AZ-240z

E, Thanks for clarifying my very poor discription of my intended meaning. Same thing I have on my series 1, except it hooks on a smaller J- hook on the side of my seat. I can always count on you to back me up! Dan

I think that the resin or compound you are seeing is actually a sleeve made of some kind of plastic material that is threaded for the shift lever. It should be a very light beige or amber color. This sleeve is actually glued into the hole in the center of the wooden shift knob. As you suggested, if there is no locking nut under the knob, you may be able to slowly apply some heat from the top where the shift button would be to slightly soften this liner material to release the shift lever. Just a thought Dan

The open loop of the chrome metal male seat belt fastener on the shoulder harness rests in the "J hook". I think you will find everything you need if you do a search for "J Hooks". Dan

I thought I would update some information that hls30.com included in a thread he posted detailing rear view mirror restoration. That thread is now closed but you can do a search for "Rear View Mirror Restoration" for the complete article. He included a website, www.mirrorresilvering.ca, used to have his mirrors resilvered. This website is no longer in operation, but I did find a business in the northwest that does do resilvering. There website is: www.hylitemirrorandglass.com I gave them a call and they quoted me a price of roughly $70 + shipping, more than one would like, but there seem to be very few businesses that do resilvering these days. Since new mirrors are NLA, I thought this might be useful for a perfect mirror restoration. FWIW Dan

If originality is important to you, I have dealt with an ebayer who is in Canada just north of you. His ebay ID is "nikkibid1972", seems to have, or is able to find, early hardware, and I thought he had sold these screws on ebay at one time. Good luck. Dan

Awesome car, Jerry. Been there, so I feel your excitement. Just a thought, but I would agree that possibly a more tradition tire profile might erase some the the concerns you mention. Enjoy! Dan

Thanks, Guy, much appreciated. I do need to take some detail pictures to post as soon as I get close enough to the ground to reach for a camera. I would also like to get some real good pictures taken to create a portfolio for my scapbook. Dan

I'm just staring into my PC trying to think of something to say, other than a simple "Thanks". You, and Classiczcars, have all helped to provide me with the motivation, a huge wealth of knowledge, sometimes help sourcing really neat parts, and just a great place to spend time. As many of you probably already know, I bought this car new in Tucson on March 25, 1971, and, when Nissan started the "Restoration" program, it became an obsession with me to restore this car to the condition it was in when new. I promise that I am not going to give you my life story, just that "The Bucket List" is finally starting to get smaller, and I have been able to revisit some of the same excitement and feeling after 41+ years. Rich, it was really great to meet you and see what you have done with your really nice survivor car. That patina of originality should always remain untouched. The neat thing is, I never want to stop tinkering and making it better. So, Thanks to all for acknowledging what Zulaytr, one of my biggest motivators along with Kats since the 2004 ZCON, I, and a few others have been fortunate enough to experience. Dan Original Owner hls30-20419 2012 Gold Medallion

abas, I think Alan has nailed it. When I started my car project, I purchased a quart can of "3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner" from my paint supply store. It didn't damage vinyl or anything else, removed glue, and worked great. If something needed to be re-glued I would then clean residue of the 3M cleaner with a wax, grease, and silicone remover made by Grow Automotive. In my opinion, strong solvents like lacquer thinner are way too caustic and could damage paint and vinyl. Just something that worked for me. Dan Original Owner hls30-20419 2012 ZCON: 1st place stock 240z Best Exterior Gold Medallion

Chris, that was indeed the "04 convention. This is only my second convention, probably not on the scale of recent conventions, but I think very well organized and at a terrific venue. Hotel and track withing throwing distance, organized day trips to towns of interest such as the red vistas of Sedona, and the tour of the Nissan North American test facility 45 minutes south of the hotel which I am looking forward to. Looks like the 2014 convention will be in San Diego, so close that I'll probably need to try again at another show. Dan

More pictures!

Bob, thanks for the kind words and the experienced advise you have posted for everyone. I think you used the analogy that "judges were looking for fly sh*t in pepper" and, while watching them judge my car, I would have to agree. They all had nice comments about the car and I was judged for the Gold Medallion award, but not very confident, given the scrutiny of those judges. It is still a terrific experience and well worth the self-inflicted flogging one must endure reaching for the gold ring made of that mysterious unobtainium material. Dan

This has been a very interesting and inlightening conversations. A couple of questions I have are, what doors, access panels, etc., are expected to be open when presenting a car in Stock Class? In addition to the owners manual, I also have the original radio operations manual, warantee booklet and card, and consumers guidelines booklet which all came with my car. Can these, also, be presented in the glove box for inspection, or would that result in a points deduction? Does the Battery need to be disconnected, and can a sun shade and dash mat be placed on the windshield/dashboard up until it is to be judged? Should the license plate be removed as it was not installed at the factory? I do need to revisit the published rules, again, but, as we can see, there may be a lot of "Gotchas" that aren't readily apparent, given the generalities of the rules. Dan

I have done business with Mike for years. His friendly, helpful attitude, and his depth of knowledge about my car has continued to make the restoration of my car a supremely enjoyable journey.

Carl, I think it is just the other way around. The early tip was pointed, and later, (maybe starting with the 260z, not sure) was a barrel shape tip with a flat top.

If you are referring to the hose that is taped up, that is your heater return hose, not A/C cooling system refrigerant hose.

