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I certainly don't feel bad. I didn't like this car from the beginning. BaT has an interesting feature where you can track sale prices over a number of years and the Datsun 240Z has a very distinct line of average sale prices to help you determine "the market". Type in "Datsun 240Z" in the BaT search bar and you will get a graph. Each bullet on the graph links to the actual listing. What has sold in the six figures have been Vintage Zs and provinance Zs like the Franklin Mint Car. Then there was the 300k car that is way out there in oddball land. I think this no-sale was good for the market in that what The Guild said; once you get into the six figure area, it really gets nit-picky, and it should.

One of my quarantine projects was to clean out my files of old documents. While sorting through some old car receipts, I stumbled across an invoice from December of 2003 for a complete NOS exhaust system purchased from Courtesy Nissan. With a $70.00 freight charge, the whole system set me back $297.48. Given what a NOS exhaust system would run for today, I should have bought a couple more and sat on them 😉 I recently saw a Datsun 240Z used parts ad for a pair of used Koito headlights with an asking price of $300.00, which got me to thinking: Anyone else have old receipts or recall the prices for parts that today would require the sacrificing of a kidney to own?

I am sharing to raise awareness of how careful we all need to be. My father, strong as an Ox, a regular mountain hiker, no preexisting issues, contracted Covid19 14 days ago. He went to a pharmacy in a hurry, not wearing a mask and didn’t disinfect his hands either when he came out. That was his only contact with the outside world beyond getting into his car. He was admitted to one of the best private hospitals 6 days after his symptoms took hold. Being a typical stoic man of his generation, he cared for everyone but never wanted anyone to fuss over him, so he resisted calls for him to go to hospital straight away. They put him on Oxygen + some of the same drugs as Trump (so they tell me). On the second day in hospital, he went into a coma. His lungs were struggling to absorb oxygen and his O2 levels progressively dropped from his usual 98 to below 60 (often down to 20). His blood pressure dropped to 40. Ironically his entire adult life he had high blood pressure. For the last 36 years of our 4000 miles separation, I have spent every day wondering if I am getting “that” phone call - and it came yesterday. He passed away from what was effectively oxygen starvation and the subsequent brain damage. I am sad for me but happy and grateful for him - that having lived a long, healthy and rich life, he has ascended without any real suffering or pain. My dad would likely have still been here if he hadn’t been uncharacteristically careless on this single occasion - or characteristically of a strong man, resisted going to hospital in the first few days. I am told early treatment in the first few days is critical to your chances of survival. I have highly intelligent friends that in the past have said, so what if it kills a few, people get hit by a bus all the time. Fortuitously, getting hit by a bus doesn’t kill the last 25 people you came close to that day. What if one of those was their loved one? Please look after yourselves and your families and stay safe. Take nothing for granted! This is not a time to be complacent in anyway or for He-Man antics. We’re all vulnerable no matter what our state of health or age. If this story makes anyone think twice on each occasion they forget their mask or don’t disinfect their hands, then it’s purpose is fulfilled.

When I was 14 she was 16, my older woman crush.

I have a working Koito headlight on the shelf. Maybe I'll submit it to BaT😀

Perhaps our "free review services" should be socialized on BAT's S30 section.

Greggers13 bid $110,000, up from $105,000 by dfwelite, and both let themselves get outbid by $1,000. I think the comments started to stick. The funny thing now is that, even though it was presented as an untouched survivor, it probably needs to be touched now. It needs the refresh that people were saying it has already had.

Fantastic - glad to help ...

I don't see how the distributor can be bad. The coil wire leads to the center of the rotor, which spins and distributes the energy to the contacts in the cap, then to the wire, then to the plugs. If the problem is electrical it has to be somewhere between the #4 internal cap contact and the connection at the plug. (you did check to see if the screw on connector on the plug tip was tight, right?) I think the best way to test the resistance is to remove the cap with the wires intact. Check the resistance in all six as an assembly by touching one probe to a contact inside the cap and the other probe on the sparkplug contact inside the spark-plug boot. Check the resistance in all six. Actual numbers aren't as critical as major differences, especially in #4.

