LanceM

My wife must not hate my Z that much after all!! She gave me my Christmas present early because her folks got tired of it in their living room, a Craftsman 3 piece tool chest!!! I've been living out of a cheap 2 piece for 20 years along with about 3 tool boxes, now I have room for all of my tools and extra room that I'm going to have to fill!!! Can't have empty drawers in a tool chest, I might think something is missing And to think all it took was to see it in a Sunday paper ad and for me to say "wow now that is a hell of a deal, if I had that I'd be in heaven!" I'll have to remember that line for next year and use it for something really really really great Nothing like a good woman! I should say great woman, she's managed to put up with my crap for 20 years! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!!

After years of taking them down working and getting them out the next year not working I have come to a works everytime fix. When I take them down I throw them away and go the after Christmas sales and pick up new ones for pennys on the dollar. My time is worth a lot more than the cost of the new lights each year when I get them on sale.

All too often we hear the tales of deals gone sour, but I want to recommend someone here for a change. A week ago Darren (dhayes5) posted about switching out his Eibach springs for something more stock, a PM or two and some emails later we swapped his Eibachs for my Euros. We live states away, never talked on the phone and have never met. Well his springs arrived today as decribed, I was a day late in shipping but they are on the way to him. A good deal gone good! Thanks Darren, and my highest regards for him if anyone needs to deal with him in the future. It's a good feeling to know that with some people at least their word is their bond, an email handshake so to say!

My understanding on the Stage 1 Euros is that they are stiffer and lower the height 1". After I put the fronts on and put the car back on the ground I didn't see any differance and figure that the old originals probably had already sagged that much, so for me the ride height stayed the same even though it may be an inch lower than stock. Any idea what the spring rate is for the Eibachs is? or what stock is for that matter? The stage 1 euros are 101 Lbs each front and rear.

I have a set of NOS Nissan Euro stage 1 springs that I was going to put on my 240 ( OK the fronts are on, havn't gotten to the back yet...) but they haven't been driven on. I might be interested in trading the Eibach kit for them, PM me if you are interested.

For sure paint the floor, makes clean up easy. Put shelves just above head level, nothing like banging your head as you take a step back from the car! Good lighting is nice, lights mounted on the wall pointing at the car sides are a big improvement to just having ceiling lights. Since the Z hood raises forward a ceiling light above the engine compartment will really work compaired to cars that open from the front. Room is something else as mperdue shows, plan ahead and try to utlize the wall space as effectively as you can with cabinets or bins for holding common items. My "garage" is 30 x 36 with a 15' ceiling, so I'm lucky in that I have plenty of room. Now if it just wouldn't get so cold in the winter or hot in the summer I'd have it made Of course one thing to remember is once you turn it into a garage a lot of other items will end up there besides the car, so always try to avoid the "ah stick it in the garage" syndrome.... or there won't be room for the car!

Here's one that I have used to clean model airplane engines that works like you wouldn't believe. I haven't tried it on a carb yet but it should work the same being that they are all aluminum. Get an old crock pot, one that you will never ever use again for cooking food. Place the item in the pot and cover it with antifreeze, put the pot on low and let cook overnight. Pull the parts out and rinse with hot water and blow all of the passages clear and dry. Model engines that are almost black from burned on oil and carbon come out looking brand new inside and out. BTW, be sure to do this outside as needless to say hot antifreeze stinks. As far as carb dipping chemicals, the only ones that I have found that really work are the ones that are not enviromently safe, and have a long list of dangers and warnings, the longer the list the better they work, If you are in CA you probably won't be able to find any like that I have a gallon of dip that was given to me 30 years ago, best stuff ever, it has eaten through 2 metal cans over the years and is doing it's best to get through a plastic bottle now, cleans carbs like you never seen. The fellow that gave it to me said that he let a carb body soak overnight once and it ate away at the body so to only let them soak for an hour or so. Works so well there is no way it is available now not that I have any idea what the heck it is since the original can is gone!

You can put 81 fronts on using a 84 zx disk turned down 1/4" in diameter. You have to drill out the threads on the strut and the calipers mount on the oppisit side using washers to center the caliper over the disk. Rears require 82 calipers and disks and either a custom made bracket, or a maxima unit. I am doing both to my 240 currently and the only hard part is deciding wether to spend the money for new rear maxima brackets $100 US or make some up myself from 1/2" steel. I have a cad drawing of the rear bracket if you are interested.

