Marty Rogan

The front bumper on a '73 has an additional spacer and heavier mounting brackets. I believe the rear bumpers are the same. You can mount an early 70-73 bumper on a '73, by using the earlier mounting brackets. The threaded holes for the early brackets are still manufactured into the body on the '73 model. I did it with my first Z and prefer the look to the '73 5 MPH impact bumper. Marty

Thanks for the input gnosez. Do you think the car might be better suited for another class? I was thinking the daily driver class might make sense. I believe paint color isn't an issue in that class. If most things are pretty correct, and very clean, it might do well. I remember KATS car winning in the daily driver class. His and my car are fairly similar. Both are early 70 models, blue on blue, but not the correct 903 blue. Although mine is nice and pretty correct, I know mine would not come close to the level of detail he put into his car. I am just not sure what judges are looking for in the various classes. The daily driver class does not judge the engine compartment and that is one of the high points for my car. I would think going in the Nissan Modified class would not make sense, since it isn't very modified. I would think tastefull done, highly modified cars would take way more points than a slightly modified car. Thanks for the opinions. This is a good discussion, thanks for starting it Will. Marty

As you know, these cars are a work in process. That is somewhat of an old picture. Since then, I have replaced the coil with an OEM coil. The block is painted with the Nissan blue from Les at CDM. All of the CAD plating has been re-done. Have all of the original stickers. For the interior, I will be swapping the original carpets from my yellow car into this one, after I re-dye them black. Are judges just looking to ONLY have the original carpets in there? I have a set of NOS Adco rubber mats that the dealers sold. Would those be considered a deduction? I also have a set of NOS seat covers that I will be putting on. The arm-rest/cup holder lifts out. One other thing that I tend to loose points on is that the PO drilled a hole in the side of the console to relocate an antenna switch. Other than that it is in good shape. I picked up one of those repros from MSA. Which would be looked on more favorably by a judge? I also have an NOS hand throttle installed. Would that be considered a deduction? The outside has all new bumpers, door handles, etc. It has the correct Koito headlights. The paint is in really excellent shape, but of course its not the 903 blue that it should be. How much of a deduction would that typically be? I will also be putting the original wheels and D hubcaps back on. There are some additonal pictures in my gallery too. I appreciate any additional tips you might be able to provide. Thanks, Marty

I also have the stock radio, wheels, D-hubcaps, braided hoses, Koito headlights to put on. But I am not about to tear the car apart and pay tons of money just to get a stock color. Your last comment is so true. Even brand new they may not have qualified! Marty

I believe I have seen the 2002 version, but hot the 2005. I would be interested to see the updated one. There can be a lot of variability in application of the rules depending on the show you are at and who the judges are. Local shows will have less understanding of the rules in a lot of cases. The judges knowledge of what a 240Z should look like as it left the factory can also vary widely. I think the national shows would hold the highest standards for both. This is an interesting topic. I have oftern wondered how my 70Z would do at a national show. They have always been too far away to attend. I hear the 2008 show is in Ohio, which is very doable from Chicago. My car is very original, with one major exception. The PO painted it a non-standard color. Because of that I figured I would have to enter it into the daily driver catagory. I would love to get a few informed opions on that. Let me know what you guys think. Will, are you planning to enter your car at the national Convention? Marty

If you intend to Show the car, you would most likely get docked points, because the 240Z did not leave the factory with them. If you don't intend to show the car, then it's up to your personal preference. Personally I like them. I think the white would probably look better. Black stripes would probably not give you enough "pop" against the orange background. Like Arne, I am considering putting black stripes on my yellow car. That black on yellow gives you that contrasting color "pop" that really stands out. In the end, it your car and if you like it, go for it. Let us see the final product when you are done. Marty

I think you did a great job on this project. I am in for at least 2. Marty

Carl, The Sample that I supplied came out of a 1/71 one owner car. I believe it to be an original part. If you look closely, the repro does have the tucks at the top. It is not sewn all the way up. I think Bryan did an excellent job of copying the pattern. If you look at the pictures in my post, you will see a swatch of the original fabric on it, and next to it. It is pretty darn close in my book. It will never be "exactly the same", unless you got material from the original manfactures stock, and the lot it was cut from. No, there is no grommet, because I never had one on my car to give. I am still looking for 2 of them if you have some lying around, (hint, hint, !). If you are lucky enough to have your original grommet, you can just re-use it. So far we have not found a suitable source for that piece. Everyone has to make their own decisions on what they will put on their car. For me, I am very satisfied with the outcome on this piece. My 2 cents. Marty

I was just kidding!! Sure we are still friends. I look for ward to seeing your Master Vac decal. Any idea when that project might be ready? Marty

By removing the pads, you are able to get the pistons to travel farther than when the pads are installed. That little extra travel squeezes out the last little air bubbles. This is an old racers trick. This is the ONLY way I was able to correctly bleed my brakes. Marty

