Phantom

Pete, Bummer about your car. Great that no one was hurt. I guess that's an indirect benefit of the old Z unibody - sort of came with crumple zones. Calling Haggerty was a good move. Geico notoriously would just glance at your car, total it, and offer you about a $2,500 settlement. I would suggest you start feeling some stiffness in your neck and back and schedule a doctor's appointment just to ensure some bargaining power with those guys.

1) They don't usually put the showers next to the munitions storage, and 2) They also generally don't allow off-duty personnel around the munitions storage. Hmm - maybe her CO that needs to have charges filed against him?

Catalytic converters did not go into full use until the 280ZX. The 'California' versions of the 1977 & 1978 280Z's did come with them, though. Any car 25 years old or older in Texas is exempt from emissions testing - safety inspection only - $12.50. If the original car did not come with catalytic converters then the engine replacement will not be required to have them. I went head-to-head with a local inspection station over this and finally had a state inspections regional agent step in on my behalf and tell them to put the sticker on my car. Obviously I've never been back to that station! American - since you're planning on a heavy conversion I would check with Jerry at All Z CAr Specialist, (817) 483-0383, on a weekly basis to see what he gets in. At least that way you can inspect it before you buy it.

If that photo gets back to her CO she'll be up on charges for being out-of-uniform. Military doesn't take too kindly to stuff like that.

R180 was stock on the 240Z. It had 3.54:1 gearing in the automatic and 3.36:1 gearing in the standard 4-spd. I have a 1971 Nissan sales brochure a guy at work gave me that actually addresses this. For future reference: 1970-1973 - 240Z 1974 - 260Z 1975-1978 - 280Z 1979-1983 - 280ZX This is the way they were sold in the US. Not necessarily this way in other countries.

Brad, Have you gotten on the www.CowtownZClub.org website and expressed your desire for a body? There are several guys in the club that have Z related businesses that may come across one. If you were only planning on building a track car, one guy in the club has a really nice 240Z that can't be liscenced due to the VIN tags being missing.

I bought the full kit from MSA and had no trouble with any of the pieces. It's amazing how tight a Z really is when all the seals are fresh.

Sounds like the glove just got thrown down in front of Scotty!

I agree with Mike. You need to spend what it takes to get a good, breathable car cover and then check the car out about once a month to ensure no nasties are growing. Also make sure it is absolutely dry inside before covering it. I'd also take the time to really clean it up, treat all the iside vinyl. clean up the engine bay, etc. Prepare it like you're taking it to a car show. You'll find a lot of things while doing this and you can start thinking about the "list" it generates while you're finishing up school and getting ready to start on it.

"Back in the day" when engine break-ins were necessary unlike the new engines the recommended procedure was to take it really easy (no hot rodding) the first 500 miles, run it a little harder up to 1,000 miles, change the oil and then go for it. During the first 1,000 miles part of the procedure was to drive the engine in the RPM range you intended to drive it most of the time. I remember a 40-60-50-70-40-60-50-70.... routine I did on a 300 mile trip when I first got my '70 Cuda to properly break-in the 340. An interesting factoid after that was that I got 19-20 MPG on the highway at speeds up to 70 mph, after that it dropped to 17.5 and went down 1 mpg for each 10 mph increase in speed. The sudden drop was probably more because of the secondaries squeaking open than the break-in cycle but it was an interesting coincidence.

Mixed feelings about Toyota. I bought a brand new Corolla Liftback in 1980 and it was absoultely a wonderful car. Good performance, great reliability, etc. It went in the shop once in 90,000 miles - the day before I sold it with a failed starter. On the other hand, the salesmen are totally arrogant. Wife and I were looking at a Land Cruiser in 2000 and my wife started asking him if the Land Cruiser had several options that were on the Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd. we were alos considering that was about $10,000 less. After the salesman had said, "No, it doesn't have that" about 6 or 7 time my wife finally asked why we should by the Land Cruiser over the Jeep which was much better equipped for a lot less. The answer - "It's a Toyota". With that we got out of the vehicle and left. Bought the Jeep a short while later.

The major difference would be to let the motor idle for 1-2 minutes after stopping before shutting it off to allow the turbo to cool down and not get heat soaked.

