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The flat top contingent takes the top two spots placing 1st and 2nd in the stock 240Z category. The outclassed round tops just can't compete.

Avoiding the summer heat (hopefully)! Note there is no host club shown - looks like this will be on ZCCA to organize, as they did for Memphis 2015.

You cannot set the newer style needles like the dvd with Grose jets. You have to hang them upside down from your picture above, actually right side up. I fooled with mine for many months before I realized this. A lot of other guys have run into it too. The newer needle jets are so sensitive they won't hold the weight of the floats like the dvd shows. First off I would straighten the float tabs back into shape. Disregard the red circle. The tangs should look like an upside down slice of cantaloupe not like a ramp. Then hold them right side up and blow through fuel bung while pushing the float upwards. Have something that is .55" wide and hold it against the bottom of the lid. When you are at .55" you should not be able blow any air. Valve is closed. That worked for me. I got bored last winter and did this to make sure they were right. The 10mm down seems to be the easiest and most frequently used way now. I've never done it but here's @jonathanrussell method, sounds simple huh? Regarding adjusting floats....personally I think it is the most important and tedious step in getting the carbs working right. Bending the little tabs one way and then the other in an effort to get the float set just right is insanely frustrating but worth the effort. My personal preference for setting the floats is to remove the bowls, turn down the mixture screws 10 turns, and set the fuel level so that the convex meniscus fuel bubble sits perfectly even with the top of the nozzle. Once you get this accomplished, in my experience, you are able to freely adjust the mixture down to 2.5 turns and then detail adjust using Color Tune or similar. This technique has been documented multiple times on this site and others, fyi.

I might know a thing or two about the electrical system if you need help sometime...

An update to the project... I've got all the valves sorted out and cleaned up waiting to be reinstalled. I cleaned up all the burrs and distorted metal in the holes on the head and cam towers where the alignment dowel rings go. This allowed me to test fit the cam towers and my "new" cam. So far so good!!! Spins easy with two fingers! And that was even without a whole bunch of fiddling with the towers and the bolts. @jonathanrussell This. Just. Might. Work!!!! Some of the alignment rings for the towers were bent and mangled beyond use, so I need to get some of them on order. That and a head gasket.

They must have been emulating a "continental kit"

Beautiful car. Museum piece. Sell it in a couple of years after the 240z priices plateau. Until then get it as original as possible and enter in a Zcon event to get Gold Medallion!.

On display at ZCON 2019. Nice lighting.

Hi Alan , I am now dreaming about to own a VZ , then install a S20 . I am wondering how I can draw attention from people in the US . ( not in Japan . People always give higher Regards to RHD Z s ) . When I get old soon , I will have to let my cars go to someone. Finally I will have one car , and A VZ with a S20 would be a single fireworks ball for my graduation of Z life ? Chris , I have a question. A VZ is never eligible to attend the ZCCA judged car show , is it true ? If it is true , Where would I set off a fireworks? On BAT ? I see recent results on BAT is telling that provenance and / or clearness bring a huge demand of enthusiasts. Not so important about originals details. So If I put a S20 on a VZ doesn’t hurt the value of the car , does it ? ( of course all the components which came with the car are included for the buyer ) . I am just drea😋ming about . I have a particular VZ car in my mind. Kats

my FIL had a 300ZX AE that had been parked since 1992. About 3 years ago I pulled it out and got it running. Seeing it, my friend said "I have a neighbor that has a Z with no miles but he's not interested in selling". Last week my friend was talking to his neighbor who said he was ready to sell his car. The rest is history

ensys, I totally appreciate your critical take on this car. This car should not exist. I almost don't believe it and I can see the car in person!

