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Yeah, I have a nice new helmet and gloves for riding the motorcycle with me on the way.(she had been using an old helmet of mine that didn't quite fit right) But now I feel like I need something a bit better, more personal.

Hey all, I just thought I'd share the early Christmas Present I got from my girlfriend. We've been dating for a little under a year now, and she loves coming to my shop with me and watching me work. She also enjoys coming to the various Z events that I've been to in the past year. I guess at some point she heard of Mr.K, so she found a photo of my Z on here, had it printed, and framed it. I don't know how, but she then found Mr.K's address in Japan and mailed it to him with a compelling letter (which included a print out of my college admission essay, which was about my Z). Yesterday I got this. All in all I have to say it's pretty awesome. Photos of the signed picture and the girl below.

I've seen 245's on 17x8.5 clear the stock fenders. Do you have flares, Pat?

They're stamped 175. That makes them 44's, right? You're right though, they do look awfully like these OEM toyota carbs. http://www.rmcarburetors.net/oem_toyota_solex_type_r.htm

Obviously looks are subjective, but this looks like a pain in the ass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX9LgeBf58U&feature=player_embedded

I've been bad about updating this but good on my blog so if you'd like more info, check there. Here are the major bullet points of the past month or so. I sold my rusty old 280 2+2, It was a good runner, but I wasn't going to put much effort into it as long as the 240 was on jackstands, so it was best it went to a new owner. The suspension is coming apart. I still need to get ahold of some illuminas for shortened struts and a new bushing kit, but I started cleaning everything up for paint. Bad Dog frame rails arrived. The original rails were actually in very good shape and I decided not to cut them out, so I'm in the process of...massaging the original rails to get them to fit flush. The main goal is to take the curve out of the original rail where it transitions to the floor rail so that the new one lines up. C-clamps, floor jacks, and a good hammer are your friends here. I'll be painting most of the original and new rails with POR-15, and using weldable primer close to the welding seams. Eastwood undercoating will be going over everything.

Hello all, I recently picked up an incomplete set of Solex 44's from a member here who didn't want to deal with them. I was trying to find out more information about them to decide whether it would be possible to put together a complete set and rebuild them, but I find myself struggling to properly identify them. They seem to be a bit different than the standard offerings. A couple pics are attached below. Their profile doesn't seem to match any of the options on this site. Just browsing around pictures of 44 Solex's I came across these that did look to be the same carbs. The article calls them "Nismo Solex 44 HH carburetors" Armed with this info, the only other site I could find mentioning 44mm "Nismo" carbs was the japanese one below. http://www.power-planning.com/hpgen/HPB/categories/60158.html Does anyone here have any more helpful info on these and where I could get a third one, rebuild kits, or what parts they may share with more commonly available Solexs? Thanks

I'll take another photo tonight. Sorry if I've got my terminology wrong, but I thought that 'insert' and 'cartridge' were used interchangeably so I just abbreviated cartridge. In any case, I am pretty sure that the nut is part of the insert. That said, I did a little more research and may have answered my own question. They appear to be very early Koni adjustables. According to JohnC's site. "The Koni 86-1811/1812 series is the classic Koni twin tube hydraulic adjustable shock that's been used on the S30 cars since the 1970s. All Koni shocks are rebuildable and revalveable by dozens of shops around the world." According to these sites they came with and without integral gland nuts. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/303844-strut-pains-2.html http://forums.pelicanparts.com/5947647-post1.html

Yes you are correct and I edited for clarity. This is a new car to me, and from what I know of its history, it hasn't run since 1976. I came across these struts in the car, and have never seen or heard of anything like them, and was wondering if anyone had any information on them. They fit very loosely in the housing, which leads me believe they aren't 8610/8611.

I was taking the suspension apart on my new 240z last night and found these inserts. They're Koni's, but I've never heard anyone mention strut cartridges with the gland nut integral to the cart. From what I know about the car, it had some performance work done to it in the early 70's, but has been parked since 1976. Anyone ever seen these before? The only similar ones I can find online seem to be for Porsches, but that isn't terribly surprising since they fit quite loosely in the strut housing. Just curious if anyone recognized these or had any information on them. The part number stamping is very very light and hard/impossible to read.

