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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/17/2022 in all areas
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prices
5 pointsThere are many forces at play right now and more complicated that the average Joe really understands. 1. The Pandemic - this was the catalyst not the cause of shortages, shortages lead to supply/ demand going out of balance and thus higher prices ensued . Federal free money (Covid stimulus checks) while necessary to keep some people afloat they forced out of work through the demand curve way outside the normal. It also upset the labor market. Some people decided not to work even when they could. 2. The Federal Reserve printing money since QE1 (circa - Nov 2008) which accelerated through QE4 expanding the Fed balance sheet has created a glut of cash in the economy and very low interest rates, this further disrupts the supply/demand balance. Cheap money encourages poor spending decisions. When a 5 yr loan is 1% people borrow more money and buy more crap. 3. Energy costs have soared. It began well before Putin attacked Ukraine. A couple things happened here. One when the economy began to turn back on demand for fuel outpaced production. Oil and gas companies were caught in a bullwhip effect. In June of 2020 there was a glut of crude oil that left them scrambling to find space to store oversupply. Crude tumbled to $9.12 a barrel in April 21. When the world economy started to turn back on suppliers had basically turned off the spigot. 4. New leadership - our new President enacted policies that make it challenging to explore oil and drill for oil and gas. He stopped renewing off shore drilling leases and exploring or drilling on Federal lands. Billions invested by oil companies in pipelines were scrapped and sit partially complete or dormant meaning fuel has to be trucked and brought in on rail. He had publicly stated in his campaign he would End All Fossil Fuels. The oil companies have decided it’s too risky to invest in further production so they aren’t producing as much and in an unfriendly environment can take consumers to the cleaners with low supply. 5. Putin steps in and kicked over the apple cart. With sanctions on Russian, oil and gas supply’s are further inhibited. Russia is rich in natural resources, fertilizer, minerals, lumber, grain. Ukraine was also. Now we have soaring prices on things like Nickel, copper etc. 6. Labor shortages - Again the pandemic caused a major disruption in America’s labor force, some have referred it as the “Great Resignation” in 2021 47 million Americans quit their jobs. Labor is way more expensive now and this directly impacts a companies bottom line. When China stops the lock downs and comes back online, we are really going to see energy prices soar. Hold on for a wild ride. Cliff, great story about the landlord. This is how it’s supposed to work. You raise prices too much people go somewhere else. This is how the free market is supposed to work BUT in our modern complex society we have serious barriers to entry now. Oil companies or chip manufacturers don’t have to worry so much about competition driving prices down because you just can’t build a chip factory overnight or a oil mining company, These companies have the market by the balls now. This is not how the market is supposed to work. What’s supposed to happen is competition is supposed to drive prices down but that can’t happen now in many markets. Trying not to to be political just trying to lay it all out there, because there is a complete lack of understanding out there..5 points
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
Not wishing to divert attention from 'TKS 33 SA 986', but to give a little extra context on the Works cars and a similar case of a Lazarus-like revival, please let me add a post to tell the tale of 'TKS 33 SA 3640'. I hope it will encourage @xs10shlin his task and help drive him along his road to restoration. 'TKS 33 SA 3640' was one of a batch of four RHD lightweight HS30 Datsun 240Z rally cars built up by the Works team at Oppama during the third quarter of 1971, for the express purpose of taking part in the 1971 RAC Rally here in the UK in late November. It was driven on the event by German-born Kenyan national Edgar Herrmann and his German co-driver/navigator Hans Schuller who had won the East African Safari Rally in their lightweight HS30 Datsun 240Z 'TKS 33 SA 1223' in April. That Safari win gave them a high seeding and a start number of '5', which would be something of an advantage on a forest type rally. But Herrmann - famously - had never rallied on snow before, and it was something of a certainty on the RAC. In fact, unusually heavy snow caused so much disruption on the event that a high number of special stages were cancelled/annulled halfway through and service crews struggled to make rendezvous with their team cars. There was a high rate of attrition. Herrmann/Schuller finished, but were classified 17th overall and 5th in the Group 4 class. Team members Rauno Aaltonen and Tony Fall were both non-finishers, but Shekhar Mehta - driving one of the previous year's RAC cars - finished 19th overall and 6th in Group 4. Privateer Rob Janssen - driving ex-'TKS 33 SA 986', now registered on Dutch plates '67-54-RU' and the subject of this thread - also retired. After the RAC 'TKS 33 SA 3640' stayed in the UK and was used for promotional duties by Datsun UK. Eventually it was sold to a Datsun dealership and was used on