TomoHawk

I had to cut up my dash cap to get the tacho and speedo out to put in new bulbs. It was glued on with blue RTV stuff that didn't come off without a knife. The top was very brittle, but the front wasn't. It's the part that doesn't get much or any sunlight. So right now, I either need to recover the top or get a new dash cap. Is there a place that makes a dash cap that allows you to get the tach and speedo out? thx

the muffler shop has a machine that can stretch or shrink the end of the tube, about 1/8 inch or so.

try a pneumatic nibbler or cutoff wheel.

You can get just the Dayglo pigment, you know...

I don't think a bracket that's expoxied to the ABS tubing would hold very long. And instead of using a round clamp, I would suggest cutting a thin slot on opposite sides of the tube, and passing a flat strip through to support the tube. Yeah, it's in the airstream, but it only creates a little drag. Yuo might even twist it a little to give the air some swirl effect.

How about James Bond and Axel foley?

Right, ATABCO makes some repair panels. It looks likethis is your chance to learn how to hammer metal. Get yourself a side of a refrigerator or electric stove, and learn yourself to hammer & bend metal

Steel( or stainless) exhaust tubing can be heavy too. I try not to add weight on the front of the car. I agree that there must be a source for 60mm steel ( or aluminum?) tubing. I think you need to start thinking metric instead of SAE. If it's 60mm, then get 60mm tubing, unless there is an EXACT equivalent in ASAE.

I believer there are( or were) some companies that make repair panels for the Z. One made repair panels for the fenders. They might have a replacement for ther battery area. Before cutting up a (good) car, check this out first. Maybe somebody knows the name of that repair panel Company. You might search for 'fender repair'

The muffler shops have a machine that can stretch and shrink the ends. Did you consider that if the tube is close?

Don't you just hate it when the American companies get this stuff that was "translated" into english from Japanese? I would think that somebody at VB would inspect this product and notice the Instructions SUCK! And then work out with whomever printed the instructions, something understandable in English. They probably had engineers faxing back & forth over the pacific, but nobody bothered to proofread the stuff, and notice it doesn't make sense to those in the U.S. It's understandable if the product was being sold by a Japanese company, and shipped to the U.S., but VB is in KANSAS! :devious:

OK. Those are good pairs, but what if you split them up and put them with somebody else, like Speed Racer & Daisy Duke? (Catherine Bach) But then again, Bill likes fast girls & fast cars...

Doesn't have to be superheros. Originally, I was thinking of just Crime-fighters or secret agent types. Superheros was the first name that came to mind. thx

He'd be better off with Barbara Bach (from "The Spy who Loved Me"), although she was a russian spy.

Bill must be an undercover superhero, and he needs Paris Hilton to give him cover as an idiot? j/k

What would you have to do with her? What sleuthing would you do?

On the center console for a 280Z, does your lid fit flush all around? On mine, the lid sticks out a little on the side over the brake handle. thx

Bond doesn't have a black trans Am with t-tops, and a groovy hat. Instead of arguing my choice, make up your own.

You couldn't just pell the metal pins out of the connector shell to get the wire through the hole?

Watching 007/JamesBond every day this month gave me an idea: What if James Bond had a partner, like Bandit Darville ( Smokey & the Bandit). The Bandit can handle all the car chases or getaways. Good in a fight, and also handy with the ladies. What other strange superhero duos can you think of, and give a reason. thx

Whatever hides dirt best and doesn't need daily polishing. I just spent 8 hours in the last week sanding the fenders ( looks like orange peel).

From the VB catalog, pg. 51, it says "this Heavy-Duty Harness is complete with separate relays for low and high beams and features OE style headlight sockets for easy installation with no splicing or cutting required." from the sound of that and and Prox's description, I would think that all you need to do is disconnect the old light connectors, plug in the new ones, hook up the battery wire & ground, mount the relays and connect the two wires for the switching from one of the old light sockets. They just made the cross-over section too short.

PrOxLaMuS, Do you think you could post a sketch of the wiring diagram for that VB headlight harness? I called VB to ask then if I could get a copy to see if it was right for my car, by they don't have that info... From what I know of the VB headlight harness, it's probably very similar to Dave's. It uses new connectors that plug directly into the back of the headlamp,totally bypassing the OEM wiring. Only there's just the one relay to power both lights. One relay should be adequate though, as a 60W lamp uses only 5 amps @12V, andthe relays go up to 20 amps. The 280Z uses a 10 Amp fuse for each headlamp, which is a little overkill, but maybe the Nissan engineers had a reason for that (like 7 amp fuses weren't cheap or common). You still have to get in under the fender and unscrew the back plate to the lamp to get at the back of the lamp tho. I always wondered about plugging into the headlamp plug that's just behind the radiator support. I mean the round plug (on 280Z) with the three round pins. I haven't had a chance to measure the voltage at that plug, but I assume it's not at the 13 volts the battery has. Since the headlamp power comes straight off the battery, I wonder where the voltage loss is from. In that circuit you only have the one fuse link, with its two (connections). Maybe just replacing that segment would be a significant improvement.

On a Z, putting the filter (inlet) in front of the radiator, or in that area of higher pressure makes sense to me. It might even help to put a metal fence (like a box) around the filter to trap more air and conentrate it into the filter, like ram-air. Just not to big a box, to block the air that's going to the radiator.

By moving it to one spot to avoid rain, you might lose a little air pressure. It's a compromise, unless you only drive on fair days. I think you have the right idea tho.