symon

Hi Sean, Please send me your postal address so that I can send you my mother in law !

What you could do is modify your handbrake to be a "fly off" handbrake. This is uses mainly on rally cars so that you can apply the handbrake to help the car round on a tight corner. What you do is change / modify the teeth so that you have to push the "release" button to make the handbrake stay on . The thief when he tries to drive off would pull up the handbrake also pushing the "release button" but would be unable to release the handbrake. To let off the handbrake you just have to pull up the handbrake without pushing the "release button" to let off the handbrake. If you would like to see how it works in practice have a quick look at an MGA ! I´ll have a look at my handbrake to see if it is possible.

If your mother in law isn´t ´orrible enough I can always lend mine !

If you´re serious about it you could leave a big vicious dog in the car & if that doesn´t work you can always leave your mother in law in the passenger seat !

Hi Sean, Driving a Z with a pair of molegrips would be a fairly heavy experience, but some twits will do anything ! I´ve seen a steering wheel immobilizer here in Spain. It is a device which fits to the steeing making it impossible to turn the wheel. They are painted in flourescent yellow so deter the amateur car thief. I still like the idea of an alarm which starts once the thief has open up the car. It should have a really loud siren, enough to damage the b******ds ear drums ROFL

Hi Sean, You could route the wire to the ignition coil through an additional switch, may be marked fog lamps or hazards. So the car wouldn´t start. You could also fit a removable steering wheel boss & hide the steering wheel under your pillow !

What an idiot with the Camaro ! When I want to go fast I go to a race circuit. I prove to myself how good or bad I am as a driver ! I agree with Mr Volvo, that driving through a city can be a dangerous experience. It appears that most people, especially the motorbike drivers, practice with a Playstation before leaving home :stupid: . When I go to Barcelona city I normally go in my Hilux 4x4 ( with raised suspension, battle scars from off roading, etc ) & most people give me a wide berth because they they will come off worse .

A couple of points that I would like to make. Here in Spain on the Motorways the speed limit is set at 120 kph. The police oficially let you drive at 150 kph without fines, etc. They will take your license of you for a month at 180 kph. Most cars drive at 150 / 160 kph. The accidents I´ve seen here on the motorways have had nothing to do with excess speed just bad driving. Please don´t use rear view mirrors or indicators. They judge distances badly. Some just drive too aggresively. May it would be a good idea to have varying classes of car driving licenses like we have here for motor bikes. Firstly at 14 after a theory test you can drive a 50cc. Then at 17 after a proper test you can have a 125 , after 2 years experience you can get a 250 or a bike restricted to 34 bhp. After another 2 years you can drive any bike. Maybe a driving license restricted to cars with say 60 bhp for the first 2 years then up to say 100, then more complete with driving tests no just to do stupid things like a hill start but important aspects like defensive driving, increased road awareness. I also think that for peformance cars drivers should have track experience so that they really know what´s going on.

That´s a real engine. Just a thought, as part of your work experience program are you going to develop an instalation kit for 260Z´s :stupid:

That´s wonderful. I always knew that about shot peening, but didn´t know about the technical facts. Many thanks for improving my knowledge.

Yeh 2005. I was planning to do an off road trip in my Hilux, well OZ is the place to do it. devious: I also wanted to see Mark Skaife & the boys racing at Mount Panorama. :cross-eye I´d thought about having a general drive around to see it all. :cheeky: I suppose that I´ll have to go shopping with my wife. & most importantly I´d like to go and join in on at least 1 Z meet & share a few cold beers with the boys ! :eek: After I think the adventure will really start as I was going to send the car to some where like India & drive back home. I´m planning to semi retire the end of 2004 so I´ll have time to do a once in a lifetime trip. Closer to the date when I know when & where I´m going to be I´ll post a thread inviting everyone to the party. :

It´s nice to see that he´s enjoying the same hospitality that he gave to his guests !

I´m putting a modern radio cd unit in my car. Will these knobs suit your radio ?

Thanks for confirming about the cold beer. It will make my stay a lot more comfortable !

Hi Rick, If your not coming over to spend a week end with us I´ll have to look you up. I´m planning to come over to OZ in 2005. I´m going to send over my Hilux & drive around for a couple of months. I suppose you know where we can get cold beers close to where you live ?

Hi Rick, There aren´t many Zers around here so we have to keep in touch by forums like this !! We not plotting any international crisis or anything simliar, just wanting to get together to enjoy our Z´s. I think it ´s wonderful that guys from all over the world can chat & help each other out in this club. :classic: Just for the record, oficially I´m British but have been living in Spain for a total of 13 years & I reckon that Sean is British as well & he has lived all over Europe. You are welcome to come with us for a good road bashing session. Getting a Z for you to drive could be a bit more difficult !

