ZR8ED

whoops dual post.

Well if you wanna talk tips/tricks, you can always sacrifice one of your 12mm wrenches, and grind some of it away so it fits on the nut, and gives you a bit more range of turning. For the life of me, I can't recall which stud is the tightest fit, and requires 1/8th turns at a time. Grinding the outside of the wrench around the circumfrence, as well as making it a bit thinner (laying the wrench down flat on a grinder if you can picture what I mean.) Yes it reduces the strength of the wrench somewhat, but you will only use it a couple of times on a few of the manifold studs, and use it for nothing else. I would do this even with the high priced tools. Low buck wrenches are not as strong, and are usually much chunkier compared to the professional grade tools. Scott. BTW. Prepping of the carbs BEFORE installing them is the key to getting them to work right. I won't go into the specifics of how to do that, but I will say, that accuracy counts!

Ive never been to the Caribbean, but I hear there are lots of pirates around there. I saw it in this cool movie once, so it must be true. Sorry man. Hard not to think of the Caribbean without the movie popping in there first!

All these threads being brought back up. ie your occupation, other cars, hobbies, 2+2 owners, pilots,etc so I thought I would bring this one back. I sold the Grampian 26, and got a good deal on a Grampian 30. Much more comfortable, smoother sailing, lots more waxing and antifouling though

I seemed to have lost my avatar. (my fault) How do I upload one from my computer. I don't see an upload from my computer option. I will figure something out in the meantime. Regards, Scott.

Well I do have a soft spot for the underdog little S30. Something about living in a GM town full of muscle cars, and me wanting to be different. Now I like pretty much all "old school" styled cars from the 70's and yes even the 80's (when I was a teen ya know) Everyone wanted a 5.0 mustang gt! and I thoroughly enjoyed stomping them into the ground with my tinny little wittle 6cyl. (yes it was modded, so what!) Underdog, blacksheep, **** disturber, whatever you want to call me, it sure is FUN!

What?! you never had chocolate covered Jalepenos before? Hot and sweet.

Yasin: Ok. So I have another pic of the car. I have had the car in and out of shops lately getting it ready for spring, so I have hardly seen the car lately. Here is a rear shot that shows the body kit a bit better. I promise that "I" will take my own pics as soon as reasonable...maybe a pic of my new exhaust too!

That is funny that you mention that. I am going to a Porsche parts recycler on Sat morning to pic up a few things, and I saw on their website, they have a warhouse full of various complete running engines from 911, 914, 912, 924, 944, 928, etc etc. Lots of cool seats that MAY fit nicely in a particular widebody 280z. I Just won't mention that they may go into a lowly Datsun! bwahaha. For fun I may price out an engine or two, but I shudder to think what they may cost. For comparisons and humors sake, I found that a new factory exhaust for my 944 is about $6K from a dealer! I have a beautiful ss exhaust on my 280 that cost me under a grand. Hand built no less. I am quickly finding these P dudes are even more purist that many of the Z "purists" I know. Sheesh...

Well I check it while I'm enjoying my morning coffee, and then I peek in on and off throughout the day..pretty much every day. More in the winter than in the summer.

In no particular order of importance: You ALWAYS have a choice. Just because you may not like the choices or if they are difficult to make does not mean that they are not available to you. The difficulty with seeing the truth is that it is masked by our reality. We CAN do anything that our minds can and cannot think of. We CAN also fail at anything that our minds can and cannot think of. It is up to us to choose. It is better to be alive and wrong than dead right. Blood is thicker than water, unless the water is frozen. If life is really like a box of chocolates, then you can’t truly live life without getting your fingers sticky. To give all of yourself to help others without leaving enough to regenerate yourself will ultimately make you a burden onto others.

Well the V8 converted guys sure don't get any love on the Porsche forums. They too have been exiled to their own little corners of internet...Just like us. Even my car is considered a bit of a bastard child. Oh well I'm used to running outside the pack...like a big nasty T Rex Hehehe. But seriously. I've no intentions of modding the Porsche...well unless I need to replace something. I want to just enjoy this car, while I setup for my new Z. I really just want to get rid of the beastly one, so I can attack my next project. The new Z's condition/mods will determine some of the direction of the project, but to sum it up, it will not be some highstrung monster. I will be trying to find a nice balance of hp/tqe weight distribution, handling, smoothness and reliabilty, in a totally streetable package. Big order? a bit, but I have 20+ years of Z experience, and Hybridz.org has got my back. I know I can do it. Can't wait to begin. Now someone buy my car.

