Zedyone_kenobi

Not sure if that is an accurate test Hemi. I have read that you should look at your plugs after driving it under a load at various rpm. I am not sure if having the car in neutral simulates the same thing... I could be wrong though...

This may be a stupid question, but if you fiberglass that in, how will you remove that rear panel to access the lights. Forgive me if you have covered this already (you probably have)

Just wanna say that was an awesome gesture as well. Very cool guys. Good to year you are one step closer oldhemi!

Those are just Beautiful rims! Man I would love to snatch them up, but not sure I could fit them with my stock body work and my tokico set up.

congrats Steve! I am about to take my AC out of my car. I know some say its crazy to remove a working factory AC, but I never use it, and my Z is more of a toy than a daily driver. I would love to see your nostagic air upgrade though. Can you show us some pics? Also, I have a question.. how hard is it to remove the interior bits of my AC system? I would think I can do this in one day.. what is your opinion?

I just performed this install yesterday, and yes the only way to get the old races out is with a large hammer and screwdriver. However, I rented a race driver kit form the local parts store, and after putting my bearings in the freezer for a day, I just put them in the correct location, and gently tapped them in with the race driver kit. VERY easy. The hardest part is getting the old races out, and cleaning up the old grease. HAHA Also to remember to torque the castle wheel nut on about 25 ft lbs. THen back off 60 degrees. At least that is what the FSM says.

draztik, your car is possessed!! With fuel injection you really need to check everything. Make sure you do not have any vacuum lines lose. Also ensure your Fuel Injectors are clean.

Rota is a fine product. I cannot tell you the hundreds of subaru friends that have those with absolutely no issues. I like how they look... May have to contact wheeldude. I would like some gunmetal ones!

ON my 71 I am redoing the front end, bearings, brakes, rotors, etc. IN doing so, I accidentally let all the brake fluid drain out of my front reservoir since the calipers are off. Does this effect the rears. I know they are separated, but was wondering if an empty front reservoir would effect my rear when I get the calipers on adn have to bleed them again.

Welcome aboard. I can add you to my houston mailing list if you like. Great bunch of folks.

It is on March 13th. I am still putting the front brakes back together. Installing new inner and outer bearings.

Sooooo Jealous!!!

Pics would be GREAT!!

That is a great write up five leaf. It is definitely a journey. You just have to know long a journey you can make at this time in your life. I was not in position to make the complete journey, nor did I want to buy a completely finished car. I sort of fell in between. But I did that because I knew my limitations in space, time, skills, and money. jrecee you will find your place in this journey when you assess those 4 things, and pick the car/companion that suits your life. Good luck, keep us posted!

Great website, I truly enjoyed your videos...Keep up the great work! Do you ever vintage race the 240Z? I know it was intended to be a tribute car, but I would love to hear that thing on the track!

email it to me at sdamico555@gmail.com

You must post pictures when you get them buddy! I have dealt with wheel dude on several occasions in my subaru days.... I have contacted a powerdcoating company locally, and they want 175 per wheel to strip, prep and powdercoat them. More than I want to spend. I may check a few others, as I have thought about that. As I tell most people shopping for a Z, patience is always key. I can wait to make the right decision.

I have tried Les several times, with no luck. He does not return my emails. I can try again though, cannot hurt.

That will probably be my next upgrade to the 1985 calipers. I have already added new wheel bearings and new disks. Not really sure the slots or cross drilling does anything except remove material and make it worse of a heat sink. If you get pads that do not off gas much and are low dust, you are just fine using solid disks.

I totally agree with that statement forester. I noticed going from a 205 to a 195 that my car felt livelier and crisper. On a side note, if you are talking about rubbing on the front end of a Z, when I had my MSA front air dam, I had none at all with my 205/60/15's. It is only when I switched to my OEM front with the spook I had some rubbing. I thought about ways to fix it. I loosened all the bolts and moved parts around, but no joy. I still had the slightest rub on the passenger side. Since your tire moves on an arc rather than a pivoting around a point, you can solve the tire rubbing in two different ways. You can either reduce the aspect ratio, like going from a 205/60 to a 205/55, OR you can reduce the section width, like going from a 205/60 to a 195/60. BOTH reduce the tires overall diameter by a different amount. One shrinks the sidewall while keeping the width the same, the other reduces both a little bit. I wanted to keep my overall diameter close to what I had, and the 195/60's were a very nice fit.

