Oddmanout84

People seem to knock on blackdragon a lot, saying their products are crap. I just installed my headlight harness from them today without a hitch, WITHOUT cutting wires on ANYTHING, and it works just fine. I also have their MSR "Euro" light housings installed, and they work GREAT. They direct the light exactly where I need it in a concentrated beam in front of the car, and when I move to the sides there's no glare. Next best thing to projectors. And my highbeams work just as well. I'll be writing a thread on how I did my install soon.

It was very "Always" of her? I guess that could work, haha. Whatever the case, your wife rules! Semper Fidelis, -Chris

Ha! Yeah, I was completely sarcastic about that comment. Although I despise them, its easier and quicker for me to use them for small stuff like brake cleaner, fiberglass resin, fuses and nic nacs. For everything else, there's Autozone, and the internet. Like I've stated before, all the junkyards around here really suck and none are pick and pull. I've even tried going in there covered in grime wearing a local garage shirt (where I used to work) and they STILL won't let me past the service counter to the yard. Too many idiots around here like to sue for hurting themselves, so I guess they don't trust anyone.

Is that a bad thing? I was almost thinking a "Powered by Walmart" windshield sticker would really suit the car!

Yeah, that's right, you fusible links... You're GONE FOR GOOD!!! I'm so proud of myself. Several months ago I made a trip to walmart and picked up two maxi fuse blocks to get rid of my fusible links which were an utter embarrassment to the rest of the car. Only now did I get around to installing them, but from the limited tests I've done they work perfectly. Very easy to install, and I have much more confidence in the wiring than the HACK JOB factory wiring. The writeup on AtlanticZ was totally correct. I can't believe the splices on the wiring to the links (from the starter) were actually factory. Those are now GONE and replaced with a single piece of 6 gauge battery cable. Maybe even Daeron will be proud... This is such a cheap, effective no-brainer that I'm shocked its not more widespread than it already is. I'm a terrible electrician and it took less than an hour to do everything. Granted, my mounting for the boxes is a little bit of a hack job, but I can fix that later. I just wanted to make sure everything worked. Oh yeah... and I did do a little bit of trimming and fitting for the new carpet recently...

Way better than Hoke's thread on the SPAL kit! LOL!!

My '78 280z was purchased in SoCal 5 years ago for $1600. It was in good, running condition (minus the AC) with no rust. The suspension also needed an overhaul, but overall the car was way cleaner than the pictures you posted. I think 2200 is a bit too much for a car that's been sitting for years, especially since you're going to need to dump money to fix a bunch of stuff. Edit: It also looks like the door panels were redone, and done nicely, which is a plus. Places to check for rust; Floorboards, wheelwells, battery tray, front lip of hood, spare tire recess, fuel tank, framerails, under the cowl panel, radiator supports. Maybe its a trick of photography but the drivers side tail light looks a little burnt... those are difficult to get your hands on at a decent price. If it really even matters to you, those side stripe rubber "ding guards" have dried out and shrunk, you'll be able to tell when you look at them in person. But I'd be more worried about the weatherstripping in the car. Anything rubber in a california/southwest US car is usually dryrotted by now since its been exposed to the sun. Many of my plastic parts, and pieces of rubber weatherstrip, even my STEERING wheel, would crumble to dust when touched. I'm not discouraging you from getting the car, looks like a great project candidate, just giving you ideas on stuff to complain about so you can lower the price.

You must have really tiny fingers and a really stubby screwdriver.... or you just had the windshield out. Edit: Actually I think it might have been the garnish that was easy to remove, the dash itself was the pain.

HA! Guess I walked into that one.

I'd take it, its one of the funnier ones I've seen! Although, I haven't donated... yet...

I think most people will just tell you to get a new pump.

POR-15 has a kit that will clean, derust, and recoat your gas tank that creats a surface purportedly impervious to rust. Motorsport auto carries the kit. About $60. Of course, this isn't going to fix you gas tank if the rust is so bad that you have holes...

Honestly they couldn't have picked worse locations for the screws/bolts on these things

Now what I'd like to do with mine (going back to the remote entry stuff), is install a security system like my Harley has. It comes with a key fob that must be within about 4 feet of the bike for it to start, or the fuel is completely cut off. I believe its a Delphi system. I think BMW has something similar to this in their cars now if I read correctly (albeit more refined). The closer my car gets to completion, at least from a driving standpoint, the more my paranoia grows... Not to get off the topic of power windows though, heh heh... Just thinking of something that could go along with the remote.

