2ManyZs

Alan, I think we should give Alfa the "atta-boy" award for even knowing who Groucho is..... If he can name all the Marx brothers, we'll have to send him a present..... and no looking it up on the internet either Lachlan! And, I also noticed the seller called it a Fairlady Z.... but I think I'd rather wait and see if he lists the early car instead....just something about a 2+2 with the G-nose......:cross-eye

Errr, that's not quite the type of "horse" I was thinking about....

Cowboys spend a lot of time on the range, whatever a range may be, whiling away their hours moseying and giddyuping. But mostly moseying. While they're doing all that moseying, they often come up with gems of wisdom we would all do well to heed. Don't squat with your spurs on. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. Always drink upstream from the herd. Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in. There's two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Never drop your gun to hug a grizzly. If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

I apologize for doubting you and your car, but if you look at this link, I think you'll understand why most of us have some doubts about the types of people that you can run across on the internet. Most of us are the "I'll believe it when I see it" types... If this is a "race car" or even a car that anyone with any kind of sense would take out on the street. Make sure you read the description, especially the part about the seats..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2436353299&category=6187 Sadly, someone will actually believe what he is saying about the car...:disappoin

If that were a 2 seater, you'd probably need another bay in your garage about now huh? Of course, if it were a 2 seater, a lot of us would be wondering where we could put it......:devious:

I don't know what all the fuss is about, it's just a good looking looking Zed or is that Z?... Or all we all just jealous? Hmmmm, guess that would be a yes... Great score Hayden:classic: I was wondering about the dual signals too, but it kinda gives the car a little character the more you look at it. Plus a little mystery to boot.... Bet the Christmas wish list is getting longer already eh?

People who have used them that frequent the racing forums call them the Phantom Slip... so far I have yet to see anyone post much good to say about them. Perhaps on a street only driven car they might be acceptable, but you might be better off to save and get a Nismo LSD... cost more, but at least it's a known quantity.

Perhaps if you had included the info in your last post in your original post, there wouldn't have been as much skepticism.... If you had said in your original post that the info on the car was on Carl's web-site we would have believed you to begin with. If a new member were to say he's got a 71 Hemi-Cuda sitting in his driveway, that is a 1 of 1 built by the factory, I'd want to see documentation from Galen Govier to back up his claims. Wouldn't you? Same goes with a Z, if Carl says it's legit, we'll believe it. We have a couple members here that know the Japanese models and/or European models as well as Carl knows the US models.

Dunno as this is really worth 1K... First, it only lift the car enough to roll under it with a creeper, second, it takes up a lot of space, third, you have to work around it while trying to work on the car... I'd be more tempted to buy two air powered frame lifts(jacks) from someone like Northern Tool for 369 each(now on sale) and be able to lift the car over 30 inches, and have the entire underside of the car free to work on it. I've been tempted to buy a pair like this and then make a rotisserie section to attach to the jack, so that you could bolt them to the car, then lift it to whatever hieght you want, then if you want to roll the chassis over, you can just jack it a little higher... Here's what I'm talking about... http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=4006970&storeId=6970&productId=7856&langId=-1 Unless, of course, you have a high enough ceiling in your garage that you could install a regular auto lift.. of course, those are going to be in the $2500 and up category...:disappoin

Do a search in the forum for hood release cable, it should bring up more than a few threads from people who had the same thing happen.

I don't think anyone doubted you had the car, it's the statement that the car was built for Nissan that is highly suspect. It may have been built for a Nissan dealer or one of the Nissan specialty shops of the time, such as Jim Cook Racing was at one time, but I don't recall Nissan sponsoring any "one-off" show cars such as this back in the 70's. Today is a different story, with all the makers spending millions on "concept" cars that very seldom make it into production. I'd like to see the documents to prove this was built FOR Nissan before I'll believe it myself. Sorry, but without positive proof, we're all going to be a bit skeptical of the origins of the car. I remember the body kit and the car that Jim Cook had on the cover of all his catalogs well, and that car was painted in the exact same paint scheme as this one is, the only difference was JC's car had the square headlights and (I'm guessing here) had some really nice wheels on it, think they were called Gamblers, made by Centerline at one time? Hot Rod magazine also had a hand in another Z car in the 70's or 80's, which was a 240 or 260 with a built SBC, 9 inch Ford rear with a custon built 4 link suspension and some really nice body modifications. Homemade taillight panel, Corvette taillights, cow induction hood, hand made front valence that closed up half the front grill area and a lot other stuff. So, HR had some interest in Z cars, but this one was done all for HR magazine. Might this one been built by and for Jim Cook Racing as a promo for his upcoming body kits? Guess the documentation you have will soon tell us... Whatever the story, it's a good find... and if those fenders and flares are made of steel and not fiberglass, it's definately worth keeping and fixing up..might take a while, but as long as it's in one piece... I say go for it, and good luck.

