got my 240z and got my ratsun account

[datzenmike]

so it turns out the wheels on the car are libre copies; they're Shelby Viper's 14x5.5

 

Anyone have any opinions on how big the tires can go on a 14x5.5 wheel?

 

I have 5.5 X14 S110 factory alloy rims. 215/60R14 look fine on them.

 

Width is one thing but you want tires the same diameter so your performance and speedometer are not affected.

[Bleach]

I dont' know what the absolute widest possible is, but I was thinking that 205 is probably as wide as you would want to go. I'm surprised multiple people have run 215 on wheels that are only 5.5 inches wide.

 

The factory probably made those wheels with 185 width being the intended tire size.

[rinigado]

is 195/70 r14 the stock tire size?

[thumpgun]

175/R14 was stock tire size. The 185 or 195/70/14 will work.

On my '73 240Z I have 195/70/14's on my 14x6 wheels. 

 

On my '85 RX-7 I have 195/50/15's on 15X7 wheels.

[rinigado]

I originally wanted to finish up clutch master/slave install this weekend, but needed a piece of steel line to make a new clutch line, and the local store couldn't find it in stock. So puttered around with a few things and took some some inventory of stuff I'll need to fix/update. Fastening the new clutch slave was the first time I was under the front of car, and other than the small spot around the slave cylinder where I cleaned things off a bit, it's pretty oily underneath. I'll have to give a good cleaning to see where/what's leaking, but at the moment, there's lots of oil on the bottom of the engine and transmission :

 

 

 

Anything made of rubber looks pretty well rotten, like this. So various bushings will get added to the shopping list.

 

 

what do you call this hose that feeds some warm air up to the outside of the exhaust manifold? In any case, it's missing, but maybe down around LA here, it's not such a big deal? Is this normally a rubber hose, or flexible duct that connects to the metal part?

 

 

And I noticed I'm missing the plastic air ducts that would go in the corners of the engine bay. I assume these feed fresh air vents in the cabin?

 

[ByStickel]

Prior resto? Have you gone around the car with a magnet?

[oakrun]

Yep, plastic vents are missing. Easy to find on ebay. Oil pan gasket is toast and probably the rear crank seal. Yep rotted TC rod bushings. I replaced the TC rod bushings with the hard poly and learned the hard way that its better to put the stock softer rubber bushings in.  That york compressor you've got is an aftermarket a/c probably added at the dealer. Cars that original are getting harder to find. Last registered is 94 yow!  Did the car have a story behind why it was parked that long?   After cleaning it up that car could probably bring good $ from an overseas buyer. You've got the right idea keeping it as stock as possible. 

 

What's the story on that datsun truck you've got in your picture folder? Looks like another stored in garage 20+ years finds.

[rinigado]

Yep, plastic vents are missing. Easy to find on ebay. Oil pan gasket is toast and probably the rear crank seal. Yep rotted TC rod bushings. I replaced the TC rod bushings with the hard poly and learned the hard way that its better to put the stock softer rubber bushings in.  That york compressor you've got is an aftermarket a/c probably added at the dealer. Cars that original are getting harder to find. Last registered is 94 yow!  Did the car have a story behind why it was parked that long?   After cleaning it up that car could probably bring good $ from an overseas buyer. You've got the right idea keeping it as stock as possible. 

 

What's the story on that datsun truck you've got in your picture folder? Looks like another stored in garage 20+ years finds.

The prior owner's son in law was helping to sell the car, so I didn't get a clear answer on why he parked it other than he thought it was maybe something like a "clutch problem". He never wanted to get rid of it, and like most things, I'm guessing he likely intended to sort things out and time just passed. Health issues came up, and the son in law had other projects, so they put the car up for sale. Other than small dents from years of things leaning or bumping against it in the garage, and things getting rotten over time, it's clean. No bondo that I can find, no signs of prior repairs to anything, and the guys story sounded legit. It's sitting up on stands right now, with work done to suspension parts and brakes, and that's where I stopped for the moment. I picked up the 521 that hoping to have just a cool looking truck that I can more or less treat as a daily driver. That one is in the middle of getting a new exhaust at the moment and a few other bits. I'm not so fussy about preserving the truck since it wasn't that clean when I got it, which is kinda liberating :) Once I get that to a steadily drivable state I'll switch my attention back to the z. Progress goes in short spurts due to pretty limited time available, but I'm chipping away at things! I've been driving the truck and dealing with problems as I get to them, right up until I broke an exhaust manifold stud at the outlet side about a week ago while taking off the old rusted out exhaust. Now I'm hoping to work on getting the exhaust dealt with over the next weekend or two so I can get the truck back on the road.I don't know much about the history of the truck, but it seems like it saw a lot more use than the z. The truck is a pain in the ass right now in terms of bring usable or reliable, since something new craps out right at each turn, but it's also a fun learning experience working on an old datsun.

[Voidtraveler]

Any updates on this?

[rinigado]

nothing recent unfortunately.. work schedule hasn't left too much free time so have been busy with work and also have been fixing up a 521 pickup when I get time.