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It would weigh less there however... ...just stating the obvious.

Andreas... It’s in the body shop for a new rear spoiler. Should be out soon....then to my friend’s dyno....I’m anxious to see what it does. Will post as soon as I have the numbers...will video the run. Guy

Here is the story...and it's a long one! I bought this 71 back in the late 80's, I think I paid $1000 for it. Naturally it had to be hot rodded, the engine and trans(5 speed were swapped from a 77) still got the original engine and trans in good shape), the head was ported and polished, titanium retainers, the cam came from Ed the armenian (rip) he worked for Smokey Yunick btw, header , dual webers, electronic ignition, ansa exhaust, adjustable Tokicos, suspension techniques springs ...and so on, You get the pic. Got married in 91, had a baby and this thing stopped being practical, my younger brother wanted it so I sold it to him (don't remember for how much, not important) Anyway...he drove it for a couple of years till some kids stole it from his buddies house (how typical), the ignition lock locked up on them and they crashed into a pole, (front right corner), it was taken to a body shop , fixed and painted...all fresh rubber..that was in 94 or 95. he drove it for another year or so, until him and his gf took a weekend trip to Santa Barbara (from Northridge CA), he got 2 speeding tickets over 100 mph, one on the way there, one on the way back....into the garage it went, covered and left for dead. I been hounding him over the years to do something with it but he is a lazy computer engineer driving some fancy Bimmer....so it sat, in spring of 2016 I get a phone call: come and get it. its yours. Trailer hitched I head to Socal to pick it up and home it goes, Parked it in a buddies warehouse and started work, drained the gas, changed fluids...changed fuel pump (dead), one accelerator pump was dead....pour fuel...started on the first crank. since then got a carpet kit, seat skins, fixed the interior, installed aftermarket A/C(not finished yet) rebuilt the carbs (flooded on occasion), tackled the electricals (still moodey) The day has come to get it out of there (my buddies "request") so I pulled it out to the parking lot...crap,no starter (moody) jump started it with a screw driver and took it around the block...its drivable, time to take it home. How was the experience you ask....it's rude its crude it's stiff, steering is hard, getting in and out is a PITA. it hates to be driven civilly. zero sophistication...zero, it stinks of exhaust fumes, it forces one to step on it (and get speeding tickets), pure evil....however, I cannot explain that unwanted grin when pressing down that right foot....it's intoxicating! Now to the final question: how the hell do you get rid of the exhaust fumes?, all the rubbers are new, including the hatch Still have work to do... after the drive discovered the the water pump lost the bearing, temp gauge is dead, starter is still temperamental, I suspect the relay, I can hear it click but no starter. Finish the ac, the valves are noisy.. and so on...it never ends.

I love it when new members say screw this, I'm sick of arguing with you guys- I'm out...then come right back. You're not going to win here, get some sleep.

WOW!

Hi all, I am saddened to read on Facebook that Victor Laury has passed. Victor was a long time Datsun fanatic and he helped build our club in the 'early' days. He was known to us as @Victor Laury and was one of the most helpful people I knew. He was a moderator and brought a huge ray of sunshine to our collection of pixels, 1's, and 0's. Victor was featured on our club years ago, and he drove 4 different Datsuns in his daily life. I raise a glass to Victor and wish him godspeed on his trip to Heaven, knowing that he will be driving in the sunshine with the top down. He was an inspiration to me and I treat every day as a privilege to be on this Earth. Victor, if you are reading this, we will miss you dearly and our thoughts and prayers go out to your family. Enjoy your special place in Heaven and we will meet again someday. Moderator Mike PS: I will never forget our common love for Faye Valentine. RIP my friend!

