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People might wonder why such effort was made with regard to mudflaps, and the answer is that many events mandated their use - for safety reasons as much as anything else. In events such as the Monte Carlo Rallye, where studded tyres would be used on the mountain stages, there was a very real risk to following vehicles. There were often penalties for cars which finished with damaged or missing equipment, so some teams added extra sets of mudflaps which were rolled up out of the way and could be deployed as replacements. If not, great efforts were made by the team to jury-rig a repair in the field. The old faithful of baling wire doing its stuff:

986 used the early-style mud flap system. I received a set of period-correct mud flaps with the car in 2014, but no mounting hardware. So I set about scouring period photos for some details on how they were assembled. The setup I went with was my best guess, given the information at hand. Thankfully, the job was made easier by the simple fact that the mounting holes were clearly visible, making locating the flaps a breeze. I chose 5/8" galvanized strap material for my outer brackets. This strap appeared to be roughly the right thickness - it was wide enough to drill a 7mm hole through, which was a ballpark guess as to the approximate size of hardware used. For the inner bracket, I chose a 1/8" thick steel bracket from Ace Hardware, which I bent into shape, making sure to leave the "Ace" stamp outward, for all to see! These materials were clearly not original, as I'd expect the real brackets to be made out of metric stock, but it served it's purpose for showing the car with the mud flaps in their approximate positions. I'll likely go over the choice of materials again during restoration, as I think I made the rear outer "spring-strap" slightly too short, giving it a "too straight" appearance. Also note that the right-side photo appears to have an extra hole by the bumper mount - my early assessment is that this is potentially just a random bumper mounting hole (or otherwise a hole used for other purposes, given it's size relative to the other bracket holes), as there is no corresponding hole on the left side. So I did not use it to mount the outer bracket. Instead, I hung the outer brackets by drilling a larger diameter hole in the strap, and affixed it between the bumper and body using the existing bumper bolt. I'm not yet 100% certain that this is the correct method, but it was close enough to make the flaps hang properly, so I went with it for the time being.

I had the exact same symptoms and, based on advice from this group, tried the AC Delco synchromesh oil and it cleared up within just a few miles of driving. I was skeptical then amazed. Been driving it for two years now with no further issues. I also had a bad case of the monkey motion shifter. I took the pin out, ran a bolt through the hole (with the shifter removed) and put enough pressure to slightly squeeze the ears back together. It took a few repetitions squeezing and checking the fitment until I got it snug. Once I got it right I used the lock nut and bolt in place of the pin with some homemade plastic bushings. Probably have 9-10,000 miles on it with no issues with the oil or shifter.

Wires are affected by current and current results from the draw of the devices at the ends of the wires. The alternator is a pusher. Your battery has all of the energy necessary to smoke all of your wires in to dust, except the giant battery cables, which would probably cause the battery to melt down before they withered away. It would be a contest. Even the cheapest battery has 675 cold cranking amps (CCA) available. They're the same amps that an alternator puts out. Take a small piece of wire and touch the ends to the positive and negative terminals of your battery at the same time for a demonstration. Wear gloves or use pliers. Post a video. Seriously, it will be a neat demo. The battery is just sitting there waiting to destroy your wires. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/economy/battery---accessories/batteries/31624da3221a/super-start-economy-battery-group-size-26/ssbd/26ecoj/v/a/16439/automotive-car-1971-nissan-240z?pos=9

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, that time forgot, I had a basement, and an outbuilding, full of those. *sigh* It is little more than a memory now. I made a lot of money, but couldn't spend it on anything big, for fear of drawing the wrong kind of attention. But I did enjoy plenty of “the good things” in life, and I always tipped very generously.

Hi Kats: That would be such an unusual engine swap for a 69 240Z; I wouldn’t have any previous sales to compare it to. It is not unusual to have a far more powerful engine put into a Classic Z Car, but usually that engine with say 350/400HP would cost less than $10K. There are a large number of Buyers that would love 350HP for an additional $10K or more. Just don't know how many would spring for an additional $40K or more for 160HP swap.

