hls30.com

Yes! A couple more weeks to make them just right(they are very close already), and I will post them as available. Will

I can appreciate your opinion, and that of your friend, I just don't happen to share either. I do not really adopt the "any jackass can go down to the dealer and sign up for a payment book and buy "300hp" justification-how many of those byo 300hp jackasses didn't run to the grocery store or a resturant and pay for the food they ate last month-much less yesterday. I am more on the "I haven't seen a car that is as beautiful. I want to keep her forever, and give her the things I want her to have." rationalization. I bought a Volvo S80 and a Dodge 1500 Quadcab as the jackass that could run down and sign for a luxury livingroom on wheels and a deluxe living room on wheels that could tow the house. This jackass bought those two for a purpose, the 240Z was bought and upgraded purely for enjoyment. I was going to modify a '73 240Z that I was driving daily, but your argument(why do that to such a nice car-comming from a good friend who wanted my '73)-made me choose to use a car that had been off the street for years, and spiralling into the too far gone zone. Still to many good examples to restore to start with one needing so much(noisy head, no brakes, worn out suspension, frozen clutch disk, rusted out exhaust, worn out uphostery, did I mention rust). Rather than strip several cars to put the '72 back, and still not have a numbers matching car, I decided to make her better than new interms of performance and comfort, but keep the beauty she was born with. When I bought my first Z there were cars that were better performance for about the same price, they just weren't good looking. My wife walked in and saw my 240Z on the rotisserie and said, I never knew a car was just a big metal box. I said a persons body is just a box of human guts. It is how we feel about both that makes them different. To me, every other car is just a big metal box with wheels, but a 240Z is the Young Ann Margarett or Reese Whitherspoon of wheeled metal boxes and the 350Z is a young Phyllis Dyller-fast tight and UGLY! Will

New update! I had to shrink the images to post them here, and that made the text difficult to read. Sent message: Hi, Attatched, please find 3 high resolution photos with afew measurements and notes of and about the taillights I wrote to you about yesterday. I can send a sample of the taillights is necessary. Thank you, William Stokes Ps, I sent it to both addresses for you because hotmail may not allow files this large.

Change is not a bad thing, but a relationship is built on commanalities, and Just because your last name may be Stokes, it does not mean we are related-the same thing holds through with the 240Z and the 350Z. Will

I really don't think of the 350Z as retro, the new Ford Mustang is retro-directly traceable through its lineage. I have to agree with Carl, and quote another member, it is a frog, a very nice, fast, comfortable, great handling frog with huge shoes, but a frog just the same. I believe My 240Z will end up costing about 12 to 15K-including the car, it should be capable of greater accelleration than a stock 350Z(2400lbs/400hp vs 3225lbs/300hp), similar brakeing(swept area/weight ratios will be close), similar in handling-for stoplight to stoplight racing, and similar comfort-power windows, cup holders, good sterio and the lot. If a 300hp 350Z is $30K or so, to bring its lb/hp ratio up to the target for my car, would mean it has to find another 254 hp and add only a hundered lbs. What would you think, another $12-15k? Lets see, 30K for the car + 12K(I split the difference)=42K, and I believe I will get close for less than $15K and thoroughly enjoy the trip-Hmmm... Granted, I have done only quick google searches to come up with 350Z upgrade cost, and have researched the crap out of 240Z upgrades, but SportZ is doing yet another article on upgrading the 350Z, and maybe one of you guys that has one has looked into the upgrade costs. That said, I could be wrong on all of this, but I am putting the $12K, time and energy up or to up to find out, so before you flame, make(or document) a similar investment to prove your point! I will outline what I am doing, keep the reciepts, and document the results. Will

I have done business with them for several years-a real Tony the tiger business-They're Great! Good products with excellent support-what is not to love! Will

Jason, That is another project I am working on-but I am only updating the major components-not the controls. I want it all to look like it has never been messed with, but to work like the AC in a new luxury car-I want ac so cold the ambient humidity condenses on the outside of the car when the A/C is on! Will

Carl, UdaMan! I will look from now on, now that I know what to look for-thanks! Will

Here is my Email to them, followed by their reply. > > Hi, and thanks for your service. > I have a question about taillight reproduction. > The taillight lenses on a Datsun 240Z are actually a single lense with a clear portion, a red portion, and an embedded(glued in) reflector, all glued into a plastic housing with chrome plated reflectors. I can supply photographs if you need them. > My understanding is that you make only the lenses. How faithful would your reproduction be in terms of color, and parts(imbedded reflector). > Thank you, > William Stokes > on behalf of www.classiczcars.com The reply: Hi there, I do infact only make the lens. If you could send some detailed pictures i could answer your questions better. We can duplicate those deflectors no problem. I cant garanty any kind of color match as its near impossible to do. I can garanty that the lenses i produce will match each other but i cant match stock lenses. > From: "WILL STOKES" <> > Reply-To: <> > To: <info@klearz.com> > Subject: Tail lights > Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 12:35:05 -0800 Tomorrow morning, I will take some pictures and post the email I attatche them to here, when the reply comes, I will post it as well. Will

Carl, can you tell I don't look past the title? OOps! Will

Ah! correctly colored lenses, The same molds could make the clear variety as well. I'd spring for 2 sets but only with the correct coloring-the price is coming down... I just emailed them asking for details of hw they would deal with the lens having a clear section and red(I don't see aproblem), and a glued in reflector(maybe a red flag), I offered to take pictures if needed, I did forget to address the chrome piece in the middle, but only because I am almost through with a solution for it! Will

