Leaderboard

I definitely won't part it out. I think I'm going with restoring as it sits, leaving the g nose on it as that's how it came over here. And I never got the "not worthy" thing as isn't it supposed to be all about loving common things? I'm a big Porsche collector (but I have many other marques) and that same crap goes on in our forums too. My collection is well into the mid/upper six figures but I never snuff someone because their toys aren't as nice as mine, nor do I worship someone who has nicer toys. It's a lifestyle and passion. I simply came on here looking for advice from those more knowledgeable in the early Japanese stuff, and sharing info I was given from the previous owner of 35 years or so. Here are a few pics of some of my collection and current resto projects...enjoy.

I ended up getting liquid wrench, nylon rope, and a small piece of wood to use with the crow bar. This combined with all my tools and utensils listed before hand I set to work with my friend for the weekend. I sprayed all the head bolt holes and all around the engine a number of times with liquid wrench. After sitting for a brief period I tried the crowbar technique gwri8 recommended. I was unable to provide adequate leverage and it would slip off the block so I moved to the next idea. I started jacking the 2x4 into the drivers side of the head, a little to the right of siteunseen's recommendation due to the power steering, unfortunately to no avail. I also accidently bumped and slightly jacked up part of my power steering and it began to leak. It stopped once I let off the jack but do you think its damaged to point I need to replace it? From that point my friend recommended we try from the other side right where the oil filter goes. After removing the oil filter I set up the jack and 2x4. The 2x4 was much more perpendicular to the ground and head which made for a better jack point. From there we slowly lifted the jack, making sure to check it's all lined up and not hitting anything important, and then POP! It came mostly free so I excitedly shoved a bunch of wedges in to keep the gap and started lifting it more. It finally came off and is out of my way, for now. Now I need to figure out how to get the broken stud out. I tried vice grips and smacking it to loosen it but that didn't do much. Im thinking I will rent some sort of welder depending on the price and from there just weld a nut on and break it off. Would there be an easier alternative any of you would recommend? From here it's getting the head to a machine shop and tearing the lower end apart. I plan on getting my p79 head surfaced, bead blasted, a valve job, and a 5 way valve job on the intakes. I might add the valves from the older l28s and the associated mods. What are your guys thoughts and advice on this? What would you recommend I get done, anything I should upgrade or replace while I'm in here? Any recommendations for the gasket set I should use on the rebuild? Right now I have a fel-pro set, which I've read is alright, but I want to make sure to use all quality products on this build. What brands do you guys like using and recommend? I'd prefer to pay more and get quality than save money and cheap out. Thanks again everyone for all your help! I'll upload photos tommorw for all your viewing pleasure. You guys all helped me learn a lot and helped so much in getting my head off! I couldn't have done it without you guys, thanks a lot! - Noah M

2 deep frames, almost a gallon of honey! still have 28 frames to go it has been a good year!

I think we started a new Z club . BtownZ Club. BZC Met some friends at C& C

Apologize and I'm sorry are way traveled down the road. Opinions make all this fun. If you want to be a play like moderator you'll need to go back and read 10 years worth of post. There's a lot of history in play, I suggest stay out of it. We are all grown men and have the choice to ignore or reply. I chose to ignore the silly stuff and pay attention to the facts. HS-30 has a lot of knowledge as does Zed Head. A lot of guys don't agree with me but twice as many do.

Well said, dodging monkey poo and all. Hahaha. I can tell you all are an awesome group of guys/gals.

Close. So, carnut, I'll leave this thread alone now. Good luck with the rebuild, whichever way it goes.

Beautiful place. Love the live oak and the slide. The water has to rise a lot to get over the wall much less to add 7' of water to the yard!!! I don't know that you noticed but I live in the upstate. I had a few friends that got hammered the last time we had all the flooding in the low country.

So what was the "low VIN club guys" comment all about then?