I got a notification from @gwri8 for this post. I'm in Cleveland but I don't have my car mobile right now. I have a lot of things off of it doing a bunch of installs. I have another rough stock '73 sitting covered up if you want to look at it and compare anything. There will be a few differences from '72 to '73. As suggested load the FSM and there's also great wiring diagrams that can be downloaded. I also bought a laminated full color wiring diagram a few years ago and I think it's 11x17. And it was priced decently. Just message me if you need and if I can help I'll try my best. Thanks for tagging me Greg. Good to hear from you. I'm still around slowly working on two car projects and moving soooo slow it's pathetic, lol.

Here is the date stamp on the muffler

Hahaha Well it won't be fun if I install the dash and then forget a connector or 3 and have to remove it... That's what I'm trying to avoid! My dad will keep it in NC once it's done. I'm just providing the extra time and hands...

I posted the pic of my #305 code roof to illustrate how easily this colour can change it's appearance depending on the available light level when the pic was taken, from my experience the colour of the OP's exterior and ash tray cup could easily match. Now that the OP has posted a pic of the trans tunnel we can all see that they do match. To me it shows no such thing, what I see is virtually no miles but 43 years sitting. @brunodoggy, I don't know what you paid but you got a great deal regardless, take lots of pics.

Yeeaaa... I am going with 350 mile car!

Ok. Here are some more pictures. I am comfortable stating that the 350 miles are true. I pumped up the original tires and they held air! Released the brake and was able to push the car by hand. I was not expecting that!.

I concur, the BaT conversation was entertaining; something along the sit-com style. I did notice one of your posts deleted, Alan, and I don't understand how that happened other than my previous clown-show comment. I read it and then saw it deleted later. The VZ program was indeed a unique event in automotive history, on many different points of argument, and ranks right up there in the mentionables category. Alan, I think your point is on an intellectual platform, far different than the sensationalistic cries of passion we saw on BaT. The Dream Garage ad campaign and the Z Store were a two million dollar event at Nissan USA in the late 90s. They signaled the end of the Z-car for a period of time. That was a big deal. Considering the scale at which Nissan USA approached the restoration program, it was pretty damned unique. Were they the first, the only; did Nissan "conceive" of this outrageous idea? No. Of course not. Factory reconditioning and resale goes back to before the war. Read your automotive history. We don't need to quibble about Aston Martin. The sensationalists ruled the day, however, and some poor bastard took home a car that needed work for a price five times what that car would have cost ten years ago. Personally, I'm encouraged.

Better pictures later today. I'm leaving in an hour to pick up the car. Good undercarriage shots will have to wait a week. I just had a new garage built (before knowing anything about this car) and the concrete was just poured on Monday. Can't put in the lift till next Saturday.

Hi guys. I'm in the reassembly stages of a '72 240Z restoration. My dad bought the car new in 1972 and it's been in the family ever since. I disassembled it and kept the engine, trans, dash, wiring harnesses and a host of trim pieces with me here in Chattanooga, while he took the rest to back to where he lives in central NC and had the body restored, floor pans fixed, rust patched up, etc. See attached pics. In a few weeks, he's going to bring the car back to me so I can reassemble. All the fasteners and smaller parts are bagged and labeled and I took notes during disassembly, but it would be wonderful to have another 240Z to compare to make sure I get the hose and wiring harness routing exactly right, etc. Would anyone with an S30 in the Chattanooga area be willing to visit for an hour or so while I compare? Beer (or another beverage of your choice) can be provided. Thanks!

I'm in!

Well, depending on were in the world you live parts aren’t as available as in other places. I live in Sweden and when i swapped my oem cam in my Us spec 240z for a Schneider cam (head had been rebuilt in the USA and the rebuilder wasent as exact/good as he should have been) the lashpads had to be adjusted a bit to get the exact wipe. I left the pads and my measurements to a mechanical school and they grinded them down to the size i wanted (then I could take some off if needed by myself with a small file. For me it would have taken 2-4 weeks or so to get correct lashpads from the US. This way it took me a couple of hours. I started with size 190 (that was all that msa had to offer) but can’t remember were i ended up, there were not to much that needed to be taken off the pads but still... better to aim for the exact same wipe on all then just make it work. //Andreas

Okay- we’ll lash pads are available in most sizes . I wouldn’t modify any lash pad myself, I would just get the correct size .

