jacob80 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Hey guys, For my next rebuild, I would like to use a stainless steel engine bolt kit from Z Car Creations. Unfortunately, they do not answer emails and their eBay store no longer exists. I did, however, find this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-L24-L26-L28-ENGINE-STAINLESS-STEEL-BOLT-KIT_W0QQitemZ230446921226QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_100?hash=item35a7b4f60a#ht_500wt_1182 I'm a little leery of this, though. I have no idea what company this is and their knowledge of this engine. Have any of you guys used this particular kit? Otherwise, does anyone know what happened to Z Car Creations? Thanks guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglist Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Surprising that his ebay page doesn't still exist, but it doesn't. I bought his front timing cover kit and was pretty happy with it. CourtesyParts used to carry a bunch of his stuff, you should ask them if they can still get in touch with him. So he hasn't answered emails that you've sent to him from the contact on his page? http://www.zcarcreations.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Surprising that his ebay page doesn't still exist, but it doesn't. I bought his front timing cover kit and was pretty happy with it. CourtesyParts used to carry a bunch of his stuff, you should ask them if they can still get in touch with him. So he hasn't answered emails that you've sent to him from the contact on his page? http://www.zcarcreations.com/ I did call the CourtesyParts place and they did not have the bolt kit, but they did say they carry his stuff. Also, yes, I did send probably three total emails over the past couple months to the e-mail address listed on his site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglist Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Very odd, would suck to see someone that offered his convenient kits go by the wayside. I was considering ordering another kit from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 I found another source for the 280Z/ZX stainless steel bolt kits. The bolts were selected based on inputs from a Z-car specialist who sent them boxes of parts and helped them tweak the length and pitch of the bolts. And just like the Z-Car Creations kits, these folks bag and label the bolts by component/area. Both stainless and polished bolts are available (sorry, no chrome). Here's the site: http://mmsacc-stainless.com/html/Datsun.htm Engine bolt kit (I just ordered one): $115 + shipping John and Nancy are very helpful, and I'm sure you'll enjoy working with them as much as I did. And no, I don't have any affiliation with these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 I found another source for the 280Z/ZX stainless steel bolt kits. The bolts were selected based on inputs from a Z-car specialist who sent them boxes of parts and helped them tweak the length and pitch of the bolts. And just like the Z-Car Creations kits, these folks bag and label the bolts by component/area. Both stainless and polished bolts are available (sorry, no chrome). Here's the site: http://mmsacc-stainl...html/Datsun.htm Engine bolt kit (I just ordered one): $115 + shipping John and Nancy are very helpful, and I'm sure you'll enjoy working with them as much as I did. And no, I don't have any affiliation with these guys. Great find! I found that Z-Car creations was also impossible to get a hold of... I don't know if they stopped making the kits or what, but they wouldn't respond to my emails. I'll be ordering some stuff from these guys soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 If you can wait until Monday, I'll take pictures and let you know exactly what the kit looks like. If the quality of their product is as high as I think it will be, we might see about adding them to one of the "parts sources" stickies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Did you get the kit? I jumped the gun and added them as a parts source link after I saw it. We can always take it down if they are crap Would love to see some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torby Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Very nice find, they sure have comprehensive kits. I'm unsure, though, about how wise it is to use SS bolts on an engine, regarding heat and corrosion problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 (edited) Pop quiz: which bolts are the new ones, and which ones are the old ones? (Coke Zero sold separately) Here it is... $100 worth of stainless hex-head fasteners in 20 little baggies with labels! (My original post and the photo above referenced 14 bags, but I had set aside six additional bags for today's project). I'll be using some of these tomorrow when I bolt on the oil pump and timing cover, so I'll let you guys know if there are any problems with fitment. Very nice find, they sure have comprehensive kits. I'm unsure, though, about how wise it is to use SS bolts on an engine, regarding heat and corrosion problems. The good news with stainless steel bolts is that they are much more corrosion resistant (due to rusting or thermal fluctuation) than standard non-stainless steel. There are several good articles on the benefits of stainless vs. non-stainless, and the wikipedia article is actually pretty good too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel Edited October 21, 2010 by AtlantaZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Looks good. It seems like a pretty good value, for all the trouble it would take to figure out proper sizing, especially some of the odd-ball sizes that these cars tend to have. Looking forward to see if you have any issues or not. I plan on buying some sets for all the body panels and some of the door hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Looks good. It seems like a pretty good value, for all the trouble it would take to figure out proper sizing, especially some of the odd-ball sizes that these cars tend to have. Looking forward to see if you have any issues or not. I plan on buying some sets for all the body panels and some of the door hardware. I agree, it saves me a lot of trouble trying to figure out which bolt goes where. If you do order from them, tell them that Nathan in Buford recommended them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 (edited) Speaking of bolts, does anyone know of a good source for chrome valve cover bolts? Edited October 21, 2010 by AtlantaZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 They look ok but can you certify the grade of those bolts? At least for the structural ones. The package looks quite good but it would be nice to know it is well planned from scratch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Make sure you use anti-seize to not gall the threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaZ Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Yes, anti-seize is critical with these bolts. I called MMS and verified that these are 304 grade stainless, tensile strength 110,000 PSI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Yes, anti-seize is critical with these bolts.  I called MMS and verified that these are 304 grade stainless, tensile strength 110,000 PSI. Those would be a grade 5 or little bit below ISO grade 8.8. I guess you should be good to go At the same time, I don't know what Nissan was using at that time (I haven't seen anything written on them)... For your info, I was using grade 10.9 on GM vehicle I have been working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I called MMS up just now and ordered a bunch of hardware. The woman I spoke to was really nice and helpful, she let me modify the kit to suit my needs (I didn't need any bumper hardware, etc) and adjusted the price accordingly. So far, I'm impressed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I just realized that the original ebay link posted is actually the ebay store for MMS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I got my kit today, top quality! I definitely recommend them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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