Arne

OK, I can understand the cosmetic value. And like you, if it were me I'd want to fabricate nipples for the two vent hoses. But I'd also want to run the valve cover breather to one of my filters, as that little filter on the valve cover just looks silly to me. (As well as causing some hot oil smell in the car, by some reports.) So before I went to all that work, I'd probably strip and refinish the stock airbox instead. Probably cheaper, too.

Also note what appear to be 240Z seats.

I guess my first question would be why not just use the factory airbox? How much benefit is there to ITGs or K&Ns with the appropriate airhorns? How much tuned beyond stock do you need to go before the stock airbox is a bad thing?

It may be interesting to note that the only thing left about that car that is "Black Pearl" is the paint itself, assuming that it is really the correct metallic black paint. It is missing the strips and rear louvers, and has the wrong mirrors.

My two '71s are both the same as Dave and Dave. The yellow is electric pump only, the red is factory mechanical pump. Both are still running points (for now). The yellow car is only started every couple weeks, the red car seldom goes more than 5-6 days between starts. I drove the red car last night, and so it started fairly quickly this morning.

Dave's explanation is great, and better than my advice. FWIW, neither of mine start immediately either, it is the nature of the beast.

Yup, you pegged it. That's exactly what's happening. If you need it to start quicker, you'll need to add an electric fuel pump.

If you are eliminating the coolant flow to the manifolds and have by-passed the hoses, there is no need to do anything to the coolant ports on the manifold. Just leave them be. Without coolant running to them, they do nothing.

Or, all that stuff could be good but you might really have low oil pressure...

Search is your friend... http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25211&highlight=step+lamp

Wheels look like Appliance Wire Mags in the wider 14x7 size. More lip than my 14x6s.

It was featured on bringatrailer.com earlier in the week. http://bringatrailer.com/2007/07/20/authentic-bob-sharp-75-datsun-imsa-gtu-z-car/

Man you sound like me with my red car. All these things I planned to do to my Z got shelved because of the existing originality of my red car. I've got a ZX dizzy sitting on my workbench, but the points are still working fine, so I haven't been able to convince myself to change it. I'm suffering with AM radio for the same reason. And don't get rid of the blue CA plates. To get vintage plates on mine I had to register them as vanity plates. I'll be paying extra for them every two years from now on.

Asking $7900, claims no rust. No connection to seller. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/car/378488039.html

Jon is right, for lots of reasons. First, reading plugs is tricky and not very accurate, especially these days with the myriad of different additives in today's fuel which pollutes the plug color. Besides, your pictures are to unfocused to glean much from, even if we could read plugs accurately. Best to use an O2 sensor, or at least an exhaust gas analyzer.

No, the bragging rights for the biker is, "Man, I got another guppy in a car to race me! Hahahahaha!!"

Not a chance. Even my 750cc touring bike with big saddlebags and electric windshield will do 0-60 faster than 98% of the four-wheelers on the road. If this kid was on a 600cc or larger sportbike he isn't going to get beat by a car. Not if he's really trying.

Oops! Very true. Sorry...

I think Tony is right. '79-85 RX7.

For max power, I think I'd start with a P90, since it has the most modern chamber design, with good squish if used with flat top pistons. Clean up the ports and cc the chambers, mill it down about .070" to increase the compression, shim the cam towers back up. Consider using the earlier valves with longer stems to keep the geometry close. Get a really good valve job on it, 3 angle at least, maybe 5 angle on the intakes. Just my opinion, based on knowledge gained from prior car projects. Don't know how well it'd actually work, but it should do well.

Personal opinion here, but I think that the vaunted E31 head is highly over-rated. Blasphemous, I know.The E31 needs bigger valves, so it requires custom work to get the most out of. Have a little port and/or chamber work done on a later head like a P79 or P90 and you've got a much better package.

You know, when I look at that first picture, I'm almost thinking that the seat did not start life as a two tone seat. It looks to me as though the two different types of vinyl have sun-aged totally differently - the centers getting much darker, and the bolsters bleaching out. Compare the center flap and the very back edge of the center panel. I blew up that area in the attached picture. Maybe they were normal butterscotch originally??

A bit less than I expected, about $500 for the set. The D hubcaps are much harder to come by than the later Z caps.

Hey!! Maybe we can find a bunch of these here in the NW painted to match our cars!!

The local BMW dealer has a red one on the lot, looks pretty good. Of course, unlike the original 240Z, a new Z4 Coupe is NOT a car that the masses can afford. That is the missing part in all this.Don't get me wrong, I'm a BMW owner and I like the Z4 coupe. But I'm too cheap to buy my BMWs new...