Zeddophile

nah, I actually work in Burwood.... heh, dick smith hey.... Probably seen you there hundreds of times, and never knew.....

it might be worth taking a picture to an engineering shop, see what they reckon it'd cost to get them made up.... you might be able to get a secondhand one or something, and get a few made up cheaper....

where in Northland do you work? Might have to drop by one day if i'm down there....

sorry, the price i got was $109, and i don't know if that was with or without GST.....

Lol - I use the same lane every day, I have like set points where I change lanes, its just habit.... My springs are a bit sagged in the back I think, and the sheer inertia of 2 tonnes of car doesn't help... If it rocks back as much as you say its no wonder I can get the inside front wheel spinning easy as..... I can definitely get the back to slide bulk sideways on my offroad tyres in the wet by lifting off the throttle.. Head checks are actually easy as, because the glass comes down so low in an old range rover.... if it was a discovery it'd be a pain. I live in Watsonia, about 10-15 minutes from Northland - don't tell me you normally work at Northland, cause that'd just be scary.... The flares on my car are Rangie Spares flares, pretty much everyone who chops their gaurds out for big tyres puts them on, but yeah, they do look really good when the cars clean - look better when I have my 34x11.5 inch offroad tyres on instead of my tiny little stock 29x8.5 tyres. You would have definitely noticed those tyres if they'd been on, mostly because of the howling noise they make at any speed, and the massive side lugs that stick out.... Ah well, when I completely bald the onroad tyres, I'm getting 33s for on the road, which will be the end of looking gay in road trim. Your car looks pretty damn clean cruising along - even the rims look good, I'd kind of forgotten what stock wheels look like on the car, since mine hasn't been out the garage in ages, and no-one really has stock wheels on their zeds.

Its a worry that the minute I see a zed of any description I try to tie it to a member of VicZcar... and who else drives a green one? If you haven't worked it out by now, I was the guy in the blue range rover with flares and silly little wheels, who slowed down to wait for you, then kept alongside, then dropped back a gear and took off (well, as much as a 3.5 rangie can!) You could have booted it so I could have a listen!

Guessing that 'trade price' comment was directed at me.... I'll see what I can hunt down.... By the way, if you didn't find out - the deal with 300zx discs for the front is to use Z31 front rotors. Doesn't matter how many wheel studs, because the rotor bolts to the BACK of the hub, not the front.

the carpet in the back i would just lay down, as your spare wheel is under it.... Roof lining - any type of vinyl you want could be used as roof lining, just some are easier to glue/attach than others. I would say yes, definitely possible. Trim panel - I don't know, but I need a LH one, as mine has had a piece chopped out for a speaker.... so if you find a good place, let me know

yes, as warren says, post up some pictures, we'll be able to tell you - I have the haynes manual for 240-260z, so I can probably take photos of the relevant pages if need be....

why'd you pull the bit of sticker off? I would have just bolted the flares over the top....

Bugger, lakes entrance.... If i go that far i have to go visit my parents

That does look damn good..... I'm kind of tempted to do it now......

Interesting that all the zeds are L28 AND THERES A LANCIA STRATOS!!!! Where is this thing, may have to go watch....

looking good....

Lol - leaving me a chance to shine eh nate?

My pedal box does not have clutch and brake pedals, as I removed them for use in my conversion. However, if you find a manual wreck or parts car, the pedals alone are very simple to remove. Removing the pedal box is both much more difficult, and a waste of time, I should think. If you stick your head up under your dash, you should be able to see another mounting point for the clutch pedal, to the left of the steering column. Looking at the brake pedal mounting point will show you where to check for the holes for the pivot pin on the clutch bay. There will be a cutout through the pedal box to the firewall for the pushrod to go though. With this all present (it should be), you can simply do as I outlined above, with no need to go through the hassle of changing pedal boxes. If you are unsure, take a photo of the pedal box and post it up, I'll tell you whether its right or not. No worries on providing help, I know how difficult it can be to find out exactly without exception what parts you will need, and what needs to be changed. I try to help as much as I can, which in this case I call myself an expert :oops: Gav, perhaps we can sticky this thread?

I'd suggest you try and find someone mechanically minded in your area, one of your mates possibly, to help you get it running, then just sort of figure things out from there. Trying to trouble shoot or even describe engine parts over the net is like playing snooker with a cobra for a cue - especially when you are on the other side of the world. For now, I'll just say you need 3 basic things for an engine to start - compression, fuel, and spark. Assuming you have compression (i can tell by the sound, not an option for you, but you COULD buy a comp. tester), check that fuel is getting through the carbies (Pull airbox off, and look down carbie throats, while operating throttle, you should see fuel squirting if you have tried to crank it over a couple of times. Check spark by pulling a spark plug lead off, at the plug, and holding it close to a metal bolt on the car while cranking car over (use well insulated pliers). If it doesn't spark, pull the coil lead (Centre one) out of the distributor, and sit it near a metal earth point (bolt or the motor itself). DO NOT hold the coil lead while cranking, voltage is extremely high. Sparks should be bright blue, not yellow. If you didn't understand much of that, you really need to find someone who can help you in person. Perhaps you might find someone who lives close to you on hybridz.org, or classiczcars.

