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Time to shift from making silly Datsun products for a while to making masks for my famly’s use. I have two kids that are active on the front lines and one of them is not being supplied with any PPE (airline). I have a great design prototype made from (still) readily available and fairly in-expensive materials that are already designed to filter bacteria and viruses. Homemade masks are not very effective if 1.they don’t fit your face properly, 2. don’t have proper air flow through the material (will force air around the mask seal if not, think your rad cooling problem when air can get around it) 3. aren’t made of a material that can actually filter out virus particles. Yes, something is MUCH better than nothing, but... I’ll share the details when we refine the design and fit later today. If you don’t have a sewing machine, get one. You don’t need it, but it makes it easier to make them. Hot glue or needle and thread are just fine as well. Got all my ideas here. Very comprehensive https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/

I'm very disappointed in myself for not suggesting something along those lines earlier.

I can avoid people without seeming like an arse.

Wow......That’s an awesome sound tuned Z Moelk......doesn’t get any better than that! Don’t you just love the straight 6? Guy

So we're doing home movies now? Sorry. You knew that was going to happen though, right?

So the old “company store” trick

This made me laugh, then cry a little... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was thinking about this the other day. Here in Los Angeles, we've been shut down as long as almost anyone in the US, so there has been a lot of time for reflection and introspection. Some of the things I've thought about in the last few weeks, at least on the personal side: Reflection and introspection itself is worth a lot, and it's something I didn't allow for myself previously. I've been reminded how appreciative I am of my family. There's a lot of pieces out there about being cooped up with people you don't get along with or being left alone. Our family has been forced to have more time together, and that's been a good thing. Work, chores, hobbies, errands, everything else was often higher on the list before. I think we've gone on more family bike rides and walks in the last 3 weeks than in the last 13 years combined. The first night when LA was shut down, my wife and I were a little too worried/preoccupied to do much of anything, let alone cook dinner. My 5 year old daughter wanted In N Out. So that's what we got, and she was so happy about it. It's a small thing, but it's stuck with me so far. These circumstances have been a stark reminder of the value of both luck and preparation. We're not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but we've saved aggressively, made good decisions, and had good fortune. I'm just under 40, but could weather a storm of unemployment for several years if things got to that point. It would undo years of work, but I also know there are people who are worrying about paying for rent or food after missing a paycheck. I'm extremely grateful to be where I am, but know that in many ways I don't deserve it more than anyone else, and hope I can help out others who haven't been as fortunate. We're more conscientious about, well, everything. I've made two loaves of banana bread in the past two weeks instead of throwing the old overripe bananas out. There are other things, but somewhat more trivially, while I miss going to the gym, at least my cardiovascular fitness has improved! I've hit some PRs on Strava segments that I've run dozens of times. That's cool. Don't want to know what my deadlift and squat will be like when Gold's reopens! Hard to know what the new normal will look like, whenever it comes (ideally by summer; we have plans!), but I hope some of the good stuff will stick.

There are silver linings indeed. Spending more time with my 3 yr old grand daughter than I ever thought I would. We are playing daycare four days a week. Never played so much barbie or Hide and seek in my life. Even have an indoor swing, and that thing does NOT swing itself. Also have her earning her keep in the shop. Doing her part sanding the air cleaner bolt cup washers. F495BC45-70B6-4744-9B6E-545B7CC5E79E.MOV

Started her up for this season. IMG_0079.MOV IMG_0077.MOV

2020's Moral Insanity...EGO.

You're right. In this case, nuts is a Sociopath and an extreme Narcissist all rolled into one. In the 1830s this disorder was called "Moral Insanity".

The video here exposes Trump's base level. He's just not even close to what we need. Watch his hands, and Dr. Birx's face, and how she leaves. Watch it a couple of times. It's amazing.

Thanks, sound is really awesome at higher rpms ; ). It’s actually a 6-1 header from Msa and a 2 1/2” pipe to a Zstory jdm muffler.

https://imgur.com/a/30pg5AO let’s see if imgur works.... @siteunseen I’ll do some more testing and come back, in a “remote” meeting at the moment ha.

I hit that age way too soon. My to do list has priority numbers that have been scratched through way too much. Glad to be where I'm at in life.

This was an insurance ad in the netherlands

So cool

So you know when you become a dad, God gives you special gifts for your children to enjoy? You know, things like your jokes or dancing? This is me since I became a dad, as far as they are concerned, I even have the footwear .... I dare you to watch and not laugh out loud!!

I spend much less time feeling I should be doing something more constructive.

Clever!! Great way to get the feed to that tranny!! I've been using Amsoil gear oil in the tranny and rear end for a couple of decades; definitely made the transmission smoother shifting. I spent the last two days replacing front and rear pads and rotors on my '83 280ZXT. While I was at it I packed the front wheel bearings (an easy thing to overlook) and did a brake fluid flush. Incidentally, replacing the pads on that, especially the rears, is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. You have to assemble the pads and clips and hold everything in place while rotating the brake pad retainer in place. If you have anti-chatter stuff on the shims, it's a bit messy and you have to watch that you don't get it on the rotors. This afternoon it should be about 40 degrees, and I'll take the ZX out to bed in the brakes.

