cygnusx1

OK the car is back together and the interior is remarkably free of clicks, creaks, and rattles. Â I would say that by just a light coat of rubberized undercoat on the back of all the interior plastic you have eliminated 95% of the noises. Â Grease on the plastic rivets is also critical.

For centuries, my 280Z has been plagued with creaking plastic interior panels.  I attempted the foam strip trick, the silicone trick, I tried dabs of grease, and I tried armor all and WD40.  Some work, some don't, non of them worked very well for very long.  I took off the panels and went for a quick test drive and what a difference.  The car sounded solid with almost no interior noises.  With the plastic panels laying in the yard, I got an idea.  Rubberized undercoating.  I have a can of Car-Quest brand which goes on very thin and dry.  I just coated the backs of all the panels with a light coat.  I will keep you guys in the loop.  Maybe we will FINALLY have a cheap and easy answer here.  EDIT: Oh yeah I discovered that you need to grease the plastic retainers a little bit too.  They tend to creak also. Â

 My Z has trouble maintaining a steady temp on the gauge.  It's almost as if the thermostat is lazy or slow to react.  So when I cruise steady state on the highway, she cools down to just below half on the gauge.  When I drive it in traffic it sits just above the half mark.  After I vented the lids, I did a highway drive and the gauge dropped down to below 1/4 on the sweep.  I had never seen the needle so low on the gauge.  I thought I had run out of coolant so I kept my eye on the head temp reading in megasquirt which maintained about its normal 190F.  The inspection vents really affected the highway cooling efficiency greatly as far as I can tell.Â

 Yikes!  Car sounds and looks fast.  Â

Venting the inspection lids made quite a difference in my car. Â I am not sure if it's something you want to do but it works.

 Chased interior squeaks with a can of silicone and armor all.  Drove the silver turbo, and caught two acorns on the hood, 2" away from each other. They hit about 5 minutes apart, and made a small set of matching dings.  What are the odds?

I thought about building a couple of kit Cobras per year to make some cash. Â Then I did a little bit of research and saw that even nicely finished ones are selling in the 25K to 35K range. Â At that price I would need to eat pine cones for supper all year long. Â Cars are generally bad investments and thanks for having the balls to lay it all out in front of us. Â Lot's of people can't or won't or admit the bath they took. Â Good luck with the home.

My airdam is similar to that one but it does not have the pocket for the plate. Â Instead, the plate just bolts to my 240 bumper and rests back against the dam.

Very Nice! Â I love white Z cars.

I like the car! Â Hurry up and drive it before the snow flies! Â

Giving away my secrets to hackers here...AVG free, Malwarebytes, Ad-Aware, and Zonealarm.  All of them are free versions, they don't slow down my machine appreciably, and seem to play together very well.    My PC is online 24/7, behind a router.Â

Here is some related work with the 3M Dinoc. Â Very interesting. Â Might very well be good for restoring our interiors. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415219&page=2

No matter how you slice it, an intercooler is good insurance with direct benefits. Â Even with a holy-grail head its a good thing.

I drooled over those slant nosed turbos back in high school. Â I hope that's not one I drooled on! Â Nice ride! Â Videos, pics, impressions, are a must.

Yes there should be some vacuum. Â Are the plug wires crossed? Â Mixed firing order can produce those symptoms. Â Sorry if my advice is basic, but it sounds like something basic is off.Â

Swap the two wires on the VR sensor. Â Even if the colors don't match.

If the plugs are wet with fuel, vacuum must be pulling fuel into the chambers, no? Â Got spark? Â Cam timing? Ignition timing? Fuel pressure? Â Check the basics.

Yeah, i ran a track day at Watkins Glen with the turbo Z and I trust the Panasports over the $99 Sportmax wheels when I am driving hard on a track. Â I actually like the Sportmax wheels better on the red car. The paint on the car turned out to be a single stage urethane without a clear on it, so I could cut into it really deep to clean it up. Â Lots of elbow grease. Â

Took a few new shots of the 240Z resto-mod today.

This is very close to sticky material. Great stuff.

Dennis, we need some pics! Â Glad the Bimmer seats worked out. Â I didn't even realize that the 280Z and the 240Z used a completely different mounting configuration until I built my 240Z over this past Winter.

 Yes that's the Cali Z Kit sold through Jim Cook Racing back in the 80's 90's.  You might try leaving them on there and selling the shell intact with the kit, if the shell is usable.Â

I am more like fung ku.

Well then, you are right where I am. Â Let me know when you figure it out.Â