BAH!! I just looked at the upgrade headlight relay harness from Blackdragon, and it says it DOES retain highbeams, by means of a second relay. So I guess I just have to worry about my choice of bulbs.

All weather car, fair weather drivers. Hey, pigs fly, water burns, cats and dogs living together... it happens. The only reason my car doesn't go in the rain is because my weather stripping is kaput!

And here's a really interesting question.... When you install that new harness with the relay, what happens to your highbeams? My guess was that since the original wiring goes through the switch then to the lights, the high beam switch allowed more voltage through to the headlights to make them brighter. With a relay installed instead, and power for the lights going direct from the battery, wouldn't you nullify and effectively disable your highbeams? Wigenout- You did state in your post that you lost your highs, but it was because of the bulbs you were using. I'm wondering if even getting the high/low bulbs would solve the problem. Forgive me, I'm a bit noobish when it comes to the workings of headlights.

By the way, what seat is that you've got there on the passenger side? Looks sharp.

I can imagine how that function would work while running out to the car in the middle of a rainstorm.

Yeah, the only problem is that I'm limited to where I can shorten the pipes at. I only have maybe a maximum of 5" that I can remove off the area that connects to the muffler. If I shorten any of the other sections, it will move the bends in the rest of the system back, which will cause the piping to come into contact with/get in the way of the driver side transverse link. That's why I was hoping I wouldn't have to resort to cutting the tips. I let the car settle (I don't think the gas strut inserts have the same settling properties of the stock oil system) for a while, put my weight on the back of the car too (all 145 lbs of it, LOL), but the ride height is mostly unchanged. Looks like it wasn't the bushings, either. Guess that's just how it sits for now, though my choice of bigger wheels and tires may fix that in the future.

I drove my Z home after I graduated aircrew school. The drive took me from Camp Pendleton CA, to Savanna GA, then finally Southwest Connecticut. Made it from the west coast to just past Pecos TX in my first day, 23 hours of driving. Took me a two days through Texas, but I was bored and wanted to sightsee at some air museums. Next day I was in Savanna. One more day of driving got me home. The Z had barely any maintenance done to it before I bought it, I changed the oil, filter and the radiator was replaced. No comfort issues, no trouble starting, nothing. It was awesome. I took a similar trip on my HD 1200XLC recently, and saw much more because I took a different route/backroads. But boy, did my back pay for it. I would take both these trips all over again in a heartbeat. Too bad you got plane tickets, you missed out on an adventure!

Gone, its finally gone. Today I decided that I didn't want the eyesore there any longer, so it was delt with. Too bad, 'cause now my garage has less places to sit. Only problem is... Look at my exhaust. The twice pipes are flying out there! Its not a terrible surprise, I knew it was going to happen. But the effect is much more than I estimated. I think I may end up cutting about 3 inches off the pipe directly in front of the glass packs, but that will only lessen it to a small degree. I hope I don't end up having to cut the chrome tips too... Regardless, I don't think I can leave them sticking out like that. It looks like I could impale a small child on them if I backed up carelessly. This is the other issue I noticed once I dropped the car back down after removing the driver side bumper shock. I think I may have preloaded the bushings? The jack is not supporting the car in this picture, its on all four wheels. Yet that gap is HUGE. Maybe I'm being overly critical, but I don't remember the car having that much gap in the wheel wells even when it had the stock suspension. If it isn't a mistake on my part, I may end up sourcing a pair of the 240z shock tops.

Correctomundo. Its just like how my 280z has these "T-tops" installed in it. Not a factory option on any year of the S30, yet there they are on my Z and many others. Aftermarket support for them seems to have vanished as well, and I still haven't seen anyone who knows where they're from.

Even so, looking good while sitting! It always gets me how huge my Z seems sitting in the garage, yet once you put it up next to another car... BAM! Tiny!

How is the quality of the MSR casings that Motorsport and Blackdragon sell, compared to the Ebay casings? Does anyone have them? Thanks for the link to this kit dude! I was hoping to find something like this with ballasts but was unsuccessful in the past.