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Pics from the paint shop

Some more custom work as I near the end... My rear ABS panels were looking rough. Both had the top sections broken off. One had speaker holes drilled through in front of the power antenna. I couldn’t find reasonable priced replacements so I did the next typical me thing. I repaired them. Using acetone and cut up bits of ABS from donor plastic, I dissolved the scrap into a paint lid and used it as an adhesive/bondo to repair the panels. I also used fibreglas mat as a reinforcer for the long seams. After repairs were made, I sanded the joints and sprayed a texture spray over the repaired panels. The results are good. I lost the original texture but that is minor compared to the condition they were in. What do you think? Chemicals and paint... This pic shows the holes after filling and backing with fibreglas. I didn’t get a pic of the panel before the repair. And after sanding it all down for texture ... And after texture...

Finally getting around to starting a "Build Thread". Background on me...I'm 40 years old and honestly didn't give cars or motoring a minutes thought until about 3 years ago. I never wanted a sports car or cared anything about the performance of whatever I was driving. I do a lot of work at Road Atlanta Race Track in Braselton GA and have for the past 20 years. Around 3 years ago I started getting a campsite and weekend tickets for the Walter Mitty HSR Historic races down at the track because it seemed like something fun that my then 8 year old son would enjoy. The first year he could care less about the cars but enjoyed the camping and food. The 2nd year we camped right beside a gentleman that had a very nice White 240z that was un-restored but in great shape. I stared at that car all weekend and so did my boy. I still didn't know anything about cars, especially old Datsuns but I really did love the look of that car. By the end of that weekend my 9 year old son was reading the race schedule to make sure we didn't miss any action out on the track. Fast forward a couple of years and I have been bitten by the same bug that infected the rest of you guys! I spend most of my free time looking at Datsun parts or tracking auctions on BringATrailer.com for cars that I may or may not even like. What's worse is my now 11 year old son may be crazier than I am. That kid can tell you the make and model of anything on the road today. His favorite show is Top Gear UK and he has his own subscription to Motortrend TV. While eating Thanksgiving dinner this past year with my family in Alabama I mentioned to my cousin who is an engineer at BMW in Birmingham that I would love to find a 240 somewhere to play with. He immediately informed me his boss had one right then for sale. I of course took this as a sign from GOD and told him to stop eating and call his boss and tell him consider it sold. Below is what I bought. It ran great with the exception of a head gasket that was causing a combustion leak. The interior was in very good shape and the car looked pretty nice from a distance. I usually go overboard with any of my hobbies so I quickly decided it needed to look good up close and be as perfect as I can make it. I am learning a lot and this website and forum have been indispensable to me throughout this process. Everyone I have asked questions of here have been extremely helpful and considerate to point me in the right direction. I now have 3 Datsun's in total, 1 was in bad shape and I am using it to cut and weld metal parts for the car below. The other is a 76 280 that is sitting in a shipping container at my shop waiting on its older brother to be complete.

Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of my wife's complaining that we don't have room for another Z (or another project), or take arms against that sea of troubles and let this car pass to someone else. Yes, I am faced with the conundrum of deciding on whether to pick up another Z. Tough call on this one. The car is in many pieces right now, but would not take much to get running. Of course I would tear it all apart anyway and re-build from the ground up. The good: The car is very original with minimum rust (just the right rear dogleg is rusted through). The frame rails and underside are dented but in decent condition. I love the color combo. interior vinyl and seats are in very good condition, original radio, original motor The bad: paint is crazed and in bad condition, dogleg rust, cracked dash, minor dings. Wife is out of town now, but will be back in a couple days. I will see what she says when she comes back. The price is right. Maybe I sell one of my other Z's and pick this one up (I hate to do that) I need a Ouija board or something to figure this out. tough call. Pics below

I think you have the adhesive type, not rivet on. If it's rivet on the black part can be pried out exposing screws or rivets that hold the silver channel part to the body. I had the screw on type. It looks like this...

Great job on the ABS panel. Looks like new. The man's got talent

I'm guessing that for about the price of the FAST system you could go with rebuilt SU's from Ztherapy which would work with the big cam for sure.

Found a video if you decide to dig in to them. This guy posted here for a while but now has his own web page. Some pretty good stuff on it. http://woodworkerb.com/home/datsun-240z-rebuild/datsun-240z-mechanical-fuel-pump-rebuild/

I'm very impressed with the amount of dedication to do it right. I like a good challenge and the reward of success but I don't have the time, will, or talent to undertake that project. Good Luck!

Oh, and remember... That's just one gauge that I had laying around. I have no idea how much variability there would be if I were to test a bunch of them and average the results. I suspect the gauges themselves are relatively consistent, but without testing, that's speculation.

I have the same situation. Never gets to F, and I still have about three gallons in the tank* when the needle is on "E". I need to clean some contacts as well, but it's just further down the priority list. *estimated knowing the claimed FEM tank volume versus how much I can put in at fill-up.

I made that picture. I hooked the gauge up on the bench and tested it and that's what I got.

I have never had consistent, repeatable, long term stability fuel gauges in any Datsun regardless of how clean the wiring, how new the sender or how stable the voltage. You just learn how much you use for how far you travel and how much is left when you fill up. The gauge just means “yep you just filled up” or “got some still”, but that’s about it. Pretty much gave up and went to modern senders and aftermarket gauges that you program.

Yeah, that's early alright! I bet those are the original carbs that came on that 240. Even if you do change to something different, keep those in a box on a shelf somewhere. If it were me, I'd pick up a set of cheap round tops and do the refurb work to them myself. But I've been into them before and I ain't skeered. If you got the money and want someone else to stand behind the work, then ZT seem to be the go-to guys. One thing to remember... If you decide to go with round tops, you'll also need the linkage bits that connect the front carb to the back carb. The round tops are narrower than the flat-tops and your original flat-top linkage will be too short. But in all honesty, I'd pick up a pair of later generation flat tops and go down with the ship. Haha!!

