JP

When travelling I usually stayed in business hotels as they are cheap. Tiny but cheap. A lot of bigger hotels have "western style" rooms and "japanese style rooms". You could book a japanese style room if you wanted to get the experience of dressing up in japanese robes, straw mats and sleeping on futon, often they have a japanese breakfast served to your room too. Otherwise you could stay at hotsprings (onsen), that way even when you have finished you day, you are still sightseeing/having new experiences. Be prepared to get naked though They are scattered all across the country, the really nice and expensive ones are in the hills though.

There is also akihabara in Tokyo (electric town) which is basically a massive tourist trap but interesting to have a look. All the main districts you will want to see in Tokyo are on the city loop (yamanote line). If you're travelling out of tokyo which I imagine you would over 3-4 weeks, then I would do the typical Kyoto trip and see the temples (kiyomizudera is the best in my opinion). I would stop in Osaka just to have a look around and eat heaps (okonomiyaki), then there is also hiroshima which obviously has the peace memorial which is very interesting if you like a bit of history. I spent about 4 hours in the atomic museum. All this can be planned in order and is very easy on the bullet train. You have to travel away from the train stations to see the temples in Kyoto but there is a tourist orientated "raku" bus i think it was called which is a flat rate. The bus is also used by locals and most stops aren't where you need to get off, so be prepared and download some maps! Its the middle of winter so Fuji will be covered in snow and impossible to climb. It can be a bit boring by yourself, so very important you plan ahead so you have things to do and don't get trapped wandering aimlessly.

I lived in Japan for about a year and a half for work. In winter I would just spend the whole time snowboarding, forget the car stuff In nagano it was only like $100 for accommodation, lift ticket, massive dinner and breakfast All my car shopping in Japan I did online as it's much easier and much cheaper, but you need to have a permanent address to use. I don't know much about Z cars in Tokyo, but I did spend some time at RockyAuto in Aichi (nearish to Nagoya). The Toyota museum in Nagoya is awesome, they have samples off all the cool cars from the last century (not just Toyota) including a 432R. Other than cars I would just spend some time at the market in harajuku, some time at the bars and clubs in shibuya. Eat and drink heaps in all the izakaya bar/restaurants. Maybe catch the monorail from shibuya to odaiba, the man made island in the bay. Toyota used to have a mini museum in the mall there plus you get a great view of how massive Tokyo is. Everywhere is super accessible by train and most of the fun is to be had making a fool of yourself in totally non English speaking situations.

I'd swap it, it's really not that much work. If your not fussed with originality then my opinion has always been it's best to work with the biggest and strongest platform to begin with.

I think it was mid-'75 which brings about the biggest compromise for me, stiffer body for more power or earlier emissions compliance rules. I wish I chose the earlier emissions in hindsight. As mentioned it is about emissions, not power. Post '74 you need to run all emissions equipment including original EFI ECU unless you prepared to spend 5 figures certifying another ECU. The RB30DE never had one as it isnt a production motor. The next logical step was an RB26DETT however I was told that it is difficult to get the original ECU to run the motor in a conversion without all the other chassis systems (awd etc). Similar the RB25DET Neo with its drive by wire etc etc. This is why I ended up with a stock S2 RB25DET. I'm not saying the RB26DETT or Neo isnt possible, however in the brief research I did they seemed impractical to run in a conversion using the OEM ECU.

Hey, the RB25DET has been in for almost a year now but unfortunately not running yet as the car is in storage while I am building a new house. Good news is I have built a nice double garage as a workshop with the Z's name on it, should be ready to move in next month. What year did the 2+2's start in Australia? Pretty late on wasn't it?

You need a pre-emissions ADR '74 or earlier car. I had an RB30DET in my '77 and it couldn't realistically be engineered unless running on straight gas. It's an expensive lesson.

Not just difficult, but near impossible unless you have a pre-74 car or run straight LPG.

Sorry the pics arent the best, but the dash is at the very back of my garage. The finish is quite good but not perfect, which is the only reason I am considering selling it.

Few more

Pics

Unless youre stuck in it

I'll take some photos this week.