very easy to do. You'll need a gearbox (can use 280zx five speed), Manual brake pedal and and clutch pedal (also one of the pins at the top which retain the pedal, along with the plastic bushes and return spring), flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, Clutch fork (if not already in the bellhousing of gearbox) spigot bush for the end of the crank, clutch master cylinder (Must be 260Z, and you need the little pin that attaches the pushrod to the clutch pedal), Clutch slave cylinder (if it didn't come with the gearbox) flexible clutch hose, and either the hard clutch piping, or a hard rear brake line off a zed (can be reshaped to fit, as i did with mine). STEP 1 - Remove tailshaft, then remove auto (DUH!) STEP 2 - remove ringgear from back of motor, carefully install spigot bush, after priming with oil, bolt flywheel on - OBSERVE TORQUE SPECS. Probably wise to have the flywheel machined flat before installing (about $50?) STEP 3 - Install clutch and pressure plate, making sure clutch plate is properly aligned. STEP 4 - Swaps! Remove speedo drive from the auto, fit to manual box (speedo drives are matched to the diff). Remove the crossmember from under the auto, and fit it to your gearbox. Remove the auto brake pedal (drift pin at top of pedal) YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE THE WHOLE PEDAL BOX, although others might tell you differently. I didn't do it in my car, you shouldn't need to in yours. If you do, I have a good pedal box. Now fit the manual brake pedal, reverse of removal of the auto pedal. STEP 5 - Install gearbox. With the auto crossmember, it should line up fine. 2 notes here about 280zx boxes, if you use one: 1, The bellhousing bolts need to be longer (Ie: get manual 280zx bellhousing bolts). 2, The transmission tunnel hole needs to be trimmed about 5-10 mm at the front edge. Install tailshaft. Should fit easily. STEP 6: Remove the cover plate over the clutch master cylinder hole (on passengers side of brake booster). Bolt clutch master cylinder in place. Install the clutch pedal, using the other retaining pin you got, along with spring and bushes. Fit the pin b/w clutch master pushrod, and clutch pedal. Install clutch slave cylinder if it wasn't already fitted to gearbox (Note, bleed nipple must be at the top, otherwise it'll never bleed up). Install hard clutch line (or shape and fit your rear brake line). Fit flexible hose between clutch pipe and slave cylinder. Fill with fluid, crack bleed nipple on slave cylinder and wait till fluid starts to run out (hopefully it should run after a couple of drips). Bleed with the help of someone else. STEP 7: Check everything is tight, check the clutch freeplay, then start car in neutral, push clutch pedal in and carefully attempt to engage gear. And that is your manual conversion from start to finish. About a days work if you are mechanically minded and have all the bits when you start. Any questions, feel free to ask - The first thing i did to my 76 2 seater was the manual conversion. If you live in Melbourne, I can probably even give you a bit of a hand when you get round to doing it.

I was the one asking - looks alright, I guess, but probably not the best for the rest of the car....

looks nice...

definitely prefer the ducted version of that front spoiler - breaks that big space up down the bottom, and doesn't quite look as if it hangs as low.... Red one posted up again...

tell you what, i reckon you could almost get away with that offset - you should go trial fit them

hehe - exhaust system will definitely be rather loud

Lol - you were the first bloke I thought of when he said turbo zeds - I cracked up laughing as soon as he said it.

Well, they have complained a number of times to the body corporate. On the first of these occasions, we checked on noise regulations with the council, and found out I hadn't done anything outside the hours anyway. Next few complaints, we got a letter from the body corporate, and simply sent one back advising them we weren't outside noise regulations. Then the other day there was a business card from the Planning Investigations Officer for the local council, so I got dad to ring him (dad has the patience to deal with red tape, i don't. He also is excellent at finding legal loopholes, being an accountant.) The upshot is that over the last 2 years, they changed the law to you could only work on a car registered in your name (an attempt to stop backyard mechanics, as they couldn't prove if money changed hands). Then they ammended it to minor servicing only (basically oil changes). Anyhow, the council officer is sending dad a copy of the regulations, and also me, and dads going to go through it with a finetooth comb to see if its bullshit, but it seems unlikely. At these stage I don't believe they are going to try to fine me, unless I continue working on it. Pretty much they ignore this sort of thing unless there is a complaint, then they are bound by regulations to investigate it. Anyhow, Sulio seems to found me a good solution, if an agreement can be reached, so it doesn't really matter too much anyway. However, my V8 Range Rover with next to straight through exhaust system has developed an unexplainable need to be warmed up at 4500 rpm when I go to work at 7:15 every morning