(my bold) What's the "..."not worthy" thing..." you are referring to? Have I missed some posts? With respect, I think you have to expect straight talk on a marque specialist forum. I'm not going to blow smoke up your rear end for you and if I see claims - no matter who they are attributed to - that I believe are mistaken, unlikely or just plain wrong then I'm going to speak up. I think it's fair to say that I know a little bit about the Japanese market models and I'm probably one of their most passionate advocates on this forum. I think I have a pretty good handle on what your car was and is, and if you put it in front of us on this forum I'm going to say it as I see it. As a car enthusiast, I can't believe you would honestly want to hear only *good stuff* or have people swallow every tenth-hand tale whole? If you acknowledge this forum's integrity - which I think you have done, by asking your questions here - then you have to accept that you might not necessarily be pleased by every response you get. Am I right? My feeling is that these cars can tell us a lot if we only learn to listen. Your Fairlady - even from the limited photos you have posted - says quite a lot about itself. I think the fact that the rear arches have not been cut, and that the trailing edges of the lower section on the G-nose have not been relieved says a lot, and it's likely that it has never been fitted with very wide wheels, as many were in-period. My personal view is that this is a good thing, both for the lower panel of the G-Nose (they are worth more if they have not been chopped) and the 'shell of the car, which is - in my opinion - better off in stock configuration. I've already stated that I think it very unlikely that this car was circuit raced in period (scrutineering for even the most basic clubmans races in Japan would require fuel and safety-related changes that would be difficult to erase completely) and I also think it much more likely the RHD to LHD conversion was done in USA than in Japan. Some deeper research would surely answer a lot of questions. You asked about value but - as has been pointed out - the photos are not enough to go on. In my first reply I asked about the firewall-engraved body number, but you have not answered that question. It's quite an important point for the destiny of the car, I think. So too are the details of the RHD to LHD conversion. From your description, it sounds as though this was not a whole firewall change and that the original RHD details were covered or patched? To my mind that makes it more viable to be reversed. As an early 1970 production car, it surely makes much more sense to turn it back to its original RHD layout - even if you are forced to use slightly later componentry (such as the dash, for instance) - as if it's kept in LHD configuration it is neither fish nor fowl. It doesn't need to be 100% stock. Some Japanese period-correct touches would not be frowned on, but I think it needs that RHD layout for it to actually mean something in the context of its true origin and its original market. The G-nose, to my mind, seems a little incongruous on an early 1970 car. Stock body would surely make more sense?

Your collection is missing this one:

See that? Three sentences that make me think I've taken acid and accidentally wandered onto zcar.com. I mean really, WTF? LOL... If there was any low-VIN bingo going on I certainly didn't notice it. Shame I missed it if there was, as I would have enjoyed the delicious irony. Here's a heads-up for you; The car in question is (according to the engine bay identity tag) an S30-prefixed, early 1970 production dated 'Fairlady Z-L'. Harry Potter would struggle to make it a "240Z". Even Nissan Shatai would struggle with that one.

Beautiful collection! Love the selection of Porsche's. I suspect your estimate was low and you appear to live near the coast since your house is elevated. Be sure and keep them all properly insured against flood damage. It would be a shame to see them get damaged and then take the financial hit too...

I love the silence Incredible collection! I only saw a Jag E coupe once around here. Beautiful car! My fav of your collection after the Z of course!

I agree (in that there is so little that's adjustable), that I did mine myself too. And I didn't even bother with string and jack stands. I had new tires and just measured the distance between treads at fore and aft of the front tires. Here's my thought process... I can easily adjust the toe to something close to correct, and then I can then fiddle with the toe settings same on both sides until I get the steering wheel straight. After that, the car should go straight and the steering wheel should be positioned correctly. If the car handles well (which mine does), and the tire wear is acceptable and even (which mine is), I'm claiming victory. What this method does NOT do is make you aware of any issues like what you had done with the bushings or issues with the rear wheels. Those issues would show themselves in handling issues (like your squirrely feeling), or badly worn uneven tires. And the problem with counting on tire wear to illustrate an issue is that by the time you know, it's too late. So, I got lucky... My car drives straight, handles well, and the tires are wearing slowly and evenly. I don't know (or need to know) what's going on with the more complicated facets of the alignment. I don't know if my camber or caster is the same between sides. I don't know if my rear toes are the same. Doesn't matter. Might matter if I was driving on the track at the limits of handling, but I'm not. Goes straight, handles well, tires wear even and at a reasonable rate. Done.

An S30 in the USA is rare. An S30 converted to LHD in the USA is even rarer. Just fix it up the way it is or sell it complete to someone who will. Parting would be a shame.

Here's an excellent "how to" for restoring the fuel tank

Here is a picture of mine if things went south.....

Z31Atlanta organized a dyno day and opened it up to others. It was only $50 for 3 pulls, so I figured I would find out what the new motor was pulling. I played it conservative because I don't really know much about the actual build, telling them to cut off at 6000 RPM. After seeing the results, I would say I might have left some HP on the table, considering the best run was 122.5 HP (128.0 with WCF) at 6006 RPM (88.6 MPH - and me without a flux capacitor). Peak torque was 109.8 Ft-lb (114.7 with WCF) at 4575 RPM (65.5 MPH). The owner of the shop said it would probably top out around 150 HP on a Dynojet dynomometer. So any educated interpretations of the graph?

