zgeezer

Karman Ghias have held value quite well. I traded a cherry red '55 Pontiac hard top convertible with 3 speed, tuck and roll red/black and a smoky engine for a 56 oval window VW with a burnt exhaust valve. Drove that VW from Carson City Nevada down 395 over Conway and Dead Man summits..... slow, slow, slow. Picked up a Hot Rod magazine in Bridgeport and read it twice by the time I hit Lancaster. Found a German VW/Porsche shop in Paramount: bought a two piece case Porsche engine from him... learned that I had a "Poor Shaw" and a bolt in for the 36 hp VW, beat that around Long Beach for 5 years while going to school, traded it for a mint KG (one without the swing axles). Drove the '56 from Long Beach through the Territory of Quintana Roo in the Republic of Mexico looking for out of the way Mayan ruins in the Peten. Way before the Mexican government built out Cancun and Isla de Mujeres as tourist attractions. Slid off the side of a mountain track, bent a front spindle, and walked four hours back to a small village. Two kids with crescent wrenches, hammers, pliers and a screwdriver walked back with me. Picked the front up off the ground and walked it back around, took off the spindle, left the VW in place and carried the spindle back to a "taller" for repairs. This "taller" was a VW repairman.... I know this because under a tin roof he had a hand operated forge, several home made steel plates, with threaded holes and uprights with cutouts, and hanging in the back a small rusty sign that one could still make out the blue and white VW Service sign. He laid my bent spindle down on one of those steel plates ( they were actually home made jigs) and determined that all I needed was to bend the spindle back into specs. This he did with a light ball peen hammer, that forge, and his jigs. I was back on the road in one day. Drove that VW back to Long Beach and traded it for the KG to a guy who beat the hell out of it for another two years before he rolled it and then converted it to a dune buggy. For all I know, it's still running around...... some where. In 1969, I bought my first 510 and I've had a Datsun or Mazda in the garage ever since. G

You have my sympathies. Fused backs and wrists do crimp one's style. Our office represents injured workers in worker's compensation claims in California and, I assure you, we have seen individuals without a right hand drive a floor shift. I don't know the real nature of your injury, but here are some solutions we've seen for carpal tunnel injuries with surgery: 1. If your wrist is fused, but your fingers can still function and you can make a weak fist, consider a "brody knob" on the steering wheel and large round knob on the shift lever... think something the size of a billiard ball. In fact, I saw this as a red and black "8" ball on a client's car. There are veterans without both legs and with only one natural hand and a partial limb with prothesis that are driving and, I might add, enjoying life. 2. An automatic transmission solves many problems and for 1/4 mile runs is actually a better choice than the 6 speed. 3. If you are a solitary wrencher (not to be confused with a solitary wencher... which does sound like more fun), you may not have the fine motor control to start a nut that you can not see. But, you might begin working with others .... this hobby does offer a lot to a social wrenchers. If you can't do it, someone else can help. Has your surgeon recommended physical therapy? If he/she hasn't, you should inquire. It is often painful to start, but it will pay you dividends in a very short time. For what it is worth, I lurked for about a year on the old site before I signed up. I've had my Z for more than 11 years and I've never driven it. Started with a SBC, pulled that out and in went the LT1 Gen II, pulled that out and in went the current LM7. Next year, I'll show it at the Dr. George show in Indian Wells.... even if I have to drag it out there and some one will have to guide me by the hand over there. G

Sure, try Fastenol, I think that is the correct name. They have stores and a good website. I bought 2 at about 3 bucks each bolt. They work great for your application. G

Michigan, you say... I'll bet you carried blankets in the front to keep the feet warm during winter: no insulation up front, and a heater tube running the length of that bus from the back to the front. Most useful vehicle I ever owned. G