You got it! Good decriptions of uses there.

Steve Steve, Blasting not blasted, but I agree with your statement

OK, me too, anybody got a bike they want to trade for a Z???

My experiance with sand on aluminum is that it gives it a frosted look, from what I've seen from items that I had glass beaded they just look clean not frosted. I for sure wouldn't use sand say on the combustion chambers of a head. The more I think about it I wouldn't use sand on aluminum unless I was going to paint it and really wanted something for the paint to grab on to.

Oh no I've been outbid and they've run wild! I think they have already gone way past what I can "afford" and besides I just got an email from the seller, he dosen't have the title, the first guy he sold it too does..... so is this sort of the same as if I sold my neighbors car, without him knowing I mean? And without a title most yards around me won't take what's left of a parts car so I guess I will probably have to pass on this "diamond"....

Yep a perfect dash could be worth a $1 I'm thinking R200 in 3:54 with all the fixings would be nice too for a $1, I could get rid of my 3:36 and not kill my gas mileage, not to mention the 5 speed if it has one, the more I think about it the more I see things worth $1, maybe this really could be a diamond in the rust, I mean ruff..... I just had a terrible thought, what if the underbody is really good, like no rust!!!! What if it is really brown/tan paint, just a really crappy job??? My wife would kill me if I started building a second car!!! She understands parts cars, something for nothing, you take out but don't put in, but a parts car that you throw money at!!!! I'll get thrown out!, but how could I part something like that out???? Oh surley it's would be just a dream, I could never get that lucky! OK I feel better, it has to be a rust bucket like it looks, no way could it ever be a driver.... Oh I hope I hope I hope I hope.....

Here would be your chance to see corn country, well most of it is down now, but deer season (gun) starts Saturday, that means you would probably get to see some deer running across the road Now don't be bidding me up too high! otherwise I'll have to let you win!

From my limited experiance: Sand - available in different grades, vary abrasive, siclica(?) sand is dangerous to use can cause lung problems, the others are probably not much better for you. Wear proper respertory protection. Sand can be reused but the sharp edges brake off making it less effective. Must be very dry or will clog, probably the cheapest media to use. Glass Bead - is more reuseable than sand as more sharp edges are formed with use but it becomes finer with each use (breaks up), less abrasive, often used for cleaning parts, less for rust removal, dangerous see above. Aluminium Oxide - no experiance but I would belive it to be as agressive as sand and more reuseable but also more expencive. Walnut shell - More of a polishing/cleaning media, non agressive, must be sifted before use for uniform size to prevent clogging. Typically used on non ferric metals.

Don't worry I'll send you more pics when I get her home The feedback is great, hope he don't take my dollar and run! But since I'm picking it up I won't have to wait months for him to ship it

Sorry Disposition that baby is gonna be mine!!! I am the current high bidder!!! Just you try and take it away from me CaptnKrunch, You and I will have to talk, if I win this goldmine maybe I can get my dollar back and you can get your parts!!!

Hey I'd like more pics! I emailed the seller but he hasn't answered, big suprise looking at his feedback. What I'd really like to know is if there is any of that bumpy flaky brown paint on the hatch..... If there isn't that would sure make it worth $1 for me...

Hey now don't all you guys in those sunshine states laugh, that is the first Z I've seen that is actually close enough for me to drive to and get!!! I might actually bid on it, well for $1 what the heck, surley there is something there worth $1 and a 2 hour drive??? Wouldn't ya think?? Wouldn't it be a laugh if I won it for $1 and it really was a diamond in the ruff!!!! I'd $hit myself!!!!

To all, You really should run all electrial items so that they go through the ampmeter, this is your indicator for your charging system and really the indicator for your whole system. If you add enough items before the ampmeter it may be showing no charge, but your battery may be needing more than is available to charge, just that the output of the alternator is being used up before it gets there. By running everything through the meter you know that you are not exceeding the limits of the alternator, which is really what it is there for, if you are driving and have the stereo blasting, lights on and flip on the driving lights and the amp gauge drops below center you are now sucking power from the battery, you have exceeded the power available from the alternator and you need to turn something off or get a bigger alternator, otherwise enough of this type of driving will leave you with a flat battery.