WOW That is great guys. Congratulations! How close were the 73's in points? It looked like it would be a tough one to judge as you both put so much into your cars. JS way to go! Nice win!

Kats, As you know, I am all in favour of your LHD S20-engined plan. I'm cheering you on! However, I can't say that I have taken on any of my own project cars and thought about future value. How much would my 432-R 'replica' project car be worth if I had to sell it? Maybe not even as much as the component parts would sell for. And my white 240ZG that I'm now putting together would probably be worth more as a totally stock 240ZG, but I don't want to do that... I hink you should do what you want to and take a few people with you on your journey. Any car will find a buyer in the end, and who would not want to buy an ex-Kats car? I don't think this BaT bubble is going to last all that long. It's a really strange format for me. Bidding on a car you cannot personally inspect in the metal before buying is never ideal, and it seems to me that a relatively small group of people are commenting on the auctions - some of them 'bidding' - and the BaT site owners are moderating comments before they are posted. One or two characters seem to be allowed to say almost anything they like whilst controlling the narrative. There's a potential for all sorts of shenanigans. Your 'S20-powered VZ' project might change a few minds. According to our new BaT friend 'Lstepp4re' apparently "....Here in the US we didn’t know of or care about JDM.. we knew about Datsun 240Zs that most of us couldn’t afford or acquire ..and as such ..99% of the people on this site ..just don’t care about the JDM market...". He reminds me of somebody. My personal favourite 'VZ' car? This one:

View Advert Restored 240Z steering wheels I've nearly finished one of my exhaust-parallel projects - 'new' 240Z steering wheels so time to share some photos. Once upon a time 50 years ago, all steering wheels were like new. Now they can be again and the perfect 50th anniversary gift for yourself and your car ! Completely stripped, spokes repainted and the the rim given several high-quality gloss coats, these will have new or refurbished horn mechanisms and centre pushes. They feel so lovely in ones' hands - a 'must' to finish your restorationand in a world where more and more people fit the black leather, competition replicas, be different and go old-school with the real thing ! Basic price will be US$675 (no horn push and your wheel in exchange). There are a lot of hours' work gone into these Advertiser Sean Dezart Date 07/21/2019 Price $675.00 Category Parts for Sale  

Amazing, another 6-figure sale..

Beautiful day finally here on Edmonton for our annual car show!

Wow. I need to talk to my neighbors more. Very well done. And I agree with some of the sentiment above... If you have any doubt at all that you're just going to drive it, then I wouldn't even clean it. I would leave it just the way it is and contact BAT.

All: Well, this new first-hand evidence is certainly a compelling demonstration of the pitfalls of visuals over the web. The first fotos lead me astray regarding the actual hue of the blue, I reckon (tho the jury may still be out regarding the undercarriage...). So maybe it wasn't Col. Mustard in the Library with the lead pipe after all. However, I will reserve a final bark up this tree until after the car's first good wash, over and under. Still, spot on or off the mark, the exercise was an interesting diversion from the same old, same old.

If you paid less than 30k you got a very good deal. I would sell it right now if it were me. The market is extremely hot and if the economy slows down, values will fall. Turn it into cash and shop for a really clean S30 of your choice. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you could sell the car for 50-60k in the current environment and the right platform. That is a unicorn...

I don’t think Nissan could have designed an uglier rear ram rod bumper than the silver car in the first post. Ralph Nader would be proud!

