1972 Datsun 240Z Barn Find Survivor

[grretc 3]

This thread is mainly for me to document the process of refreshing this 1972 Datsun 240z that I was able to acquire with the help of Carl Beck. About a month back Carl posted a Facebook post on onto the Datsun groups, and I immediately inquired about the car. He gave me the owner's contact number, and after a month of jumping through hoops I was finally able to seal the deal and the car landed here on the west coast. 

It was last registered in 1988 and was a 1 owner car until I purchased it. Backstory is that the previous owner bought it in California enjoyed it here and drove it to Ohio. It sat in the back of his barn until now. Owner has passed away and left the car to his family who hired a liquidation company and...skip all the hoops.. it's mine now. 


Future plans for it are to follow Carl's advice here:

http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/21063-waking-the-sleeping-beast/

This thread is worthless without some photos!


Hopefully some time later this week, I can post some photos of it unloading and of it after a quick rinse, but for now....

Edited March 25, 2015 by grretc

[George_Zed 24]

really great condition for barn find car...

[siteunseen 3,206 5 Vehicles]

Great looking car.

[rcb280z 282 1 Vehicles]

Wow! Its in fantastic shape.

[DatsunZGuy 112]

Nice find and the best color, too

 

The refresh should be fairly easy and from the looks, it's later 1972 model.  Also nice to see the PO opted to Ziebart or Tuff-Kote it years back.

[The osteopath 4]

You're pff to a better start than I was. Enjoy. Wonderful car!

[S30Driver 460]

What a beauty!   Also my favorite color.

[siteunseen 3,206 5 Vehicles]

I just noticed it has the shipping hooks attached to the rear bumper mounts.  Mine had those too and I thought they were tow hooks but they're not.  So if you ever have to pull it backwards don't use those. 

[Carl Beck 236]

Really happy to see this 240Z in the hands of someone that can appreciate it. It is a rare beauty and the type of 240Z most Collectors and Enthusiasts dream of finding.  I'll be watching this as the progress takes place.

 

A word about the finish - CAUTION.

Wash, Clay Bar, and very lightly polish that 40 year old enamel... you don't want to cut through the shiny skin coat - once it is gone, so is the shine!

 

Enjoy the process...

Carl B.

[CEgg11 8]

^{Don't lift those floor mats. Let me just keep imagining what's not under there....}

[siteunseen 3,206 5 Vehicles]

Or the battery. I cannot believe how the steering wheel looks. You should put a clear fuel filter right out of the tank. Fram G2 worked best for mine. Fantastic find.

I'm sorry. I forgot you have awakening the beast thread. You know what to do.

Edited March 19, 2015 by siteunseen

[240260280z 344]

WOW, We picked up a March 1970 and it had a KMart Oil Fiter just like yours.

This Z was in a Chicken Coop since 1988! Kmart must have had a filter sale that year. Here is a photo capturing part of the filter

[grannyknot 1,724 2 Vehicles]

What a wonderful find, looking forward to seeing your progress.

Chris

[rossiz 278]

how cool... you get to polish up and refresh your way to a perfect car! 

looking forward to following the progress.

[nix240z 166]

What a great find.

 

Steve

[HaZmatt 161]

Awesome! I was seriously considering purchasing this car but couldnt pull the trigger just by seeing the pictures. It looks fantastic! Glad to see it go to someone on this forum. 

[grretc 3]

Thanks for all the positive replies! Hazmatt, it was a little hard for me to swallow as well. It's my first time buying a car unseen. I've looked through your build as well and it is going along very nicely. 

Here are some more pictures of the car being unloaded from the transport. It took four guys and a lot of muscle to get this thing off since one of the rear wheels was locked up, but that should be taken care of soon. 

Tomorrow I shall be following some of the steps in Awakening The Beast, while the gas tank straps are on order. While I wait for all those things to ship in, I'll clean and detail the car, of course, by hand. The car is kind of dusty, but will clean up well. I'll be sure to include photos of the floors and battery tray   

Edited March 25, 2015 by grretc

[cbuczesk 154]

Nice Z! I was thinking of buying that one. What transporter did you use and how much was shipping? That looks like a nice carrirer. My Pantera was deivered in one like that but most of the roof was missing.

 

Chuck

[240260280z 344]

A few tips to help with the awakening:

Lubrication

Take the oil spray bar off and blast all of the holes with the straw of a can of carb cleaner. Spray into each hole then spray into the larger holes where the oil flows in from the cam towers. Do this until the bar is flowing clean solvent. Tilting the bar and flowing down helps.

Change the oil and pour extra oil over the valve train. soak it good!

You should probably prime the oil pump. An easy way is to feed a clear vinyl hose into the oil passage behind the oil filter and run the line as far forward in the oil galley as you can. Connect a tight fitting funnel to the open end then hold high and pour oil into teh funnel and let it drain into the hose (with the end now above the oil pump).

Remove plugs and turn the motor over by hand from the crank to ensure it is not seized.

Check electrical wires, connections.

If happy, hook up a remote starter and crank motor from passenger fender with valve cover off. Watch for oil coming out of the oiling bar. Make sure all holes are drizzling oil. It may take a while so make sure you have a good battery. You may have to prime pump more if oil does not come out after ~ 1 minute

Spark

Once you have oil, check for spark and inspect the electrical system. You should have 12V at the coil when the key is turned to start and to on. Replacing plugs, distributor cap, and points is a good step but if you have spark at the plugs, just change them to NGK's for now.

Cooling

Drain radiator and flush engine with water and drain a few times.

You should change the rad hoses and interior heater hoses and water pump as soon as you can but it is not needed to start. Also look at the hose fittings when you pull off the hoses as they corrode to nothing. You should change the thermostat now.

