george71z

As I posted last month, my first new car was a 72 Datsun 1200 coupe, purchased at Queens Datsun in Howard Beach, Queens, N.Y.C. in August of 1972. Total price out the door was $2,426.55. (I still have the invoice) 4 cyl., 1200 cc fastback coupe. This was and always will be, my baby. Had her for 14 yrs. as a daily driver. She let me down only once, when a set of aftermarket points broke, and I had to leave her on the side of the road till I could diagnose and fix the problem. I learned how to work on a car and not be afraid to get greasy and dirty. I still have my first set of J.C. Penney metric tools that my Mom bought me to work on the car with. All 3 of my sons came home from the hospital in her. I about cried the day I sold her, because I was moving to Fla. and she wouldn't make the trip. However, the buyer drove her away. Lord, how I miss that car.

Sad news indeed. I remember watching him race at Lime Rock years back, (early '70's) and absolutely killing the rest of the field. Took the att. pic of Paul buying tires at the Goodyear trailer, and then walked back to his pit with him, talking racing. Great guy. Will be sorely missed in his many endeavors.

Here's a pic of the '72 1200 coupe; my first new car. My old boss used to call it a 120-Z. Had this baby for 127K miles. 14 years of N.Y.C. commuting, snow, salt and tollbooths. They seem to still be available in Australia, and turned into drag cars in Puerto Rico with rotaries in them. (the white one w/the 1200 stripes was mine)

Anybody else on here getting hit with this storm? I'm in Melbourne, south of the Space Center, and we have been hammered. We set a new rainfall record by tripling the old one! I can't even think about moving the Z out of the garage, since the water in the street would be over the roof. I might not be able to drive her for a month! It may take that long for the water to recede. Well, at least I have a day off. (at my expense) If you're in the E. Central Fla. area, stay dry!

I have had a number of people at car shows tell me stories about either them or some relative that had a Z but it rusted away or was into a pole or guardrail. I have also had people that have later models, that they like my car cause they can see the sparkplugs.

A man walks into the street and manages to get a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, 'Perfect timing. You're just like Frank.' Passenger: 'Who?' Cabbie: 'Frank Feldman. He's a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like that to Frank Feldman every single time.' Passenger: 'There are always a few clouds over everybody..' Cabbie: 'Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy.' Passenger: 'Sounds like he was something really special.' Cabbie: 'There's more... He had a memory like a computer. Could remember everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman, he could do everything right.' Passenger. 'Wow, some guy then.' Cabbie: 'He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But Frank, he never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back even if she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too - he was the perfect man! He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank Feldman.' Passenger: 'An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?' Cabbie: 'Well, I never actually met Frank. I just married his widow.

Only a Aussie man can make you feel like a woman ...... A plane passed through a severe storm. The turbulence was awful, and Things went from bad to worse when one wing was struck by lightning. One woman lost it completely. She stood up in the front of the plane and screamed, 'I'm too young to die,' she cried. Then she yelled, 'If I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on earth to be memorable! Is there anyone on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN?' For a moment, there was silence. Everyone stared at the desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then the man from Australia stood up in the rear of the plane. He was handsome, tall, well built, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Slowly, he started to walk up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt as he went, one button at a time. No one moved. He removed his shirt. Muscles rippled across his chest. She gasped... Then, he spoke... 'Iron this -- and then get me a beer.'

I caught this little thug in my garage trying to steal my Z ! (j/k) It's really my 6 mo. old grandson. I told my wife, 'It's an honor to be in that seat. The only time someone else has been in the drivers seat is when they help me bleed the hydraulics.'

The travel on my slave rod is about 3/4". Not sure if this is sufficient to push the fingers on the pressure plate far enough. I think I'm going to get a new clutch kit and start from scratch.

My 71 is experiencing strange things with the clutch/tranny. Everything was OK a few years back when I replaced the tranny due to popping out of second on deceleration. All was well till a few months ago when it started grinding going into reverse. Thought it was the slave cylinder, which did have a leak, so I replaced that. Problem went away for a short time, so I kept adjusting the slave rod to cure it. Figured that I didn't have enough travel on the fork. Still no joy, so I got a new master cylinder. Again, OK for a short time. It gets worse the longer the car sits idle. Could the fingers on my pressure plate be going bad? Just yesterday, I couldn't even get it into first without a whole lot of trouble. It also has lost that silky feel it used to have. When it does work, it is hard to shift and there is almost no takeup on the clutch pedal. Starts moving as soon as the pedal begins to come up. Any ideas?

Be thankful you don't have Webers. They need to be adjusted for both up and down.

Gus, I think I have what you need. Check the pics and let me know if it looks OK. If it is, I will send it down to you. Just email me your street address.

I just use a flat piece of .090 aluminum that I got at work. The Webers have a threaded hole in the bottom that I put a threaded stud in and just mount the plate between two nuts. No vibration and real easy to get off to clean or polish.

Not sure if this is right for this forum, but is Nissan bringing back the old colors? I saw a 350Z the other day that I could swear was 918 orange. While that color looked OK on an S30, it seemed totally out of place on the 350.

Whether Democrat or Republican, I think you'll get a kick out of this! A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?' Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I am the head of the family, so call me The President. Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government. We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People. The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we will call him the Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense..' So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him . He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed .. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now. ' The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.' The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep $^!#'

All, thanks for sharing the photos and narratives of the weekend. Sounded like a really great time. It's nice to see our marque being represented at such a prestigious venue.

My buddy bought a '77 280 that came with Libre wheels on it. He didn't like them, so he bought new 17" wheels and tires. I bought the Libre's from him (that also had new tires on them) and had them cleaned up and put them on my '71. They replaced the 4-spoke '78 mags I've had on it since '93. Now I'm period-correct.

From my experience, if fluid is leaking out of the reverse switch, the tranny is over-filled. Oil should be about 1/4" below the fill plug hole, which is about even with the reverse switch. I have even heard of some who fill the tranny thru the reverse switch when they can't break the plug free. In the meantime, maybe try some teflon tape (plumbers stuff) or maybe an O-ring on the switch.

It worked!!! I must have been surfing that site for an hour after I looked at the 'toon you sent. Thanks.

Just gotta share this: I'm now a grandpa! My youngest son (23) became a father today of a beautiful baby boy. Mom and baby are fine and he is a charmer. Can't wait to have him help me with the Z.

Maybe he meant it has a 6-cyl 'radial' engine like an old airplane.

I had my 71 done by a local media blast guy back in '92. My paint still looked like new after 15 yrs. I just had her repainted last year to freshen it up and get rid of arse't. rock chips, scrapes and wear and tear. I am however, still getting some of the media falling out of the C-pillar area onto the rear shock tower. If you are near the C. Fla. area, his business is Master Blaster in Orlando. He does plastic media blasting. No web site; sorry.

It's do-able. When I had mine done, the body guy cut the spot welds holding the tray in, and sorta 'skeletonized' what was left. It still had enough meat to hold the battery. He also had to patch a large hole in the firewall under the tray where the PO may have tried to put A/C lines thru. My tray is now held in with sheet metal screws and has held up for the last 16 yrs. Get one of those battery mats that absorb the acid mist and vapors or spills from the battery. It will help along the way.