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Well done! We should have some sort of Sherlock Holmes award. I tried the Google but it just took me to a motorcycle race shop.

Here's an excerpted paragraph from the Classic Motorsports Magazine article: This theme runs through the whole article. If the BRE team had nothing to do with discovering and diagnosing the crankshaft problem, then "developing and proving the design of a new production 240Z crankshaft", then what was the point of mentioning it so prominently in the article, and why does it contradict the above paragraph? Yes - we know that racing improves the breed, but Nissan had already encountered the problem and were working on the solution. The article byline says "Story By Peter Brock", but my hunch is that it was ghost-written by a Classic Motorsports Magazine journalist. Perhaps a little bit of lost in translation and artistic interpretation going on there? There's plenty more in the article that's ripe for discussion. Plenty: First of all, calling the 510 "Katayama's vision" - as though it would not have existed without him - is absurd. Calling the S30 Katayama's "personal project within Nissan" is nonsense, even if Katayama may have believed that himself, but stating "...new L-series engines ... created especially for [the 510]" is not far south of cargo cult-level misapprehension. Hopefully most of us here on classiczcars know the full story of Nissan L-series engines and understand that the 'two cylinders added on to the 510 engine' thing was just the simplest way for Nissan to explain the L24 to a market which had seen the 510 first and had no idea where the L-gata had really come from, but we probably can't expect the average Classic Motorsports Magazine reader to have the same background knowledge. That's a shame. I could take potshots at this article all day long. There are plenty of legitimate targets, and the nonsense written regarding the "Prince Z 432 engine" (does the article ever correctly identify it as the 'S20'?) is fairly inept if not unexpected, but we also get stuff like this: ...which is patently untrue. First of all, Nissan was completely dedicated to taking the S30-series Z racing and rallying from concept (just as it had been doing with just about every other model it produced...) and had been preparing the way to do that, including developing and homologating the parts with which to do it. Quite apart from what was going on in Japan, a small group from Nissan's works rally team was to be found testing a nascent 240Z rally car on the Monte Carlo Rally route in January 1970, before BRE had even received their first car. And Nissan was PERFECTLY aware of the rules and requirements for sanctioned international competition - including 'production' based racing in the USA - because they had already been participating in such forms of racing since the late 1950s. The statement is just bizarre... It convinces me that it must have been ghost-written.

Interesting. Google or Google Chrome? I used Chrome. Oh, I remember. I got the same motorcycle business the first time, then I added Alexandria, Va. to the search. I found a USA.com website linked to RC's name and went to an EPA profile on that site to confirm the business is still around. Found the current address for RC Automotive was the same as the one on the cam tag. Then went to Google Maps to take a look at the place. A piece of cake.

Glad to help. Was he able to give you any info on the specific grind and or clearances?

There's a detail regarding the crankshaft design that may have had a role in how this saga played out. Perhaps it was the cultural difference that contributed to Nissan acknowledging there was a problem until it became a more public issue? "Later they began to grasp the reason behind the manufacturer’s silence: It was simply a Japanese custom to not recognize direct criticism, which is how they perceived BRE’s reports. Unbeknownst to them, the problems were being worked on, but Nissan could not admit it as that would have indicated someone had made a mistake–an unacceptable cultural error. The team was learning."

I contacted RC Automotive machine shop (301-350-8408) this morning and spoke to Roy. He verified that the cam was one that he had ground. They are still in business but they do not do new cams, he will regrind existing cams, but stated that he cannot compete with new grinds do to the low cost of the imports. Mark , just want to say thanks for your help.

One set is sold.

Yesterday, my car had an air conditioning compressor replacement. I found big noise from it , and realized the bottom of it was very dirty covered by oil stains. I think maybe the noise was coming from the clutch. The York compressor is R209 type which is big enough to supply cold air in a Z . Kats

Hi. €20 / $23 - sounds crazy but local postage is at least the same as international if not more (there is a specail tarif for exported publicity upon the French culture through which I send them abroad). All the French holidays by region are marked so also a practical gift. Kind regards, Sean

I did not read where Brock claimed they solved the crankshaft problem. Yes they discovered the issue quickly, and, yes BRE tried to fix it as there was no answers coming from Japan to their reports.. But BRE did not fix it and does not claim that as I read it. It was after they received the new revised crankshafts from Japan that BRE became successful on the track. The article says that.

Got one of the front calipers rebuilt (Before and After pic below, kind of), Funny thing, when you order front brake and rear brake shoes, you get 2 sets in each box. When you order a caliper rebuild kit, you only get a kit for one caliper. What's up with that? So, need to order another caliper rebuild kit. I will order those along with the new brake flex hose lines. I put the short brake line that is near the backing plate on. Those look pretty cool, so thought I would take a pic. Started cleaning up the fuel and brake lines. Will send those out to plate shortly. Taking the Brake drums and rotors to get turned tomorrow. Hopefully the brake drums will be OK. They have some deep grooves in them.

