Phantom

Nope. Pretty much standard for the rear brakes to NOT have vented rotors. They don't do enough of the braking to require it unless you're into really heavy racing that involves a lot of heavy braking.

Hmm - wonder if I could get $1500 for my VIN 1779 1970 240Z even though it doesn't have a clear title. Anybody? Anybody?

Start checking of Federal and State retraining programs that you might be eligible for that will allow you to use your brain and not your back. i understand your frustration but i have a couple observations. 1. No one really cares as much about your situation as you do. They all have their own load of crap to deal with. It's up to you to persistently keep yourself in their face so that those who can do something - do. 2. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Works with people too. Time to learn how to be political and figure out how to approach people in a way that convinces them that they really want to help you because you're such a wonderful guy and you're so completely screwed that only they can start you on the path to recovery. When the other guy holds all the cards the hammer will only work against you. If you have a woman in your life have her call and cry on the phone while begging the person on the other end of the line to be her knight in shining armor and save your relationship. You have to learn how to work the system - not fight it.

Got my boat back from winterizing yesterday and it started to snow here about an hour ago. Supposed to be about 50 tomorrow, though, so it isn't going to stick around. I've had the snow blower warmed up and ready to go for about 3 weeks now. Time to put the battery tenders on the boat and the two Z's. I'm expecting a big commission check in December which will allow me to do a bunch of stuff to my 280Z28 this winter - some of which has been waiting for a couple years. This spring I'll be putting two new tires and a set of shocks on the Z32 convertible as well as getting a 4-wheel alignment on it. Should be able start the next driving season in pretty good shape if all goes to plan. Sometime in the next year I hope to get the 280Z28 back into a paint shop and freshen up the 18 year old paint on the car. Seems like it never ends when the cars are used as daily drivers.

I've been keeping an eye on a 240Z that has been stored in a yard run by the marina that does maintenance on my pontoon boat engine. After years of bugging them I finally got the name and phone number of the owner. I called him and found out the following. It's a July of 1972 production 240Z with 78,000 miles on it. 4-spd car with dealer added AC. Metallic brown exterior with butterscotch interior. The last year the car was on the road was 1998. This is a one owner car. The guy bought it new in Texas and then brought it with him when he moved to Yakima. The car has never been wrecked and is totally unmolested and essentially rust free. It was running when he parked it in the storage facility 16 years ago. He's now getting close to retirement and trying to decide if he wants to sell the car or bring it back to life himself. He has my name and number and I let him know I'd help him with whichever way he goes. A super solid car that is a perfect candidate for a "preservation" project. On another note - the February of 1970 240Z (VIN 1779) I bought out of a field a year ago is not viable for me to try to bring back to life. I was not able to get a title for it and it has to be running in order to start the Washington State process to get a new title. Unfortunately the engine has a cracked block and it's not worth it to me to put a new engine in it and then keep it registered for three years to get a title. If anyone else wants to do this let me know and I'll negotiate. In the meantime I'm considering turning it into a parts car as it is loaded with early series 1 parts that are in good shape, including the rare valve cover, hood, front fenders, bumpers, doors, gas cap cover, hatch, center console, etc.

Gabriel at TTT indicated that the E-brake cable they are making custom for these brakes is from the yoke on the center mechanism across. It does not include any of the front-to-rear part of the assembly. The stock e-brake cable in that area will not work with these brakes. The first cables are designed off a 240Z so, if any of the 280Z's need a different length, he said they'd provide that also.

I noticed that same eBay listing referenced a set of the same wheels by another seller for half the price - $300 vs $599.

I just got a reply from Gabriel. Quote: "It is already available. We have them ready to ship. Only thing we are waiting on is the custom E-brake cables to finish production. The calipers are original Wilwood calipers, with a built-in E-brake assembly. It's not part of their regular lineup, but rather a special caliper they built for the rally guys. Calipers are as pictured, and use alight spring to keep the E-brake hardware from rattling about. It's a far superior system to their single pot E-brake from years ago. That setup was noisy and never worked for crap. The new system is super coolant doesn't look any different than their normal 4 piston calipers." unquote I sent him another email back asking if their E-brake cables were sized for the different lengths seen on the earlier S30's vs the late ones. Still waiting on that answer. I'm pretty interested if I know they have the right E-brake cable for my late model '77. I guess the question I haven't asked is if the brakes work with the stock E-brake cable. More to come.