I’m not the most experienced painter, so take that into account when you read this. I am restoring a 1973 240z, changing colors so everything needed to be painted. One thing that I learned is that I am not capable of defining where rust is or is not. I wound up removing undercoating from places that I would have bet would not have rust only to reveal issues that I might have inadvertently covered up if I had not taken the time to remove the original 43 year old covering. I also learned that I could not get away with covering something unless it was completely free of dirt, oil etc. In my case I had to remove fenders anyway and once I started chiseling and using a wire wheel I could not stop. I originally was going to make it body color, but my paint color (orange) is extremely expensive, and I actually liked the blacked out look better. A friend criticized my flat black approach and he was right. I sprayed a rustoleum rubberized undercoating product over the flat black and I like the result. It actually looks better than the picture. The bucket has not gotten back on the road yet so I cant tell you how well it will hold up but it is reasonably thick and seems pretty tough. By the way I would encourage you to take a really good look at what is covering the floors inside the cabin, I had what I believe was a factory coating inside, AND the undercoating on the underside of the car. I found areas where for whatever reason: driving over a curb or a poorly placed jack, or a mean spirited rock chipped the undercoating. I think what happens is that water gets into the crack actually gets between the coating and the metal. Overtime rust is generated and for the most part concealed from most eyes. The dog leg area is notorious as is the floor pans just before the firewall, and of course where the fender meets the lower corner of the door. Free advice probably worth as much.

Got so much done today!! ... cleaning that is. Half the shop done!

nice to know that I am not the only over-protective wrench in the group. When I removed the door handles I noticed that the bracket had rust on it. There's nothing to prevent it and if it lays on the paint and scratches or chips it could be the perfect opportunity to create a real nightmare. I like putting the rubber over the entire surface of the bracket, drilling holes in the rubber for the studs as that well fill the holes as well. Once again, thanks for responding.

I am in the midst of re-assembly of the bucket a 1973 240z. I just mounted a door and started cleaning up parts to be installed on/in it. Here is a picture of the backside of the exterior door handle. There are 2 square rubber seals that are mounted to the handle to prevent water from entering the interior of the door. I would rate mine at about a 6 out of 10. I think I may have found a place to get some but I am not sure that I want to go to the effort of taking the handle mechanism apart to install them. Any tip/experience would be appreciated. Also, as you are aware there is a metal bracket that spans the two square holes in the door. This bracket has two studs which go through the door and provide a means to mount the handle. I spent an unreasonable amount of time on bodywork and painting this car and I must admit I am not excited about butting that bracket up against my fresh paint. There were no signs of a gasket when I removed the handle. I checked with the usual suspects and they don’t list a gasket. Has anyone cut a thin piece of rubber and glued it to the handle before attaching the handle to their door. Again, I would really appreciate any advice that would protect the door.

Yes, that is the basic idea. I use a heel dolly to shape them because it has a similar radius to the factory floor pans

My 240's battery is dead. I drove the 280 to work a couple of times this month. Like Lamont told Fred, you are porcelian, I am China.

The drivers side has two wires one for the buzzer and one for the light. Passenger side should only have one wire.

I have been to his thread many times, and when I think to go look for something I chuckle, its like an Easter egg hunt. I do remember him cutting pretty large slits in there. How far do you cut into the pan?

ZCD sells the plate. You’ll hav to polish it up before you put it on that beautiful manifold....

I slot the floor pans every 2"s or so on the edge. This allows me to adjust the edge to match the tunnel. Then seam up the slots when it's all tacked in Look at Whee's thread where he's doing floor pans (like page 200 out of 600 )

