SSflyer

Another update.... Went to install the CVs yesterday and the one that was shipped from their stock is way too long to fit. Evidently they had a mislabeled part. Since they already have my core we'll see now how good they are at fixing a real problem! I'll get a picture or two shortly...

Is there such a thing as a 275 tire with a profile less than 40 that can be had in the US? I've googled and searched, but can't find anything....

Currently sitting at about $32.5k. What a stinking money pit. (Stinking, but fast!)

OK, here's the update.... One CV axle was actually in stock at Rock Auto and shipped immediately. The other side had to go to their rebuild center, and it came back yesterday. Both look like new units, sandblasted, painted, new boots and end caps. Rock Auto seems to have their act together on the whole process, and they've actually refunded the core charge without me having to call and yell at somebody. I also had my diff reworked at AZ Driveline in Phoenix and they found a toasted pinion bearing. The input flange was extremely difficult to turn before, so hopefully I'll even pick up an hp or two. So tomorrow will see all the 'new' parts reinstalled and the car back on the road.

Just curious about what sort of bikes do Hybrid Z owners ride. I wonder if there will be a pattern. I'd expect alot of sport bikes or exotics. Myself, I ride a Yamaha Warrior, a big engine in a sport bike style frame....

There was a post a few months ago about difficulty in finding a source for rebuilt CV's. Well, it appears that Rock Auto has a rebuild service and can turn the parts around in a week plus shipping time. The costs are $75 for the right side, and $70 for the left, which may or may not be a fair price, but I'm going to try them out. The only 'catch' is that they rebuild the axles you send them, no exchange. I'll post up when they come back and let y'all know if they are a viable source...

A couple weeks ago I was pulling back into the driveway after some pretty fast driving on a bumpy road and one of my tie rod ends fell out. The nut was still laying on top of the steering arm, so obviously it had just come loose. I was extremely surprised because I specifically remembered putting the cotter pins in. So I tightened that one up and thought I'd better check the other side too, and the other cotter pin was also missing and the nut was on by less than 1/4 turn. This was back when the car was in and out of several shops trying to resolve the emission test problems, so there was no way to know when or where the pins were removed. Why would anyone remove cotter pins? Don't know, but some people are just jealous or hateful. All I know is that I would certainly have been dead if that tie rod had fallen loose one minute earlier. It might not hurt to crawl under your car and be sure there's nothing wrong....

Yup, I did mine. You'll want to check the ECM pinouts because there's a couple that are different from auto to manual. Also, you'll need to wire in a clutch switch to take the place of the neutral safety switch.

Same problem when I did mine. #1 Check for 12v at PCM #2 Check for 12v at the injectors #3 If it cranks but won't start CHECK YOUR GROUNDS! Don't assume they're good, make sure they're good. There's multiple grounds from the PCM, several in the dash harness, and several from the underhood fuse box. Any single one of them could cause your problem. Ask me how I know. #4 Is your clutch/neutral safety switch wired and working #5 Are your ignition control relays good? Other more obtuse reasons could be a bad crankshaft position sensor, a bad cam position sensor, or even a bad air intake temp sensor. Good luck!

The bushing sleeves that came in my Energy Suspension kit didn't seem to fit as tightly on the mounting pins/bolts as the stockers did. They were loose enough to rattle just a little bit. Could a small amount of slop on those sleeves cause a rattle on a bumpy road?

Same problem here. I think the only solution is to 'massage' the trans tunnel with a ball peen hammer. It doesn't take much, and you can't even tell from inside the car.

If you wanna go old school, in the mid 60s, Ford made a 260 that went into Falcons and such, and Chevy had a 265 that could be modded for big hp...

I'm there for a Z night! Let's do it on a Monday though, so we get the big track...

Went for the first time on Monday at a place called F1 Race Factory in Phoenix. What a cool way to spend an evening! They have two 1/4 mile tracks that they form into one 1/2 mile track on Mondays, so there are a couple straightaways where you probably get going 45mph or so. What a blast to fishtail around the hairpins. There were about 10 guys from the Az Lightning Owners Club (AZLOC) that went, so we had most of the cars on the track. If you've never done the go-cart thing, you need to go try it. Massive fun.

75 280Z here. 2001 LS1 w/ HotCam, Belanger Tri-Y longtubes, T56 trans, Pro 5.0 GM tilt wheel, wipers, horns foglights 300zx R200 lsd w/zxt CV's Autometers Cobra wheels w/Nitto 245's & 275's New paint & interior

I just looked at Ulises link and the cars do look almost identical. I'll bet his is more than a little faster though! Is yours Torch Red also?

Yup, that would be my car. Thanks for the compliments! It does look better now with the missing door and hood put on. I just talked to my buddy with the video camera yesterday about doing some new vids, so hopefully there will be at least a burnout video posted soon.

Same deal here with State Farm. They told me that as long as I have receipts they'll compensate based on that value, not the book value. I was expecting to have to get collector insurance and get raped, but not the case.

What's a good finish to use on a composite intake manifold? Can it take the heat of powdercoating? I painted it, but it just doesn't look good enough. Any ideas?

Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures as it was put together. The camera probably would have been thrown against a wall at some point. I'll have to pull it apart to get some pictures of it, and the write up part will be easy. The only catch to this is that I don't know if a Camaro wiper motor will work without the Camaro steering wheel control stalk. I'll have to look at the schematic to see where the control signals come from. Give me a few days....

Phantom..... Thanks for the info. I looked at the MTX/Thunderform website and requested that they make a box for early Z-cars. We'll see what they say. Maybe some of you other guys should go make the same request so they see there's a market. Otherwise it looks like it's time to pull out the fiberglass stuff again.

After about 10 frustrating hours, and about 100 "What have I gotten myself into?" thoughts, I now have a Camaro wiper/washer system that works. Even the park feature works! The actual motor itself was easy to install, but that goofy park circuit kept wanting to put the wiper blades down on the cowl. (I also have the Camaro steering column w/controls and the Camaro harness.) After hours of trying to shorten and then lengthen the drive arm, trying to use the Datsun motor cam, trying the Camaro motor cam, and relocating the cam on the motor shaft, it was as simple as relocating the drive ball on the Camaro cam, welding the ball socket onto the Datsun drive arm, relocating the park switch pin, and then getting the cam onto the motor shaft in the correct position. I'll bet that wiper motor was in and out of the car 50 times yesterday. It's amazing what can be accomplished when you've passed the point of no return!

Phantom, Good looking sub installation. Can you give some detail on how you did it? I bought a Bazooka tube (piece of crap), and am not happy at all. Your install looks like a Thunderform unit, and if it sounds like one I definitely want to know how you did it!

In my best Beavis voice.....'First drives are cool!'

So as I was leaving the drug store this morning, I start the car, back out of my spot, pull forward a couple feet, when some nob sitting alone in a PT Cruiser, in the passenger seat no less, does a nitrous purge as I drive past. I almost stopped to ask the guy what he was thinking, did he really want to race across the Walgreens parking lot? I'm sure that a PT on the bottle is probably pretty fast, at least as fast as say a new Cavalier, but to me, putting nitrous on a PT is a prime example of polishing a turd. There's a guy at work that's been talking too, (also a PT owner) and he thinks his PT with a chip and header would give me a race. After all, the chip & headers gave him at least 70 more wheel hp, on his butt-o-meter anyway. I see a disturbing trend starting....