Nigel

These are my favorites! http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/reddicaco.html BTW... So, there you go... flares with skinny tires. If it knocks your socks off, then go for it! Nigel '73 240ZT

Exactly... So you either forget about the flares, or accept the fact that if want to do it right, you're going to have to cut the body. Nigel '73 240ZT

What's the point of putting the flares on if you don't run wider tires? Then it just looks dumb. You end with this wide car with skinny rubber under it. Might as well add fake hood vents and a plastic intercooler... Nigel '73 240ZT

Well, I'm glad to hear that that worked out for you in the end... Nigel '73 240ZT

Yeah, I kind of doubt the volume will be anywhere close to what it is for the 240SX, Civic, etc. crowd. Regardless, anything produced in a volume greater than one is going to be cheaper, and we do at least have some potential for a reasonable quantity here, so lets take advantage of it. Nigel '73 240ZT

POR 15 has (had?) a primer/sealer that you paint over POR15 to provide a base for a top coat. I used it, but I didn't like it much. It was very clumpy and I had to sand it a lot to smooth it out to the point that it was suitable for a top coat. I used their recommended thinner for spraying, but it didn't help. Perhaps I got a bad can or something. A better approach may be to spray a regular light primer over the POR15 while it is still tacky. Or lightly sand the dried POR15 prior to applying a primer. Nigel

Actually, 50mm is ~2". I think 1.5" will still work, but it might be tight. The early Z shaft I used is 50mm shorter and it worked perfectly... Nigel '73 240ZT

This does sound like the best option for getting these things made. The design looks like a decent compromise of the features we are looking for. Nigel

For the cost of a bearing, it makes sense to use a new one anyway... Nigel

Hmm... I've pulled a few and never seen any obvious damage as a result. But I was pulling them to replace them with new bearings... Nigel

I have a Dynomax Ultra Flow SS and a catalytic converter with 3" pipe on my L28 Turbo, and it seems pretty quiet to me. My GF has no problems sleeping in the car. The cat was installed at the same time as the rest of the exhaust, so I've no idea what impact it had... Nigel '73 240ZT

I suspect it's internally shorted and it's overloading the ECU. Check the resistance of the injector using a multi-meter. I'm not sure if the cold start injector is high or low impedance, but if you get a reading of 0 Ohms, then something is wrong... Nigel '73 240ZT

Doesn't get much cheaper than this... http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=11 Nigel '73 240ZT

That reminds me of my Science of Flight course in University, where, when explaining lift, the wing was always shown as stationary, with the AIR being in motion... Nigel '73 240ZT

I have a whole album on my motortopia.com page dedicated to this swap with lots of pictures and detailed info on just about everything you'd want to know (click the picture): When you are are searching for a transmission, try to get one from an S14. From what I've found out, they have the widest gears and a dual cone synchro on 2nd. Nigel

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but that looks like that is "loop" style carpet, but I seem to recall you saying that you had ordered "cut pile". Which did you end up getting? The reason I'm asking is that I need to order new strut tower/wheel well carpet after one of mine got melted in a grinding incident (don't ask!), and I'm trying to find something that will match my existing cut pile. Nigel

I just found these on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/CRL-Datsun-Trim-Panel-Plastic-Rivet_W0QQitemZ370031912933QQihZ024QQcategoryZ10034QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247 $30 for 100. But their shipping fees to Canada are crazy. I might e-mail them to see if they have a cheaper option. They also have these: http://cgi.ebay.ca/CRL-Nissan-Isuzu-and-Mazda-Plastic-Rivet_W0QQitemZ370031944887QQihZ024QQcategoryZ10034QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247 $16 for 25, and they have a screw center to make them reusable. Nigel '73 240ZT

I've been poking around on-line, and I can't seem to find the filter he's using, even on the GE website. I think GE might have redesigned it. I'm going to stop into Home Depot and see I can find it, or something like it. I really like the idea of having the pump in the surge tank. That saves a lot of space. Nigel '73 240ZT

