EricB

Chloe is who now? I tried McMasterCarr and couldn't find anything even remotely related... Maybe Grainger's?? Otherwise I'll start looking through the junkyards for one in decent condition and the mold it out of RTV and make a couple new ones... or something... -e

Hi all, Has anyone found a source for replacements of the firewall rubber grommet for the engine wiring harness?... the large round/oval shaped one in the passenger footwell... According to Nissan/MSA it is only available if you purchase a new engine harness... -e

omg!!! are you serious!!! look at that crossmember and steering rack... WOW it looks SOOOO nice.... beautiful work there.... wow... speechless... -e

For what it's worth, Dave Slidesquad (flat black Z in my gallery, sennavsprost handle on this site) and I will be staying at a hotel in Pacific Grove on Friday and Saturday - maybe we can all meet up outside of LSIR too? Like dinner or something Sat night? -e

Hey all, Obviously it would have been a lot easier to fit this cast oil pan to the block when it was OUT of the car... Unfortunately that's not the situation I'm in... I've got the old steel plan removed (I couldn't get the damn thing to seal anymore no matter what gasket I used - probably warped from old age?..) Anyways even with moving the steering rack forward and sort of out of the way I can't get that pan in there... Obviously tranny is on the engine, etc... So I need to lift up the engine in order to have more room... But without anything to attach my chain too I'm wondering if I can't jack up the motor the inch or two I need to get the clearance required to fit this pan... Do you all think the bellhousing is sturdy enough with the engine attached to it to lift it from there once the two side engine mounts are removed??? I've seen some people run a chain around the camshaft but that's just plain scary.... Hoping I don't have to pull the engine out of the car to swap an oil pan... <groan>.... & Besides once it IS on there it looks like it will be real close to the steering rack - has anyone else had any issues with it? -e

I was there last year and thought it was awesome - already sent my $$ into Ron... And yes with Ferrari being the featured marque you can be sure that all the freaks are going to come out of the wood work and parking will be a nightmare... Having that reserved corral is going to be KEY - much better than parking out in the sticks in some field........... ESPECIALLY if your Z is lowered... -e

Aaaahhh...... Yes, of course. Thanks! Ok how about this as a possibly related question... The banjo bolts that ship with the Mikunis are of a "T" design, so fuel comes in from the FPR to the first carb, fills that float bowl, then goes on to the second carb, and then the third and then back to the tank... If I wanted to be sure I had 4psi of fuel at all three carbs shouldn't I then have all 3 carb fuel lines coming straight from the regulator (in parallel) instead of having them routed from the regulator to the first carb then to the second then to the third (in series). Or is there no pressure drop when they're in series? -e

Hi All, On our stock SUs after the carbs have been fed there's a hard fuel return line back to the tank. On the Z I have a fuel pressure regulator set before my triple Mikunis and then the fuel line routes back to the stock fuel return. My vintage SCCA '73 Civic racecar (ongoing restoration project) has dual Dell'Ortos but the fuel line ends after the second carb - it does not return back to the tank. Why do some have return lines and others don't? What would be the harm in having my Z's fuel line end at the last Mikuni rather than return to the tank? I don't see how the return line affects (if at all) the performance of the carbs.... Can someone enlighten me? Thanks, -e

Ok gotcha... That makes sense... I just needed someone who knew to put in down on paper... Thanks, -e

Hi all, I've always wanted to ask but never got around to it... What is the theory behind carb linkage adjustment? By that I mean to ask: on a set of triples (doesn't matter size or brand), you've got the main throttle shaft that runs the length of your manifold to which are attached three arms (on my mikuni manifold these are cast & fitted with three different threaded positions) to which are attached three adjustable length rods that connect up to each carb... Ok so... adjusting them so that they are all at the same length and thus the carbs open at the same time and the same amount is one thing - fine no problem there.... What I'm wondering about is for example the three cast arms I mention above attached to the main throttle shaft on my mikuni manifold, well they have three threaded holes I can use... which one should I use & why? Depending on which one I end up using I then have to either lengthen or shorten the corresponding adjustable length rods... Do you all see what I'm asking about? Maybe a sketch is needed here... Lemme see... I looked through the gallery and grabbed a pic of someone's triple mikunis... what I am calling the "cast arm" above I labelled A in the picture, what I am calling the "adjustable length rods" I labelled B in the picture... So what's the advantage of shortening the one and lengthening the other or vice versa... I am guessing it affects how much travel you get at the gas pedal but can't figure out which combination gives what result.... Thanks all, -e

Hi all, Morning! Just went through the pics of last weekend's meet down at Nissan HQ which I unfortunately was not able to attend - bummer... I was all signed up and had a place reserved for me and everything.... sucks.... I never realized how much work it would be to swap out my old (Warped?) stock oil pan for a cast Aluminum one - that's why I didn't make it... How tight is the fit between the bottom front part of the pan and the steering rack when it's all in place? It looks like it is going to be pretty close.... I wish I could have seen that LY cylinder head - oh well, maybe next year, right?.... Anyways, here's the reason for the post: So I'm just about done with the break-in of my new '81 F54 in which I put new rings/bearings in and my new early E88 already fitted with the bigger N42 valves on IN&EX... For the time being no aftermarket cam but that's bound to change... Currently using an L24 one, the one that came with the the E88. Carbs are 3 new Mikuni 44 PHH & I haven't messed with them, they are as they came out of the box... Has anyone found that they work better with different size primary/secondary jets? (sh*t, I left my notes with my stock jet sizes at home, sorry) I am almost figuring that I ought to drag myself up to San Jose for a visit with Rebello for some set-up/tuning advice... Or maybe try to find a Los Angeles dyno tuner conversant with Lseries and Mikuni carbs... Don't get me wrong, it runs well enough I just wonder if it could be further optimized... How do you feel about where timing ought to be? 7deg like stock on L24 or more like 10~15? Or should I not even worry about this until I get the cam... -e