[Fuel]

Remove air breather from carbs (both cover, filter, and back plate)

Remove fuel hoses from fuel rail to fuel bowels and to fuel pump

Remove carb bowl covers and make sure the needle valves are working. More carb cleaner will help. Just make sure the needle valves do not have rubber tips (that may swell up from solvent)

Remove carb domes and clean with solvent (no abrasive). Keep front dome with front carb. Drain the oil in the plunger region.

Carefully remove piston and needle and clean. Again no abrasive and be careful not to bend the needle. Keep front piston with front carb.

Clean carb body

Remove the two small hoses between the fuel bowl and jet and make sure they are not collapsed or filled with tar. Replace if required.

Unscrew the choke lifting arm from each jet and remove each jet. (use proper fitting screw driver and press in firmly when turning)

Clean each jet with carb cleaner (inside passage and outside) then scrub the brass tubes outer surface with a scotch brite pad until it shines.

Clean the passage in the carb body where each jet fits. Test fit each jet in the passage and make sure they can slide up and down with no binding.

Turn the knurled knob under each carb all the way up until they stop. You may wish to spray a penetrating oil on these from below to loosen. You can turn them up and down to work loose. Some carbs have a safety stop underneath that you can remove for the moment

Once the knurled knob tyrns freely and you have turned it all the way up, turn back down 2.5 turns. Use the big bump on the knob to meausre turns. You may have to feel for it.

Reinstall the safety stop and leave ~ 1/4 to 1/2 inch between it and the knurled knob.

Reinstall the jet and connect the choke rod to it but disconnect the choke cables for the moment. Make sure the jets rise all the way up. When you look into both carb bodies the tops of the jets should be seen to be the same distance down in the tube ~ 2.5mm (2.5 turns) if you measure the depth.

Reinstall the pistons and needles in their proper carb body.

Reinstall dome (w/o plunger) while carefully lifting and dropping the piston with your other hand's finger in the front carb hole. The piston should drop all the way to the bridge with no binding. Try to tighten all 4(3) screws evenly rather than just 1 at a time. The piston must not bind so you may have to twist the dome CW or CCW as you tighten the screws.

Install plungers but no oil.

Clean fuel bowls

Install new hoses from fuel bowls to jet. Make sure they don't bend shut.

Install fuel bowl lids.

Remove hoses to fuel rail and clean fuel rail by spraying carb cleaner through it. Spray into sends and return holes. (yes the smaller return line has a fixed orifice at the end.

Install new hose from fuel pump to fuel rail.

Install new fuel filter

Install new hose from fuel filter to fuel pump

Run two 6' fuel lines from fuel filter (send) and from fuel rail (return) into a jerry can next to passenger wheel filled with gas.

With plugs out. Crank the motor to drive fuel pump and send fuel to fuel bowls. Check for fuel in bowls and no leaks in hoses or fuel bowl over flows.

Start

You are now ready to test start!

Install plugs and have fun.

Do a valve adjustment after it heats up.

Measure compression to get an idea of how well it is sealing.

When you get it going for a while. Fill the carb oil tubes with 20W oil (3in1 oil in blue container works fine)

Forget about using gas tank until you remove, clean, inspect and replace hoses between the tank and hard lines. It is probably very rusty and varnished inside. You will be left on the side of the road if you try to use the tank.

Or you can do this to draw fuel from above the sludge layer:

Edited March 23, 2015 by Blue

[Marty Rogan 87]

Congrats on finding what looks like a real gem!!  Hopefully the time in Ohio did not let rust creep into it.  It looks really clean from the pictures.  Looks like the dash is not even cracked.

 

How many miles are showing?

 

I will be watching to see how easy this car come back to life.

 

Enjoy the process.

 

Marty

[siteunseen 3,206 5 Vehicles]

Mine sat for 6 years with a half tank of fuel and here's what I found after dropping the tank.  I had to walk home a few times before I figured it out. 

 

[EVILC 3]

Great buy - I thought about trying to get this car and was a steal for the condition! 

[grretc 3]

Just wanted to update this really quickly. Poured some ATF through the spark plugs and giving it some time. Next I'm going to replace the fuel lines in the engine bay as well as empty the gas tank to see what's going on. Some teaser photos for now.

[grretc 3]

Really happy to see this 240Z in the hands of someone that can appreciate it. It is a rare beauty and the type of 240Z most Collectors and Enthusiasts dream of finding.  I'll be watching this as the progress takes place.

 

A word about the finish - CAUTION.

Wash, Clay Bar, and very lightly polish that 40 year old enamel... you don't want to cut through the shiny skin coat - once it is gone, so is the shine!

 

Enjoy the process...

Carl B.

  Thanks Carl, it means a lot! Hopefully all goes well.

Nice Z! I was thinking of buying that one. What transporter did you use and how much was shipping? That looks like a nice carrirer. My Pantera was deivered in one like that but most of the roof was missing.

 

Chuck

 I don't have the name of the transporter on me right now but I will get it to you when I can. They were really easy going and definitely put in some work to get the car out of the dirt driveway to a place where they can tow it. I'll shoot you a pm  

Congrats on finding what looks like a real gem!!  Hopefully the time in Ohio did not let rust creep into it.  It looks really clean from the pictures.  Looks like the dash is not even cracked.

 

How many miles are showing?

 

I will be watching to see how easy this car come back to life.

 

Enjoy the process.

 

Marty

last I checked it was something around 45k

[HaZmatt 161]

Are you f'n kidding me? And its rust free?!!

Wow you got a steal my friend. Im super jealous. Glad it went to someone on the forum though.