v12horse

Thanks for the photos Mikey. All I can say is, only in Japan . Those S20's look interesting with the blue and turquoise head covers. I would love to hear a S20 someday. Take care and thanks for posting the pics, Ben P.s. OT. How is your Ken and Mary coming along?

I just read the thread about the pace cars and umm...flaming. There are three types of people in this club: 1. People that know a lot about the subject and are willing to learn more. Not Z Guru's either. 2. People that know some or little information about the subject that want to learn more. 3. People that don't care about the history. That is fine and dandy, but I think we are butting heads here. Sorry for pointing out the obvious, but I must say that to support my argument. There are constructive arguments, but on the pace car/flame thread members are just bashing eachother. I don't like it one bit. I cann't say that I am completely innocent because a while back I said something to Carl B. that I regret, but I let emotions take over my head. That does not justify it. Anyways, I am taking a psychology course and if I remember anything from that course it is "speak without offending and listen without deffending". I think we should all try this more often. I know that we are not horrible and these flame threads are rare, but it saddens me when GREAT, knowledgeble, and helpful people like Carl, Enrique, Ron, Alan, and others say some of the things that they said to eachother. I don't know what I am trying to prove here. I try to be diplomatic and it seems that I am ignored, but I really feel bad for saying anthing bad to anyone on this site. Furthermore, there seems to be SOME people that are close-minded towards certain opinions on this forum and I feel that as a club of friends(?)/enthusiasts we need to start hearing people out more often instead of making total assumptions about others. That talk on the other thread is grounds for someone possibly leaving this forum. I would hate to see something like that. This is not directed to a particular member, this is to the whole. That goes to our moderator(s) too. Now I sound bossy, but that is not my intention. It is a mere suggestion. I am sure I will get ignored and ridiculed for my passiveness. I am still an amateur with Z's and this forum so what do I know? I know that we really need to start listening to eachother more by saying something like, "What exactly do you mean *name* by your comment? Is what I posted really that off topic?" I assume this is going to be thought of as impossible and too diplomatic. We are educated people here, lets act like it and learn as much as we can. I am off on a tangent now. Just to clarify, all of this information goes for myself as well. With sincere regards, Ben

I know that the auction is for four wheels and tires, but two of the wheels are Watanabe's (rears) and the front two are Black racing wheels. I do not know a lot about Black Racing wheels. They look like they make nice reproductions of Watanabe's, but they are not the same. I agree what you said about the offset as these look too positive for a Zed. These would work nice for a s13. I like 14 by 6.5 type B's for AE86's. -Ben

That is a really high price for only 2 Watanabe's. They look nice, but I would want all 4 to be Watanabe's for that price.

George, to remove the paint I used an aeresol chemical stripper. For the taping I used 14-day 1/2" blue 3M tape. It has no curvature qualities. I used a duplicolor high-performance wheel coating (HWC102) paint and the clear coat is rust-oleum matte clear (1902). I am still working on a full write-up. -Ben:)

Congratulation's Rick. It looks like you found a nice Z. That 77' looks really clean. -Ben:)

That is one drawback with smaller wheels, no big brakes. Take care and good luck with that. What kind of brakes are you planning to install? One of the popular things here in the states is Porsche brakes. I assume that they are excellent brakes, but I have seen three Z's with the calipers that still say "Porsche" on them. I think it is a little odd. I have a friend that has 16" wheels with BNR32 brakes on his Z. I am a little old school and would prefer the MK63 brakes if I had a choice, but with my around town driving, the stock ones do just fine. Ben:)

I prefer 14-15" diameter wheels with a more negative offset. I think I can speak for Lachlan on this as we prefer big dish over big diameter. Plus, it is more period correct and very aggressive. This is just my opinion so please take no offense to it. Do you have 17"s on your Z? -Ben

Sorry Vicky, the slots are sold. I have the Watanabe's which will eventually go on the car. You know you have a Z when you have 3 sets of wheels for your car... I also have a nice set of 77-78 280z hubcaps. I think I am going fix them a bit and sell them. I will make a thread on the whole process in the near future. The taping was a little wiggly like 240zx mentioned. I was upset about it at first, but I was not about to start over and you really have to get close the hubcaps to tell. Some are better than others. I just hope the paint is durable. I am confident that it is as I restored my grill with the same paints and it has held up quite nice. Thank you all for the compliments. -Ben

I bought a set of restorable hubcaps off ebay not too long ago for a very reasonable price (35USD). I put about 40USD and a lot of time into them. I am very happy with the results, but they are not perfect. I have to thank Ed (DatsunZguy) for helping me with this project. His knowledge and inspiration is what started it all. I also wanted to thank Stephen for sending me the OEM lugnuts, and Wilber (guycali) for the steel wheels. I know this is not an awards show, but I just wanted to say thanks to these individuals. If anyone is interested in restoring their hubcaps, I would be glad to give advice. Like I said, they are not perfect even though in the photo they may look near perfect. -Ben p.s. I want to put the Watanabe's on, but money does not permit for now. I love both looks. Now I need 175HR75 tires.

Yes, happy Easter. I like those comics Carl.

Here is a nice pair of Advan A3A's on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4537293636&category=6755 -Ben

Wasn't Fujitsubo the company that made the original exhaust systems for the z432? C10? I could be totally wrong here, but I thought that is what I read one time. I love the car and the exhaust Jim. -Ben

I have seen 8j wide slots on ebay before, and they had a Z bolt pattern. You just have to keep your eyes peeled on ebay because I am sure they will pop up eventually.

There is going to have to be some serious stretching for those bad boys. 245 by 50. I know some crazy Japanese enthusiast would do it.

Thank you so much Kats for the long post. It was very interesting. I am speechless. -Ben

Thanks for the photos. It looks like you all had a bunch of fun and the cars look great. Your car looks like it was shipped here from Japan after being in the hands of a Japanese road racer. I am liking it . -Ben

I drive mine all year round. It goes in the rain, but I still pamper it. I have been seeing a few old Z's out too. I saw a really clean orange 240z on Friday. Too bad I wasn't in my Z. I tend to see them when I am in a different car. -Ben

I thought everyone might like this. It is perfect, except that it has an automatic gear box. -Ben http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=4535064650&rd=1