Depends on if you maintain the original tire diameter. A smaller diameter wheel would weigh less but the taller sidewall tire would definitely have more roll-over and different handling characteristics. Braking - other than tire patch size - is affected more by the increased rotational inertia that you get with larger wheels which put the weight of the tire further from the axle centerline.

I was really surprised to see all that mold. I've seen Z's that have been in wrecking yards getting rained on for years and they had no mold. I assume that was because their windows were down and they'd dry out.

First of all - the problem occurs when things are damp or very humid and there is no air circulation. In cooler humid environments where you can't get good 'solar baking' you should leave the windows cracked and set up a small fan to force ventilation through the vehicle. Go to the grocery store and find a good mildew remover - be careful that it doesn't have bleach (chlorine) in it or it will ruin your fabrics. Thoroughly clean and then dry, dry, dry the car. If using a car cover make sure it is a "breathable" cover. I have a suburban that has sat a month with a cover on it with no problems but it also is breathable and it sits in my driveway in Texas so the moisture gets baked out of it.

93 Octane just dropped to $3.10/gallon here in the DFW area from a high of $3.30.I'm amazed at you guys that get in the high 20's on the highway. Even at it's best my 77 280Z with an '83 NA drivetrain never did better than 25 which is about the same at my LS1. Then again, it had the stock Nissan ECU and maybe the aftermarket ones can be programmed to be more efficient?

The budget can make the decsion for you. Look at the options and run some estimated costs - then double them to cover the 'forgots' & 'redos'. I initially planned to spend $5-7,000 on my conversion. I ended up opting for a route that ran double that and then doubled that yet again into the car in other refinements. You have to really plan these carefully or you'll end up with an unfinished, undrivable project for sale on Ebay.

Sure looks a lot like the old Opel GT.

I'm running 16x7 wheels with a '0' offset with stock springs (stock ride height)and no flares. I've run both 215/55-16 tires and 225/50-16 tires. The 225/50-16's actually fit the fenderwell better. In either case, however, I should have had a +5 or 10mm offset to really fit right. With only coilovers it would be relatively easy to run 16x8" wheels (+15-20mm offset) and 245/50-16 tires on all four corners. The 225/50-16's seemed to perform pretty decently on the track. I was more limited by braking (toyota upgrade on front and drums on rear) and body roll (stock sway bars) than tire adhesion. I've since upgraded the brakes but the sway bars are still stock.

FWIW - my LS1/T56 combo has been used as a daily driver for over two years and 18,000 miles now. It is not too much power for me. It might be for someone that's brain dead but I've found it to be a very managable vehicle if treated with respect and driven responsibly. The computer control system gives it a very smooth idle and I can run in 6th gear all the way down to about 40-45 mph on level ground without lugging the motor.

I agree. Don't take a computer controlled motor and carb it. Why spend the money for the technology and then not use it. Might as well just get a standard SBC. It looks like the photo is of the 5.3 Liter variant of the LS motors. True? Leastwise it sure looks like what is sitting in my Suburban. For starters - it has a tall intake manifold that will require that you either cut a hole in your hood or replace it with one off a LS1. Either way you'll be investing more money. It also has an iron block so it is heavier than the LS1. As long as it sits in the LS1 position that may not be a big problem as it will probably improve your front/rear weight bias. If I remember right it's rated at 285 HP & 325 ftlb's of torque?

Yeah, not my favorite place to be - but it also keeps me away from lot's of other things too - like my favorite TV shows! At least I've knocked a couple things off the list. Just waiting for the cooler weather that we'll have after I get back from Israel later this month.

You 'coasters' scare me when you talk about what real estate is going for. I've got a 2250 sq ft home on a fully landscaped lot that is paid for. Looks like I'll be staying in Texas because it would put me back into house payments on the coasts. Then there is my Aunt who owns a home in Los Angeles that cost her $17,000 in 1951!

Well - that, along with moving my intake to in front of the radiator, has my 'to do' list up to 14 items now.

Gee - I guess that means since I'm using Mobil 1 Extended Protection I only have to change the radiator fluid every 5 years - right?