TomoHawk

There's still plenty of room on the list for all you Z owners to come to Beautiful Cleveland, Ohio for the upcoming convention. First of all, you save hundreds on your housing bill... Remember that there'll be a full week of action, motoring events, parties & tech talks. You'll be seeing people from all over the U.S., Canada and some guys from Japan even! There is a judged car show, but you don't have to have your car judged; you can just go there and check out all the other rides. There's an arrangement with Mr K. to do a talk, and some other Nissan and Datsun- related people. Don't wait until the last minute to get signed up! Are you planning on registering in-person when you get to Cleveland? It's better for you and the host club if you sign register online in advance- you'll be able to breeze through the check-in procedure when you first arrive. PLUS, you'll save yourself a LOT of time not having to register for the individual events during the week!

Usually the code for the key is on the glovebox door. But if you can't even get in, you have a bigger problem, and why don't you have a spare set of keys??? Did you call a Nissan dealer to see if they can make you a key?

I used a citrus product like Simple green to do the general de-griming of my engine & engine area, then I used tire foam and brushes to do detailing. Since then I've been removing sections ( intakesystem, heater hoses, brake hoses & lines, radiator hoses, fuel lines, etc.)and cleaning/polishing/restoring those sections. I basically just use a wire wheel to clean off all the rust, then fine steel wool & mototool for fine polishing & detailing, and a light coat of clear high-temp paint. Don't forget to clean with wax & grease remover before painting. thxZ

I used a citrus product like Simple Green to do the general de-griming of my engine & engine area, then I used tire foam and brushes to do detailing. Since then I've been removing sections ( intake system, heater hoses, brake hoses & lines, radiator hoses, fuel lines, etc.) and cleaning/polishing/restoring those sections. For steel parts that can be removed I basically just use a wire wheel to clean off all the rust, then fine steel wool & mototool for fine polishing & detailing, and a light coat of clear high-temp paint. thxZ

Ok, thanks. I'm replacing the ball joints, rotors and pads, so I'll get the ceramic if available, or otherwise semi-metallic.

Are the engine numbers in the same places on a 280Z? If not, where? thxZ

Are these pictures and sketches available to the rest of us? I would really like to make a kind of a sunsheild for my windscreen by laminating a bunch of pictures together. So far I have a couple magazine ads. Maybe put some of these sketches on the S30 DVD collection? thxZ

If you want to clean the whole fuse box system at once, I'd recommend using Evaporust. It will remove rust & oxidation and not harm the wiring, plating, insulation, rubber, or plastic parts. then a lttle DeOxit on the contacts to improve the last of the surface and add some protection.

Can you get ceramic pads for a 280Z? they seem to better than both organic and semimetallic. thxZ

Black Dragon doesn't have the stock street pads for the 280Z, but they have some semi-metallic ones. Would there be any problems using the semi-metallic pads with the stock rotors? thxZ

I think the guy did the rotor the way you suggested, not some kind of shortcut. I will review the FSM on this to be sure, but as it had be said earlier, 'certified' tech guys don't need the customers telling them how to do their job, even if they have the FSM with them. thxZ

The last time I had a rotor from my Z turned, it was removed from the hub. The hub was repacked before reassembly, which isn't so bad a thing, but maybe not that much needed. I'm off to the dirty brake guy to see what he has to say- BBL thxZ

It's a 25 years exemption in Ohio, but I get mine checked anyway. Allways way below the limits.

Yeah, I asked for a written quote, and asked for the car back because I didn't have the time to wait. I will givethem a call when I am ready forthe service. I do know a guy ( greasy blue coveralls and face, dirty little shop on the corner of some quiet street) who will tell you things (a little) more honestly. I think I will go there and get the rotors turned again, if there's enough material left. jmortensen- I'm not sure which pads are on there right now. Probably generic or Bendix ones. Is there a suggestion on what pads to get or ask for? Darn- I forgot to tell them to hand-torque the wheel nuts. thxZ

I just had my 280Z at a Meineke place to "surface the rotor" that was shuddering while braking. I said the re was a "sticky spot" from the brake pad material. The tech guy drives my car around a parking lot, then tells me "You have a warped rotor." After I informed him that there's no such thing as a warped rotor he gives me a look like I'm telling him!? Then he says I need both lower ball joints $500 per pair) and a tie-rod end (new tierods from my Mustang rack install) YOUR ROTORS ARE WARPED FROM OVERHEATING THE ROTORS WHILE DRIVING. OK, maybe the ball joints ($200 each!) are about ready to be changed, but those people still tell me I need two new rotors & pads (rotors & pads come in "matched sets?") Finally, they guy tells me if I did get new rotors & pads, I wouldn't have to do anything epecial for pad brake-in. Yeah, right. thxZ

He was asking about removing the undercoating not the tar mats. How would you apply dry ice to the underside of the car?

The BMW is nice, but they use a dual exhaust arrangement with a single muffler. How could you do that without using twice pipes?

I use a heat gun on the underbody rustproofing, and scrape it with a wood or plastic scraper. Then some solvent to wash off the rest.

there was a company that would put digital radio guts into the older radio boxes.

I likethe master cylinders with the dual channels too. That way, if you do lose presure in one circuit ( like the fronts) you have the other to save your butt, unlike you used to see on older TV shows ( bad guy cuts one brake hard line, and there is totally no brakes at all.)

Is that your idea of the Eropean exhaust tone"

I used connectors from a BMW because they had the squeeze clips on them.

I look at the fender-mounted mirrors in a geometric way. Because they are farther away than the door-mounted ones, he field of view ( angle) is much smaller. Thus your blind spot is that much bigger. That's also why we have the convex mirros too; so the field of view is wider. I just couldn't even consider how people could see what's in the mirror like when it's raining or snowing, or when the mirror ( or the side window) is frosted-over.

Unless the pan was made of metal, I'd still add some metal gusset straps across the bottom to support & reinforce things for the same reasons. I'd put on a strip on the edges where it's attached too (unless it's a metal pan.) Maybe even a full metal bottom panel. Anything besides metal would stretch and sag in the long run, but OTOH, wouldn't rust.

If I put on a splash pan, I would use a rubber gasket in between, and large washers on each fastener, with a rubber wash on each. If it was a metal pan, I would first have it coated with bedliner material or similar first, or just go with a plastic, CF or glass one. I used to be able to mAke moulds for fiberglass parts ( 4-foot model boats & such.) I'm not sure I could even get someone to part with theirs long enough to make a mold. :cheeky: