Walter Moore

As for the inner shift boot, I tried to use the original but it just bunched up and held the shift lever up in 3rd and 5th. I ended up using a later (72 and up) shift boot and drilling my own holes to mount it. (Watch out, the brake and fuel lines run next to the shifter opening on the passenger side of the car.) Oh, and installing the shift lever is a trick. I was never able to drive the dowel pin out with the transmission fully installed. The times I did it I removed and installed the shift lever with the transmission under the car and then raised the back end into the floor opening with the shifter in place. (A major good time was had by all... :tapemouth )

Because he can? It takes a certain level of knowledge about a subject to be able to cheat people, particularly when they are involved in a particular hobby. I would bet that he preys upon other "interest groups" as well, but generally you do what you know, and apparently he knows Datsuns.

I don't pretend to know how to setup a four barrel on a Z car, but I think that a 650 CFM carburetor is too big for even an L28. Seems like they need a 390 CFM unit, and special jets. But otherwise, I agree with Carl.

I actually like the paint job, but it needs so much work that frankly I think $600 is more in line with what it is worth, not $6100. (and the reserve isn't met yet?)

Forgive me:nervous: but if Nissan had only made 16 cars in the 260Z model year with automatic transmissions, those cars would be worth a LOT more than they are. :tapemouth

I will chime in here to echo Nissanman. I have TRIED to rebuild a number of engines in my life, and the only times that I was successful were when I took the whole mess of parts to a machine shop (or two...) and had them tell me what was needed. Even if the cylinders only need honed, unless you have done that many times and know exactly how it is done, I still recommend that you let the shop do the work. Every time that I have tried to hone cylinders myself, I have failed. I am not alone in that experience either. You may be a lot better than I am at rebuilding engines, many people are. But, in my experience the do it your self part is best left to taking the engine apart, and putting the reconditioned parts back together. Just my opinion.

Generally are the (relatively) low voltages dictated by the available batteries? Don't get me wrong, 150V is nothing to play around with casually, but in the industrial controls world, where I work, I have never seen any system installed that was capable of producing the power necessary to drive a car that operated at voltages that low. Fifteen to twenty years ago we used to use 300V servos a lot, but anymore when you get above 22kw, most installations will switch to a brushless 600V system. The reason frankly is that when it comes to efficiency, current is the enemy. One of the links listed above had a discussion of someone's car which used a 1000A controller. That is just insane. High current necessarily means big, heavy wires, and big heavy motors. Increasing the voltage by a couple of powers of two reduces the size and weight of the wires and motor, and directly reduces the parasitic loses of the system. None of which helps I suppose if to get that extra voltage you have to go from a 1000 lb battery pack to a 4000 lb version. Perhaps at some point in the future batteries could be made with a large number of smaller cells, like happened when cars went from 6V systems to 12V systems. Today's 12V batteries are in many cases actually smaller than the old 6V batteries used to be. But as long as the small time experimenters are stuck with building battery packs out of 12V primary ignition batteries I guess the lower voltage system may be the only available compromise. (I talked my self in a circle didn't I? :cheeky: )

240Zs are only common in the part of the U.S. that stretches from Florida to California, i.e. the extreme southern edge. (Places where it seldom snows.) In the rest of the country they all rusted away decades ago. That isn't just limited to Datsuns either. We (my wife and I) owned a nearly perfect, limited edition 1967 Mustang for about three years when we were first married (early 80's). After three winters the car was literally dissolved by road salt. The folks up in Canada have the same problem.

Amen. I used to have one like that in full scale, and hope never to have it looks like that again...

Looks like you got a great deal to me.

The 460 is a good motor, but it is a big block and I doubt that it would fit. For a V8 I hear the best bet is something based on the 302. Personally I think the 347 looks like a cool motor. If I had kept my 87 Mercury wagon that is the way I was going to take it. But hybridz is clearly the place to go for that discussion. Personally, I think that by the time you spend the money to get a V8 in your car you could have rebuilt the engine that you have. Just my opinion.

