Marty Rogan

No, but $30 shipping is a steal. I paid more than that to ship a diff. recently. How much are they asking for a rebuilt tranny? Marty

Absolutely!! Road America is big time fun!! I usually get there twice a year. My Avatar is me coming out of turn 5 there. Let us know when the dates are and I will try to be there. It would be good to meet up with you guys. Marty

I bought the Blue '70 in 1998 and it has been a work in process ever since. The exterior paint was already done when I bought it. Since then I completely restored the suspension, interior, engine compartment, all the cad plating and lots and lots of detail work. My yellow '71 has had substantial performance upgrades and sees about 6-7 track days a year. It is a blast to drive full out. Marty

Welcome! And thanks for telling your story. It sounds very familiar to mine. I first had a '73 240Z from 1980-87 and restored it from ground up. An unfortunate gas leak from the Weber carbs completely toasted it. I went 11 years without a Z. Then Z Fever struck hard and heavy. You can never get rid of Z Fever! I am now a proud owner of 2 240Z's! One for show and one for go (track duty)! It's nice to have one to pamper and one to drive like they were meant to be driven. Looks like you are doing the bronze one right. Keep up the good work. Marty

I bought one of the Jasper remans about 2+ years ago. The price was actually cheaper than what I could get an engine rebuilt for locally. It came with all new internals. It comes pretty stipped down to just the block and the head. You have to bolt on EVERYTHING else. They have very good quality control. And it comes with a 3 year warranty. They delivered it in a very nice sturdy crate, right to my door within a week. Delivering to Panama maybe a different story, but they are a pretty large company and might be able to handle it. I use it in my track car and it has held up very well. Marty

Hey Darrel, The track looks like it's coming along nicely. All the hard work is paying off. It looks like it will be a really fun track!! Great to see new tracks being built. I hope I can come out and play some day, !! Marty

I did this swap in the Spring. I also have an '83 motor and 5spd in there. It made a HUGE difference! The car really digs out of the corners now. The acceleration is great. Marty

I have used another less toxic method. I think it is a bit faster too. Use a regular electric drill and drill a ton of holes into the rubber until you can pluck it out with a pair of pliers. Then just clean up the remaining rubber left stuck to the sleeve. Good luck! Marty

You might want to try wrapping the shift lever with some nylon plumber's tape. It might just give you enough additional mass to stop it from spinnig around. Marty

Congrats Craig! Looks like a nice spread in the magazine. Wish I could read Japanese! Marty

Congrats Paul! That's a sweet looking car. I owned a 1966 Tiger in '83-'84, at the same time that I owned my first 240Z. It was the exact same color combo as this one. An amazingly fast little car, but suspension technology was pretty crude back then, so watch those corners! They are really rare cars. Only 7,000 total world production were made. There are probably less than 2,000 left today. If you think working on a Z is hard, you should try one of these! They shoe-horned a Ford V-8 in there. To change the #8 spark plug, you have to remove a grommet behind the clutch pedal, lay up-side-down and stick your jointed extension socket wrench through the hole to get to it. It can take 2-3 hours just to change that one plug! It makes changing the heater hoses in a Z seem easy by comparison. Man, 20 years later and I still regret selling that car. Enjoy it! Marty

Thanks for the reply Bob. And its not too late. I got super busy lately and did not get to this project yet. I hope to soon. Marty

Might as well replace the valve too while you are in there. You don't want to do that job a second time. Marty

Well, I just got cleaned up after finishing this job off. When I sit back and look at the final solution, it just kinda makes me laugh. Any time you are working on the car, or any other job for that matter, ALWAYS use the the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!!!) principal first! You guys all came with great suggestions as to what the problem could be: wheel bearings; tie rods; steering arms; ball joints; hubs out of round, spindle worn. After I got new bearings installed; still had too much play. After I got a new ball joint installed; still too much play! At this point I am really scratching my head because that ball joint really looked like it was flexing a lot. While I was under there pushing and pulling on the wheel, looking up at everything, I see the shock shaft moving. The lock nut that holds the shock into the top strut mount had backed off!!! DOH!!! Tightened that sucker, no more movement! The solution ended up costing me zero! Oh well, everything on that side is new so it should be in good shape for a couple more years. Just thought I would share this in case someone else forgets to use KISS first. Marty

Last night I was able to get one of my sons to tug on the wheel while I got underneath for a look. From that angle it was pretty obvious that the ball joint is shot. Hopefully that will solve the problem and it won't be a spindle and hub too. Thanks for the help! Marty

Thanks for the input. That's interesting to hear about the hubs and spindles. I could see how the spindles could wear, but I never thought about the hubs going out of round. Since I have play with the new bearings which have not had a load on them yet, I am suspecting the ball joint now. I'll have a look at that tonight. Thanks, Marty

I use my early '71 as a track car. With the tracks around here, the driver's front wheel bearings take a lot of abuse. While swapping tires the other day, I noticed some play in the wheel bearings. Tightening didn't help, so I took it apart for closer inspection. The outer bearing race had a visable shaddow where the bearings were rolling, but not really a groove that could be felt. I replaced the bearings anyway since they were about 2 years old, and like I said, it is a track car and gets a lot of abuse. With the new bearings installed, I still get some play in the bearings. I know the races were seated well. Any ideas on what the problem could be. I need to get this fixed before a track day on Monday. Thanks, Marty

What "spray bomb" product did you use? What kind of brush, soft brissels, or stiff brissels (liek a hair brush? Thanks for the input. Marty

Well, this would be used in an occasional driver, but the SEM solution does not sound too promising either. If I am going to go through all the time and trouble to do this, I would want something that lasts. Thanks Will. Anyone else have another solution? Marty

Sounds like RIT is not a good choice. Thanks Geezer! Marty

I have a set of original carpets in my early '71 that are in pretty good shape. They are the cut pile type. Problem is that the sun faded them while it lived in the South. What experiences have you had with dyeing carpets? Please share any tips and tricks you may have found. Things to stay away from would be good hear too. My first thought was to use RIT fabric dye. I have also heard some people say to use SEM vinyl dye. I have used the SEM on door panels with fantastic results. It just seems odd to use it on carpet though. The brown jute underneath the carpet is shot too. So far I have not been able to find a supplier for that. If anyone has found a source, let me know. TIA, Marty

I was thinking of getting Tabco doglegs for my car. I would be interested to know why you don't like them. TIA, Marty