I put 16's on my car 17 years ago and they were great - then. Now I'm starting to have issues with finding good tires in the size I need. I was running a stock suspension back then but have coil-overs now. I agree with RebekahsZ. I'd go with a 17" wheel over a 15 or 16. The 15's are going to give you fits in the future with big brake fitment and the 16's will give heartburn when you try to find just the right tire. I also would not buy any wheels until the suspension is complete and you can take accurate measurements from the face of the wheel hub to the suspension and to the inside of the fender. Those dimensions seem to almost be unique to each car. Age, previously repaired body damage & previous owner modifications can conspire to bite you in the a$$ if you're not careful.

Just fired them an email to hear directly from them. Will post any results I get.

If you're thinking about using the 280Z 3-row radiator to cool a V8 I'd recommend sending it to a radiator shop and having it recored to a 4-row. That is what I've been running trouble free for 11 years now.

I think the comments that include bench bleeding the master cylinder are pointing you in the right condition.

Take a look at the gearing that came with the '82 & '83 280ZX. They were designed to go with a 3.90:1 differential so 1st & 2nd are slightly taller than the early 280Z 4 & 5 spds with closer ratios through the first 4 gears and roughly a .75:1 5th gear overdrive. I don't know the 240SX tranny gearing so you'll need to have all the numbers to make a decision as to whether a stock tranny can do it for you or if you'll have something custom built.

In case you don't already know there is a Z car club in your area, www.zccw.org. The guys in the club can really help you out on advice, parts, etc. I'm over in Yakima and I started with a '77 280Z in 1986. It was stolen in '89 and then I replaced it with another '77 in 1992. I still have the car. It started life as a totally original California edition coupe 4-spd with a white exterior and a brown interior. In the 22+ years and 137,000 miles I've had it I've replaced or modified everything except the dash. It's a great foundation car. Be advised that there are two different "77 models. They differ primarily in the level of the back deck with the later one having a raised deck and a smaller spare tire well to allow a larger fuel tank. I have a 3.70:1 long nose R-200 LSD out of an '87 300ZX turbo. I've never done anything to it but install it and it's worked great for me. Your car already has a 3.54:1 R200 in it so swapping in the LSD version will be fairly straightforward but there are a few issues to overcome that the guys in the club can guide you through - or just fire me an email. Have fun!

Send me out on an errand - PLEASE - send me out on an errand. Alpine Stereo goes to 18 on the volume and still the whine of the LS1 comes through as it passes 3,000 RPM.

Checked the fuse?

Mike, Evidently you have the near perfect wheel width and offset. Are you running the same widths in the front as the rear? My son is running 8.5" wide wheels in the front with 245's and 9.5" wheels in the rear with 275's - but he has flared fenders. So what are your wheel widths and backspacing/offset? - whichever way you want to state it.

When the Ls1 conversion was first completed the car, with 3/4 tank of gas, was 1,400 lb nose 1,430 lb tail

That would be true if it were chromed. Black powder coat really doesn't apply and this particular one, with a hole for the LS1 dipstick, was less expensive than most of the ones I've seen on this site so far.

Uhh - Kindig is in Salt Lake City, UT and I'm in Yakima, WA. Kinda obvious that they weren't run on the same dyne. The 366 RWHP is consistent with the GM claim of 430 flywheel HP for the LS3, though. Not sure how much GM is underrating the LS3 compared to what they did with the LS1. My sons LS1 with a cam dyno'd at 378 RWHP. Not on the same dyne though so maybe it's only 320 or so? Maybe mines only about 265? What the heck,maybe mines 380? Only thing is that both the original numbers are consistent with what LS tuners expect out of stock LS motors.

If you look at the total distance between the axles and how much the seat will adjust it can probably affect the numbers by 10-15% My numbers are based on the seat full back and then reclined a bit to fit my 6'4" body.

I've been running this "triangular" front strut tower brace for about 10 years now. You can see in the one photo how it mounts to the firewall area. Seems to be holding up pretty well.

I was watching "Bitchin' Rides" the other night when they installed a stock LS3 in a '78 Firebird. The first run on the dyno had the car at 326 HP / 326 ftlb of torque. My stock '98 LS1 does 325/326. After further adjustments they got it to 366/326 The Firebird and my car both have a T56. Thought I'd see a bit more rom the LS3, even at a stock set-up.

There is an air director gate that is vacuum powered. When you move the lever to heat, bilevel, defrost, etc. the vacuum valve is supposed to move flappers to direct the air the way you have selected. First question - do you still have the vacuum accumulator bottle under the hood? If not, get one and get it installed. That will help with your problem. Secondly, go back under the hood and check out your air flow box and WD-40 to clean and then lube it wherever you can. Once all that is done cycle it about 100 times from spot to spot and get it used to working.

Tires really aren't a "maintenance" issue - they are just a cost of ownership/operation - unless you have severe alignment issues or something like that.