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It seems over the years we've come to love cup holders in our vehicles. Unfortunately, they were unheard of when our Z cars were built. So I decided to fabricate some. They came out pretty good, so I thought I'd share the details with the group. Mine is a 1973 but I'm pretty sure earlier Z's are the same. I have about $20 in the build. See Pics of finished product and original consol. Material List: (see Material list 1 & 2 photos) Piece of hardboard or paneling 1/8" thick (2) Orings 2-1/4" I.D 1/4" thick (4) pcs of 3/4" x 3/4" x 2" long wood pieces for legs. You could also use round dowel rods if that what you have (2) SS cup holders. I got mine on ebay for $9.50 for the pair. Size is important and not all the ones offered on ebay are the same size. Look for a size that is 2.7" I.D; 2.2" OAH; 3.15" OA Dia (at the lip). The item # on ebay for the ones I bought was 145114090133 (not sure it the same vendor is still listed) See photo. (1) 8-32 x 2-1/2" long screw with nuts (2) or a #8 sheet metal screw the same length. If you look at material list 2 photo, what I did was braze two 8-32 nuts together to make a threaded sleeve then used JB Weld to attach them to the bottom of the consol (1) pcs 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/16" aluminum angle 4-1/2" long. I attached it to the front of the assembly using 3M Auto trim tape to give the assembly a more finished look. This is optional. You will also need 2-9/16" hole saw All the dimensions included are approximate and based on my installation. Some modifications and fitting may be necessary to fit your application. After cutting the holes for the cup holders, they will still need to be enlarges some to fit the holders. I used a Dremel with a sanding wheel for this job. Go slow and test fit often. You want the holders to fit snug in the holes. The o-rings go on the bottom of the cut out to provide additional grip on the holders (see photo) Note that the legs are set slightly in from the edges on all four sides. This is to compensate for the slight taper on the sides of the original consol. I attached the legs and the front panel using Elmers glue and wire brads (small screws would also be acceptable) The 3/16" hole between the cup holders is for the bolt (or screw) that attached the assembly to the original consol. Note also the small area in front of the cupholders is ideal for your cell phone

Took the 240Z to ZCON in Colorado Springs. Won 1st Place, Stock! Yea, Motorman's work comes through again! Judging was done in a dirt lot which did not help with the cleaning. Judges shirts on the back said "We Will Find the Dirt" - and they did. ZUP's silver Z in in the photo next to ours. ZUP drove it from Arkansas, and still got 2nd Place. He was happy for me. (and Motorman, who was not there this time). ZCONs are a lot of fun. Great cars and great people. Trophy backed by a 13 lb (!) hunk of Colorado Fieldstone. Nissan unveiled the new 2023Z at ZCON a couple of days after the press revealing in New York. I love the blue!

Much better temps than back home - still some inclement weather though

In 2022 drove the Z to the 66th Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance, which is the oldest Continuous Concours in the World, running every year since 1956. (Pebble Beach started a couple of years earlier, but did not hold an event in 1960 due to "scheduling conflicts") Not as big as Pebble Beach, but still lots of incredible ancient motorcars. (and Pebble Beach does not have a Japanese car class, not to mention incredibly expensive entrance fees) Judging of all Concours events in N. California is done by the San Francisco chapter of the SCCA. They do not give out judging sheets, so no one knows why anyone came in first or second etc. It is an old boys club that rationalizes their secrecy because someone might get mad about errors they made... This has caused one beautiful Z Owner (another Motorman restoration) to swear off all judged events. One wonders how many other folks this has discouraged from entering SF SCCA judged events) However, Hillsborough does have a Japanese car class, because the wife of the organizer is Japanese! And we received 1st in Class, thanks to only 2 other cars in the class. One a modified 240Z, beautiful Z, but Concours judging rules are identical to ZCON "Stock" rules, ie. no mods. And the other car was a '93 Acura NSX, where the owner was not present when the judges came to judge. This is a poster I use at events like this to show attendees why the 240Z was such an important vehicle in automotive history.

I be damned if I'd told that!

