Carl Beck

I'm not so sure I do. Let me see if I understand this correctly. We are talking about the car here..... We are all here to discuss Z Cars, most of us already own one (or more) and have at least some hands on experience in the past year or two. (yes/no?) People that are interested in perhaps buying a Z - come here to gain information about them - and many times that results in them asking us - what should they look for, how much should they pay, what does it cost to refresh/restore or even "save one".... (yes/no?) Then a car comes up for sale - and so that we don't hurt our own financial interests - we are supposed to stop finding, and pointing out all the faults with the cars offered for sale?? We should refrain from warning potential buyers - ie. the people that might become a member of our group - ... we should refrain from pointing out the flaws and thus the additional expenses they might incur with any particular car being considered for purchase ... Sorry, but I see your logic as somewhat backwards.... We should be helping the new buyers get the best car they can - so that they keep them. They should be buying with their eyes wide open. We should also be holding seller's to a level of honesty in disclosure.... I don't believe that telling the truth in public - can hurt any of us in the end. There is also a huge difference in pointing out the flaws of any particular Z - and arguing about it's market value. I'll have to agree that many people here hold much lower opinions as to the market values of many of these cars - than the market actually seems to be telling us... FWIW, Carl B.

I have to disagree with Dave on this one as it relates to the headers. I haven't seen any independent dyno tests that show headers producing more power on a stock or street mod'ed engine, than the OEM exhaust manifold, when you hold everything else the same. In addition to better looks with the headers - you get more under hood heat, noise and usually bad fitting flanges on the cheaper headers. That usually leads to exhaust leaks, which also corrode and then blow out your studs. (cheaper being under $325.00) Cutting the stock exhaust pipe open at the "Y" and going to a larger diameter exhaust system, with a free flowing muffler will pick up between 12 and 15 HP. Leaving the top off the stock Air Cleaner will pick up about 5 HP. If your building a full race engine, and need to tune the exhaust header to specific RPM ranges... sure, go for it. Like the look of "headers" when the car is parked and the hood is up - sure, go for it. Want less long term hassle, less nose in the cabin while cruising, less heat under the intake manifold/carbs, less heat under the hood and against the firewell - keep the OEM exhaust manifold. FWIW, Carl B.

As far as I know - it has to be ordered on-line from Kano Labs. But it's worth the wait, nothing else compares here in the U.S. I've done side by side comparisons with several other types - nothing comes close. FWIW, Carl B.

Personally, I was never able to get the fittings out - with any type of Penetrating oil - until I started using Kroil... With Kroil (Aero Kroil) they simply break free and turn out. http://kanolabs.com FWIW, Carl B.

Your Local Nissan Parts Dept. The OEM plug wires. FWIW, Carl B.

The DATSUN RACING JACKET was designed by Peter Brock and the BRE Racing Team all wore them. They were in turn sold though all the Authorized Datsun Dealers, and were so inexpensive that many Dealers gave them away as promotional items with new car sales. They could be purchased with or without the zip in lining - which was that red quilted material so common in the 70's for winter wear. They were also sold by BRE Racing / InterPart - but with a slight difference. The BRE Team Jackets had a large DATSUN patch on the rear - where the Dealer items did not. I still have mine - it is in very good shape - but sadly I am not - so it no longer fits me. The good news is that BRE is planing to reproduce them... Of course you can wear your's - Pictured below is Chris (aka 26th Z) wearing his at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and standing with Mr. Brock... An original, still in the bag - might bring some pretty high dollars on E-Bay. I've seen them go for over a hundred dollars in the past. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Wes: Great - just make certain that they understand that you do NOT want anything sprayed, coated, covered - on the ouside of the tank. Tell them that you will be doing a restoration to OEM of the exterior - and you want to start with just a very clean exterior. Also - there are four rubber pads on the top of the tank - they are just glued on there - take them off before you take the tank in for cleaning... After it's all repainted and shinny again - you can glue them back on. Ah.. progress.... kind regards, Carl B.

Wes - the tank is beautiful - you should see some of the one's I've pulled. Check your Yellow Pages for "Gas Tank Repairs"... I'm sure there is one in your area that can hot tank aka boil out - a gas tank. FWIW, Carl B.

Thanks for the feeback Eric... good to know you located the problem FWIW, Carl B.

