Pop N Wood

Man. Looks like no one is feeling generous today. I can stop on the way home tonight if you send an address. Since it is priority I assume you wont be shipping to an FPO...

The MSA catalog says Euro springs lower the car something like a half inch (if I remember right). But like Phantom said [/url]http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18665&highlight=http:// new springs ended up raising mine. So don't know what the change from a stock ride height would be.

I have the MSA Euro springs with KYB struts and full urethane treatment on my 1970 240. It was my daily driver in CA for about 8 years. With MSA sway bars and 60 series tires the car cornered very flat yet had a livable ride which handled the speed bumps. I have no experience with Eibach springs or even coilovers. I do remember guys in my LA based Z car club complaining that their cars were so stiff that they were uncomfortable on long trips (more than a few hours). For a car that gets driven a lot the softer springs may be the better choice. There has been a LOT of talk in past threads about coil overs. In fact, the talk is so prevalent that at one point I thought I had to put in coil overs, that they were the only way to go. But if you look at all the threads you will see the big advantage of coil overs is the ability to lower the car, a wider selection of spring rates, and some additional clearance for fatter tires/rims. If you want a daily driver, especially in a snow state when the pot holes start to bloom in the spring, then you probably don't want to lower your car anymore than the Euro springs will and you certainly don't want a super stiff spring. In fact, I have seen at least one post by a very respected HybridZ member who thinks coil overs are not necessary for a street driven car. The Euro springs came up in another, very recent thread on coilovers. I think Phantom mentioned he is keeping the euro springs on his LS1 conversion because he, too, likes the ride. And from the money and effort he is investing into his LS1 swap, he certainly isn't doing it to cut corners!

Jesse James on Monster Garage welds all of his aluminum with a torch. Any one ever try that?

Anybody try this place? (go to the very bottom of the page) http://www.datsunrestore.com/catalog.html About $230 for a complete set.

Here is a good link for a well documented LT1 Z http://www.home.earthlink.net/~rontyler/Z.html

Doahh. Take you out and beat you. I used KYB struts and MSA Euro springs on my CA daily driver for years. Not sure what the price is but it is probably about as cheap as anything else. I would replace the 30 year old springs. The Euro springs were suppose to lower the car about a half inch (fine for a street machine), but ended up raising it since the old springs were so shot. It would be easier to replace the struts and springs while you have the front end disassembled, but it is not that big of a deal either way. The real PITA for me would be disconnecting the brake lines and possibly tie rod ends to gain acess to the strut tubes. Don't wanna stress those rubber parts any more than you have to. Also do struts and springs on all 4 corners at the same time. Could be a safety issue if you do just the fronts.

You have the new one in and water is burping out of the relief valve? Perfectly normal IF you didn't install an expansion tank. The pressure valves will lift as the cold water expands as it heats up. If this is the case I would STRONGLY encourage you to install an expansion tank so the tank can absorb the pressure cycles without relying on the relief valve (which take my word for it can clog from repeated use causing the pressure to be relieved in other, less desireable ways). Also you need to plumb the relief valve into a drain or your sump in case it every really lets go.

I had some water heater problems and got to where I installed a neighbors in about an hour and a half. Would have been quicker but I had to cut a board to correct for the shorter heater. Home Depot sells hot water heater installation kits. Has two flexible copper tubes with couplers. Really simplifies the install. You may need to tinker toy in some new sections of gas pipe depending on the configuration. Just remember to use soapy water to check for leaks before lighting it off.

Man I love this site!!!

I use to frequent a shop in Marina Del Ray in Los Angeles, right near LAX. Can't remember where Oceanside is but if you are interested I could look it up. There has to be no end of shops in So Cal.

I suppose there are a million ways to skin a cat. From what I have seen, most guys tend to sacrifice part of the spare tire well at a minimum. I was heading along the route of completely remanufacturing the tank and removing the spare tire well to get duals at each corner. The other option was to try and make my own dual inlet muff (with internals patterned after an aftermarket model). How did you mount muffs "vertical"? Any pics, what type of muffs and how loud? From the sounds of it that Hooker dual inlet muffler should be pretty good from a performance point. Don't you think that would be a pretty sanitary and painless installation?