WOW!!! Now I like that, takes me back to those foggy foggy days in Berzerkley, If I can remember right,(and I don't remember much) mine was the same painter, but on a Volkswagen bus. The bus ran a 356SC 3 piece case Porsche with, I think, a pair of Solex downdrafts (stock for the model/year) with a Burch bundle of snakes exhaust. Yeah the pedestrians could hear me a block away, but it was too late by the time they tied in that greeeeaaat sound with that bus. After I burned up that engine off 99 in Chowchilla (great place to break down in 1967 with that bus, that furren engine, and long hair) my next act of barbarism was to buy a Lotus version of the Ford Cortina. All white, great sound, and it too, as they say, "went up in smoke"... well hell, we all did. Those two rides sounded so great I graduated from AM radio and Hank Williams to FM radio Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane and some other female screamer with a mike in one hand and Southern Comfort in the other, backed up by Big Brother and the Holding Company. About this time I found religion laying nude in a dark room and listening to Judy Collins' "Amazing Grace" on the head phones. I levitated about 15 feet horizontally from the floor, rotated about 360 degrees, and came down a changed man and went straight into being, well.... straight! The neat thing about experiencing epiphanies is one can then reward yourself. Having discovered the true meaning of life, I then acquired, used, and abused with great gusto The Harlot: a Red, really Red as only the Italians can do, 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe . Ohhhhhhhhh, a five speed, four wheel disk power disk brakes, DOHC 1300 cc engine and a redline somewhat on the other side of 6500 or 7000 rpm. Music! But like many harlots, this one was fickle and one day she refused to come out and play with me. Yeah, I sorta like that Lincoln. G

Thanks for the response. The condenser is in excellent cosmetic shape: no dents or bent over fins. Think I'll just paint it and install it. GW

Time to clean up and mount my 280z ac condenser . It has been collecting dust for 6 years and I have some questions. The evaporator will be Southern or Vintage.. still shopping. However, the 280 Z condenser bolts nicely into my 240z and I would like to use it. Is this condenser compatible with the newer ac fluids (Freon vs. 134a). I'm told I should pressure test to exceed 240#. Is this true? Freon has been run in this evaporator, what do I need to do prepare it for 134a Is this one of those situations where one would be better off dumping the older condenser and dropping the cash for a custom Vintage, Southern all AL unit? Thanks, G

Yeah, I know it's an old thread, but the JTR radiator does fit well. I think your problem is that you dropped the JTR radiator mount down over the "frame" rails rather than mount it on the bottom of the rails. Easy mistake to make. I paid a shop a bundle of cash to mock up a SBC in my S30 using the early JTR kit. They couldn't close the hood, wanted to sell me a uber expensive aluminum radiator and spent some substantial time explaining that the JTR kit was S**t because it located the engine to one side and the radiator mount was too high. That three inches or so from the top of the frame rail to the bottom makes a difference. G

"Safe" is relative concept that keeps changing the base line. If your only concern is surviving a 60 mph head on collision, then start with size....big and heavy, think mass and a lot of it. License your Euclid truck, equip it with inertial seat belts and cruise the freeways secure in the knowledge that nothing short of another freightliner.... or train will stop you in anything less than 50 yards. You will walk away from that 60mph impact with a lightweight Volvo (Well may be not ALL Volvos). My take on my Series I was the following: 1. replace the early seat belts with a set out of a 280 Z and anchor the inertial reels on the two pockets in the floor and the two rear strut mounts. 2. I installed a simple 6 point hoop with the reinforcing legs welded to six inch square steel pads that were bolted to the floor and foot rests with steel "backer" plates on the other side of the sheet metal. What I really had in mind here was not a roll bar, but something more substantial between my butt and someone's bumper in the event of being T-boned. The steel bar running from my shoulder down past my thigh is covered with Ensolite tube After reading this thread, I think the hoop and the updated seatbelts, and seats were worthwhile.... the "stiff" anti intrusion bar.... may be not. G