@zKars & @240260280 Far from my first rodeo. (And, that's as far as I got the pin to move without damaging it - at that point the threads began to give as you can see in the picture. No use going further as they have to be replaced now anyway, so I'll just cut them and press them out.) I guess this is my karma. I did bushings on my 260 before I ever got it back on the road - 12 years ago. My spindle pins pushed right out without much fuss thereby lulling me into a false sense of mechanical superiority... After that I did 8 or 10 pins in the shop that I pulled without destroying them - not all of them easy, but they all came out. I even once or twice bragged about my removal prowess and may have scoffed at those having difficulty. 😏 Then about 4 years ago I had my very first total fail. Couldn't get pins to budge no matter what. Even after I cut those pins up I couldn't get them out of the hub. I had to take them down to the mechanic at the end of our building who had a press beefy enough to push the pins out. This pair will be the third fail since then - so the smirk is definitely off my face. Luckily now I'm in a shop where I have everything I need to cut and press these pins out but it's such a waste, and a royal PITA. Without exception, the pins I've had difficulty with have been mushroomed at the locator notch - and there is no reason for it other than sloppy installation procedure. (Yes, I've seen pins with corrosion that hampered dis-assembly (but this is Arizona, not Maine...) - I can generally get those loose, unless they're also mushroomed.) I'm still gonna look for this guy...

Oh, by the way. does anyone know of a manufactured block off for the cold start injector holes? God help me, if I have to manufacture one, I'll end up making it into a nitrous port! OH NO!!!

I predicted six figure Z's a few years ago when we started to see $50-60k cars. I was told I was crazy. It actually happened faster than I predicted it would. Now $310k is hard for me to fathom but evidently I'm out of touch... I've always wanted a low number car (sub 1000) and almost pulled the trigger a couple of times. I don't really want that anymore and am starting to lean towards 260's and 280's because I don't want to run errands in my $60k 240z. I would rather leave my $15k 260 in the parking lot unattended... This all assumes I ever own a running Z again...

Picked one up for $30 plus shipping...

I think its the door jam button for light now that i investigate now

Poor littlle fella, probably kept up with you for a mile or so.......

Thanks for sharing this AK. Sorry that your father, and your family, have been caught up in this mess. Better days are ahead, I hope. The work to find solutions is continuing despite all of the chaos.

I did bushings and wheel bearings. After the spindle pin and rear wheel bearings, I feel like I climbed Mt Everest.

Before this is over, all of us will know someone. I’m sorry for your loss...

Thoughts and Prayers for you and your family

So sad. I am sorry for your families loss also.

What do the wires do? I think I can help with that: Blue is +12V power in. Hot when in ACC and ON. Blacks (two of them) are grounds The one on the 6-position connector is used as the low side power for the radio, and the bullet is used as a speaker ground. White/Black is also a speaker ground. I think it just gets connected to the black ground wires in the car harness. White is right hand speaker output. Black/Red bullet is left hand speaker output. Green/White is panel illumination high side. Goes to the headlight switch. Red/Blue is panel illumination ground side. Goes to the rheostat. Does that make sense?

So sorry for your loss.

@DatsunZGuy, I saw that same ad for the headlights and just laughed. I suppose for those looking for a pure stock car or chasing that six figure auction price it is worth it, for the rest of us I think it's a waste of money.

That battery area can be tricky for sure but you're going about it in the right way, have you checked the fresh air chimney just north of where you are working? It is an area that gathers leaves and is very prone to rust. I like that Lisle spot weld chisel, looks like you would get a cleaner cut but it's hard to beat an air hammer chisel for speed with multiple spot welds.

It isn't just the paint.

Ztherapy might sell you the linkage I have found the reason they hang up is usually the wrong fuel lines to the nozzle or the long bar is misadjusted and is pulling the nozzle to one side, jamming it in the carb body

Thanks for the compliment...I also saw that same schematic in my FSM....but I was somewhat confused since the schematic didn't exactly match the actual configuration in my car...and I know my car hasn't been altered from original...so I thought it would just be more useful if I posted what was in the car. Specifically, notice how that schematic shows the connections at the radio as a 6 + 2 plugin vs. the 5 + 3 config. in my car. I'm not sure why the difference....maybe the clarion radio setup was different? Anyway, hope all this helps...good luck!!