Chris, I absolutely concur that the wider 'Z Store' project was unique, and that in turn the 'VZ Program' part of it was unique in its wider scope of volume buy-in (the "scale" that you mention) and commissioned restoration for resale. I don't need to concede that because it's a given. What I don't agree with is the ill-informed hyperbole from certain individuals who really ought to know better, and I find that a more measured appraisal - like yours - is better for the marque in the long run. As you point out, and others do not want to believe, in the past other motor manufacturers have restored their own used cars for resale and some continue to do so. That aspect is not "unique". For me, a lot of this goes back to those days when people were talking about "Factory restoration" and leading people to believe this project was something other than what it really was. A lot of people didn't like the clarification being made, but when automotive journalists - who should know better - were themselves believing that the cars had been sent back to Japan and, in turn, misleading their readers, I believe the term "Factory restoration" was an inappropriate term for us to throw around. Is it my imagination or are we doing a better job of describing these cars than we used to? I have to say that your work on rounding up the facts and putting the whole thing into some semblance of order for us has been a great benefit to the legacy of the 'VZ' project, and will have certainly helped this latest BaT sale even if the cast in the sitcom didn't know it. Your data and explanation of the whole story was certainly a great benefit to one Japanese owner whom I passed it on to, and he was very grateful. Good work. Thank you.

So what size do you need? The lash pads are available . Have you done a wipe with stock pads?

That is nicer than my house!

Love the man cave!

First, Clarification: I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade. But there is a rather interesting conundrum here, and I never could resist a good mystery. Anyone ever play "Clue"? Now, I realize this is a lot like the blind men and the elephant, but somehow the limited clues make things all the more interesting. I checked and found I was wrong about the exhaust shielding thing; that was only on Cal. 280s like mine. However, the exhaust pipe looks awfully fresh in those surroundings, and with a finish that looks more aftermarket than Factory. On the other hand, I am confident in stating that all 280s were sprayed on the interior (including the tunnel) with the body color, and barring a misleading color rendition, the ash tray pocket seen at the top of the tunnel is not blue, nor is the flat area in front of the shifter. I am also confident that the undercarraige shots clearly indicate a fair number of miles on the chassis. The roll bar and its fixing bolt head, as well as the forward faces of the susp. arms are definitely not just muddy. Going to the interior again, the steering wheel, the seat covers, and the shift boot show the kind of dust consistent with that found on the engine and exterior, while the rear carpet and tower vinyl look very fresh. And so does the spotless, blemish-free dash and its very, very clean gauge lenses. Now, the fact is, that there is no reason to remove the center air grills to replace a radio. But one would have to do it to install that flawless dashboard. I'm inclined to propose that the 350mi probably came with the dashboard, that was not on this car when it left the Factory. The whole paint issue is fascinating. It will be interesting to see what the first good wash reveals. I can hardly wait for more clues

The Vintage Z sold for $101,240.00!

Installed some turbo wheels. Sent from my Coolpad 3310A using Tapatalk

So the older I get the more of a crumudgeon I become. I need to rant about first world problems. So today I experience yet ANOTHER failure of a relatively new car part. Back in 2014 I bought a variety of distributors, including the 123 Dizzy for both the Z and the 510. We now know the issue with the crappy caps on those dizzy's that came up, that left me and others stranded. This is another dizzy failure story, for the 510. A friend with a roadster put me on to a guy in the US that was building EI distributors for various inline 4 Datsun engines including the Roadsters and as it turns out the L4 as well. It is a rebuilt body with in this case a Pertronix ignitor in it. Best thing since sliced bread for points plaqued Datsun owners. I bought one, actually before the 123 craze hit me. It sat around with other Nissan E12-80 style dizzy's that the 80's trucks came with. Being running that style mostly, after my Z 123 dizzy cap issue, I never did use the 123 for the 510. I sold it. Well I recently have been converting my 510 to EFI (a WHOLE 'nother story) and again for reasons not to be discussed here, I had to go back to a regular dizzy for a while, so found and grabbed that nice new Pertronix based dizzy from the "pile" and plopped it in. Ran great. That was 6 weeks ago, put on about 2000 km since. Not a hiccup. Today while coming back from Invermere BC with it, guess what. One minute I'm blasting along at warp 9, the next, WHAMMM... Spark goes bye bye in a heart beat. Coast to the side of the road. No spark. DOSOR. (Dead on side of road). Not wiring, power to the coil and dizzy, cap is fine, dead module. I had a spare in the trunk, (E12-80 style) with GM HEI module, put it in, spark came back. Magic. Ok, just what is a guy supposed to do? I am SO FREAKING TIRED of NEW parts crapping out WAY TOO EARLY in their life. Dizzy's alternators, starters, fuel pumps, the list goes on and on and on. It's starting to take the fun out of driving these old pieces of crap. I drive in fear now instead of joy. What's next? Do I swap to a modern engine and stop trying to keep an old one running? Get into counselling and calm down? Just carry more spares and tools? Anybody else losing their edge?

