Arne

Want to verify something as I prepare for the auto to manual tranny swap. Here's the question - the car, clutch and transmission are '71 vintage, the engine is '83 and the flywheel will be something like a '77 or so. I see numerous flywheel bolt choices, can I assume I need bolts to match the flywheel ('77 or so)? Or the engine ('83)? To me, matching the flywheel seems most logical.

The basics are here: http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/z.html A lot of this is aimed at 240Z's (with carbs), but if you ignore the carb sections and keep your injection, all the rest is still applicable.

Nah, you could make them blink with a relay or two. If the lights were off, they'd blink with the signals. If the lights were on, they'd blink opposite. It can be done, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth, especially on a 240 where the normal turn signals wrap around the side anyway.

This isn't my first project car, but about the fourth. I typically do most of the mechanical first, IOW, get it drivable. Then I tear it all apart the second time to make it nice. So I guess I do the "make it safe" first thing too.

My biggest complaint is that even with red bulbs the tail lights look pink with those kind of lenses. Can't stand pink tail lights.

In my case, it's homebrew...

Well, I switched from normal oil (Castrol GTX) to Mobil 1 in one of my previous cars right after I bought it - with 150,000 miles on the original engine. This was in a graymarket 1981 BMW 323i, which had a 2.3 liter, SOHC inline six, very similar to the L-series in our Zs. I drove it on Mobil 1 for the next 5 years and another 75,000 miles. Never leaked, nor did the synth break loose any sludge that I could detect. So the above concern isn't valid - in my experience. YMMV.

I wouldn't spend much time and effort to refurbish them, I don't think you'll find very many people are at all interested in them. They are not popular at all these days.

Well, My experience selling custom wheels for 20+ years leads me to say that these might not be my LAST choice of wheels for a Z (or any other car), but pretty close to it. They are narrow, heavy, don't center on the hubs well, are prone to losing parts (as your uncle mentioned), and were even known to make noises while you drove down the road (the wire baskets would rub against the wheel). And all those problems were when they were new and parts were readily available. Now...

Appliance Industries. What we used to call single wire baskets. They use an odd and proprietary lug nut system that is probably no longer available. In fact, finding any replacement parts for those wheels will be very difficult, as Appliance stopped making them at least 20 years ago, and went bankrupt around 1990 or so. You should also know that those of us who had to work on tires and wheels for a living in the '80s despised those wheels, as they were especially prone to causing steering wheel vibrations (shimmy) due to the odd lug system, especially on German Capris and Z-cars.

OK, being dense here. What's a BOV and why do you want it to flutter?

I've used Redline in diffs and transmissions for years, both cars and bikes. I've never had any change in fluid level unless I had an obvious leak.I'm guessing that the synthetic has less surface tension, and that it didn't evaporate, but it actually soaked into the concrete. I have seen that happen before.

The time has come to buy a FSM for my early '71 Z. I've been getting by so far, but as I get deeper into it I know that I must have one. But I want to make sure I get what I need. (Ordering the parts CD today from Mike, also.) I know that the originals for the early cars came in at least two volumes - Engine and Body/Chassis. The reprints seem to combine these into a single volume. Is it still all there? I'm not fussy about whether or not my FSM is 'original', a reprint will do just fine - as long as it has the same content in it. Anyone out there compared the original and reprints? And if the reprint is OK, are there any better places to get one than from MSA?

My Z isn't to that point yet, but I use synthetic in all my other vehicles. Mobil 1 in the engines, Redline in transmissions and diffs. The Z will eventually be treated the same.

OK, I was wrong. The seat mounted hooks on my car (10/70) are black plastic, not vinyl covered metal.

I certainly wouldn't be averse to hydraulic lifters for my L28. Less maintenance = more time to drive. (As if my car was ready to drive!)

For normal street driving, rubber bushings do an adequate job if they're reasonably fresh.

You might also look into a Wheelskins brand leather cover. They are semi-custom fit by the diameter of the wheel and of the grip. I used one years ago on the factory (very skinny) rim of my MGB wheel, and it was a nice improvement. Makes the grip a bit bigger without any permanent modifications.

Wow. Very hard to pin down. The right fender has either a 260Z or 280Z emblem, not the 240Z's Datsun emblem. It would be very interesting to know if the number plates (dash and door jamb) match the firewall stamping.

Unbolt and remove it? It's pretty simple, what problem are you having?

I used SEM dye on an old Chevy pickup I had, dyed the dash pad as well as the door panels. Still looked great when I sold the truck 8 years later. SEM is a great product. Just like any paint, surface prep is the key, don't scrimp and try to do it without using the SEM vinyl prep.

Gonna have to look at that this weekend, but from memory, the hooks in my 10/70 car are:a.) on the seat, not the B pillar; and b.) vinyl-covered metal, not plastic. I'm pretty certain my seats are original, but I'll try to look for a date code on them (if any) to be sure.

I am also planning this swap for later in the spring. But what I read was that they are the same length. There may be differences between real early cars (like mine) and later 240Z's (where the diff was relocated back some), but I don't think the driveshafts differ from auto to manual for the same year cars.

I don't really know, since I only have experience with the early cars.

That's what I thought. In that case, the mounting holes for the tow hooks are similar to the mounts for the early bumpers. You won't be able to use the factory brackets, but it should be easy to build something similar.You can see the bumper mounts in the picture of my car in the link below: http://home.comcast.net/~e21graymarket/240z/picframes/s30rear.html