Arne

Since last spring? That's a long drought. Must have felt good to drive it again!

I don't know if the Z rear suspension responds to LS as well as the semi trailing arm rear on my old E21 323i, but if it does, you'll love it. Adding the limited slip to the 323i was one of the best things I did to that car. You may not think you have a lack of traction now, but after driving with the LSD you may learn otherwise.

Yup, more than once. Sorta, anyway. My yellow Series 1 had a rusty later style hatch on it when I bought it. The replacement Series 1 hatch I bought for it had already had both hinge mounts re-welded. Like yours, rather poorly. My red car needed the left hinge mount re-welded when I bought it. I had a local body shop re-weld it, he did a much nicer job.

When used on Appliance wheels, there are no dust cover clearance issues.

As of 2008, Nissan did not have anything that was visually correct for 240Z. That may have changed by now, but I doubt it. When I talked with Mike about these some time back, I recall that they were black, but with red-ish boots.

I actually have three different sets of wires for my car. The original 1971 date-coded set, a set of blue NGKs (decent wires, but a bit garish-looking), and my current black wires. (I have been known to install the originals for shows.) I had the blue NGK wires on my car for a year or two, but a while back decided to go with black wires for the more stock look. I did some shopping at a local parts house and picked up a set of "Magstar Gold" wires. They are black with black boots, and other than the color appear to be very similar to the NGKs. Part #12-6416 was the set I got, the fit is decent. Does not have the bent boot for number six. They are built here in the USA by Wiretec (a division of General Cable) and were quite affordable. Obviously not stock, but not "in-your-face-blue-aftermarket" either. I bought mine from a locally owned parts house, don't know who might carry them in your neighborhood. As for matching the engine number - the only place to check that is on the stamped number plate in the engine compartment, on the right inner fender. For a 240Z, both the VIN and the engine number should be stamped on that plate.

Depends on how badly the seal has shrunk/deteriorated. I'd call around to find a shop that installs sunroofs, and talk to them about resealing.

My car is the subject of the thread linked in post #3 above. Speaking from over 2 1/2 years later, I still feel that re-skinning the roof was one of the best things I have done to the car. Zero regrets.

Yup, those are early Appliance's. The caps I linked above will fit fine.

Sounds like your slots are Appliance brand. I could tell for certain if you post a picture. But the 3 1/8" size is pretty definitive. There are a couple of places where you can get metal snap-in caps that will fit, one is Summit racing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AEW%2DACC310706?autofilter=1&part=AEW%2DACC310706&N=700+115&autoview=sku ...or you can call Massey's Accessories in Oklahoma at 405-239-2010.

It appears to be a great car, for what it is. But they don't really do much for me personally. If that type of car still appealed to me, I'd have kept the '67 MGB that I restored in the late '90s. Sure, a 2 liter Datsun is faster than the B, but that's not the issue. I'm not so in love with the roadster/convertible experience that I can overlook the rest of the deal. I'd far rather have my Z, thank you very much. But as Roadsters go, that one seems to have it all.

Still not many late '71s. My red car is the only 7/71 car, and the only car in a 5000 car span (35-40000).

I'd ditch my Cibié H4s in a heartbeat for a pair of Biodes. Or Marchal Ampliluxes, same type of thing.

1) If they asked for Volunteers, would you step up and donate your time? Hard to do from 900 miles away. 2) If they were to charge a $15 Fee per person, to help cover costs of rentals, fees and whatever, would you have a problem paying that, if you knew this would help keep the show alive for future years to come.??? If I were able to go, I'd gladly pay more than $15 for a good event.

David Stern sells Cibié here in the states, but they are still spendy. As you've guessed, these days I weight low beam performance higher than high beam, thus the Hellas. That said, I will admit to having Cibié in my 240Z right now, due simply to the more "period" look of the convex lens.

I've been running E-code H4 lights in all my vehicles since 1976. I've had personal experience with many brands in the 7" round size, including Hella, Bosch, Cibié, Marchal, Lucas, Wipac, Carello, AutoPal, Stanley and Neolite. Bar none, the overall best have been Hella, with Cibié a close second. The Cibié have a touch better range on high beam, but the Hellas have the absolute best low beam - broad, and free from shadows. The cheap (and ugly, IMO) MSR and faux-projector lamps you see on eBay are not in the same class as any of the real E-code lights listed above. Even the least expensive Neolites will control the light output better than the clear-lens cheapies. All that said - ANY H4 lamp, even the eBay jobs, are superior to any sealed beam.

Hinges were painted while attached to the body. But the large Phillips head screws that hold the hatch to the hinges were NOT painted - they were silver cad-plated. Perhaps I should say that this was true for my 7/71 build date car - can't say for certain on all of 'em.

I was ready to go last year, but then they didn't do the whole 9 yards. So I passed. This year - if they hold it in late April as is normal, I probably have a conflict again, just as I did in 2009, 2008, 2007...

Wrong. The stock size is/was (the now obsolete) 175SR14 or 175HR14 (depending on year). That is equivalent to 175/80-14 in today's sizing, not 175/60-14.

I did, several of them. But something has happened in the forum config and some of the attached pictures (including mine) aren't correctly linked to the thread right now. I've sent Mike a note about it.But in the meanwhile, I drove my car to work today, so I'll see if I can get away from my desk and go take a picture. Will post it back here shortly.

I can second Ron's recommendation - the boot I got from Bryan is great, and was virtually indistinguishable from the original - except the new one wasn't cracked, aged and falling apart.

I bought everything for my Type A 'box from Nissan, except the bearings. Those I bought from a local industrial bearing supply house for a lot less than Nissan. I've heard rumors of bad aftermarket synchro rings, which is why I bought those from Nissan.

Are you talking the outer (leather or vinyl) boot? Not the inner rubber seal? The original vinyl boot for the cars with the Type A 'box was made of quite thin vinyl, and was not a lace-up boot. The heavier later-style boots could interfere, I suppose. MSA does carry an original style repro. (Link) I can't speak for its quality, as I've not seen one in person. The one I have was made by a CZCC member, LBO730. See this thread for details: Early Shift Boots. I don't see how an original style in the correct material could interfere.

Definitely the hose to the smog pump. It's cut shorter that it was originally, so I'm betting the pump is long gone. It would have been mounted on the left side of the block, under the distributor. Where in Oregon do you live, Mitch? Have I seen your car around?

I'd consider Phoenix. Or most anywhere in Oregon, Washington or California. Also Vegas, Reno, Denver, Salt Lake or Boise. Any of those are "west enough". I could see doing that much. But 2500 or more one-way is a bit much. I'd be driving. No trailers for me. Flying is no good for me. No point if I can't bring my Z. Finding a West Coast club willing to devote the resources to this is obviously the issue. I try not to look at all the pictures. It always depresses me. It was not my intent to imply that there is any bias. The issue is and has been that the clubs on this side of the country aren't interested in doing it. I figure there are any number of reasons, but I can't speak for other clubs for certain. But I think part of the problem is that early Zs are too common out here, so lots of owners don't feel the need to join or participate in a club. Most of the clubs I've heard of simply don't have the devoted membership to pull this off. Perhaps. Although, MSA's bash was a virtual non-event in 2010, and I'm getting a little bored with the local shows. Not much driving involved, just a sit-n-git with the same cars, every year.<sigh>OK, I'm done complaining now. Here's hoping that this year's ZCON is well attended, fun and successful for all. As for me, I think I'll go re-paint a couple of Hot Wheels....