While you are at it you might want to check all three motor mounts. I don't know if this applies to Z cars, but I used to have a Volvo with an automatic that no matter how many times I adjusted the linkage, the locations of the gears kept changing. I took it to a transmission shop and they found that I had one (or more) broken motor mounts. The engine and transmission were shifting around, causing the transmission linkage to get out of adjustment.

Forgive me khuges, but I don't recognize the picture. Is that the mythical RB26DETT? (They never officially graced North America, so I don't know one on sight.) It does look nice however.

What is the overall condition of the engine? Could you need a valve job, or has the head been reworked recently? Have you checked the timing?

Good to see that some things never change.

Got me! The first thread that I went to... Girrrrrr

That depends upon the width of the rim and tire. There are a lot of threads about this, try searching for more "offset" or "back spacing". The stock 6" wide rims that Nissan put on the later 280Zs and 280ZXs had an offset of around 10mm depending upon the wheel. Today that means either using refurbished used wheels, or expensive custom new ones. Again, search the site for wheels. There are a LOT of threads on this subject. Good luck!

Did you have a broken hose or something? Someone on the site may know specifics about the 300ZX, but most people here are only 1st generation Z people. I guess that you might have blown a fuse, or a fusable link. You might have lost a ground... Or you may have more serious problems. Either find a manual for that car, or find a mechanic. Those are your best options. You may also have better luck getting answers about your car at one of these sites: http://www.300zxclub.com/ http://www.z31.com/ Good luck!

The gear ratios are different, that is all. Check them out here: http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/transmission.html That may have been the 100th time that link has been posted.

I am skeptical of that site. They list the 16 tooth gear as being correct for a 3.36:1 differential. My car came with that setup, sort of. The transmission was from a later model 280Z, but with the original 3.36 differential. But when I checked the speedometer and odometer on the interstate both were off. They both indicated around 5% high. 80MPH registered is actually a little over 75, and 10.3 miles registered is a little less than 10.0 miles actual. I specifically bought 195/65R15 tires so that I would match the OD of the original tires. (175/80R14 = 636mm OD / 195/65R15 = 635mm OD) Some of this is doubtless the result of "common knowledge" mixing and matching information from different model years. The parts CD does not show a 16 tooth speedometer gear for the "A" series transmission (70-71 models), only a 17 and a 19. The 16 tooth gear doesn't show up until the later models. I wonder if besides needing to match the differential, you also need to consider the year of manufacture of the speedometer. By the way, the 5 speed that I bought from an 83 280ZX came with an 18 tooth gear, and that car had a 3.90:1 differential. But it also had an 85MPH speedometer, so all bets are off regarding the calibration relationship to an earlier 160MPH speedometer. Oh, and Courtesy Parts lists the 18 tooth as no longer available. Before you go out on a limb and start buying gears, pull the one that you have and count the teeth. I put a 17 tooth gear in my car when I changed the transmission, but it has been too cold to drive it on the interstate to check the speedometer calibration. I will let you know what I find out later.

You West coast people are so picky...:cheeky:

I hope I didn't hurt anything the time that I recharged mine hard. It ran down for some reason, and I just hooked it up to my 12 amp charger and let it charge. It eventually recharged, but it drew a lot of current for a long time. I only bought one because they supposedly don't leak acid, and my car can't take any more corrosion.

I usually replace water pumps when they start leaking from the weep hole. I also usually add some stop-leak to the radiator after I replace one, just because it seems like if I don't do it initially I will have to do so later. Strangely, when I rebuilt the 240Z's engine I didn't need to do that. Perhaps because I had the block cleaned at a machine shop before I rebuilt it.

Remember, the emissions standards for pre-1981 cars are a lot easier to pass than later cars. By the way, is it just Lake county that has mandatory testing, or are there other counties up near Chicago that are included?

Hey Mally002... Did you read Bruce's signature line?