Doc Hawk

Well after seeing that, I hereby announce that my precious '72 is also for sale, anytime some dumbaaa... er, I mean valued customer wishes to invest $25K.

Down here in Southern California, it's pretty typical for a L24 long block to go for $100-$200. You can get them with little to no wait for $150.

That's amazing. Amazing that the bolt did that (stood upright in precisely the wrong location!?!), and amazing that it stuck around for you to find. Odds on either of those things happening... too high to think about. Glad the only damage was to your nerves, brother.

Congratulations Bart! Tell us when your order arrives - that will be the true proof that the system worked. I hope they didn't add you to a waiting list or pre-sell you a system they didn't quite have in stock yet. Usually Amazon is pretty good about stocking level, though, so I'm pretty confident you'll get your Wii.

The first official meet of the San Diego Z Association will be this Saturday, 6PM, at Dave & Busters in San Diego (Mission Valley, at the intersection of the 8 & 805). You can Google directions to 2931 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego. Don't skip it just because your Z isn't on the road yet - come down and hang out, have a drink, enjoy some food, play some video games, and meet your fellow San Diego Zed Heads! San Diego Z will have all of the things you'd expect from a car club, including meets, fellowship, shows & events, cruises, group buys and discounts. However, we're going beyond the traditional bounds of many clubs, and will be striving for historic restoration, preservation, and preservation of the Z car heritage, lending the group a nonprofit charitable education status. In addition, we will also be putting considerable effort into hosting bracket racing in the SCCA and other series, including club rankings, teams, and opportunities for sponsorship. Racing will include autocross, track days, and full-fledged road racing. Coaching and driver training will be available, so no racing experience is necessary. More info at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/sandiegoz/ Hope to see some of you this Saturday!

I have sold 2 cars on CL, and both of them sold within 1 day of listing. If you price it right, you really don't have to haggle, or put up with no-shows. You also have to kind of know your audience. Lastly, I have found that a high quality post gets high quality responses. I have bought 3 cars off of CL, and I have had to put up with significant flakeyness from many sellers. Overall though, CL is my preferred method of purchasing and selling a vehicle.

Pop is right on... very low rust cars can be had out here for under $1000, and they come up with pretty regular frequency. Up in the Northeast (or anywhere else, really), I understand that is not the case, and so the value out there would be higher.

JSM: All awesome blessings, for sure, but... which one of those do you have on your Z? LOL

Down here in Southern California, that would be about a $2000 car - $1500 really, but that dash alone would convince someone to pay $2K. If you could wait a year for the perfect buyer to come along, you might get $2500. You'd have to perform a lot of work to get that car into the $4000 range, and paint would be high on the list. The engine bay looks like it needs a lot of refreshing, too, judging by the hoses. I don't see many Z's sell in the $5K range. It's more like either project cars for $1K-$3K, or restored original classics for over $15K-ish. YMMV...

Good info Broccoli. The 240Z parts / resale market is a relatively small niche, so if it appears there is actually a decent chance someone here will notice. I am tending to think it's going to turn up on a back road or an industrial area somewhere within the month. A member of the Z club down here just had that happen to them over the summer. Turned up 2 months later abandoned with wheels missing, a torn airdam and a scuffed muffler. He's pretty sure the body damage came from the lazy tow truck operator, not the thief.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God bless you and yours... I am certainly thankful for all of you folks that make up this community. Even though I own the factory service manuals and the aftermarket books as well, this forum is the single most important foundation for my ability to own and operate my Z's. For a Thanksgiving thread: What one part, assembly, project, or feature of your Z are you most thankful for? For me, I'm thankful for the triple Mikunis that came with my street '72. Based upon what I paid for the car, it's like I bought the carbs and they came with a free Z!

Is it true that each can is pretty much good for just a one-time use? I have no experience with it, but I was told by a dealer that once you open the can and close it again, it sets up and you can't get the lid back off. The dealer had no experience with it, either, so I wonder if they were just trying to sell me smaller quantity units.