Yeah good point on removing the whole mechanism and cleaning and re-greasing it... with the door closed and locked, from the inside I find there's a lot of slop in the door lock pin (better name for it?) that sticks out of the top of the door panel... ok cool - thanks all. I'll do my best, then again I saw that the escutcheon is $2 and change from midwest Z so if I DO break it, then it's ok.... thanks again, -e

When you pull the door panels off to among other things fix broken outside door handles, you have to remove the small black plastic trim piece inside of the interior door handle to get at the screw behind it which is the last thing holding the door panel on after you've removed the armrest and passenger pull strap... I think the Haynes manual calls this the "escutcheon"... I can imagine it's held in by a clip on one side or something like that so if I randomly pry at it I can easily see it breaking... The only insight in removing it the Haynes manual offers is to "remove the escutcheon"... ok great, but how? Can someone offer a tip or hint as to which side to attack it by? Thanks, -e

Hi all, Do you recommend a source for refurbished/remanufactured axles? I am looking for a pair for an 86-8 automatic 200SX That's the R180 rear end with circlips The only car I found at the junkyard locally had wheel locks (on stock wheels!) and the axles didn't look so hot... so i thought I am putting in a new R180 with just rebuilt Nismo LSD in the back of my '73 240Z so why not spend the extra $$ and put in "new" axles at the same time... So does anyone recommend any shop? mailorder? courtesy nissan??? etc... Thanks, -e

Keith, Steve, When at the junkyard next time, can I just the half-shaft end with the circlips from the list of cars you two gave me, or should I swap over the complete half-shafts over onto my Z? Thanks, -e

hey all I have an R180 Nismo LSD that requires the use of half-shafts with circlips, not the older bolt-through design... any hints on where I could find those? from what vehicle? thanks, -e

Hi all, First off, it's running again! Woohoo.... (Thank you to VictorL for the use of the cherry picker all this time!!) it's been a long time since I got to drive the Z and last night was its maiden voyage with the rebuilt F54 L28... yum! So while I was down there I swapped out the old beat up stock rubber clutch hose for an MSA stainless steel one. Right off the bat I noticed the threaded portion that screws into the slave cylinder is almost twice as long as the OEM rubber hose. So rather than just screwing it in as far as it would go and leaving a bunch of the threads exposed I measured and got the right number of washers to fill that gap. I wonder though now if that was the right thing to do... I've bled the clutch at least three separate times and the shifting still isn't what it used to be, which leads me to believe there's still air in the clutch line? Then again, in the past with the rubber hose I've never had to bleed it this many times in order to get it to work properly. Is the washer idea a bad one? Does another vendor make a SS clutch line that is more of an exact direct replacement to our OEM unit than the MSA one is? Thanks all, -e PS: BTW it's a '73 240z with '78 5spd tranny.

Thanks Alan Your torque values in your Dec 77 manual are the same I have. Is there any reason to believe that they might have changed any of them on the ZX based L28's from I guess what 1980 onwards? that is as opposed to the 280Z L28.... -e

I should also add this is in reference to an 81 non-turbo flat top piston ZX shortblock. -e

Hi all, I have service manuals for my '73 240z. But am rebuilding my '81 F54 L28 shortblock & don't have manual for the ZX from which it came from. Are torque values different from the L24 for F54 L28 rod bolts? main bearing caps? flywheel? cylinder head bolts? And if they are different, what are they please. Thanks! -e

Hi all, Ok so I've got a newer Nismo LSD for an R180 rear end. I say newer because it's intended for a circlip-type halfshaft, not the bolt-through half-shafts which are standard on my 240. So which car should I source the proper shafts from? Thanks, -e

Ok so you've seen the old movie "Grand Prix" or are otherwise a vintage Formula1 fan... then you know about the old banking that used to be a part of the Monza race track near Milan, Italy - right? Well there's these two wealthy Milanese businessmen that have been trying to convince the Mayor that the banking should not be torn down but instead preserved maybe even resurrected... So they put this petition online, and I've seen it referred to in such magazines as Octane, ClassicCars, Motorsport, etc... If you want to add your name to the list: www.monzasopraelevata.it Supposing you don't read Italian, you'll want to click on "La Petizione" in the left column, and then fill in the form: Nome is last name Cognome is first name Citta is city The email box is optional. Click on the "sottoscrivo" button to sign the petition. -e

I know... CoupeCHuck makes it sound so easy... just buy some instructional videos, a couple grand in welding equipment and an English wheel and start learning the craft.... sick! Last summer at the Monterey Historics one particularly rich owner showed up with a 250 GTO and a white ex-Ford of France Daytona Coupe... He had them parked side by side while his mechanic worked on them... I just about pulled up a chair and sat there all day....