Mike, I may have to take issue with your statement relative to small hooks being used in early 1970 production cars. My car is a 1/71 production car, one of the very last series 1 cars, and came with the seat mounted small hooks. Also, the marks on my hooks suggest that the washers actually mounted between the seat vinyl and the hook. As my seats have been recovered, that last observation is substantiated only by these marks from the washers on my j-hooks. I've always thought that this was the location of the washer to keep to hook from rotating when removing or hanging up the shoulder harness.

I have attemped to attach the pertinent pages from Wick Humble's book "How To Restore Your Datsun 240Z". Gleen what you can from these pages, but, it is my opinion that the whole reel spool is driven by a worm gear connected to the antenna spool by gears and plates that act like a slip clutch. When lubed and installed properly with the correct tension on that rather large spring on the center threaded spool post, the antenna mast should extend and retract to its physical limits protected by this slip clutch arrangement of plates and gears. As long as you don't incorrectly adjust, or change, that springs tension, the mast should work as intended. I did not stay at a Holiday Inn last night so please continue to do your own fact finding. Hope this information helps. Dan Original Owner, hls30-20419

I would agree with you about the Konis. My car is just occasionally driven, usually once every couple of weeks to keep battery charge and fluids moving, to local car shows, and sometime a 200 mile round trip to Tucson for major maintenance items or the install of newly found parts to feed my need for originality. Point being, these rebuilt shocks should last quite a while as opposed to someones daily driver.

Arne, I had probably knew that at one time, but never followed up by calling Koni. On line price for Koni's is $339 per pair, or about $680 front and rear. Cost to install would be about $500. That was probably in the back of my mind when I had the chance to rebuild the stock originals. Cost for 4 NOS seal kits was $140, the rebuilt shocks were free as provided by my mechanic, and install was $500 for a total of $640, as opposed to $1180 total for the Koni's. If this experiment fails in the near future, I'll have to bit the bullet and do KYBs and cut a set of springs, or do Konis.

Hi Carl, All terrific information on how tire size translates into aspect ratio measurements. I'm sure I'm not the only member to have all original suspension components which will include the correct size tires when they arrive, ie. 175 HR 14 mounted on 4 1/2 x 14 stock wheels. These have the correct stock diameter of 25 inches, as I am told. Just wanted to validate information that you had already proffered. As to the Dust Covers for the original shocks I had installed, sounds like I missed the opportunity for that when the work was done. The addition cost to break down the suspension, again,to get Dust Covers installed is not cost effective right now with a few other projects yet to accomplish. My mechanic said he had rebuilt many factory shocks in his early career at Datsun and felt that these would last me many years. Since my car was initially restored in 2004, I have put a total of about 6M miles on the car. The reason I didn't put aftermarket shocks in,( I had a set of Mulhollands installed about 5 years ago and two of them had seized causing an extremely harsh ride) there are no "hydraulic only" inserts currently manufactured. All contemporary inserts, KYB, Koni, Mulholland, etc., are "gas and hydraulic" which would require me to cut the stock springs to compensate for an increase in ride height from the gas charge. Carl, if you know of any contemporary shocks that are hydraulic only, I would appreciate your input. I do appreciate the advantages and benefits offered by new shock insert technology, but I just didn't want to compromise originality by having to cut springs to, hopefully, the correct length to compensate for new shocks. This may be a battle I cannot win, but, this project has taught me much about my car and, magically, all of the components for the project came together when he came up with good original, rebuildable shocks and I found the NOS seal kits in a dealers dusty inventory. I just couldn't resist, but wish I, or my wrench, had thought about Dust Covers. Thanks for all of your responses, always informative and greatly appreciated. Dan Original Owner: hls30-20419

Thanks, Guy. It really sets off the finish and detail of the Gold 71's engine. Dan

Arne, thanks to information provided by you and Jerry, just the kick in the #ss I needed, I did find a set of 4 plus a spare of the strut seal kits, part #54308-E4125 at an east coast dealership. Just to update this thread, the shop that has done work on my car and had the stock original shocks in good to excellent condition, just finished rebuilding those stock shocks, put the correct amount of shock oil in the struts, along with the other magic outlined in the FSM, and sealed it all up with those seal kits. The car now rides just as I remember when new, neither too soft or too firm, and soaks up road imperfections quietly and smoothly. They were mounted with the repro domestic springs sold through Courtesy Nissan, no cutting, and the ride height looks to be close to perfectly stock with the current tires which are 185/70 x 14. The 185/70 x 14 have an overall aspect ratio, or diameter of about 24 inches. The original Bridgestone Superspeed-20 175 SR 14 tires had a diameter of 25 inches. Measurements for those interested in stock numbers, (Carl are you there?), and since we have addressed this several times in previous threads, are as follows: Front wheel arch - 26 inches Rear wheel arch - 26 1/4 inches front rocker jack point - 7 3/4 inches rear rocker jack point - 8 inches I have a set of 175 HR 14 tires on order which, as I mentioned above, have an aspect ratio, or stock diameter, of 25 inches which should add 1/2 inch to the above measurement. Those measurements should come very close to Carl's measurements to confirm the correct ride height with factory original shocks, springs with the correct tire size. And, I can vouch for the measurements of the stock Bridestone Superspeed-20 as I have a new one in the spare tire well. Thanks, again Arne and Jerry! Dan Original Owner: hls30-20419 Just completed restoration to 100% original (or as close as I could get the last 10 years)