Ok, Mr. hairsplitter. I did ask for your opinion, !! So I just measured it. the top is 2 1/4" and the bottom portion is 6". Hey, it's close enough for me and I tend get pretty picky about originality. As for the price and lead time, you have to ask LBO730, as he the one with the talent that made it. So far I have not found a source for the grommet that is real close to the original. I did find a rubber grommet at Ace Hardware that measures 1/2" ID and 31/32" OD. It cost me 75 cents. It's pretty close to the correct size, but not the correct material. Marty

I had a real hard time getting the 4x4 calipers bled correctly on my car. The only way I could get the last bit of air out of the lines was to do the normal beeding procedures, as you have already done. You did get it right by the way. 1) Bleed the brakes. 2) Go to the passenger side, and remove the outer brake pad. 3) Get 2 pairs of vice grips, with padded jaws. 4) Open the bleeder. Use the vice grips to push the pistons in. Be careful not to rip the seals. 5) Close the bleed screw and pump the brakes a couple of times to get the pistons out again. 6) Repeat until all the bubble are out of the caliper. 7) Replace the outer pad and then do the same with the inner pad. 8) Repeat on the drivers side. I hope this helps. Marty

Hey Guys, I received the prototype yesterday. He did an absolutely fantastic job on this piece. The workmanship is top notch!! As far as I can tell the pattern is very true to the original. The material is about the same in thickness as the original. The grain of the vinyl is very, very close to the original. Check the pictures out. I placed a swatch of the original vinyl on top of the boot for comparison. I hope the grain is visible enough in these pictures. All in all I am pretty thrilled with the results. This piece would be pretty hard to tell from an original one. Major Kudos on the workmanship!!!! Let me know what you guys think. Marty

Hey guys, Here's an update for you. The prototype is finished and is being shipped to me. I might get it at the end of the week. As soon as I get it, I will post some pictures and give you my impressions of it. Marty

I agree with Mark as well. For an un-modified L-24 street car, the stock manifold flows well enough and you avoid all the fitment and droning problems. If you must go with a header, you might want to consider ordering from the Jet-Hot Coatings website. I got a Pacesetter Header from them direct. They ordered the header, coated it and shipped it right to my door for around $300. I was impressed with the quality of the workmanship and had no installation issues. Just another option to consider. Marty

Has any one out there either seen or installed a harness in a stock 2004 S2000? A friend of mine and I are trying to figure out if there are appropriate pick-up points to anchor the harness to. This car does not have a roll bar installed. we were considering the ptential of wrapping the harness to the roll hoop behind the seats. There is some concern with that since we don't know how much space is between the plastic covering and the actual hoop inside. Any ideas would be appreciated! Marty

The '83 ZX motor that I got last year had a dizzy with an e12-92 module on it, which I believe would be the correct one for your car. I'll trade you if you are interested. Marty

Hi Arne, If it is truly a spare for you, would you consider selling it to me?? I need to source 2 of those puppies. Of course if you wanted to keep it, I understand. Marty

Hey Dan, Thanks a lot for the dimensions and info on the material. I shipped LBO730 a shift boot a couple of weeks ago. He said he has sourced some material that is very close to original. He has not worked on the pattern yet due to the cold in his garage. I will keep you posted when we have something. In the mean time, keep an eye out for a suitable grommet replacement. Marty

I have never seen a real grommet in person (since mine is missing), so I am not exactly sure what to look for. Does anyone have a picture of just the grommet itself, and the dimensions for it?? If we had a picture, with dimensions, we could check with some suppliers. Thanks, Marty

Yep, that looks almost EXACTLY like mine. Marty

I was just thinking about the grommet situation while scanning EBay. I saw an auction for an A/C grommet and wonder if that or another grommet on the car would be a suitable substitute. It's hard to judge the size of the grommet on the EBay ad though. We need to find a source for the one pictured in arne's car. Hope you don't mind that I re-posted your picture Arne. By the way, I mailed an old early shift boot off to LBO730 to copy the pattern a couple of weeks ago. I will post pictures when I get one back. Marty

I modified a shifter that looks very close to yours and works fine. The shift book covers up the ugly weld. In looking at Bart's from the shift kit, I think that would still interfere with the trans tunnel. I found that you need to move the shaft position more toward the rear of the pivot point, instead of coming out of the top of the pivot point. Marty

Thanks. I am pretty sure mine came out of a '78 automatic. Marty

There are a number of reasons that I don't really want to use an R200. This is a track car, so: 1) I don't want to add any un-necessary weight. 2) My engine isn't that powerful that the R180 won't hold up. 3) The R200 has a non-symetrical shape to it. It is fatter on the drivers's side. In hard cornering, the half shaft can bottom out and cause handling problems. This is my biggest concern. Marty