soundmasterg

Yes, the Modern Motorsports rear disc conversion will not work with 14 inch rims and you need at least 15's. I believe that is the case with many of the others too. It is worth it though IMHO. I did the MM setup on the rear on my '72 and am still running stock on the front and it is light years better than stock.

Thanks! I forgot to mention that I have a 1972 240Z. Greg

Hey Arne, Could you add me for Cornelius, Oregon? Thanks! Greg

Putting the Honda motor in with Dave Irwin's relay setup fixed my non-working wipers on my '72 240Z, and the wipers work great on low and high speed. I also cleaned all the rust off the shafts and greased them. Its not a very hard mod provided you get the correct wiper motor, and it is improved even over the stock setup when its working right. I think you should do it personally.... Greg

The adjustment that they are talking about is the striker adjustment, which won't affect the gaps a whole lot. I used Black Dragon seals and the doors were hard to shut on my '72 until I did some adjusting of the striker. They still aren't perfect, but they work without having to slam a whole lot. They will never shut as nicely as my 1969 Volvo 1800S does, but then each door's hinge on the Volvo weighs about 15 pounds and is huge. I can shut the door on the Volvo with my pinkie, but my Z is lots faster, partly due to light weight of the car, and I'd rather have a faster car honestly...hehe. Anyway, try to adjust the striker on the back door jam and you'll find it will shut a lot better. Greg

Thanks for clarifying that Gary. So not only do these representatives that are supposed to be working for us waste their time trying to introduce bills that no one wants except the lobbyists who pay the most money, but they can't even spend 5 minutes and write a proper reply themselves. It just disgusts me sometimes how this all "works." Greg

Yeah, that sounds about right Arne. I tried to go with something as close to stock with the new size as possible so speedo error wouldn't be bad. Ultimately, I want to end up with 16x7's but thats a ways down the road. greg

I sure didn't. We already have too much government control IMO, we don't need more. Hopefully the bill will get defeated and these guys won't get re-elected. Greg

I put the Eibachs and KYB's on my '72, but I'm using 15 inch swastikas with 205/60 15's because 14's won't fit over my rear disk brake conversion. The tires fill the wheel well nicely and don't rub. I should think something sized close but in a 14 would be ok too. Greg

The Honda motor works fine on a '72. I put one in mine, ground the shaft slightly wrong, then found one of the ones from the civic that already has the correct shape on the shaft, so I put that one in. I've got 3 other motors from Hondas that need the shafts ground to the correct angle and I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I plan to sell them after I'm done. Anyway, its pretty easy to do. You could even have Dave Irwin do the wiring mods and find the proper motor for you for a fee. Take a look at the posted thread and it should have all the info you need. Greg

I emailed one of the parties associated with this bill in the state congress and here is the reply that was sent back to me today. It sounds like he is saying it isn't as bad as it sounds, but I still think its a bad idea. They could extend it to ban sale of performance mufflers, Megasquirt, etc., because they could lead to increased greenhouse gas emission over stock. Greg "Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about House Bill 2186. Your feedback is important to me and helps inform the actions I take in the Legislature. As you may be aware, HB 2186 is a part of Governor Kulongoski’s effort to raise environmental standards in over state and limit carbon emissions. The intent of section (3)(1)(d) is to allow the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission to set standards for certain replacement parts that can increase greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, not to ban parts. The standards would apply to both after-market products as well as original parts to the vehicle. The rules would be designed to prevent a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions from replacement parts while still ensuring a full range of consumer choice in products. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) does not expect this to affect a large number of products. The proposal is modeled after similar changes in states like California to improve, not ban, automotive parts. In their testimony before the House Environment and Water Committee, DEQ made clear their commitment to amend the bill with new language to be written in cooperation with the Northwest Automotive Trades Association, the Automobile Aftermarket Industry Association and others to clarify their intent. Thanks for writing me. It is an honor representing you in the Oregon House of Representatives and I hope you will continue to write me about issues that are important to you."

I hope bills like this stupid one never get to a vote...its a waste of everyone's time. I'm from Oregon myself, and regarding the gas pumping in Oregon, I have wanted to pump my own gas since I started driving 20 years ago. Why are they so worried about the safety aspect when every other state except New Jersey allows their citizens to pump gas, and I can pump my own gas if I go to any of those other states too? And the jobs argument? Well lets just say that those type of low-paying jobs are a dime a dozen, and will still be after they allow self-pumping of gas. Its just people with their heads up their asses who are afraid of change, and unfortunately they run state government. A gas station attendant has no vested interest in making sure they do a good job and don't screw up the customers car aside from possibly losing their job....and they really have to screw up for that to happen. Thats why when I get my Volvo 1800S and my 240Z restored, I'll be filling up myself in Washington where I can pump it myself and make sure its done correctly. Greg

I"ve been fighting the fumes in the car issue too since I got my car. I extended the tip and replaced the door and trunk seals and I no longer smell it with the windows up, but as soon as the windows come down, its smoke-out season. Once the weather gets better, I plan to try the smoke machine approach and see if I can fix it. Greg

I have the same issue, and rebuilt my '72 240Z's Hitachi SU's with a ZTherapy kit with SM needles. It runs great now with plenty of power, decent mileage, and good driveablity, but it still takes a little coaxing to start it when it has sat for a couple days. I think its just a matter of getting the gas pumped up to the carbs. Since Steve Epperly at ZTherapy helped me to adjust my chokes correctly, it starts WAY better than it did before. Greg

