blue72

Joel or Mike?

Epoxy. Original Mini or Fiat 500?

Whew, good to see it (and you) got out relatively unharmed. I just got through completely unwrapping and rewrapping my dash harness because of something similar. The passenger side switch in the door for the overhead courtesy light had broken into little pieces. This let the contact dangle until it touched something it didn't agree with, and POOF! the whole thing melted or burned off all the insulation on the entire length of the wire as well as other wires it connected to. I unwrapped the entire harness because that simple wire goes from one end of the thing to the other. I happened to have a spare dash harness to harvest parts from and ordered non-sticky OEM style harness wrap to do it back up like stock. I've got a new switch now, but I'll be checking every single connector against a wiring diagram when I go to put it all back in place.

Nope, this information is correct. This is what I was trying to prevent, the "I think..." or the "I heard that..." sort of comments that get thrown around. I made sure to keep everything orderly and I measured the L28 and L28ET rings and ring lands twice on separate occasions with the same results. It can barely be seen in the pictures if one peers close enough. Truth is that in the U.S., beginning in 1981 (around August of 1980 if you want to be technical) all L28 (both N/A and Turbo) pistons had a 1.5mm top ring (the Laurel wasn't sold in the U.S., so its 1.2mm thick top ring isn't applicable here), 2mm second ring and the customary 4mm oil ring groove.

Hand forming your own body kit components? Impressive dedication. Not taking enough time to make your hand formed body kit components symmetrical? Fail. I bet this thing looks absolutely horrific up close.

You tease me! Mine hasn't yet arrived here in Utah, no matter how often I check the mailbox.

Yep, all you've gotta do is wiggle and rotate the lid until it lines up just so and it should come right off.

Okay, it's painted up like Bumblebee, Shia Lebeouf and the main actress are getting into it and it has a bumblebee pendant hanging from the rearview, so it's definitely Bumblebee. There are plenty more pictures from the filming of Explosions! Robots! More Explosions! part 3 which still show Bumblebee as a Camaro. As far as the knee jerk response of "Will it drive up the market for the Datsun 510??!!!??!!?!" well, probably not. Remember, this is a robot / explosion / CG deathmatch / stammering Lebeouf / hot actress movie, not really a car movie. Like zeeboost said, the price of crusty 2nd gen Camaros hasn't suddenly spiked. This isn't like F&F where the entire film glorifies the virtue of modifying the cars that most kids already had in their driveways. A Datsun 510 isn't exactly a common car to see jamming the freeways on your morning commute, and having one making a brief appearance in a robosplosion movie is highly unlikely to even pierce the radar of any up and coming teens who could be coaxed into gearheaddom.

I'm glad everyone liked it. Hopefully this will save frustration for someone down the road.

