Arne

I used to sell and install both Tokico and KYB for a living. The KYB GR2 will definitely be closer to stock ride. When I get to that point in my project, I will probably use the KYBs with my Euro Stage 1 springs. The other thing I have considered is a set of Koni hydraulics, which can still be found for the 240Z. Don't know if there are any left for t he 280Z though.

That's definitely a possibility. But I'm also mulling over using them more than that. Since they are the later ones with more retaining clips, I'm not too concerned about them falling off, and if there's anything less common than seeing a nice 240Z on the road, it's seeing a nice 240Z with hubcaps. So it would really be a bit more unique.If I do use them daily, I'll probably run a set of 5.5" steel ZX wheels instead, so that I can run 195/70s. Don't know - lots of options here. And I've got time, the car isn't even close to ready yet...

Yeah, I suspect that is true. I almost feel guilty about it, although I gave him his asking price without haggling. I got them today. And I did get a great deal. They are way better than I expected. The wheels and hubcaps came off the same car, apparently when it was basically brand new. There is a touch of brake dust on the back sides of a couple of the rims, but none on the backs of the hubcaps - the backs are pretty much pristine! The whole lot came of a mid year '71, the wheels are date stamped 4-71, and the hubcaps are the later style 'D' type with continuous small rim clips. The wheels all still have original Japanese metric wheel weights clipped on.The bad news? Something corrosive was spilled on some of the parts at some time in the past. The face of one rim has a bunch of rust, as well as the rear bead area of another. (The other two are near mint.) Luckily, the corrosive stuff only barely got on any of the hubcaps. One has a quarter-sized spot on the back side of some of the rim clips, that just barely wraps to the outer edge of the cap. Another has a smaller spot on the rim clip area too. There are a few small chips in the gray paint on the faces, and the 'D' on one or two isn't as pristine as the others. But all in all, they're way better than I expected - maybe too good to use on a daily driver. I've got to decide what my end goal is here. Pictures soon, if anyone wants to see 'em...

Net ratings are not at the rear wheels, they are also at the flywheel. The difference is that gross HP (the higher ratings) are for a bare engine - no accessories of any kind. No alternator, no air cleaner, water pump, air pump, and a straight pipe exhaust. The net HP is with the engine configured as it was installed in the car - stock exhaust, airbox,, all accessories installed and working.

Yes to the first, and probably to the second. You'll need to replace the speedo gear in the transmission to correct the speedo reading. Your highway mileage will go down, how much I can't say because I don't know how you drive. But the gearing difference is over 10%, so use that as a guide. Also remember that your revs per mile will also go up - by the same more-than-10% factor.

No, they are the same as the parking lights. They do not flash with the turn signals. (At least, not as wired by the factory.)

Ahhh! OK, I understand now. Did all years come with these? Or only certain years? Shouldn't be too hard to make one, if I should decide I wanted one. How long are the legs?

I agree. It doesn't appear to be a factory Datsun/Nissan part. Perhaps a lower mount support for an A/C compressor?

So where did the other ends attach? I can't quite envision how they worked?

There are two four speeds, the early Type 1 was only used in '70 and some '71 cars. All later four speeds were the same. There are very few pros to staying with a four speed, especially for a non-Series 1 car. I swapped my automatic for a four speed, but I'm definitely a bit eccentric.

If the goal is to sell it afterwards, why go to the bother? As a repaired pan it's not going to have much value, probably not worth the effort. There are plenty of non-rusted pans available for not a lot of cash if you look around some.

I'm 5'11" so I can get by - barely. It's just a stopgap until I get the seats rebuilt. Eventually they'll go back to their proper place.

My car had silicone all over the seam between pan and block when I bought it. Didn't stop the oil a bit. Silicone won't seal if you can't get all the oil cleaned off first. I dropped the pan on mine and fixed it properly.

And when the distributor is installed correctly, number 1 should be pointing pretty much to the front of the car, perhaps just a touch towards the center. Call it about 9:00 to 9:30 when looking at the engine over the left fender.

No, I haven't heard of this before. Question: Why are you using lead additive, anyway? Do you still have the soft intake seats in your head?

The 245/60-14 size you now have is already two sizes taller than stock, and much wider. The normal 60 series equivalent to the stock 175SR14 is/was 225/60-14 on a 7" wheel. What tire size you should now consider depends on where and when the tire rubs. If it rubs when turning, you might get away with a narrower tire. In this case try a 215/70-14 which should be close to the same height as you have now. If it rubs when you hit a bump while driving straight, then the tire is already too tall. In that case, you're hosed. Either raise the car back up, or change the exhaust.

Will's spacers will work, but I really doubt that he would be willing to turn loose of them. Goodness knows how much he loves them! Seriously, the best thing to do is stock height springs. As for tires, you might be able to go a bit taller if you also go narrower, but you're not going to gain much that way. Stock springs is your best option.

Actually, most - if not all - cars made on the past 20 years or so have come from the factory with plastic tanks. Very common on modern cars, maybe universal. I know for a fact that both of my family cars ('91 Jetta GLI and '96 328i) have plastic tanks.

Since I have (temporarily) swapped the seats from side to side, in my case the driver's seat is the one that doesn't go back as far.

The "perfect gearing" will vary a lot depending on what the end goal of the car is. (It also must include tire size as a variable as well as transmission gear ratios and rear axle ratio.) The "perfect gearing" for daily driving will not be the same as the "perfect gearing" for auto-x, or for 0-60, or for... In fact, the "perfect gearing" for normal street driving will vary depending on the tastes of the driver. FWIW - the "perfect gearing" for 0-60 would be whatever combination gets the car to be as near to peak power as possible in second gear as it gets to 60 MPH. You only want to shift once, and you want it pulling as hard as possible as you reach 60.

I strongly suspect that your car IS faster than 7.5, Dave. The 3.90 in the rear is probably the key to that. Although - If the gearing gets too low, 0-60 times can suffer. With the stock 3.36:1 ratio and stock height tires a 240Z can make it to 60 with only one shift. If you get too low geared you have to shift again (into third) to get to 60. No matter how fast you shift, that is going to hurt the 0-60 time. Which is why 0-60 is not a really great measure of performance. It is too short a time/distance to allow things to all work together. There are some wicked fast race cars that have really poor 0-60 times (compared to their power output).

Stock '70 240Z (according to Road & Track. April 1970 issue) did 0-60 in 8.7 seconds. In my experience, the engine mods will only cut a little bit from 0-60. Gearing changes will have far more effect. I'd guess that without a gearing change or a turbo, an L24 powered 240Z would be hard pressed to get under 7.5 seconds. But that's just a guess, not a fact or experience.

Well, the transaction is in progress now. My payment is on its way now. I'll let you all know how they look once they're in my possession.

The parking brake is a cable-operated lever system that activates the rear wheel brakes mechanically, while the foot brake activates the same brakes hydraulically. So you need to find out whether the parking brake doesn't work because the rear wheel brakes are frozen, or because the mechanical linkage is broken, disconnected or missing. So yes, they can function independently, but they are also related. In my experience, the most common cause of "failure" of the parking brake is that they are disconnected because the cable has rusted solid.

Been there, done that. (A couple weeks ago.) Good luck!