Arne

Yeah, 0103 = first week (01) of 2003 (03).

Different R. The Vreds aren't even H rated (130 MPH, 210 KPH), they are only S rated (112 MPH, 180 KPH).The R in a typical tire size merely indicates Radial. What you are using on the 5er are "R Compound" tires. Race rubber, more or less. Different thing entirely.

I'm not sure that I'd call the Vredestein a long life tire. So 50-60k might be a bit of a stretch. But I'd certainly expect 30-40k, so you may have a problem. Can you post a clear picture of the wear pattern on the rears? Might be best to post the better of the two, easier to diagnose from one with a little left rather than one that's way bald.

Actually, no, it hasn't. Pretty boring, what?

I have emailed and PM'd the interested Canadians, also. Canadian prices will be US$42 each, and the Canadian order form is at: http://1971.240z.home.comcast.net/temp/CZCC-BT-Canada.pdf I should also note, I don't think I'm going to be able to get away with declaring these as gifts, due to the large number that I will be mailing. I'm afraid I'll need to declare them at a value of $32US per unit. I don't know what that will do to you folks as far as duties and tax. I will attempt to ship multiples in as few packages as possible, on the assumption that any handling fee that they charge you for collecting the duties will only be charged once.

Fulda is and was a small subsidiary of Goodyear/Europe. Not common outside Europe in the '70s. I recall seeing them now and then on old Audi 100LS and such. I can't imagine that they would have ever been used as factory equipment on any Japanese cars. I replaced many original Z tires while working in the tire industry in the '70s, and all I remember was Bridgestone and Toyo. Yokohama was added in later years...

A quick reminder that you need not have gotten in on this earlier (with the original poll and such) to participate. All are welcome!!

I've got a spare early 4 speed - but ironically it's here in Oregon! Not much help in getting you out here. Since your car (IIRC) is a '72, you can use any 4 or 5 speed from '72 through '83 except the ones out of the '83 ZX Turbo. All others will simply bolt in. To save possible headaches use ALL of the clutch parts (incl. the clutch fork and release bearing) you have in the car now, not any parts that may come with the replacement transmission. And while the ratios may be inconvenient, I think you might be able to also get by with a manual tranny from some of the older Datsun/Nissan pickups. Maybe someone else can verify that one way or the other?

Is this an ebay head? Who's the seller?

Many people diss the round port heads automatically, but IMO for a street motor the shape of the chamber and size of the valves is probably more important than the shape of the exhaust ports. A good P79 should be a fine street head, has the best factory chamber design (shared with the P90). Any way you can have an expert assess it before buying it?

At the risk of doing something I will soon regret, I'm going to proceed with the Bolder Tint project. Here are the final details. Minimum order is 60 tints. We currently have about 40 spoken for. Based on that, plus the hope that I will be able to sell off the excess in a reasonable time, I'm willing to put up the rest of the money to get the order built. I hope I'm not making a several hundred dollar mistake... In an effort to simplify bookkeeping, I have decided to average out the freight costs and do all orders to the USA at a fixed price of $35 each. (You Canadian buyers, I will be contacting you shortly with your special details.) No quantity discounts, sorry. My plan is this - now is the time to send your check or money order. But please note!! If you pay by money order, please keep the receipt, as I won't cash any until I get payments for close to 40 units. At that point, I will personally pay the difference to get the order of 60 made. But if we don't get the 40 or so paid for in a reasonable amount of time, I will return all checks and money orders. I'd really like to have those 40 paid for by Oct. 20 or so to make this happen. I don't want to let this hang out indefinitely. So prompt payment is going to be a key to making it work. Please print out and include the order form linked here, which also has my address on it. It will help me with keeping track of the whole deal. http://1971.240z.home.comcast.net/temp/CZCC-BT-USA.pdf

This may sound odd coming from a guy who is dedicated to period-correct looks on his own Z, but I think it could work. Especially on a bumper-less Z with the sidemarkers and bumper depression shaved.

Shoot me a message when you get closer. There's at least one accountant posting at the University of Oregon (Eugene) right now.

Where in Oregon are you going to end up?

I think it's a 4 speed. Reverse is very hard to select when the transmission is rolling around loose on the floor.

Last call for comments or getting in/out or whatever. I'm going to make a decision on whether I can proceed on this over the next few days.

Absolutely. A firm and tight front end with worn, soft rear suspension will handle horribly. Do the rear before you make any further decisions.Good job on what you've done so far!

Have you adjusted the master cylinder pushrod?

Problem with selling stock seats is that there's not a lot of demand, and they are expensive to ship, due to size. When you consider that $400 will buy new, OE-style vinyl and foam, and shipping them can easily be $50 or often more, used seats are are a hard sell at any price unless you can find a buyer locally.

Don, I bought one of those for my car a couple of years ago. After seeing it and using it, I would not hesitate to use a generic replacement. That hose would be simple to replicate using normal fuel-rated hose.

On the other hand, many of us can't qualify for Hagerty or other specialty insurance. It has been mentioned above that you can't use the car for commuting and such, but it is a bit more restrictive than that. The covered collectible car must be an extra car. You must have more cars/trucks than licensed drivers in the household. In my case, I have three drivers, but only three cars and a motorcycle (which doesn't count for this). Doesn't matter that my wife commutes by bicycle year-round and that I virtually always have another car available. Since the number of cars is the same as the number of drivers, I don't qualify.

Last year I stripped my 240Z as far as I could while still having it drivable. Most of the interior except the dash and the driver's seat, all glass and everything from the outside of the car. I had them paint the whole car including the underside of the tailgate, all door and hatch jambs. Since I was staying with the factory color, I did not have the interior or the engine compartment painted. My car has/had no rust, no significant previous repairs to re-do, and only minor door dings to be corrected. I did not ask for (nor receive) a "show-quality" job. I drive my car frequently, and it will acquire rock chips and other flaws as time goes on, so painting to "show standards" would be a total waste. What I asked for (and got) was a very nice paint job suitable for everyday use. It looks great, but a few flaws can be seen if you know where to look. By the time it was all said and done (new windshield, complete new weatherstrip and other rubber bits, etc.) I paid about $5000 while doing the disassembly and reassembly myself. Any rust or repair work yours needs, or any prep and reassembly you don't do yourself will add considerably to that.

Any color change that is not done "completely" will significantly reduce the value for many Z enthusiasts. And doing it "completely" means stripping the car to a bare body shell so that it can be painted inside and out. That's an expensive paint job. My advice would be to either live with the color you find, or if you truly can't live with it wait for a color you can stand.

I'm still crunching numbers, trying to figure out a way to make it happen. I'm almost certain that we're going to have to write off the 280-Z possibility, so I'll be contacting the few 280-Z requesters to see whether they want to move to DATSUN or opt out. If we can get close I might be able to cover a few of the unsold ones myself (most likely DATSUN) to continue to sell off over time. Another option to help with that effort would be to add a buck or two to the unit price to help cover the excess. So I haven't quite given up yet, and am still scheming...

We've been in touch with Hybridz on this, and the way we have to do it (pre-ordering a product that doesn't actually yet exist) doesn't meet Hybridz Group Buy requirements. So we can't post there.