I found a circuit online and it wasn't hard to build...a couple transistors, caps, resistors, connectors and wires and a board. And of course a case to hold it all together. The hard part has been figuring out where on the car in the harness to hook it in. With the weather and a lack of a garage I can fit the car into, it will have to wait for better weather. Its not rocket science though. Greg

Thanks Dave. I thoroughly lubed it after spraying it quite a bit to clean the old stuff off. I figured the new seals would loosen up after a bit, but wanted to adjust more play into it and didn't have time to take care of that the other day. I didn't know how to adjust it out to get the play, so your advice will come in handy when I can look at it again. I did the previous work at my friend's shop over the weekend and had to jet out of there as it was getting late. A benefit so far to replacing the door seals is that my exhaust fumes in the car issue seems to have gone away, though I need to drive the car more and in different temperatures to see if it is actually gone. Greg

Yeah, the delay is like a modern car. You used to be able to buy little aftermarket delay boxes like Dave got for his, but they no longer sell them in parts stores, so I found a circuit and built myself one, but haven't incorporated it into the car yet....ran out of good weather and just haven't gotten back to it yet. Since my Z is a '72 it doesn't have intermittant wipers stock, and I like the idea of adjustable delay, which is why I built the circuit. If you've got delay already on yours, its only single speed, but if it works, so much the better. Certainly less hassle than adding in a delay box like what I'm doing. Greg

Haha...I'm sure you could arrange for another car to have the same issue a little closer to you there. Must have been some ex. I found the extra spring clip to hold the window crank on so the Z is fixed. (for now) Of course we got snow again today so I'm not driving it until it clears up. Greg

Clean and lube is a great idea. I didn't do mine when I did the conversion last summer, and now only high speed works. Its ok though because I'm going to add a wiper delay circuit I made up and will have to take it all apart to add that, so I'll clean and lube it then. Greg

Well I got a chance to look at it today and was able to fix it. Dave, you called it....though I actually had to turn the nut down the rod rather than up. When the interior door handle was pulled, the lever it controls that rides on the shaft of that rod was coming off the bottom and getting jammed, so moving the nut down allowed it to stay on when the handle was pulled. It was also in desperate need of some lubrication. So I fixed that, replaced both door seals, and its great now, except I had to slam the driver's door to shut it, and my window crank fell off and I can't find the spring that holds it on!....Grrr...haha. So if I don't have an extra I'll have to see if anyone has one. Thanks again for the help. Greg

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look tomorrow if I can get into my friend's shop, but I'm not sure if its body twisting as even when the car is just sitting there not moving, I can close the door, and then push it back open from the inside of the car without opening the latch. Its like whatever holds it shut isn't staying latched. I'll update as I find out. Greg

Hello everyone, I went to drive my '72 240Z today for the first time in a couple weeks and I found out quite unexpectedly that the driver's door is now flying open when I make a turn to the right. If I'm careful when I make the turn it won't fly open, but whatever is supposed to latch the door is not holding it. I can shut the door and then push on it from the inside and it opens right up. I took a look at that door and compared it to the passenger door and when you rotate the round thing in there, the passenger door one will click twice and won't move unless you lift the latch. The driver's door gives a much fainter click and you can move it with your fingers without lifting the latch. So I'm wondering if something broke or needs lubrication or something? I don't really know how the mechanism works, but I'd love to figure out what the problem is. Does anyone have any ideas? I plan to take the door panel off tomorrow to see if I can figure out what is wrong, but if anyone can shed some light on it with possible clues I'd much appreciate it! Thanks, Greg

You typically get 30% better fuel mileage from diesel fuel than you do with gasoline, so someone would have to do the math to see if it pans out to own a diesel with the higher fuel costs. Biodiesel also has a reputation as being friendlier to the planet than gasoline or number 2 petroleum diesel so the tree huggers like that aspect too. I've got a 1972 240Z and would love to have a 2 door 510 but 4 vehicles is enough for me right now. (1972 240Z, 1969 Volvo 1800S, 1973 Ford F250, 1985 Audi 4000 Quattro w/309k miles and still going strong) Greg

Typically more powerful cars will have stiffer clutches, and it will be harder to drive for someone not experienced with it. Cable type clutches tend to have a harder feel on the pedal than a hydraulic clutch does. the 5.0L Mustangs have a moderately stiff clutch for a production vehicle, and in high school I worked in the quick lube places. Some of my co-workers would have problems driving certain cars in such as these mustangs, and other ones would be easy. For myself I've never had any problems shiting manuals unless there are mechanical problems with the cars in question. I would guess that your lack of experience is causing you to have issues shifting certain vehicles offhand, and you know what the cure for that is! Greg

Yeah, I've read all of that stuff, and it is worrying, so I'm kind of waiting for a rock solid solution to sort itself out on this before I swap mine in. So far I've got the 3.7 CLSD and the clutch packs, and thats it.....so I still need more parts anyway before I could swap it in. I've got other things to do to it in the meantime. (T5 swap, door seals, find and eliminate exhaust fume leakage problem, get dash lights to stay on and not go off when I hit bumps so I can put center console back in, etc) Greg