Hugh

Well, they're paying for new ones... thats why I'm trying to get an estimate on new ones. I've been building my LED taillights and they will eventually go on the car... but the insurance company owes me replacements. I've been to some shops today to see about fixing the damage, and I've been getting some really negative reactions. Basically, they want me to get the panels cut from another car and have them weld them on. And they're not interested in filling the holes from the bumpers for me. I'm thinking of doing fender flares in the rear, and possibly eliminating the need for replacing the corner of the 1/4 panel. Is there any place that makes a fiberglass piece for the lower panel (below the bumper, around the muffler)

Oh man! If only they would put a price on the site, I could use that page for my estimate. Anyone know what the price will be?

Thats good news... I've been searching all over the internet and cannot find anyone selling new or even good used taillights.... damn!

Anyone else have anything to add to this... I need to resolve this problem quickly.

Aftermarket will be fine, but the parts needed I haven't seen available... aside from the taillight panel which I am getting from Vince (the carbon fiber piece) However, I don't think I can substitute his carbon fiber piece for a legitimate estimate... they will probably stick me with the $47 they offered for that part from Nissan. The lights will be the big money parts... I don't want to get shafted with $127 each, when they will cost me three times that or more for a new set.

On current Ferraris, its easy because the transmission ain't under the shifter.... like any mid engine car. I forgot about that point... good one. I wouldn't want a shift gate that rocks around with the tranny... that looks sorta funny, and would look really funny when its rocking around. Just make the tranny stop moving at all, and then get to making your shift gate.

I went to the insurance company to have them estimate the damage to my car. I prefer to do it this way, as I will do every bit of work I can and source replacement parts myself instead of paying a repair shop to do the easy stuff for me. The problem I ran into is the 4 parts the the company quoted for replacement are the taillamp lenses (lense only) - not available from Nissan The left tail finish panel - not available from Nissan and the Rear Body Panel (the roll pan area under the bumper) which is also not available from Nissan. So four parts, none of them available. They gave me the dealer price on each part, which for the lenses was only $127 each, and if you look at the going rate for lights right now, that's LOW. What can I do at this point? I have to prove to the company that it will cost more to replace these parts... but I can't really walk in with a printout of an Ebay auction for some lights and stuff, right? Is there a regular source to get the lights from? At least if they had a consistent price, I could get a real quote. And advice you could give would be helpful. Thanks!

My Tec3 drops it to zero advance. Is that my base timing, or is that like all the way to zero?

240sx with Power Steering Removed is probably 5 times harder to turn than a stock 240z. How do I know? I went from driving one to the other... I couldn't believe how it easy it was to turn my Z. I had to remove the power steering in my 180sx because the turbo got in the way of it. It was a straightline car, so I sacrificed. It was a BITCH to turn the wheels, thats for sure. Reason why? Power steering racks aren't supposed to be un-powered. The Z has a manual steering rack and it much easier to turn.

Oh, I fully understand. I'm just saying the same thing as others here, that it probably won't help you in the long run to meet your parents. Curiosity killed the cat, you know... its like when you're dating a girl in high school and you think she might be a slut.. so you ask her specific questions about how many guys she's been with, etc.... Next thing you know, you feel worse for knowing the truth. Then you dump her. I guess just remember this: You don't owe them anything. If you really want them in your life, then go for it... but it should be on your terms. Just don't think you have to do anything because its for them.

Yeah, I had no idea that show was gonna be so bad. I enjoyed the Z Car History portion of it as well... that was the History Channel talking. They can make anything sound interesting. Then comes the "Orange County Choppers" style bitching and complaining... It was like twin wannabe Jesse James'. I was not impressed with the twins at all. The contestants on the show were just some regular guys that didn't know much about what they were doing... and thats kinda cool, because thats what real life is like, usually. "Bringing some technology to a 30 year old car" Now... I could see if they were hooking up a standalone EFI system and a modern turbo kit or something... but these guys put on a Holley 4 Barrel and a header, and think its gonna tear the tires off the rims or something? I can't believe they did a baseline run on the dyno, and didn't show any tuning runs at all. I can only assume they handed that over to a professional... as they took the time to paint the cars before track day. Anyone else notice the overspray on the windshield trim? Also, they didn't have a chance to make up a "Plan" really. They were offered a handful of parts and had to take it or leave it. Seems like they had a choice of headers... and the team that took the smaller header smoked the other team.

Put the engine in the back!