I used 3/8 inch CuNiFer copper alloy tubing for both pressure and return. Took about 5 hours, including beer and bs time to run both sets and terminate with AN-6 hose barb fitting. I was working on a shell wi/o engine, trans, or rear suspension. I kept the gas tank as a guide for where to terminate the ends. I removed my smog line, pressure, and return line from the tunnel, threw away the hard rubber spacers and the routed the CuNiFer line from the back to the front inside the orginal clamps. For the most part this was quite simple, but around the emergency brake there was a small clearance problem. I bought three feet of hose rated for pressure and gasoline. I cut about 10 three inch segments and then split them lengthwise. I slipped one segment over each line where it was run through the original metal clamp. In effect, the slip hose insulated the CuNiFer line from rubbing and allowed for a tight hold by the original clamps. In the very back I used the Adel type clamps from Home Depot and mounted them with self tapping screws. I left only two of these in place. Up front, I moved the line over to the driver"s side by mounting the line directly to the pan with self tappers. Once I had the line adjusted in place, I went back and removed the self tappers, drilled out the hole a bit and mounted a stainless steel big headed machine screw in place with washers, loc tite, and self locking nuts. Again all out of Home Depot. I now have two lines without break mounted in the same space that contained the original lines. I used the split hose to prevent abrasion or contact with any metal parts. CuNiFer is a Copper, Nickel, Iron alloy used as brake line in Volvos and Mercedes, among others. It comes in rolls and I found it to be just a bid more resistant to bending than 3/8 soft aluminum, but far, far, far more resistant to kinking. I have photos, but I've not been able to post photos to my album for more than a year, after the last major change in application. G

Read somewhere that automatic transmission life is greatly affected by AT fluid temperature. Twice the life at 140 degrees than at 200 degrees or something like that. So, I went shopping at my favorite JY looking for a 280zxt small cooler. Found and purchased a second generation Rx7 oil cooler for $35.00 including lines and banjo fittings. This thing is huge: 5" x 2"x 22', including a thermostat set to open at 165 degrees or so. This is just about as wide as my Chevy radiator. All aluminum. Now, this will be my AT cooler and I hope to keep the fluid temperature down to the 145-150 degrees or so. I live in the low desert of CA, so high ambient temperatures are a fact of life. I expect to plumb this by running it in series with my radiator AT cooler. In the radiator from the AT, out of the radiator and into this cooler, and then out back to the AT. I expect my LM7 will run water temperatures around the 195 degree range. The Mazda oil cooler's integral thermostat opens at 165 degrees or so:too hot for my purpose. Does anyone know if there are replacement thermostats for the Mazda Rx7 cooler that open in the 140 or so range. If not, can I simply remove the thermostat and replace it with a bolt. Any comments are welcome. G PS where in the "help" section does it explain how to post photos to this thread?

According to John at JCI, he developed his LS1 installation kit around headers. He does not know if any stock LS1 manifolds will fit with his mounting kits. I'm looking forward to the day that I must take my Z to a smog referee and I'd like to get a jump on that by installing as many smog related items as I can. My engine is a lm7 and, by definition, not smogable. However, I do wish to run stock exhaust manifolds to complement the vapor purge selenoid and charcoal cannister. The idea is to address these items today and argue the Catalytic Converter with the Referee in the future. Thanks, G

This is shorter than the truck version and I need one. Shipping to 92201 in California. G

Thanks, the strut sectioning threads refer to the 280z as having a larger OD than the 240s, so I think I'm home free and I installed the 240 struts. The problem with mix and matching Z parts over the years is keeping track of all of it. I have a stuffed 3 inch binder noting various changes, but it d/n mention the struts. G

I know this has been answered somewhere in this forum, but I haven't found it. Over the years, I rebuilt my struts. I don't recall if I used 280 struts in the back or not. The struts are installed and my Z looks to be a bit high in the back. My strut outside diameter on the back is 2.025 inches. Is this a 280Z unit? G