Didn't do much with any Z cars this weekend (I know, I should be ashamed), as the used oil furnace in my shop consumed my time. I guess if you ignore them for 15 years then one autumn you flip the switch, and they refuse to fire up. Who would have thought, eh? Still, I prefer a warm shop to work in, and the days won't be getting any warmer for the next few months. But beauty can be found in most surroundings, such as this springtime shot of my race car from many years ago. Black & White Z Spring 1991 by Racer, on Flickr Beauty, eh?

Patcon you and I have the same view on our surroundings, beauty is everywhere.

I just used a strip of black electrical tape trimmed so it wasn't visible, could not stand the thought of putting bare metal on the paint I worked so hard on. The rubber seals are pinched against the door handle 99% of the time so I just snipped the thinnest part of it, removed it and cleaned them and put them back on, it's 4-5 yrs and they are still on there.

I've seen carbon trails inside the cap from one contact to the contact next to it that caused a misfire. The carbon trail (track) looks like a line drawn with a pencil. The cause was a poor spark plug wire connector. The path from one contact to another inside the cap was an easier path to complete the circuit than jumping the bad connector in the spark plug wire. @jalexquijano Have you ever compared the resistance in all the spark plug wires with an OHM meter? They should read about the same as each other. No need to pull them from the engine. Just disconnect both ends and stick a probe in each end.

Haha! It's a calling. Seriously though... Glad to help!

My only reason for watching that show after school was Susan Dey.

Hey Kent - just wanted to say a massive thanks from a UK based lurker on this site 🙂 . I'm pretty new to welding and fabrication but your photo's and measurements made it relatively painless to build this design. The car feels absolutely rock solid! Again, thanks for the effort you have gone to in documenting what you did here. Jon.

Agreed. I'll do the same.

I think that same guy worked on my Z's as well.

An intelligent man with more time than most and an internet connections. Woof! I'm glad you and I are friends. Thanks Ms. Mark.

I knew that sounded familiar. The '70s Show!

My name is Gerson Caicedo, my wife and I are the sole owners of kfvintagejdm.com and klassicfab.com..I ran into this thread while doing some Zcar vendor research online today. First off I want to say that we(kfvintagejdm) are not affiliated with any shop, vendor, reseller, or organization anywhere in the world...PERIOD!!! my wife and I own the company outright and we answer to no one, except you the client/enthusiast....It has always been this way, we have been making reproduction sheet metal for close to 20 years now. We have a full stamping plant and reverse engineering shop where we laser scan, and reverse engineer all these new Japanese parts that we are introducing. We also make ALL our stamping and cutting tools..we even make our own hydraulic stamping presses.Our factory is located in Bogota Colombia and our sales office is located in Riviera Beach Florida..we have a distribution warehouse in Valencia Spain to serve out European clients, we also have distributors in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. we are in the process of building a 6,0000sft distribution shop in Indiantown Florida. Our aim is to be your go to company for quality reproduction sheet metal for your Classic Japanese cars..... website www.kfvintagejdm.com website www.klassicfab.com IG @kfvintagejdm IG@klassicfabrications_inc FB @kfvintagejdm FB @klassic Fbrications Inc

Hi , I let my treasure go to the other Fairlady 240ZG , it is an optional item which was available for the L-series engined car in Japan . The dual exhaust system for the L-series engine is one of the rarest part to obtain nowadays. Maybe back in the old days too , most of people even don’t know what it is . The front and center tubes “ 20010-E8730 “ is the one , this was made specifically for the L-series standard exhaust manifold to bolt on . I imagine so few people chose this set up when people going to have sporty “ dual exhaust systems “ back in 70’s and 80’s . I think this is not so sportier than the one with the full race exhaust manifold set up . Usually, people have Nissan sports option replica exhaust manifold with the Z432 genuine center and tail pipes or , after market set up for their cars . Please see the pictures, they are all genuine Nissan exhaust systems. The ones the left is designed for the L-series standard exhaust manifold, the ones on the right is for the L-series engine with the genuine Nissan race option exhaust manifold with genuine Z432 center and tail pipes set up . Everybody who has S30 series car can attach this “ 20010-E8730” on his car . Kats