CoastGuardZ

Mike, From what I can tell it looks pretty much the same with just a reworked front end. And from what I can tell that is just an artists rendering using the 35th anniversary model. Personally I like that front end better... maybe Nissan should hire that guy... And the color is all you!

WooHoo! Just bought mine at the local Wal-Mart!

#64938 here.

Man... and I always check at the stores too, it was just a matter of time before they released one. Thanks for the heads up!

Right... So what I was getting at was that in mediaplayer 11 (beta), it creates the playlist file for you. Now the way that I made the playlist in m.p.11 was that all the songs were arranged by artist and it created the appropriate folders on the disc along with a playlist file. Now, it is my assumption that if you made multiple (drag and drop) playlists in m.p.11, and then droped those multiple playlists in the burn category then it would create multiple playlists on the disc too... perhaps I will try this in a little while. I can't find myself wanting a playlist of songs in a particular order since that wouldn't last but maybe 30 seconds before I decided to change to a specific song as my mood changes often and I require a bit variation in my song choices. I am also aware of the other options to the iPod, I happen to have an HP ipaq 4705 PDA. A perk of the job I guess. It too small, is capable of mp3/wma play back and better yet can do more than an iPod could ever hope to do. On the other hand while running or road/mountain biking I've yet to find myself in need of music, I guess the soundtrack to my life is missing a few tracks... Nate ...Update... I made 3 test playlists and it combined them during the making of the burn list. The end result was one playlist of the disc, all songs were arranged by artist, one wasted CD-R and 3 minutes of my life I can never get back. I was thinking about a multisession CD, something I use to do with an old program about 6 years ago but mediaplayer didn't seem to have that as an option so I did a search in the help menu and noticed this in the FAQs... Why do the songs on the CD I burned play in a different order than the list I created? If you burn a data CD and play it on another computer or play it in a portable, home, or car CD player, the songs might not play in the order in which they appeared in your burn list. The playback order of data CDs is determined by the device or other program that you are using to play the CD. In most cases, the songs will play back in alphanumeric order by file name. ... this could be another hurdle to scale... but whatever... best of luck in accomplishing what ever it is that you are hoping to do... sounds like nero might be a good option and a fella I work with uses and prefers winamp... Nate

On the MP3 disc/playlist topic... If you use Mediaplayer on your PC you can download the v2 Beta of mediaplayer 11 at the microsoft website. I did so about a month ago and have been very pleased with it's useage compared to previous versions. I use it for all of my audio on the PC and you can rate or have it automatically rate all of your stored music. I recently made a disc for the Clarion stereo in the Z and the stipulations you can place on the auto-creation of a playlist are outstanding... for instance the disc I made was... 1) My Rating Is At Least 5 Stars (that's 3 seperate options) 2) Is Not Dido (too mellow for the Z) (two more options) 3) Limit Total Size To 700 mb (one CD worth) (3 more) Then just click on Data CD then Click Burn... It creates and labels all folders and tracks... The Clarion player works great using it this way. The other cool thing is that my CD/MP3/WMA player also has built in flash memory and will retain 130 mins of CDA tracks or at a lesser quality 173 mins. How cool is that? I totally can see the reasoning behind iPod ownership, but I just have no need for one myself. But as previously stated the lack of reproduction capability overcomes the lack of quality in the MP3 format. Nate

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20120 Lot's of info in this thread and the thread starter also had a 280z. I suggest a progressive rate spring with a softer strut (kyb?) to achieve what you're looking for. Personnaly I have the Eibach's with Tokico HP's and I love it! Probably a little more firm than what you're looking for. That Tokico setup that KTM mentioned is a good deal, so it's something to consider.

Howdy and welcome to the club! Where are you located? KTM hit the high points and I can't stress safety enough... even if you get it running where it's kept at, there are a bunch of things that haven't been excercised in 10+ years (tires, u-joints... there's 6 of 'em!) If you have a virtually rust free car tow it the house and dive in to all the liquids and necessary safety items, brakes and the like. Then once you get her on the road and are able to enjoy your new find you can start to enjoy all the nuances of owning a classic Z... mmmm just love those fumes! As far as what to look for, besides the rust (which is the main thing to look for) I would say completeness. Does she still have all the bit's and pieces or just a shell with mechanicals? You say the tranny's been swapped with a 280 5speed (not an 84-85 though, those were 300zx's) does it still have the dual SU carbs or does she have tripples now? Seriously though, the Z is a very driveable classic... easy to work on and parts are relatively available. Lots of info and people ready to help here at the website. Good luck and let us know how it goes! Nate

yeah - I can't top that one! I've got way too far to get to that point, but a guy can dream can't he? I've in the middle of the stereo, so I'm choosing wheels... and cupholders! Nate

