to improve handling by increasing the spring rate as much as possible and still remain compatible with stock strut valving. Similarly, the Mulhollands were designed to improve handling by tightening the shock valving as much as possible and still be useable with stock springs. Put the two together and the ride was WAY TOO firm. So I went back to the stock springs for now, which was an improvement, although still VERY firm. Very good for track or autocross use, maybe a bit too firm for weekend touring. I may yet change them out to KYB in the future. I have driven in Gary's car with the KYB/euro combination and the ride is pretty good. Firm, but not harsh. I figure the KYBs are about ideal for the cut-down euro springs.
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fuel filter location
The factory put it on the right side inner fender, as marked in the attached picture in yellow. But yours may have been moved or removed by a prior owner.
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Theft deterent devices
More on the Trunk Monkey... http://www.trunkmonkey.com/