With the information you've been given so far, if it was me? I'd stay away. Medical questions would be nice to have answered... but anything else is probably best left unanswered.

On the History Channel tonight is the show Full-Throttle. They're going to be building and racing 240z's against eachother. Just wanted to pass it on to anyone who has a chance to catch it.

I was always scared of the transmission twisting and the shifter going off-center... and then the plate may damage the shift linkage. This steered me away from making anything like that. I eventually put a solid torque brace on my last engine to stop it from twisting at all... this worked great, but I never made a shift gate of any sort.

Well, now that my car has been rear-ended, and they damaged both of the tailight lenses... I guess its time for me to swap my lights out. I will have to complete the other light assembly and glue the things back together first... then wiring.. etc.. I'll see if I can complete it within the next week... but don't hold your breath.

Nice! I hope you plan to put up video of that thing in action! I can't wait to hear it.

The Tec3 doesn't cost $3000, thats for sure. I got mine for closer to $2000 for a 4 cylinder setup. Regardless of which system you get, if you're street tuning, you're gonna need a wideband air/fuel meter to tune it right. If you're getting it dyno tuned, I would follow his advice and go with a system that a local shop will support. Worst thing you can do is put in a system that nobody can help you with, and then you're on your own. I've seen people change engine management systems for exactly that reason before. I have my own wideband and tune my Tec3 on the street. It is an awesome system, thats for sure... and the ignition can't be beat. You have to compare the price of the EMS system, plus an ignition system that will cope with the boost you're gonna run. If these two things add up to near the cost of the Tec3, then there's your answer. (this is why I bought the Tec3 - someone explained it like that to me, I added prices and figured out it was only less than another $100 to go Electromotive) You have to keep in mind the crank trigger setup as well. I'm not sure what you will need for the Microtech and your engine... but the Tec3 will require you to build a crank trigger wheel and bracket for the sensor. This was the hardest part of installing my system. Once I completed that... the rest was wiring for two days and then tuning. My friend has a Microtech and he is very happy with it. I haven't tuned it myself... but he loves it. Haltech is a great option as well. The E6X is cheaper than $1500 and very easy to use.

I thought the same thing when I saw that 280zx... it looks really difficult to get in and out of the car.

Yeah, my dash has a cap on it that came from the previous owner. It's very cheezy. However, it looks a lot better than a bunch of cracks... and to the casual observer, it looks like it belongs in there. Me, however, I know its a cap, and I don't like it. I'm going to keep it in there until I can get a full carbon fiber dash to replace it, though.

Turns out they broke my tailights, as well... I think that should add a nice chunk to the check the insurance company gives me. I've already got a mint set of them to put on it, so I won't need to put that cash towards the lights... it can go towards repairing/upgrading more of the car Anyone know the dealer price on the tailights or the panel?

If I had to pick one brand and call it the best one to fit with just about all engines and setups, I would pick Haltech. The E6X is a great value, and very easy to setup and tune. (compared to many others out there) I personally use an Electromotive Tec3, which is one of the most difficult to setup (due to the need for the crank trigger wheel - which was something I had to make in my case) But the Tec3 is AWESOME as far as performance and options, tunability, etc... The Electromotive Ignition that is a main part of the Tec3 is one of the best features. No need to add anymore equipment, it kicks ass on its own. For value and ease of installation/use... I reccomend the Haltech E6X, or the E11 if you want to spend more money and have use for the features. If your particular engine has an AEM EMS available for it (plug and play standalone) then thats another great option... but in the same price range as the Tec3 and doesn't include ignition.

Heh heh heh, that was messed up, guys.

I got rear ended again today, first time in this car, but second time this year. People don't know how to stop. I'm becoming used to hearing "RRRRRRRRRRRRR BAM!" These people should all be required to own ABS. I've been wanting to get the bumper holes filled in... nows my chance. This is going to pay for the body work I've been wanting. :teef: Everyone was ok... it was a three car accident. I came to a sudden stop due to jerks in front of me.... lady behind me stopped, then someone slammed into her and she hit me. (I don't think she held her brakes hard) The white Ranger hit the Accord, the accord hit me.

My friend has a rust hole in his spare tire well. He doesn't want to spend a lot of money fixing it. I remember reading on here about a glue used for bonding a sheet metal patch onto a rust hole...(after cutting out the rusted part) but can't seem to find it while searching. Anyone know the name of the stuff or have a link? Thanks in advance.