Successfully removed my '72 240Z windshield this afternoon! I saw several horror stories and videos of them cracking - but thanks to @gnosez for the advice! I did not have stainless trim to remove, but that is the first step. This also assumes you do not want to retain the rubber seal. Mine was shot so not worth saving. Tools you need: 1. Straight edge razor tool (not a box cutter) 2. Your two hands. 3. Blanket From the outside of the vehicle, I started on the driver side upper corner and with a straight razor blade (not a box cutter rather a tool that exposes the entire edge of the blade) began gently cutting the rubber seal away until the edge of the glass was exposed. Once I found the edge of the glass, I was able to run the razor down into the rubber along the edge of the glass. Gently cutting and pulling the rubber material away. The corners are the thickest material. You can also push the blade edge towards the roof or cowl to trim the rubber sideways if it will not cut free in some areas. This is not difficult to do, but it is time consuming. DO NOT rush it and take your time. Do not put any sort of pressure on the glass with the blade. It took me about 2 hours. Once the entire edge of the glass is exposed and rubber material is cut away, put a blanket on the cowl and ensure all tools are removed from the work area. Begin GENTLY pushing the windshield from inside the car. I started in the upper middle area just behind the rear view mirror and gave it several small nudges. Do not push hard. Four or five small gentle nudges. I then moved to the left side and then the right side. I repeated this cycle about four or five times and the glass eventually let free of the rubber seal. Do not rush to push it out. Get out of the car and then remove the rubber molding from the upper left and right corners and check the entire edge because you do not want it to catch. Once that is free you can lift the glass out. I was able to lift it by myself, but you may want someone to help you. Put it in a safe location and grab a celebratory cigar! Note: In my final picture that is not a crack in the glass - it is a mark in the wood behind it. Good luck to all!

I just saw this on instagram. Not sure where the photo was taken but it's an L series head with FI and a plate on the head that said "Mikuni" and one on the throttle body that says "fuel injection prototype." I've never heard of this. Anyone know what's up?

The endresult with a camera.

I wound up taking the timing cover off. Turns out I actually did spring the tensioner, but it wedged back in in such a way that it looked and felt like it wasn't sprung. Oh well. On the plus side, I got to replace a few gaskets that were made entirely of RTV with some real gaskets. Now to get the damned oil pan with it's 2 million bolts back on.

Very nice! On the Poudre Fire Authority here, we had a mishmash of various engines and trucks until our B/C went to a chief's convention and saw a Spartan chassis. From then on we bought only Spartan. It actually saved money as we had only to stock parts for one chassis instead of 5 or 6. Absolute quality. Congrats. Cheers, Mike

