Arne

Marty, I'm a big fan of SUs, and love mine. But in my opinion for track use with an overbored L28 and a hotter cam, I suspect that the SUs will limit performance some. Not to say they won't work, because they will. But I figure a set of triples will bring it alive and get more out of the engine than the SUs can.

More important than the motor is the condition of the white nylon spool shaft. If the shaft is intact, that's a rare part indeed.

I was wondering the same. Factory rear sway bar mounts, maybe?And would the weight difference be all that great once the bumpers were stripped off?

I suspect that just means Brian doesn't have any on the shelf right now. I'd drop him an email.

While I've never used them, I've seen these in person and they look like they'd do a great job. http://www.zccjdm.com/catalog.php/azcarbum/dt81970/pd1987788/ADJ._TENSION_CONTROL_RODS__ZCAR__510__

Bearing in mind that I am not a lawyer, here is my understanding. Trademarks are not the same as copyrights. Copyrights can expire and enter the public domain if not renewed. Trademarks have no such time limitation, and are protected until/unless the owner abandons it. And since NGK still uses the same starburst and NGK lettering on their current products, I think it's safe to say they haven't abandoned it yet.

Moved this to the Group Buy forum.

I figure the complaints about the welding come from insecure punks who figure that the only way to make themselves sound knowledgeable is to bad mouth other people's rides, and the welding (which looks quite fine to me) is the only thing they can find to criticize. Ignore them. What you are building is a work of art - welding included.

We'd be better off as a country now if it had happened 20 years ago....

Can't see how that matters, really. It's all out of pocket for the consumer, doesn't matter whether it's taxes or fuel cost.

Hearing a few positives and no dissent, I'm happy to report that I have given the OK to go to production. If there are no further glitches, I should have them in my possession in 7-10 business days.

From what I see in the pictures, the car is an early '74 260Z. Five speed transmissions were not offered in the US until 1977, so that is definitely not original. There were at least four different versions of E88 head castings, fitted from late '71 through the end of the US 260Z run. So the head may be original, but may not. The P30 casting on the block tells us very little, you'll need to compare the engine serial number to the ID plate on the passenger inner fender (assuming the plate still exists). The carbs are from a '72 240Z, which is a good thing. (The original 260Z carbs are not liked by most people.)

Bear in mind that I'm just one single person, and my opinion is based on only my own experiences. Those experiences are not just with Zs, but date back 15-20 years to my MG restoration. Black Dragon is a division of Long Motor Co.: they sell Z and RX7 parts as BD; MG, Triumph and Sunbeam parts as Victoria British; and Chevy/GMC and Ford pickup parts under the LMC name. Maybe others makes by now as well. As with my MG before, I've found that it is virtually impossible to buy all the parts that a Z might need from a single source. So there is a place for BD in the supplier world. But in my experience, BD is far less likely to have anything that other places won't have, as they are primarily an aggregator and reseller. The parts they sell are more likely to be generic parts that fit more than one make, and the parts that they carry that are specific to Zs are generally third-party aftermarket parts. They will generally be serviceable, and may possibly be a bit cheaper than a part for the same application from a different vendor, but may not look or fit exactly like the originals. The same third-party parts are often available from local parts houses, and often for similar prices. But it can be hard to find people knowledgeable enough to help you find them locally, so having a simple catalog from BD does have its place. As for doing business with them, if you can accept the more generic parts they sell, they generally seem to be an ethical place to do business. If you aren't happy with a part on arrival, they have generally been easy to deal with on returns. Don't expect any knowledge on the part of the phone order-takers - I've read an interview with the owner where he stated point-blank that he won't hire phone people that know cars as that encourages chit-chat on the phone and slows production. So no, I doubt you'll get hurt buying from them, as long as you aren't expecting Nissan or OE-quality parts from them.

They look good to me as well, and also to my wife and a non-Z-driving friend who had them on his cars back in the day. (Notably on a rather bad-a$$ thoroughly modified X1/9. The sound of that little runt car's engine right behind your ears with its twin Webers, hot cam and Ansa header/exhaust was absolutely amazing.)But that's what I'm after here, confirmation that they look "right".

Sure did. None are period-looking as is, and none would work as needed to mount vertically as the period look requires. Outlet spacing is too wide on the 08A. The 2.5" pipe size is also excessive for a stock L24. Nice looking pieces, though.

Yeah, I think it'll be a good choice. I also looked at the 12148 (same thing in 5 x 8 oval), but the center to center spacing on the outlets was a full 4". Too much for what I'm trying to replicate.

Back to the original muffler topic - I've looked into the Sebring and they'd be pretty high on my list if I was looking for a single outlet muffler. But in my quest to keep my car as period-looking as possible, I've been looking around trying to find a good way to replicate one of the old systems with dual vertical tips, but using modern parts. Would like to end up with something similar to the Abarth in the attached pic. I recently found a likely candidate in the Magnaflow 11148. Natural finish stainless, small 3.5x7 oval, case length of 14", single 2.25" inlet and dual 2" outlets. Just got an email back from Magnaflow Tech with the last needed dimension - the center to center spacing of the outlets is 2.75". That should be just about perfect for a pair of 2.5" OD tips. I think I've finally picked out my muffler. :bulb:

If no one voices any objections by tomorrow morning, I'm going to OK them for production. Last chance for input.

You need to get a service manual, it will describe the process. Removing the cam towers is a last resort and not recommended unless you need to shim them.

Ummm.... I'm pretty sure that gnose was replying to bpilati's post, not yours. You might want to take a deep breath and re-read what everyone wrote here.

I know what you mean, Adam. I have always been after the 240-Z version, but the DATSUN is growing on me quickly. I may decide to keep the last unreserved DATSUN for myself. As for moving forward, the manufacturer (Joe) and I are both happy with the shape of the sunshades now, so that is finalized. We discussed the problem of the lettering not following the curve and Joe assures me that the vector graphic process used for the real thing (which is a completely different process than printing the mock-ups) will correct the letter/number placement. So if we are happy with the font as shown here in post #147, we can proceed to production. If we do that I should be able to begin shipping them out within 10 days or so. Comments? Thoughts?

I've recently been considering a dual outlet Magnaflow to try to replicate the looks of the old Italian systems for 240Z. I've heard good things about the sound of the Magnaflow.

I think I sold both of the motors from my pair of '71 parts cars, but I'll look through my stuff later this week. If I still have one I'll send you a PM.

I wonder if the "cruise control" he mentioned in the ad was really the hand throttle that escaped removal somehow?

Finally found an image of the Abarth system, so I added it to the very first post in the thread.