daeron

rilly? um, would you mind checking my Zcar? the soob is too clean to have had any major problems with it, but it would be nice to get a report on the Datsun... dang, i used to remember the VIN.. HLS30 215171 it is a 1975 Datsun 280Z if you cant, no big deal.. but since you offered...

first off, ACK!!!!! second off, weld some steel up into the existing framerails to stiffen them. also, skid plates and what i call "wrecker" bumpers are either easy to be had, or easy to make.. cruise the photo gallery for some ideas... third off.. pics!! as they come fourth, anyone who might whine about it needs to look at those pictures again. if this car is still running good, i actually feel that demolition derby aint that bad an idea.... which im shocked to find myself saying.

umm.. it took too long. yah. I still bet its a little loose...the little window trim thingy. ill have work soon, and wont have time for computer. just cope with my posting habits for now, just a little while longer.. you folks are helping me stay sane with all this time on my hands and no money to do anything with it.... we dont want do we?

yah, im the same driveline as you, i just have an automatic trans.. and i wish i didnt. i DID, however, FINALLY find a car SOMEwhat close to me for 500 obo.. 89 GL wagon, recent transplant of an engine and 4wd driveline... it needs a rear CV axle, but i could just take them both out to drive it home.. only about 250 miles away, too!! but of course, this comes up now that i am unemployed..

boostedballs: GREAT response, nice and thorough. the sandpaper on the firing deck is a little alarming, though..... i dont know how much I would care to do that, myself...... I get your theory, with the piece of glass to keep it flat, but it still seems a bit frightening.... good point on checking for a true surface though.

i dont know if it will work.. it needs the little accumulator canister at least. thats basically just a chamber to build up a decent volume of air at vacuum pressure to operate your controls.. like a capacitor

beataru had a good point, dont forget that if the system cannot maintain the proper pressure, it wont cool as well.

+123858972309846 not +1 i think everyone here is saying to you, buy it and see if you can get it started later. Worst case scenario, you can get 200 for parts.

bgd: I HEAR YOU! sorry, but mines 2wd, and i dont really care too much not to have them backs spinning.... but it would be SWEET if i had just a fivespeed to take more advantage of the power ive already got. but who doesnt want more powere, hmmmm??? I too have pondered this over and over and over.... contemplated getting a 3 door just to make it look _somewhat_ like an acura integra, except total sleeper... but that all takes $$$ and thats what i dont have.

awesome man! i dont even have a brat, but thats REALLY cool that you were so kind to do that for the community!

i had about twelve 8 foot 2x4s in my GL-10 sedan a few months back.. trunklid closed and everything. it really is amazing what the general shape of a htachback does for storage space in a vehicle.. and I have never liked the term SUV. Ive always considere4d them overgrown station wagons... and found it morbidly hysterical when all the soccer moms started driving them instead of minivans.....

careful what you say!!! that could mean bad things...

okay, I see now.. I hadnt thought of the power transfer there. just trying to make sure none of you people miss something here, thats all. im obviously in over my head, but thats why i read and post here so much.

My old man had to do it a few months back. Read the directions carefully, chances are it is a two-part epoxy that you have to mix, then pour into the tank, then tape off any holes and roll the tank around for a defined period of time, to distribute the coating evenly, everywhere. then you pour all the excess goo out. It works. I cant make any recommendations on the product you specifically ordered, but this isnt one of those magical fixes that doesnt really work, if that is what youre asking.. like bars leaks, or automatic trans anti-slip agents....

the strut cartridge is there to dampen the shock. if there is absolutely no strut cartridge in the design in the first place, the rear end will bounce on the springs, and eventually setllte out... until you hit another bump. Blown out strut cartridges have some minimal effect on dampening the bouncey bouncey.. but very little. However, it should not cause some catastrophic suspension failure if you want to put it off a bit. just be careful going over bumps, etc.. and be aware that there is the nonzero possibility of bouncing so severely youre rear tires (MIGHT) become airborne i HAVE seen it happen before... but you certainly wont be the first car in america driving around with dead rear shocks.