I'm interested. g

There are a number of threads that address this issue. The search function will give you hours of pleasant and useful reading. "Most" on this forum are running a long nose R180 or R200. "Most" who have built or swapped in horsepower are running the long nose R200 with or without limited slip of some sort: welding rod, clutch, or viscuous. Long nose R200's are somewhat limited in gear sets: 3:90, 3:54 or 3:36 (maybe 4:11) are about the range available out of the junk yards. Short nose R200 and R230 have higher (longer) ratios. They require some fabrication skills to put them into an S30. The R230 is the import functional equivalent of the Ford 9 inch: available and strong. The long nose R200 is a proven and tough differential. I doubt that your RB25DET swap will develop more torque than any number of Turbo'd CSB, LSx, builds that are pulling 10-12 second 1/4 mile times on the R200. What you run in the backside should correlate to what is in the front side and the purpose for which you use your vehicle. My build is a cammed LM7 with A/T. I've installed a long nose R200 with 3:36 and CLSD with full set of clutches. I'll use this as a daily driver for short and very long hauls. I want to keep my rpm down; therefore, the 3:36 (I would have gone with 3:15 if I could have found them) It is not worth the $ to install an R230 with the higher (longer) ratios. An S30 built for 1/4 mile drags and wearing really wide shoes and traction us the waazoo, might opt for more torque muliplication and an R230. Now, grasshopper, start with the first question: for what do you wish to use your S30? The second question is: how much money do you have? The third questions is: Why not use the search function? Regards, G

Hey, folks, life is all about making decisions... good ones and bad ones. Some you can live through; some you can't. P.I. lawyers looooove insured young professional/working men with insurance and a crotch rocket. Their injuries are usually pretty profitable. Dirt bikers's injuries are pretty good too; but not as profitable because dirt bikers, as a rule, are too young, often uninsured, and aren't generally in the same income class as guys with serious road bikes. One thing to remember about bikes, even with today's armor, is you seldom simply walk away from an accident. Woman, I think, are more likely to realistically evaluate their future life with men who, after a fall, spend the rest of their life as a "para" or "quad". They worry about things like that; it's the nature of women. Maybe, you should consider it also: if you ride, ride with a lot of insurance. Everyone will be happier, your widow or named beneficiary and her lawyer. Relationships, the good ones anyway, are all about working together and the trade offs one makes in life. If your life really revolves around throwing your leg over 600# of hot throbbing steel, then go for it. But, if you wish a long term relationship at the same time, then you best shop for someone that rides too or step off that bike and into something both of you can share: travel, skydiving, Citabrias, and auto cross come to my mind. Then again, maybe you should move beyond this relationship and go shopping for someone with whom you share more in common. By the way, it is your life; don't get caught up in the common psycho-babble relating to "control" issues that are common on our male dominated forums. We are all controlled: the FAA, IRS, Cops, HOAs, Parents, City Hall, and the erection of the moment all control our actions. Peace, brother, G

I wish to buy a Nissan Automatic Transmission or Datsun Automatic transmission badge/emblem from any of the 240,260, or 280Zs or from a '70s Datsun 1200. The later versions are script; the earlier ones are blue/chrome badge. Interested in either one. Prefer the earlier version. If you have one PM a photo and price. Thanks, G

Well, there you have it: ignorant and proud of it. G

e I think I can save you some money: use the truck water pump, alternator, and crank pulley. Cut some .75 inch plate aluminum to use as a spacer for the LS1 low mount alternator bracket. Most trucks have higher output alternators than the LS1...mine is a 135 amp Delphi. It is a deeper and larger diameter piece, but it fits right in with minor.... really minor .... work to touch up the alternator case and the rack and pinion lock not (adjusting nut for pinion) with an angle grinder. With the low mount alternator bracket, the belt is routed differently... so as to pretty much clear an LS1 intake.... if that is where you are going. Search for "CABLE" who posted a great writeup. G

Seems to me that my front wheel drive retro VW bug was built in Mexico; as well as my Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4 Turbo HO. Both were pretty decent cars by the way. G

The transmission oil cooler lines on a 5.3 LM7 are secured by a clip screwed to a pad on the oil pan. I've replaced that pan with one from an LS1 and have lost a that point to secure the oil lines. Can anyone out there with an LS1 and automatic transmission post a photo showing how those lines were secured. I purchased a small clip from my Chevrolet agency that is supposed to be an oil line retainer. Small question, but I've spent two days on it. G