Carl Beck

I will tell the seller: They are NOT Dealer Posters. They were created and printed for the Z Car Club Association {ZCCA}. The purpose was to raise money to pay for part of Mr. K's expenses incurred traveling to the US from Japan and back, so Mr. K could attend the ZCCA Annual Convention in 1996; as well as to fund other ZCCA activities. To my knowledge, none were "given" to any Dealers. All were signed personally by Mr. K. I was first in line to buy some at the 1996 Convention in Denver. The #1 Poster was held, for a later auction so I bought #2 and several others {I think 10 or 12 in all}. I gave some to friends and I still have #2, #3, #5, #7, Artist Proof #42 and #69.

ZDC-2 - Zinc cover A2=Aluminum cover For the 260Z's cars with the Zinc covers were recalled - and they were replaced with Aluminum covers. Bad reactions with US fuel additives and Zinc as I recall.. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guus: Thanks for the report - did you get any detailed pictures of the Z? Carl B.

HI Guys: I like the Stahl and/or Nissan Competition headers the most. They had better overall quality, especially at the mounting flange. I built that dual exhaust system for my Z when I had the Muffler Shop in the 70's. Nothing to it really. Although you want to keep it tight up under the car. No room for sloppy work there.. I used resonators in the middle in addition to two steel packs at the rear. I don't believe you can get steel packs anymore - EPA didn't like them. It was perhaps one of the best sounding systems I've had on the Z, even if it wasn't the most efficient for performance. Nonetheless it certainly gave better flow than the OEM system. The glass packs do burn out too quickly and without the resonators in the center, that system can get loud. FWIW, Carl B.

Thanks guys. I'm sure there is a home for them out there somewhere. Carl B.

This is the listing on the ZHome.com server for ZOOM.. http://mnzclub.com/ Looks like it is correct FWIW, Carl B.

Looks like a very nice 280Z that has been well cared for. Great find East of the Mississippi and someone has put a lot of additional work/money into it already. Great color as well. I'm sure you'll enjoy it for years to come. FWIW, Carl B.

Before I put them on E-Bay I thought I'd offer them here. If anyone here wants a set of period correct MiniLites for their 240Z, I have a new set, never mounted. MiniLite makes limited runs of these wheels only when they receive larger bulk orders. I believe these were produced in the 80's. They are 14"x6" with lug nuts and center caps. $850.00 plus shipping This is the wheel that Panasport copied... PM me or E-mail me at beck@becksystems.com if you want them. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Steve: I stand corrected. If you focus too closely - these numbers start to move in the columns. I should have read farther down - #16's note just said; " add MSA's type 111 air dam"... so I was thinking that was the only change. Now reading #17 it does say "block off upper half of air dam". But looking at the pictures, it looks like they really blocked off the area that would have been above the bumper. Nonetheless, it looks like they did remove all other "blocking" from the BRE test at #16. BTW - - BRE Spook #13 the CLF should be .342 {I think you show CL above which was .279} So: Positive Number = down-force Negative Number = lift As I understand it - that is because the sensors are below the wheels. So positive numbers push the car down on the sensors increasing the numbers on the gauge, where negative numbers show the car lifting off the sensors. <pre> BRE #13 CLF=0.342 lbs. of lift(down-force)=233 lbs of drag=307 MSA #16 CLF=0.287 lbs. of lift(down-force)=196 lbs of drag=300 The BRE Spook puts 37 lbs more down-force on the front of the car at the expense of 7 additional lbs of drag. But look what they both do to lift/down-force on the rear wheels BRE #13 lbs of lift rear = -43.158 MSA #16 lbs of lift rear = -54.850 </pre> Pushing the nose of the car down - should off-load ie. raise the rear. I would guess that the BRE Spook even though it pushes the nose down farther - doesn't raise the rear as much, because it is directing more airflow over the top - and having more effect of the rear spoiler. Where the MSA air dam puts more air around the sides of the car. So less drag, but allows more lift on the rear. At any rate - the guys at HybridZ did a great job and I hope they do another run. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: So do you believe that these TSO's are incorrect? They would seem to indicate that the Series I cars all came with VOSS locks/keys. I think he needs to assure that he gets a VOSS lock cylinder, and a VOSS key blank, if the TSO's are correct. FWIW, Carl B.

