Pennyman

He welded the gas lid, only used lead to smooth the area over. Lead is very soft by metal standards and would have hardly any strength to hold parts together. Epoxy would probably be stronger than lead, but getting it welded is the best thing to do.

I've been doing research on 280z coilover conversions, and I've come up short. HybridZ has helped, but there's been conflicting info given to me. Is there anyone here who's sectioned the struts on their 280z? I'm familiar with what (tokico) struts need to be used on a 240z for this project, but the 280z has different ID strut tubes, and different gland nuts! (If I'm wrong about this please correct me!) I've done so much research and come up with very little definite info. I'm getting tired of asking people because they're just going to get annoyed with me.:nervous: If anyone can help, please say so!

This is funny! Don't use marbles, they could hit the windshield and cause some damage. Hard candy might do the same. I remember riding in a school bus next to a guy with a pack of Necco Wafers and he'd toss them out the window and try to get them into the backs of passing pickups. Catch all greens without stopping! Like you can slow down to a crawl, but still inch forward. Only stop if you're going to break the law, or hit someone, hehe.

Several people on this site are running the heavey duty springs from Arizona Z car. I've heard good things about that set, I'm planning on getting a set myself. $200 bucks. http://arizonazcar.com/springs.html

I have the MSA set of swaybars, and I'm very happy with them. I needed to grind down the inner-rear bushings to get them to fit in the mounts, and had to unbolt the exhaust to get the rear one into place. Overall, it took a little muscle to get them, in, but they perform very well. Noticably less body roll too.

Early 240z's don't have the openings behind the quarter windows for the "Z" emblem, it's simply flat with 2 holes, for the early "240z" emblem. Larger frame rails and larger radiator supports were on 280z's as were mounts for a rear swaybar. The rear valence below the light panel has two oval openings for the bumpershocks on 280z's, which aren't there for 240z's. 240z's have a wedge-shaped indent on each side of the rear quarter, right behind the rear bumper. On 280z's this area is smooth. Sheet metal was thicker, but in terms of the shell, I'd say no more than 100lbs were added. Some of that weight was functional, stiffening the unibody of the car, like with the framerails. There's probably more too, just haven't noticed it yet...

There are so many K&N filters on their website, even just when looking for ones with a 3" outlet diameter. What part numbers do you guys use/recommend?

Eh, I just have bad luck. Maybe it was a small fragment of a meteorite that struck my door, haha!! It's not bad, I'll live with it until I have the time and money to have a couple panels redone. I'll just touch it up the best I can.

So I'm coming home from my girlfriend's house last night at 11:45, and I hit the last long straight before I get into town and I hear this *PANG* . I'm like WTF just happend? I slow down, hoping nothing is broken. Turns out some kid or something was shooting rocks or bb's at cars as they drove by, and he nailed my driver's side door. Small ding, chip in the paint. Why does this crap happen to me? I hardly even drive my car anymore, I get a ride from my girlfriend to school! I'm just really lucky he didn't shatter the window or worse yet, if my window was down, hit me in the face or the ear. I play trombone in a professional-level jazz band, so that would have been terrible. I swear, I hope that kid is out there tonight so I can stop and give him some hell.

Good job buddy! Looks like you took care of that problem quick! BTW, how do you like your springs and struts? What do you think of how low it sits? (AZ springs = not much lowering, but lots of stiffness). Keep it up!

Even if you avoid bondo like the plague, some sort of plastic glazing putty will most likely need to be used to sort out any small imperfections. Can't break out the lead and the torch once the primer is sprayed... I've seen some bad bondo jobs too, but it's all in the prep work my friend.

All I know is that the front valence on the 280z hangs lower than the valence on the 240z and 260z. This means that if you were to put the Spook on, it might be scraping the ground. You could try to aquire a 240z or 260z valence, and THEN mount the spook, but that might not be worth it (although, it would be unique!). I hope this helps a little...

^^ Your project really intrigues me. I'm a mechanical engineering major, and I don't yet have the knowledge to fabricate such a cool piece, but next year I will be taking circuits, and I'll know how you made them hehe. I like the way they look, the only thing left I think is some sort of lens which diffuses all the light into a more uniform pattern before being seen through the tail lens. Other than that.....what a fine looking tailight!

If it's the DVD I'm thinking of, it has a great history section, but I swear, they interviewed the WEIRDEST Z owners they could find! I swear, some of them were a little creepy...

Oh, and about the noise coming from the front right. I wonder if it could be the inner ball joint on the tie rod, where it connects to the rack. This might cause the *pop* when I turn left, and the noise might be the joint re-seating itself. What do you think? I probably shouldn't autoX it huh? hehe. The car steers perfectly besides this noise. I'll also check to make sure the swaybar link is tight. Edit- kinda suspicious of the outer tie rod end too, the ball joint spins pretty freely in the cup on the tie rod...

Well, I greased up everything, we'll see if it helps, but I just noticed something: My front suspension only has grease fittings on one side!!! What is going on? Am I going nuts? What's wrong with my car? The grease fittings which are on the bottom of the main ball joint and on the side of the steering arm cup are not there on the drivers side front! Has something been replaced before I got the car? Do these parts need to be greased? Should I post pictures? ...Help...

Yeah, I hear ya. I can feel it slightly through the steering wheel, and it DID start right after I put in the swaybars (could be coincidence?). I sprayed a little WD40 on the joints to see it it would change anything, but nope. It ONLY makes the noise when I turn left, nothing when I turn right, passenger or not. I was kinda suspicious of the bushing between the control arm and the strut housing.

Hey, so whenever I make a semi-sharp left hander (steering wheel is turned about 90 degrees or more), the suspension and/or steering rack on the passenger's side front makes a a nice loud pop, noticable enough for my friend to think something just fell off the car. I've examined the bushings on that side, and they're worn, but not destroyed. Also the steering rack boot is cut on that side, could these be clues? I also have the MSA swaybars, but I'm not sure if they could be contributing. The noise occurs as soon as the steering wheel reaches the greatest angle rotation of the steering wheel, meaning as soon as the maxumum weight (for a given turn) is transfered to the right side of the car, the noise happens, so I'm temped to think the sound is some sort of stress being released once the weight has shifted to that side and begins to ease. Hope this helps narrow it down.

Looks real good. I like the stance, I thought it would sit higher with the AZ springs, but I actually really like it. So when are you gonna ditch the louvers? I mean, I guess they could be hiding some valuable speakers or amps or something. Each to his own, hehe... Carbon fiber......... BTW, what size tires are you running?

You can try and find the rare Z31 R200 LSD (between $200 and $500), or you could buy a LSD unit for a 240sx and shim the ring gear bolts ($500-$900). The 300zx diff's wont fit, the ring gear is too large. Either way, you're looking at big $$. Luckily the LSD swap is pretty easy if you have the money for a 240sx diff (they're all over the place with drifting now). Your best bet would be to check out a wrecking yard and try and find another "open" R200. They shouldn't be very pricey, no more than 80 bucks I'd think... I'm surprised your R200 bit the bullet, they usually don't...

You want H-rated tires because you're going to be running 130mph, right? Just because the speed rating is higher, doesn't mean it's a better tire. I was running H-rated Hercules 195/70/14 and I'd say they...sucked. Wore away in a little over a year. Now I'm running T-rated Kumhos in the same size. I asked my friend the same question (He works at America's Tire CO.), and he said that even if it's built to withstand higher speed, it doesn't mean the treadwear or grip of the tire is any good, so he recommended the Kumhos. I recommend the best QUALITY tire. I doubt you'll be runing over 118mph (T-rating) very often.