From: http://www.syntheticsbestoil.com/mobil.htm Synthetic Motor Oil Gets All New Semantics (first published in Nov., 2000 issue of Car and Driver by Patrick Bedard) Now that the meaning if "is" has gotten so slippery you need to grab it with both hands, we'd better keep an eye on longer words, too. One's already got so squirmy on us- "synthetic," as in synthetic motor oil. Most guys know two things about synthetic oils. First, the price is three to four times that of conventional oils. Second, they're not real oil, not made from crude. News flash: Scratch that second part. Now motor oils derived from crude may be labeled "synthetic." But they still cost over four bucks a quart. Bait and switch? That's the obvious conclusion. Except in this case the advertising ethics people have given their approval. Here's what happened, according to a detailed account published in the trade magazine Lubricants World. Late in 1997, Castrol changed the formula of its Syntec "full synthetic motor oil", eliminating the polyalphaolefins (PAO) base stock (that's the "synthetic" part, which makes up about 70% by volume of what's in the bottle) and replacing it with a "hydroisomerized" petroleum base stock. Mobil Oil Corporation, maker of Mobil 1, "Worlds Leading Synthetic Motor Oil," said no fair and took its complaint to the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NAD often arbitrates between feuding advertisers on their conflicting claims. The notion behind synthetic motor oils as we've known them is an elegant one. Instead of relying on the cocktail of hydrocarbons contained in crude oil, why not go into the laboratory and build the perfect base stock from scratch, molecule by molecule, and builds it till it gets 10-carbon molecules, then combines three of those to form PAO. The result is a fluid more stable than the usual base oils derived from crude. It keeps flowing at low temperatures. It's more resistant to boiling off, and more resistant to oxidation, which causes thickening with prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Still, there's more than one road to the point B of improved stability. Petroleum refiners in recent years have learned how to break apart certain undesirable molecules - wax, for example, which causes thickening of oil at low temperatures- and transform them by chemical reaction into helpful molecules. These new hydroisomerized base oils, in the view of some industry participants provided properties similar to PAO's but only cost half as much," Lubricants World reported. The argument before NAD tiptoed around the obvious- does the consumer get four bucks' worth of value from each quart of synthetic oil?- and plunged straight into deep semantics. Mobil's experts said "synthetic" traditionally meant big molecules built up from small ones. Castrol's side held out for a looser description, defining "synthetic" as "the product of an intended chemical reaction." What do unbiased sources say? It turns out that the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) both have technical standards covering motor oils, and both of these organizations in the '90's backed away from their old definitions of "synthetic," leaving lots of room for new interpretations. In the end, NAD decided that the evidence constitutes a reasonable basis for the claim that Castrol Syntec, as currently formulated, is a synthetic motor oil, said Lubricants World. The obvious question now: Has the term "synthetic motor oil" been opened up to the point that it no longer means anything? Maybe. But here's a better question: Did synthetic ever mean what we thought it meant? "Great oil" is what most guys think it means. "At that price, it's gotta be great stuff!" Okay, but how great? Your cars manual tells what motor oil you should use, and with few exceptions, that description will consist of only two specifications. One is for viscosity, such as 10W-30; and the other is for the API service grade, SJ being the current one for gasoline passenger cars. The buck-a-quart multi-grades meet these standards, as do the synthetics. The synthetics, on the back label, claim compliance with more standards, but even if you know what they mean, they seem beside the point for U.S. passenger cars. For example, should you care about diesels if you drive a gasoline burner? API service CF is the oldest of the current specs for light-duty diesels; some synthetics list that one. Synthetics may also list ACEA A1 and B1, which are European specs roughly equivalent to API gasoline and diesel specs. The Europeans grad their oils by level of performance, so that A2 and A3 are tougher specs than A1. Same for diesels. Usually the date of the spec is omitted, but A1-98 is newer than A1-96. Completely absent is the one performance claim that would have some real meaning for all of us- some indication of longer oil life. (except for AMSOIL which clearly states 25,000 miles/1-year or 35,000 miles/1-year for their Severe Service 0W-30 synthetic). Automakers hold synthetics to the same oil change intervals as conventional oils. And the oil companies, promise even less. "To give added protection and life to your engine, change your oil every 3000 miles." This same language appears on the back of both Pennzoil Synthetic and conventional oils. Valvoline synthetic makes a similar recommendation. (commentary: Since 1972 AMSOIL is the ONLY synthetic oil manufacturer in the world to guarantee 25,000 miles or 35,000 mile oil change intervals and utilizing full PAO synthetic technology exclusively). Synthetics do get one unambiguous endorsement: Corvettes, Porsches, Vipers, and all AMG models from Mercedes-Benz come with Mobil 1 as the factory fill. Most synthetics mention GM 4718M in their list of claims; that's the unique spec created by General Motors for Corvette oil. It's a high-temperature requirement that tolerates less oxidation (thickening) and volatility (boil-off) on a standard engine test called Sequence 111E according to engineer Bob Olree of GM Power train. (note: AMSOIL 0W-30 far surpasses GM's 4718M spec). But don't expect to learn such details on any label (again, except for AMSOIL which clearly states test results on the back of every bottle of Series 2000 0W-30 and 20W-50 synthetic). Mobil 1 at least uses straight forward declarative sentences. Most of the others read as though they were written by a lawyer looking for an escape clause. Why else would the following claim be so rubbery? "Pennzoil Synthetic motor oil is recommended for use in all engines requiring ILSACGF-1, GF-2, API SJ, SH, or SG, and in engines requiring oils meeting GM 4718M." Okay, but does it actually pass those standards? "Yes" says James Newsom, Pennzoil's motor-oil product manager. Castrol Syntec, on its label, "exceeds" every standard it mentions. Hmm. Now that the meaning of "is" is in play, I have to wonder, does Syntec meet those standards as well? "It does" says Castrol's Julie Ann Oberg. While I have her on the phone, I ask if there will be a Syntec price reduction now that the lower-cost base stock has been substituted for the old synthetic. She says no. End of article. Now, after reading that why would anybody in their right mind want to spend their hard-earned money on Castrol Syntec, Pennzoil Synthetic, Valvoline Synthetic or any of the other "synthetics" when what your getting is not even a true 100% full PAO synthetic? Even Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic uses multiple base-stock technology by blending other synthetic molecules with the PAO base-stocks and then they come up with a catchy name of Tri-Synthetic. Pretty sneaky huh? AMSOIL moved away from multiple base-stock technology over 20 years ago!, yet Mobil makes it sound like their Tri-Synthetic technology is some new earth-shattering technology. What a joke! Why not skip all the hype and deception of these other manufacturers and just use AMSOIL? AMSOIL uses only 100% full synthetic PAO technology in each and everyone of its motor oils and is the undisputed leader in synthetic engine oil technology as well as the leader in synthetic gear lubes, transmission fluid, greases, two-cycle oil and many other lubricants and hydraulic fluids. Today, virtually every other motor oil manufacturer has recognized the superiority of synthetic lubricants and has followed the AMSOIL lead with introductions of "synthetic" motor oils of their own. They spend millions of dollars advertising their "new" and "revolutionary" products. No one, however, can match AMSOIL experience and technological know-how. And no one delivers products like AMSOIL. Accept no substitutes- AMSOIL is the "First in Synthetics

