JMortensen

The Euro model has amber for the turn signals, you can get them from MSA or Nissan for about $150 each. Other than that lots of people have adapted other taillights from other vehicles. I met one guy who had made his own rear panel. It was totally flat, and had glassed it in so that there was no possibility of exhaust coming in through there. Looked pretty good. He kept the original plastic light fixture and wiring, and had bought some red reflector material that he glassed in. If memory serves he got the reflector stuff from a trailer shop. I think he made little access panels so that you could change the bulbs when needed. I've thought about doing the same, not so much for the look but to eliminate the exhaust smell. Jon

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I thought that cars coming from other states had a pretty serious tax on them when they came into CA, and that they then had to acquire all the CA smog BS and get certified by a smog "referee". I've never done all of that, but you should probably go to a smog referee and ask. A guy I know swapped a 280Z motor into a '72 and took it to the ref, got it registered as a '78, then about 2 weeks later they passed the exemption law. DOH!!! :malebitchslap: This was about a month after I bought a brand new air rail and spent hours tweaking my SU's so that I could pass smog. Double DOH!!! :malebitchslap: Jon

That is hilarious johnc. I've got a similar story: I had just done an alignment on my Z. When I zeroed the alignment machine, something went wrong. I ended up with about a degree (!!!) of rear toe in, I was shooting for .35 total. Somehow I didn't notice how much adjustment I was making. About a week later my rear tires were BALD, and it started to rain. I was driving home from a friends house with a big line of cars behind me, probably wondering why I was going 25 mph. As soon as I hit the 1st puddle the back end stepped out about 2 feet, and the car behind me went from riding my butt to about 20 car lengths back. My car would swing the back end over every puddle either way depending on the slope of the road. This is on a winding road, and every corner was cambered slightly. It's an interesting sensation to have the back end swinging towards the apex of a turn when your going 25! By the end of my 5 mile drive home I was laughing hysterically! After that experience, and one more similar one on a Porsche 928 that ate up its tires after a week, we tape measured every toe setting just to make sure that the machine had correctly zeroed. Jon

Nic, A strut is load bearing, and determines how the suspension moves through it's travel. So if you take a strut out, the suspension doesn't work. Usually, but not always, a strut has the coil over the shock. A shock absorber is not load bearing. It just dampens the spring and usually limits the travel as well. Usually, but not always, a shock does not have a coil spring over it. That's probably not the best explaination ever, but I think you'll probably get the idea. Tune to Win, How to Make Your Car Handle, there's a bunch of other books that will help... Jon

Don't people just slot the holes on the strut tower? Jon

I'll never forget that clutch adjustment again. I just remember how frustrated I was at the track that day. I was glad someone was there with enough knowledge to help me out, and I'm happy that I was able to pass it along. Jon

This is setting of my BS-ometer also, kinda like the Qur'an post. I just watched a show on urban legends where they said the "went to make a cup of coffee" thing never happened. Sorta like the Darwin awards though. Fun reading. In real litigation news, I was surprised to see Ashcroft push for "maximum provable" sentencing. I like that. Maybe its because I come from CA where the average murder sentence results in 7 years in jail... Jon

Welcome! The '82 parts car I had had separate tail light lenses. The '79 parts car I had years before that might have been unibrow, I can't quite remember. I seem to remember the ZX shifter I had used a big tan colored shifter bushing with a coil spring in it. The earlier Z style uses a small clear plastic shifter bushing. This might be a good distinguishing feature to see if you have the wrong shifter in the car. You could always bend the shifter in a hydraulic press to fix... Jon

Nutserts with stainless cap screws would look the best IMO. Jon

I just read this again, and the fact that you have vacuum in the master when you open the bleeder leads me to believe that you don't have any free play in the pedal. I said that badly last time, so let me rephrase: You want some free play in the rod so that you have 1/8" or 3/16" before the pin actually starts to push the master. I actually had a problem where I was at the track and my clutch started slipping. Turns out I didn't have enough free play and the fluid expanded from heat, very slightly engaging the master all the time. Turned the rod in, problem solved. Jon

If the pedal is not adjusted correctly the master won't open the little hole to the reservoir, meaning that you won't cycle the fluid through. You have to have a little free play before you start to push the pedal. There's one idea for you. Jon

The E36 has so many subframe insulators and so sophisticated a suspension system that you will never get a Z to ride that smoothly and quietly unless you do what JohnC says. Jon

Check the coolant passages! They very commonly rot on the E31. Also realize that if you want a really good performing head you'll be putting in bigger intake valves and seats. Not hard, but more expensive than finding a later head and doing a valve job. I kinda like the idea of milling a P90 to get compression myself. Wish I had known about it when I built my engine 6 years ago. Jon

I agree with Dan. Z vs 911 is a very good roadrace. I used to go to POC events in CA. They were great! Very well organized, they rented transponders, the whole deal was awesome. I won the EX class (everything that isn't a Porsche) and they gave me a very official looking wall plaque, then a few weeks later in the mail I got a nicely engraved name tag for it. Ended up 12th out of 150 someodd cars that day. What a rush! I've been to a lot of different club events, but I like POC the best of those I've been to so far because they are so organized, and everyone is driving a Porsche so there is not too much "I'm gonna stuff my car into that corner under that Z" going on. They are fast but not fast at all costs. There were a few sneers from the other competitors, but most people came up and told me how the Z was their first sports car, and wanted to see under the hood, etc. Whatever you do with your carb setup, have fun out there and try a Porsche club event! Jon