$2350.00 USD - just to register the car!!! YIEKS!!! The car only cost about $4600.00 new in 1973!! So much for free trade.... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Steve: If you compare test #9 (add BRE Spook) directly to test #16 (add MSA air dam).... it's not apples to apples. On the other hand if you take test #9 and make all the enhancement from tests #10 thru #15, then compare that to test #16 (where only the front air dam was change to replace the BRE Spook), you can get a little closer to apples to apples. <pre> In that case. Stock 240Z #19 CLF = 304 lbs of lift = 207.279 lbs of drag = 309.402 BRE Spook #15 CLF = 212 lbs of lift = 144.000 lbs of drag = 280.954 MSA A/D #16 CLF = 287 lbs of lift = 195.554 lbs of drag = 300.050 </pre> So test #15 with the BRE Spook and all other enhancements, to test #16 with all other enhancements only with the MSA air dam changed - you increased lift by 50 lbs and increased drag by 20 lbs. But I agree - it is hard to get real apples to apples, when so many other chagnes were made that could effect the specific performance of either part. FWIW, Carl B.

If you have the ignition lock out of the car - and you have the original key; why would the locksmith need the Nissan Key Codes? I thought that the Nissan Key Codes were only needed if you wanted to cut a new Key Blank, to match your existing lock. I would think that if you handed a Locksmith both the ignition lock and the key you wanted to use - he could simply reconfigure the lock to match the existing key. Yes/No? FWIW, Carl B.

HI Mike: Did you look/find one based on the year of the car it came out of - or is there some code stamped on the outside of the lock cylinder? In other words, how did you know it had the old Datsun key codes? Carl B.

Over the years, most of the "tests" that have been conducted seem to agree in general terms, if not in specific pounds of force. 1. The shape of the Classic Z's is not considered to be very "aerodynamic" in stock form. 2. The OEM Front spoiler (see Chris's post) - had very little effect. 3. The air dams - direct air around the sides of car, and reduce air flow under the car. So the do reduce drag. They also reduce "lift", but do not generate much additional down-force. Because they reduce "lift", the do add to the stability of car at 40mph+ 4. The BRE Style Spook's reduce drag and generate a great deal of down-force because they redirect the air flow up over the hood as well as around the sides of the car. The non-ducted version is more effective than the ducted version at increasing down-force. The Spook is very effective at keeping the front tires on the road at speed (reduce lift and increase down-force), and you can really feel the difference. From personal experience - the Spooks won't damage the lower panels in minor run in's with parking stops - but in a front end crunch.. it turns out that the Spook is stronger than the sheet-metal. So it will damage the sheet metal if you hit the Spook hard enough to tear it off the car. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Stephen: If that is the same one you have in your 78 280Z - then you have the old after-market 240-Z unit. With the evaporator hanging down under the dash, the passenger foot well. Factory Installed, Port Installed or Dealer Installed, the evaporator unit in the 260/280's sat directly in front of the heater core, on top of the transmission tunnel. It was directly behind the two center vents. To put the evaporator there - the 260/280 Dash is about four inches deeper, than the 240 dash was. One way of putting the newer Factory Air unit in a 240 body - is to change to the 280 dash.. The main reason that the "Factory Air" was so much better than the previous Dealer Installed 240 units - was because the fan blew air through the evaporator coils, where the old 240 units had to suck air though the evaporator, then blow it though the heater core and dash. The quickest way to tell the Factory Installed or Port Installed units from the after-market units is by the number of speeds on the fan selector switch. As I recall the factory units had 5 speed fans - and the after market units used the original 4 speed fan selector switch. FWIW, Carl B.

