Carl Beck

I can't find videos on that Page - where are they, or how does one access them?? Carl B.

HLS30 00240 has the long buckle straps Build 11/69 FWIW, Carl B.

hello

OK - so we've talked about some the various "problems"... be they Global Warming, CO2, Political Propaganda, Junk Science, Deforestation, Oil Shortages or not, etc etc. etc. What could we actually do about them all? What is the solution to our present quandary? Any system that is thrown out of balance by some outside force, if it keeps running, it seeks to either right itself (re-balance), or it shakes itself to destruction. At present we Americans are shaking ourselves to destruction. I believe it is past time we re-balanced ourselves. We have to retake control of our governments at all levels - city, state, federal. We need to retake control from the big money interests, the big government interests, and the big Political Party interests. The three work hand in hand to enhance one anothers positions - at the expense of we the people. It is quite easy to regain people power - in our Representative form of Democracy. For the next eight or twelve election cycles we all show up at the Poles - and vote the incumbents out of office. Yes, send them home to live under the laws they passed and live with the decisions they made while they were representing US. Simply refuse to accept the Political Propaganda, refuse the rational arguments from the silver tongues of the saviors... Throw the Politicians and their buddies out - That action alone - throw the incumbents out - time and time again - would quickly negate the effects of huge campaign contributions, negate the effects of paid lobby efforts, negate the effects of politically slanted media. It would destroy the Political Parties "seniority systems" which reward staying in office, more than they reward caring for the citizens of the Nation or the Nation itself. Wake up Americans - you are daily being sold down stream without a paddle.. while the professional Politicians smile and kiss you good-by. Cloaked as Young/Old, Black/White, Rich/Poor, Liberal/Conservative, Democrat/Republican - the heart and mind of the Professional Politician is the same - the driving need to gain and control Power - and reap the rewards that come with it personally. Representing your fellow Citizens best interests should again be an Honor of brief duration - it should never be allowed to become a career. When "Politics" is your career - retaining and yielding Political Power is your goal. Money and the Special Interests that contribute the most of it - is the path to the Professional Politicians Personal Goals... Money to spew Political Propaganda, money to manipulate the media, Power to reward your supporters and punish any decent. We all know that Money and Power is the present game - we are about to find out just how much it is going to cost us to watch the big boys play. Red States/Blue States?? are we all morons? Today about 30% of the voting population have begun to realize that neither Political Party represents them. They have registered as Independent Voters. We need to get about 60% of the voters to consistently throw the incumbents out of office at every level - for a period of at least several years. That alone would purge most of the corruption, negate the effects of Big Money, negate the Power of the major Political Parties - and put Citizens back in charge of representing their fellow Citizens and our Nation. Serving your fellow citizens with one term in elected office - should be viewed as the same as serving your fellow citizens with one term in the military, one term in the Peace Corp etc... We can put Statesman, back in our State House, back in our Federal Government... Eliminate the Professional Politicians - and we might get really good minds back to work for us. At that point - "We the People of the United States of America" - will have some meaning again. Until then, bend over and get the K Y Jelly ready... Representative Democracy works - only when the Citizens are smart enough make it work. Just my perspective... FWIW, Carl B.

While the 1979 280ZX-R has an interesting place in DATSUN/NISSAN racing history - it really is not a highly sought after Classic, Collectible or Special Interest car. From a "Collector" perspective - a pure stock, all original, extremely low mileage example (less than 10K miles) "might" be interesting enough to have - anything less than pure original perfection would be passed. At present a near perfect, all original, as it left the showroom floor example "might" bring a bit over $10K - IF you were lucky enough to have to interested parties bidding against one another. The 280ZX - had a focus on Xtra LuXury. The 280ZX-R was a stripped down, basic slick top coupe, lacking the very luxury items that drive the price of say the 1980 10th Anniversary Edition 280ZX. As such the 280ZX-R's are not really in demand. My best advice - look for a lower mileage, better cared for 280ZX. Pay a bit more up front if you must, and you'll put far less into it in total. The 280ZX's are really great cars, but you have to love them for what they are - - far more luxurious Sports/GT's than the first generation Z's. good luck, Carl B.