So an elephant and a mouse are walking through the jungle and the mouse falls in a little puddle of quicksand. The elephant says "Hold on Buddy, I'll save you" and squats down a little so that the mouse can grab his d!ck and get lifted to safety. A few weeks later the Elephant falls in some quicksand, so the mouse says "I'm gonna get you out" and he runs home to get his Porsche. He ties a rope around the elephant and the bumper and drags the elephant out. Moral of the story: If you have a big d!ck you don't NEED a Porsche. Jon

I thought 240's in GT2 ran 50mm carbs. Could be wrong. We need Mark Belrose on this one. He just blew up his GT2 motor, he would know. John C would know too. Seen lots of L16's running 44's too, just to play devils advocate. Jon

The How to Hotrod Book says 45's for an L28. I have 44 Mikunis and I love them. I wouldn't switch to 40's, but that is based on what I have been told from various tuners over the years, and you have to take that for what it's worth. I've heard that they don't flow enough for an L28, but ZR8ED seems to have had conflicting experience. I think a LOT of what you hear about triples is directly related to the skill of the tuner. I am getting pretty good, but still learning. My strongest suggestion is to install a single wire O2 sensor in your collector. Once I did that and hooked up my voltmeter, my tuning capability increased 100%. I went from seat of the pants and color of plugs (hard to read with MSD) to KNOWING what was wrong. The only drawback I can say for my setup is that I will bog coming out of very slow speed corners at autox, but my gearing is totally wrong, I just haven't come up with time/money/parts to fix it yet. 3:70's and 44's don't mix at autox. But I got the LSD! Jon

That guy's foot looks BROKEN. A LOT. In January I took a nasty spill on my mountain bike after hitting a jump and having the steer tube break. Basically I landed with no fork and no front tire and that landing catapulted me face first into a tree, with my feet locked into clipless pedals, of course. I had "tree rash" all down the right side of my face, from the helmet on my forehead all the way down to my right shoulder. Also had a nice concussion and lost 3 days memory. A buddy of mine gave me a little jar of "Brave Soldier". This stuff rocks. People at work were amazed at how fast my face healed. I went from Freddy Krueger back to my normal self in a matter of about 2 weeks. No scarring either. For anyone who has road rash or may get it in the near future, get some Brave Soldier. I think they sell it at ski/bike shops. Jon - I hug trees HARD - Mortensen

That reeked from the moment I laid eyes on it. Qu'ran verse 9:11 in reality states: "But if they repent and are firm in their devotion and pay the zakat, then they are your brothers in faith. We explain Our commands distinctly for those who understand." There is nothing I hate more than people making up religious verse and using it to their own ends. People are manipulated enough by what these books ACTUALLY say without fabricating passages. Where did you get that, Brad-Man? Somewhere on the internet I bet. We should all be careful of what we choose to believe, especially if we read it on the net... Jon - Agnostic and skeptic at large

The earlier 5 speed has wider gear spacing. The ZX's have taller, closer 1st thru 4th, and have reverse lockout. I do autox and some track days and POC events, and I like the ZX tranny. Some drag racers like the wide spacing, I never really understood why though. I would figure you want the gear spacing as close as possible, then get a diff that keeps the rpm's "on the pipe" or in boost through the whole run. It must have something to do with getting through the 1/4 with less shifts. Shifting does take time. Jon

What kind of brakes do you have? Its entirely possible that they are just not really compatible. I have Toy 4x4 fronts with early 280ZX rears and I can't get the bias right. I was considering putting another prop valve on the front. I even took the one in the rear completely out and still couldn't get enough rear braking. Maybe we should both just put the prop valve in the front system and turn the fronts down in relation to the rear... BTW--I was at a driving school and couldn't lock the rears while driving through a puddle and standing on the brakes!!! It's that bad on my car. Jon

Apparently the Panteras never handled very well from what I've heard. I drove one briefly and it rode pretty bad. Very harsh and uncomfortable. I love the idea and the lines of the car, but I think a V8Z would be a better driver. Jon

My sister-in-law sold her house in CA, moved to MO, and bought 7 or 8 houses for 35K - 70K each. She bought them next to a college, and rents them out. Seemed like a pretty hassle free life to me, and her husband is a contractor, so its pretty much a slam dunk. Businesses that drop ship their products are another good option. I worked with many businesses at my last 2 jobs that sold stuff online or through catalogs or whatever, sent the order to us, then we shipped whatever it was to the customer. They were able to offer low prices because they had no overhead, and they were knowledgeable enough to offer their customers a real service in advising them what to buy and helping with customer service issues after the sale. Jon

It said "If you are not a hemmorhoid, you'd better stay off my @ss!" I guess that guy really likes hemmorhoids : Just had to share... Jon