Arne

Well, I think I'm getting close now. I'm pretty certain that what I'm envisioning will work, so it's about time to put my money where my mouth is. I think I'll buy and fab the rear muffler/tips first, then once that's done, I'll get the MSA system and the final few bits. Got to find someone to do the welding for me as I don't have that equipment myself. Stay tuned, film at 11:00....

The Black Dragon tail light gaskets I got recently seem OK. Appear to have been made just for them, as they have BD's part number molded in. I think they came from Thailand. I can see new door seals in my future, I'm still not satisfied with the Precision. Like much of the Precision kit, they are just OK at best.

No, the factory springs were all linear rate, not progressive. So the rate will be unchanged when cut. All the cut did for me was correct the ride height.

Let me preface this by saying that the Precision weatherstrips I got from MSA were purchased over 3 years ago now, so I can't speak for current production for certain. I would call both front and rear to be acceptable in function. In appearance, the front is OK, the rear less so. The front is not as well molded at the corners as I expect the factory is, but not too bad. On the rear, the gap in the groove for the stainless trim is too narrow, which makes the trim look too narrow. Since I have them in the car now, neither problem is bad enough to make me want to replace them at this time. But if I were to replace them, I'd probably spring for factory, especially for the rear.

No. Either the tach is not sensing enough voltage through the inductive loop, or it's failing. The distributor can't affect it that way, as far as I can see. My money is on a failing tach.

For '72, the only choices from the factory were color and transmission. Everything and anything else was dealer installed. No factory options past the transmission.

Factory Nissan inserts? No idea. Probably similar to KYB but w/o the increased ride height of the gas KYBs.

It's a condensor to reduce radio interference.

Yup. Since I don't trust the Pertronix totally, I want the pieces in place so I can revert easily. I carry a set of points in the car with me as a backup.

My car is a 7/71, so essentially the same as yours. My resistor is bypassed the same as yours, but I did connect the red from the Pertronix to the BR in an effort to get cleaner voltage to the unit. Works fine that way.I'm not sure what the issue with your tach might be, as mine works fine w/o adapters or any odd hacks.

If you can find a set, I like the repro euro springs I cut-down for my car. The spring rate is about 10-15% firmer than stock US springs. They do need to be cut some to give normal ride height, but no mods other than that. Several of the people who got in on that group buy bought more than one set - maybe someone has a set they'd be willing to part with?

Dunno. Send them to me and I'll test them extensively to find out. (Man, I'd love to have found a set of NOS like that.) Seriously, I suspect they were originally designed to be used with factory springs. But from past experience with Bilsteins in other cars, I'm sure they would also work fine with a bit stiffer than stock.

OK, one down. As for the tach, did it work OK before the Pertronix? Because the tach in my '71 doesn't seem to care whether the resistor is connected or not. Works fine either way.

I would tell the shop and both insurance companies (yours and theirs) you are unhappy with the work, and tell them you want it fixed properly.

OK, if I do this I'll try one a touch smaller diameter. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BIG-50252FLT/

Those aiming tools mostly went away with the death of the sealed beam. DOT approved lights still came with the three nubs well into the '90s if not later. But I haven't seen one of those in years, and they won't work on lamps that lack the nubs.

Don't worry about the tach until you get the ballast and timing taken care of. Timing - if you don't know where it was, I'd start at the stock setting (5° BTDC). If there is no ping during a good test drive, advance it a few degrees and re-test. If the cam you have is stock, I'd say 8-10° as a guess. If it is a slightly hotter aftermarket cam, maybe 12-15°. But those are just guesses - every motor is different. Resistor - The goal with the resistor is to get close to 3Ω total. The stock coils are about 1.6Ω, so they use a 1.5Ω resistor in the circuit. If you had bought the 1.5Ω Pertronix coil, the resistor would still be needed to get to the desired 3Ω total. But since you got the 3Ω coil, you don't need a resistor.

Can't remove them later, the tips I'm looking at are glass-packed.

Timing should be whatever worked before you did the conversion. It may be different than stock depending on your car, conditions and config. Stock is 5 degrees BTDC. I'm running about 10 degrees on mine. With the 3Ω coil you should bypass the resistor.

First thing - check the timing. Doesn't matter that the dizzy wasn't moved, the Pertronix sensor will not be exactly the same location as the points were before you removed them. In my car, the difference when switching between points and Pertronix is at least 10 degrees.

Email doesn't seem to be outgoing again. I'm hoping that an upcoming hardware replacement (with a fresh OS) will permanently fix this.

OK, next part. Let's say that I need to weld a tip directly to the outlet of a muffler. Let's assume the muffler outlet is 2" ID (so a 2" OD pipe would slip inside for clamping) and extends from the muffler case by 3". But since the muffler space on a 240Z is - as we know - already at the very rear of the car, slipping a 2" pipe in and then using the tip I want for the 2" pipe is too long. The tip could not be tucked in where I need it, at best it would be the 3" from the muffler case. _________________ | | ___| |___————————/ ___| |___ / | | ——————/ |_______________| So what I'm thinking is to use a tip with a 2 1/4" ID that will slide OVER the outlet, and could butt up flush to the muffler case. _________________ | | ___| |————————/ ___| | / | |——————/ |_______________| But ideally, I think I'd want some sort of a bushing that would make that a snug fit prior to welding. And this is my question - has anyone seen a bushing of this type? The ID would need to be whatever the OD of a 2" ID pipe is, 2 1/8" or so? and the OD of the bushing would need to be 2 1/4" so that a 2 1/4" tip would slide on. Any leads? I've tried googling but the results have been marginal. I may not be using good search terms.

FWIW - I too have had problems with the Pertronix, including both the infamous problem above 4000 RPM, and also a complete failure of a 3.0Ω Pertronix coil. But in the interest of full disclosure - I also had similar high RPM problems with a ZX dizzy, too.

Yes, proper aiming is crucial, and with the common use of modern H4 lights these days, it's not hard to do yourself. A modern light with a typical beam cutoff should be aimed on low beam, on a flat surface. Do not try to tweak the adjustment for high beam, aim them on low and leave it alone. You can find detailed instructions on any number of websites, but the short version is simple - shine your lights on a wall 20 feet away. The point of flare up to the right ( _⁄ ) should be aimed straight ahead (not off to either side), and for most passenger cars you should have 2-3 inches drop at 20 feet (~1%). Normal trucks and SUVs should have a bit more drop, 1.5-2%. Jacked up trucks should not be allowed to have headlights at all. OK, jk on that, but you see how it works.

Yeah, this is an on-going deal - the vast majority of people judge headlights by irrelevancies like light color (think blue-tinted bulbs), technology (HID and LED), physical appearance (clear-lens MSR lights, faux-projectors, etc.) and output (wattage, candlepower, lumens). Yes, I even classify output as irrelevant - at least once you get above certain point. There is very little benefit to super high-watt output. Your typical 55/60 watt H4 bulb delivers plenty of light, the key is to put that light where it is needed. Much above 80 watts in a normal automotive headlight is totally superfluous. That brings us to the important part. Beam pattern and control. It doesn't matter how much light is output if the lens and reflector don't direct it to where it will do the most good. That's why cheap H4s aren't as good as expensive name-brand lights. And this is why I'm skeptical of these truck/military lights. I love the idea of the low current draw, but I doubt that these will be engineered such that they will be significantly better than normal H4s in any way other than current draw. But I'd love to be proved wrong, which is why I hope that someone will post pictures of the beam pattern as shined on a flat wall. And then there's the price....