Don't want to steal any thunder from this amazing thread, but thought I would post about another car with a carbon composite chassis. I originally read about it in kit car magazine back in the late 80's early 90's. 275 lb chassis. I recall a pic of two guys lifting it up! Cool idea of the Z though. Never heard of it being done before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consulier_GTP

If ya want 12" clearance... I could easily stuff some 335's or even a bit bigger. I have room with my 315's sitting on my 17x11's. May not sound impressive, but I am also not running coilovers...stock spring perches for me. Unfortunately, my moulds are likely lost forever, so you'd have to buy my whole car to get them. hehehe. Interesting concept. Flares on flares. Probably easier to make your own to fit whatever wheel you want. I installed these 1/4 panels, and THEN took measurements for my wheels. Very risky to get it right.

Yes they are real. I cut them out myself before installing the 1/4 panels That is aluminum mesh epoxied to the inside of the panel.

5 year bump!? where the frig was I during this thread?! Well I can't beat the race car, but I think I'm about dead even with Terry. 17x11 4.5 inch backspace if i recall. Not really a surprise to anyone that knows my car. I always love a good wheel thread.

Yasin: Well it is an 86 with the 8valve 2.5L and 130K on it, and according to my records that came with the car and the owner history, it was purchased by a conversion company in Aurora in 1987. It had the convertable conversion, a body kit, white face guages, sport wheel, short shifter, and some minor engine/suspension mods done. I am not sure about the 16" fusch's, but they are 16x7 and 16x8. I just put on BFG supersports for the safety inspection. I am going to clean it up a bit, and just enjoy it. It should be a lot of fun while I work on my next Z project. No I have not started on that one yet.

Ok. So I have another pic from the Kijiji ad (not my pic) and was edited to remove the guys girl out of the picture, but it is the only decent pic I have of the car all clean. (it is being washed in the picture)

As you know, I have had my Z beast for more than 20 years, and have decided to move on to new projects. My wife and I have been quite envious of the convertable 350z's at some of our z club events, and began searching for convertables after falling in love with the new 370 roadsters this summer! We are not ready to move to a new 370ZR, but a nice 350ZR are quite plentiful and reasonably priced. Now how did I end up with a Porsche? Well I was thinking of them after thoughts of an old Ferrari danced in my head. More affordable than a Ferrari, I have always loved Porsches, when another relative offered me a deal on a Porsche. This started me on researching P cars. While sourcing parts, pricing, problems/ how to's etc, I came across this convertable. Unfortunately it sold and its sale ad was removed. I was still deciding on my inlaws P car, hoping to sell my Z first, when a few weeks later, I stumbled across the ad for that same convertable! I jumped at it right away as it had a reduced price! Apparently the sale fell through after a deposit, and failure to pay/pick up the car. Armed with lots of new found knowledge of 944's, I checked out the car, and bought it right away, as there was a lineup to see the car. A funny part to this story was they guy had other P cars, a Datsun 1600 roadster and a 280z sitting in his garage! He had also heard of my Z. It appears to be well known. hehehe Kinda hard to see in this pic ( hey its winter and cold outsite), and the car is dirty from bringing it home, but anyone who knows Porsches, can see that it has a body kit, but what you can't see, is that it is modified under the hood, and has a customized interior, and mild suspension upgrades. It has 130,000 km's on it, and has zero rust that I can find, and I'm pretty good and finding rust. This should make a pretty fun weekend toy to enjoy once I begin my next Z project. No I don't have another Z yet. I will not begin this until ZR8ED 1 is gone. Oh and the wife is pleased with the purchase, so this makes it a great deal!

