conedodger

I look forward to your narrative... And, I'm jealous!

I'm wondering if this could be done in the car.. I only have one crack and a weird kind of impact like it was hit with a golf ball...

A 510 ready to race...

The 'gold standard' of downdraft carbs is the PMO. A set of dual triples will cost $4000.00 so it is only for serious people. Sidedrafts have interesting and more complicated physics. Let's take nothing away from the Chinese. If an importer asked them to make them right, they could and would. But they're being bombarded with WalMart manufacturing mentality. Importers come in and say 'can you make this' and they respond 'of course.' So then the importer says 'ok, do it. I'll give you $3.00 USD each for them. The reason they're cheap is they're made by people who have no clue what a carburetor is. They just make their little piece without knowing that bushings require airtight clearances and such. It sounds like you have made up your mind. You don't have to defend your decision. You asked. I wouldn't do it. John, who I respect a great deal in the Z car world wouldn't do it. Good luck.

Actually, they're downdraft carbs. I have a Raby engine in my Porsche and he is one of the world experts on VW and Porsche engines. He used them when they were first produced and has said pretty emphatically and repeatedly "they're junk" and "I wouldn't use anything but the box they come in." He says that he could see light through the throttle shaft bushings on some of them. NEW!

Doughboy's Donuts on 57 Damonte Ranch Parkway by the Walmart Super Center in South Reno. November 17th 3PM until they throw us off the lot (or you go home, whichever comes first). If you're local and not a member of NNZCC google NNZCC and join. You don't have to be a member though to show up, see the cars and have a donut or three...

A 510 on the binders!

Starting to really like the rally prepared cars. This one looks to be immaculately prepared. Great picture too. Right hand drive. Not sure what country...

I agree. The steering wheel is wood impregnated resin or something like that. When I restored mine, I didn't stain it at all. Just applying varnish brought out the 'wood look.' If you want them to match though, I suspect you can just go to a paint store and ask them to match it, though different woods take stain differently... If I were doing it, I would just get some expensive exotic wood and do it. It's worth it. It's a Z!

From what I hear from the 4 cylinder 914 guys they are junk... Sorry, if that seems like a strong condemnation but I had to tone down what they actually said.

Runs constantly when 12V applied.

I would hate to drive to some remote Pick N Pull and find out the Maxima listed in the inventory was an automatic... Automatics were becoming far more common by '83-4...

A week ago I put some clear front turn signal lenses on eBay. One was cracked in three places but not broken. That was clearly stated and shown in a picture. I think I started it at $35 not really expecting it to go higher than $40. It ended at $165 or so... Came with my car. New in box but but as I said, one was cracked...

A couple others I found today...

Here's one from the UK...

Not sure about that Blue... Dellorto carbs have had a transition circuit in my experience that made them 'an improvement' over the Weber they copied... Probably?

Those are Weber jet numbers. Probably copies...

One type of restification I like to see first timers do is what some call a 'rolling restoration.' The nice thing about this is that driving the car reveals the weaknesses. If you were to consider doing that, I'd say start with the brakes and just fix them. Do a good bleed, make sure pistons aren't stuck. Once they're operational, move to getting the car running. Batteries don't like to sit. They need to be used to stay useful. That one is probably toast if it will not hold a charge. As for your list: All new brake lines - good idea. New larger brake calipers up front - not really needed unless you're going out onto the track. Autocrossing doesn't challenge the brakes much. Replace drums with disks in rear - Eh... Just make sure everything works well and you should be fine. Remember, an engineer designed this car. They battle accountants but for the most part, they get their way I think. When you change something an engineer designed, you upset the balance that was designed in to all the other cooperating systems. There are lots of engineers on this board. Hopefully you wont get their attention here as arguing with an engineer is as they say, 'like mud wrestling a pig. After a few minutes you realize you're covered with mud and the pig is loving it.' Replace all hoses, wiring, you name it. Driving it will probably expose this as needed anyway. New sound setup (none of that gangster crap, quality sound) Good idea. New upholstery, carpet, refinish all hard plastic surfaces All available and if you look in the S30 interior section - very satisfying! Then the engine. That is for a different day. As I said, drive it. You might find out that you can go 10 years on a very solid motor. Believe me, over the last few decades, I have abused the living snot out of L6 motors and my experience is that as long as you have them in good tune and don't overheat them, they will last a very long time and not need rebuilding. I am talking about the difference between $40-$50K here and a few thousand at the most... Do as much as you can yourself. Don't be afraid to learn something new. I have so much more respect for the man who does it himself and the one who writes a check... As for sim-racing, my neighbor is a shifter kart champion. He has me iRacing. I race against some REALLY big names. I probably only get in their race group because of Brady but the point is, it isn't lame if the big names are doing it too!

Mine came to me as blanks. They were appropriately dimensioned for the 240Z door but there were no holes at all. I mounted them up and made all the holes myself.

Yes, I did install these after Keith cleared that up and I might have installed them wrong, I didn't notice any difference in the diameter of the top/bottom shaft. In short, it ran much worse. Exaggerated tip in lean condition. I have to go get my calipers and check them to see if there is a difference top to bottom.

I hear that the door panels on the 280Z are slightly longer? Did you tell Pete what year car when you ordered? His brother is handling things while he is recovering. It could be he doesn't know that...

Matt, I will look up the manufacturer and spring number for you. It is total order with shipping = $40 USD so you might be ok if you have them shipped some fancy way... 8)

More prototype racing...