Arne

Yeah, both the '96 328i and the '91 Jetta 16v are ~110k now.

Was sitting in my 240Z today (working on the windshield sunshade, update on that soon to be posted), and looked at the odometer and noticed that while driving the car to and from work last week, it finally turned over 70,000 miles! My car is getting old! Fact of the matter is, the 240Z is the lowest mileage car we own...

There's a picture of a new one of the style you have in the thread linked below. My car (7/71) did not come with that style. It had (still has) the one pictured below. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33600

OK, it sounds like the rear springs at least are shot. I'm not aware of any new springs in current production that are similar in ride height and spring rate to the stock 240Z springs. The current aftermarket springs all lower the car at least an inch, except for the Arizona Z springs which are about stock ride height but considerably stiffer spring rate. To maintain a ride similar to stock, you will need either stock or only slightly stiffer spring rate. You could watch for a set of used 240Z springs, but there's always the risk that they may not be all that much better than the ones you have on the car now. The other thing you could try to find is a set of the Nissan Euro Stage 1 springs, either original or a set of the reproductions that were available 2-3 years ago. I have the repros on my car with KYB and the ride/handling combo is quite nice. These springs do show up in the classifieds here or on eBay now and then. They need to be cut down some for use on US spec cars with gas shocks, but done correctly they give great daily-driver results.

Do you still have your original stock springs? If so, are you certain that they need to be replaced? Is the ride height still close to stock? If so, the springs are probably fine and all you need are new inserts, and the KYBs would be fine. I'd only worry about replacing the springs if the current set are sagged more than 1/2".

As you can see, the time it takes varies wildly by the amount of work, who's doing it, and how many other jobs they may be juggling. Mine was 6 weeks to the day from when I started pulling trim until I finished reassembling it. That included having the roof skin replaced at one shop and the paint at another. Documented in the thread below. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30588

I suspect you will hear from several people with this combination who have not noticed a problem. While I do not have personal experience with this package on a 240Z, I do know this: 1.) KYB specifically says NOT to use GR-2s with lowering springs. If they determine that the inserts were used with lowering springs, the warranty is void. 2.) I ignored this warning in the past on a previous (non-Datsun) car, and the strut inserts were badly worn (bouncy, no rebound control) in less than 15,000 miles. YMMV, of course.

My buzzer (aka the squealer) is still connected, and will remain so until I get the ignition lock/key corrected so that the key can not be removed in any position. The buzzer serves as a good reminder that I haven't got it all the way in the Lock position. But once I have that corrected, I'll disconnect it!

Don't rub it in, Mike. I still wish I had a yellow 240Z....

The interesting part for me is that this person apparently joined this site primarily to sell parts. See this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36989 He has several ads posted now.

Well, I'd say that they are being fairly up front and ethical about it. No way any decent body-paint shop or person wants to paint over someone else's filler work, especially filler that has not been sealed to keep moisture out of it. No good can come of that. From their perspective, to do a decent job that they can be reasonably certain will hold up, all the exposed filler needs to be re-done. And that's way more work than they are willing to trade for advertising, that's all.

Dental floss. Use a fairly heavy, waxed variety. Slide it under the emblem and gently saw through the adhesive.

I'm with Alan on this one. Tooling up for a very limited run of cast wheels is incredibly expensive, even more so for magnesium. While the end result is very expensive, they will be lucky to just break even, let alone make a small profit. Projects like this are more of a labor of love, not a money-making opportunity.

Nope. And no squeak so far.

Actually, I did just that. I cut my bumpstop so that it is already applying firm pressure at all times. Had to squish it a bit during install. Did that on purpose to firm things up as much as possible. Seems to work well that way, and I notice no increase in NVH over stock.

A quick update. Mine has been in the car for several weeks now. I installed it with the stock lower mount and upper bumpstop, not because I had a clunk, but as a preventative measure. My limit strap was original, but intact and appeared to be in fine shape. But I've found that the combination of stock mount and bumpstop locates the diff much more firmly in place than the rubber strap can. My car is much easier to drive smoothly, much less slop (lash) in the drivetrain now. The difference is noticeable, even in normal in-town traffic. I'd rate this as a BIG improvement, even for a stock 240Z that isn't driven all that hard.

No, the surface texture is quite different than what is left after the cloth braid goes away.Since I drove mine to work today, I walked out to verify. (No camera with me at work, so old pictures will have to do.) And I was both right and wrong. The crankcase breather hose is cloth braid-covered, and the fuel supply hoses have been replaced with modern generic fuel hose. But I was correct that I had seen this hose used somewhere, as all the smog pump hoses use it. The attached picture shows it all around the AB valve.

FWIW Rich, the EGR and fuel supply hoses on my car (7/71) also appear to be that same rubber-dipped cloth finish. I am 99% certain that mine are original.

I've been through this before. (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19793) If the 7/71 harness is also for an automatic, there will be some differences, but you should be able to make it work. Will take some fiddling, and some connectors may be different. If the 7/71 harness is for a manual transmission, there will be several wires and circuits missing that your automatic car needs.

When I rebuilt the heater box on the yellow Z, I used 1/4" thick closed cell foam that was self-adhesive on one side. It was about 1/2" wide. Worked great. I probably need to do that on the red car too, but I'm not excited about pulling the heater box out.

I don't have the experience to recommend brands of parts for your Z, as I've not rebuilt a Datsun engine (yet), and so I've never done the homework to find the good stuff. If you were rebuilding an old British engine, I'd give you my opinions. But not for a Datsun, not yet.

Those are correct for a '76 280Z as well. They used those from '72-76.Welcome, boflyer!

No experience there, or with any kits as I've never been interested in buying rebuild parts that way. I much prefer to select and buy the parts individually, so that I know exactly what I have and that it is what I want, not what some kit packager thinks I need. Might cost me a bit more that way, but if the kit is cheaper, there's likely been a corner or two cut somewhere, and I don't like cut corners inside my engines. Just my opinion...

Z's of that era were unusual in that they were fuel injected. So the compromises brought on by the emission controls were less onerous than in many carburated cars. That said, a classic Z is not a speed demon by today's standards, so I'd recommend a test drive to make sure that the car is what you expect.

Yes, but...No matter how bad, they were (and still are, here in the West) functional cars that can serve as reasonable transportation. Not so, those HELLAFLUSH doohickeys. If you think I get worked up about cars that are trailered around and not driven so that they can be kept pristine, that's nothing compared to my contempt for a "style" that ruins a car for no good reason.