datsunlover

The REALLY scarry part about that, is that truck (looks to me anyway) is a TAXI. Also refered to as a 'tap tap'. (as in, tap the roof/side/whatever when you want the driver to stop and let you off) They are all over the place in Hati, and it's amazing how many ppl can get in the back of those things! I saw one with at LEAST 25 people on/in/hanging off it. They drive extremly fast, and not good either! (no licence's/insurance ussually) And the state of them is just awfull. Lights smashed/hanging off, windows busted and cracked, frames bent, ect ect. And I saw guys working on vehicles like that to. Crazy...

Heh.. I took my rear shocks out with a crowbar, hammer and vice-grips! Yah.. my car was pretty rusty back there.. the flat areas where the bolts held the bumper shocks on pretty much disintegrated underneth! I'll have to get some pics... you should see the looks I get from people when I show them whats left of the shocks!

Holy god.... "OH! ME RIKEY VERY MUCH!"

So I'm at this house party, and someone cracks a Hitler joke. (something about Hitler commiting suicide cause he got his gas bill..) Next thing I hear, is some guy saying 'Hell yah.. I wana be just like Hitler! Im gona kill ALL the jews, and ONE clown." .....so of course after a few seconds of thought, evryone says.. "Huh? Why one clown?" Then the guy says "See? No one cares about the Jews!" I laughed... So I guess I'm goin to hell. Am I gona see any of you guys there?

Well, judging buy the pics, it doenst look too bad.. whats the under side look like though? Me, Id jump on that. Partially because it REALLY resembles my first Datsun. (also the first CAR I ever bought) Same blue paint, and a similar state of dissrepair . $250 isnt a bad price if it's all there, and isn't too rough underneth.

Hmm.. Im not positive, but I thought it was basicaly the same FI as the 75 and on cars, but the 280zx added an O2 sensor.. if that is the case, technicaly, its NOT a tps, because its not a sensor. It's just two switches. Anyway, My FSM (for a 75 280z) gives a vauge blurb on checking it with a continuity tester (Multimeter set to beep when you touch the to leeds) The FSM said to pull conector off (car not running for this test) and check for continuity between terminals TWO and THREE (middle one, and the one to the right of it when your standing on the drivers side of the engine bay) at zero throttle. After a certain amout of throttle ( the fsm says something like 28 degrees.. yah.. I gave it about 1/4 throttle) it will switch, and terminals two and ONE should have continuity. If your looking down at the terminal, its like this (I think) 1 2 3 | | | Or you could just try replacing it and seeing if that fixes the prob.. They are only like $40 I think! Hope this helps.

I had a 280zx that did the same thing. Turned out it WAS a bad injector. I to did the 'pull the plug out and run it' and it actually seamed to run BETTER. At the time I couldnt figure it out so I sold the car. The guy I sold it to, finaly figured it out. Changed ALL the injectors and it ran Grrrrreat! Check the injectors... heck, just to see what happens, you could swap the two that are giving you trouble with two other cylynders and see what happens..

Id start by looking at the Throttle Valve Switch and checking your injectors.

I was wondering this too.. What is the bolt spacing on Z's.. 4 X 4.5"?

Hehe.. I remember when I discovered that part of driving a Z.. Came into a 90 degree turn on a back road in 3rd, about 80Kph. (I had down shifted from 4th way back there, but then started playin with the radio, not realising how fast I was still going) Wasnt paying attention enough, and all of a sudden , here's this hard right corner. "Oh CRAP!" so I rip it into 2nd, crank the wheel, pop the clutch and "scrreeeeeeee.." my car wips the tail around! I turn the wheel back to the left, stay in the throttle, and drift around the turn. WOW! I get to my buddys place, and tell him about it.. he's says "Cool man... lets go do it again!" So I do.. heh heh.. scared the bejesus out of him! But uh.. yah, that was a 280zx and it was all stock... so I think a Z would make quite the drift car, even if it was only SLIGHTY moded. Do it man!

Well, it won't be a Z, but for $1500 you could probly pick up a decent little Suzuki Swift GT. They are small, good on fuel, Reliable, and somewhat quick (for what they are..) And ussually when they need work, the parts are DIRT cheep! Throw a set of 15" rims w/lo pro rubber, and you'll be suprised how well they handle too! Or if you can find one, a Nissan NX1600 or NX2000 (dono if you got those where you live..they were somewhat rare around here) They are kinda the Nissan equivalent of the Suzuki, but a better overall car (and faster ) There are a lot of other choices out there that fit the "Reliable/Cheep/daily driver" classification.. These are just my two picks off the top of my head..

Weird.. thats what I was doing all day today! I used the stock (I think?) bumper mounts/flat bar w/holes + slots in it from a 71 240 on my 75 280. Only got one bolt in it though (the furthest rear bolt that used to hold the bumper shock to the car) Unfortunatly, the only way I could figure how to do it is by putting a bolt through from the outside of the bumper.. and off-seting/bending the brackets a bit. I figure I'll use a nice stainless bolt in the end.. it's just a 'mock up' for now. I'll try to get some pics and a better description for next weekend, as I head back to school tomorrow for the week.

Do you hav a cat on the car? Could a piece of catylist (sp?) be rattaling/loose and making noise at only certain (under load) RPMs? Or maybe the noise of the car after that RPM drowns it out?