Thanks Steve: IMHO - Charles Krauthammer is one of the clearest thinking, most rational and most intelligent columnists you will find today. Everyone should read his entire column at the link xray posted. It is significant to also note his reference to Czech President Vaclav Klaus statement; - “The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity, is no longer socialism. It is, instead, the ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism.” President Klaus is a man that has seen first hand, the ravages of central government social control. FWIW, Carl B.

A "Fuel Cell" as applied to this discussion - converts a specific fuel, chemically and directly to electrical energy. That electrical energy is then used to drive an electric motor, that drives a vehicle. It takes more electrical energy to free the hydrogen from H2O, than you can get back out of a hydrogen fuel cell. The use of the fuel cell is simply a way of storing, or carrying a fuel supply with you... To convert our vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell technology - we would have to generate the original electrical energy from nuclear power plants - that is at present the only clean, efficient method of producing enough electrical energy in the first place. If we want/need electric cars running on Fuel Cells - the first step is building several hundred additional nuclear power plants here in the US. At present France gets about 80% of their electrical power from nuclear power plants - IMHO if France can do it - so can we. The second step would be to convert "gasoline filling stations" to "hydrogen refueling stations"... no small task... FWIW, Carl B.

Please tell me where you are buying "racing fuel" for $1 more than regular!! I'll take a thousand gallons! Racing Fuel (110 octane) around here is now $8.75 per gallon, and soon to be closer to $10.00. 100 octane aviation fuel is $7.75 and going up - that by the way is not "racing fuel". Just a little aside.... FWIW Carl B.

Writing for the New York Times - about as "green" and liberal rag as you can find, OP-ED Columnist Paul Krugman wrote: "........... Where the effects of bad policy are clearest, however, is in the rise of demon ethanol and other biofuels. The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a “scam.” This is especially true of corn ethanol: even on optimistic estimates, producing a gallon of ethanol from corn uses most of the energy the gallon contains. But it turns out that even seemingly “good” biofuel policies, like Brazil’s use of ethanol from sugar cane, accelerate the pace of climate change by promoting deforestation. And meanwhile, land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis. You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states. Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue. One more thing: one reason the food crisis has gotten so severe, so fast, is that major players in the grain market grew complacent. Governments and private grain dealers used to hold large inventories in normal times, just in case a bad harvest created a sudden shortage. Over the years, however, these precautionary inventories were allowed to shrink, mainly because everyone came to believe that countries suffering crop failures could always import the food they needed. This left the world food balance highly vulnerable to a crisis affecting many countries at once — in much the same way that the marketing of complex financial securities, which was supposed to diversify away risk, left world financial markets highly vulnerable to a systemwide shock. What should be done? The most immediate need is more aid to people in distress: the U.N.’s World Food Program put out a desperate appeal for more funds. We also need a pushback against biofuels, which turn out to have been a terrible mistake. But it’s not clear how much can be done. Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past. " You can read the entire column at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/opinion/07krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin When people like Mr. Krugman start to tell you that bio-fuels are a bad deal - it's time to take notice! This is no Right-wing mouthpiece!! How About the UN? United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is concerned about the threat of a world food shortage, saying action must be taken quickly, otherwise there will be unrest on an unprecedented scale. "Prices have soared for a number of reasons - high fuel costs, bad weather in key food producing countries like Australia, the increase in land allocated to bio-fuels, and a surge in demand, much of it from the rising middle classes of China and India." See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/30/2231223.htm?section=world FWIW Carl B.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - Nissan's Definition Of Terms: To end confusion, the terms "vapor lock", "percolation" and "vacuum break" are defined here. VAPOR LOCK: Vapor lock causes a LEANER than normal air-fuel mixture. It affects the suction side of the mechanical fuel pump. The gasoline vapor-liquid ratio in the fuel line becomes greater than the fuel pump is able to handle. The fuel pump sends less fuel to the carburetor, causing a lean fuel-air mixture. PERCOLATION: Percolation causes a RICHER than normal air-fuel mixture. It affects the carburetor float bowl, and the high pressure fuel line (the outlet side of the fuel pump), and may cause hot starting problems. Percolation can come about in several ways: 1. Heat soak-back into the fuel pump and high pressure fuel line can raise the line pressure enough to unseat the float bowl needle valve. This condition is known as "after-fill". 2. Float bowl evaporation may lower the float level while there is residual pressure in the fuel line. This pressure then forces an excess amout of fuel into the float bowl. 3. Fuel evaporates in the float bowl, and the resulting vapor pressure may not vent out quickly enough. The high pressure developed in the float bowl forces liquid fuel into the intake manifold. VACUUM BREAK (73 carb.s...cjb) When the choke is closed (except for the small air gap) and the engine starts, the vacuum created by the engine starting will try to completely shut the choke valve. This vacuum is broken by the vacuum break diaphragm, which holds the choke open a small amount. The vacuum break diaphragm operates by manifold vacuum and is connected to the choke valve by linkage. - - - - - - - - - - - hummm.. Just FYI FWIW, Carl B.

