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Nice, I've been on the lookout for something similar on Craigslist around these parts. Haven't had much luck, most of the optimists around here are asking $1800+ firm for a truck that looks to be in similar condition

Nice, thanks!

Something else just occurred to me: could it possibly have been towed? Does your apartment complex have a contract with a towing company to enforce permits?

Maybe you could try turning the block upside down like Oiluj suggests, then getting a long pipe cleaner and trying to get at it from the other end? What kind of tool was it?

Damn, that really sucks. I hope it gets recovered intact. Doubt it'd ever get out here in Texas, but I'll keep your car in mind whenever I look at parts online. Hard to forget an engine bay like that.

You should post a picture of what you mean... the only case in which I would use a jack on the pinch weld is with the factory jack with the cutout to straddle the weld, if I were lifting ONLY one wheel.

The longer springs go in the front, as I recall. As Arne said, they are the springs with the number ending in 1, whereas the rear numbers end in 2. I installed mine with the lettering right-side up, and this was the correct configuration (with the nearly bound end of the progressive springs being at the top where they belong). As others have explained, having the bound coils at the top avoids having that extra bit of mass be unsprung weight at the bottom of the spring. As thoroughly discussed before, it's doubtful there is a handling difference, but someone may point it out eventually - why NOT install them the "correct" way? Also, Doehring's post above regarding the correct orientation may be of interest to the discussion... Anyway, if you put the short springs in the front, and you have the standard 240Z kit, you have installed them wrong, and I imagine the ride height may be weird once you have moved the car from your garage. When I bought my Eibach kit, there was a sheet included from the manufacturer that explicitly stated which springs go where, on absolutely no uncertain terms. I would check the stuff that came in your box again. When you first lower it down, it will of course sit very high, because the suspension is still bound up - the wheels are essentially being pushed inward by the ground. They need to move outward for it to settle to the proper ride height, and once you pull the car out of the garage, and back in, you'll have a better idea about the ride height. After rolling the car back and forth, I only lost about 1/8" in ride height in front and back after about 10 miles of driving, so I don't expect it to settle much more.

Here in Texas, it's downright unpleasant without A/C for about 8 months out of the year. I kept it original for the first 5 years I had the car, but I finally caved and got the MSA kit

I'm not an expert on acoustics, but I kinda figured sound deadening needed to be in solid contact with the surface transmitting the vibrations (the body of the car) to be effective. Is the padding on the underside of the carpet intended for insulation/sound deadening? I always figured it was just padding, like the carpet padding underneath the carpet in your house.

Nice plate. I've got a set of 72 Texas plates sitting on the bookshelf, can't wait until May when I change the registration over to them. The latest iteration of Texas plates just looks plain ugly. WAY too busy, and they're the printed, rather than stamped, variety now. http://dallas.ismyhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/plate.JPG

I would just have someone else turn the wheel back and forth while I looked at the linkages to see what's moving right and what's not. Some possibilities that come to mind: - Bad ball joints - Bad tie rod ends - Bad u-joint on the steering rod shaft - Loose steering rack mounts - Excessively worn rack If you have a factory service manual, or another (i.e. Haynes) I think this is one of those generic problems for which they will have a list of items to check.

Took this picture earlier today after a test drive in the hill country. The front end is still a bit higher than I want it. I was hoping the Eibach springs would break in a bit, and sit a little lower, but I think that is probably not going to happen. At any rate, I've experienced no rubbing in about 25 miles of driving on winding country roads so far.

I also have some Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position tires, only in 195/60R-15 on my 15"x7" Konig Rewinds. My suspension setup is Tokico HP shocks, with Eibach Pro Kit 240Z springs (as opposed to the 280Z Eibach springs which some people run after cutting a front coil off). My strut insulators look to be in good shape, although the rear sits slightly lower than the front now with the Eibach springs (sat level with the Tokico red springs though). I picked 195/60R-15 because I was worried about rubbing when I go back to a stock valence and BRE spook. Zedyone_Kenobi had reported issues with 205/60R-15 tires on his 15" Panasports and his valence/BRE spook, so I went down a size to avoid that. IIRC he is running Tokico HP shocks and Tokico red springs. I can't really comment on the Pole Positions yet, as I have only put about 6 miles on them so far at low speeds around my neighborhood.

Great comparison photos. It's like night and day.

Am I the only one that finds this to be a dubious claim on the part of the seller? That would be like someone offering to sell me a Big Mac saying it was special because it was shipped to Texas from Seattle... I can go down the street and get a Big Mac, why the hell would someone go to the trouble of shipping one thousands of miles?

You're right! I'll go fix it right now. :stupid: I didn't even stop to think about the directionality of the tread

Finally mounted my new Rewinds. I also installed some Eibach Pro-Kit springs to go with my Tokico HP shocks. The front end is still riding maybe 1/2" higher than I had hoped, even after a 4 mile test drive, but I am hoping it will settle a bit more. I went with the 195/60/15 Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position tires. They look a little stretched to me, but I guess it's because I'm coming from 14x6 (?) alloy wheels with 205/60/14 tires. I imagine I'll get used to the look. In related news, I should have some 14x6 Nissan mag wheels with tires mounted, and plenty of tread, and a set of Tokico springs for sale shortly...

Just received my 15x7 Rewinds from JLB Motorsports. I highly recommend them, they were thoroughly easy to deal with over the phone, and even gave me a better price than was advertised on their website. I think they had some special going on at the time. Including 16 black 'tuner style' lug nuts (actually received 3 extras), I got the whole lot for $455 shipped. Almost got the wheels from Discount Tire, but I couldn't get a straight answer directly from them as to what offset they would be able to get. Factoring in tax from DT, JLB was a better deal. I don't too much care about having Z stickers on the center caps, I don't plan on even using the caps, honestly. Off to Discount Tire tomorrow, planning on some 195/60/15 Bridgestone Pole Positions, based on stuff I've read around the forum. I want to go back to a stock lower valence and BRE style spook, so avoiding future rubbing is a big concern.

Nice I also like the camera effect on the sun, looks like you were driving during a solar eclipse

Pretty sure it's not chrome, just polished stainless steel. You may just be able to polish some stuff out

Sweet, good luck! Looking forward to the videos

I've got the Sanden rotary compressor, and I also notice a significant power drop, although I'm sure the York is much worse. Whenever my compressor is engaged, I can't take it above 3500 RPM without getting this weird vibration in the engine bay that sounds terrible. I need to diagnose this before summer

Just thought I would pop back in here with a new experience I had. The other day I went down to the garage to check out current clearances (ordered some Konig Rewinds that should arrive next week) and I just happened to glance at the springs in the process. To my surprise, I noticed one of my rear Tokico 5020 springs had jumped the perch. See pictures below. The dislodged spring is on the passenger side, and the correctly mounted spring is on the drivers side. I'm not sure if this happened while on the road, or the last time I had the car up on jack stands (several months ago). Pretty sure I checked that they were all lined up afterward though. Either way, I ordered some Eibach Pro springs from MSA, and they just arrived. At least these should have a long enough unsprung length to not come loose between the perches. FWIW I also am running Tokico HP struts, and the suspension is stock otherwise.

Nice! I wish I had your tenacity for getting things done