sakijo

Lachlan, They are called "deco-cab truck" - the Japanese have a passion for short-cutting words and making up new ones. As you can guess, it means "Decorated Cabin Truck." But it's more than that. These are individually owned trucks that the owners "personalize" with custom paint jobs, art work, lights and chrome. It gets expensive. And think about this: what happens to your truck when you get a job hauling asphalt for the local road paving project? A lot of them are current or former Yakuza and Bosozoku and they drive like it. Tthen again, most truck drivers in Japan drive like they own the road - the only difference being that Corporate trucks are very plain.

My A/C man back home said that they have to recycle the refrigerant and need a machine for each type of gas, which gets expensive. He still uses R-12, but other than that, it's R-134a. He just can't afford the machines. He also mentioned the "glide point" in mixed gasses such as Freezone causes problems within the system because each gas has a different "glide point," which causes friction. We still have R-12 here in Japan and that's what's in my car. It is getting harder and harder to find, but R-12 is available. If your car was made for R-12, I highly suggest getting it if you can afford it.

Hijack . . . Yes, Mazda Cosmo here in Japan. The cars are rarely driven on the road - usually at night on weekends. They are technically illegal, but since they have valid paperwork, the cops can't do anything about it. A real pain, though, to take all that stuff off for the mandatory 2-year inspection and then put it all back on again. Back to the subject at hand, glad to see you're back. There's not too many C210 owners here. And whatever you do, DON'T destroy the license plate seal that's covering the bolt on the left. I can help you with that.

Kent, The first picture (model) shows black paint sweeping up from the fenders to the hood. You need to paint that on for authenticity - all Japanese police cars have it. The "bonnet thingy" is the symbol for the police. It's a stylized chrysanthemum. They don't put that on the cars like shown on the model. Rather, it's a gold medallion located at the tip of the point on the bonnet.

You Aussies and Kiwis are confusing the issue at hand. They're talking about American (HLS30) cars and you're talking about Australia/New Zeland (HS30) cars.

Reminds me of the old "Daktari" tv series (oops, showing my age). All their cars were painted like that to hide them from the wild animals in the African landscape.

I had a 4-door sedan. It was my Grandmother's car. She bought it brand new in 69 and I got it the early 90s. Parts were relatively easy to get back then, and if the Toyota dealer didn't have it, they could get it from Japan within a week. The car has one known problem: Sticky valves. The solution, according to my mechanic cousin, was to dump kerosene or #2 diesel into the oil, idle it for 15-20 minutes, then do an oil change. The 4-drum brake system leave little to be desired, in my opinion.

Lachlan, See if you can fit a small spring over the post. It looks like there's a groove in the middle of the post that will hold the spring. Just make sure to get something soft, like brass and not stainless steel. The wheel looks great! Better than when it was in my car. Must be that stainless finish dash.

I've used a thin coat of Form-a-Gasket on the freeze plugs, Copper Kote for the gaskets and plumber's teflon tape for threaded parts. Over 20 years, no problems so far. I only use RTV to supplement things that don't seal well like tail light gaskets.

Oh, come on, Steve! The Princess is the clear winner. It's not even a contest.

If the machined/clear coated lup showed under the scraqtches, then whoever painted them didn't prep them correctly. Sounds like the owner had the finish what Kent wants - painted inside and machined lip, and had them painted over to all black without proper prep work. Don't worry too much about scratches, Kent, there are other, more important things to worry about like vandals, thieves and curb rash . . . . Just kidding!

GT-R lights. Brand new. On Yahoo Japan right now. Ending in 4 hours. 80,000 yen. No takers yet. http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g44777873 For something really crazy, look at this one: http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n39281683

Take your car or the part to the Nissan Dealer and show it to them. I believe that it's a common part and not specific to your car. I know you said yours crumbled away, but that's only 1, you still have the other side. It's probably called a "gasket" or a "grommet"

Kats: Any reason why HS30-00002 was built before HS30-00001?

A grommet with some silicone sealer might do the trick. Or else, get a body plug and cut a hole in the size you need.

$14,000 is a pretty good price, but I'd pay no more than $12,000. Repairs and parts are going to eat you up financially. General maintenance work on my car here (clutch, brakes, shocks, struts, valve job, alternator) now totals more than what I paid for the car. And the little stuff eats you up too - fuel filter, radiator cap, plug wires, points, cap, etc . . . . Remember, it's a 34 year old car with ORIGINAL parts on it. I just about died when I looked at the condition of my rubber flex lines for the brakes. Lucky they didn't go when I was driving Mt Fuji. Just my opinion.

That's Kanagawa Prefecture, just south of Tokyo. The big city there is Yokohama, where Nissan originated and are relocating their corporate headquarters from Tokyo - "going back to our roots" is what they said. I've never seen anything like this C110, but they did run a few stripped down Fairlady Zs in the early 70s.

TomoHawk, you are correct. I should have said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA"

Freedom of religion has slowly become freedom from religion. While I respect other people's beliefs and religious preferences, I certainly do not entertain their thoughts that theirs is THE correct religion. It pains me that Political Correctness has pretty much curtailed one of our most basic freedoms - the right to free speech. I am here in Japan with the gubmint (Tomohawk) and find it ironic that my job is to support something that I feel is illegal - the war in Iraq. I also relate to Virto - if marriage is so religious, why does the states regulate it? Hypocritical, if you ask me. I am sorry, but I believe in equal rights for all - and our country does not provide equal rights for all. As a former single person who paid more in taxes than a married person, where's the equality? Same - same for everybody is equal. The current structure favors certain people and penalizes the rest. I will get off my soapbox now. America allows me to say these things and I am proud to be American.

Happy Birthday America!

The block is painted "Nissan Blue" Ford blue is a close substitute. You need to strip that black paint off the cylinder head - that's normally left plain aluminum color. The valve cover is best sand blasted. If not, some good paint stripper and elbow grease will do the job.

$650? Outrageous! zI don't know what to tell you . . . . B.S. and hope to find bargains or tell the truth and be prepared to pay $$$ just to keep 'em in OZ. My heart bleeds . . . .

Lachlan, Here's the deal. The ring has 6 divots on the back side. These correspond to the 6 bolts that hold the wheel to the hub. Snap the ring onto the bolt heads, you may have to fiddle with it to get it to seat properly because it's Italian. Once you get that on, push the horn button into the center of the ring. It should seat and is secured by three spring clips pushing against the inside of the hub adapter. I believe that these spring clips provide the ground. P.S. I was wondering how the install went and was going to PM you. Now I know.

Do you have a car? You're asking 240, 260 and 280 . . . . Basically, they're the same, but there are differences. What are your plans? Total restoration, reliable daily driver or just enough so that it runs? Like SteveJ said, details, we need details. Case in point, you ask about stock fuel lines. Are you referring to the metal ones or the rubber ones? Not ragging on you, but it's just hard to help when vague questions are asked.

A good man, Bambikiller was . . . A lot of knowledge to share with all. I will miss his posts. I take solace in knowing that he went quickly and didn't suffer through some lingering illness. Carl, may God smile upon you and let you drive the Z on those streets paved with gold.