Seppi72

I've never had a reason to try this myself, but from your narrative about the hot water loosening things, it sounds as though the assembly was put together with a thermoplastic adhesive - what would generally be called a hot-melt adhesive. There are dozens of hot-melt chemistries available these days, but one that might be good for reassembly and water-tightness would be the terpene-modified types. These are similar to the adhesives used to hold inserts onto magazine pages. They are very rubbery and water-resistant. The thing is that these materials usually aren't generally availale to the public because they need specialized equipment (computer-controlled and F-A-S-T) to be best used. You might try experimenting with some of the commercial hot-melts recommended for use with cloth and leather, but that tail light case is pretty big. A better option - although not thermolastic - might be to use a moisture-cured silicone sealant. They provide a long "open time" so you can get things applied, aligned, and clamped (if needed) before the adhesive cures.

I am interested in hearing answers to this question as that's what I was planning to do with my stroker when it's all together. Funny, it never occurred to me that it might not fit easily. There's just so much ROOM in an S30 engine bay. I look at my friends' Z32 and Z33 engine bays and just shudder.

I suspect that the entire hood just lifts off Greg's car - no need for the extra weight of the hinge mechanism - but it sure looks odd to see those hold downs near the leading edge as well as at the back.

The car uses Eibach progressive springs and Tokiko shocks. There are no bump steer spacers. From the bottom up it's transverse link, ball joint, steering knuckle and strut. The more I think about it, the more I like the bolt concept. I'm even thinking I'd install it pointing down so that if the nut worked loose, at least the bolt would stay in place and not fall out. Yeah, it might shake, but this time I'd know enough to stop RIGHT THERE. The "top side" of the strut is not flat, but since the bottom part is, it should be fairly easy to machine flat spots for the washers. Heck, they could be cut using a flat file and some elbow grease. John, you're the racer here. What's a good source for the bolts that I should use?

As those of you who subscribe to the listserver might know, I had a scary time last Saturday in my 240Z. The bolts holding the right front strut to the transverse link and steering knuckle backed out and the strut came free. Fortunately, this happened at low speed and I only destroyed the right fender and tore a brake line. However, the last third of the two bolt holes in the bottom of the strut assembly got stripped when the bolts pulled free. I thoiught about having 12 x 1.25 helicoils inserted, but a mechanic suggested another route that I'd like to run past you guys. He suggested that I drill out the threads entirely and go with a longer bolt and nut setup instead. He figures it would be a cheaper repair and I like the idea that I could use a grade 6-8 bolt and safety wire the nut so nothing like what happened will happen again. This is a modified 240Z, so I'm not worried about a concours look and I figure any future owner will see what I did and know why I did it. Comments are welcomed.

I'm just getting started tearing down an L28E engine to retrieve the F54 block as part of a future stroker motor. Unfortunately, as I was hoisting the engine to put it on a stand, I discovered that one of the tranny mounting holes was stripped. It's the hole located at one o'clock as you look at the engine from the backside. I don't remember the actual bolt size and pitch, but I should be able to figure that out from other blocks I have laying around. Does anyone know how I can fix this problem? I presume the best thing is to use a threaded insert like a Helicoil, but where is the best place to get one of those? And how hard is it for an infrequent mechanic to install? Any advice is appreciated.