My delivery was exactly as intended - providing a bit of guidance and constructive criticism, with a little poking fun as well, for entertainment value (for everyone) and to help the lesson stick (for you). When a lesson causes an emotional response of any kind, it is exponentially more likely to be remembered. As proof of that, it prompted you to respond and question my method, which indicates that you at least gave it some thought. This forum is particularly welcoming to new members such as yourself. Quite often, one or more of the first posts from new members are flawed for various reasons - they ask something that has been answered many times and is readily available in the archives and FAQ, they want a one-line answer to a complex question ("what suspension is best?"), or they ask for help or input without providing enough information to the reader, as in this case. A good rule of thumb is that the quality of responses to a post will likely match the quality of the original post. If someone posts a long run-on sentence with no punctuation, people won't be able to suffer through the question long enough to bother to post an answer. In your case, posting an alert with little information to actually act upon meant that even if someone wanted to help, they'd be pretty limited by your lack of completeness. Obviously, theft of a Z is something that we all care about and want to help with, so rather than blow off your post, I pointed out the problem in the hopes that you would fix it. You did; good job. Regards,

It'd be a lot easier to cooperate with your post if we had at least some actual info... plate would be nice, for example, as well as contact info for the owner. PD is not really all that interested in cooperating with people who call in on the emergency or dispatch lines with, "Uh, I saw a red 280Z, and I heard one was stolen, so... like... maybe check it out." "What? No, it's not mine." "A friend? No, he's not my... I mean, yes, he - well, no." "No, I don't know his name. Actually, I read about it on the Intern..." *click* Good luck in the recovery, tho!

Did one of us score this ridiculous bargain in Southern California? '77 280Z 350 Chevy engine 700R4 Transmission Smog legal Made into a convertible with a hard top Side pipes Currently on non-operational certificate. Needs minor work to get running (battery and ignition) The ASKING price was $500. Sold in hours - I was too late. I hope it at least went to someone on here...

Nice troubleshoot, Mario! Cameron, to flesh out that answer, here's the gist of it: The Bendix is a spring-loaded shaft and gear assembly. When the ignition switch is placed in the start position, the starter spins at a high rate of speed. Centrifugal force moves the bendix forward and engages the flywheel teeth. If the bendix breaks, either it won't go forward at all, or worse yet it won't retract. Since you have an intermittent problem instead of a full fault condition, it's likely that the assembly is mucked up and needs cleaning and re-greasing, rather than being broken. A nice illustration of the bendix is included at http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/battery1_od.htm If you want to do a poor-man's fix, you could probably get away with spraying some penetrating oil down the shaft and twirling it to get it distributed. Best long term fix is to tear it down, clean it out, and re-grease it. Hope this helps, David

Well deserved, Ron. Congrats.

My computer and my service manual if I'm thinking "out of the box," or if I'm taking the question more literally, my complete set of Craftsman metric wrenches and sockets that my wife gave me for Father's Day. Thinking about it, those wrenches and sockets are probably the only tools I use on almost every single project on the car. The CNC machine at the shop is pretty high up there, though... fun to zip up mounts, brackets, OEM replacements, etc.

Rule of thumb? Less weight, less width, less height, and less traction = less forces on the drivetrain. Putting no wheels on at all would be a great choice for you, if avoiding abusing the drivetrain is your primary goal. The rotational mass will be very close to the axle, the weight will be minimal, and you'll have almost no traction at all! As John notes, that's a pretty unusual fundamental criteria for choosing a tire, since you are in effect looking for the worst tire performance. A better mindset would probably be to look for the best performer at the lightest weight, while keeping tire height down as much as possible within your target effective final gear ratio.

Fun stuff... I have a couple of those. He's missing a new royal blue Matchbox car, #5 on the rear quarter.

n00b'er words were never spoken. Too bad you can't take just one post and move it to the Tool Shed. Pavcon, your implication that "newer=better" on a forum dedicated to cars that are up to 38 years old is so ignorant that I really have no point of reference to begin disabusing you of your problems. Good luck with that. - David

Whatever you think the name or cause of your handling problem is, your description of the symptom demonstrates that you are loose in the center of a turn, after the car has taken a set. Adding a rear swaybar will make this condition worse. If your strut cartridges are not used up (the most likely cause), then stiffen your front swaybar. If you need more, add a stock rear bar. Blueovalz is a smart dude; it's best to at least give some consideration to his input when he chimes in. - David

Correct... mustache goes back behind the rear mounts. The ends curl forwards, not backwards like the stock mustache bar. In the middle of an R200 swap, David

Saw the video... nice ride. Chris, do you have all that car running with just a lap belt? Or do you have a 3-point or a harness installed, and you just aren't wearing them? Wear yer damn belts! Car control + no death & dismemberment = no brainer. 'cause we love you, David

Harbor Freight +1. Cheap, with a variety of media. They even sell a gun for... I think about $35. David