Bambikiller240

I have been searching for Bilstein Strut Cartridges for my 1972 240Z for 4 years, and according to every distributor I've found and the Bilstein Website , they are no longer available. If you find a place that has them, left me know!

If you ever need info on tires and/or wheels, THIS SITE is the place to look. Click on the "Shopping Tools" link, then go to "Tech Center".

You'll have three choices to try to find a pair of these Nissan Dealer MAY be able to order them for you (cost will probably be high, if available) Junkyard or used parts reseller such as Z Barn or Danny's Datsuns, or Z Parts Someone with a Parts car that you can convince to part with them [/list=1] Z BARN LINK DANNY'S DATSUNS LINK Z PARTS LINK

RobertH: Take a look at the thread linked below. View the attachments. As you will see there is a difference in how the dist driveshaft alignment is shown in the FSM and other manuals; and what you should set it to get the engine running correctly with a full range of adjustment. This would explain the timing issue you now have. Distributor Driveshaft Alignment Thread Did you replace the Distributor cap and rotor as part of your tune up? Since you mentioned every other part, I assume that you did, but thought I'd ask. If so, I have no idea why it could be running on 5 cylinders. Oh, is the #1 spark plug (or any other) "wet" after you run the engine? In short, are you positive it is running on 5 cylinders? The timing could make it shake.

Close enough for government work!

Greetings Kats, welcome back. Do you have the Part Number for the clamp that is available? Thank you. Carl

I was thinking maybe he re-enlisted and was doing a walkabout in Pakistan hunting for Bin Ladin.

Rick's post is 2 months old. Wonder where he is?

This picture shows the FSM illustration and my engine (with red line for clarity)

Hey Matt: I'm not trying to bug you or anything, but which printing of the How to rebuild Datsun / Nissan OHC Engines do you have? Mine says copyright 1998 and lists printing 10 I've attached a photo of Page 137 of my book and as you'll see, the picture shows the same orientation as the FSM. I added a RED line to provide a clearer reference for the orientation. I'm going to do a Tech Article on this issue and if I can confirm a book with the correct photo, I want to be sure to point that out. All of my manuals show the wrong orientation. If you can post a photo of the page on your book and we can figure a way to tell what version of the book you have, compared to mine; I'd appreciate it. I don't want to confuse the issue in my Article.

Any Dusenberg's?

Ben: If you like this sort of thing, you really ought to get to the Monterey Historic Automobile Races held at Laguna Seca each year. You'll think you're in Heaven. This years featured marque is Ferrari. There will be many other marques in attendance, but you'll be drowning in Ferrari's

Didn't the seat sensors only come on 73 240Z's and later 260Z's? Also the seat bottoms do not have the "strap" supporting system like early 240Z seats. What is shown is the "no sag" spring supported seat bottoms. They may have come out of an 1969 240Z, but the Nissan factory didn't install them in that car.

Hi Stephen; Yeah, I had noticed it back in 1980 when I rebuilt my first (and only, up until this year) engine. It seemed like the description should have been 11:28 instead of 11:25, and the picture didn't match the way the shaft needed to be. In the years after 1980 that memory kinda faded and I wasn't totally sure I was remembering correctly, but when I went to adjust my recently rebuilt engine (shaft set to match the FSM picture) the darn thing wouldn't start unless I maxed out all of the adjustments and even then it ran like crap. That darn picture appears in so many places, and folks like me who don't do engine work very often depend on the FSM or other manuals to guide us properly. Do you guys think it's worth documenting this issue in Tech Articles?

Thanks for the confirmation, Matt. That is exactly what I expected. The picture on the left shows the dist driveshaft oriented according to the pictures shown in the FSM, Haynes manuals, and any other manuals I have looked at, and appears from my experience (and yours) to be incorrect. When I had the dist. driveshaft of my engine set that way the rotor did not point to the #1 lug on the distributor cap when everything is set at TDC. I couldn't even get my engine to start. The picture on the right shows the dist driveshaft as it appeared prior to disassembly of my engine, and how I had to reinstall it to get the rebuilt engine running. Interesting that this incorrect orientation picture could exist for over 30 years and not be corrected by either the Nissan company or any other publisher of automotive manuals. No wonder so many of us have had problems with installing everything "one tooth off" when assembling engines.

I'm thinking there is another anomaly to this auction. The seller cleaims it to be a 1977 280Z, yet the VIN stated is HLS30353727 . Is this possible? I thought HLS30 was only used for a 240Z. I also thought that if a 280Z came from the factory with a 5-speed trans, that the VIN would reflect that with an "F" shown after the S30 designation. Anyone know about VIN's for 280Z that can shed light on this, or correct my beliefs?

Matt: Do you recall the correct orientation of the dist driveshaft that got your car running? Take a look at the attached picture and let me know if either of the pictured orientations looks like what worked for you. Thanks! Carl

Sent my emails also. Thanks for the link Wayne. That made it so easy to let them know how I feel. Come on CA members, jump on this now, or your 280Z will NEVER be smog certification exempt!!!!!!!!!! If you don't stand up and shout, who will?

Sal Perno is the manager of the place. He's a great guy. A few years ago they (MSA) lost several of their long term employees and the replacements just aren't up to the standard of Sal and the "old crew".

The clips are there only because someone used screws instead of the rivits. Remove them before installing the rivits. DO NOT cut off the poles. After inserting the rivits, you PUSH IN the "poles" to lock the rivit in place. When you need to remove the rivits, you PUSH them in more (i.e. out the back of the rivit, Then you must retreave them after having removed the rivit. Re-insert them into the head or front of the rivit to reuse.

Which of the two cars listed in your profile are you refering to?

So, don't go with a clear coat. It would be unrealistic to expect a clear coated paint to match older (non clear coat) paint. Decisions, Decisions. Apples, and Oranges Your choice...........................

Z BARN Not in TX

The parts prices you stated are IMO quite normal. As for the paint, I might ask the Body shop guy about the computerized paint matching system that was mentioned by Zs-ondabrain. Or find another bodyshop who will at least make an effort to come close to a match. They should be able to get it close, but it is a fact of life that it will not exactly match a 30 year old paint job. And the insurance company isn't going to care about that. When I was in your situation, I just had the shop get as close as possible to the existing shade of paint and let it go at that. If my car was a completely restored car (instead of a well cared for one owner car as it was) when hit, I'd have looked at it much differently. Of course, I'd have been insured differently in that case.