I can't offer an opinion on the Classic Tube pieces, but if it were a choice left to me, I'd try MidwestZ before buying anything from VB... I'd imagine Chloe can get anything that VB can and probably a lot more and match or beat their prices....and anything that is still available such as the "T" block or mounting bolt, you aren't going to get from Classic Tube, ar at least I doubt they will have it...

The gland nut being loose won't affect anything as far as camber or front end alignment. What it will do is allow the strut insert to move up and down in the strut tube and cause some noise and possibly damage to the strut insert. Some insert lenghts are not all the same, as long as the gland nut is tight on the top of the insert, you shouldn't have any problem. The washer on the T/C rod might cause a slight difference in the caster from side to side. The difference in the camber from side to side could be due to bad control arm bushings if you haven't replaced them, or in the worst case, either a bent strut or bent control arm. Even worse, it could be due to the chassis being tweaked a bit and the difference lies in the strut towers themselves.....

Wide? Those things are huge... what are they 10" wide? Definately would need the over fenders for those eh? Brandon, they would fit, if you could actually ever get your hands on a set....:disappoin And if you could afford them...:cross-eye

Are you going to offer a prize to the person who's been an SCCA member the longest??? :devious:

It's interesting that the photo Kats posted is most likely a US spec car that was undergoing the crash tests to be certified for sale here in the US...it's a LHD model with a full interior whereas the pic Alan first posted it looks to be more of just a rolling bare chassis the factory used. At the top of the pic that Kats posted is the MVSS or Motor Vehicle Safety Standard acronym. At that time the car would have had to have been a showroom model that was diverted from the dealer to undergo the crash tests and not a factory mule. The factory would have used "mules" or bare chassis during their testing, but for the car to be certified in the US it has to be "off the showroom floor" or what is available to the general public, to qualify for it's Federal safety standards testing(or FMVSS certification)...Of course today, they still do this testing the same way, and the Insurance Safety Institute also uses normal production cars in all their tests as well. Thank you Kats for the clear pic of the 432 magnesium wheel, in most pics the wheels are hard to make out as the photographers usually are focusing more on the car than the wheels. It's interesting how the pressed steel "mag" wheel design is so close to the design of the 432 wheel, it makes you wonder if the magnesium wheel was designed after the steel wheel was denied a chance to be on all the S30 cars, since they do bear some resemblance to one another. And, there are also some other odd things on Alan's second picture, like no mirrors, no emblems.

Maybe he shouldn't post them on one of those "other" sites eh?:devious:

I didn't want to say anything about the "nut" parking a Roadster half out in the street....

Yup, it's custom... usually they use the old Corvette or Camaro round taillights.. but then, you have to make a while new taillight panel by hand..

If what you wanted done is in print on your copy of the work order and you have it in your hands, take the car back and tell them the work was not done the way they agreed to do it. If they don't agree to do it correctly, then I'd tell them you are going to call the Better Business Bureau, or the state's office of that type. Might not hurt to try to give them the chance to do it right before you spend any money to fix it yourself....

I would re-torque when cold. It's one of those "either/or" choices. The aluminum head will expand and contract with temp changes differently than the iron block, so by torquing cold, you will be doing it when the aluminum is contracted the most.

I would definately re-torque the head before you do anything else. It almost sounds as if it may be a cold water leak, which could come from the head not being re-torqued. When the engine cools, the block and head will contract just enought to allow standing water in the water jacket to leak out between the head and block mating surface. If after re-torquing, you still notice dampness, then you may end up having to replace the gasket.

Errr, nope. It's 1-5-3-6-2-4 too young, too old, just right....