wheelman

I think it's a good deal also, especially considering adapters from Ross are over $200.00 plus you still need to find 300ZX Turbo axles. I think I dropped at least $450.00 to put together my CV setup and it's based on used JY axles. The auction doesn't show what the reserve is so they might go for a lot more than $450.00 but considering it's all new parts and shouldn't have the binding problem some of us have experienced with the 300ZX axles I'd certainly consider it if I hadn't already done my conversion. Wheelman

Unless I'm missing something isn't that car running leaf springs? What benefit would a watts linkage provide for a leaf spring rear suspension? Wheelman

I agree with the mini-van idea. We have a GMC Safari (4.3L V6, 200HP / 4L60E 4-speed auto) that seats 8 with all the seats installed and with them removed will hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood or rock laying flat on the floor. Around town we average about 17-18 and on the highway 22-23 mpg. You could easily put your 10 foot board in it by placing it on the floor with one end between the front seats. These rigs can also be found with full time 4 wheel drive and are built on a truck frame so are much sturdier than the Chrysler or Ford products. They aren't the most glamorous rigs but ours has proven very reliable and flexible. Wheelman

Ha Ha, I did the same thing first time I started the LT1 in the Z. It was about 10:30 PM and the back door to my garage is pointed at the back yard of our neighbor. I heard about it the next day, needless to say I made sure not to start the car after 8:00 PM otherwise I might have had a nice visit from the police!!! Wheelman

I saw the same thing, it looks like the mold is screwed up!!! I would make sure you can return it if you decide to buy one. Wheelman

I was born in Reno, not that it makes me an expert but it is related. I say go for it but I'm one of those types that has moved many times in my life so picking up and going to a new location is not a big deal. I always look at it as a new adventure and an opportunity to start over in certain aspects of my life. Wheelman

Bart, Is that an expansion tank or just an overflow? When I first got my car running I was using an overflow and kept losing coolant as it wouldn't get pulled back into the radiator when it cooled. I bought a really cheap universal expansion tank that cured the problem but it leaks whenever I corner hard, the cap doesn't seal very well. Anyway I'm going to replace it with a tank from something else. As soon as I find one I like I'll post pictures. Wheelman

Mike, I wouldn't assume the Cowboys will be in the SuperBowl!!!! The Packers look real good this year and the Bucks and SeaHawks aren't totally without talent. I'd personally like to see a show down between Brady and Favre (and I'm a big SeaHawks fan), then Brett can finally retire. Wheelman

My son had the same rude awakening. Before he joined the Airforce he managed to acquire 3 speeding tickets. The first one we deferred so it wouldn't show up on his record but he didn't go 3 months before he'd gotten another which meant both showed up at the same time. When we talked to our insurance agent he said none of the tickets will show on his record until a major change is made in our insurance (add/delete a car or driver) so his rates didn't go up. Once he shipped out and was stationed at his first base he had to get his own insurance and boy was he surprised. He managed to get it through Gieco but it still cost him about $250.00 a month just for liability. The high rates didn't seem to get through to him about his driving though. We visited him in DC summer before last and he drives like a maniac. His excuse is that everyone else drives that way but I sure saw him passing most of the cars on the highway. Wheelman

I need to replace one of the CV joint end caps on the 300ZX Turbo CV axles I have. When I slid the car into a curb this last Sept. the CV end cap on the right side was ruined. I tried to order one from Courtesy Nissan but they canceled the order saying the part is no longer available. Do any of you guys know where else I might look or have a source that might have access to one. I'll buy two if I can but only really need one. Wheelman

ROTFLMAO, That is the funniest thing I've heard in awhile!!!! Wheelman

I agree with olderthanme, some gussets on the plates you actually bolt the engine isolators to would be a good idea. Just to keep them from flexing and eventually breaking loose at the weld joint. Wheelman

This won't apply directly to the LS1 as my engine is the LT1 but if the engine sits as low as mine you will not have a problem clearing anything once the radiator is removed. My own personal preference would be to do the swap while the engine is out of the car. Why make things harder than necessary. Wheelman

I bought a set of the 84 Celica inner tie rod ends to check the fitment, here is what I found along with some pictures. They thread right into the Subaru rack (99 Forrester) and the Subaru outer end threaded right on to them. The shortest length of the combination is 10.75". 2 of those with the 23.5" length of the rack makes for a minimum length of 45" which is about 1" shorter than the length I measure for my stock rack as it came out of the car. This leaves plenty of adjustment as the threaded section of the inners is about 2.5" long. I also measured the taper of the Subaru outer and the Datsun outer, they are essentially identical. The threaded portion of the ends I have are different as well as the distance from the ball to the start of the taper with the Subaru being longer in both these aspects but the actual tapered sections have the same dimensions. This means there is essentially a bolt together solution for the tie rods assuming you have one of the earlier racks. I don't know exactly which ones match the specs of mine but the list referenced above sort of indicates those would at least accept the Celica inners. Here are the pictures I took, let me know if there are any other views you want to see. This shows my Datsun rack along side the Subaru rack with the Celica inners and stock Subaru outers. The outers are not threaded in as far as they can go. This shows the outer, inner and combination at it's shortest. This shows the difference in length between the Subaru inner and the Celica inner. Edit: The rust you see on the Celica inners is from the old nasty Subaru outers I'm using to mock this up. I will replace the outers with new ones once I get everything else complete. Wheelman