Hi Gavin , congratulations on your wedding! Also very interesting to read about Evie , your wife must be very helpful for your Zs .You are lucky man . When I married my wife asked me not to bring my 240Z with me to Japan after the graduation of basic flight training in California. I had no space in Japan so I returned the car to the previous and original owner just the day before of my returning to Japan . One of the picture , I found the date 19th June 1995 , I remember the day I visited the owner and so excited to seeing the real one , sitting in front of me . I decided to buy it for my birthday (18th June) for 1500 USD ,but I did not have that amount, he allowed me to pay 300 per month! I spend so much wonderful time with this car . This light blue 240Z was the very first car which I owned in my life . Now my wife seems acceptable for my spending time with my ?Zs Kats

Kats, did you ever see this one? 240sx KA24 4 cyl head (well two heads cut up to make a 6cyl special head) then bolted to an overbored L28 and stroked.... then twin turbo's!!! L31DETT A young bright kid in Phoenix did it many years ago..Bryan Blake. His dad owned a machine shop and was into drag racing!

I’m really not trying to change your mind. I’m simply supporting Alan’s assertion - “with the caveat that “the truth” can depend on your point of view...” Pete Brock’s ‘truth’ is that he discovered and solved the problem. I’d guess that he is really firm in his belief that is truth. Reality which is absolute, is that Nissan was already aware and working on it. Religion has attributed the meaning of reality to truth. In fact, each of your blind men was describing their truth. It may not be reality, in fact, it isn’t, but each of them believes they have truthfully described an elephant. It is their truth. Not trying to be difficult, but this is what my PhD deals with. Alan is right. The truth depends on where you’re standing in many cases...

Not trying to hijack the thread with old stuff, but all the pics of you powder coating puts a huge smile on my face. I'm sold, I'll be getting one of these!

, enjoy the read. I am happy to leave behind a trail of experiences for people to follow, just be sure to read ahead and get the full story. Some of my experiments failed and some were modified later on. All of my progress has come from the input of others on this forum.

I don't have an answer for you but I can't help but wonder if your cam came from the same grinder as Jeff Berk. Wednesday he started a thread titled "valve adjustment with "racing" cam". The paperwork that came with the car has a cam tag from Chambers Cams. R.C. Automotive, Alexandria Virginia.

Ouch!!! That makes Porsche maintenance look cheap! ?

Panda eats, shoots and leaves.

Hence the request for more pictures of your AC. Under the dash, console controls and other side of the firewall to start. That will show more info than trying to explain everything. The folks on this forum are sharp and can pick out details that could solve your AC questions quickly.

You're going to have to show pictures to clarify your car's situation, especially with the AC. But typically with the stock version of the heater, you simply slide your controls to heat and hot and of course turn on the blower fan. Hot air should only come out of the heater vents or the defrost, whichever is selected, not the center or side. That is unless you have some other aftermarket kind and I am not familiar with any of those. Someone with more V8 and 72' experience will probably chime in soon. Good luck!

I'm not seeing much ineptitude in those pics, the dogleg patch is perfect.

It is unfortunate they aren't closer to the original stamping, but we probably aught to be glad we have any new stampings at all. It is quite expensive to make dies and I am quite positive there is no room in the market for two vendors making these parts. On a separate note, I wonder with variations in manufacturing if there are any cars that these fit correctly right out of the box?

If you bought it yrs ago then maybe it's from another batch, the rockers they have been producing in the last few yrs tend to have this problem.

Are you ****ing kidding me? I test fit the rocker I got years ago, no doors or fender mind you, and you're telling me it has even MORE problems than I thought? WTF is the point of making them at all if they're such poor quality? Ugh. Someone needs to come up with some competition for them.

Thank you! I’m having a lot of fun. I have used several zinc shops over the years. I would suggest a local shop since shipping gets expensive. I use a shop in Spokane wa or Portland Oregon most of the time. I built my own vapor blasting rig. I did a detailed thread on here about it.

This is not as nice as the one done for the '77 280z's, but i got tired of following the black & white lines........ It's just a quick overlay using photoshop........Hope it's benefical, ENJOY!!!!!!! Upload is PDF, pm me if you want the photoshop file. 1978 Color Wiring Diagram.pdf

here ya go Capt... >LINK CHANGED BY MODERATOR Sept 2012< >Corrected file attached.< ===== See this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13131&p=410424#post410424 E Scanlon Moderator F77ZCAR-WIRING[Edited].pdf

Note - Vega, do not read any flames into this post. First, your post really should have been put on a new topic. While I can see how your post could loosely follow how the thread changed, it's moved far away from the origin post and therefore less likely to get a good response. Second, you will probably find more information and help over at hybridz when you want to do things like incorporate a GM ECU. This is more of a traditionalist site. Just make sure you search before posting there. They don't tolerate repetition very well. Good luck with your experimentation.

Wayne! THANKS! ;-) That critical fold-out had been ripped out of my '78 FSM.