various UK rally events during the following years. It changed hands a couple of times, but eventually ended up in storage on a farm in the far north east of England. It stayed there - narrowly escaping a fire at one point - until bought by my dear friend Kevin Bristow in 1996. Decrepit, somewhat rusty (to say the least...) but largely complete, intact and authentic. Kevin started a long and slow process of research, parts (re)acquisition and restoration. I had the pleasure of being a small part in all of that. To cut a long story short, Kevin finished the car in 2008. Twelve years! The result is stunning. It was featured in the August 2009 edition of OCTANE Magazine with studio shots and a great write-up by Paul Hardiman (see attached). Kevin also took it to the 2009 Chatsworth Rally Show in Derbyshire, and demonstrated the car on the short Special Stage in the grounds of Chatsworth House. I got the honour of pretending to be the navigator (or Self Loading Freight perhaps...) whilst Kevin didn't hold back. The car got wet and muddy, as it was built to do. Fully alive again. '3640' on the 1971 RAC Rally: Classic & Sport Car Magazine 'as found' report: Post-restoration OCTANE Magazine feature: "Forensics". Pretty much, yes: And in action at the 2009 Chatsworth Rally Show: I hope the above is an inspiration and encouragement to @xs10shlin his journey to restore and refurbish 'TKS 33 SA 986'.3 points
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prices
2 pointsI have some rental properties and barely raised the rent over the last couple of years. Only enough to cover the increased insurance cost. If I have tenants that have been there a long time and dont give me any problems, I want them to stay! I hate getting new tenants and turning over an apartment.2 points
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My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread
I think they are made by Nishi san at 'Revive Jalopy' in Saitama, Japan.2 points
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My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread
Window roller kit was from this guy in Australia. He also made the door hinge repair kit shown a few posts before: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324337826467 The harness tabs / Cable clamps came from JDM-Car-parts.com. These are rubber or Plastic dipped, vs the 240Zrubberparts.com items, which are similar, but require some kind of shrinking tube to be installed. I went with the first option because i thought they're more OEM look-and-feel and probably lasting longer than the shrinking-tube version, which you see more often.2 points
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
This question starts out with a somewhat false premise. According to Nissan, a 'PZR' is very specifically a PS30-SB model Fairlady Z432-R. The Works rally car we are discussing here is a hybrid HLS30-prefixed 'Datsun 240Z' which utilised many of the PZR-specific thinner-gauge body pressings, ancillary parts and Nissan Race/Sports Option lightweight components. The terminology is tricky. We are trying to describe what are effectively PZR bodies, but with L-gata engines and HS30 and HLS30 chassis numbers. I have sympathy with @xs10shl because he is clearly using the 'PZR' term in an attempt to get across the specific and really very special nature of the early 'Lightweight' bodied Works rally cars. I myself find it difficult to get across to people the true nature of these beasts and how different they were from the '72-up 'Full Fat' Works cars (I sometimes call these 'Steel and Glass' cars, as opposed to the '70 and '71 'FRP and Acrylic' cars). The truth is that these early Works cars existed in a rather interesting grey area where the manufacturer was - shall we say - bending the rules somewhat. The cars were running in international events sanctioned by the FIA and were supposed to be conforming to the production-based Group 3 and Group 4 regulations according to the FIA 3023 homologation papers. But PZRs were Group 5 'Prototype' cars (due to their low build quantity), so the early lightweight Works 240Z rally cars were running with what could be seen as 'Prototype' class bodyshells in a Production-based championship. A competing team could easily have accused them of cheating, if they had known. PZR build quantities? Good luck with that. Nissan have always been vague about it, for good reason. We know how many roadgoing PZRs they sold - we even know their chassis numbers - but how many Works competition PZRs did they build for their own use? Some of them didn't even have chassis numbers. And what do you do about counting a factory PZR race car that has had an L24R engine put into it and the chassis tag altered to suit? You end up dancing on the head of a pin. We can't expect to be furnished with the full story, or even expect that such a thing exists. And that - for me at least - is part of the fascination.2 points
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280Z Starter draining battery
2 pointsBeen a long time since I posted. I want to thank everyone for their help. Turned out to be the horn. I don't have the horn connected in front but the steering wheel was making contact2 points
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