Because the Chevy's used downdraft carb.'s - with throttle plates attached to the mechanical linkage - you had to prop the throttle open, so the cylinder wasn't sucked into a vacuum, prior to compression. If you were running triple side drafts - with mechanical butterflys you would have to prop the throttle open as well. With the SU's the vacuum from the cylinder itself will open the pistons as far as necessary - so you really don't have to do anything with the carb's. - just use the idle adjustment screw on the linkage to open the throttle and make sure the choke is full off. Also run the engine over at least three or four compression strokes on each cylinder. You'll feel the compression tester push back at your hand, on the compression strokes. Some testers screw in and others are held in by hand pressure... If your using the hand held type hold it firm and squarely in the hole. The reason for turning the cylinder over at least three of four compression strokes, is to assure that the cylinder walls are evenly lubricated and sealed, and to assure you are getting the highest possible reading. FWIW, Carl B.

Yes - as Mike said. It isn't and it doesn't. The Spook is bolted to the bottom of the radiator core support with three large washers and bolts. The there are about six smaller bolts/nuts/washers that go though the three lower finishers. Two on each corner and two in the center. (Some use three across the center) FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Will: I'm surprised to hear you say that you had not seem many of the York compressors mounted over the fuel pump, on the passenger side of the engine. My experience is the exact opposite. I've only seen a couple of the York compressors, replacing the Air Pumps. Although it is common to see the newer rotary compressors replace both the old York's and be mounted replacing the Air Pump, but that wasn't done by Datsun Dealers. A/C was actually a "Factory Authorized Accessory". Nissan Motors Ltd. extended the full Factory Warranty to cover the A/C when installed by an Authorized Datsun Dealer. Personally, I'd never seen a Dealer send that work out of their own shops. The A/C Kits were quite easy to install. The mechanics were paid 6 hours to install the system, and most of them could do it easily in 2 hour of less - after their first time. There were two manufacturers that supplied the A/C Kits to Nissan Motors USA, Frigid-king (Spl?) and ARA. Both supplied a huge bracket that allowed the York compressor to be mounted over the mechanical fuel pump. No Dealer would have removed the Air Pump - as that would have resulted in fines exceeding $100,000.00 if they were caught removing or modifying any emissions related systems on the cars. Bottom line Bedri - that looks like a Factory Authorized, Factory Warranted, Dealer Installed A/C system to me. Of course I'd have to see the rest of the system to be certain. One type had the temp. control knob mounted to the bottom of the dash, the other type had it mounted to the side of the center console. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris: I don't have an official number, but based on recorded VIN's - it looks like something close to 46,000 would be in the ball park. FWIW, Carl B.

I don't presently sell cars - although I worked my way through college selling cars and working in bars. I sold DATSUN's in 72/73... and have my Century Club ring to this day. Over the past 20 or so years - I have tried to follow the Classic Z Car Market, and have been personally involved in finding and buying many of the best examples for several serious Collectors. The street rod market is very interesting - - 20 years ago, if you put $25K into building a street rod or custom car, you would be very lucky to get $5K for it when you sold. That market is entirely different today. You'll see street rods/custom cars going for well over $85K on a pretty regular basis and some have gone over $100K. These numbers are for the Best of the Best of course... but they set the bar for the market in general. 15 years ago - a pure stock 240-Z in #1 condition would have sold for $12K (or more)... and fifteen years ago it would have cost the person doing the restoration himself - about $12K plus the cost of the car to start with. Take that same starting point and spend $12K on performance enhancements and that street mod Z might resell for $6K. Today, that is no longer the case - A #1 condition restoration will cost at least $30K in addition to the car that you start with - and #1 Condition 240-Z's will resell for $28K+. A high quality street mod Z will cost at least $18K today to build... and if done right it can be sold for $12K to $14K... Again - here we are talking in very general terms - and talking about street mod's done to the highest standards of quality... not some backyard hacked up monster... nor some half finished project... Also - you can figure that the First Generation Z's will all appreciate over the next five years as well. So yes - done right, with quality workmanship all around - and complete - I don't think one would have much problem recovering at least 80% of the money spent (not counting your labor). Everyone can argue with the absolute numbers - but that's a general overview. Nonetheless the Key is "High Quality"... to attract the buyers willing to spend the money at the higher end. I should add - keep very good records and photo history of the build. High quality cars are usually well documented... FWIW, Carl B.