@Tweeds had a question about the mud flaps, so here is a little info on the evolution of the Works mud flaps. I've only included the early configurations that I know a little something about - I'd imagine there are other setups as well I'm not as familiar with. These are also not the greatest pictures, but they'll give some idea about the various styles the early cars employed. The first picture is 8D-420, an early test vehicle. Was this dual setup used in competition? it appears to be designed for serious gravel roads. The second picture is the early setup used through 1970 and 1971, which consisted of two outer metal straps, approximately 5/8" wide, bolted together and thru-bolted onto the car. These were accompanied by an inner, thicker metal bracket, which roughly held the mud flap in place, and could likely carry the weight by itself. I say "roughly", because there are several period photos showing the flaps having been moved backwards from their standard position during a rally stage. My guess is that the Works team were probably concerned about the mud flaps catching on something while driving, so they implemented a kind of outer "spring" system, that would give way, allowing the flap to move rearward, should it become entangled on a branch or rock. The third picture is from the 1972 Monte-Carlo car #5, and represents a later flap system employed for 1972, where the flap was more firmly fixed in place to the lower panel using a bracket.

I came across another variable reluctor system. AMC. Very similar to Nissan's in concept but not so bulky. Also switched to a fancier module as it progressed. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/american+motors,1976,hornet,4.2l+258cid+l6,1004500,ignition,distributor,7108 https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/american+motors,1976,hornet,4.2l+258cid+l6,1004500,ignition,ignition+control+module+(icm),7172 https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/american+motors,1978,gremlin,4.2l+258cid+l6,1003936,ignition,distributor,7108 https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/american+motors,1978,gremlin,4.2l+258cid+l6,1003936,ignition,ignition+control+module+(icm),7172

hmm did not think to check the gap on #6 reluctor, will add that to the list. Maybe pull two plugs and crank to compare spark visually as well.

This is where it would be great to have the ability to measure spark voltage on a scope while driving. Great! Now you have me looking at portable 2 channel oscilloscopes! Dang it, I'm spending enough money on tools already.

Unless the owner has added a big stereo, the alternator won't necessarily be putting out more current than the old alternator. On the other hand the excitation curve is improved over the old alternator, so it is putting out enough at lower engine RPMs. (I know this has been mentioned in the past over at ZCar.com. I don't know if it was mentioned here.) This can make a difference with blinkers functioning properly, headlight illumination, etc. Granted, LEDs can also help with lighting performance, and I am a big proponent for them. I have used a ZX alternator in my 240Z for over 20 years without problems, and I put a Frontier alternator (70A) in my 260Z last year. It's not an accident waiting to happen.

These the ones? https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1060665150

All good advice guys, thank-you! I'm definitely keeping this car as original as possible, adding only period correct mods (BRE spoiler and spook), or things that can be returned to original easy enough. I will keep the original transmission even if I decide to go 5 speed. If I go 5 speed, I thought I would use a "competition style" shifter so I wouldn't have to cut the tunnel, but nobody here mentioned that. Is it not a good option?. I have an L28 turbo sitting on a pallet that I would like to someday build and drop in, but I would keep and pickle the original motor if I did that. My concern is not about keeping it as valuable as possible, but keeping it original and enjoying it as a reliable driver for little road trips and cars and coffee meets. I've never been one that dreams of a concourse restoration that sits as a museum piece. Cool, iconic cars are cool partly because of the driving experience, seems a waste to put on a shelf and ogle. Since I will not be able to add fluid and drive it again before the "resto" is done, I think I will be trying to source another trans and/or open up this one and hope that whatever needs replaced is available.

I was able to do some experimentation yesterday with the Raptor Liner and I am pretty darn excited to share - this was sprayed on a piece of plywood: Pretty - darn - cool, eh? I know, right! In case you think I am joking, have a look at a couple of pics of my car's original coating: Now, I don't intend on making runs, however, I am excited to see that the original texture can be replicated, though it will not be easy. Here is another pic - focus on the middle of the blob: Creating that texture on the areas of my floor that no longer have the original coating is my goal. If I stick with what the instructions say for mixing ratio and thinner and spray pressure and gun distance, I will get something more like this: That is not bad - I kind of like it. But, it doesn't look have the same texture as the original coating. The samples above were shot with a Schutz gun. This last one was done with an HVLP gun: This was shot on the inside of my well used and not prepared at all wheelbarrow. I am actually quite zoomed in here, but a couple of observations are: There is very little texture at all The coating is a bit less glossy Scratches in the original paint and rust (both underneath) show through the new coating. So, the plan is to used the Schutz gun to add a coating back where there is none and to a few areas where it was not applied from the factory. And then, I will follow with a coat from the HVLP gun on the entire bottom of the car. I think the texture of the original coating will show through the HVLP coating. If I don't achieve the desired texture with the Schutz gun applications, I will wipe it off and try again, or I will wait for the Schutz gun applied coating to dry, and will "fix" areas as needed with some sanding. We'll see how it goes.