Yeah, the rear arches on my car were rusted out and the previous owner, EvilC, had them replaced. The cut line seems to be about the same height as you cut for flares. Anything is possible with time and skill. Incidentally, this is the only reason I'm not going ZG right away. They were literally JUST replaced, so I figure I'd better drive it for a while and be absolutely sure I want/need flares.

Well that might be just a little stiffer than stock, haha. Awesome work, though that's a bit closer to fabricating a chassis rather than reinforcing one.

I'm gathering parts to put my Z back together and just wanted to check if I could save a few bucks and take some parts off of someone's hands. I'm looking for: 240z Energy suspension bushing kit 240z Illuminas for sectioned struts 2.5 coilover springs in the 200-250 range Sway bars Bump steer spacers AZC Wilwood brake kit front and rear 240z R200 + CV swap components Rota RBR's from the group buy Possibly adjustable control arms if the price is right, but those aren't high on my list. Thanks guys, -Will

Most of the Tokyo Xtreme racer series have the older Z's. They also are very visual modification oriented. Older games though, but they look awesome.

I'm thinking of a similar color. John from Bad Dog parts has the maxima gray with some added flake on his car. It's gorgeous in person.

I've been in touch with him, he told me he has 240z front rails in stock, but the rear rails (subframe connectors) were about 3 weeks out. This was about 2 weeks ago, so I'd expect to hear back from him soon.

For sure, and I absolutely agree. For some reason, the images of the late 90's Tein corolla rally cars was burned into my mind, so I just always associated them with racing and quality. Just goes to show how effective racing marketing can be! It's good to have independent testers really shaking them down in a controlled way.

Wow, interesting read. I was a bit surprised to see Tokico and Tein on the crap list, especially considering the latter's racing experience, but this guy does seem to have the capability to test them correctly.

Exactly! How much of a bend did you have to do there?

Came across this picture with no other info on Ratsun. Found the photographer's flickr, but it didn't have this photo on it. Quite the airdam on this one, car looks like it means business.

Tony, I think we're on the same page now. Again, I never said this was a good idea, particularly for our cars. It would render an s30 scrap at the first sign of water or damage. And I certainly would never suggest foam instead of a cage. In fact, I don't think I'd suggest it for much of anything other than a Lemons racer, but it may be perfectly suited for that!(after the cage is installed of course) I just wanted to counter some of the talk that the stiffening properties were COMPLETELY without at least a basis in truth. There are absolutely better ways to stiffen an s30. It turns out it is about the same as spot welding, and I know which option I'd choose! As a mechanical and aerospace engineer with a focus in composites, I knew the mechanisms by which they made composites stronger(deformation resistance, transferring loads to be borne in tension), and I could see those mechanisms acting on a steel box section as well, and I knew of their use in newer cars. That is great info on the works cars. To be honest I had always wondered about that. Even amateur level rally racing can wear out a new, heavy and safe chassis pretty quickly. I was curious how, even with a cage, they managed not to crack those chassis. I kind of love factory backed cheating like that, I'm reminded of the turbo toyotas; wrong, but pretty impressive nonetheless.

Yeah, even Manhattan we got rocked. Soggy, dense snow with all the leaves still on the trees caused tons of breaks. I'm glad my G35 wasn't parked on the street Saturday night.

Seeing as the exact same blue car is pictured in both, I'd say it's the same valence.

Looks like they welded a nut on the back end of he U for the rod to thread into.

Rayven, I have no idea how your painter screwed those up so bad, that's impressive. It looks like he had his settings wrong and sprayed it too thick. Clive, It'll get back it's finish with a thin coat of clear after all the sanding is done. Even a rattle can will get the job done. You'd want to clear it for the UV protection anyway, it keeps it from yellowing.