I’m starting this restoration thread for enthusiasts of the early S30 Works rally cars, so they can follow along, and perhaps also provide comments and their own insights as to the very early days of the S30 Works rally program. I additionally hope that others can chime in with comments, questions, corrections, and feedback as we go along. A preamble: this is a thread about researching, documenting and restoring a genuine 1970 Works Rally car. I’ve owned it for many years, but the realities of real life were getting in the way of getting started on a proper restoration. Given the car's provenance, I knew it would be important to get the history and the details as right as I could, given what little is known publicly about the Works program, and the scarcity of remaining Works cars. So I’ve used this time to do as much research as I could on the car's history, collaborate with a few historians (most notably @HS30-H, who needs no introduction), source a few needed parts, and work to provide a more complete pre-restoration snapshot in it’s current unrestored condition, as well as provide a glimpse of what the restored car will resemble when it’s finished. In addition to documenting and research, I've been looking for an appropriate opportunity to show the car publicly under my stewardship for the first time. Given the car’s current condition, it would have to be trailered to a show, which limited my options to “Somewhere on the West Coast". The stars aligned when ZONC announced it’s 50th anniversary meet in Northern CA in February for June 5, 2022. With this as a target date, I set my sights on getting the car as presentable as I could manage, given the time I had available to me. Loose parts were screwed on, dirty pieces were dusted off, and period stickers were researched, ordered, and placed (note: this last step was insanely fun). In my experience, there’s nothing like having a show deadline to motivate owners into getting their cars finished! Enthusiasts, historians, well-wishers, even skeptics and haters (although hopefully not too many of the latter): I look forward sharing this journey with you, and to your comments! 😄1 point
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
Thanks for the encouragement, @HS30-H! I'm familiar with Kevin's car, and its fascinating to consider that these cars rallied together (one from the front of the pack, and one waaaay in the back!) Although they are only one year apart in assembly, we can already begin to see some product development occurring. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kevin's must be one of the last lightweight spec cars produced, prior to going to steel and glass?1 point
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Haltech wiring ignition basic questions
Hi Gundee, Will check it out. Not sure the installation as I'm not running a MSD module. Ignition set-up ECU coil wire to a small ignitor module to the single HEI coil (ignitor and coil pic in thread). Can add filters at the coil and have been trying different configs. MSD is a ignition module so the installation could be similar. Suspect you're right the com loss could be battery voltage changes as Haltech installation instruction have the main ECU connections to the + /- of the battery. That all runs through a relay and fuse box to the ECU and harness. Check and see if I can data log batt voltage on my next drive and check for any changes in voltage when the com goes down. Thanks for the info.1 point
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prices
1 pointI work for a guy that has 86 1,000 sq. ft. apartments. He raised the the price per month 25% "none are available so I can charge what I want, they can get one somewhere else if they can". The people that didn't renew their leases after the initial 12 month agreement were on a month to month lease. Between 10 and 15 are vacant now. The buck is about to stop at his doorstep. Fortunately I run a paint store he owns so I'm moving a lot of product and getting PAID!1 point
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
Ohh, boy ... not 24 hours has gone by, and you unwittingly fire one right between the eyes, LOL. 😄 Let me start by saying this: we could devote an entire thread of many multiple pages of discussion to just this topic. And I'd venture to say that, in the end, we could only conclude that "No one knows for sure". I'll start off with some things that I understand to be true, and then I'll probably have to pass the baton for more input. In an attempt to provide a short summary: Some things that I believe to be true: Nissan made 40 +/- Works Rally cars utilizing, for a lack of a better description, a PZR chassis (Nissan parts-manual-speak for "Z432-R" chassis). My best understanding is that, although Nissan continued to make Works rally cars for the 1972 season and beyond using the same PZR chassis forms, none of these later Works cars were "Lightweight Spec", due to the FIA rules changes for the 1972 season which prohibited thin-gauge panel use, and other lightweight materials, in construction. Some things I just don't know for sure: Of those 40 +/- Works Rally cars, I GUESS is that at-most 20 were "Lightweight Spec". I get to this number by counting the known Works prototypes, known pre-1972 Rally cars, and adding one or two more phantom cars that perhaps no one (including me) knows about. I don't think there's a likelihood that there could be more than 20. If pressed, I'd say there's probably slightly fewer. This count of ~20 is IN ADDITION TO any Z432-Rs (which may or may not be lightweight- see below), which were production cars. But wait, it gets more complicated. What does "Lightweight Spec" really mean? I'm using it in this case to describe a