It looks like there was more to this exchange than shown in these posts, BUT from what I have seen I think he is a punk ass kid AND the shop owner could have handled it better. When I first started reading I couldn't believe some guy was going to be so nice to fly up to Alaska for so little money. Guess my BS sensor was right. But, I don't know if the owner's reply came out of impatience or arrogance. The kid was right, the guy could have told him it wasn't in his best interest to do such a class and left it at that. The world is full of dumb asses and shop owners need to learn to treat everybody as a valued customer. Few things piss me off more than shops that are so busy they don't feel they need to pamper their customers. That is why I do my own auto repairs. I guess with some guys you just can't win, but try to take the high road never the less. BTW, I would gladly pay $300 for such a class.

Yeah, I am starting to understand. I just didn't feel like incurring yet one more expense. Now that I understand where everyone is coming from, I am sure my near stock ride height Z should be OK with the U joints on a near stock LT1. And if I ever have problems then it will be time to upgrade.

You do realize the vettes and peterbuilts use U joints? Your argument is not really valid.

I generally don't like to tell people to do a search, but in this case it will return a wealth of info. The R200 should easil handle that 4.6 (unless you supercharge it). The stock turbo LSD's exist, but they are getting harder to come by and tend to need rebuilding if they are old. Ross at Modern Motorsports can hook you up with a Quiaffe unit (the torque biasing kind, IMO much better than a clutch type LSD) but at $1600 it is not for the faint of heart. R230's come in LSD and are a viable option, but they are bigger than an R200 and require some mods to mount. Nothing overwhelming so do a search and get the details. BTW, you may want to do a search on the 4.6L engine. They have been discussed several times.

Someone posted this link on another thread http://www.suspension.com/nissancars.htm $130 for everything (if I did the math right).

You swapped the plug wires onto the new cap one at a time, right? Make sure the firing order is good and that you haven't moved the wires over one spot. Your timing should not have changed so that shouldn't be an issue. I would really recommend replacing your plug wires too. When you say spark, how hot? With an electronics box the spark should be able to jump a 1 to 2 inch gap.

Kevin's right. Probably have an old wire (or several) that have cracked or chaffed insulation that ocasionally short out to a body panel somewhere. Could also be dirty, corroded connectors. I would start with a good visual inspection of everything. Follow along all wires looking for defective insulation. Pay particular attention to places where the wire goes through any body panels and replace the rubber grommets if needed. Pull every wireing connector (one at a time) and clean up any corrrosion. Then check for a good tight fit when reconnecting. Clean out any gook or corrosion in the tail light sockets. If all of that checks out, then you need to get a wiring diagram and start chasing down individual problems. Good luck.

I think leaving the radiator dry wasn't the best thing to do. The antifreeze has rust preventors to protect the aluminum head. Flush that out real well and make sure to refill with a good mix of antifreeze before turning the engine over.

But I think the important thing is an R180 or R200 will bolt directly into a 240 or a 280 with only junkyard, stock Nissan parts. Not really a tough job either way (and not sure why a $200 "kit" would be needed).

Battery charger works great. That is what I use to power the old car radio I installed in my garage. If you want to get fancy you can hook it up to a small car or motorcycle battery to help regulate the voltage with sudden current draws.

Damn, boy! You've got some toys!!!

I don't think many people seriously want to ban them. I think they should be regulated as passanger cars and not trucks. That means stricter safety standards and emissions. Maybe tax them more heavily also. Naw, I am still convinced that minivans are better vehicles for 95% of the people in this country than SUV's. People just don't like the stigma of a van and somehow or the other think SUV's are cool or practical.

Getting a little defensive, Denny? A Ford Explorer is probably one of the more inconvienent vehicles when it comes to kids in car seats. The things are too tall for most women to lift a kid up into. They also don't offer enough room to actually get inside and crawl around the seat while trying to strap a kid in while it is raining. A minivan with second row captain's seats and sliding doors is a MUCH more kid friendly vehicle. Don't have to worry about my 6 year old door dinging the car in the next stall. Also you need to name your poison. You can't have the seating capacity of the Excursion and the gas mileage of the explorer. Unless they have changed them since I looked at them (and maybe they have), your sister in law is not getting 2 kids in car seats + 2 other kids + herself safely buckled into an explorer anyway. And certainly you aren't about to compare the gas mileage of the excursion with that of the caravan? And yeah, the Chevy Yukon/Suburban has a 9 passenger model, but that 3rd row of seats is rather clostrophobic to get in and out of. I wouldn't sit there. SUV's are nice vehicles. Big, comfortable on the road and the new ones are nicely equipped with all the luxuries. If I lived in a rural area or towed a large boat/trailer, then I would probably own one also. But you have to admit for some yuppie with 2.3 kids driving Tad or Brittany to soccer practice in LA they are a bit much.