g260

Datfreak, Check Shox.com, they are about the best price wise for Tokico's or other shocks.

Hi Brett, Your back eh. How was the US of A?. Did you buy any Z parts or just have fun!!! Geoff

I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem. When I originally bought my 260 the front tie rods were shot so I replaced them with new ones that were one a 240 I was pulling apart. Recently, I had the car on the wheel aligner and was attempting to set the toe and centre the steering wheel. What I found was that one the the tie rods was about 1/2" longer than the other and I wasn't able to centre the steering properly. I checked the old tie rods I had taken off the car and found they were of equal length and were the size of the smaller tie rod. Does anyone have an idea what the longer tie rod might be off? Someone has suggested it may be from a 280? Having the longer ones will help when I get some extra negative camber on the front if I can work out what it is from. Any help would be appreciated. Geoff

The other page

Wakefield times I have tried to attach the times for the Wakefield sprint last Sunday. In checking I found that I did a disservice to one of the Z's in listing him as 3rd fastest on the day with a time of around 1.08. In fact he took 2nd fastest of the day with a 1.06.90 only 8/10ths of ftd of 1.06.10. You will see that after each car there is a colour of blue , green, white, etc., this represents the colour grouping the cars ran in, and not that we had a large collection of same colour cars.

The weather forecast said it would be between 2 to 11 degrees C, however for most of the day it seemed to be closer to 2 than 11, with intermitant rain interrupting the proceedings. Overall though it was a great day with 9 240/260's and 2 300's entered. The total entry was some 80 cars with cars ranging from a 355 Ferrari through to Datsun 1600's and Sunnys with FJ20 motors. The Z drivers did well with the prizes, gaining 3rd fastest on the day as well as wins in several classes. The quickest Z did around 1min8sec, this is a stripped and lightened race car with 3.1 motor and FI. Several other club members did quick times with Brett240Z winning his class with a very respectable time of 1.15.5. It runs in the family, with his brother winning his class in a nice Alfa GTV6 with a time around 1.20 The difficulty during the day was getting heat into the tyres, as well as in one of the early runs a car spat off his oil filter and dropped oil over turns 1 and 2 on the fastest part of the track at the end of the main straight. It was very interesting for a while to say the least!! Hope to have some pics soon. g260

George, If you come to the club meeting this Wednesday night I will show you how I have mounted mine. I have had a rear strut bar made that incorporates the harness mounts and have bought longer eye bolts that screw into the standard seat belt mount holes on the floor so that I can retain my lap/sash belt and clip in the harness when I need to. Geoff

Hi George, How much were those belts? I may be in the market as we have a supersprint on at Wakefield Park on Sunday week the 22/6. The belts I have at the moment are a bit old and I have looked at SAAS and RPM belts so far. Geoff

If you haven't already done so check out these sites, they will give you info about heads and blocks. http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/z.html also http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/z.html HTH g260

Hey Victor, I replaced my gearbox last weekend also. The old 5 speed was a bit tight to get out but wasn't too bad. The new one went in pretty smooth. With the old box I had started to get a noise as I was starting to release the clutch which I was told was either the thrust race or the pilot bushing. When I pulled the old box I saw that the end of the gearbox mainshaft was a bit rough and dry which I think was the reason for the noise. Anyhow I put a light smear of moly grease on the new mainshaft and mated it up. It all went back together really well and I bled the clutch and my last job was to fill the gearbox with oil. This was when I had trouble!! I couldn't undo the filler plug. No matter what I tried, shfting spanner, multi grips, stilsons, it would not budge!!! I thought I was up sxxt creek!!! After sleeping on it on Sat night I went back and tried again on Sunday and still the same. I looked around my mates workshop where I was doing the work and eventually found a large chisel and hammer and took to it with those implements. Luckily, it moved very slightly and I was then able to attack it again with a pair of stilsons and get it out. I was a case of perserverance as I had had nightmares of either having to remove the exhaust headers and/or the gearbox to fix it. I will know next time to loosen the plug before I mount up the box.

