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I've been very lucky on many fronts in my life. My luck started with being born in this country and continued through being born into my family. However, for this screed I'll stick to the Z world. I started getting paid, $125.00/week, to be a mechanic at a dealer in 1970, talk about luck. I very quickly realized that paying close attention/noticing things were important aspects to becoming successful at my craft. When I opened my now closed shop in 1980 a trickle of unmodified original owner Z cars started to flow through, talk about luck. It didn't take me long to understand the importance of documenting as many details as possible. The results of my appreciation are a large stack of photos of the many fine details of 240/260/280 construction. I also have many sloppy pages of notes describing the fine points of construction and differences between model years. My goodness, I even have several pages of notes describing, in detail, the fasteners used to secure a 240 timing chain cover for production date X. Every time a serious customer approached me for a restoration I would ask, in detail, exactly what he/she wanted the finished product to look like. Before they had a chance to answer I would describe what an original Z looked like from the factory and I'd often show them a few pictures from my collection. The answer was always not just no but HELL NO! They wanted pretty. What does pretty mean? Modern, often 2 stage, paint that has been wet sanded and buffed to near perfection. Powder coated suspension and all the other bits and pieces of modern restoration required to satisfy a customer. To see 2 of my last 3 Z car restorations visit my site and click on Customer Profiles. When a 240 left the factory there was orange peel in the paint in random places. Have to mention that this particular problem improved markedly in about 1975 or so. However, there was often a serious problem with the clear coat discoloring when 2 stage paint was used starting about the same time. The paint on the bottom was applied very unevenly and often contained dirt in random places. Most of the grommets that were glued in place had glue running down from the grommet. The suspension pieces were painted a sloppy and uneven satin black. There was overspray on some of the exterior engine components that were in proximity to the engine block. The list goes on from there. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not criticizing Datsun, that was the way cars were often manufactured back in the Olden Days. I can all but guarantee that if a real factory-like restored Z showed up at a convention a trophy would not be forth coming. Now to address the hyperbole that has crept into the world of Z restoration. "Frame -off Restoration", "Rotisserie Restoration", "Factory Restoration", etc., etc., etc. There are some new ones now like "Magnificent" and so forth. The situation is often made worse with fancy photography and lighting. This is what happens when marketing geniuses get involved. Remember the Z Store Program? H@#$, now I'm often confused and don't understand what they're talking about. ALWAYS look at the car you're considering or send someone like me to have a look before making that offer. I understand that I've only lightly covered this subject but there you have it for better or worse.

@Yarb

RESTORATION Customer excitedly bursts into my now closed shop "Mike, you've gotta check out my 240 - I just had it restored". This is the same chap that wasted a fair amount of my time a few months ago when I explained the restoration process. At that time his only question was "why does it cost so much". That was followed, almost without taking time to breathe, "I don't wanna do all that"! Anyway, I go outside to check out his beauty only to find that it had recently suffered a rather cheap, glass-in, paint job, a new set of incorrect seat covers complimented with mags that are too wide sporting new tires - clearly not a restoration. The industry recognized definition of a restoration is to first reduce the car to a shell with just enough suspension to roll the car around as required. Next it goes to a stripper who removes all of the paint, undercoating, sound deadener and rust to expose what I call the "sins". Sins are the holes in the body that resulted from the rust being removed by the stripping process and or repairs done to the body in the past that, in most cases, were poorly executed. Yes, one may strip the body by applying paint stripper and scraping the layers of old paint off but this takes way too much time and doesn't expose all of the sins. Of course, the chap doing the stripping MUST know his craft and apply the correct media otherwise there could be problems no one wants or needs. The pictured 510 wagon went through the stripping process using 2 different types of media. The fellow who did the job is very experienced and knows his craft. Many, many years ago I restored a 74.5 260 and an 82 ZX which were both stripped using plastic media. I was very happy with the results but plastic seems to have fallen out of favor as I couldn't find anyone to do the 510 with plastic. The next step is body and paint. The body shell may be mounted on a a rotisserie which could make working on the body shell easier - each case is different. All of the unacceptable sheet metal is replaced with new metal which is carefully, and hopefully, done in a way to replicate the original process. Major ripples, dents and or unevenness are treated with hammers/dollies or rivets and pullers. Bondo or plastic filler is used to smooth out minor imperfections. Now we're ready for the paint booth. Interesting to note - about 90% of the dirt that finds its way onto new paint jobs comes off of the painter. Most painters now use a one time use suit and hood. While the car is making its way through the body and paint shop is when all of the stuff you removed to reduce the car to a shell gets the business. Engine and trans rebuild, heater restoration, gauge restoration/repair, fastener replating, suspension powder coating, seat rebuilding, etc. Yes, the list is much longer than I've outlined but each system needs to be addressed and now is the best time to do it. Now is NOT the time to say "well it just costs too much to address X. NO, now is the time. Just got a VERY important call so I'll finish later.

