BadDog

My '73's original radiator sprung a leak, so I am replacing it with an MSA aluminum 3-core unit and am taking the opportunity to replace almost everything else in the cooling system (water pump, fan clutch, thermostat, hoses). Before I removed the fan and water pump, I test-fit the new radiator. Not much clearance: I could barely get my index finger between the center of the fan and the new rad. The blades themselves had a little more room though. I called MSA about the narrow clearance, and they wondered if there was a spacer there from dealer-installed AC (the AC system was removed by the PO many years ago). I saw nothing that I would describe as a spacer until I removed the water pump pulley. There was a narrow aluminum spacer/shim inside the puller cover. I haven't measured it yet, but I'd say it wasn't much more than 1/8" thick. Is that spacer leftover from the original A/C, or is it always supposed to be there?

Congrats, man. Keep it original for as long as you can stand then do something about it (see my gallery). Enjoy it first and foremost. I highly recommend Tokico suspension pieces/parts though, that's what I did to mine after the "refreshing" ...

I've run 215/60/14 on my 7" wide wheels, no problems. Firestone firehawks (nla) and now BFG Radial T/A. Yes, I feel I must have raised white letter tires: -)

I tried putting in the MSA kit and ended up sending it back. There were just too many compromises - all those "adapters", huge bolts sticking out all over the place, can't use the carpets I just bought 2 years ago, and the retractor didn't work that well because the belt was always twisted no matter how I mounted it or turned it around. The dealbreaker was when I finally got one in and sat down and buckled up: the position of the buckled belt was just all wrong. The receiver piece was so long that when I got the belt nice and snug, where it buckled together was only about two inches below my solar plexus. A seatbelt should go straight across from hip to hip. If my kid was wearing one of these and I had to slam on the brakes, she probably would've slid out from underneath it. I sent them back. I'd rather pay to have new webbing in my original seatbelts with the non-retractable shoulder belt...

I remember using silicone spray, and something thin and plastic to help lift the rubber lip over the edge of the chrome. Wear gloves, I think I sliced a finger or two on that job.... that trim is sharp!

How's that front bumper overrider look? If you need a better one, I have a pristine one that I bought that was NOS. I never used it, and have no plans to. Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, I was just admiring the photos and story

Can someone post detailed pictures of the MSA seat belts installed in a similar fashion for what I need to do in my '73? The directions are unclear as to what bolts go where, where and how to use the nylon spacer, the orientation of the "L bracket".... and I am not liking what I am finding as I try to figure out the proper orientation for the shoulder mount point - what appears to be the proper orientation (judging from the pictures on the MSA web site) results in the belt being slightly twisted and not pulling out and retracting easily. Right now its Sunday night, and I want to decide in the next 24 hours if I'm sending these things back or not... Thanks!

I put side pipes on my 1st Z (20 years ago). I bought them from Summit Racing. I used a 3 into 2 header from Motorsport, and had a good muffler shop bend custom pipes to hook 'em up. My car was black, debadged (not intentionally), had true wire wheels, tinted glass and louvers on the sides and back. I didn't have fender flares like that red car in the link above. I don't think mine were all that flashy... I loved the way they looked and sounded. I was constantly asked if my car was a Ferrari (yeah right!) or a Stingray - and this was only about 12 years after the S30 body style "ended" in the U.S. Anyway, the bad: Burned calves, they scraped on certain on/off-ramps (but my suspension was stock, and probably worn out!) and they probably had no performance gain over any other system. In the end, it's your car. Your call :-)

It sounds like somebody else already tried to treat the floor pans. My car had old, brittle factory sound deadening (asphalt sheet, basically) that I had to chip away before I could remove what was underneath- primer! The lack of protection is the leading cause of Z rusty floors... anyway, wire wheels have their uses (i.e tight spots) but they can be a pain to work with, and dangerous (little pieces of the wire flying off as light speed). Go to an autobody supply store and ask about Norton Speed-Lok discs. They are little "sanding" discs (not sandpaper, similar to scotch-brite) that attach to a hand drill via their proprietary chuck/backing plate. 80-grit discs will work for paint and rust removal. You won't need a whole box, so see if they'll sell them to you piece-meal. I used them not only on my floorboards, but when I was prepping my car for the paint job I gave it, removing paint and primer in the door jambs and other areas that I couldn't hit with my big sander/polisher. Do NOT use the speed-loks with anything faster than a had drill. No angle grinder! It will melt them . They last for quite a good size area, too. You can probably do around a square foot or so with a single disc depending on what you are stripping. I tried POR-15r and Metal Prep a long time ago, and then I tried Zero Rust and Picklex 20. They are far easier to work with and give better results IMHO. Picklex 20 is a terrific single-product rust disolver, metal prep, and anti-rust coating all in one. It is a little expensive, but worth it. You could use a single bottle for your floor pans, but I ended up buying that and a whole gallon ($100 +) when doing my car. The awesome thing was that I could leave stripped sheet metal un-primed for MONTHS and there was no flash rust. All I had to do before priming it was scuff it. It is incompatible with epoxy primers, so be aware of that fact. I used it on the whole car because I had to strip things one at a time over a period of about a year. It works really well to convert rust, and when you wipe away the excess after a few minutes of letting it work, it leaves behind a zinc coating on the bare metal - hence no flash rust :-) Anyway, I don't want to sound like a shill so I'll stop here. Good luck to you though, and I hope you don't wind up with any gaping holes in your floor pan like I did :-) -Ken

Do yourself a favor and look into Zero Rust before you commit to POR15. I know the Z illuminati all love POR, but Zero Rust has some advantages. Anyway, if you have a really limited budget for sound deadening, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and get some mobile home roof patching material that it cheap and works pretty well. It is the same principal of asphalt sandwiched between aluminum . Keep to horizontal surfaces only though if you live in a hot climate as it may slide down over time if its really hot.

