Arne

Yes, I'm certain that could be done. That would be closer, but you'd still have the newer shift pattern disk with the sloppy looking back-paint and the wrong typeface. I decided to keep the original, even with its flaws.

I added some comments to my previous post while you were replying.

Better jump on these.... http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=3983&cat=4 Shipping them will be a bit of a headache, but possible. And to answer your original question, I am told that the new replacement fenders from Nissan do fit Series 1 cars. There may be a very few small differences in the inspection cover latches for very low VIN cars, But they should still fit fine.

Oh dear, that's a recent and revolting development. They were available not all that long ago, I know of several people who bought them in the past year or so.

I hear you. Reds in general are way more money than other colors. Last year when I had mine done I seem to recall the painter saying $600 for enough to paint my little car....

I don't think it's THAT bad, but I agree that other reds do have more pop. But on my period-correct survivor, stock 905 was the only way to go.But up North of me, funz1z painted her Series 1 Ferarri Rosso Corsa (Racing Red). Definitely attracts attention. As will yours, Steve. You can see the difference easily when they are parked side by side.

After 20+ years in that business, I can say that using weights on both the inside and outside of the rim is the best way to balance a tire/rim assembly. However, a skilled technician with modern equipment (or even semi-modern, my experience is over 10 years old now) should be able to get a reasonably accurate balance job without putting weights on the front of the wheel, especially on the relatively narrow rims we use on our S30s. Generally, if you are not putting weights on both edges of the rim, you want to switch the balancer to "static" mode (not "dynamic"), which should give a single reading for the entire wheel. Most people will then put that weight as close to the center of the rim as possible, but with experience, a good tech will compare that reading with the dynamic reading, and may place the weight more toward the front or back of the rim as the dynamic reading indicates. Current balancers are even more helpful, as the tech can indicate the size and offset of the rim, and then indicate where on the rim area he wishes to place the weight and let the balancer compute the rest. Some even allow you to identify the location and number of any spokes, and will make allowances to attempt to hide the weights behind those spokes. Frankly, if I am reading your description of what happened on the balancer correctly, I have doubts that your tech is experienced with this technique, and also that his equipment is somewhat dated. Might be time to find a different tire shop.

Is Nissan making some parts more generic these days in an effort to cover all S30s with fewer part numbers and inventory? Yes, count on it. Are those parts going to be exactly correct for those of us who want to keep our cars as original as possible? Nope, they won't. This is a problem that most of us have already had to deal with at some point or another. Take original shift knobs as an example. I have a brand new one from Nissan for my car, but it is noticeably different than my original. So much so that I have the replacement in a drawer in the house and still have the slightly flawed original on the car. In this case, I suspect that the original supplier to Nissan is no longer in business, and Nissan had to find a substitute manufacturer for these, who saw some pictures and specs, but never saw an original in person. In sum, I feel your pain, really. But complaining and grumbling to us here won't help, as we are all in the same boat. You could complain to Nissan, but catering to a few people buying low volume and low profit parts isn't going to mesh well with their goal of making profits and staying in business.

Richard, I did read all of your post. Most of what you ask seems somewhat rhetorical to me. You are surprised that there may have been further supersessions after your copy of the parts list was printed 35 years ago. This surprises you -- how? The attached screenshot shows that the part number you are working with now WAS superseded by the time my copy was published in December 1979.

You meant not impossible, didn't you, Will?

Some of the later Monroes were made in Venezuela. Can't say for certain, though...

Undoubtedly made by Gabriel, probably as a private label for some large re-marketer like NAPA, Sears or the like. Gabriel and Monroe were about the only US shock makers for this period, but most Monroe strut inserts were actually made by Sachs/Boge in Europe (frequently Belgium).

Remove the outer hardware, then remove the wing nut that holds the bottom bracket to a stud down inside the rear quarter panel. Then carefully maneuver the antenna unit off the lower stud, down and then out. You may also have to loosen the bolt that holds said bottom bracket to the bottom of the antenna assembly.

I ran my spook black for the first year. Looked fine. But I prefer color-matched, especially for the ducted version. The non-ducted works well visually in black, maybe better than color. IMO, of course. YMMV.

I guess it's a personal preference thing. I really prefer the ducted version, by quite a bit. For me it has nothing to do with the brake cooling, but just looks. The non-ducted just looks so plain, to me. And the curves and shapes around the ducts (especially when color-matched) are just fun to look at.

With all this help, looks like you are on the right track. Now for my "help". If it were me, I'd add a nipple on the back of one of them (probably the one you haven't built yet!) to connect the breather hose from the valve cover. That is a much cleaner solution than one of those silly looking K&N breather filters, and cuts down on fumes and mess under the hood.

I've never seen a reference on this, although I can't believe that no one has done this before. Best way to go about this would be to have someone whose emblems are off the car now measure the locations of the mounting holes. That would seem to be the most accurate way to locate the proper location to me, more accurate than trying to measure the emblems themselves. Anyone got emblems off right now?

Have you looked for signs of the sealed-up holes from the underside of the hatch? That's how I found the proper locations on a previous 240Z.

If you connect the battery but don't turn on the key or start the car, does the radio, blower and other electrical stuff work? (Key off, or ignition switch disconnected.)

Either the new ignition switch is bad (not likely), or the wiring has been modified or otherwise shorted. Next test -- start the car as normal, then reach up behind the ignition and unplug the connector from the ignition switch. If the car continues to run with the switch completely disconnected, we have serious issues in the wiring. If it shuts off (and the blower and radio go off as well), we are making progress. Try this and report back, the test results will determine what the next step will be.

On a 240Z, the factory diode is in the external regulator, but it's somewhere else in the later cars, like the 280Z that is the subject of this thread. That's why a 240Z needs an add-on diode when converting to a ZX alternator, but a 280Z needs only plain jumper wires. Doesn't tell us if the diode is the problem here, though. Back to the beginning. So you start the car, it runs fine. Turn off the key, it continues to run, and you must pull the power to stop it. Here are some questions to help pin this down: 1.) When you turn off the key, is there any change in how the car runs? Stutters, misses, etc.? Or does it run the same as with the key on? 2.) With the key off and the engine still running, do all the gauges still work as normal? Or do they go off? 3.) You mentioned you replaced the ignition switch. Did you replace the small electrical part on the very back (the actual switch), or just the key lock (tumblers)? Or both? 4.) If you leave the battery connected overnight or over the weekend, does the car drain it dead with nothing turned on?

I'm of the opinion that we should cut the owner who modified it some slack. Let's imagine that it's shortly after the end of the Vintage Z Program. And here's a guy who has come into some money, and has dreamed of owning a hot, modified 240Z since he was young. Now he can afford to build it (or rather, to have it built). Now if you want to build a fast 240Z, you want to start with the best, most solid car you can find. What better car to start with than a well-documented Vintage Program car? Logically, it was the obvious starting point. Don't know if he was the original purchaser from the Program, or bought it at some later point. But either way, I can't think of a better platform for a car like this. Did he "ruin" the collector value of the car? Maybe. And if he did, should we care? I don't think so. At least he had the good taste to do it right, using the right stuff. Rebello, Panasport, Willwood, OE-style light covers, etc. I think we can agree that if it does sell one of these days, someone will get a really nice driving 240Z....

The ones I got from Nissan in '07 were cloth braid-covered, all four of them. Don't know if the current hoses are still covered.