I saw my first Nissan Fairlady 280Z during my first duty station with the navy in Angeles City, Philippines from 1985-1986. Following the Philippines, I spent two years in Misawa, Japan from 1987-1989, which is when I purchased my first car ever a 1979 Nissan Bluebird 4 door sedan. I always liked the Datsun 280ZX, but did not know when I would get one. When I was about a year from moving from Japan to London, England my 1980 Fairlady Z came up for sale. I just had to have her, so off to the bank I went to secure the funds to purchase her. I did not know the first thing about differences between Fairlady Zs and Fairlady 280Zs. I bought her thinking it had an L28 engine, turns out the engine was an L20. The wheels are Techno Racing Phantoms from Japan and are very rare. For the 79-83 line of cars, if a Fairlady has an L28 engine, it is a Fairlady 280Z. If a Fairlady has an L20 engine, it is a Fairlady Z. The descriptive "ZX" was not used for the homeland version Z. The other major differences between the North American version and the Japanese version are the fender-mounted mirrors up to 1983 and the location of the steering wheel. Japanese regulations required fender-mounted mirrors on cars in different tax classes based on their physical size. By fitting the mirrors to the fender, you can make a car with a wider passenger space fit inside the same maximum width of a given tax class. In 1983 Japanese laws changed concerning mirrors on the fenders. I shipped my Fairlady Z to London, England in 1989, but it went to Iceland by mistake, which caused a delay in its arrival in England. She fit right in during my stint in London 1989-1991 as they drive on the left side of the road. England was my first exposure to a group of Zed enthusiasts, which are now known as the Z Club of Great Britain. I knew she would be coming back to the states with me, so I was able to obtain an EPA hardship exemption letter, which exempted me from emission requirements. Two stipulations were 1) could not sell her for three years, why would I want to sell her. 2) Could not register her in California or Hawaii, not a problem, she did live in San Diego for three years 1992-1995 with Florida plates. Prior to departing London, I had to arrange for her shipment back to the states, the military shipping office tried to tell me that I could not ship her. Fortunately, I knew they were in error as I had shipped her from Japan and did not purchase her on the English Economy as they assumed. I knew the government-shipping manual like the back of my hand, which was a good thing or she would still be in England. I had to hire ICI International to post bond on her and provide transport from Cape Canaveral to Orlando, Florida where the DoT conversion was completed. DoT conversion included reinforced doors, bumpers, and changing speedometer from KPH to MPH. I got off easy with a $1276.00 bill, which could have been a lot worse if I did not already have DoT approved safety glass and tires. I spent 6 months stationed in the Fort Meade area in 1991, which missed the establishment of the Maryland Z Club by two years. Following Maryland, I transferred to the USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) home ported in San Diego, California. I was associated with a number of Z Car Enthusiasts in San Diego 1992-1994, but we mostly cruised the beach as there were no Z Car Clubs in the Southern California area then. Following San Diego, I transferred to Pensacola, Florida and took a stab at starting the Emerald Coast Z Car Club in 1997, but transferred to Naples, Italy in 1998 prior to anything coming to fruition. I gave all my documentation to a fellow Z Enthusiast as he also had intentions of starting a Z Car Club. I would like to think that our efforts played a role in the establishment of the Panhandle Z Car Club. My Fairlady Z was stored at my parent’s house in Flagler Beach, Florida for the next two years as I was not taking her to Naples, Italy. If you have ever experienced Italian driving styles, you would understand why. The Neapolitan's will turn a two lane road into eight and slapping mirrors as you pass is common practice, “ciao”. Following Italy, I went to Victoria, British Columbia, which is on Vancouver Island. During my tour I got involved with two Datsun and Z Car groups. First was the Vancouver Island Datsun Enthusiasts (VIDE) and the second was the parent club British Columbia Z Registry. While residing in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 2000-2003, I came across a 1984 Fairlady 200ZG for sale in Seattle (Redmond), Washington. Greg Macaulay VIDE founder, and myself drove down to Seattle to pick her up from Trevor Elston. The range for the Japanese market continued to list a 2-liter engine to make the most of local taxation laws. On the home market, the Z31 also came with a 2.0 liter motor. The 200Z, 200ZG, and 200ZS used the VG20ET motor while the 200ZR had the RB20DET. Other than the 300ZX, the only other factory Z31 variant to use the VG30DE engine is the 300ZR. The Japanese 300ZX Turbo was not subject to the tough emissions regulations found in the US, allowing it to produce 230 hp (172 kW), outperforming not only its North American counterpart, but the 2.0 liter Z31s as well--their engines only made 170-180 hp. The 1984 Fairlady 200ZG has the VG20ET engine, which is rated at 170bph, only 60bhp less than the 3-liter equivalent. The Z31 series was the last of the 2-liter versions, as Japanese taxation laws changed in 1989. Differences between the North American version and the Japanese version are: pressure sensitive device on hood to activate wipers, different mirrors, side turn signal lights between front wheel and door, no turn side turn signal lights on rear fenders, and rare hardtop with turbo engine. The 2-liter version differences are: no injector fan, no battery gauge in dash, 4 vice 5 lug bolts, and smaller window washer reservoir. The 1984 Fairlady Z had about 8 coats of burgundy paint on her, so I had to strip her down to bare metal and had the original factory paint scheme put back on in blue-black metallic with silver accent and painted on pin stripes. As I was living in Canada, it was easy to obtain Fairlady Z parts directly from Nissan Japan through the local dealer. Do not understand why we cannot walk into a dealer here and get parts directly from Nissan Japan. Someone recently mentioned US Customs was the problem, but I am here to tell you Canadian Customs is no joke. I ordered some parts from Australia and went through an ordeal taking the ferry over to Vancouver and processing the required forms. A little history on the ownership of the 1984 Fairlady Z, Reginald Alston shipped her from Tokyo, Japan to Sanford, North Carolina and sold her to a New Jersey auction. A car dealer in Brooklyn, New York purchased her from the auction. Trevor Elston purchased her from the dealer in New York. I found out I was going to get stationed in Maryland for my retirement posting, so I looked up the Maryland Z Car Club, contacted Mark Lambert, and joined in February 2003. I traded the 1984 Fairlady Z to Erik Kidwell for making my 1980 Fairlady Z engine look the way it does. My 1980 Nissan Fairlady Z burned up in a shop fire, total loss. I bought the car back for $70 and parted out what was left. I purchased a 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z from the 2nd owner. Z you around! "Love Cars, Love People, Love Life" Mr. Yutaka Katayama, "the Father Of The Z Car" Cheers, Kirk Towner