It was bugging me, so I had another look. 1974 FSM Engine Tune-Up section. ET-16. Thorough description of the system along with way too complicate adjustment procedures. I stand by my "between squat and too long", but if you want to follow the factory's procedure... Their description is on ET-21 and 22. Good luck.

I'm not sure if the 240 is the same as the 280, but if it is... Bunch of other related discussion in this thread: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55746-fuel-gauge-accuracy-1975-280z/?

Does it run? Be happy!

We're just having an absurdity contest... The truth is that the virus did come from animals, a bat-like humanoid. The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz were real, they were man's first attempt to create a flying human, experimenting on monkeys because their DNA is so close to humans. The bats that were used for the cross-breeding have escaped in the past, and now they've ended up in the Wuhan "wet" market. With proper nutrition certain COVID-19 patients will grow wings.

Call me Pooky. I've been on the site for months now but this is my first post. I am truly indebted to many of you for all of your helpful insights and advice, not to mention encouragement. Back when I was in high school my sister dated a guy that had a silver 280z. I thought it was the coolest car. As I got older and more financially able to take on a restoration I had no doubt what car it would be. This was my '77 280z when I bought it for $4k back in 2011. (I spent too much!) It was drivable, nevertheless I started tearing it apart the very next day. I hit it hard for about two years then bought a cottage at a favorite fishing location and the car fell into an auto cocoon until last fall. I have tons of pictures of the transformation. Thanks to the pandemic I've been laid off for the past month and got it almost road ready. In the original picture it looks pretty good, with the exception of those awful bumpers, but had a lot of cancer in the usual places. With the exception of sand blasting the body, I've done ALL the work myself. Even painted it myself. Thanks Youtube! I'm lousy about keeping track of receipts and bills but I would venture to say that this project has run up to about $15k so far. All I have left to do is get some type of front bumper on it and put in the windshield and hatch glass. I'd also like to get it tuned up by someone who knows these cars. Honestly, I wouldn't know one that runs good from one that runs bad. The second picture is probably in 2012 and the last picture was taken today.

Yes, a modern EFI system would solve the problem. L-Jetronic is close to 5 decade old technology and simply doesn't have enough sensors or computer power to deal with anything beyond stock hardware. Carbs are always an option as well. Cost-wise, a stand-alone EFI is probably the best value.

Yeah, turn the volume up or get a louder exhaust. Temp and oil pressure gauges keep an eye on, and as long as it's moving you're good.

Learn to enjoy the noises(s). As soon as you remove one you'll notice another. Coming up: diff howl, 3rd gear whine, rocker ticking, injector noise, mustache bar clunking.

Was going to go black for all the shafts but I really liked Motorman's cast iron color from his thread so I copied that the best I could. Left the driveshaft chassis black

This is my first S30 so I am not sure how well this one stacks up to others in the rust department but the bad areas were the Battery area and rear quarter at the fuel inlet. Wheel Arches had rust through on each side. The interior stuff was in great shape. The donor car has now been sandblasted but I haven't been by to take any pictures of it yet. I've got my fingers crossed that it was a decent investment to save some time fabricating and replacing aftermarket body patches.

Should have taken more pictures during the tear down but I didn't realize these build threads were popular. I seriously wait for any updates to some of you guys progress like I am waiting for a new episode of my favorite TV show to drop. This car took a good smack to the left front at some point. I don't have much history on the car but other than the damage and some of the normal rust prone areas it appears to be in decent enough shape for a restore. The left frame rail is jacked up and the "under fender ridge" thing is all crinkled. My junker/donor car of course had been hit in around the same area but not as bad. I think the radiator support can be salvaged from the junker car and the under fender part. What I cant find is the front extension that the head light bucket mounts to. I bought a radiator support/font clip from ebay that looked good in the pics and damn if it wasnt crinkled in the same spot too. Im 0-3 on that but I am hoping my man doing the body work can figure it out.

Cleaned and painted the CV shafts this weekend. I painted them with 'aluminum' spray paint which I think may be a bit too shiny. May re-do this in flat aluminum.

Finally got my struts finished up......now I just need a body to attach them to. Calipers are rebuilt, all new pads and shoes.

Thanks for the great information. Since I live in TX and it does get very hot here I think I will go with the ceramic MSA. I do love the looks of the SS though. Below are some pics of the car. 75K documented miles and first owner had car until 2012. Original window sticker and all service documentation throughout history of car. Next is on to Ztherapy SU carbs. Called them and they are booked out until June.. Geez they must be busy. Couple pics of the car below.

I am in the process of restoration of a set of Logan Blackburn's American Racing LeMans magnesium wheels. This is a set from his championship winning Z. I purposefully left his "trademark" yellow over spray on the inside of the wheels.

And a few more engine pics. Haven't really done that much here....just temporarily added a few parts to the block so i can keep track of them.

Just saw the thread on the valve cover finish. Will have to check that out a bit closer and see how it looks with mine. I used '0000' steel wool and phosphoric acid for the initial clean (wear your gloves and goggles boys and girls). It looked a bit dull after that. Then went over it with '0000' steel wool and mothers mag polish. I think the look is close, but will read up on the valve cover finish thread. Got the latest pics from Miguel. Body is not primered.......Woo-Hoo!

Finally have a little time to work on my car. Woo-Hoo!. Engine is coming along nicely. Car should be primered pretty soon. Will post those pics once they are ready. Here are some engine pics and jewelry pics for now. Still debating on what to do for the valve cover. Got dinged at ZCON for bead blasting cover. Will try just cleaning up with steel wool and see how that looks.