@EuroDat You can't buy this but if you ever want some. I will gladly ship you some... C

Build a tree house up in there and you'll have a vacation rental, Airbnb maybe? "SLEEP IN THE TREES WITH Zs"

I find the incorrect items can be fairly easy to remedy. The VIN number is fixed however and they don't come up for sale that often and each year we lose a few of them.

#229! Thats low. Hand throttle... Should draw a six figure number. If it doesn't it's a sign of the recent reduction in values. Even the other cars seem cheaper compared to 6 months ago

When I had a vacation in Hawaii, I saw a blue car with white vinyl top in a wreck yard. That was almost 20 years ago. I believe many of you remember this 240ZG , this car is my favorite, super rare example. Maybe the original owner was a rich man, ZG with a factory A/C , Automatic transmission, and the vinyl top. The total payment was absolutely more than the price of Z432. Kats

Hi Chris, I checked my collection. Fairlady Z parts catalogs never listed the vinyl top. But there was a letter for all the dealerships nationwide which indicates the vinyl top . You can see the date was January 21st 1970 . Datsun 240Z sports for US & CANADA , March 1970 parts catalog introduced the vinyl top that was for the first time shown in the parts catalog. Personally, I like it. But maybe for the second or third car , not for my best beloved car. Kats

More specifically, NMC USA - either officially or semi-officially ("come and take this damaged car away...") - provided a handful of HLS30Us to race teams in the USA. Bob Sharp's first car appears to have been a personal deal between Kawazoe san, via Usami san, and Sharp. A damaged show car, no less. You're projecting quite a lot here. Your "...not fit for the purpose" is doing a lot of heavy lifting (some understatement here...). Says who? The cars in question were not provided or sold as race cars. You might as well point out that the fuel tanks, suspension, brakes, transmissions, differentials, wheels, tyres and cigarette lighters were also "...not fit for purpose" in race cars. These were road cars and they required preparation even for production-class racing. The other cars they were competing with often had their own weak spots and requirements for evolutionary parts, even the Porsches. As far as I understand it, the crankshafts suffered from a harmonic (something very common in straight sixes) which caused damage to flywheel bolts, flywheels and clutches under prolonged high rpm use. The crankshafts themselves did not "break" and they were - clearly - being expected to perform far beyond their original design parameters. So, yes. Hardly Nissan Japan's fault. Without knowing what was going on between NMC USA and NMC Japan - remembering that we are constantly told that the L24 was specified "for the USA" in a car that was "designed for the USA" and that the engine was the personal choice of Yutaka Katayama, which is of course nonsense - I'd say it is jumping to conclusions to blame the engineers back in Japan. That's a fairly simplistic - if not bowdlerised - version of events. Plenty of details on these cars were subject to evolution, improvement and supersession. Mr Brock and his followers may well believe that his employees 'discovered' a design fault and were part of the cure, but Nissan were already on the case - just as they were with many other details on the cars. If you follow the part numbers, the homologations and supersessions they give a good picture of what was going on crankshaft-wise, particularly when you look at homologated crankshaft weights. You seem to want to paint the early L24 crankshafts as some kind of mistake, but I believe you need to take other factors - not least production costings, late specification of a sedan engine for a sports car due to the need to mitigate power-sapping anti-pollution devices and the whole question of who was in charge/responsible for the specifications in the first place. Apparently NMC USA and their president get to collect plaudits for success but dodge any finger of blame for perceived problems? Meanwhile, those same engineers at Nissan were planning and developing their Works race and rally LR24 engines... E3141 8-bolt crankshafts with sufficient counterweighting for competition use, made from higher strength steel (NCM45) than the stock L24 crankshafts:

Thanks Namerow, one thing I am worried about is how I can protect these if Nissan says ‘ they are not belonging to you ! Get them back to Nissan ‘ . I will start a new thread for this when I succeed to digitize. Kats

Perhaps a letter to the manager of the new (?) Nissan Heritage Zone -- listed as a part of the Global Headquarters Gallery in Yokohama -- might find them willing to support the cost of digitizing the two reels of historic film. The NHZ includes a small reference library and would seem a logical curator for films such as these.

@moelk did this recently. he may have some advice?