Pulled all the toys out for a bath

Mainland China Govt's big plan.... the drug dealer methodology.... get the world addicted to low cost junk and corner the supply.... our local Govt's are the pushers and we are the addicts. I could see this coming since the 90's with the WTO entry and all the cheap and dangerous kids toys and telescopes flooding the market place.... just like the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, you could see it well before the train wreck happened.... it is still sad times when the Russians can take down a jet, Saudi's can take out a Journalist and no one blinks but rather changes the channel to the Kardashians.

I purchased HLS0003547 from Calmbach Motor Co. in San Antonio TX in July of 1970. I was a soon to be ETS'd SP5 at the Medical Field Service School (read about it in the novel M.A.S.H.!) and heading home to CA and grad school. Married, my wife and I drove it 91K miles until 1984, and began a complete restoration for my book "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car", California Bill's Auto Books, Tucson AZ. This has been in print for twenty years now, and brings me about a buck a day, still! We showed the car locally for a number of years, but back then a Japanese car didn't pack much punch at concours! In about 1997 we had a financial crisis, and I had to sell 3547 back to Nissan USA ($12,000) for a display car while they were getting together their repop Z's to sell as new cars. It went to several auto shows, then was retired to their offices in Carson CA. Pete Brock told me that the green car had been sold to a private party about 2007, but I don't know who. I'd like very much to find out where the car is now, and in whose hands. Nissan didn't notify me of it's availability or I might have tried to buy it back; it is a big piece of our family history! Is there any way to locate this particular Z-Car? Is there a Z Club member who has information about it's story after released by Nissan? I'm building a silver '71 (the color I ordered -- if that can be what it was called in early 1970! -- in the first place; green was my second choice!) for the street but not as a pure stocker! My last big project before retiring from teaching. I hope this qualifies as a Z-Car History topic!

Interesting. If you look at the consumer-driven stats for the auto industry's products (J.D. Power, Consumer Reports, etc), you find that vehicle reliability has been on a steady and significant improving trend over the past 30 years. Here's an irony for you to consider: Back in the 1960's and 1970's, your vehicle's structure would basically disintegrate after about 5 - 10 years, leaving you with a bunch of perfectly good parts and sub-assemblies attached to an undriveable vehicle. In 2019, the parts and sub-assemblies crap out at the 5 - 10 year point, leaving you with a perfectly good structure that isn't worth keeping because of the uncertain cost and frequency of parts replacements. The vehicle manufacturers are under intense scrutiny over vehicle reliability. For that reason, the vehicle OEM's put their attendant OE systems and parts suppliers under a similar amount of scrutiny. However, the aftermarket parts suppliers are under no scrutiny whatsoever. The only people who tend to know whether a particular repair part (or part manufacturer) is unreliable are the service professionals (who will talk) and the parts supply wholesalers/retailers (who probably won't talk). This because they see such a high volume of incidents. As individual car owner/consumers, we're not in a good position to avoid buying bad stuff. Although it's not a guarantee, I think that the best practice is to stick to well-known brands, even if they cost more (and they almost certainly will). Although many of these manufacturers now have factories in China (and Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, and South Korea), I'm inclined to think that they exercise a higher level of quality control at those plants than would be the case at the generic manufacturers' facilities. Electronics are a special subset of this issue. You can hide a lot of bad quality in 'black box' device without it being evident at the time of installation. Name-brand manufacturers have QA/QC programs and add the cost into their pricing. Generic manufacturers, I suspect, have no such programs.