Any others out there?

Maybe...

Car next to it was a head on collision with a deer, the shop did not disconnect the battery, after two weeks it decided to catch on fire. Insurance agent, said that this is a common occurrence with deer collisions. I have moved on, insurance treated me right, so please no comments about taking the shop to court...With the funds I received I was able to purchase my 1970 Fairlady Z. Cheers, Kirk

Story of my life. But we digress. Significantly.

Sounds like CO's dealt with that before. She expects 6 inches and gets only 5. Rims look nice. There should be a date stamp near the outer edge of the rim. An early date might help the sale. Price is good considering that they were powder coated! Chuck

All this thread is showing is that tzagi1, neither values the cars or has an appreciation and understanding of what component the unibody is, along with how its identified.

It runs again guys thanks for the insight. I'm thinking the jump may have just fried the battery. I'm going to be double checking everything though making sure everything is working fine

Good decision moelk. I think Z’s look great with the rear spoiler. I’ll post my silver car when it’s installed.

Very happy......still running SU’s. The engine is a torque monster!

Had to do it again......gonna build another Stroker for the green 72. Will start after the first of the year.....it’ll be a 3.0.

That was more for everyone else. I'm always at my spot selling parts or packing up for the night when the bikini contest happens. :-( Chuck

With all the parts wire wheeled I covered them in some Rustoleum satin black. The car is red but I didn't want to paint them red as the car may not be red all of its life so black it is. With everything cured after 7 days I started the reassembly process. The upper hinge was first. Using my bench vise I pressed in the brass bushings. They went in perfectly. Since the brass bushings were thicker than the originals I had to use the metal lips of bench vise to spread the side of the hinge a part just a little. I lubed all of the contact surfaces with lithium grease. Once I got the hinge halves together I used my 20 ton press to install the new hinge pin. The end result is nice and tight upper door hinge. The reassembly of the lower hinge was the reverse of the disassembly. The bushings in the lower hinge looked good and felt really good with the new pin so I opted to leave them. Just like the upper hinge, everything lubed up with some lithium grease. The inside of the door received some clean up and fresh red paint. The fasteners were treated to some wire wheel action to clean them up as well. With the help of my wife we got the door with minimal damage to the paint. I had taped a thick towel to the top of the door but still managed to pull some paint off. The end result is a door that functions like new again. Seeing that there are no new hinges to be had and there is a service on eBay charging $100 - $150 to rebuild each hinge, the is a lot of value to be gained by doing this yourself. It does take an investment in some specialty tools like the HF press but it will pay for itself over and over just as mine has over the course of many projects. I welcome any questions or feedback.

With enough notice, I can even put people in touch with people in the ATL who may have the desired parts.

Problem with Zcon is those who drive to the event in a Z are limited in what they can bring and what they can take back because of space and how dirty / sloppy the parts are. Other problem is that I don't want to load up the car with a whole bunch of parts, only to bring the same parts home again. It would be great if there was a "needs" list or something. A thread started with the intention of arranging swap details? Like "I'm going to Zcon... Who needs what parts?" or something.

More teaser from SEMA and Mikuni: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/tokyo-motor-show-mikuni-will-make-these-throttle-bodies-if-theres-enough-interest/#more-62706

Looks like Z Car Garage will be showing off the Jenvey FI system at SEMA -- this installation is on the OS Giken head as well From their facebook page:

Any others out there? This one I owned for 30 years, bought it Misawa, Japan circa 1987. I just lost her this year in a shop fire :-(