Arne

That is the question. I love Libres, but my wife is not that fond of them. And I really like the high polish flash of my current wheels on my red 240Z, but still think a set of Libres would be nice to have. Problem is, I'll probably have to buy the entire car to get them, and it is - without a doubt - the rustiest 240Z I have EVER seen. I'm not sure that the wheels are worth the effort to part out a very terminal car.

What's a fair price for a set of real American Racing 14x5.5 Libres, with no curb rash? I've spotted a set locally, and need to figure out how high I'm willing to go on price.

Yeah, even though CZCC.coms owner Mike didn't make it, the club was well represented. In the group pictured below are cars belonging to myself, beandip, Zs-ondabrain, funZ1Z, Mike B, justaZcarguy and more. We'd welcome you guys from farther afield, it'd be fun to meet some of you folks.

Oops! Forgot the link! :nervous: http://www.bleachgarage.com/images/event/canby07/

Will, I was so busy chatting with friends that I seldom see in person that I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have, and didn't pay attention at all to the names of the car owners. So I don't have a clue what car(s) James entered. The best collection of pictures I've seen so far is at the site below. He even got my car in one of the shots. I gotta learn not to park near utility boxes....

BMW Techno-violet, used on '96-99 M3s.

No, not special, not like the 240Z was when it was still current.The 240Z was unique - there was very little offered that was at all similar, it created its own new market niche. The 350Z is a very competent sports car. (A bit uninspiring to look at, in my opinion, but competent none the less.) But so are multitudes of other cars on the market today. There is nothing about the 350Z that stands out like the original Z did. The saving grace for the 350Z is the combination of performance for a relatively affordable price. That's all it has going for it. But personally, I'd probably buy a Mustang GT over a 350Z. At least the Mustang's looks are distinctive and everyone knows what it is...

In retrospect folks, my post just above may be a bit harsh sounding. I'm sorry about that, and I blame it on being worked up over some non-Datsun stuff and it bled over. Sorry, all.

Well..... I guess you folks who feel this kind of stuff is important can have at it. From my point of view - that of a Datsun owner who wants to drive and maintain his car(s) - these topics are flavorless at best, and sometimes divisive at their worst. The fact of the matter is that after the amount of time that has passed, the chances of coming up with the "truth" are slim and none. We don't have access to the people who were involved, and their recollections may not jive anyway. And in the end, none of this type of history stuff will matter to me or my car(s) anyway. Enjoy, all...

No, disconnecting the buzzer won't hurt it. (The buzzer is disconnected on my yellow car - light works fine.) In my experience, the most likely issue is a lack of good ground contact for the door switches. Pop the switches out - I think you'll likely find that as you pry the switch out of the hole the light will come on. So pull the switch, clean up the hole to clean metal, clean the rust off the switch tabs, and re-insert it. That will probably do it. You may also want to clean up the pointed contacts on the switches while you have them out.

You don't. If the caliper won't release properly either the master cylinder pushrod is improperly adjusted, or the caliper is seized and needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

Sorry I missed you, Austen. Or if I saw you and talked with you I wasn't aware of it. And very sorry to hear of your car's troubles. I met up with several other 240Zs at the I-5 rest area near Canby, and then we did the final ten miles as a group. Must have been six or seven of us. We got there shortly after 10:00 and parked all in a group. A few more joined us, and there ended up being quite a few Zs, in fact I think that even though the sponsoring club is heavily 510-oriented the 240Zs out-numbered the dimes. Very cool to see the cars, and to chat with people I rarely see in person.

The breather hose I bought about a year ago from MSA was braid-covered. It was part #15-6200 and is listed to fit '70-72.

Just a thought - it's possible the alternator has failed and you have run the battery dead. Try charging the battery first. If it starts then, take it down to a shop or parts house and have the charging system checked.

When the exhaust manifold/header is replaced, you will need to replace the gasket too. The intake manifold and exhaust manifold/header share the same manifold gasket. So the intake manifold will need to come off as well.

Basically, they flow too much air. The larger throats allow the the air to move more slowly, which hurts torque. Carb size needs to be matched to the airflow needs of the engine. Triple 50's are way too much for a mostly stock L24.

Yes, your cars would, Stephen.:classic:I could get decent A/C in the Datsun, I'm sure. But that wasn't a realistic option for many of my past hobby cars - like the MG for example, or the hopped up Fiat 600...

Maybe I've been spoiled by living in a mild climate for so long. To me, any car can be a daily driver. I generally drive my 240Z to work at least once a week. I drove a (personally restored) '67 MGB every day for the better part of 5 years. (It was 25+ years old at the time.) Properly maintained, you don't need a modern car for a DD. Provided, of course, you live somewhere that A/C might be optional...

My experience is with 3-synchro MGB gearboxes, both with and without overdrive. I would not hesitate to tear into a Datsun 'box as long as I can get good instructions.

Sounds like mainshaft bearings to me. A typical manual transmission of this vintage has three shafts, all supported by various bearings. You can generally determine which bearings are bad by the times that the noise is heard, and how the tone changes in different gears. The three shafts are the input shaft, the mainshaft and the countershaft (or layshaft if you're in the UK). The input shaft is the one in the bell housing that the clutch disk slides onto. It is a short shaft supported by a big bearing at the front, and a needle bearing at the back where it mates with the mainshaft. This shaft spins at engine speed whenever the clutch is disengaged, even in neutral. The mainshaft is the one the driveshaft attaches to at the back end. It will have one or two caged roller bearings in addition to the needle bearing at the front where it meets the input shaft. This shaft spins whenever the car is moving regardless of gear, it's speed is constant with road speed. The countershaft is the connecting shaft in all gears other than 1:1 (fourth in both 4 and 5 speeds). It is directly driven by the input shaft and spins at the same times and speeds as that one. But it is only under load in reverse, first, second, third and (if applicable) fifth gears. So from this description - noise when you get on or let off the gas in all gears. Just yesteday it started having this awful vibration in all gears above 1500rpms. All noises and vibrations go away when in neutral or if I have the clutch in. - it can't be the input shaft because it doesn't do it in neutral. If it were the countershaft, it would be quiet in fourth gear, so that's out as well. So only the mainshaft bearings are likely to make noise at the times you noted. As for rebuilding it yourself, that is not a job for your average home mechanic. There are many parts, springs detent balls, etc. It's very hard to find good service manuals for transmissions, let alone the necessary parts.

Yes, but... I note that the seller hasn't given a price for the early car. I'm betting that's because he figures it's valuable. Doing a proper restoration on a low-VIN car is very expensive, so make certain it is fairly complete, and don't get carried away and pay too much. After all, rust and a caved-in roof will mean a lot of body work.