car that was produced, at least in-part, with SOME lightweight panels, and also with some combination of acrylic glass, along with fiberglass doors, hood, and hatch. The reality is more difficult to parse, because it's my understanding that each batch of Works Rally cars were built to a purpose. Even though within each batch of 3 to 4 cars the construction was probably roughly identical, cars built for other races possibly used different panel thicknesses on different parts of the car. Other things I just don't know for sure: I just don't know exactly how many Z432-R's were "Lightweight-Spec" (using my definition above). Certainly several/many of them are. Were they ALL lightweight? This question is a grey area for me, as I've heard different stories. Did they continue making them lightweight after 1971? I'd venture to say they certainly could have, and would have reason to do so; adding to the "lightweight" complication is the fact that Nissan Works was also producing track cars at the time, which is a whole other tangent to the Works program that I know almost nothing about. Ergo, to potentially increase the running-total "Lightweight Spec" count, we'd have to consider the Works race cars in the mix. Certainly more information, corrections, and thoughts to come on this topic.1 point
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1978 280z brake proportion valve seals
In any hydraulic system the cup side of a seal faces the pressure of the system. That way the pressure forces the seal against the bore and rod.1 point
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
Thank you @xs10shl for starting this thread. It is something of a relief after the mild social media hubbub following its appearance at the ZONC 50th Anniversary meet. Seems a few people got a not-unpleasant surprise. Not many people knew the car still existed. My inbox got very busy! "Is it The Real Thing?" was a frequent question... Yes, it is very much The Real Thing. This is an important car. Important to us as S30-series Z enthusiasts, important to Nissan/Datsun history and important within the history of the rallying world and the International Championship Of Makes (predecessor to the World Rally Championship For Manufacturers, which began in 1973). Nissan built a surprising number of these cars, but very few survive. Off the top of my head I can only think of SIX genuine Works 240Z rally cars that are still known to exist as complete entities, along with TWO ex-Works rally bodyshells converted to circuit race cars. Three of the former are owned by Nissan themselves and two are here in the UK. And this car is the earliest known surviving Works 240Z rally car. It also has the bonus of being an example of the 'Lightweight' body type (incorporating many of the thinner-gauge sheetmetal pressings used on the 'PZR' Fairlady Z432-R) and the Works team built it with fibreglass hood, tailgate and doors to offset the weight of the extra equipment a top line rally car needed. Drilling down into the details you could fill a book. Make no mistake, these cars were very special indeed and almost every part is custom or modified in some way over stock. They were hand built by a relatively small team of specialists at Nissan's Oppama-based competition department in small batches, each batch dedicated to one main event: RAC Rally, Monte Carlo Rallye and East African Safari Rally being the main three and the Safari being Target Number One. So each batch was different and the specifications of the cars and parts used evolved in steps as upgrades whilst also needing to comply with new regulations. Because of this evolution it is dangerous to generalise and say "the Works rally cars had...". Probably better to point at a batch, or talk about the cars on a case-by-case basis. For me, that makes them all the more fascinating.1 point
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
1 point
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Front Cover Leak
1 point
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Part numbers and cross filing of parts and their ID ?
If it's the 280Z, you can use the bosch L-Jetronic. Google Bosch relay 0 332 514 1201 point
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1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration
After a long 4 months, the ZONC 50th Anniversary was upon us! The morning of June 5 brought unseasonably rainy weather, but there was still a great turnout of cars and Z car fans at the Blackhawk Museum. The drizzle was somehow fitting for the look of the rally Z, and provided a light touch of patina, especially when considering its past history of being driven in anger through snow and mud. Below are a few pictures from June 5. It was a wonderful experience to meet so many fellow Z enthusiasts, see so many great Datsuns, and discuss and share our love for our Z cars. We were only too happy with the great reception we received, and were pleased to be able to finally show-and-tell the car’s unique features with fellow rally fans. Thanks to Linda and the ZONC community for putting on a great show. Much more content to follow in the coming days, months, and (gulp) years!1 point
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prices
1 pointThat's kind of how it works. Pay the asking price, make your own, or go without. We're now living in a time when the best time to buy is yesterday.1 point
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Most dreaded of jobs finally on the horizon ? the fuel tank !
