Arne

Sorry, I don't agree. My years of experience selling and servicing vintage mags lead me to conclude that those are far more likely to be polished, rather than chromed.First, chrome is a big problem on old school wheels that use shank lugnuts. The chrome-on-chrome contact galls and chews both the wheel and the nut. Secondly, the alloys used back in the old days for these wheels don't take chrome well. It would be difficult to get a set of four that didn't have rather serious chrome flaws. And if you got a set, having the chrome stick will be a problem, partly because of the alloy, and partly because of the aforementioned galling at the lug holes. Once the surface of the chrome is broken, all durability bets are off. It is possible for decent quality aluminum wheels to be machine polished to that level, although it'd be hard to keep them that shiny. But you might have to polish more than four to get a full set of that quality. If the alloy is porous or inconsistent, machine polishing will reveal every pore or soft spot in the wheel. My wire mags aren't that shiny, but look pretty good from 5 feet or so. But up close they have bad spots from porous and/or soft spots in the alloy.

While I also personally prefer the look of the tall 14" sidewall on a 240Z, be aware that 14" tires that are wide enough for 7" rims are rather hard to find these days. Lots of used rims on Craigslist and eBay, but most 14" are only 5.5" or 6" wide. Or there's this set, but I'd verify condition and whether they have center caps first. And being Appliances, they'll need 0.55" shank lugs. But lugs are still available, and third party caps too. http://centralhp.com/viewitem.php?productID=APW-0304

Well, "majority" might be a bit strong. I've used them in an MG years ago, and they were OK. But not something I'm all that concerned about for my Zs. Don't know if they are still available for Datsun SUs. But here's the contact info: D & G Valve Mfg. Co. ( Grose- Jet ) 8 Mt. Vernon St. Stoneham, MA 02180

90% or more of the Zs left on the road today will show similar "damage" - both of mine do. Too many years, too many opportunities for the tire monkeys to jack up the car in the wrong spot. (Yes, I can say that safely, I was a tire monkey for many years. A good one, I hope, but a tire monkey none the less.) I agree with nwcubsman, if you know the car is alignable as it is now, POR it and forget it.

The factory covers with the chrome trim have not been available for a good number of years. Other than used, assuming you can find anyone willing to part with them.

Sounds good. With 2" I'm pretty comfortable that a pair of 18" should do the trick. The cross-over should even out the pulses and smooth the exhaust note. I'd love to hear it when it's done.

Yes Steve, longer is quieter on glass packs. My red car has a single 24" glasspack on it. The muffler is 2", the pipes are 1 3/4". (Not my favorite part of the car, performance-wise. But that's what the original owner put on it. And after all, it's only a stock L24.) Anyway, with only that muffler on it and the small diameter pipe, it's not too loud, and has a nice mellow tone. Burbles and pops on deceleration, too. Your pipes look like 2 1/4" to me. If so, I'd put 18" on it for street driving. The larger pipes will make it louder, so more muffler might be better.

Hmm. Presumably a California car, and #51? With original engine? Definitely worth a look.... Who lives near Ventura?

And the reserve's not met??? This is nuts! Nice car, but.... :stupid:

They appear to be a rubber material to my eyes. Fairly hard rubber, but I suspect that's more of an age issue. Good luck on this, and keep us posted.

I actually prefer the Konig look, myself. Panasports are a bit too modern-looking for my tastes. But with Konigs you still have the center cap issue.

Thought it was time to revisit this topic, as lots has gone on since we last posted. Summary - I have moved the euro springs out of the yellow car, cut them down and installed them in the red car, and later removed them. In the mean time, Gary (beandip) has finalized his installation as well, but I'll let him chime in on his details. I had installed the euros in the yellow car before I bought the red car. Since the springs made the car's ride height 3/4" too high, and also since I plan on keeping the red car, it seemed to make sense to take them out of the yellow car, cut them down and install them in the red car instead. Which is exactly what I did. At the same time as the springs, I installed NOS Mulholland strut inserts (non-gas). Ride height results - I cut 1.5 coils from the front, and 1.25 coils from the rear. The ride height was 8 1/8" front, and 8 1/4" rear, or just a touch taller than stock. (Reference - the red car with 60k miles on stock springs sat at 8" front, 7 7/8" rear.) Ideally to give close to stock ride height for non-gas struts I'd probably cut another 1/4 coil off both ends. For KYBs probably 1/2 coil more each end. As a side note, the euro springs are actually a very poor match to the Mulholland struts. The ride was incredibly firm and bouncy, as if I was riding on the bump-stops. (Which are new, BTW.) My theory is that the euro springs were designed to improve handling by increasing the spring rate as much as possible and still remain compatible with stock strut valving. Similarly, the Mulhollands were designed to improve handling by tightening the shock valving as much as possible and still be useable with stock springs. Put the two together and the ride was WAY TOO firm. So I went back to the stock springs for now, which was an improvement, although still VERY firm. Very good for track or autocross use, maybe a bit too firm for weekend touring. I may yet change them out to KYB in the future. I have driven in Gary's car with the KYB/euro combination and the ride is pretty good. Firm, but not harsh. I figure the KYBs are about ideal for the cut-down euro springs.

The factory put it on the right side inner fender, as marked in the attached picture in yellow. But yours may have been moved or removed by a prior owner.

More on the Trunk Monkey... http://www.trunkmonkey.com/

Where does the trunkmonkey hide in a Z? LOL

When I converted the yellow car from automatic to 4 speed, I had to address this since the mounts across the firewall in an automatic car lacked the holes for the clutch line. Luckily, I found decent ones in my parts car. These little guys would be an ideal repro opportunity for someone.

Bigger picture attached.

Here are the only multi-chamber 7" lights I know of today. They have H4 (high/low) in the middle, a parking light in the very small chamber at the top, and an H3 fog light in the bottom. No turn signal, but you might be able to get creative.http://www.classicgarage.com/3cham7rounhe.html

Ouch! I've never owned a ZX, so this is new to me. Looking at this, it could be the best reason I've ever seen to convert to headlights that use replaceable H4 bulbs. That way when one burns out, it looks like you could change the bulb from the back side without disassembling half the car.

I'd still like to find a straight 521 with an L16. I could get rid of the receiver hitch on the BMW then.

Then yes, you'll want the later cable. It looks to be still available through NissanParts.cc as well, although a bit more expensive.

Perhaps, what is your car's build date?

Dave, the latest E88 head that came on the 260Z with the larger valves won't fit on a stock bore L24 block. The cylinders need to have a notch for valve clearance added. An E88 that came on an L24 (with the same valve sizes as the E31) obviously is fine. I've seen references to at least 4 separate versions of the E88 head. Very early ones had a chamber very similar to the E31. The bulk of the '72 E88s had a small chamber but it was quite different in shape than the E31. The E88 on the '73 240Z had a larger chamber and lower compression. Lastly, the E88 on the 260Z was similar to the large chamber head, but with larger exhaust valves. That last version is the only one that won't fit on a stock bore L24. But I believe that almost any overbore is OK, even .020" over gives enough clearance for the larger valves.

My 4/71 had an E31, but my 7/71 has an E88. So probably somewhere in the middle of July, 1971 was when they were phased out.

Odd, I got one for my '71 just a few months ago. It was no big deal.The parts CD shows 36543-N3400 for your car (see attached screenshot, bottom line). Courtesy doesn't list it, but NissanParts.cc does - http://www.nissanparts.cc/cart/?pn=36543-N3400