Hi Rob, Welcome to the club. I´m fairly new the Z´s & I can assure that the guy in the club are a friendly & helpful bunch. I think all european spec Z´s had the breather from the valve cover plummed into the air filter box. It´s that way on my 76 260Z & on the set of 240Z SU type carbs I´ve just bought. I believe that the Euro spec Z´s had this bolt on after thought type indicator units to comply with the European traffic regulations. It appears that the USA type lamps were too low. Your car is certainly a good looker. Hopw you enjoy your Z as much as I´m enjoying mine.

Dear Sean, I hope my brakes are up to it as well !!!!!! Don´t worry too much about my mates with the Porsches as most of them are s**t scared of the back end coming round on them in the twisty bits . You just say when your coming I´ll arrange everything else.

Hi Sean, When you get your freshly restored Z I´ll invite you over here for a weekends road bashing. Over here the smaller roads aren´t policed like the main roads so that means that you can enjoy yourself. I´m looking forward to it ...............

Thanks to my dad as well. When I was 9 or 10 years old he took me to see the RAC rally in England. After seeing a lot of boring cars being well driven I was impressived by the flat out & sideways approach of the 240Z. A real sports car being driven by brave drivers. At 12 years old why father showed me how to drive in my moms car. At 13 he gave me a half share in a Ford A, as long as I did more than half of the work. I got to all the dirty jobs ! But my father showed me the insides of gearboxes, engines & stuff. Also how to make custom wiring looms, hand paint chassis to concours standard, etc, etc. At 14 he let me loose at Mallory Park ( our local road circuit ) in his 2,2s 911. & when I didn´t bash it we went there 2 or 3 times a month. Even arranged for a mate of his called John Morrison, who raced in British Supertouring cars & had taken part at the Le Mans 24 hrs, to show me the finer points of driver control. My dad didn´t even get mad when I started to set faster times than him. At 15 he let me drive his 6 1/2 litre Bentley on the road on a trip to France & I took the driving seat when the police escorted round the full Le Mans Circuit. When other Bentleys overtook the Police escorts he let me take part in the fun. He didn´t even say anything seeing his Bentley pulling 120 MPH down the Mulsanne straight ! At 17 he bought we a Citroen 2CV van as my first car, I suppose that he didn´t want me to become another accident statistic. He helped me out when I started racing Formula Fords, later on helped with my Ford Escort rally car. He even pulled a few favours & introduced me to Keith Duckworth ( half of Cosworth ) so that I could get a couple of BDG rally engines cheap. After my rallying days we started buying old race cars that didn´t work right, we fixed them together, raced them successfully & then sold them at a profit so as to pay for the next project. Now everything has changed & he ´phones me for advise on things. Yesterday he ´phoned me saying that he had followed my advise & bought a new 350Z ! Strangely in exactly the same colour combination as my 260Z made 28 years earlier. & he´s coming to see me in it next month driving some 2450 mile round trip. Not bad for a 77 year old dad. Thanks Dad for everything.

You could also try ducting cold air onto the exhaust manifold to help keep it cool. I think it is better than wrapping the manifold as if there is excess heat it can warp them. Hope this helps

Hi Guys, I´ve just moved into a new house which has the garage in the basement. I can´t help you on sizing but I will give you a few comments : - I had the floor tiled so that it is completly flat & is easy to hose out or mop up. I have a pit which beats laying on your back for hours. The workshop is separate so that the cars stay clean when I´m producing dust & grime ! I made the workshop benches our of kitchen units, so I got cheap storage with lots of drawers. On top I fitted a thick plywood sheet with a stainless steel cover, so I can keep it nice & clean. I´ve a stereo in the garage & the workshop. Most importantly I´ve a full bathroom with washbasin, toilet & a shower so when I get dirty I can clean up before I annoy my wife ! I´ll try to take a few photos & post them tomorrow.

If you want to see bad driving just come to Spain. The young lads here at 18 are buying small GTIs that go like a rocket. They show off to their mates after a night of bars & "fiesta" by racing around the town centres, etc, etc. The sunday drivers clog up the roads at 50 kph, the women drivers park using their bumpers, the list goes on & on. I´ve got no problem about speeding if it is done in a sensible controlled manner by drivers who know how to control their car, but I suppose that the governments have to put speed limits based on the average nerd´s driving ability, the average plonker´s road awareness & the average pot brains motor car. I´ve been driving all over Europe for the last 23 years & so far only picked up one ticket for 42 mph in a 30 area about 2 miles from my parents home:stupid: . But using a bit of common sense I´ve done average spped trips of well over 90 mph on main roads without getting a ticket & I would like to think that I did not create any accidents, cut up anybody, etc. When I really want to enjoy myself I go to one of the local race tracks. That´s the best place to go fast.

Any idea how I can find out the exact specification of my 260Z when it was new, stuff like extras, colors, trim details, where it was supplied. Other manufacturers have a "heritage" department that can help out. Does Nissan have such a thing ?

Yeh I had heard about some of the Eibach springs not fitting correctly. I was thinking about buying the spring as a conversion kit supplied by Leda Suspension of England www.leda.com So my quiery was more about how good they are, not really about fitting them as Leda will do that for me.