No you aren't, you typed... I couldn't add the smiles for what ever reason. I was poking fun, sort of... But then the molds could be used for factory reproduction as well as clear. Will

It is a pressure fit. No welds unless the PO got stupid with a torch. Get a pair of gloves, start at either end and pull while carefully rolling upward over the car(if memory serves), after you have the end free, tape a rag on it just incase it gets away from you, it will save your paint. Occasionally I have tpaed the jaws of a pair of pliers and carefully used them for persuasion. Will

Look folward to the reading-ok, looking at the pictures! Will

Tomohawk, that is the very thing I ment when I said: "PS. at the end of the poll I will provide the statical analysis available with what has been collected so we can see what is tells us(other than the posted percentages)." WIll

A couple of servings of Uncle Bens should cure you! Clear taillights on a Z-Maybe you should get a Honda... The side markers are available already-always on ebay. It is your Z, make it what you want it to be, but don't exzpect us to have the same version of perfection. Will

All major manufacturers (and most small ones too) would rather use already available parts than develop brand new ones for small parts. Several examples are found in The 1960s Ferrari 250GTO, tail lights, tag lights, inner door handles, dash vents, and seats (among other parts) came from a Fiat 850-granted out of the 39ish cars that were made, there is variation in parts used. That wasn't the point. The 240Z uses a few small parts from Datsun cars that perceeded it, but the parts specific to a 240Z include most of the interior plastic, the glass, all of the body sheet metal, the engine, and most of the suspension. On the 350Z about the only thing that isn't shared is some of the plastic. I am not saying that it is a bad car. I am not saying it isn't a great car, only that is a different trim level of another car-a o-posative relative of sorts. The 240Z is an S30, not a rebodied anything. It was designed to be what it is, and not an assembledge of major assemblies of other existing cars. All of that may sound like bashing, it isn't, I like the car, My next door neighbor has one-my Z is on a rotisserie, and he gets to comfortably enjoy his every day, there is a lot to be said for that! The 350Z is a nice car, that just so happens to made predominantly from parts designed for other cars. That is not good or bad, it is just the way it is. The six cyl. L series engine was not designed by Nissan to provide more horse power than it would ultimately be set up for in a Z, it just so happens that it can. The rating for the installed VQ35 series engine is no higher than 300HP, but the fact of the matter is the VQ35 engine was DESIGNED by Nissan to produce WELL above that, and detuned when put in a car. Datsun did the same thing for the Mazima and the 200SX when they got the L series 6 cyl that was designed for the Z. The VQ35 engine was designed for more form the start, that is Nissan published fact-look at the development articles that support that engine, the first engines assembled proved that. Will

They are # 16,17, but a frame rail is a repair! -what you mean they aren't showing on your -puter, Loop them into ground effects(cosmetic). Will

I don't think stripping the features from a 350 is the root of the problem. I don't drive my 240Z hard enough often enough for the radio, a cup holder(I use the ashtray), or a few other "necessities" to distract me from the road and those I have to share it with. I think the 240Z was designed to be a drivers car, and the 350Z was designed as a marketers car. Both make great use of the technology available at their time, but the 240Z was not made specifically to be modified, the 350Z was-the engine has tons of un-tapped potential engineered into it, the S30 engine had a little potential left over. The 240Z raided the parts bin of other cars for hidden mechanical items-and a few trim items, the 350Z raidied the parts bins for quite a bit more. (Weight the shared shared parts that came from other cars-not the Parts that went to other cars, and make them a percentage of the curb weight.) I think both cars hit their target market-else why would this thread be here, but Those of us who love the S30 aren't part of the 350Z target market, and no ammount of bellyaching about the car will change anything. Those who love the 350Z will never read our words-except while on the throne reading SportZ, and depositing their responses appropriately. Those who love both are the real winners here, they have a drivers car, and a marketers car, the best of both worlds. "This is my rifle this is my gun, one is for fighting, one is for fun." Each of us has to figure out which is which. WIll

Thanks Jason, that's what I'm talkin' bout! Will

Enrique, The only thing stopping you from voting that way, is you! I had similar thoughts, and that is why I didn't vote immediately. I am glad the method to my madness is becoming clear. I am using the same train of thought about upgrading with later model Datsun parts, still an upgrade, and not a repair, but more difficult to discern. Mike, I am not critical at all, I understand what the statistics are showing, I didn't when I posted the poll, but now that I do, the next one will fit the formulas! The only part that I wish for was the interconnection of the categories-how many people who upgraded their wheels also added ground effects-and the like. I appreciate the opportunity to have a poll with growing pains! Will PS. at the end of the poll I will provide the statical analysis available with what has been collected so we can see what is tells us(other than the posted percentages).

Yes, but the substructure is not set up to handle the math involved in that series of options...The proof of what I just said is in the percentages! Just like our cars, just because that is the way it is, does not mean that is the way I want it. Now, tell us about your car... Will

Ok Bill, Now we understand your version of restoring a car! :laugh: Good story though! Will

If I institute the Tomohawk rule, one chance to vote one time for one thing, the statistics will represent what they are intended to. That wasn't the point of the poll, the point is the feedback from the questions, not the analysis thereof. Forget the math, enjoy the cars, and talking about them! Will

Bill, I can't pay you to change your own diapers ! Will