That is amazingly clean... Don't let Kats see the picture of that Spare - - - Does #32 still have all its chrome Z's in place? Carl B.

Well your bastard child sat all time sales records... so someone must have liked it alot!! Looks like it is in very nice condition overall - I'd keep it stock and enjoy driving it without getting too much money into it. Just spend the time cleaning/detailing/shinning and enjoying it. Dollar for dollar nice clean low milege 280ZX's are a bargan today.. FWIW, Carl B.

Given the mileage and a one owner car - plus the pictures you present - I'd say it is more in the $7,500.00 to $8,500.00 range in the North East. With todays fuel charges you'd be looking at $2K at least to ship a car from the West Coast - plus the cost of you traveling out there to find/buy a car... A green 240-Z that was not nearly that nice sold on E-Bay for $13K a few months ago - I looked at the car and I know who bought it - If I lived in that area, and I wanted to 240-Z I wouldn't be at all afraid to pay $8K for it today... it'll be $10K next year. If the seller ask me, I'd tell him to put it on E-Bay with and opening bid of $6,800.00 and see where it goes from there.. A lot of people have been looking for good 240-Z's for a long time in the North East.. FWIW, Carl B. FWIW, Carl

you can see the inside of the typical dogleg here too: http://zhome.com/Classic/CommonZRust/RustPrevention240Z.htm They can look nearly perfect from the outside... but be just months away from rusting though..

Before you take the plunge - put the car up on a service lift somewhere. Pay to have the car inspected at your local Nissan Dealership - just tell the service writer your thinking of buying the car and you want a general mechanical inspection. Most Nissan Dealerships are glad to do it while you wait... The rust hole in front of the rear wheel arch is typical - even for otherwise solid cars... the floorboards are another story. You'll want to know for that sure they are very solid or not. Floorboards that will need to be replaced, along with the frame rails under them - can knock several thousand dollars off the value of the car. FWIW, Carl B.

With OEM Strut type suspensions - it is the installed height of the springs that determines the ride height of the car. You can install shorter springs and lower the ride height, but because the shock absorber rod is only so long - installing springs with a longer Free Length, will not result in a higher installed height. If you build your own "coil-over" struts with adjustable ride height - you can extend the length of the struts, and fit appropriate length shocks... yes, you can rise the right height. However you have to ask yourself if you want a Sports car sitting up that high to begin with. If the rear tires are just catching the rear fender lip - you can roll the fender lip under. Guys that have done a bit of metal work, body work - usually take a baseball bat and insert it between the tire and fender lip. Then roll the tire forward/backward with the baseball bat in place to roll the fender lip up inside the fender... You have to put a few small cuts in the arches of the fender lips using a hacksaw.... Short of that - as mentioned earlier - get wheels with the right off-set (backspace) and put the right oversize tires on them. FWIW, Carl B.

