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Hey Everyone, Let me introduce myself. My name is Craig , I live In Austin, TX. I have restored cars over the years but this is my first Z. I have been a member since last October 2018. I recently purchased a 1973 240z CA/AZ (one owner car) that's been hibernating for 25 years in a AZ. garage. I am working on waking it up. She is at a shop in Austin waiting to be worked on now. The previous owner started the car and it made a ticking noise, so they turned it off right away. I plan to keep it near stock and restore over time. It is presently Blue, I plan on taking it back to its original color Red 110. Right now I just want to get the car road worthy - I am going crazy waiting to drive it. I have been reading here a lot and educating myself and will continue to - so thanks for the help now and in the future.

I've been doing a bit of research on recip saws and came across a review of a (relatively) new product entry by Ingersoll-Rand. It's a cordless mini (0.55" stroke) targeted specifically for the auto body repair industry... One of its primary attractions is the ability to make relatively tight-radius curved cuts. It comes with a six 'extra-coarse' 4" blades (3 x 14 tpi + 3 x 18 tpi), rated for thick-ish sheet metal gauges, along with with two 12V Li-ion batteries and a charger stand. The blades may use a proprietary locking design (I've found conflicting reports on this) but, in any case, I-R offers a variety of replacement blade sets, including a 6-pack of 32tpi blades. This looks a lot more versatile than a die grinder or a standard-size recip. It also makes it unnecessary to have a power-tool-sized compressed-air system. A possible drawback, compared with a mini air saw, is that it measures about 12" in length. Weight is 2 lb. Batteries are said to be good for about '1 hour' of use. The manufacturer's webpage can be found here: https://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/en-us/power-tools/products/air-cutting-tools/12v-recip-saw.html A very informative independent review by a restoration shop owner (including a nice video of the saw in action) can be found here: https://shoptoolreviews.com/woodworking/handheld-tools/12v-ingersoll-rand-cordless-reciprocating-saw/ The kit (saw, batteries & charger, carry case) goes for ~ US $220. For my Canadian friends, I've found it available from an authorized Toronto supplier for Cdn $250. Comments welcomed.

Why do I do this to myself? Sure sure, it’s to make “room” in the shop, but really, it’s so I can daydream about that special day this is all complete!

Wow! My last update was November of last year. Believe it or not, I have been working on the Z, just very slowly and as time has allowed. I crossed off an easy project by installing the oil tube block off plates I bought from MSA. Nice materials and quality. I used a little gasket maker to go around the edges of the oil holes. When I got the balancer back from Dale Manufacturing I knew I needed to repair the snout of the balancer as the seal had carved a groove in it. I ordered a SKF Speedi-Sleeve kit off Amazon for $30. Part # 99189. It went on easy-peasy using my 20 ton HF press. Next up was the oil pan. I used the Competition gasket sold by MSA. A brand new Fel-Pro gasket just seemed too thin and the MSA gasket is easily 30-40% thicker. The pan went on as planned and all fasteners torqued to spec, 7ft pounds. The silver support rails provide a nice contrast to all the blue even if they are not correct. With the balancer installed the engine takes a few more steps to completion.

Here's an (attempted) artistic shot of with a couple of the ladies ....

new manifold gasket, tested with smoke, yikes, still leak at #6, for all my checking and saying all the o rings were there, I did indeed miss one. argh. Anyway test run at it pretty much starts right up but still not right BUT now it will start and continue to idle albeit poorly with the WTS connected, disconnect it and it dies. Going to get a fresh set of plugs and try it again. just to see if they still show super rich. Also going to just plug the CSV, no need for it with 80+ temps. fuel pressure looks good, FPR responding to vacuum. I should have tried removing the oil cap. Tomorrow got to give it a break. one thing for sure I know I have no leaks at the manifold the annoying exhaust tick is gone. oh gosh those thin cigars my wife got for me to puff on, OMG they are TERRIBLE!!!!!!

Looks like a set of plug wires and who knows the boxy looking thing. I thought it was an aluminum radiator.

My early 71 also had those almost useless knobs. I swapped in some seats from a 77 280Z, new foam and leather from Interior Innovations, and now have the flip forward option which is really nice for access to the jack and tools under the plastic hinged covers.

Good price for a useful tool. Looks to be more versatile than my Sawzall and a 50 foot extension cord. Dennis

Thats an interesting tool. I jave an air version of that. I use it more than you would think

@Craig24 I got your message and wrote you back. Feel free to reach out any time!

interesting, but I saw something else that may work even better, I have a sniffer for AC leaks, maybe I can use it so find the leak if I can find a safe gas that it can operate on, heck may work with dust off. just block off the intake, and pump in the dust off thru the brake port. I think I will test that to see how the sniffer reacts to it. or I could just pull a Scotty and break out a stogie I suppose, will have to video that so you can see me turn green...

Last thought - a bent wheel side flange would measure out as a bent axle, relative to the wheel flange. The bearing seating surface would be off-perpendicular to the axle bearing journals, except for two exact postilions. Seems like the most likely cause. Somebody slid in to a curb in the past maybe.

There are 2 primary sources for reproduction Z car rubber and they are Vintage Rubber and Banzai Motorworks. Vintage rubber door seals are head and shoulders above the Pacific rim stuff that requires a heavy hand to close doors and deck lid.

My friend's Z. He did it. I think he preferred the knob on the outside.

My early 71 had the knurled knobs. It was a PITA to access the jack and tools anchored under the plastic hinged cover.

cold start is there, thermo time not working, so I just manually fire it from time to time for testing with a stand alone battery pack. thought about wiring directly to the "start" position without the aid of time or temp (would just unplug if thought I was cranking too much), but that is cheating, and should not be required. Have to get to the root of the problem. My car starts fine with no CSV help with the temps we have now, so need to work out this spare problem. I don't want to start pulling parts of my perfect running car to fix it, something about a bird in the hand.

Why do you think the seats have been reversed, Blue? Or are you insinuating that they are originally like this?

I don't know about anybody else, but for me what I call the "flip forward" function of the seat back wasn't so much about quick recline of the seat back for driving position, but more useful to access the area behind the seats and the tool stowage area/rear deck via the doors. Maybe everybody else thinks about it in a different way? November 1969 Nissan 'Service Shuho' #184 (Z-1) calls the lever the 'Reclining Device' and the large knurled knob the 'Back Fine Adjustment Device'. The later design added more forward flip, but I've always thought of it as more useful for access...

Jeff, don’t know if you sourced the new wheel studs yet, but they are available at Silvermine motors. I just ordered a set myself! Edit: NVM, I see you drilled out the rotors...

Hi Kats, It looks like the numbers shown in the table are correct. Not sure why the numbering was different on the early RH seats. One of my parts books came from Nissan USA's HQ and has hand written notes when the part numbers changed or when parts were NLA. Also included a picture of the page with the vinyl swatches that includes the blue vinyl.

These seem to be similar to Alan's swatches: