Arne

I find this to be VERY interesting! I wonder what the story behind these is?

Yeah, that looks like a tooth off to me, Steve. Could tell for certain if you had a picture of the end of the dizzy drive shaft (dizzy removed), but lacking that, I'd say you know what is needed. I think the reason that this is such a common problem is that the manuals all tell you to line up the index mark as you install the dizzy drive shaft, but they fail to warn you that because the drive gears are helical cut, as the shaft is inserted it spins a bit. I found you need to look at the direction the shaft moves when you insert it, and then back off the index mark one tooth before inserting it.

I've had three different Type A 4 speeds in my cars, and all three have a bit of gear whine in the lower three gears, even after all new bearings. I'd call that fairly normal. It should quiet down a lot in 4th gear.

That's why I still have a spare. They have little value - unless someone like myself happens to be in need. And even then, no one wants to pay to ship one halfway across the country. I figured mine was worth more to me as a spare than it would be worth to ship it somewhere.

That's what I did. I already had a known good spare Type A, so I put it in the car while I rebuilt the original. The original has been back in the car for a couple of years now, and the spare is back in storage again. Allowed me to not be in a hurry to try to get it done so I could drive it. Because I get really antsy when I can't drive my car.

Yes, they certainly are. I agree with both statements, but add the thought that for normal use, he Type A is probably strong enough for a stock L24-powered 240Z. An occasional auto-x or track day isn't going to kill it in short order, although the effects are probably cumulative. Yes and no.It is a simple but fussy job if you have a very clean work environment, a FSM that covers the disassembly/reassembly process, and access to the various pullers and presses you will need. I don't find rebuilding a transmission all that difficult or scary. But many experienced mechanics shy away from them. But even though it is a simple process, there are still plenty of things that can go wrong. I ended up having mine apart twice, due to me not replacing the woodruff keys that locate the drive gear on the countershaft. But once past that, the past two years have been trouble free, and the transmission is still as quiet as any Type A 'box. (That is to say, not all that quiet other than in top gear.)

A Type A 4 speed is easily rebuildable. I've done it to the original in my car, rather than swap to either the spare Type A I have in storage, or a later Type B. Using a Type B in your car will require a modified Type B shift lever, or enlarging the hole in the tunnel, your choice. Side note - while lots of people complain about the feel of the Type A linkage, None of the three I've had felt bad at all.

I fixed Bruce's typo.

I know that some of the usual suspects from NorthWest Z will be attending the Rose Cup Races in Portland instead of Canby. I will be at Canby on Sunday, however.

Several ways to do that. One of the most common is to use a Dremel tool (or similar) to cut a slot in the head and use a screw driver on them. Others have used a hammer and punch, while yet other people will use a drill and drill the heads off.

Dunno. It's the same logic that required the shift pattern to be visible from the driver's seat, and banned glass-covered headlights and non-sealed beam lights. :stupid:

Starting in '77 or '78, the US DOT mandated that henceforth wiper blades and arms must be black in color, and have a flat or matte finish. That was why Nissan changed them.

This is my guess as well.

I'm running Toyo Eclipse 195/70-14 on my car. Not really a "performance" tire at all, but I was looking for something in a stock-height tire that did NOT have a space-age tread design. Eclipses can be difficult to find in many parts of the USA, though. Fairly easy to come by in the Pacific NW and Canada.

I know that one of my cars had those more shapely supports, but I checked and the ones on the red car are straight. So the ones as pictured must have been on my yellow car, which was Series 1 (10/70).

I suspect those are steel, not aluminum. Should still work OK though.

It's probably worth mentioning now that the new repro JDM lights sold by esprist and MSA include JDM tail light harnesses as well. These harnesses will allow the change without snipping wires, but the JDM harnesses will not connect to the USA-spec body harness, so so a bunch of jumper wires will be necessary. If anyone gets a set of these and needs help with getting them wired, post here or send me a PM and I'll walk you through it.

Ron, I don't think that there is a picture of the fiberglass valance on CDM's website, the picture they use looks factory steel parts to me. But I know they make it, so hopefully Steve will post a picture when he gets his.

Had that part been available when I bought my spook from Les, I'd probably have bought one just so I didn't have to drill holes in my original valance parts.

Yup. Totally different plate is needed.

You mean the stock valance parts? If so, and if I were in need for a non-concours car, I'd look into the fiberglass replacement valance (one-piece) from Classic Datsun.

I don't get up to PDX-area all that often, and I'm a bit farther away than ZT to boot. If the car were down here, I'd be happy to help.

Yup. I'm running the 195/70-14s on my 240Z.

I use the blue Nissan filters because they look right. Fram filters are butt-ugly. The Nissan filters don't cost any more, and are actually cheaper than many others.

All 280Zs came original with 195/70-14