Oiluj

And that's why I miss not having access anymore to a 3D printer!

My wife & I took a drive of about 70 miles in the Z today. The temperature in stop-n-go traffic raised to the center mark on the dash guage, about 180 degress. When moving, it quiclky dropped back to just slightly left of the center mark, which I previously measured to be about 173 degrees at the radiator. Still, next time I'll try the Nissan part, (assuming it's still available).

Yes, it will not be possible to get 2D drop-shadows to perfectly mimic a 3D feature. My existing art does a pretty good job of reproducing it around the letters, but suprisingly, the circles and shift pattern are actually more difficult.

Exterior: I stripped all exterior parts, (lights, chrome, grill, rear valance, aluminum door ding strips, etc), and took it to Williams Auto body for a re-paint in a dark BRG. Painted rear panels and grill. Re-installed all lights Re-installed all chrome / exterior metal & badges Installed new door seals, hood seal, etc. (Precision rubber kit). Repairs: Did some minor elecrical and mechanical repairs. Installed new Pertronix ignition & coil. Interior: Re-uhpolstered the seats, transsmision tunnel and replaced shift handle. Removed & replaced interior plastic panels in rear seaction, and replaced antenna. Ran speaker wires for future sound upgrade. Dyed sun-faded, interior vinyl and installed chrome stripe on door panels. Removed , cleaned-up & re-installed aluminum threashold plates. Re assembled interior, (about 80% complete). To-Do: Complete fastening down one rear panel. Still need to obtain & install front bumper over-rider Install tires on old slotted wheels Hood Badge, (have to drill holes) Replace battery Restore and install interior scuff plates. Some paint touch-up, etc. Detail car Change fluids

Mike, My current art includes a grey drop shadow, but the fony isn't quite right and proportions of the font & shift pattern needs to be adusted. Using yours, I should be able to make it pertty close.

That's part of what I'm doing to my art. I'll try using your template, as the scale relative scale and font are correct. Thanks for posting this.

As posted prior, I'm doing a cosmetic refresh of my neighbor lady's 1972 240Z (automatic). She is retired and the original owner. I still have a bit of work to do, but here's a few pics of where she is today. Plan to put my old slooted mags on the car, as her hubcaps are dented. Another 15 to 20 hours of work and she'll be done ready for the road!

My feelings exactly. My appreciation to all of you!

I do recall the Nissan thermostat having a larger flow area, which should flow better. The real point of my post is that it's a good idea to test any new thermostat before installing it to be certain it actually opens at the specified temperature. I admit to being surprised to find all three thermostats were off almost 10 degrees. Enough so that I questioned & verified the calibration of my thermometer...

So I'm buying a new commute car, a Subaru Impreza hatchback. When chatting with the salesman, I found out he is an old sports car guy, (mostly Porches), so I told him about my 240Z. He asked if I'd bring it by for him to see. Did that this morning, took him for a ride and let him drive it. He loved the car and had a grin that almost went from ear-to-ear. He took some pics of the car with his phone, and asked me to take some pics of him in the car. Got a call from him this afternoon thanking me for the ride. He had already sent the pics to his car buddies...

The driver's side retractable belt on my neighbor's 72 240Z doesn't work. The spring is rusted and broken. I looked for a new spring, but could not find a "stock" spring replacement. She bought a pair of non-retracting lap belts from MSA, but I really don't like the way they fit. The female side is a bit too long. We are probably going to have to take them to a shop and have them shortened.