WOW!!! And to think I was intimidated by the prospect of replacing the front frame rails. The more pictures I looked at the more I thought, this is a huge 3D jigsaw puzzle.

How much? Wheelman

I can't give direct feedback on the 175 but I bought a Hobart 135 and have been happy with it. I wish now I would have gone with a larger one but I don't have 220v in my garage and got a good deal through Northern Tool Supply. The 135 has been consistent and reliable and I'd expect the same level of quality from the 175. The one thing I will replace that came with my welder is the gas flow regulator, it's not the best quality and I have to watch the flow close when the tank pressure gets low. Wheelman

Are you referring to Pop-N-Wood's "tool set" or Terry's wife's tool set? Wheelman

I used to ride a bike and really liked the good gas mileage and cheap insurance but I stopped after being cut off one to many times. My experience was that most people aren't really very aware of what's going on around them so I had to be super defensive. After a while I got sick of it and decided I wanted some steel around me so when I got ran over it wouldn't hurt quite as bad. I've been in 9 accidents (7 car not my fault, 1 motorcycle my fault, 1 car my fault). The bike accident was my fault and due to my stupidity, the car accident that was my fault happened on a auto-x track. All the others were caused by people not paying attention to the road and I would not have survived 3 of them had I been on a bike. Anyway, Bikes are fun and exciting but seeing as I'm not the only one on the road not worth the risk, especially when a-holes like the kid in the video prowl the highways. Wheelman

Dude, it's called a license plate. I'm sure every one of the cops chasing that car got a decent look at the plates and just had to pull up the DMV database and then go to his house and arrest him. Who cares if the video was doctored, this little $hit put a whole boatload of people at risk and should be denied a driver's license for life as far as I'm concerned. It was an a-hole like this that cost my younger brother his life and there's no reason to look at him as some sort of hero, he's a dick!!!! Wheelman

My son is currently stationed at Boling AFB in Washington DC and is part of the Presidential Honor Guard. He is switching careers to something in the medical field (I'm not sure what) and is going to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. Does anyone live close to there who can give me a little bit of feedback on what the area is like? My family has always lived in the northwest and never visited that part of the south so we have no idea what to expect. He's curious about the area after having lived in DC for over 2 years where it's dangerous to go into the neighborhoods around the base. I told him it's probably nice but that I didn't know anything about the area. Wheelman

I've been contemplating using one of these universal crossmembers lately due to the requirement to replace my frame rails and I'm going to install power steering. My main concern is that the crossmember would interfere with the steering shaft and place the engine to low. BTW: The JTR mounts move the engine as far as 3 1/2" inches closer to the firewall than the Scarab position. My bell housing ends up only 3/4" from the firewall, tough to go much further back than that unless you drop the engine on the floor. There should be plenty of room for a second crossmember with the stock one installed. I wouldn't go any lower than than the JTR mount position as the oil pan is already 1" below the crossmember and it creates some really wacked out driveline angles. Wheelman

Well I've finally started the project of rebuilding the Z after my auto-x accident this last fall. I was going to post all the pictures and commentary in a thread on this site but decided to keep the status page separate from any feedback I get from you guys. So here are 2 links the the pictures and commentary I've got so far. Feel free to comment on what I'm doing and/or have already done. There are 2 links because I originally created a PDF but some people don't like them so I also formatted it as an html page. www.vikingds.com/zcarguy/rebuild-status.pdf www.vikingds.com/zcarguy/rebuild-status.html Wheelman

That's probably the crossmember Alsil was selling then, if so there are pictures available of it already. Still post the pictures though as it would make searching for them easier. Wheelman

A guy I work with used that last joke as the basis for a response he built into one of the instruments my company builds. If you connect it to a PC via a serial port it will present a command prompt, pressing the return key without entering a command generates an error response. After pressing the enter key enough times the system will return "I'm not a talking Frog!!". First time I saw that I about fell out of my chair laughing, a co-worker (non-engineer) came over, read the error text and said "I don't get it." Myron, You're just not a "real" engineer yet. We aren't dorks, we just march to a different drummer that nobody else can hear. BTW: Is that noise in my head bothering you? Wheelman