THat is a good point andrew and definitely another way to look at it. I knew my limitations when I bought my car. I wanted one with 99.5% rust free, as I am not a body man. I can replace parts and install and rebuild things with the best of them, but I have never honed my skill as a body man, and quite frankly I do not really want to. I just do not have the time or space for a proper spray area. So when buying my car I knew the body had to be near pefect and that was going to cost me. I also knew I wanted a near original car, with the original interior and no engine work done for all the reasons you listed above Andrew. That all came down to looking at many cars and talking to the owner. You can tell quite a bit about a car if it has a good history, and a current owner who will talk to you about it. Sure there are sleazy people out there, but I find that a good car with a careful inspection will 'talk' to you just as well as a person. I had to fly to another state to get my car. It was the right combination of car, owner, detailed records, and originality. I think jrecee has the right idea and is going about this the right way. I think that for 3000 dollars you can get a 280z in the condition you are looking for,but you are going to have to look, and be very cautious. Andrew is right that these cars have lived a long time. Some have not been treated as well as you would hope. For 4000-5000 dollars you can buy a daily driver that you can work on every weekend and get to a point where you can be proud to show it off. You may have to travel to get it though. When you do, BRING MONEY. Be ready to pounce. A buyer is willing to budge more when you show up with cash/certified check, etc. You are never bothering anybody with your questions jrecee. Please feel free to ask as I get the impression you have a very level head and have realistic expectations. The Z community would be thrilled to have you.

Nothing is a pipe dream, but I have more questions for you that need answers... Like how do you plan to use the car? Is this a daily driver, a first car, or a project car You mentioned you have never worked on cars before, so that is a key point. You also mentioned something that I think I need to correct. You said you could save up 10-11k and buy a grade A car, but that would defeat the purpose. I assume that means you want a project car. Well I saved up for several years and bought my Z, It cost around what you listed, and I have not stopped working on it since. Every weekend there is another project. Even a grade A Z is a 35+ year old car, with 35 year old rubber, 35 year old electrics and climate controls, and plastic. But buying a grade A or B Z will allow you to enjoy it every weekend while you work on it. You have something to drive around, something to take to car shows, something to admire in your garage. You are working on actually restoring it and making it new or better than new, rather than spending hours of sanding and patching, and rewiring. Also buying a great condition car means lots of that 'tedious work' has already been done. Which is a huge bonus. I just want to be honest, and straight forward. Myself along with many others here who are FAR more knowledgeable than I am will be here for you. What do you expect from the car? Think about it and be honest with yourself. In the end, the old addage is true. Buy the absolute best car you can afford.

Sure am. I love the look of jokers car, I always have. I think those rims would look great on my car. I know they are not panasports, and if I could find somebody who carried gunmetal panasports, I would get those, but they are like trying to find a unicorn in a leprechaun factory, owned by dragons. They may as well be imaginary. But I am definitely serious Frank, if your interested. Shoot me a PM an email and we can talk about it.

I had 205/60/15's on those rims. And I had a tad of rubbing Frank. That is why I went to 195/60's. If you were talking to me.... haha

jrecee, I do not really want to be the spoils sport, but its in your own good interest. So, let me say that with 100% confidence a good 3000 dollar car will be save you FAR more than 1500 dollars over a 1500 dollar car. Meaning that it may take 2500 dollars to get a 1500 dollar car as good as a 3000 dollar car. Patience will reward you for years to come. Just keep that in mind. There were 10's of thousands of 280z's made. I promise you, that you WILL find another one, and with 1500 dollars more added to your budget the quality of cars will surprise you. You hang in there!!!!