My temp needle has always hung a bit to the right of the centerline on the dash gauge. Even though I have a high capacity aluminum radiator, my car always runs a bit warm, about 200 degrees F when measuring coolant temp in the radiator. I finally decided to do something about it. So I bought a new 180 degree thermostat from MSA. To verify things were operating correctly, I removed the existing 190 degree thermostat, cleaned it, and put both thermostats in a pan on the stove. I suspended the thermostats on a piece of wire so they didn't touch the bottom of the pan. The 180 didn't open until 189 degrees, and the two year old 190 didn't open until 198 degrees. Since both appeared off in the same direction, I decided it would be prudent to verify calibration of my electronic thermomerter. I checked it in both boiling water and ice. As a back-up, I compared it's readings to a regular thermometer. Both read exactly the same and were dead accurate. Both my thermostats appeared to be opening late... So off I went Napa Auto. They didn't have a 175 degree thermostat, so I got a 160 degree. Sure enough, it didn't start opening until almost 170 degrees. I figured that is still better and installed it in the car. A temp check of coolant now reads 173 degrees, and the dash temp gauge needle rests a little to the left of center. I think a 175 degree would have been perfect, but I'll stay with the 160. I'd rather the engine run a few degrees cooler than warmer. BTW, just for grins I just looked at some oil viscosity curves, and the small difference in operating temp makes no significant difference. I "might" be able to detect a small drop in fuel efficiency, but time will tell. The real moral of this story is, check the operation of a new thermostat BEFORE installing it...

I really wish I still had access to a 3D printer. Makes things soo much easier! After looking at the better pics, I need to revise my artwork a bit more. Hope to have a new prototype made in two weeks.

First, perhaps we should start a group called "ignition wire annonymous"... I made a set of wires using clear insulator wire from a hot rod shop. They looked great and worked well, but I damaged one them, so they had to be replaced. It's easy make the wires any way you want them, and only takes about 30 minutes. Problem is, it'll cost you about $60.00. I like the NGK's, but curently have some cheap Napa wires on the car, (don't remember the brand). I plan to switch them out soon with a set NGK's sitting on my shelf. Just wish they still made the semi-transparent blue wire sets.

EScanlon, I'll go on record as being jealous of your commute. My previous commute was only 4.9 miles, less than 10 minutes, and I didn't even have to get on the freeway. Really gonna miss that... My new commute is 19 miles on highway 101 south between San Mateo to Mountain View. Like Leon, first thing I did was scope out the commute and make a spreadsheet of commute time vs. time of day. (must be a retentive engineer thing...) - Going south at 7:00 AM, (or earlier), isn't bad. Average speed is about 50 MPH. - Coming home is a very different matter. Average speed during rush hour is less than 15 MPH and it takes 45-55 minutes. As Leon said, I've done it before and will get used to it. I'm happy to have a job to commute to!

Yes, slightly better salary than before. Yes, a mech product design / mfg automation engineering job, (my areas of expertise). And yes and good, safe parking at my new job. However, I'm not too keen on driving the 240Z in heavy, stop-n-go traffic with a few of the scarey-crazy commute drivers. I had a previous car totalled when I got tangled-up with a "boy-racer" in commute traffic. Defensive driving helps, but isn't 100% effective... Will still possibly drive the Z in maybe once/quarter, to attend an after-hours sports car gathering in the area.

Got a job at a small medical device place and start next week! Goood salary and benefits. Not the most pleasant commute, but I'll get used to it.. It's a an exciting, brave new world!

This is very well done. Cool RC car chase video. http://www.likecool.com/Illegal_R_C_street_racers--Video--Gear.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Likecool+%28Likecool%2C+coolest+gadget+magazine%29

Here's a quick pic of the preliminary art I created. I need to work a bit more on the font. It prins a lot better than it looks in the pic...

I have the same bar and it fits fine.

I just found that out myself. I was patterning mine from one like on e-Bay. Have to re-do the art...

I don't know much about this subject, but you might also want to check any regulations for re-importing it back to the U.S. Don't think it's an issues, but better safe than sorry.

My thinking is it depends on the level of work you plan to do. If you plan to do a full re-paint, it's probably better to strip it first and get the process started, as the body & paint usually take longer to complete. You can complete engine, brake & suspension componet rebuilds and seat re-uhpolstery component while it's being painted. Just my 2 cents...

That one looks to be a steal. Wish I could justify it to "she who must be obeyed".

Carl, If I understand correctly, keeping the clutch arm, bearing and clutch plate from the 4-speed will work with the 5-speed? Julio