Daniel, I reread your post and need to claify a point you made. AHHHHHHH I never did a quote before!!! anyway you said and I quote "In the electrical code you are allowed and is common what is called a "reduced neutral".If I run say 3 #10's (30a each) I can use one #10 as a return.Thats why if your house has a 200amp meter you have two 2/0 hots and one 1/0 return or neutral as it is called." The reduced neutral in this case carries no current in normal operation and is there for safety reasons only. Before sometime in the 70's or earlier there was no reduced neutral. This third wire is typically attached to the metal chassie of a device, say a washer so that if a hot wire were to come loose and touch the metal chassie the chassie would not go to 110V it would instead blow the breaker. In AC all of the load is carried between the hi and low lines, the black and white wires, nothing through the green, you could remove the green and it would still work, such as a simple electric light which only has 2 prongs on the plug. I agree that theory and reality stray at times but in my 30 years working in the electronics industry I find that they tend to follow each other pretty closely. Daddy what do you do at work? Been designing and building things that kill people for almost 30 years, what a thing to have to tell your kids Luckily I'm in the radio group now, the joke there is how many can you kill with a radio? One if you hit him with it, hundreds if you call in an airstrike.....

Daniel, Ok, I checked My wiring diagram shows 12V + being switched for the brake lites, and I took a test light and checked, 12V at the switch all the time, press the brake pedal and 12V on the other side of the switch. I was pretty sure before I checked as the trailer brake controller I put in my truck needs 12V from the brake switch to turn on. I could see switching the low side if you use a common buss for power, but in either case the same amount of wire, really more if you switch the low side, is going to be used. It would make the most sence (less wire) to switch the high side using the chassie as ground where ever it is available, which is pretty much everywhere. Oh well don't really matter, too many years working aircraft wiring I guess.

Not meaning to diverge from the "classic" part of this forum but once you start pushing in that direction I would think more about a V8 swap. This is coming from "if I knew then what I know now" type of situation. Building a L series motor that high gets expencive quick, you could drop in a stock V8 for the same money or less and easily have 250+HP with room to grow. Remember once you start pushing those kind of numbers out of a 6 streetability starts going away, the power is in the top end. Light to light you just start getting into the powerband unless you are going to run a real low rearend. I'm probably pushing $3K+ in my engine with parts and all and could have had 400+HP for the same money if I would have put in a SBC V8.... if I only knew then what I know now....

Well Daniel I'd have to disagree on several points and I will explain, not bashing just my opinion. 1. The approved method of power switching is always switch the hot or + side. Otherwise there is always power at the socket, with higher voltages this could be dangerous because with the switch off you would believe the socket to be dead or unhooked, when if you switch the low or - side the socket would be hot looking for a ground, which you could supply with your body. Often times too auto lights in particular often use the chassie as ground so it would be difficault if not impossible to switch the low side. It is also best to switch the hot side as close as possible to the power source, this way as much of the circut as is possible is unpowered when it is switched off. 2. Where the relay is in the circut + or - will not extend the life of the contacts, ohm's law states I=I/R, this is the same in any point of a circut, so whether you switch before or after a load the contacts will see the same amount of current surge at closure. The best way to extend relay life in a high current (anything over say 2-3 amps) is to buy a relay with contacts over rated by 2-300 %, once you get to around 10 amps the best way to go is with a continuous duty solinoid, much like what is used on a starter. They can handle several hundred amps of surge current and pass 40 - 60 amps all day everyday for almost forever and are rather inexpencive usually around $10. 3. Brake lights switch to ground.... I think you will find that the brake pedal switch switches 12V, all of the rear tail lamps use a common black wire ground. One thing that I really agree with is fuseing the positive side. Always fuse as close as possible to the power source and remember the fuse is there to protect the wiring, not the device. Don't over fuse, 10A fuse on 18 gauge wire will make for a smoked wire, so for heavy current devices run the heaviest wire you can for the device you are going to run and fuse the circut to protect the wire if the device should fail.