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been a while since i posted - sucked into the quagmire of moving, work, summer travel, getting 2 kids off to college... all while the z has sat idle in the driveway due to horrible sounds emanating from the rear end (something my kids accuse me of on a regular basis). i finally got moved into the new place, installed some concrete pavers to allow me to jack up the z safely (gravel driveway) and immediately saw the telltale signs of blown bearings in the half-shaft u-joints. that red-iron-primer color all around the joint that comes from the factory lube escaping - i've seen this on motorcycle drive chains that blew the o-ring seals. turning the wheels produced unsettling creaking/cracking noises from the u-joints, confirming my suspicions. so i ordered all the parts to re-build the half-shafts from MSA: 4 new "heavy-duty" u-joints, new rubber boots and sst band clamps. did my research and read the very helpful blog post from woodworkerb (huge help) and when the parts arrived i pulled the half-shafts and knocked out the u-joints. they literally fell out in a pile of dust and broken bits - can't believe these parts were spinning around back there and hadn't exploded on me while on the freeway... my experience with this job was shockingly parallel to woodworkerb's blog: i discovered that MSA had sent 3 correct u-joints and one with caps that were 1mm too small. big PITA, but o'reilly's had 'em in stock (for cheaper + no shipping) and they were identical to the "heavy-duty" ones MSA sells. hmmm... the sliding bearing sets were in brand-new condition and fully packed with brand-new looking grease. i really could have left 'em be, but i went ahead and cleaned everything and re-installed with new grease and new boots. the whole project was done in half a day and the rear end is nice and smooth now. interestingly, the shimmy i had at the steering wheel at 65 is gone now. coincidence?? never thought that the rear could affect the steering, but stranger things have happened... the carnage that fell out: all cleaned up w/a fresh coat of epoxy paint:

Pete Thomas (@thomas461) posted a video he made of the Atlanta Concours d'Elegance. You might be interested in the car that shows up 39 seconds in.

OHHH, THE TEMPTATION!!! and the return of THE VOICE!!! SchiZophrenia is back. That one appears to only need a few hours of labor to put it back on the road unlike everything I already have. A real bargain for someone with a little knowledge and time. I hope it goes to a good home. My place would be better but I'll settle for good. I've got to finish at least one of my projects before I dare buy another. BTW, Getting old is a steep price to pay for maturity.

if it's making a clunking noise it could be a worn out differential mount. They are available from many places, I like zcardepot.com myself. If it's a whining noise you should try replacing the old fluid with new. I used RedLine in mine and it really helped quieten it down.

he still hasnt posted that he has checked the adjustment. could be that simple. it sounds like he just wants to throw $$$ at it.

Anybody got the parts CD or fiche collection? It would be interesting to see which factory parts interchange over the years. 1974 had the non-adjustable slave rod, but it's lumped in with 1970 which has the adjustable rod. And that's the Type B and the Type A transmissions. Could be that the suppliers just don't want to get in to the interchangeability mess and are relabeling parts as different when they're not. I'd hate to be the guy on the phone trying to explain this.

The correct dimension from the flywheel friction surface up to the tip of the collar fingers where the actuation arm touches it is 92 mm +/- 2. So no matter what clutch you buy/have, the total stack height is what matters. Get a collar to get 92 with whatever clutch you buy.

On Thursday i was finally able to pick up the NOS rear quarter panel, which i found online a few weeks ago. I wanted to thank the guys from http://www.swissconnection.us/ for their superior shipping service and the seller of this item for his great support. Thanks! Unfortunately it got a slight dent during shipping, but still a lot easier to fix compared to creating this complete panel from scratch and sheet metal You can still see the sticker of the original Nissan Spareparts delivery back in the day: Beautiful to see all these original welds and shapes. I guess my Car is reaching Concours level soon with all these originanal bodypanels beeing put together Oh and then i got this from Japan. I asked hayashi to reprint an old catalogue for me with all the NLA Fairlady parts. they agreed but unfortunately we probably got lost in translation a bit and they sent me a new catalogue istead. well who cares still nice to have a new Hayashi catalogue

Yes there is. If you can't DIY there is a guy in CA who can add an AUX jack to any radio for about $60 bucks. I had him do a radio out of a 1992 LS400 for me and it worked great. I'm getting ready to send him the OEM radio out of my 78 280Z for the same mod. I've already checked and he says he can do it. Here is his web site: http://factoryradioservice.com/index.php