I happen to have pistons and rods from an L24, L28, L28ET and LD28 as well as a 2000 gram digital scale which I calibrated just before measuring began. Left to right: L28, L24, L28ET, LD28 It has taken me some time to acquire this selection of stock pieces. My only real interest in gathering them was to satiate my own curiosity and share my findings here with the HybridZ community. Part 1: Weight results as well as some general observations Note #1 All rod weights were calculated with the rod bolts and nuts in place. Bearing shells were removed prior to weighing. Note #2 These weights were taken from individual pieces, not from the average of all six. Note #3 Your results may vary. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball© L24E – This engine was in my Z when I purchased it. As it turns out, the early L24E engines from 810 cars have the desirable 133mm rods w/ 9mm rod bolts which are exactly the same as what came in the late L24 engines in the Z cars. Rod Length = 133.0mm Rod Stamp # = N01-1 Rod Weight = 711.1 g Wristpin Diameter = 21mm Wristpin Weight = 120.2 g press fit design Piston Diameter = 83mm Piston Weight w/ Rings = 402.0 g L28 – This was a JDM replacement 2bbl carb engine from an emissions era sedan (think Cedric / Laurel / Leopard / Gloria). It wound up in a junkyarded 280Z where I culled its internals. Rod Length = 130.35mm Rod Stamp # = A87-2 Rod Weight = 727.0 g Wristpin Diameter = 21mm Wristpin Weight = 120.2 g press fit design Piston Diameter = 86mm Piston Weight w/ Rings = 451.9 g L28ET – Pistons w/ rods purchased from board member Rod Length = 130.35mm Rod Stamp # = A87-1 Rod Weight = 711.2 g Wristpin Diameter = 21mm Wristpin Weight = 120.2 g press fit design Piston Diameter = 86mm Piston Weight w/ Rings = 455.3 g LD28 – Pistons w/ rods purchased from board member Rod Length = 140.0mm Rod Stamp # = V07-1 Rod Weight = 789.9 g Wristpin Diameter = 25mm full float design Wristpin Weight = 165.4g + 1.3 g each for snap rings Piston Diameter = 84.5mm Piston Weight w/o Rings = 523 g In case you've never seen the combustion chamber of the LD28: The bottom of the cast iron cylinder head is flat. All of the fuel and air is compressed into the top of the piston. Interesting note: LD28 rod bolts have a slightly different shoulder than the other 9mm L series bolts. Left to right: L28, L24, L28ET, LD28: To summarize: The LD28 rods are not some mystical and outrageously heavy pieces with lots of extra mass. They look almost exactly the same as any other L series rods with the exception of their added length and full floating wristpins. There is almost no difference between L28 and L28ET rods. The discrepancy with weight may be because my L28 rods came from a JDM car. Part 2: L28ET ringlands, where they differ from the regular L28 L28: Piston Stamp Mark = none Piston Dish = 10.9cc Top Ringland: 7.2mm Second Ringland: 3.4mm Third Ringland: 2.4mm Top Ring Thickness: 2mm Second Ring Thickness: 2mm Oil Rings Cumulative Thickness: 4mm L28ET: Piston Stamp Mark = P90 Piston Dish = 10.9cc Top Ringland: 7.2mm Second Ringland: 4.4mm Third Ringland: 2.4mm Top Ring Thickness: 1.5mm Second Ring Thickness: 2mm Oil Rings Cumulative Thickness: 4mm Interesting Note: The wristpin oiling is done differently on the L28ET piston which has two grooves at the top of the pin instead of the single top hole like on the L28 piston. To Summarize: The two pistons weight almost exactly the same, have the same dish and are both made of cast aluminum. The one major difference is that the second ringland on the L28ET piston is 1mm thicker than its N/A brethren and the top rings were .5mm thinner after 1980. Ringland thickness is a fact that gets thrown around here every once in a while in conjunction with detonation resistance but the real numbers are occasionally misquoted. Just trying to clear up any confusion because as is common knowledge, a picture is worth..... well, you know the rest. If anyone else out there has weighed their own rods and has the measurement along with the number stamped in the rod we might be able to get some averages going. If your stock parts look different than what I've shown I'd love to see them as well as know what they came out of.

Okay, thanks to dhp I've got a bucket and door pull strap finisher on the way. All I need now is a map light and that one grille bolt.

I'm getting close to painting my car and am in need of a couple of little pieces that I haven't yet come across in a junkyard. Car in question that these pieces will be going on is my '72 240Z. I'm looking for an interior center console map light that's complete. My heater control panel didn't come with one or the mounting screws for it. Next on the wishlist is a passenger side door pull little chrome finisher. I already have one of the chrome finishers so I only need one more, but if you've got a pair in good condition then I'll take them. The other item I need is a passenger side headlight bucket. I'm looking for a metal one as the fiberglass jobber I've got has three snapped studs despite liberal soaking with AeroKroil. So if you've got a decent condition metal headlight bucket with intact studs let me know. One last thing: If anyone happens to have a long 240Z grille bolt (goes from top to bottom through each of the bars) I could stand to replace one of mine. All of the short bolts and one of the long ones are fine, but the other long bolt snapped.

