Phantom

Haggerty prices an "average" 1970 series 1 240Z at just under $15K. A 1977 280Z in similar condition at $7k. That would be an "insurance" value though, not necessarily an actual sales value. It does show, however, that the older S30's are starting to appreciate in value. Car is nice looking but not a "restoration". I would consider it a "refresh oration" Lot's of little things that are a bit rough and not completely redone. $6-8K sounds like a decent range. The seller should have been smart enough to detail the car inside & out before taking the photos. It would have garnered more interest and probably a higher selling price.

Where in Texas? Where in Oregon? I moved from Arlington, TX in Nov of 2006 to my new home here in Yakima, WA. Quite a culture shock but am loving the NW weather. I towed my '77 280Z on a Uhaul car trailer behind my Suburban when I came up. Couldn't stand to be separated from the car. I had the 300ZX convertible shipped and it got a little buggered in the process. Nothing serious but I made the shippers cough up a few $$. Check yours carefully when it arrives for any new damage. They should have completed a walkthrough on the car before they left TX.

Were you able to look at the driveshaft to see how much of the movement was in it or was this all differential? I'm going to have my car in the air Wednesday doing a thorough drivetrain inspection. If I remember I'll do the same test on mine to see how it compares. Only real difference in our set-ups is that I have the u-joint halfshafts instead of the CV's.

When you get something going on the LED taillights & turn signals please let me know. I'm looking for ways to get brighter in that area.

Couple more pieces of info. When I did the conversion the car only gained a total of 30 lbs and it was all on the rear axle so it can't be too bad. Obviously the weight is low, between the axles and near the CL of the car, Torque/twist is transferred straight through to the diff rather than the body.

Jon, Old photos and not real clear but the best I have at this point. These were taken back in 2004 when I still had a Y pipe into a single 2.5" exhaust. The 'Y' has been replaced with an 'X' and dual 2.5" exhausts to the back to a single Magnaflow muffler. You can sort of see the frame that bolts to the tailshaft of the trans, the dual channels running from the trans to the diff and how the channels bolt to the diff. The cross brace you see in the third photo is not a trans mount - it is a driveshaft loop.

For the small weight difference I'd go with the steel driveshaft. Fewer long-term issues and definitely stronger inch-for-inch. I know when JCI built mine they just combined the driveshaft from the donor Camaro and the one from my 280Z. I still have not had any issues with that component. Jon - too bad you can't get a peek at the torque tube system on my car. I think you'd really like it for your application.

134 is higher pressure and has a little less cooling capacity per unit volume that R-12. It also is corrosive to seals in older AC systems. The stock Z AC in the S30's is good to maybe 90 degrees if the car starts out in the shade. Above that and the cabin gets warm or if the car is heat soaked it takes about 30 miles to start cooling down. I assume the Vintage air system would be more effective but my only experience is with the system in my '77 280Z with either the L28 or the LS1 compressors. I think the fan capacity and evaporator capacity is what makes the difference.

Used "Freeze 12" which is an R-12 clone. It's worked well for me.

What was the clearance between the rear differential mount and the bar, differential cover and the bar? It looks like they are really close. I tried to take a quick peek at mine yesterday and all I could see is that my sway bar is in front of the differential rather than behind. I need to get the car up high enough to look at it to really see what is going on under there. It's been 10years since I really looked at that and my memory is a bit fuzzy.

Not the point. The one installed on my car is available at the website I indicated and it has lasted 10 years for me. You can also use its model number to cross-reference with Sanden to see if they have an equivalent. Trying to help out here with a unit that will fit properly.

FWIW - Here is a photo of the AC compressor that JCI installed in my car in 2004. It is still working great. Hope it helps. Here's a link to a website that sells them. http://www.techchoiceparts.com/inventory

Depends on what you mean by "speed". Mine are stable at least to 100. I made sure the mounting plates were very securely attached to my door & window frame. I also replaced the door seals so the door fits tightly to the body. Just never had an issue with them.

Take your pick.

I have the flush mounted mirror kit sold by MSA. I find them capable of being adjusted to eliminate blind spots and of sufficient size. I've been running them since 1997. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic02e03/50-1160

Check voltage on the battery itself. It should be 12.7 volts with no load. If you have less than 12 volts your battery is not good. Check the fluid level in the battery and ensure it is at proper levels and then get it on a charger to see if it will come up to over 12.5 volts. If it stays below 12 volts you better plan on getting another battery.

Nope, haven't done that yet. Things have really slowed down with the Z since I moved to WA. Way too many other things going on. Income has been stressed with the house addition and other property upgrades so car has taken a back seat. I just got the Techno Toys Eibach coil overs and Koni shocks last summer. I want to get whatever it is with my drivetrain fixed, my brakes sorted out, and then get the sway bars in. After that I'll look at the adjustable control arms and T/C rods. I didn't remember the shoe polish trick when I went. I will next time. Then I'll see how much rollover I'm getting at various pressures. I looked at the side walls on the tires at one point but didn't see anything definite.

Can you just exchange the internals of one into the case of the other? That would give you an opportunity to check/fix anything else with the new(er) gear set.

Gary - I can confirm that oversteer in my car is all throttle related as I did it both by lifting my foot and by pressing it down in corners. My understeer was braking and boy was that exciting. Under light throttle and entering the corner at the proper speed the car would do really well. With a rear weight biased 3,000 lb car and 200/250 springs I think the heavier 280 bars F/R will be the way for me to go. My stock sway bar is already installed in a manner to handle my exhausts and the finned R200 LSD so hopefully the ST bar will bolt right up. Need to stick my head under there and study it a bit more. The autocross day was the first time in 22 years that I put the handling of the car to the limit and actually hung the rear end out in a corner other than just goosing the throttle at an intersection. I need to get it sorted out as I really want to do some more of this but it's going to take some work.

If you don't have the 77/78 vented hood you might get one of those. It will let the heat out of the engine bay better. My car is a 77 with the vented hood and I had very few occurrences of what you've been experiencing. My total fix, however, was when I pulled the L28 and installed an LS1.

You need sufficient length to get through the thermostat housing and at least 2X the diameter of the bolt into the engine block. Confirm by inserting a pencil into the bolt holes and measuring their depth. You want the bolts to end about 5mm from the bottom of the hole. Then buy a standard length bolt that is somewhere between the 2X and ending at least 5mm from the bottom of the whole. This isn't that hard. Also - metric bolts come in various hardness. You'll want the 8.8, not the 12.9. The 12.9 is too hard and you will have to put too much torque into it to get it to properly stretch and that will risk stripping the threads in your block.

That is the question. I definitely prefer the idea of the ST 52100 parts which are larger diameter for the 280Z. My springs are relatively soft, 200F/250R and the car is fairly heavy, 1440F/1560R. The issue obviously is the rear bar clearing the finned cover on the R200 LSD.

Guess I need to wear out my Dunlops Direzzas. They are 160tw. That gives me a goal for the next year.

And that's probably after about 3 minutes on www.tirerack.com.

I've been running a 3.70:1 R200 LSD out of an '87 300ZX turbo car bejing my LS1/T56 for 10 years and 35,000 miles. Udon ' trace the ca a lot but I tend to drive it pretty hard. The R 200 has given me no problems but, I didn't install the CV's on the half shafts so I've broken at least one ujoint and maybe a second. If you don't plan on 'burning rubber' or 'power shifting' a fresh set of ujoint a without grease seeks will probably be fine. Otherwise spring for the CV conversion. It would have paid for itself the first time I detonated a half shaft ujoint on the strip.