There's quite a bit on the forum about Swepco 201. Also about Pennzoil Synchromesh, which is very popular. Even Synchromesh Friction-Modified, which is apparently the latest best stuff. Everybody that tries it loves it. JMortensen recommended Swepco 201 in the past, but he also said that they would cut it with ATF, because straight Swepco was a bit thick. Here's an old thread, + 1, with his comments. Search Swepco and/or synchromesh and you'll find a bunch more. On hybridz.org also. p.s. Your extended funnel looks familiar. If you use 5/8" heater hose instead of the small clear tubing, things happen faster. Especially on a cold day.

Did a tranny oil change. I read a lot of posts about people with squeezy bottles and pumps etc to get the oil in but I just made one of these ... And did this .... Thought I’d share in case it’s helpful to anyone else. Strangely with MT90 the ‘box feels less slick and smooth. I will likely try swepco 201 next on recommendation of a highly esteemed Z club member who is a Z God! The later ‘77 European box has the Porsche style steel synchros so GL5 is reportedly not going to be an issue. Will run it a few miles and evaluate later though, at least it gives the MT90 a chance to give the ‘box a good flushing!

Be nice if someone could use them. Free but they'd have to arrange for shipping from Madison Wisconsin.

The downside is that my wife has already reported me to HR...twice.

The problem is those replacements are also 40 years old and have or get the same problems.. no, for me i would restore the unit i've got already.. and let me ad, i've got the feeling, Ebay isn't anymore what is was.. lots of cheap junk for to high prices, and stuf that looks nice but is in fact almost junk.. as a friend aways says, "They (the buyers) all are like crows, if it shines they like it" !!

He probably could have gone about it differently - like having crew members notify their congress representatives or the IG. That might have been covered and protected under the "Military Whistleblower Act. I'm sure he felt he was doing it for the greater good. As a retired Air Force officer, I saw a few similar instances during my active duty years. His superiors view what he did as making a bad decision and you can't have someone who makes bad decisions in charge of an aircraft carrier. To his credit, he can say, "Mission accomplished". Dennis

The product name has been decided. Slotty McSlot Face This after a naming contest a couple of years back that asked for public input on naming Canada’s newest and long awaited Coast Guard vessel. The most common name suggested? Boaty McBoat Face. I kid you not..... Ok, maybe EasyTime is the real winner. The EasyTime Plate will be available in two finishes. The premium finish is the yellow zinc plated disk. It will come with the pair of new yellow zinc bolts. It will be hand signed by the creator, me; “Jimmy McJim Face”, and will also have the firing order(s) engraved, also by hand. Don’t worry, I’m not a doctor, I’m an Engineer, I print neat. This near jewelry quality part will be $49.95 USD plus tracked postal shipping anywhere I can ship postal. Most US lower 48 locations are ~$10USD so most US orders with be a flat $60USD. The cast aluminum color powder coated plate is the standard finish. Also comes with new bolts. This item will be at $39.95 USD, postal terms same as the premium plate. Unfinished raw plates without accessories can also be supplied so the customer can do their own thing. “you do you” is the term I believe. $29.95 USD plus actual postal shipping cost. The plates are 1/8” thick steel BTW. Both sizes of EasyTime disk are the same price. If the distributor body has or had mechanical points installed, you need the small size. Otherwise the large size is the one you need. I’ll supply a dimension to check to be sure. L4 or L6, this rule holds for all the distributors I’ve seen. Only works with Nissan distributors for the L series engines. Canadian and other currencies will be converted to these USD numbers at the time of the transaction at the paypal currency conversion rate if the buyer wants to use their own currency. Rates are all over the place, so “actual cost” shall always rule. Payment in USD, via Paypal, is the preferred payment method. Locals can cross my palm with sufficient silver if they so choose or pay via e-transfer to save paypal fees. The instructions are simple. Remove old plate, install new plate. The Arrow points CW to get the right side up. Questions? Comments?

Your budget will determine everything, especially in the 240z world. Rust & bodywork get expensive to put right. As many wise members have said, "buy the best car rust wise you can afford" Good luck with your search!

That's what I consider bullying. I have to deal with it almost everyday and it's exhausting.

What are we pretending to have for supper tonight? Ernest_s Great Uncle_ Lloyd Worrell 1m6s - 2m60s (ls82Pj7XeGc) 2401.mp4

I Luv Towelie

I don't know if anyone has posted this one but I thought it might be appropriate. One of the best songs of the 70's.

So I've been browsing around the internet watching car videos and came across this guy who has a channel where he finds old cars and builds engines and stuff, and he built one then took it to the dyno for tuning. A Chevy 307. Guess what "best" timing was? Weird. It's at 31:30

Good story, but the actors seem a little stilted. ? Dennis

I'm sorry. They are in our prayers.... praying a lot lately.

She has been convinced to donate her wages to the cost of our Disney+ subscription....