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/92411-24-hour-nuremberg-ring-video/

Looks like you've got a standard 3 screw SU setup. DCZ is right, it is more of a large knob than a screw and they come in a couple of varieties. Here are a couple of mine with an arrow to show where to find them:

Best to date was recorded on mostly 65-75 mph freeway driving between Arizona and here, 25 mpg. This was before some more modifications were made: 2.8L bottom end, stock P79 head and cam, stock SU carbs, 280Z trans with 0.864:1 O/D ratio, 3.9:1 rear. 195/60 R14 tires and no airdam, spoiler or other external mods. At 75 mph my engine turns at 3700 rpm.

They're slightly different than the originals as far as texture and color are concerned. I ordered half of them for my car and unless you look closely you can't tell the difference between the original panels.

Kinda sounds like it to me. Matt's quote above is from the Final Gear message board. Here's my transcript of the show: "I was actually quite impressed." "This car is very comfortable! It's actually really nice to sit in. Plenty of leg room." "And the sound of that engine! OMG!" "Do you smell gas? Ah, vintage cars. *giggling* " "It kind of feels from the passenger seat like you're on the ragged edge a little bit, but I feel there's grip there." "It's a Ferrari Datsun for God's sake! Listen to the V12 straight 6! Ooohhh." "There is no sound in the automotive world like a small bore V12 Japanese 6 in a vintage Ferrari Z." "It's geared really long, so on most of these roads I'm really just gunna leave it in second gear here." "It's a vintage car, you can tell that." "Thin framed wood wheel, no power steering, no standard Z car power brakes. Who needs any of that crap when you've got that sound coming from behind you though?" "Ooh One of these days! One of these days someone's gonna pay me enough to drive somethin' like this! And until then I'm glad I've got friends like this guy over here that are willing to toss us a set of keys." "If there is ever a car where you don't give a s**t what the numbers are, this is it. All you care about is 12 6 cylinders and that sound! And the fact that it looks like this." "Other than... the brakes are heavy, so you gotta get used to that, but the actual shifter and the throttle and the way the car operates it's very easy to drive." "On the tight bends though, the lack of power steering will jump out at 'ya!" I'm just glad that Matt got such a kick out of the old Z. Sure, he lied repeatedly, made up more lies to cover his previous ones and called others with more valid evidence than him liars, but he sure liked that Z car! Oh, and Matt, if you are reading this then I happen to be a Nigerian prince and I have a really convincing 20 minute background story that will help you understand how I need to get millions of dollars out of the country. I'll cut you in on some of it if you can help me by getting me your bank account info.

Really? From what I've read the difference isn't quite enough to make you go pants-crappingly mad. I've seen others weigh the LD28 rods at 784 grams while an L24 rod is 710 grams.

Second page of results after Googling "240Z White Interior": http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-Z-Series-240z-1972-Datsun-240z_W0QQitemZ120577611477QQcategoryZ6187QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-Z-Series-CALIFORNIA-CALIFORNIA-ORIGINAL-1972-240-Z-LOW-MILES-RUST-FREE_W0QQitemZ180514599499QQcategoryZ6187QQcmdZViewItem

My car had an entirely different reason behind an entirely different funny green water that was on my passenger side floorboard.....

My car was originally dark blue with a white interior. Unfortunately the previous owner either repainted, destroyed or recovered with different materials. I just got a white vinyl replacement kit this week. If you want to see a good looking car with white interior check out the one attached. I can't remember where on the internet I found that picture, but it is a very nice Z both inside and out. Anyone happen to know a good match for the interior white in a vinyl dye off the top of their head?

I'm sorry, but if there's one thing that really bugs me (when I happen to notice it) is when songs are used out of context. Remixing a Ben Folds song that is about the sadness he and his girlfriend felt after going through an abortion and re-arranging the lyrics to try and fit a video about car racing just killed the whole thing for me.