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http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10348895/what-you-need-to-know-before-buying-a-1970-1973-datsun-240z/

Got hub parts back from the plater and a new to me series 1 coin tray. One tiny tiny crack around the screw hole. Excited since mine was terrible. Gosh I love zinc:)!

Dedicated to Cliff. If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning. I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land,

Some of the Merc's are 14 mm and some are 17mm go figure https://mercedessource.com/store/m130-m180-special-valve-adjustment-17mm-socket-wrench

I like the Johnny Cash version.

Great idea! However i would vote for Indianapolis. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Sure. I just don't know how effective I would be. I live by Ft Wayne. Honestly, I didn't know Indy had a Z club. I am just saying that up front so you know what kind of person you are dealing with here.

PMC's licensing of MB patented details (if it even happened in the way being assumed...) related to their G7 six and pre-dated their merger with Nissan by several years. Nissan's L-gata (starting with the L20 six of '64) was up and running way, way before their merger with PMC. What parts exactly are you pointing at being "nearly identical"? The cam followers look very close, as indeed do the cam follower pivots. Cam towers and oil spray bar? Duplex chain cam drive and chain tensioning? Combined oil pump drive and distributor drive via shaft taken off crank was not an MB first. The valve layout of the M180 is completely different, as is port shape and layout. These types of discussions too often descend into the old "Japanese copycats" type accusations. It's easier for people to package it up that way and file it neatly. I think the truth is a bit more complex than that. There are still a lot of post-war nation and industry rebuilding angles left undiscussed. A dear friend of my wife's family - a Japanese engineer who graduated from the Japanese Imperial Navy's technical school as an aircraft engine specialist and who joined Nakajima Hikoki in 1944 - was working with Japanese battery manufacturer Yuasa in the immediate post-war years. By the late 1940s Japanese and German industrial concerns, having a pre-war history of Axis co-operation and a shared necessity of post-war rebuilding from total devastation, were in fairly close contact and our friend was sent - along with several of his colleagues - to Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany to work with M-B engineers for several months. He had some very interesting stories to tell. Other Japanese and German companies were doing similar personnel exchanges, and were sharing for the common good. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's relevant to the discussion of 1940s and 1950s technology and is worth bearing in mind.

So I decided to not tear the engine down again. NPR states in the piston ring manual:

Sorry but I don't ! No finesse in it - looks like it was made for a tractor and $200 more than mine, c'mon - who's being ripped off here ?

Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Some folks might want to use the hooks on each side to place a strap over the engine so when you lift it up in the bed of the truck it stays as one. You could then cross strap the whole assembly down, transport it and lift the whole thing off once you've arrived. Me? I turn it over and use it as a fishing lure

I think he forgot the handle. Maybe vandals took it?

Another data point to help corroborate the lineage. Here's a video where they talk about problems with the oil spray bars. Proof??? Hahaha!!

Looks like twice pipes to me: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/15-6030

I am always looking to buy parts I will probably never need. Indy would be great. I'm always discouraged when all the cool stuff is out west.

Well I messaged disepyon to see if he can make me some inner rockers. Without those I'm kind of stuck, I don't have the skills or tools to make an adequate inner rocker myself. I'm thinking if I can repair the inner/outer rocker, the floor pans, and everything in the front then at the worst I can bring it to a shop to have the rear quarters fixed professionally. Hopefully by the time I get to that I might have developed the skills to do them myself. I might start a separate build thread to document the process. I'm a total newbie at this stuff, so it will be interesting. Someday I will drive this car again...

I am glad some others chimed in, so you have more than just my opinion. I agree with Mark. I don't like the overlap seams. They can rust out quicker but my main objection is they require more filler. I would grind down the rear quarter seam then cut through it to make a butt weld seam. You have to weld short little sections to prevent warpage. These cars were never that perfect and some filler is ok. Even multi million dollar restorations have filler on them. The nice thing is with rising car values you can afford to spend the money to fix the car and not be upside down. Findng a nice shell can be hard to do. Even if you find a nice shell if it doesn't have a clear title you get into another can of worms that we flogged to death in another thread recently...

Now we have to get all snobby and start wearing penny loafers.

The nuts on my garage floor somewhere, not reusable I'm certain. But here it is. If anybody wants better/more pics let me know.

I used the classic tube ss brake lines. They fit very well. I had to convince the front passenger one a little but nothing serious. Stainless is harder to bend. As far as cracking - I've never heard that one. A quick (and lazy) trip to google produced this quote, "...so that as a general rule ferritic and martensitic types cannot be expected to be as fatigue resistant as the austenitic stainless steels..." meaning carbon steel lines are more likely to fatigue and crack than stainless.

You ask "What should you be concerned about in finding a decent car? First and foremost, see the car personally. The cost of a drive, or a quick flight will be peanuts compared to what you could lose by buying a car with hidden defects. I have the scar tissue to prove it. Long-distance, I bought an e-bay car from the rust belt. "Rust-free" said the ad. The photos didn't show any rust, but it's amazing what fiberglass, paint, and spray-on undercoat can hide. The second car, I found in the sun belt. It was for sale in an auto-repair shop. Apparently the car's owner had died, and the shop was selling to cover their bill. When I got there, the fellow asked me what I wanted to see, to which I replied "everything." After looking around for a few minutes and finding nothing that troubled me, I asked if I could see the underside. He put the car on the hoist, handed me a trouble light and said "take your time." I did, and I bought. Airfare, car rental and one night in a hotel, I probably spent $700-800, which is a minute fraction of what major repairs, particularly body rust, can cost. Hope you find what you're looking for! ps, I second Wheee!s recommendation with respect to zKar's Z for sale. Lovely customized / hot-rodded restoration. The guy who's selling it really knows his Z-car stuff.

We had our club Christmas party on Saturday at Scott's house. Great food and a very nice time. Zup found his Nismo Christmas Z car accessories in time for the event ....

There is also this stuff, not SS but it looks the part, https://www.toolsource.com/tubing-benders-c-1321_79_90_261/ezibend-tube-316-in-od-25-ft-p-106469.html?tsqtid=&zenid=vsahb758cdn811ipdhtta9g1s6

I had access to a sheet metal shop and made the tips out stainless.

Mmmmmmmm.... Those sure are purty!!