A funny cup holder story... Of course my wife's 50 Chev pickup doesn't have cup holders (we did get some recently that clip into the speaker grills in the dash). She got an award at the show and my wife had our 5 or 6 year old granddaughter in the truck with her while they were waiting in the award lineup. When they got to the front of the line my wife handed our granddaughter her water cup and asked her to hold it while she accepted the award. While the granddaughter was holding my wife's cup she said... "Grandma, you need to sell this truck and get one with cup holders".

And while he does that.. He plays the record with Madonna singing: Get into the groove !! 👍

No, I would just make sure that the shaft doesnt have any play (wobbling around). Remove the cap, remove the center rotor (part that spins), then wiggle the metal shaft left and right. If it does have play, then you have issues with the dizzy bushings and it needs work. It will have play up and down but should not have play laterally. Take the #4 plug wire and swap it with the #3 plug wire. Swap them at the plug AND the distributor cap. If your fouling plug moves to #3 then you have an ignition problem, if it doesnt you have a problem somewhere in the motor.

I would eliminate everything I could before pulling the head, especially since you have good compression, no smoking and no signs of a bad head gasket. You may want to remove the rotor in the dizzy and check the dizzy shaft for play. It should have no play. If it has play that can cause inconsistent firing. I dont know if it could cause a single cylinder to always missfire or how a pertronix would be affected. I do recall you getting better running when you were messing with the ignition wiring. Maybe swap a plug wire just to be sure it isnt one of the wires.

I just received these prop clamps from ebay. item # is 185685464615 and they are perfect fit and very tight for my datsun 260z. I had the one from msa and it was loose. these clamps fit very tight and need to be snaped in. the prop rod no longer wriggles. I am just letting the forum know if anybody need them . kully

I did order the part on march 17, and I did receive the item today. so not to long of shipping times.

Feel free to use it. I created it with Libra Office Write, then exported it as a PDF, and used Office Depot's online poster system to print an 18" x 24" poster. Turnaround time was only 1 day for pickup at a local Office Depot. I've attache the Libra Writer ODT document I created. (Microsoft Word can use this format, if that is what you use). The file size seems smaller than I thought it should be, but that may be because the photos I used were low resolution to begin with. Have fun! 2023 THE LEGENDARY DATSUN 240Z CONCOURS INFO POSTER 18x24.odt

Checked with my Nissan guy on those same p/n’s. Nothing in the US

Did a little digging around about WAI Global. This is a legit new starter and the company seems to have a good reputation for quality. I bought using my America Express which doubles the manufacturers warranty. I ordered it and will report back my findings when it arrives.

In 2021, took it to some local shows. The owner of the black Mercedes McLaren next to me was looking at my window sticker price ($4200 in 1973) and mentioned that his first service on his car was $8,000! Yikes! Found another '73 240Z at the show and he is now a member of ZONC (Z Owners of Northern California, of which I'm now the Membership Representative) An attempt at artsy fartsy car photo... Title: Sunset Over a Datsun

The Z uses 150 Hp to propel a 2500-lb vehicle. If you were to put that same engine in a contemporary mid-size SUV, you'd now be asking the same powerplant to propel a 5000-lb vehicle. The acceleration times would be cut in half. Also, you'd be dealing with a less flexible engine b/c of the absence of things like computer-controlled electronic fuel injection and cam timing. There's also the not-inconsiderable difference between having only 4 transmission ratios vs more contemporary units with 8 or more ratios and computer-controlled shifting. Doubling the vehicle weight certainly wouldn't be kind to the Z's clutch and gearbox (or engine). However, I have no doubt that they'd function ok... for a while. The Z's powertrain was a conservative design built with excellent materials. I think you'd be accelerating the physical wear on critical components by maybe 25% - 50% -- but not by 100%. Give it a try and let us know how things work out 😄

Yea I looked for the OEM one. No luck…. We’ve shutout our European operation at work and giving that work to to contractor. Major job cuts happening. The company seems to care only about quarterly profits after a hostile takeover of two board seats buy a hedge fund. They’re letting people go left and right . Almost all of our flight instructors were fired last week. A lady who worked in flight admin for 37 yrs was asked to leave. Super sad.