Arne

Loren, what is your car's build date? On mine the defroster switch is a pair of blades terminals, not in a plastic connector at all.

Definitely not a show car. It runs and drives now (didn't when I bought it), and does have a little rust. And yes, there are piles of parts all over the house - in the RV pad, all over in the garage, in the spare bedroom, and now in the living room as well.

I'll chime in to welcome you as well, Toni. My series 1 and I live down the freeway a ways in the Eugene area. I'll pipe in on the automatic transmission part. I bought a car with an automatic almost on purpose. As your car shows, the automatics are much easier to find in good shape. But in my case, it was my intent to change it to a 4 speed all along - a task I just completed a couple weeks ago. If you are not mechanically inclined, you will need to enlist the assistance of someone who is to complete this swap. I recently posted a tech article on this exact swap, you can look it over here: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21274 In your particular case, I'd recommend two things - first get the car safe and drivable, and see if the automatic really bothers you. You may decide after driving it a while that it's not so bad. But if you do decide to swap, considering how original the rest of your car sounds, I'd recommend finding an early 4 speed like I did, and not a later 5 speed. The later transmissions would require some cutting of the transmission tunnel, which would be a shame to do on a car as nice as yours sounds. There are lots of knowledgeable people on this web site, and actually a whole pile of Z folks in NW Oregon and SW Washington.

Reminds me of how I found out on the spur of the moment that a 240Z rear hatch will fit (just barely) in the back seat of a '96 328i.

I talked to Dave today, he is still on the road (coming home from MSA), so I'll answer this for him. The headlight harness as it is built now will fit any Z that uses the rectangular 3-wire connector going to the headlights. The 280Zs used a round connector that Dave has been unable to source. I don't know which type the 260Zs used, but since Dave has always claimed compatibility with 240Zs only, I'm guessing the 260Zs also use the round connector. So as far as I know, there is no way for Dave to branch out into the 260/280Z arena with the same 'plug-n-play' unit.

Yup, check the rulebook first, you may be severely limited as to the wheel size (mostly diameter) that is allowed. As for me, if I were doing a set of track wheels and tires, I'd probably stick with 15" - definitely not bigger than 16" - to keep the unsprung weight down. Still plenty of really good 15" tires available.

Yup, type of carbs. The SU's are a single throat, the Webers and Mikunis are dual throat, so each cylinder gets its own. Which you probably would have figured out had you read Carl's post all the way through.

Just don't go with a rim with a lot of negative offset and it should be fine.

Add to that the fact that Steve has no plans to sell this set up to anyone, nor is he making any claims that it is better than something else. I suspect he did it simply because he could, and wanted to have something different.

Just for the record, here is a link to the tech article I wrote on the conversion. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21274

Absolutely. But the harnesses that you read about are for 240Zs and don't fit 280Zs (different plugs).

It's obviously injected, but it would help if we knew more about your car - like the year, engine, any mods, etc.

There are two screws at the very back of the console, and one in the coin tray. It is also held down in the front by the top screw for the fusebox, and the screw for the lighter bracket. The lower screw for the fusebox must be loosened as well, as the fusebox pigtails are normally routed over the console mounting bracket. Once you have the console and choke assembly out of the car, it will be easy to see how to replace the cable.

Well, in that case I'd lean toward a defective or improperly wired gauge. Since it blows the fuse when you rev it, I'd probably start with the tach. The only other likely candidate is the ammeter, but I don't think it is wired in such a way that it could blow the fuse. None of the other gauges fluctuate directly with the revs.

I guess now we have an idea what his reserve must have been last time. But by this time, he should be getting an idea of what people might be willing to spend for it.

Fuel pressure? Just a thought, because stalling is far more often caused by fuel than ignition.

Got any pictures of your rims? I can better advise if I know exactly what you have.

Same finish as used on the early Fuchs Porsche 911 mags. The spokes and lips of those were clear anodized as well.

I strongly suspect mine is original, so I went out to the car and grabbed it for pictures. A bit of surface rust on it (no surprise), but seems to be intact and proper. Then again, I don't know for sure because my car has a 5.5" wide slot mag in the spare well, and so my fiberboard won't sit flush because of the rim. Gotta find a cheap steel wheel for my spare some day.

If they are Enkei 92's (which is what they appear to be), and if the finish is still original, the outer rim would have been rolled, then polished, and then clear anodized. There should not have been any clear coat on them at all. The lips should have a moderately polished finish, but not quite as shiny as a normal polished aluminum rim. If you de-wax the centers, you should be able to paint right over the gold finish. I'd probably scuff it with a scotchbright pad first, but that's all.

I'll second the pedal height thing. I just finished my auto to 4 speed swap. Installed the pedals the weekend before the actual swap, and adjusted the pedal height right then, before anything other than the pedals and master cylinder were in the car. For a series 1 car like mine, the FSM states the face of the pedal should be 8" (+ or - a touch) from the floor.

For the factory injection you'd not only have to notch the ports, but you'd have to drill and tap new manifold stud holes. I don't know if it would be worth it.

Those Enkeis would not have had a clear coat on the lip, the lip is anodized. If the finish on the lip is still good, avoid using any harsh acid or alkali cleaners on them. If you want to keep that anodized finish on the lips (and you should if it's still good, it's very durable), you will have to paint, not powdercoat.

As for the tach part of the question, I had little or no problem getting the tach to work in my '71 with the ZX/E12-80 combo. I'll have to take another look at the wiring on mine when I get home, but I don't recall doing do anything special. Jumped the two wires from the ballast resistor together, and connected the other to the coil. I think that was it.