About rust free section from a series 1 . Not using this so up for sale. Hard to find a clean section like this . I’ll ship anywhere 200$ Email Sfinnerty1018@gmail.com

Should have put it on BaT so we could pick it apart!

'Make damn sure your sparks are right before you start messing around with the fuel'. Butch Bohunk, Master Mechanic, Finzio's Sincair Service

Hi guys, this week i sold my 240z! It needed a good service as the engine leaked some oil, the body needed some work and.. i don't have the energy to work on it i will now concentrate on the engineroom of the 280zx i had restored in the past years.. I kept my self made mahogany steeringwheel and gave the new owner the rear wheel arches that i had stored on my attic with the car and some other nice parts to make an nice driver car for every day. As you can see in this pic the car has glassfiber rear arches and they are not original. As i said, i will now with some help of a friend, going to work on my almost ready 280zx! He also helped to get the lighting ready in my carport as he is a electrician as i am also! I finished also the air to air heat pump in my garage, so we can work on the 280zx coming winter. It was a bit difficult to let the 240z go but i had it for 27 years, and drove it for 25 years! It was a blast!

Still enjoying clean air!!! This really has enhanced my Z driving experience. Windows down and 70mph is a joy. I did also find some small exhaust leaks in my exhaust system around some band clamps, which I removed and welded solid. I think I was smelling this when I was rolling up to a stop. Though my hatch seal still shows leaks using the fog test, they are very minimal and I can't smell them. The remedy there might be an actual Nissan seal;0 So if you are dealing with smells, there is hope. first thing I would check is the hatch panel. Think about it, it's been there for 40 years and very possibly been removed at least once-probably by you---so seal it up!!

Well I'm going to tag on to this older thread because I think Derek had the best idea for trouble shooting this issue. I had actually bought a fog machine over a year ago when they were cheap(after the hallowen holiday). It really is a cheap, fast clean way to diagnose the exhaust fumes. I tried the "suck" method first, but it left too much to question. Inside the car with not much room to move around and it being dark, it was too hard to tell where the fumes originated from. Now the "blow" method was much better. It really only takes a couple of minutes to set things up and start trouble shooting. What I found and yet to be fixed, is that I have a lot of air moving thru the latch assembly. It looked like a steam engine coming out of there. Perfect spot to suck up those swirling fumes around the back. I haven't finished examining everything yet, but the only way fumes have access thru this point is by leaking around the vinyl panel on the hatch. The low pressure in the cabin must be sucking air around this panel(which is NOT air tight-mine anyway) and thru the hatch assembly. It would seem to me that the easiest fix here would be to seal the hatch panel by sealing some plastic sheet behind it-agree? I also noticed smoke around the left tail light , where some previous bodywork was done. Also noticed a lot of smoke out the pillar vents, but I think they are too far from the exhaust to be sucking anything in. I will update as I try to fix these