I made a start this afternoon on changing the head on my 280 motor. Everything was going well, I took off the old N42 and put on my late model E88 which has had a bit of improvement work done. Started bolting everything up and got to the cam timing sprocket. I tried pos 1 and the slot in the sprocket was way to the left of the mark on the camshaft locating plate. I tried pos 2 and still not close, so I ended up with pos 3 and its still to the left. I know the engine has a few kms on it and it looks like the chain has reached its use by date. Will go out tomorrow and try and buy another. I might as well change it now whilst the engine is partially dismantled. Are there any special tips, or things to watch out for, in replacing the timing chain, apart from making sure the crankshaft pulley nut is very tight? Thanks, Geoff

I have attached a sheet for the specs for Camtech cams who are based in Sydney. They cost about $220. HTH resize of file0001.bmp

George, I think you will find the original tyres front and rear were 195 70x14's Geoff

Sorry about the engine Nigel, hope its not too bad. The meeting went a bit longer tonight as it was the first one after the nationals in Qld and there was plenty of discussion about it and what we have to do for the next nationals we are hosting in 2005. The general concensus is that we will hold them in Goulburn at easter and have the track day at Wakefield Park which is only 10km out of town. Still waiting to see the car in the flesh George, did you get through rego ok? The second meeting in the car park finished about 11pm. Geoff

I go for the following in no order of preference, depending on the mood; Ping Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon Santana-Abraxas Album Butterfield Blues Band Miles Davis Dr.John Dave Brubeck Oscar peterson Iron Butterfly-In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Van Morrison Muddy Waters Blues Brothers Album BB King Leonard Cohen Randy Crawford Frank Sinatra John Lee Hooker Art Blakey Gerry Mulligan Stevie Ray Vaughan AC/DC Led Zeppelin etc,etc.,

Hey Nigel, By my reckoning, the Z club meeting is on the 21st, which is the Wednesday after tomorrow!! Geoff PS By the way did you sell the 280 motor? and what type of Tokico shocks did you get? Were they Illuminas?

An interesting site put up by someone over on Zcar.com. Has some nice looking Z's and GT-R's. Some may have seen it before. http://www.rockyauto.co.jp/

My belts cost about AUD$160 for the pair and they were purchased from a Pep's auto store. You have the option of a belt or wire stalk for the receiving side of the belt. geoff

I seem to remember Katz in Japan, I think was looking for original tryes for his restoration. g260

The belts in my 74 260Z were looking a bit jaded and the 'boss' in the passenger side kept telling me I needed new ones. Anyhow, after looking around for a while I found a Klippan brand ( I think made in Aust or NZ) rear retractable lap/sash belt model no. K2578 which fitted exactly where my old belt fitted. My fitting is the one which mounts flat on the top of the strut tower with the belt passing through the twisted wire bracket mounted just inside the door at shoulder height. The main rectractor part of the belt bolts onto a bracket which is attached to the rear of the strut tower and is bent forward over the top of the tower into which the retractor mechanism fits.!! (I hope that makes sense). The Klippan belt I bought bolts in perfectly. The only change I had to make was with the stalk on the tunnel side which the belt buckles into. On the bottom of the original stalk it was bent at about a 45 degree angle to allow for the curve of the tunnel. The Klippan one was staright at the end and I had to bend it at 45 degrees or so and it fitted perfectly. I hope this helps, I will try and get some pics in the near future. Regards, Geoff

The Targa Tasmania at the bottom of Australia gets underway on the 13 May. As usual there is a great lineup of cars of all makes and models. Including 7 240Z's and 1 260Z. http://www.targa.org.au/ Entry list as of April: http://www.targa.org.au/downloads/invite_list_midApril2003.pdf g260

Hey George, Love the car. Looks brilliant!!. Even though I am a purest and prefer the original engine, that car looks very nice. Ben and I both agree the Simmons wheels look fantastic. Are they FR17's or 18's. Hope you bring it to the next club meeting. Did your old car stay in NSW or was it exported interstate? Geoff

Biker, Look in the for sale section on this site. Nigel Mulvey down here in Sydney has apparently encountered some economic problems and has advertised his 260 for sale for $1500. It is stripped and partially prepared for restoration. Might be worth a look. His car can be viewed at http://www.users.bigpond.com/nigel.mulvey/index.htm Geoff