Look, it's really simple. I'm interested in FACTS. You posted some (I believe) uninformed opinion and I responded to it. That's how forums like this are supposed to work, no? If you think I was wrong, by all means come back with something to support your views. I'm fairly confident that I know a thing or two about Nissan race cars - and race cars in general - for the period concerned, and it seems to me that you know a thing or two with respect to modern understanding of race car aerodynamics. I think it's unfair to point the finger at Nissan and imply that they "didn't know what they were doing" when - with the benefit of 45+ years of learning - we can can see that true aero understanding (downforce etc) was still in its infancy. Point the finger at Nissan and you have to point it at everyone. In the period we are talking about (say, 1970/71) even the likes of Porsche - a company with racing running through its veins - was making race cars with aerodynamic properties that were downright dangerous (cf 'Kurtz' and 'Langheck' 917s for example). But who said the 'Grande Nose' was considered "the ultimate" anyway? I don't know anyone who does, but its what Nissan did and it's what we got. It was - in effect - a frame on which to hang various other appendages. Without homologating it Nissan would not have been able to progress with their race efforts on Groups 4 & 5 and we would not have seen the later developments on the IMSA cars, for instance. You stated that Nissan was trying to push air under the car, but the whole point of the 'Grande Nose' was to channel air over and around the car and to restrict the air flowing through the radiator and engine bay (KEY POINT: it had to be homologated, so it had to work on the road cars without making them overheat) and the intention was ALWAYS to put an air dam underneath it (the homologation road models even had the mounting points for one) and seal the whole thing off with an undertray. So clearly, saying that Nissan was trying to push air underneath the car is wrong... Offended? I don't think you need to be, and I think we should be able to debate without fear of upsetting anyone with the strength of our convictions. Like the 'Grande Nose', I'm not perfect (who knew?) but I'm here to talk cars and I care about this stuff. In your particular case I have noted a fairly constant theme of dissing certain aspects of the topic and I respond to you with that in mind. I might well be wrong, but by the same token you might be wrong about me. Like you, I only go on what I see on the page and what that makes me imagine.

An effort from a restoration shop in Kent, UK... Recent...

Hey Z members, Just wanted to let you all know that I have 1 set of inner rocker panels available. made two sets for two customers, decided to make an extra, below are pictures of the general process that goes into making these. The parts at the end get coated with Bloxide rust preventative weldable primer to keep from rusting during shipping and before installation. You have the option to purchase the panels with what I call tie in plates/support plates. There is a front end plate and a rear end plate on each passenger and driver side. The front plates I am selling for $25 each and the rear plates for $10 each, so a total of $70 for all four corners. The fronts are more pricey due to it being larger and containing more dimple holes and beads. These are what the outer and inner rocker panels mostly weld on to. I Do not have any pictures to show of it, but will post some up later of what they look like. chances are that if your replacing your rocker panels, the tie in plates will be rotter as well, great chance to weld in some new ones.

Nissan - just like everybody else - were changing the aero packages on their cars virtually on a race-by-race basis. One of the main difficulties with introducing new bodywork parts within the framework of the JAF/FIA Group 4 and 5 rules was that they had to be evolutions of already homologated parts. Any radical change - like the 'Grande Nose' itself - had to have a fresh homologation. It wasn't simply a matter of bolting parts on a car and going racing... Who said the 'G-nose' was "the ultimate"? The HS30-H 'Fairlady 240ZG' was a homologation model, made and sold to the general public with the express purpose of legalising aero and body parts for JAF/FIA Group 4 racing. The road car didn't come with any front spoiler/air dam/splitter because it wasn't necessary for the homologation (such parts could be legalised for race use by adding them as evolutions to the homologation) and Nissan fitted a variety of different spoilers to its race cars. At that time it was tyre technology which was the main limiting factor in 'grip'.

When shimming brake pads you want the trailing end of the pad to engage the rotor surface first. That reduces the vibration (and squeal) if the pad hit the rotors normal to the rotor surface.

Here is one that is not quite as old. The checkerboard Z is the builder/driver of my toy.

All absolutely true. And it wasn't just Nissan. Every manufacturer with a race effort or support operation evolved or homologated. My 914 is an example. I was able to find one of the 400 M471 "kits." Wind tunnel work was in its infancy, so everything was 'educated guess work' I'm sure. My 914 is clearly a slow flying brick (not so aero) so Porsche went the route of trying to get as much tire to the ground I think...

Like it or not Alan is an institution and factually you had better take notice. But he and others need to learn the difference between alleging a fact and making a mere comment or observation. Take my previous comment about Nissan aero. In no way was I claiming that Nissan was behind other makers or had no clue about what they were doing, it's because of that sort of conclusion jumping that lawyers have to include all the fine print that people complain about. Also as far as the G nose goes it is my experience that it's considered by your average S30 fan to be the ultimate aero device. That's my experience, how can I be wrong in stating that experience? The conclusion may be right or wrong but that's something else altogether, please guys brush upon your comprehension skills, I've had a lot of professional experience in using language precisely as possible and it's disappointing when some rush off with all sorts of versions on what was said. PS This series of lively discussion has woken up this thread, how can that possibly be bad?