Arne

Notice the differing angle of the main stalk from side to side. I believe that the one on the right side is a left side mirror with the mirror head swiveled around.

Here's a link to an eBay auction for one (and only one) of the Enkie caps I was thinking of. One doesn't do you much good, but it might help to know what they look like. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chrome-Enkei-center-cap-Mesh-rims-3-240z-Camaro-280z_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33744QQihZ010QQitemZ200019970315QQrdZ1

It varied from year to year, Nissan couldn't make up their minds how to do it. Of the three motors I have: On the '71 L24 there is a single pointer on the passenger side of the timing cover, with multiple marks on the pulley. On the '73 L24 there is a single mark on the pulley and multiple marks on a scale bolted to the driver's side of the timing cover. The '83 L28 also has a single mark on the pulley, but the scale is back on the passenger side again.

All very true. Some parts of Oregon don't enforce the front plate requirement. Or I should say, they enforce it selectively. In my area there are no red-light-runner cameras (more's the pity, it's getting pretty bad down here), so I can get away with no plate on the front of my family car. Then again, I'm a middle-aged caucasian male driving a conservatively-colored BMW sedan, so I'm unlikely to be stopped period. Sad, but true.The drawback to the Special interest plates in Oregon are the rather severe restrictions as to when and how much you can drive the car. And again, while the police probably won't bother you, your insurance company might have issues paying a claim on a car registered as a Special Interest vehicle if it clearly was being used outside the SI rules. So that's out for me. I'll undoubtedly hang my front plate off the bumper, just like they did in the '70s. I may get a vintage set of blue plates for it, but not as Special Interest.

That air dam should look good with the modern yellow color, Mike. My current plans for mine in stock pale yellow are to use a Spook from Les - not sure if I'll paint it yellow to match or paint it black. But that decision's still a ways off for me. If I don't make it up to Salem before you get it done, I will REQUIRE you to bring it down to Eugene/Springfield for a visit.

I wonder which choice I'd want for my early car that came with no retractor pocket anyway? Mount a retractor down low, or up high? Hmm...

A search for "steering wheel restore" gave these, among others

Randy, I know that the center caps from some of the early 4 lug Enkei modular styles (the 20, 30 & 32 series) will fit the early Appliance wheels just fine. While after all this time those are likely to be rusty as well, Enkei did use better quality caps and it's possible you might find a decent set. Worth watching for, anyway.

Yup, I thought the ones on my main car were OK, after checking them in place. But when I had them disconnected while changint the rear springs, I found that one of them had a fair amount of play in it. I replaced it with one out of my parts car, and found that one of the noises from the rear of my car is now gone.

Doug, your car (and you, presumably) are welcome to come out West to visit any time. Just let me know, I'll have a bottle of homebrew waiting for you.As for the yellow-ness, I recall Mike calling his "Ferrari Racing Yellow". (Probably ought to kill the ad in the USA Cars For Sale forum, Mike.) Beandip's car is a Mustang GT color, as partially seen in the attached picture. Azcarbum's 280Z is similar to Gary's in color, with graphics. My car's factory yellow looks rather pale in comparison, but VERY '70s.

Welcome to yet another Oregonian! I have a spare early heater box with core and control head here in Springfield, Roger, should you need one. None of the stuff is mint, but it's all serviceable.

The proper Appliance caps for those wheels will be hard to find, Randy. In the '80s I recall my customers having lots of rust problems with them after only a few years use. Finding a set today that aren't rusty is going to take an act of God. You may be forced to go with a different brand of cap in the same size.

With the proper tires (and assuming the car is not too radically lowered), yes. 255/50-16 are about the same height as the stock tires were, 225/45-16 are a bit shorter. Either should work fine, on most cars.

Try hunting on some vintage Toyota web sites. I recall selling lots of 92's to Supras and Celicas back in the day, not so many to Z's.

Ha! While I recall seeing that term in Humble's book, and I agree that the description of the color is accurate, as a long-time collector of vintage Lesney die-cast toys the term "Matchbox" brings to my mind things not at all related to Datsuns.

Hmm, Steve and Bruce keep inviting me to come visit the shop some weekend, and I never seem to have the time to do it. I might have to give it a shot soon, before Mike's car is finished.

Well, it's all personal, but I don't care for the color-matched rear panel. Somehow that hust seems wrong to me on a Z, especially with the stock chrome bumper. But it's your car, so if it's good for you, go for it. But it's sure looking good. I'm really looking forward to getting to the body/paint part on mine. There are lots of yellow Zs in Oregon (Mike's, beandip's, azcarbum's), but none in original 919 yellow, so mine will still be a bit unique. I can't wait.

OK, with that description I'm at least 90% certain that your problem is in the input shaft area. The input shaft has one large roller bearing just behind the front seal, and is supported at the front of the mainshaft on needle bearings. From your description, I'd lean toward the needle bearings as the source, but that's just a wild guess at this point.The other 10% possibility would be bad bearings on the countershaft (or layshaft, in a british car), as it also spins in neutral. In a Z, the countershaft is supported by a single roller bearing on each end of the shaft. Doesn't matter much either way though, as any of those will require a complete transmission tear-down.

Ahh, but I HAVE rebuilt transmissions before. First, I'm sorry I missed the earlier thread, might have been able to save you from buying the throwout bearing. A bad throwout bearing makes noise when it is in contact with the fingers of the pressure plate - i.e. it makes noise when the pedal is DEPRESSED, but is quiet when released. Just backwards from your description. Now. If the noise is quiet while in neutral, suspect the mainshaft. But if the noise is present at all times the clutch pedal is released (even in neutral), your problem is more likely in the input shaft. The mainshaft doesn't move while the car is stopped and in neutral, but the input shaft does (assuming the clutch pedal is released).

My first thought is that there is possibly some misalignment that is putting excessive stress on the bolts. Because this doesn't seem to be a common problem.

Speaking as someone with years of experience doing brakes on other poeple's cars, I'll dispute the idea that drums are more maintenance than discs. Done right, drum brakes on a 240/260/280Z will require virtually no maintenance over the life of the shoes. (Assuming - of course - that you use the parking brake regularly. You do, don't you?) And those shoes are likely to last far longer than the pads on a rear disc setup. The disc brake conversion uses calipers which have the parking brake ratchet inside the piston, which is great as long as all is good, but when it goes bad it can be catastrophic. Add the fact that for street driving there is almost no stopping advantage over the drums, and I don't see much reason to convert.

My first thought would be to not do all this to your matching-number block. For the kind of power you'd like to have eventually, I'd start with the late ZX F-54 block with the extra internal stiffening. Lacking that, there are lots of L-series blocks out available for free, or nearly. (Shoot, I don't know where you live, but I've got a surplus L24 block out of a '73 myself. And I'll have an F-54 block and crank available in a few weeks.) After all, if you end up building the bejeebers out of it and blow it up, you don't want to throw a rod through the side of your original block.

Awww, now I'm embarrassed agin. My website was originally conceived as an easy way to keep my Dad (in Klamath Falls) and my brother (in Corvallis) up to date. I didn't know if anyone else would be interested enough to follow along. It still amazes me when I look at the web server stats to see how many people from around the world visit - not just once, but repeatedly. It's made me a few new Z pen pals, too.

Mike, are you finding time to work on your car again? I sure hope so, I'd love to see it back on the road.

Carl's got a point, Tom. I'm swapping a '71 L24 into my car over Labor Day. It has been sitting for 2-3 years, but appears to still be fine. Not as long as yours, but still quite a while. I'll post back later on how it goes.