I have a reskinned dash I bought from these forums. My car is a long way from finished due to various commitments so if you are willing to pay what I paid for it ($300) then I dont mind parting with it.

It would too...I was having trouble connecting the radiator pipe, its about 2cm too short. Interesting, thanks!

Hey Ash, Going to ask a dumb question, but whats this guy here? Temp sender? Havent seen it there before, I was going to tap the R33 one into the radiator like OEM? Thanks

I'll take it. I dont live too far from you too

Got any pics of the gearbox mount? Personal hobby of mine is seeing how different people do it. Here's mine:

Right, I noticed the relay block you used accepts Jcase fuses which are available in high current fusible links if you choose to re-fuse them. I was looking at something similar but in the end just connected them directly as I mentioned. Are you leaving the fusebox alone in the kick panel? I plan on rewiring mine with some more modern mini-fuses at the same time. I have been looking for ages to find a good fusebox to use that might fit. I have a couple of the tiny fuse blocks used in the rear of the VE commodore, but they dont qute have enough slots.

How did you tackle removing the fusible links? I moved my battery also and put a jumper post in the engine bay. I connected the red/white power circuits from the fusible links directly to the jumper post as the cable to the battery has a circuit breaker on it. I am still in two minds whether some individual fusible links should be applied to these circuits though...

I saw a bunch still new in nissan boxes in Japan when I was there for about $30. If he is desperate he could try a forwarding company. http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s119103428 http://page21.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/j20540657

My take is that any country with a succesful production industry has a succesful automotive industry so if you let them fail, you lose 10,000 jobs directly and 100,000 jobs indirectly. I would prefer to increase import tax and/or reduce tax for all companies (automotive and not) that have factories in australia. This would make our "own" cars cheaper as they have to pay less tax and have a larger share of the market. Why the governments collect so much tax on companies which provide jobs to its citzens is beyond me, only to pay half of it back in bailouts. Just reduce it from the start so you dont have to pay the bailouts and encourage other comapnies to invest. Sounds like fun to bash them until all local production disappears and nothing is made here...all the aftermarket and trades are a spin off from OEM, if the skill disappears at the higher level, it is not going to continue on the lower level. If more people bought australian cars for example, there would be more money to develop better cars and a wider variety of cars. I ams ure all the Holden and Ford fans would like to see them put out a new model every 3-4 years instead of every 10 years like current, but when it costs $1billion to develop a new platform and you only have 2000 sales every month it's impossible. Everyone wants the local makers to go "green" but I guarantee when the hybrid camry is on sale next year only 1% of the people who crapped on about not buying anything locally made because of the environment and protesting saying they would buy one on the spot if it was available will put their money where their mouth is and actually buy one. I agree that the current quality is pale in comparison to a BMW, Lexus, Audi etc, but you must realise we live in a globalised world with design and parts sourcing happening simultaneously all around the world and if you think your imported Mazda6 is any better "quality" than a locally produced Aurion then your still trapped in a world listening to what your dad told you 20 years ago. These days big companies have standarised work practices that are designed to be duplicated exactly regardless of location, even McDonalds has been doing that before I was born I say if your going to buy a boring daily commuter like a Sonata, 6, Lancer, maxima etc, you might as well buy Australian. I have worked in Japan for an automotive giant for 1.5 years and I think people need to stop worshipping them. The only reason they have such a variety of interesting cars is that the population is encouraged (financially forced) to buy new cars every 5 years to keep them roadworthy which pumps billions into the local automotive economy. Very smart on the governments behalf to keep a small country with no natural resources as owner to the number one car selling company in the world. The other difference is that they are patriotic enough to buy music, tv shows, movies, fashion, cars and all other goods made in their own country without the fantasy beleif that imported is always better. How's that for a rant Johnny?

When I was in Japan I saw many new badges still in Nissan boxes at shops, which makes me think that a Nissan dealer should be able to get them?

And mine: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19690&highlight=rockyauto

I went along with them to a park where they did a photoshoot and some driveby shots for a magazine/DVD. The cars are impressive no doubt, but upclose the bodywork, cages and some fabrication etc was not as good as what you find locally.