I think Arne answered your question at Post #6. I'll only add that unless you want to retard your timing - I'd stick with super-unleaded. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Dan: Sounds like you found a well cared for example. I'm with you and your Dad. I too have had just about every type of car I've wanted (including V12 Ferrari and Jag.'s, Porsches, Vette's and Muscle Cars etc). I can honestly say that the Datsun 240-Z's are the best Sports/GT's, regardless of price, that I've ever owned. Over the years every other car has come and gone - but the 72 240-Z that I bought at the end of 71 - always stayed. If I had to get in a car and drive across the US today - it would be the Z that I'd take. For the past 36 years I've been hoping that someone would design/build/sell another Sports/GT that was as good - but so far that hasn't happened. So we'll have to keep the old ones running... Wecome to DATSUN... FWIW, Carl B.

Might not be a matter of the polishing/waxing products you are using - so much as it is the paint itself. The answer really depends on what paint your talking about - it's age and condition etc. If it's the original factory enamel, on a metallic color - your clear coat could be going bad. Enamel drys with a skin coat of solids on the top layer - once you've polished your way through that - the paint will not hold a shine for more than a couple weeks. So you don't want to use anything that is too harsh, or that would remove too much of that skin coat. Lacquers will usually polish up and hold a shine, right down to the primer under them.. that is not the case with the older enamels. FWIW, Carl B.

Check/change the PCV valve - first. See what happens... Bad valve stem seals usually cause smoke on start-up, when oil left in the head drains down the valve stems into the cylinders. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: Are you planing on doing your own rust repair? Can you do the cutting/welding yourself? See: Zedd Findings for floorboard replacements http://www.datsunzparts.com/ See : Tabco for patch panels http://www.tabcobodyparts.com good luck with the project FWIW, Carl B.

That is because by 78 Nissan was installing mag.'s at the factory - but they didn't give you five of them. The spare was still on a steel wheel. FWIW, Carl B.

You are correct. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Alan: Are the slits and cutout areas in the mats - for extensions that allow the seat tracks to be mounted farther forward in the JDM models? Carl B.

I can't, but many people seem to be doing just that. Perhaps the thought that started this thread is more correct than not. The media discussion, the political propaganda and the responding automobile marketers all depend on everyone sucking up the 15 second "feel good" sound bits, and then repeating them as though they were true. Most of us are old enough, experienced enough to know that subjects of this nature are extremely complex to say the least. The problem is we don't usually have the time to personally research any of these "Green Slogans" to find what is being traded-off for the reported end result. We also allow ourselves to be diverted from the objective we all support - ie a cleaner/greener earth for everyone - when we are refocused on simplistic solutions. Simplistic Solution #1 - Americans should drive cars that get better fuel economy. Is the Prius the car that serious environmentalists should put their money into? I use the term "environmentalists" here to actually mean the people that want to care for the earth, in scientifically proven ways; as opposed to the new Socialists politically correct "environmental movement" that is based mostly on junk science and feel good propaganda. For Example: Go Green - Buy a Used Car. It's better than a Hybrid. "As Matt Power notes in this month's issue of Wired, hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt -- one you won't pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so. There's an easy way to avoid that debt -- buy a used car. The debt has already been paid. But not just any used car will do..... See: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr.html or Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d. http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/used_car_reviews/article3552994.ece Here is another interesting perspective: Hummer vs Prius - the Hummer is Greener... http://www.vegfamily.com/earthtalk/hummer-prius.htm Everything is a trade-off, I think we all realize that - - and if we are to really make a difference in the future of our environment - we need to know the entire story. I'm not saying any of the above are true or even perfectly factual - just that they deserve your consideration, and if we are serious about the environment - perhaps we should seek more comprehensive information. We may be lead to doing more harm than good, so that others can profit in the short term. When chicken little is running around yelling "the sky is falling in" - we should learn from experience and be very very critical of that warning... and we should start looking for who is paying that chicken. Keep driving that old Z - its greener than most people realize. FWIW, Carl B.