More great pics. Yeah, those blue blobs are tantalum caps and are probably fine. As for the rest of it, it looks pretty straight forward (easy for me to say, right?). Pair of analog multiplexers/demux, a counter to spin them through their paces, and a bunch of logic gates (AND/OR/NAND, etc), and a crystal to drive the whole thing. I'm guessing it's just a big ol state machine that cycles through eight states when the "start" button is pressed. Some analog conditioning on the front end for each channel, input mux connected to those to funnel it down to one signal as the counter counts to eight, a bunch of logic for the decision making, and an mux on the output side to direct the result to one of eight output transistors to drive each of the bulbs. Block diagram is pretty simple. So even though it's probably not that complicated, as long as replacements are available on ebay, I wouldn't get into component level troubleshooting.

Having my shop right in my backyard is a blessing. I have been buried neck deep in body work and paint for the last three weeks, so I have hardly had time to process this new reality. My wife is essential services (City police payroll manager) and still needs to go in three days a week and work from home two day’s a week. The blessing is now she doesn’t work three hours of overtime a day. We spend a lot of time taking walks and watching our three grandsons for our daughter. Built a half a dozen puzzles at least. Looking forward to more time on the car, more time with the wife, and to finally see some sunshine and less snow. Still waiting to see how the military decides to employ us going forward. I am an Operations and Training Warrant Officer at the school, and all our student courses have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I might end up deployed somewhere disinfecting hospital rooms or who knows what! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very true, a little taste of mortality certainly puts things into perspective and what is truly important. The old "slow down and smell the roses" phrase, well it is now being forced on us. I have always taken pride in how busy I keep myself, how much I can get done in a small amount of time, multi tasking and such. It is certainly a good skill to have sometimes but I'm starting to see that there is no need to spend my whole life in fast forward.

Many thanks to all of you for digging into this!! After seeing the photos posted by @dutchzcarguy I can confirm these individual "icons" used to work perfectly. I was always able to see the individual "STOP", "HEAD", "TAIL", "WASH", "BATT" and finally "OK" at the end - all in different colors. I don't think they are LED's since this is early 1980's technology. In the photo posted by @dutchzcarguy the only "icon" that I never see is the solid color "DEFECT" signal. I think that's good news. The layered glass is an interesting technology that's likely very unique to the Japanese engineers. And like Captain Obvious said, "It's a light pipe." Something like some early fiber optic technology. This has been a very "enlightening" (HA HA) discussion. Now that I see photos of the WARNING MODULE (thank you very much!!) I know what I'm looking for when I get under the passenger side of the dash. There are tons of wires over on that side of the dash . . . very close to the fuse box. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I can pull my Z out of the garage on a dry day and start looking. I also have tons of photos which I will go through. Another thing BTW! I have ordered an enclosed trailer, currently being assembled by ALUMA in Iowa. 8.5 feet wide, 18 feet long with a dovetail at the back door ramp. I put a healthy down payment on it, but that was before the stock market took a sharp nosedive. Now I'm concerned that many spring and early summer car shows are going to be cancelled because of the pandemic. I'm hoping to take delivery on this trailer in early May. I checked yesterday and their company is considered "essential" because of all the agricultural trailers they make, so I hope there won't be delays and I hope the car shows will go on as planned. HOPE. Thanks for all the great and helpful discussion! Keep it going! I'm determined to get that warning module working. Rich K = Car54280ZX. I will keep everyone posted!

Awesome pics! So the blacks are definitely the common connections. One black to the switch and one black to each side of the display cube. Looking at the traces on the circuit boards, each black to the side of the display cube is the common connection to four of the bulbs. So a total of three blacks. 1) Bank of four emitters on one side of the cube 2) Bank of four emitters on the other side of the cube 3) Switch It's also clear that the cube is a dumb device with no decision making entities inside . It's simply a box of bulbs and a switch. All of the decision making is done in the "Warning Module - Amplifier" box. All that display cube does is turn on a bulb (or bulbs) with power supplied from the warning module. So getting back to the original issue that @Car54280ZX is having... The problem is NOT in the display cube itself, but most likely resides in the warning module over by the glove box.

One strap mount is dead centre in front of the spare wheel well. The other is in the frame itself across from the rearward mount. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As a source for new bumpers don't forget Futofab, http://www.futofab.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131&Itemid=118#a_frontb New metal, perfect chrome, no holes, all metric fittings and they fit well. I'm very happy with mine, $360 USD a piece.

It will be tough to see them go to the crusher but it was a fun car.

Gents, not good news on the home front here. Today I started having some concerning symptoms. GI issues and a mild fever and chills. Hoping it subsides. Wife also got an email that they’re probably going to let her go. Hospital is losing money since there are no elective surgeries now and revenue dropped 65% in the last two weeks. They can’t afford to keep some salary employees. This sucks! I was supposed to go back to work on Monday but just called in sick. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just lost a relative to the virus and a friend of mine working on the frontline now has it with the classic fever, nausea and loss of sense of taste / smell!!! Be very careful of your health people!!