Arne

According to the charts on Zhome.com, pure white vinyl was only offered in 1972 in red, orange and blue cars. Red and orange cars could have had either black or white, blue cars all had white. In '73 there was an off-white in blue cars only.

You'd lose it here in Eugene, OR. Every Oregon Ducks fan here buys dark green cars. Dark green Camrys are a dime a dozen here.

You know, people always say that the vacuum advance mechanisms are mostly all shot by now, but all three distributors I have now (two single-point 240Z and one 280ZX w/E12-80) still have nicely working vacuum advance units. So maybe they are more durable than everyone assumes.

You'll need to have a good motor, and make sure he is staying with vintage 185/70-15 tires. Don't let him run modern staggered size rubber!

Let's make certain we are talking about the same thing. Because the vacuum line for the advance on the distributor was not routed to the balance tube, but to a small fitting on the front carb body. US spec 240Zs had two fittings on the balance tube for emissions gear. These parts have been removed on many (most) cars by now, and those fittings on the balance tube need to be plugged in that case. There are some who have removed their vacuum advance, typically those who have triple carbs and the like. But then they don't even have balance tubes, so I don't think that's what you have been seeing. I attached a picture of my car's engine, which is complete with all the emissions gear. I noted the vacuum advance hose with a green arrow. It's hard to see where it connects because it's hidden by the carb, but I pointed it out with an orange arrow. I also attached a more typical picture of my other car's engine. It's not as clear but does show the lack of smog gear and the plugged nipples on the balance tube. Hope this helps.

I seem to recall that knowledgeable Weber people regard the DFAV carbs from Pintos much the same as Datsun SU people regard US-Flat-tops. So I really doubt that there is much to be learned from something like this that would be all that helpful. Although I should think you could buy it cheap! But then again, as you know from earlier discussions on this, I'm definitely an SU fan...

The wires for the neutral/stop switch would only be present if the car were originally an automatic. Manual transmission cars only had the one pair of wires going down that side of the tunnel.

The backup light wires on both my cars (10/70 and 7/71) both come from the same spot that Bruce's picture shows. The backup light switch is the one on the right side of the transmission. The other one is probably a top-gear-indicator switch, which were commonly used in the late '70s for emission control. They would often vary the ignition advance depending on what gear you were in. You can safely ignore that in your case, I should think.

It's pretty seasonal here in Western Oregon. July through mid-October is almost totally rain-free. Right about now is as bad as it gets, rains 4-5 days a week. After the first of the year it'll break some, and there will be dry stretches.It's not bad enough for me to bother putting it up for the winter, it will get driven every couple of weeks anyway. And then next Summer... :laugh: :classic:

Like all economic issues, it boils down to supply and demand. With early Zs especially, they were fairly evenly distributed around the country when new. But in many parts of the US the ranks have been decimated by rust. So the supply of good and/or restorable cars in much of the country is rather small. Price goes up. Here in the West where we don't use road salt, the number of available cars is much greater, so the price goes down. The down side is that cars that people would happily buy to repair back East get crushed here because they have little value. That doesn't mean that there aren't expensive cars here on the left coast, but but since there are far more to pick from, it takes an exceptional car to be worth much. Some examples from Craigslist searches done today for 240Z cars for sale: Chicago, IL: 0 cars Pittsburgh, PA: 0 cars Richmond. VA: 0 cars Atlanta, GA: 1 car, $6000 Miami, FL: 0 cars Boston, MA: 0 cars Washington, DC: 1 car, $4000 Raleigh, NC: 1 car, $3300 Minneapolis, MN: 0 cars New York, NY: 0 cars Philadelphia, PA: 1 parts car, $225 Austin, TX: 1 car, $1250 Dallas, TX, 0 cars Houston, TX: 1 car, $1700 Denver, CO: 3 cars, $3750-11,000 So that's 8 complete cars East of the Rockies (plus 1 parts car), and 3 of those are in Denver. And now, from the West -- Seattle: 4 cars, $800-3500 Spokane, WA: 2 cars, $600-3400 Portland, OR: 3 cars, $2200-12,500 Salem, OR: 2 cars, $3000-8000 Eugene, OR: 2 cars, $1200-2500 Sacramento, CA: 3 cars, $2000-13,0000 San Francisco, CA: 11 cars, $1000-5700 Los Angeles, CA: 4 cars, $1500-7000 Orange Co., CA: 5 cars, $1500-7500 San Diego, CA: 1 car, $2300 Phoenix, AZ: 3 cars, $3500-12,000 Reno, NV: 1 car, $5000 That's 39 240Zs listed on Craigslist today that are West of the Rockies. Some of them are expensive. But many of the $2000-4000 cars don't look much different than the $6000 car in Atlanta. Supply and Demand.