I guess that's a personal perspective... In my experience the 240-Z fares very well in the snow. Far better than most Sports/GT's and far better than any of the Corvettes/Jags I've had. I grew up in Ohio - snow and ice.. were part of the normal driving conditions. I bought my first 240Z in Spokane, Washington - snow, ice and black ice. Lived there for 4 years... Put 68K miles on my 70 Z in 18 months. Which means that most of the time was spent in winter driving conditions... The 240-Z is a wonderful car to drive in the snow, or on the ice... you just have to know how to drive in those conditions, and have the right tires etc. The Z is light weight and fairly easy to get going - stopping on hard pack snow, ice and black ice is difficult in any car. Directional stability at speed in the Z is also pretty good if you stay on top of it. Granted front wheel drive cars are easier to drive in the winter, likewise rear wheel drive cars with rear engines get better starting traction... but the Z's love winter driving...I've had mine to all the major ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest ... back and forth across the Western Mountain Passages too many times to count... Personally, I enjoyed the challenge and excitement of driving in the Winter in the Pacific Northwest... Because of SALT on the roads, I hated it in Ohio... FWIW, Carl B.

Yes -if you plan to keep it for a long time - take it all apart, put in on a rotisserie and strip the undercarriage down. Metal patch any area that is rusted, reseal any seams that need it. Then prime, POR-15 it and paint body color. Actually, looking past the dirt and grime - it looks to be in fairly good condition. If your going to go to all that trouble - make sure you take everything off that isn't welded on. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Gus: Just to make us all sick - - just use some soap and water on the outside of the fuel tank - then without telling us - polish and wax it... then post another picture ;-) Rare to see a perfect tank ! Just washed and cleaned - it will be shinny black again... and smooth as a baby's but... The float looks new - amazingly good condition.. I knew I should have just bought that car myself - heck, all you have to do is wash the undercarriage... and it will look like new. You won't find an undercarriage like that on a Z for less than $18K.. The valve train looks great.. head clean as a pin - once clean hot oil goes through it for a few hundred miles... it will look like new. Just glass bead blast the valve cover.. Keep the pictures coming... FWIW, Carl B.

What would you consider "valuable" to be? I'd say that $25K for a ZX 10th AE is fairly Valuable today. The car was sold in Texas by an authorized dealer - so at least that one's value should be documented in the Sales Tax records... Shiro's don't bring much - but they do sell quicker and bring more than most like condition Z31 300ZX's. The 50th AE's in excellent conditon will sell for over $12K today, where like condition 84-88 Z31's will bring $2,500.00. I guess value and/or worth have to be relative terms rather than absolute.. FWIW, Carl B.

But very special to many Z enthusiasts. Take a 1980 280ZX with 25K original miles - on the market for close to a year. First asking price was $8,500.00... six months later it was $6,500.00. I tried to talk several people into picking it up as a daily driver - where are you going to find an all but new car for $6,500.00?; let alone one that is so much fun to own and drive? Finally the car sold to the buyer that showed up with $3,500.00 cash in hand. This car was in Florida, in the hands of the Original 72 year old Owner. Always garaged etc... This was last year. Now take a like condition 10th Anniversary Edition - Several in the past year have sold within days or weeks of being offered at $20K+ "It's just a ZX with an appearance group type option and a plaque".... No it's at least $16,500.00 more dollars and a faster selling car - - - But I think the real question being ask was - would Buyer A pay more for the #1 of 3000, than he would for the #2345 of 3000. In that case the #1 would sell quicker, and for a couple thousand more - all other things being equal. But location/proximity - attitude of the sellers - etc would also have a part to play. Having the #1 car of any model carries some talking points if not bragging rights - it's just a little more special and will usually sell for a little more money. FWIW, Carl B.

bad/mixed up connections, bad ignition switch or relay ??? ... you should have 12 volt with ignition switch ON and 12 volt with ignition switch START, as the Blaster uses 12V as I recall... BTW - many people are using the GM ignition module - far far less expensive than the NISSAN OEM part... and available at any Auto Parts Store.. Do you have a picture of the set-up/wiring? Carl B.

Hi Mike: Neat - I haven't seen that one. Can you post a larger picture of the spec.'s page...?? Carl

It is possible that the server is slow at that point in time. It is possible that your file size is too large, and your connection speed to the Internet is too slow. How are you connected to the Internet? cable modem, DSL, dial in ??? What is the image size of the picture your trying to upload? What computer are you useing? Carl B.

I do not recall ever seeing an intake manifold like that.... from the pictures it looks as if the carb's feed directly into the intake ports.... I can't see that as being good for a car driven on the street.... Also did not see any heat shielding between the carb.'s and exhaust header... I think I'd be looking for a long runner Cannon Intake.... Have the valve cover glass bead blasted.... it will look like new.. FWIW, Carl B.