IMHO - there is simply no comparison between a soup'ed up 260Z, and a 40 year newer 370Z. You simply can not buy that level of total performance for anything less than the $35K to $40K it takes to get a 370Z. Unless you buy a slightly used 350Z/G35 for something close to $20K or less. A used 350Z/G35 might be something to seriously consider. When it comes to the 370Z, the real question is; "should you buy the 370Z, or the G37?" I say go with the G37 as the Infiniti Dealers are so much better to deal with. Right now you can get a really good deal on one if you shop around and "0" percent on the loan. If on the other hand - you really don't want to spend $35K to $40K on the G37 - and you really want a toy tpo play with... I wouldn't spend the money on head work, cam kits, triple side drafts and headers - - - without going though the bottom end and re-balancing an engine to start with. Without a near perfect bottom end, all the stuff on top will only be yielding 80 to 85% of its potential anyway. Even when your done - you can't beat cc's and professional engine builders. For what your talking about - IMHO - order the 3.0/3.1 liter from Rebello and be done with it. Have Rebello build the SU's to go with it. Drop in a 3.7 rear gear with the 81-83 5spd. Then upgrade the brakes, go to coil overs so you can get some wider rubber on the road and good shocks in the struts. Strip off WEIGHT! The 260Z is at least 200lbs to heavy and it needs to lose weight. Replace the bumpers with 240Z bumpers. Leave the spare tire at home, never run with over 1/4 tank of gas (unless you are going on a long highway trip). In the end - you might have $12K to $14K in upgrades, plus the cost of the car to begin with. That should put you well under 1/2 the price of the 370Z. Five years later, your Street Mod 260Z will still be worth say 85% of what you put into it - - while the used 370Z will be worth about 50% of what it cost new. Bottom line - every time I've made compromises based on "price" - I've been unhappy with the decision. You want total performance - and something to impress your friends - go make your best deal on an Infiniti G37. You want a reasonably quick car that has Classic lines - and will keep up with the 40 year newer stuff strictly on the basis of straight line speed - spend the money up front and spend it all at once. Order the Rebello Engine and start collecting all the other parts you'll need. FWIW, Carl B.

Not really. To get close to 200hp at the rear wheels you'd have to go to higher compression (12:1) even if you use an L28 in stead of the L26 in the car now. Most dyno runs on stock 260Z's that show 120hp at the rear wheels when rated at 150hp at the engine, show something close to 165hp after adding the modifications you mention. 200hp at the engine, will not get you the performance indicated by the calculator. The best bang for the buck - if you want to stick with the in-line six - is the 280ZX Turbo motor with some mods.'s. Easy to get 200 to 250hp at the rear wheels with them and they can run on pump gas. You'll spend closer to $6K by the time it's all said and done - on the turbo engine and components needed to install it with a modern engine management system. FWIW, Carl B.

Replacing one cracked dash with another doesn't seem very productive to me. I'd get a full dash cover to recover the dash. Properly installed the full dash covers are hard to tell from the original dash... Just a thought... Carl B.

1) Having an alternator with a peak output of 105 amps - does not mean that you have 105 amps running though your entire electrical system. 2. Having a 12 volt battery capable of 150 amp output - does not mean that you have or need 150 amp running though your entire electrical system. 3) The components that use electric, will draw only what they need. If they short out, the fuse limits the amps flowing across the wires. 4) Peak output from the alternator is only one thing - - more practical to consider the alternators output at 800 to 1800 RPM - or its ability to replace the current drawn off the battery at low RPM's. 5. High output alternators are no problem for the stock wiring in the early Z's. Just make sure that when you add accessories, they are contained on their own individual new circuits and properly fused. 6) 1000 watt stereo's - might be better served with a second storage battery. 7) Self regulated alternators output only the current needed.. you would very rarely need or call on your alternator to supply 105 Amps. You would far more often need 30 amps at 1000 RPM. Amps=Watts/Volts 1000 watt stereo/12.6 volts = 79.4 amp draw at peak power output. 100 watt headlights x 2 = 15.9 amps. The 240-Z was originally equipped with a 35/40 amp alternator, because if you add up the power requirements of all components that require power in the stock system - it won't exceed 40 amps total. At least that is the way I've always understood it.... FWIW, Carl B.