you should see what me and my family can fit into a two seater datsun 240/260/280Z... EASILY enough for a two person, week long camping and fishing trip, if we can get groceries once we are there. I went to the 12 hours of sebring one year with a buddy in his 300ZX, and he didnt believe we fit everything we did in there.. but thats just experience. The next year when we went, he had a 77 corvette, and tried to do the same thing... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH

well, that is indicating that you have an issue with your egr solenoid (or the circuit) and your purge control solenoid (or the circuit). clearing the codes, then immediately getting them again, means that they are real issues that need to be dealt with. i know the egr solenoid has a quick-and-dirty fix, but i dont know the details. you can do a search though, as it has been discussed recently.. EDIT thank you, cougar, for knowing what i was trying to say to him, better than I did myself. like i said, common issue.

my point was, i believe that the later 300ZXs used a spline drive halfshaft system on their rear ends.... i dont know jack about it beyond that (ie shaft diameter, spline count) but the parts may be interchangeable on the outputs of the axle.. again, my axle terminology isnt up to par, so im kinda reaching for words i dont have. not an experience im used to.

??? ive used cheap spring compressors before.. and I mean, yah, its something that has a very definite risk of some potentially EXTREMELY bad things... but ive never had cause to be particularly afraid. I'm curious as to why you raise an eyebrow at them.... is it possibly because you are a little to used to using the best equipment, on some rather larger springs, or am i missing something here?

i actually knew a guy with 3 convertible challengers... and a cuda. one of the challengers was his first car from age 16. the cuda was his daily driver.

well, the springs wear over time... but new strut cartirdges for the front, and shocks in the rear, shouldnt cost TOO too much... i must admit ive never priced them, nor would i know how they might be priced down under... You also may well be able to find springs from a different automobile to put in there. search around a bit, its been beaten to death. The fact is simply, that there are virtually zero (if not literally zero) "aftermarket suspension upgrades" for this car. it IS a subaru from the 1980s.. not a porsche or something :- ) so youre either limited by your own ingenuity in finding a part that will fit (it HAS been done) or swap out the front suspension from the later car. Its probably not as hard as you might think.. its mostly a matter of, can you commit the vehicle to the swap? it might take a few days, it might take a few weeks before its on the road again. However, if you are willing to take the initiative, and have some tools.. then just about anything can be done on this subaru by you. an engine swap might be pushing it... but these cars have a way of making mechanics out of people, and its not from frequent breakdown.. its from (relative) ease of repair, and simplicity of design.

+1 on the RX7 oil cooler. easy way to go, junkyard guys dont even know about em so they are ALL on there still. weve got three or four of them up at the shop :- )

I will add tie rod ends, although you didnt mention any steering wheel shimmy. the HTKYSA has a REALLY great walk-through on isolating a front suspension/steering issue.. it also helps describe the theory and function of it all, easy to understand, enlightening even if you know something about it all already.

okay.. im a little vague on my terminology here, but i am also a nissan guy... by flange mount halfshafts, you mean the halfshaft style that I have out on my 75 280Z. the diff has an ear on either side, with four holes, and the halfshaft mounts to that. Later 300ZXs had a cv axle-type spline connection into the rear diff, its a not uncommon conversion to do on your older Z because those halfshafts and the U joints are getting hard to find (good new ones anyhow) I dont know jack about wheeling, i dont know what makes one type of driveshaft desirable over the other.. BUT if you want an R200 rear diff that uses splined drive axles instead of flanged then the 300ZX's R200 (which are currently dime a dozen in the boneyards around here, as long as your not looking for LSD) offers you that. However, the flange-mount halfshafts are mighty easy to swap out if you bust em..... I dunno, If i have made a contribution to some knowledge here, ask me more about it and i can find out. Just figured I would throw that out there. never hurts to get knowledge from outside the subaru box, yanno?

my understanding is that the stock rear shocks are nothing to shake a stick at... if you can replace them with stock, theres the easy way at least. the front suspension mod is a swap-in from the later model cars, it involves going to five-lug rims as well.. more wheel options. its not as simple as using the struts from a leggy.. at least, that was what I thought.. I figgered id throw you an answer/comment since so many people over here stateside are sleeping right now tho :-p