When you Post a reply - to my reply - using the "Post Reply' buttom directly below the discussion (not the quick reply box). If you scroll done the browser window, below where you type in your text - you will see a hyper-link in the area "Additional Options". In that area you will see a box titled "Attach Files" and in that box a hyperlink that says "Manage Attachments". hit that hyper link... and it will allow you to select any image on your hard drive to upload.. note that there are size limits Use a .jpg image with a width of less than 1024 pixels.. and you should be fine.. try it.. Carl B.

Do you know why the engine is stuck? Take the spark plugs out ... pour a few ounces of ATF in the cylinders and let it soak for a while... then put the car in gear and try rocking to back and fourth to see if the engine will break loose... Or you can put the car out of gear - and put a socket and long breaker bar on the crank pulley - and try rocking that back and forth... Could be "stuck' just from the rings sticking to the cylinder walls due to corrosion built up from just sitting... If you can't free the engine - you should be able to find a running L6 in AZ somewhere.. the easiest and least expensive swap will be for another L6 (L24, L26, L28)... BTW - if it's a 73 Model Year - it is a 240Z. 260Z will have a VIN of RLS30 and a 240Z would have VIN of HLS30... check to see what is stamped in the firewall, vs what is on the dash... FWIW, Carl B.

They symptoms say "bad module" is the first place to look ... they usually go out when they overheat - letting the car sit and cool allowed it to start one last time... using the original set up - ice down the module and see if the car will at least start.... I don't like swapping in used parts that I don't know for sure are good.... did you have the second distributor running in another car recently (yes/no?) Did you say that you checked and you have power to the coil with the ignition key set to run? and did you check power at the coil when the ignition key is switched to 'Start"?... maybe your ignition switch is the problem... Just thinking... off the top of my head... FWIW, Carl B.

We're missing something here... If the ignition timing is as it should be - and if you have fuel going to the cylinders.. and you have a spark at anything close to the right time - it should be at least backfiring, farting or something indicating that your assumptions are correct about the first few things... Even with very low compression - it should be doing something... Back to the carb's. - - - did you pull the floats, check the bowls are full of fuel... are the chokes working and are you using them.... Refresh my memory - did you preform the "finger test" Nissanman #22 suggested - to assure that you have compression on the compression stroke on #1? If you haven't done that - do it first and let us know.. I know everything seems to line up - but I'd feel better if I knew for sure that what is lining up is the compression stroke... not just the top of the #1 piston lining up with the "0" mark on the crank pulley... Is the engine cranking over fast enough?... your battery isn't low is it? I just feel that we're missing something here... FWIW, Carl

L28ET... turbo is the only way to go today... Paint and body look great - but as mentioned it certainly needs attention under the hood.. Only you know what type of suspension work it will need... or not... but if you upgrade the hp you'll want to upgrade the brakes for sure. good luck, Carl B.

Hi Gus / Z-Speed: We had a pretty good discussion related to Awakening A Sleeping Beauty some time ago. I'd suggest reading the entire thread as several others offered additional tips and advice. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22619&highlight=Awakening For What It's Worth Carl B.

I wouldn't put it quite that way. Some people might think that means you can drive your Classic Car to work every other day, or twice a week etc. I believe that one has to take care with the words used, least they be misinterpreted, or the use of the vehicle is put in the wrong context. Your Classic Car, insured on a Classic Car Policy, may not be "driven to work" a couple times a week. Driving to/from work is considered "daily transportation" and daily transportation vehicles must be covered by regular line insurance coverage. No can your Classic Car be used to get to/from work when your regular transportation vehicle is out of service, in for repairs etc. If on the other hand, you are "taking" your Classic Car to your workplace - so that associates and co-workers can see it, or just to show it off for the day - - - that intent, with that specific use - is allowed on Classic Car Policies. I would respectfully disagree that is reasonable for Dad to borrow a Classic Car car for a week or so. Classic Cars are not "loaners", to be used in place of daily transportation, by anyone. On the other hand, if Dad took the car for a "pleasure drive"... kept it at his home for a few days to show it to friends etc.... that would be fine. You really want to avoid giving any underwriter, any impression that the Classic Car is ever being used for any purpose other than "pleasure". Speciality Lines of Automotive Insurance, are chartered by the States to fill gaps in coverage that may exist within the Full Line Automotive Insurance industry. They are not allowed to compete for the same business, which means the intended use of the car must be very narrowly defined...usually something like "for pleasure use only"... FWIW, Carl B.