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You'd think I'd have done this by now, but I finally did the initial 20 min engine break in. Shall we just say...

Value is in the eye of the beholder. The only reason to call somebody a dimwit, implying that you are smarter than they are, is because you are insecure about your own opinions. Instead of arguing the point, you make an ad hominem attack on the person. It's a form of weakness, in mind and personality. Explain why the car is more valuable to you, and leave the personal comments out. Show some knowledge instead of pretending that you know something. Show us that you're actually an intellectual and not a pretender. It's easy for people who really know what they believe, difficult for people who just want to feel superior. And for you Mike, this not abusive behavior. I know you like to please the guys who actually own "classics" but you'll end up with a 5 person club if you're not careful. Not a lot of sell-through from those guys either, they probably don't shop on the internet.

Let me count the ways. So I bought a rebuilt brake booster from RockAuto: A-1 CARDONE - 535104 (53-5104) - Power Brake Booster $84.79 + $25.00 core = $109.79 I open the box and it's unpainted bare metal, and the metal that is exposed is deeply pitted. This thing was apparently a boat anchory rusty mess that they bead blasted back to "shiny". It's clear that someone sent in their completely tired worn out old dead booster as a core. There are also clear signs of physical abuse. Almost all of the clamshell retainer catches are split open and the case is dented where the master cylinder mounts. I guess I should expect some of that... As long as the pits don't go all the way through and split catch tabs still allow the clamshell halves to seal, I should get over it, right? So I'm handling the unit and it feels slippery on the outside. Feels "silicone-ish"? I'm thinking I just clean it up and throw a quick coat of paint on it. I sprayed and cleaned and wiped and cleaned and sprayed and wiped... Then I sprayed a coat of rattle can black that instantly fish-eyed like I've never seen before. It's like a thousand guppies staring back at me. It's like someone dipped this thing in liquid teflon. Don't care anymore. It's mostly covered. Bolt it into the car and while putting the master cylinder back into place I notice that the output shaft looks shorter than my original boosted. Sure enough, the shaft on my original booster sticks out about a quarter of an inch longer than the rebuild. Try to adjust the shaft length and it's frozen solid. Won't budge. Whatever... So my pedal engagement location will be a little different. I'll re-learn the new position. Put the master cylinder in place and pull out of the garage. The pedal goes almost all the way to the floor before I get any braking action, and when I finally do get any action, there is no modulation. It's almost digital... Either coasting, or face through the windshield. No in-between. Now for those of you who have been through this before, you already know where this is going, but I've never been here before. So, I pry the seal retainer out and remove the (rusty pitted) output shaft. Lots and lots of silicone grease, but you guessed it... no reaction disk. Can't see it in there anywhere and can't feel it. So I take the whole thing back off the car and shake the crap out of it for a frustratingly long time until the reaction disk finally falls out the hole. Put the reaction disk back into place and put the booster back in the car. It works and will get me to my show this weekend, but I think I'm going to build some fixturing to take my old one apart. My old one is clean, un-dented, with the retaining clips intact. I think I'm going to investigate swapping over all the new rubber components from this rebuilt unit over to my old booster. Essentially paying $100 for a "rebuild kit" that I can apply to my original booster? Unpainted, greasy, dented, case with snapped retainers. Rusty components where rubber seals are supposed to seal. Internals not assembled properly. I hate rebuilt components... Starters, alternators, brake calipers, master cylinders, brake boosters. They all seem to be done by people who don't get paid enough to care what they're doing. Sheesh. Stark reminder of why I do my own work. Rant over.

Just based on my experience, it's almost always impossible to explain to people why I put a larger dollar value on a car like a Z432 vs, say, a stock 1970 Z, or even a modified Z with a Rubello engine. The difference between these examples happens to matter to me, but I acknowledge I'm in the super-minority. I can confirm the same arguments are heard across Marques. There are plenty of enthusiasts with a 1973 Porsche 911 who wonder why their car is only worth $50,000, while the guy with the 1973 RS can sell his for $1,000,000. Or why the guy with the 1960 Ferrari 250 PF II cabriolet sells his car for $2 million, while the guy with the 250 LWB California - nearly the exact same car, save for a few body panels- gets $14 million for his. The nerdy answer fundamentally is that there are enough marque fanatics who are students of the differences, and a select few more that have the means to insist on buying only the top-end specifications, thus creating a market spread. In the case of the Z432, there are perhaps less than 200 surviving examples to choose from, in various states of originality, so when one comes up, you either buy it, or wait (potentially a long while) for the next one.

Here, here to your reply to grabmyknot, Alan! For what price does ignorance offer the world of opinion? Shutter my word, I beseech thee, as I regret that I have but only one brake caliper to give for my Z! I was hoping that we might have an intellectual conversation about the cross-flow headed monster. I am so disappointed to read the remarks of disdain. Yes, in fact, the PS30 does outperform the S30 to which it would be properly (intelligently) compared. It outperforms the HLS30 without having to be breathed on, and, the marque has racing provenance not equitably shared by the 240Z. Finally, I completely disagree with the opinion that the basic car is worth only $20,000.

First of all, it's Alan. A-L-A-N. Got it? Secondly, the name of this forum is classiczcars.com (got it?). If you don't recognise the PS30 Fairlady Z432 as one of the most desirable, rare and interesting iterations of the S30-series Z then maybe you are on the wrong forum? If Mike is going to be looking back at anything he might want to take a peep at many of the recent posts from you and your sidekick (many of which have been, ahem, deleted...), which are often off-message, off colour and - in my opinion - more suited to the level of zcar.com than classiczcars.com. My comments about philistinism still stand. It's hard to take seriously anyone who snorts "you get a $20,000 car and a whole lot of ego", and I wonder if you would like to point it out to the 432/432R owners who frequent this forum? Does the comparison still stand if the car in question is HLS30-00013?

i have gotten so used to having to order parts for this car that i almost cost myself a lot of $$. i need a water pump, so went on-line to order one. that was dumb! look at the cost difference here. less than 1/2 the price and no shipping. they dont have it in stock, but it will be there in the morning. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic15t/16-7021 http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/carquest-water-pump-new-t1070/5760232-P?searchTerm=water+pump&zoneAssigned=1&prefStoredSet=1&prefZC=97470

To me, the Z432 is a rare, important, limited production car, indelibly part of Nissan's Z car heritage. Value is what someone is willing to pay for the privilege of owning one. When nice examples can cross the block at elite sales such as last years Amelia Island & sell for 230k (plus commission), it shows this is a serious collector car, and helps further the growing interest in all the early Z cars.

That looks like a pretty good system

Hihi... good one Blue...

Reassuring to see the forum dimwits being dimwits. We can't be far from an 'LS-it' meme... The "what's all the fuss about" viewpoint is half philistinism and half luddite. If a G-Shock tells the time more accurately, why would you ever buy a vintage Girard Perregaux? Why buy an oil painting when you can have a bubble-jet printed poster for next to nothing? If she can't tell the difference, you might as well give your wife a paste ring instead of wasting all that money on a real diamond.

I just ran across a cool device put together by a fellow Datsun fanatic. @ron carter is the sales director for this company that provides a GPS tracking system for classic cars. Check it out! http://www.geoskyalert.com/

Well I couldn't resist a great local deal and picked up barely used black vinyl seat covers from @zKars in Calgary. This community is so nice and friendly! here's a pic from Jim of his (my) seat covers in his gorgeous 71

I fixed the arcing - loose wire. The hood is painted and on the car. Just wanting for the interior vinyl and carpet to arrive so I can install and put the windshield in.