Pulled all (except roof liner) trim and carpets and sound proofed Z. Probably added 10-15kgs. With windows up it feels 3 times quieter. Quite amazing how noisy these panels were when knocked - spare wheel horizontal section, wheel houses, shock towers, trans tunnel, floor pans and body panels. I tried to only apply as much as required rather than covering the whole thing. Firewall was OK but got a couple of sheets for good measure especially next to trans tunnel next to where exhaust would reverberate. Floors already done by PO but quite thin MLV so I added more and covered with 3mm sticky backed closed cell foam on top, then carpets. Feels positively Audi like ;). You realise how loud it was inside before - when you wound windows down there was little difference before! Now it’s like someone whacked the volume knob up! Also bass from radio is now way deeper and audible over exhaust note! Very happy! Rear deck area will get 20mm closed cell foam under carpets for good measure soon!

Go drink some beers eh.

A user of this forum called me with a current address in So Cal for my Z-Car 3547 (sorry if I slipped a cog on the exact VIN prefix -- its been a while!) and while I haven't tried to get in touch with the owner (yet) I sure do appreciate the tip! My silver '71 (HLS3025906, by the way) is progressing; deep into ironing out the 40-year old Nissan tin. My '70 hadn't many issues, and virtually zilch rust, thank goodness! This one is going to have Tokiko springs and struts, Suspension Techniques bars, L28 rebuilt by Steve Pettersen Motorworks of Chico, steel-synchro 5-speed and trick clutch, Konig 15" spokers from MSA, Toyota 4-piston front and ZX rear calipers, Turbo oil cooler, Fairlady grille, Euro signals, and later buckets in black leather, four-point belts, polished Diesel cam cover, Hobrecht roll-bar, eventually A/C, lots of sound-proofing, and more. Steve is my local connection, and a Z-Guru for Nor Cal folks. He shares his neat shop with me for major surgeries; echoing Mark Twain on Charles ****ens "He knows all there is to know (about Z's) and I know all the rest!" If you took the late, great "Z-Car Magazine" -- of which I was Restoration Editor -- you met Steve in our S30 article about ten years ago. He's building the ultimate '432' S-30 car, and has his own 'dream garage' locally. I also have two '65 NL320 'Sports Pickups" (properly Datsun Commercial Cars), a red 'barn find' that is a fun driver and pretty original, and a black (no kidding, from the factory!) roached one that will probably be re-done by my son-in-law, before I'm too old to help -- L20B, 5-speeder, etc. The 'unibody' 320 was the Datsun that originally got me interested in the marque back in '63; I'd been doing '55-57 Chevies and flatmotor Fords previosly. They are a neat little rig, and get tons of good notice from other drivers, but the column 4-speed is a pain, believe me! THANK YOU for the wonderful feed back on "How To Restore Your Datsun Z-Car", it sure picked up my ego! It was a labor of love, and I wish the photos had been better quality, but I was learning! My Editor, Tom Monroe, was a great help, and made sure the Nissan parts book drawings got included; even helps me! The late "California Bill" Fisher (also Fisher Books and HP Books) was a great Z fan, and the Fisher family is still great to be associated with. By the way, I no longer wear my hair that style (c. 1985) because I don't have much of it left! FYI: I'm going to sell my daily driver '71 Mercedes 230 sedan (the infamous ":stupid::stupid::stupid::stupid:BenZ") with personally installed L28 and 5-speed, Alurad 15" mags, etc. this spring -- gotta get that Z painted!! Hope to see some of you by next summer, and "Happy Z Trails"! Wick Humble