I'll soon find out Mitch......hope you're right.

Interesting paperwork that came with the car shows the exchange of owners somewhere CA. BMV paper has statement from owner stating car was in storage from 1988-1996 - and at that time had 58k miles. Presently the odometer reads 59k miles. Looking over the car at every angle I would say the mileage probably could be correct , though no way to verify. I do have some names to try and seek out info. Accept for damage causing rust on the floor boards , this car is really clean. Only other damage I found besides the floor is the radiator core support was dinged somewhere in its life and I think I can dolly that straight.

I would really like to believe that there is no reason for story fabrication but that just isn't the way it is. From "driven only on Sundays" to "previously owned by (insert famous person's name)", I would like to think I have heard it all. For that matter, my car was the first S30 in the State of Florida. Just ask the brother of the previous owner's son. Perhaps it was raced in Japan. I have heard many stories about servicemen racing their newly purchased sports cars in amateur events. Generally speaking, that's the sort of thing one wants to stay away from when considering the purchase of a used car. You know; the abuse and all. I don't know quite what to think of the LHD conversion. Plenty of RHD cars made their way into the U.S. The guy down the street from me in 1971 came home with an RHD Fairlady. It was yellow and had headlight covers. I just can't imagine why someone would go to all that trouble and, of course, the question has come up concerning from where the donor parts came. I would bet that the conversion happened after it was imported and that the car has seen major work, parts replacement, and previous owner stuff. None-the-less, the car is unique and appears to be in nice restorable shape. Considering the unique configuration of components in the car, I think you have a lot of latitude for your restoration while still remaining "on course". Have fun and enjoy the ride! Screw the history and let the project be a testament to your automotive skills.

I'm kicking the idea around of selling the 240z I bought earlier this year. Finding time to restore it has been harder than expected. It's a very clean example with minimal rust. The seats need redone and I haven't fired it up (although I doubt it will take much). I bought from an individual that had it in storage since 1988. They did take time to run it frequently, but has been sitting for a few years without running. The previous owner bought it on 1976 with only a few miles on it. Not sure what I can get for it, but I'll entertain offers. It's in our garage and still hasn't seen the outdoors since 1988 (other than the trailer trip to my house). All original except carbs. Passenger front fender dented and lower valance bent. Little rust on fender wells. Attached are a few pictures. More available on request. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Sorry, but this is utter fantasy. Nissan were simply not in the business or habit of undertaking such modifications. The (road traffic ministry related) ramifications alone make it a bureaucratic nightmare. If said G.I. wanted an LHD car, why didn't he just buy one? I'm sorry, it's just nonsense. I can imagine a situation where a local privateer 'shop' may have undertaken such a task, but where did the donor LHD parts come from? The further you get away from 1970 the less likely it all becomes too. Tall stories tend to attach themselves to such cars, and get bigger with the telling. Usually doesn't take much to dismantle them. I'd class this with your "factory race seats" claim. Doesn't stand up to any level of serious scrutiny. It's a (roughly) period-modded early 1970 Fairlady Z-L. Cool in it's own right. I think exaggerated claims and unsubstantiated 'race history' don't really help us to understand or evaluate the car as it stands.

OK, so names, ranks and serial numbers please? These "well known people in the Z community" are whom? If the car has been raced, there will presumably be event names, dates and results to back that up? The "President of his local Z club" has a name, I presume? If you make the claims - even by proxy - they have to be backed up. Hearsay is not good enough. I don't want to break a butterfly on a wheel here, but I see little evidence of the car ever being scrutineered and raced in period. First of all, who raced a 2-litre L-gata engined car in period (yes, names ranks and serial numbers please) and where is the factor max that proved the fact on the car itself? I see bone stock road car with period 'street' mods, not period-modded race car. Fuel system? Suspension? Brakes? Safety? Where's the scars? This car just doesn't have any aura of period race car about it. Not even a sniff...

$75,000 is the car salesman side of him.

I have twice the issue with twice pipes . I run oval in the back with round resonators up front , combined with headers . I thought I could ditch the round resonators for something like this type resonator .

Hi Dave, The write-up I was thinking of was just the electrical aspect for your lights and sidemarkers in keeping with this post topic. I suspect there are any number of 280Z owners that would be interested in this creative mod. Beautiful work! Jim