Hi Mike, and welcome to the best source of Z car info and camraderie on the net. I'm not far down the road from you, in Oswego. I'm a member of the Syracuse-based Z Association of CNY club (www.zacny.org), and a few other members live up this way as well. One of our club members is a Z tech guru, a former racer who lives in Phoenix, NY. So your first was a '73 and you got a '78, huh? My first was a '78 (used, when I was 18) and now I have a '73! Drop me a line via PM if you like, and I can get you some info on our club. Our first meeting of the year is going to be a dinner on Tuesday, Feb 9th. I can't make it though...

My Cobras have vanes that go all the way to the (plastic) center cap: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=25201 I don't know if they were marketed specifically for the Z, but their offset is correct and use no adapters...

Darn it, I was really hoping to see my wheels in one of these PDFs. I know they're Shelby Cobra's, but would also like to know more info - to have some documentation/sales literature would be terrific! Oh well. The only lead I have is that they were originally purchased in the late 70s or early 80s. They were never used by purchaser, never even had tires mounted on them until I bought them on E-bay just after getting my 240....

Now that *would* be sweet... a nice high-revving engine that a Z deserves

Good to hear about the 02. Let's see a picture! :-) Have you looked into CNG for the Z? mmmm.... CNG-powered BMW motor in a Z.... *drool*.....

Yellow 16 Tooth 3.364.1 Black, 17 Tooth 3.545.1 Blue 18 Tooth 3.70:1 White 19 Tooth 3.90:1 Red 20 Tooth 4.11:1 Purple 21 Tooth 4.38:1 Ring Gear ID #s: 3.36...............37:11 3.54...............39:11 3.70...............37:10 3.90...............39:10 4.11...............37:9 4.38...............35.8 Courtesy Nissan found two possible matches for me for my 4.11 and I ordered both, I don't remember which part# turned out to be the correct one. I *do* remember them telling me it was the last 4.11 cog of that type in the U.S. at the time though... See also: http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/1/462257 http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29705 http://www.geocities.com/inlinestroker/ratio.html

Great news! Keep us posted :-)

Pretty freakin' sweet. Keep us updated, don't keep it to only HybridZ. There are plenty of people here who have an appreciation for what you're doing, even if its not what we're personally planning :-)

Update: my buddy Nick bent the ZX shifter for me, and I put it in last night. There's about a half-inch of shifter lever showing above the top of the boot, quite a bit lower than the 4-speed lever. Cleared console in 1-5 and reverse. Made note to self that 1,3,5 are about where neutral used to be (fore and aft-wise), and 2,4,R are so far down and back that I won't be able to use my ash tray as my coffee travel mug holder anymore The 4-speed lever now has definite marks fore *and* aft where I can notch it if I choose to do so in the future. Got to drive it with this configuration to work today. I like it, but it may be a bit too low for me. The reach from the steering wheel to the shift knob will take some getting used to, but its better than the 4-speed without the cup bushing in terms of positive shift feel, noise, and vibration. I'm still going to keep an eye out for a '78 5-speed lever, but if I don't find one, I'll be AOK Oh, and for anyone else considering using a 4.11 R180 differential (got mine from Datsun 720 4X4 front end) with the 81-83 ZX 5-speed, I *highly recommend it*. My car feels so much quicker now its not even funny. I am not detecting any whine from the truck diff, and judging by my initial refuels, I'm getting from 26-28 mpg average now, whereas I got around 21-22 with the stock 4-speed and differential.

<-- definitely not a carpenter

Mine ('73) are black as well. If I remember correctly, they are completely black, and not painted chrome/whatever. Every time I've taken that panel off (3 non-fitting full-face dash covers, 1 fitting half-dash cover, and before and after my repainting) I've thought to myself "I better not loose one of these down the air ducts into the fan etc., because I bet I'll never find a correct replacement."

I've got some feelers out for the '78 5-speed shifter, and may have one or two located. I should know in a day or two. In the mean time, I'm going to get that ZX shift lever bent and try it out. If it doesn't end up being way too low I may use it until I can get a '78 lever. I'll let you guys know how it turns out, thanks for all your help

7277, if i was after a short throw, that does sound like the way to go. But I don't mind the throw actually, it kind of goes with the character of my car, what with the big stock fake-wood steering wheel and all sblake01, so the shifter you're talking about would be for 1/78 up til when? '79 ZX? That would give me an S-bend similar to the 4 speed shifter (to clear the console) but not be as long below the pivot point? I think Darrel has a picture of that in his gallery here I think that would work if I could find one. Do you want to sell that one Darrel?

I guess that's what I'll try then: see if I can find a mark left on the aft side of the shifter rod made by it hitting the shift rod cutout. Since (when the nylon cup is on) the problem is only there for 2,4,R then that's where a notch/cutout will need to go. It sounds like that's the 1st thing to try, then next being the bent ZX lever, and if I don't like how short it is, make a new shift lever by welding the top of the 4-speed to the pivot and base of the ZX lever. Or more accurately, have a friend of mine do that ;-) Thanks for the info, Darrel

I should've mentioned that drilling the ears isn't an option for me: the tranny is in, and its not coming out again for as long as I can keep it that way I looked through your gallery in my research leading up to this point, its been helpful! When you say "You can either make a couple of relief cuts on the 4 spd shifter to allow it to clear the shift rod cut out", what do you mean by the "rod cut out"? Are you talking about making relief cuts fore and aft? How deep?