In my experience, that may be sooner than you expect. I've used KYBs with lowering springs in the past - but only once. (Not a Datsun.) The KYBs were toast in about 6 months time. I don't know if it was because the lower ride height overworked them, or perhaps because they were damaged by bottoming out, or what. But I believe the warning they issue about not using them with lowering springs is valid.On the other hand, I'm sure that we'll hear from lots of satisfied KYB users with all manner of lowering springs. As for what springs to use - what is your primary goal? Better visual appearance, or better handling?

Once you get a Z that has no rust, you don't drive it in the rain.

True, that is a very thorough post. But it's not very applicable to those of us who are trying to keep our cars original. There's lots of options available if we are modifying the cars, but only one correct answer for keeping them original. FWIW, I have the ZX master on my yellow car, and even with stock brakes it works fine.

Konis are NOT gas charged. They are the only non-gas strut inserts still in production for these cars. KYB, Tokico, and Monroe only make gas-charged units these days. Bilsteins were gas-charged, but are apparently no longer made.

Update - I received my new early master cylinder last week, direct from Nissan. My dealer said that there were (at that time) 5 in the US (4 in LA and 1 in TN). Now only 4 or less left...

As a long time VW driver, I can confirm that is totally normal. The entire rear suspension on those VWs is a big sway bar. In auto-x it's not unusual to see 4-6" of air under the inside rear of a VW.No different than seeing a 911 skate through a corner with the inside front tire in the air...

This group has had its a__hole moments, but on the whole, it is the most knowledgeable, helpful and mature group of any of the auto-related web boards that I have been a part of.

Yes, I believe it will. Since the battery box, frame rails and rockers are all solid. Comments from people I chatted with back East make me think my yellow car might be worth as much as $4000 if it were back there. Here in the West it might bring $2500 if I'm lucky. I may just have to sell it on eBay when i do.

The key - as always with a Z - is rust. The NC car will need to be looked at by someone who knows where to look for Z rust.

It's not cheap even out here. It's a one owner car with all documentation, including window sticker. Only non-stock stuff are the wheels, carbs and front spoiler. (All original parts come with it, as well.) He's asking $10k for it.

Wrong blue car, Jim. This one is the one that is for sale: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=21389&cat=3321

Fat chance, guys. The red car is staying. I'll be selling the yellow car before too long, but it's going to need a bit of rust repair. Nothing like what you folks back East are used to seeing, but it's still going to need some work.

They're out there, Mally. See if you can make contact with a local Z club, too. There's been some nice ones recently here out West...

I know what you mean, Jerry. Before I was born, my Dad had things like MG-TDs (a pair of them). Growing up, I recall Fiats, Singers, more MGs and the like. I learned to drive in an MG 1100 (the original Mini's slightly larger brother). Besides several thorougly modern cars and my current 240Zs, I've had things like an MGB, a limited edition Chevy Vega with a twin cam head by Cosworth, and a graymarket BMW 323i. My brother caught it too, although maybe to a lesser extent, he has an MGB in the garage and a '63 Land Rover 88 (Series 2a) in the drive.

I suppose it depends on your climate. I've never had a WheelSkin for longer that 4 years (always sold the car first), but at that point they have still been fine.