I ordered mine from ETDMOTORS on ebay for $140 two years ago. I was really impressed with the quality. The mounting points were even helicoiled. Also, Slow_Old_Car mentioned that the Chinese IC's don't have internal fins (turbulators?), and are just open tubes, but mine has the internal fins. However, I have seen one of these without internal fins, so it looks like it can vary from vendor to vendor. I know I didn't go with the absolute cheapest one I could find, so maybe that's why. Matt Cramer said that these are heavy, but I don't see how you could make it lighter, or why you'd want to anyway, as the mass helps absorb heat. Nigel '73 240ZT

From all of the independent testing I could find, Amsoil and Mobil 1 typically come out tops. The other big name oil companies often seem to rely on anecdotal evidence to promote their products ("My car never felt better after switching to X brand"). Nigel '73 240ZT

I bought a set of aftermarket Autolock seatbelts, which came with 7/16" fine thread bolts. Much to my surprise, they screwed right into the Datsun seatbelt anchors. I'm surprised yours don't fit... Nigel

WooHoo! I got my issue today. I scanned through it, and it looks great! Really nice quality too. I hope this magazine has a long life! Nigel '73 240ZT

Hey, cool! Thanks for doing the legwork on this KTM! Nigel '73 240ZT

I bought a Z31 Turbo clutch off of a friend of mine and it works fine with my 280ZX Turbo flywheel and 280ZX NA transmission. Nigel '73 240ZT