Pop's Z

Also the handle can be worn down where the rod attaches. If you switch them side to side you can solve your problem. Cheers, Mike

Dave IS da' man! Everything he's done for me (headlight harness, parking light upgrade, alternator plug, and rebuild of combo and turn signal switches) was excellent, reasonably priced, and quick to get here. Oh, and everything works as advertised. Long may he wave. We are very fortunate to have him. So buy stuff from him and help support his Z habit...he's got it bad. Cheers, Mike

Here's what I did. Take that 14 mm wrench you ground down. Put it on the nut. Rotate the driveshaft (tranny in neutral) until the wrench contacts the body, or whatever (righty tighty, lefty loosey). Now take a long screwdriver or lever of some kind. Put the end into the u-joint area and use that to turn the drive shaft. The longer the lever the better the mechanical advantage. You will find that the nuts turn very hard the first time you do this if they've never been off. You can only turn the nuts a little bit at a time. Because I'm right-handed I found that I could do this operation from the left side of the car head towards the front. Tighten the nuts the same way only opposite of course. The washers will drop on top of the diffy mount. Wear safety glasses as much crap will fall down into your eyes. Have fun. Cheers, Mike

Lucky you. There is a place in Washington that rebuilds them. Oliver at Z Specialties 1-800-518-5480 or www.datsunstore.com. Oliver has a shop that specializes in Z cars and what he doesn't know probably doesn't matter. Great guy to deal with. Good luck. Cheers, Mike

IMHO. Save yourself time, money and grief, and send them to Bruce at ZTherapy. One of the best things I did for my Z. Cheers, Mike

The Eibach factory says #s ending in 001 front, 002 rear. Letters and #s right side up. Cheers, Mike

Also, if you can move the rocker arms around by hand they are probably in serious need of a valve adjustment. Cars with badly out of spec valve/rocker clearances don't run right. It is not a difficult job, just tedious if you haven't done it before. After you have done it a few times it gets easier and goes a bit quicker. You can get a video of the proceedure from ZTherapy. Try doing a complete tune-up before thinking about a valve job. Fix the simple things first. Cheers, Mike

Global Kia parts seems like a good deal. I visited my local Nissan/Kia dealer today and it was $67 each 3-5 days to ship special order. Cheers, Mike ps tried to visit the website of globalkiaparts.com. Not having too much success. Very slow and gets "hung up". Maybe they're jammed with S30 owners.

Power window install tomorrow. Thanks, Dave for the inspiration. Cheers, Mike

Dave, You have a problem. Step away from the Zs. You are going to have to enter a 12 step program. There are cat women...and z guys. Cheers, Mike

Arne, I wondered the same thing. That's why I mounted them sans tires. They fit fine with no "crushing" the grease caps. Cheers, Mike

Offset was +3mm

Hey Bonzi, We would love to have you along. FYI, there is current planning for an event to blow the mind in July... "The First Iron Butt Challenge".... 9 mountain passes, 5 @ 11,000ft... one day 500 some miles. Interested? It's not too far from Kansas, eh? Cheers, Mike

OK, I lied. Here are some pics. Looks weird with no tires. Considering Sumitomo HR 200 215-60/15s. Cheers, Mike

Yeah Dave, me too. There were several of us Zboyz from Colorado all set to go this year. Too far and too expensive for a one day "show". I emailed MSA about my concerns and asked them to share with us what happened to have no show in the park this year. I told them we all support them and were willing to pay more to be in the show, etc. They have not responded. Sadness on my part. Maybe next year, eh? Cheers, Mike

Kudos to www.wheeldude.com. My new silver finish 15x7" Rota rbs arrived yesterday. I'll do some pics when I get tires and they get mounted on the car. "She Who Must Be Obeyed" says no tires until the next VISA billing cycle whatever that means. For me it means the end of the month. I am very impressed with the way the wheels were packaged. They were absolutely pristine upon arrival. Cheers, Mike

Zedone, wouldn't it be cheaper to get your Panasports painted or powdercoated gunmetal. I'm pretty sure that they are painted to begin with. I mean if you are happy with them and they are balanced with no vibrations, why change? If you weren't able to paint them any good body shop could. If you masked them off all they would have to do is prime and paint. It wouldn't take that much paint and you could have them use an epoxy-based one. Powdercoating is another option...has anyone done this? FWIW. Cheers, Mike ps: my Rotas were shipped from www.wheeldude yesterday, here Friday.

Check out www.wheeldude.com. I ordered a set of silver Rota rbs 15x7 +4mm offset with caps and lugnuts from them this week. Be sure you get the 114.5 bolt pattern. They supposedly shipped Friday. I'll repost when they arrive. $523 shipped from Cali to Colorado. Haven't decided on tires yet. Either Sumitomo HTR 200s or Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grids($100 more than the Sumis) in 215-60/15. Cheers, Mike

FWIW. I have a '73 with the mount points. When I ordered my rear bar from MSA I ordered one for a 260. MSA included the mount tabs and bolts at my request. It fits perfectly with NO drilling through the floor. Call MSA and exchange your bar for a 260 one with mounting hardware. It will only cost you some shipping. Cheers, Mike

Hi Beth, For a stock motor you will gain very little with a header. The stock exhaust manifold flows well, is quieter, and runs less hot. You can purchase an exhaust system from MSA or just take the car to your local muffler shop. Try to use a shop that caters to the hot rod crowd and you'll get what you want. As far as the differences between 3-2 and 6-1 there are very knowlegable people on here that can give you that info. It might take a few days so be patient. Cheers, Mike

What those guys said, Arne. Got mine today. Loved the innovative packaging. Thanks again for taking this on. Three cheers for Arne......... Mike

Fantastic, Arne. Looking forward to seeing them if not installing them until the weather gets a bit warmer. Thanks for taking this on. I'm sure it was a bit of a pita. That will teach you about volunteering......... Cheers, Mike

I have to say that I'm pretty bummed out. I've been wanting to bring my car to the show ever since I went to one a few years ago (I've been to three)."kenz240z" and I went to the first one in the park and were determined to get our cars there this year. We have been working on our cars to get them ready, but we are not going to drive all the way from Colorado for one day and not even be allowed to be in the "past winners to park at the store". It appears that this year is for locals only. We both hope that MSA will explain sometime what the deal is and why this year's show was basically cancelled. I will continue to support them as they have been very helpful to our Z community. Perhaps we all should e-mail our feelings of support AND our disappointment to them once they let us know what happened to the show this year. Cheers all, Mike

What about the rears? The car might seem a bit unbalanced w/o doing them, too. If you need help give me a call 204-4927. Cheers, Mike

You should apply silicone-based grease to the sway bar and the INSIDE of the bushings where the sway bar goes. Grease between the bushings and the brackets doesn't do anything as the brackets hold the bushings tight. Cheers, Mike