Loads of fun. I swear. As many know. My beast of a Z is for sale, as I am moving on with a new project. (more on that in due time) but back to the fun. I have had it listed on several sites online. I am very interested in selling it, but I'm more interested in finding the right buyer, because as you know, modified cars like mine are not for everyone. So to keep things simple, I laid out the ad to be fairly rigid by asking for a firm price, and a no trades clause to weed out the tire kickers. Within the Zcar community, I have been more flexible. I would like another clean stock 240-280 with a preference for a near stock 280z in powder blue (long history to that story so I will leave it at that) Any clean Z in totally driveable ready to go condition will be considered, as I want to drive it for a bit, as I plan and organize the project. Now to my point. I have been getting some great emails/calls. I won't even mention the emails about sending me a money order for 3 times what I'm asking for the car, I just need to cash it and send back the difference. yada yada yada. We all get those. I'm talking about some of the more serious inquiries that want to come out and see the car. Here are a some of the funnier bits from many emails and different phone conversations. The names and specifics of the conversations have been hidden to protect the stupid. 1: Caller: Ok how long have you owned the car? Me: approx 21 years. Caller: what about the previous owners of the car? How many? Did they have any problems or accidents that you know about? Me talking to myself in my head: WTF? I’ve had it for 20 plus years and you are worried about previous owners of a 32 year old car?!!! 2: Caller: So what kind of sound system does it have? How many speakers? Me talking to myself in my head: This is the 3rd question you could think of to ask me? 3: Caller: I want to daily drive it. What kind of mileage does it get, and can you drive it in the snow. 4: Caller: So how fast can it go? 5: Caller: Will you trade for a motor bike? 6: Caller: I know it’s the middle of winter, and I only live 2 hours away, but can you bring the car to me so I can check it out? 7: Emailer: I’ve been doing some research, and the car doesn’t look really modified, would you be willing to reduce your price? 8: Caller: Oh. I can just insure it under my dad’s insurance. It ain’t no big deal to get it registered/insured. Its old, so it shouldn’t cost me too much. 9: Emailer: I’ve got a few cars to trade. Will you take them? 10: Caller: Oh…I don’t want a car that’s been built to go on a track. 11: Emailer: Can a baby seat fit in it? 12: Emailer: Are the floors rusty/ok? Me talking to myself in my head: WTF? The ad clearly lists that I had new floors and frame rails installed!! 13: Emailer: Is the motor modified? Me talking to myself in my head: WTF? The ad clearly lists my major mods! 14: Emailer: I’d love to have this car but my wife would kill me! Me talking to myself in my head: WTF? Why are you responding to my ad then? Well that is about it for crazy questions asked. I just wanted to hang up on some of them when they spoke like that. As for the emails. I politely responded saying that I had taken a deposit and the car was sold. Geez. I didn’t know selling a car could be this much fun at times, though I wish I wasn’t so picky about who buys my precious one of kind Z. But I am! Serious inquiries only please. Special consideration for Hybridz members. My Car ad http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=157655

Sounds like a lot like your hydraulic lifters clakking a bit until they see enough oil pressure. Very common, and if it goes away quickly (seconds) then you are likely just fine. They do get worn and/or gummed up a bit thus taking a few seconds to see oil pressure. Whenever you replace lifters, it will make this same noise until they get filled up (most try to pre fill them before installing, but doesn't make a huge difference)

Ya I know what you mean. I take my Z to the dealer, and they start to look at each other with a glazed look in their eye, which soon turns to fear, and they say "I dunno what the hell that even is. Your sure that it is a Nissan? Oh a Datsun. Never seen one before" I say this with tongue firmly planted in cheek. But i do get your point about dealers.

You mean my main project or my secret project/s? hehe J/k I made an agreement with my wife about spending $$$$, Garage, car events etc. She is pretty cool with it. She helps a little bit with the car, and comes to most of the events that I attend. I agree. Balance is the key. Keeping things secretive and separated is not the way to long lasting happiness. (for cars and girls) BTW I made those arrangements early in the relationship, and I considered them to be deal breakers. I have to be realistic and live with this aggrement, so I considered it carefully before allowing my relationship to proceed. (learned this from previous situations) Life is good.

I will second Tony's response. I ran without a return line for a little while just like several of my friends Z's. Then when I sought a solution to occasional hot hard starting issues, I ran a return line (my 280 had one conveniently located) and those issues disappeared. Even on smokin hot days at the track. No issues. Return hot fuel to the tank and replace with cooler fuel. No brainer really. Scott.

Hmm I don't recall if I ever mentioned this before, but I did the 300zx gas pedal/cable swap back in 2000 when I put in the VG30ET into my 280z. Fits beautiful, and a nice feel. Hooked up perfect (obviously) to my VG throttle body! I guess I never thought of it being used in the S30 for other setups that could be converted to a cable linkage! Now linked in Hybridz for ever.