No matter where you buy them from you may need to purchase more bushing lube... at least I wasn't satisfied with the amount I got from MSA. I ordered more from... http://www.ajusa.com So there you go, Summit has the best deal. Everyone likes a deal. I bought through MSA and I feel that the deal I got was acceptable. Summit got enough of my money during my Monte Carlo SS days. As long as there are old and modern "muscle cars" around Summit and Jegs will be around slinging parts. Which means on the rare occasion I decide to purchase a part from them I know they'll be there. The wonderful world of capitalism also means the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I'm not trying to save the world from Wal-Mart, but I try to purchase from Z / Datsun orientated companies as much possible to ensure that in 10 years the parts I need are still being made and somewhat readily available without too much of an astronomical price tag on them... because they're already more than I'd like to pay. And for the sake of argument... Starbucks SUCKS! They use cheap, poor quality beans, over roast them, sell it in a fancy store with a stupid name and the people come-a-running. So if you like a deal - for a third of the price you can get a better cup-o-joe from Dunkin' Donuts! No, seriousy to each his own. They don't offer Z related stuff so I could careless where anyone gets their coffee. DD was around before Starbucks and will probably be around after too, an if not... well I drink too much coffee anyway. Nate

That's the one.

If you have any clunking in rear, the leading culprit is the Diff Mount and now would be the time to replace it too... u joints... bushings... all those typical wear items will be out in the open now. I could only assume if you need to replace the diff. then there could be a few things back there worth looking at replacing. Nate

Depends on how long it's been on there, but I've had some success with WD-40 of all things. FWIW, Nate

Right on brother!

Doug- Keep in mind that I am still running a "stock size" tire (185/75 -14)... Front: 26 1/8" Rear: 25 1/8" Measurements to top of wheel well, center line of hub. Currently I have a little negative camber which makes the rear sit a little lower than it should. I will be correcting it this winter during the down time... Damn snow! I can't wait to get transfered back down south! Nate

Hey Bill... I've always wanted a reason to make a trip to Colorado! Whoops, I just checked my calendar... I'm booked solid 'till next summer... darn... Yup, winter is the time. That way you can take your time and do it right and when you find that you need more parts it's not a big deal that the Z is on jack stands for a month (or more). Nate

Thanks for all the input fellas. I am aware of the less than ideal location of the rear speakers and I was hoping that the 3 way 5 1/4" speakers in the doors (another not so great location) would deliver enough highs and then mount some quality 6 1/2" woofers (no tweeters) in the rear locations to round out the sound. I would like to keep as much space in the hatch as possible for chairs, a cooler, a couple of overnight bags and the like. Do ya'll think my idea will work or do you think I would end up doing the box anyway? The depths of the speakers I'm looking at are 2" to 2.4". Are these too deep? Thanks again- Nate

Does anyone out there have - or has anyone seen the rear speaker brackets from Classic Datsun? http://www.classicdatsun.com/ (Click on 240Z Parts on left then scroll to bottom of page) I got a price of $29.99 from Mark. I've just purchased a Clarion CD/MP3 player with built in flash memory from Ebay and Clarion 5 1/4" for the doors which have already been butchered by the PO. If these brackets are worth a darn then I will match a set of Clarion 6 1/2" in the rear panels and call it a day... other wise I'm looking into building a MSA-like 6x9 box. Quite frankly I'd rather not have the box, but if it's the best route to go... I've done some searching and found the brackets only referenced, but haven't found anyone whose actually used or seen them. Any thoughts or experiences? Nate

Although I can't speak to the condition of your bushings, It probably isn't 100% necessary. It's just pretty convenient since you already have half the stuff undone. I spaced out my purchases to make it a little easier on the wallet and waited 'till I had them all to start the project. Although that's pretty easy to do in New York where winter gives you 4-5 months of down time. So again, not necessary just convenient. Nate

Hey Bill. The springs can wear without the struts being bad. And this can cause undo wear on the struts. Quite frankly if you replace them both the benefits will payoff. Remember, the new products have had 30+ years of technological improvements. Obviously if you shop around you will find the best deal. I believe a lot of guys have used www.shox.com. The MSA springs are ~ $185 I got the Eibachs for $217 last christmas from MSA. Tokico HP's (a quality daily driver mild performance strut) ~ $340 from MSA but I got mine from www.sportcompactonly.com for $289 including shipping. The complete urethane master bushing kit (MSA) was like $170 plus $32 for the Bump Stops. My Total Was ~ $710 It is like driving a completely different car. If I had to do another one I would go the same route for sure. Also don't forget to check your tie rods and ball joints... my tie rods were fine and I replaced the ball joints about 6 months earlier. Nate I attached some photos... -The disentegrated bump stop! -The wheel well with something missing -The old struts that refuse to come out and play... yeah they were a little worn out.

Hey there Ian and Welcome to the club. It's always good to see one of our neighbors from The Great White North, eh! Also, we encourage you to post the VIN so that we can find our Z's closest siblings in this thread... http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17906&page=19 By any chance were you a Z-fest a couple weeks ago? Nate

Duff, If you have all the pieces it could be done in a weekend... probably even just one day. I got the first front strut assembly apart and realized that I needed the bump stops which had to be ordered so that put a delay on the whole deal. I didn't have to deal with any rust and the car has 292,000 miles on it so I'm pretty sure almost everything has been replaced once before. Nate