naviathan

Nice pics. That Rebel takes much better pictures than I would have expected for a digicam. I have to tell you your Z is inspirational. The clean body lines and overall sleek looks are just incredible.

I found a Fairlady 280Z I want to buy. The car isn't perfect, but it's better than the one I've got. The guy wants $3750 for the car, but will take $3200 if I give him my old fairlady that's falling apart. He just wants it to part it out. I don't have a problem with this, but I'm wondering if $3200 is a decent price for an 82 Fairlady 2+2 with just over 33,000 km on it. The car runs like a sewing machine, the interior is in great shape, engine bay could use some clean up, there's some rust bubbling under the paint around the fuel cap, on one corner of the passengers front fender and the usual spot on the spare tire well. I haven't seen the car in person (for obvious reasons, Iraq and all) but my wife has and the guy has been more than helpful in sending pictures of the car so I could see the under carriage, body and interior. I've seen this car around town before and never could find who owned to ask about it until now. I'm probably going to buy the car regardless simply because it's a running fairlady in just as good of condition as my 81ZX I paid $2k for. I just want to know if I'm getting reamed, just out of curiosity.

Yeah I know I can be a...pain... but I know I've seen the answer to this question in the forums before. I've done a bit of research on the different GM alts because I was thinking about swapping one onto my L28. The wire you're talking about is the voltage sense wire that's required to start the exciter before the newer GM alts will produce power. Trust me, I don't post things like that unless I'm sure the answer is already here.

I did the same thing except I used the timing chain tool from MSA. It's a waste of money trust me. I ended up pulling the radiator, sway bar, oil pump, front cover, etc... and putting the tensioner back together. It took 6 hours to get the cam sprocket on because of that one little chain tensioner.

You'll need this: http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=MRA&MfrPartNumber=997471 And this if you want an original power antenna look: http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=MRA&MfrPartNumber=ATPW22&PartType=1161&PTSet=A And you'll need the Factory Service Manual which you can download here: http://carfiche.com BTW, read the websites for instructions on how to acquire each item. And for future reference, there is a search function on this site. Use it.

That is so wrong...I really just can't imagine what would posses a person to do such a thing. I mean really, I see a beautiful car I admire the car, not get jealous and dig a key into the side of it. I can't afford a really nice car like that, but I hope that one day I can and if someone did that to my car there would be no end to hunt that would pursue.

Well I think 2007 is too new for my pocket book. I was thinking 2000-2003 time frame. The Geo Metro is too old and too much of a tin can, I wouldn't be risking my wife and child in that. The Golf is only 2 doors which would make the baby seat hard to get in and out of the car and storage would be horrible for traveling. The Toyota Echo is a thought, but I've never had an interest in the hybrids because of the money they cost to repair if something goes wrong with the electric portions. The Mazda Protege is viable, mileage isn't excellent, but it's doable. The Cobalt, is just way too small, remember, kid on the way. Needs space. Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming!

Yes with the T5 you can use the Ford short throw. The rest of the trannies though need a different kit. MSA sells short throw shifters and they're real short throws. They come with two ears that bolt to the transmission and a shifter with a longer lower pivot. This gives you a shifter the same height as the original with a shorter throw between shifts.

We call a truck a truck...lol Ok seriously, I don't think we got the Patrol here. The shifters we're referring to are from the 620 Pickups. At least I think they were 620s..Anyhow, the point is they were actual trucks, not SUVs. Now I'm sure the Patrol probably has the same shifter in it though.

As the title says. I'm about to head home from Iraq and with the baby coming soon I need to get the wife a newer car (not new) that's good on gas. I was thinking the VW Jetta TDI because the diesel engines get 50+ mpg and VWs are just good cars all around. Anyone else have any ideas? On a side note, if all goes well I'll be picking up ANOTHER Z when I get home. This one is an 82 Fairlady 280Z that's in pretty good shape as opposed to my current fairlady that needs to be stripped to the bare metal, patched and rebuilt. Anyhow, on with the FECs! (Fuel Efficient Cars)

http://www.thezstore.com has a big bore stroker kit as well.

In response to the remark on the whale tail, yes it would do a better job, but from the windtunnel test it did too good a job and was determined to only be useful with a properly setup front fascia design...apparently one we haven't seen yet...

Oooohoooohh I've never done this but I think I know! Read the forum! Search..search...search...search! I know there's a lot of info on the site pertaining to the GM Alternators and probably quite a bit in the Chevy forum talking about the LS1 setup.

Did someone have a bad experience at the Dyno recently?

Wow, nice work...I have got to see this thing in action...

The bar that attaches to the latch lock mechanism is adjustable. I just went through this on my 81 not too long ago (ok maybe it was a while ago). But the plastic bushing wears down and you adjust the bar out more and it work again.

Ah true. But there's ebay sellers that claim they can do old nissan keys from the numbers still. It's not cheap though.

12:1? On regular 91 Octane pump gas? No wonder it blew, probably pinging like crazy. For that kind of compression ratio you really need to look at race fuels for any kind of reliability.

The only gasket you can reuse is the MLS style gasket (Multi-Layer Steel). The stock felpro type tend to fall apart when you pull the head off so I doubt he reused the gasket. If you just swapped in new pistons, wouldn't you have changed the head gasket out? Also if it was a high comp engine, how high? What compression ratio are we talking here and what type of fuel were you putting in it? All this can contribute to a blown head gasket.

If you can't find it, go to a sign shop and have them make it. Usually the pricing isn't too bad.

On the Z ignitions I believe the key code is actually stamped on the cylinder body itself. Getting a new key ground from the numbers isn't cheaper then just getting another cylinder, unless of course your doors still use the same key as the ignition, in which case I could see getting new keys just to keep it all the same.

Two things: 1. Sanding that one spot where the gasket blew, wasn't a good idea. hand sanding on a black deck can create an uneven spot which will cause the new gasket to blow in exactly the same place. 2. You're using an inch pound torque wrench on head bolts that will require ft/lbs. Get the right tools for the job.

Just replace the locking cylinder. There's replacement all over the net. FleaBay usually has tons of them.

I've seen it done before, either on here or on zcar.com, I don't remember which. Search around, I'm sure it'll pop up again.

He's going to get banned if he keeps that up...