my1path

Eww, that's pretty rough. My buddy who welds for a living says he prefers MIG for body work. He says TIG heat is too concentrated and more prone to warping. I personally have not done TIG on body work but MIG has always worked out well for me. Just make sure to spread out your stitches methodically to allow maximum cooling before going back to that area. Once you have come full circle several times and have a stitch every 0.75"-1.5" you can begin connecting them. Again, moving around to give plenty of cooling and prevent warping.

Did a little prop valve ("NP Valve") cleaning today. --- Top assy with red piston is '81 280zx. Note the shorter spring which is actually stiffer than the long spring. This is the correct spring for a 42.9mm rear caliper and 60mm front caliper. (stock 280zx and s30's running z31 rear calipers) So I'll be installing the whole 280zx assy on my 260z to correct my brake bias issues smile emoticon --- Bottom assy came out of my '74 260z it was all gummed up and stuck in the free-flow position (no wonder I had way too much rear bias). Long soft spring is correct for stock s30's with drum brakes. --- With both valves partially assembled and only the top plug removed I was able to push on both pistons. Even in assembled form the one with the shorter spring is much stiffer.

Info for newcomers to this old thread. The Z31 MC was 15/16 and has all the same fitting sizes (M10x1.0) but different locations. There are several sizes out there for the newer Uni-reservoir MC. (Z31, z32, R32, pathfinder, late 80's & 90's cars) But their bore is not always labeled clearly so this is how you can decode them. BM33 = 13/16 BM38 = 7/8 BM44 = 15/16 BM50 = 1" BM57 = 1 1/16

FYI Mustang rear caliper vs z31 rear caliper 43mm piston vs 42.9 Ford has 1.15x larger pad area BUT Ford pads are tapered so new pad vs new pad z31 actually makes more contact. Z31 uses same diameter and thread pitch as all Nissan brake lines but Ford uses different thread pitch. Presently, on my 260z I am running stock (dual sided 60mm pistons) up front and Z31(late) rear calipers with 240sx(Early FRONT) vented rotors in the rear. The braking is crisp and if you don't have fresh pads up front the rears will lock up first on 1/2 tank of gas or less. (all of this fitting under 14" wheels) I looked at the Mustang setup and It does not really seem all that advantageous to me. Currently running L26 and it stops great! If I ever need more braking in back (never know what the future holds) it won't be the caliper, it'll be a larger rotor under a larger wheel.

It was me, I found an old post from 2007 saying he had lots of em. So I figured he might still... I had no idea Tokico had gone down hill in their supply chain either.

I had a broken ignition when I bought my car and had been using just the electrical switch in the back if the unit to start the car... I wanted fix my broken ignition and possibly upgrade it so it could run it on the same key as one of my newer vehicles and I did it. It took a little bit of work but the modified 84-89 300zx Ignition Cylinder slips right into my 260z steering column lock and starts the car. It uses a X123/ DAT13 Keyway like many other mid 80's to late 90's nissans and even some 2000's. Next is the easy part, I plan to set all the door locks to match the same key(key already fits). Still not sure about how to do the rear hatch lock yet... Advantages: -8 tumbler key vs 6 tumbler key -tumbler wafers are larger, thicker and more resistant to tampering -dual sided cylinder more resistance to shearing and tampering -2 retaining pins vs 1 retaining pin -Annoying Key-In-Door Chime switch does not work with this mod. Disadvantages: -Sticks out 1/4" more than stock on S30 and 1/8" on s130 -Face plate is not the same as factory(purists only) -Rotation of each key position does not match new face plate (see pic, doesn't bother me too much) -because the s30/s130 key was designed to rotate farther; the 300zx key can be removed in the 180 degree(run) position. This is not wear or damage, the 300zx cylinder was simply not designed to retain a key past 180 degrees. -Annoying Key-In-Door Chime switch does not work with this mod. Here is a pic of it on the vehicle, the extra amount it sticks out (because it has 2 more tumblers) doesn't bother me that much. and here is a comparison on the newer style wafer tumblers to the older ones. See how much thicker they are? Should resist tampering better than the old... This also fit and worked in my '81 28zx and I happen to have 6 more of these (new) so if anybody wants these fitted to your s30 or s130 Ignition cylinder I can do that for you as well. (or just sell the cyl to a 300zx owner) Then you can take the modified cylinder to a locksmith and have it keyed to the key of your choice.

Contact David at Experimental Engineering. His website is VG30.com (under construction) but you can emial him info@vg30.com He can can configure a vg30 sump to whatever your needs are. I believe he is currently developing S30 vg30 swap kit so he may already what oil pan suits the swap best and have a template for which sump or custom sump to use with it.