Well, I know its called 'heel/toe' but I have my own technique using the sides of my right foot. I try to keep a CONSTANT presure on the brakes as Im downshifting as well.. lifting off the brakes will give a lurch or bounce IMO. Someone with more expirence should chime in here if any of the following is wrong/bad technique. Say your coming into a curve (like an off ramp, back road, or sometin) at speed in 4th. I use the left side/edge of my right foot to start aplying the brakes. Then as I push in the clutch, I use the RIGHT side of my right foot to 'lean/blip' into the throttle...sort of pivoting on my heel I guess.. keeping presure on the brakes (as much as you need.. you know) and shifting to 3rd. If you know your car, you can glance at the spedo and tach/listen to the engine, and release the clutch when the revs match. At this point (obviously) the right side of my foot is no longer in the throttle (seeing as the trans is now in 3d, and I'm using the engine to slow the car) but gets back into it again when I repeat the whole process for the 2nd gear downshift, and so on. This whole process happens in a VERY short period of time and it's one of those things that I just 'DO' now.. don't think much about it.. Hope this helps ...If I'm missing something, or I'm way off here, someone please speak up!

Its funny though... if someone does something 'because they want to' or 'because they like it', thats fine by me. BUT: it is also MY right to say 'I dont like that' And I think it's reasonable that I can not like something for whatever reason I want then right? But.. as soon as you say something to the effect of; I don't like that, I wouldnt do that, ect, people tend to get a little angry/touchy. I almost NEVER say/do anything intentionaly to piss someone off. I'm just not that type of person.. but sometimes it gets taken that way I guess.. just the nature of the medium we all use to have these discussions I supose...

Funny.. I was talking to a friend tonite about engines.. got to thinking about the original Z 2.4 engine.. 150Hp from a fairly small 6cly.. and that was in 1970! Someone correct me if Im wrong (which I probly am..) but in 1970, a domestic V8 didnt make that much more Hp even though it was 2 X the size... At this point, the original Z L24/26/28 isn't anything special to look at, but it seams to me it could be considered quite the 'enginering marvel' 30 years ago. And on the 'reliability/longevity' issue.. I'v never heard of a 15 year old SBC (my L28 was rebuilt in 1980) that still runs well...

Hmm.. you don't need a throttle on a Diesel engine? Could someone explain this to me?

I had the same though when I rebuilt mine last summer... I was thinking of welding them shut, but decided to keep them. I figured they are there for a reason, so I should leave them be..

See.. Im with the aerodynamics guys.. At those speeds, you;d need a very well enginiered/thought out under body or it would start to act like an airfoil.. Im picturing the rear end lifting up at 240MPH and loosing traction.. wow.. a spin at those speeds would be crazy..

I guess it depends on where you live.. some parts of the world a donkey would be the better prize...

Up here in Canada it's the same thing. Well, trucks have to have the front plate (thats were the yearly sticker goes) and there's no getting away with that I guess.. But as for cars, I have been pulled over and told to take the plate out of my window and attach it to the bumper or I will get a fine. I've also seen a friend get TWO tickets ($156 I think..both within a week from the SAME cop!) for having no front plate. Hmm... Hey Dot, (and any other Ontarians.. ) we should try starting a similar petition here!

Yah, I'd say let this one go.. unles you can talk him down to 1200 or so... I d be afraid of buying a car that backfires and rattles a lot.. And by this point, it's probly been re-painted, so check thoise 'surface rust' spots carefully. I'd have to actually see it myself, but Im guessing the rattle could be suspension or steering related, but who knows.. And the backfiring could be a lot of things, none of them are ussualy good (cloged cat, AFM or other sensors shot, injectors sticking, sct) Personally, I liked the 2+2 styling of the 280zx better than the original 2+2 Z's, but it's still a little weird.. and heavyer as well.. Maybe see if the guy will let you take it to a garage and get it; A-on a hoist to have a look at the under side, B-have a mechanic look at it/drive it..

You know... I was a bit quick with my first post there... But Im with RPMs and frankly, I just don't like the look of those rims. I brough up "rice" because the majority of rims you see like that are ussually slapped on a 'riced out' car. Honda, Chev cavilier,VW, WHATEVER. BUT: I have yet to actually se a riced out Z on this board. Heck.. at least most of you can DRIVE yours! And correct me if I'm wrong.. but with 18" rims, arn't there clerance issues in the wheel well/suspension area to take care of too? This isn't an 'envy' thing here...just IMO it seams like for what it costs to get a set of rims that big, and rubber to wrap them, (+ the work of making them fit)I can buy TWO sets of tires for 14" or 15" rims! Call me cheep but I look at that kind of cash, and see a lot more things I would do to my car than nice looking rims. And as for having no exp. in a Z with big rims, so be it. I was not COMPARING a Z to a Civic, just making a GENERALIZATION on biger than stock rims, and what I have seen/learned. The 30 year old cars that these are, were never designed with those kind of rims in mind, which leads me to believe the stearing/suspension/ect get put under a lot more strain running these bigger rims...(rotating mass, less tire sidewall, yada yada) Again, JMO and it might mean crap to you.. oh well.

LMAO.. uh.. yah.. ever seen the movie "Bowling for Columbine"? Africanized bees.. sure....

Just my .02$ here... When I had my 85 RX7 with the sbc, I thought I was buying a 350. turns out it was only a 305 (yah, I got burned cause I didnt check the block number.. ) and not even a good 305. The cam was soft, and it was a high milage engine sucking through a junk quadrabog 4bbl. Hooked up to a leaking TH350 auto. ANYway, I threw it in the RX and went with it. If you just wana blast around town, a 305 is pleny fun in a light little car! Seriously, I did NOTHING to that engine (performance wise) and it moved my car like heck!! Even after floating the valves, setting the timing by ear (teribly adanced BTW) and many runs up to 5000rpm or so (lost the vac line up the side of the tranny; no up shift till 5000 no mater where the throttle was!) it STILL pulled hard, and kicked me in the butt evry time I stomped the gas. Besides... with much more power than a stock 305, I think the 180 rear would probly explode would it not? Just my thoughts.. If you just wana bomb around town, I'd go for the 305. Plus, they are CHEEP!