Yes, these are great pictures, I just spoke to the shop doing some of the work, and they said they wouldn't put the rockauto fuel pump on it, it has the original or maybe a factory replacement, but my problem was the hoses ( and they weren't FI hoses, had burst and the pump shut off. So they put new fuel injection hoses on it and put the new filter before the pump, ( and when I told about my fears of a dirty tank, and that the car sat for 13-14 years not used, he said well look, maybe it was stored with real gasoline and if that is the case, the build up of junk on the bottom of the tank might not exist, or at least not to the point of clogging lines or anything, ( the in-line filter they took off did not have any dirt or junk in it? ) Howie also said about my plan to drain the tank and let it dry out, He said don't do that. If you want to see what is on the bottom of the tank, wait till fuel is low, drain the tank, get the borescope and take a look in the tank from the drain plug location, if you don't see any build up of dirt of other junk, put the plug in with some Pematex thread sealant and then refill the tank. You stand to great of a chance of rust if you leave the tank open to the atmosphere which could cause more problems than just a little dirt ? I said to him, the problem with this classic car is you can't have it towed and left sitting at his shop for too long as it can and will get vandalized. Other than the fuel system, I'm trying to get the A/C converted to R-134, something of a formable task here as I live in a Service Desert around here ????? Thank you for all your help.1 point
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Front Cover Leak
1 pointThe front part of the head gasket seals the head to the front cover. When you pull the front cover while leaving the head attached, you need to pay special attention to the head gasket seal in that area when you reinstall the front cover - and it will require sealant which is tricky because the gasket will likely be oily. Some people cut the gasket back at the block face, clean it, the bottom of the head, top of the front cover, and put it back in place with sealant on both surfaces and "back in the corner" at the cut line. I do. It's good insurance. I imagine everyone has their preferred method. A Volkswagen engine builder taught me to apply a gasket sealer (I use Permatex gasket maker in the tube) this way: rubber gloves, put a small amount of sealer on your gloved finger, press it to your thumb, pinch the gasket between your thumb and finger lightly and keep pinching until you need more sealant then repeat. The object is to put a very thin layer of the sealant on both sides of the gasket and you can even it out by going back over the heavier parts when your finger has run out. This way you have a little added protection and you don't have RTV oozing out the sides (both inside the engine and out...) Ya, it's kind of a PITA, but it's worth it.1 point
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The Dreaded Vapor Lock
1 pointIt's a drag working in the heat (at least here in Phoenix it's "a dry heat"...) but first thing I would have done was pop the top off a float bowl and see if there's any fuel in there. Well, maybe I'd pull the fuel line off the rail and run a 3 or 4 foot piece of hose off it into a fuel can to verify that the pump was pushing fuel first, then check the float bowl. Gotta check when you're having the problem though. Carbs (I thank goodness every day that I have none) don't run off the pump, or the rail, or the fuel lines. They run off the float bowls. If there's no fuel in there it's somebody else's fault... Figure that out. If there IS fuel in there and the engine doesn't run then it has to do with delivery from the bowl to the carb - bowl outlet, weird little hose, jet, needle... Personally I'd lower the jet (L-series seem to hate idling lean) - you accomplish the same thing pulling the choke - because I'd bet that your "altitude/temperature correction" is off. My second bet, if the jet/needle setting is correct, that there's either a restriction aggravated by temperature or your fuel pump / fuel system is affected negatively by increased temperature. I also wouldn't be surprised if your float valves stuck intermittently (cooler fuel (more dense) will push them back open but hot fuel (less dense) and/or vapor will not). Or, maybe your carbs aren't set up and sync'd properly at all... (And I definitely WON'T say that I have a 240Z in the shop right now in the 100+ (113 the other day) degree heat (L28, SU round tops, electric fuel pump, MSA header with a stock heat shield (for an N33 intake), no shroud, alum radiator, stock fuel rail (that is not bolted to the head however), and also - no coolant to intake manifolds...) that doesn't have any "vapor lock" issues. I didn't make it that way - but someone did. Nope, I'm not going to say that...)1 point