AZ-240z

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)

Guy, this car is just amazing, nice job. What is the finish on the valve cover? I'm just finishing up my orange Z to total stock original and it is truly a fun trip. Dan

Jan, Glad to hear you found the problem. Dan

Hey Jan, I know nothing about the 280z, mine is a '71, but experience similar symptoms with my car. Turns out it was a spart issue with the dizzy. I have the stock distributor, and, after pulling off the cap, there is a white plastic terminal assembly mounted on the top edge of the dizzy body. I had a pro chase down the problem, and it seems that this plastic terminal piece had cracked allowing a grounding or arcing causing a missing, bucking of the engine. Sorry I can't be more informative, but, if you have a stock distributor, a spark, engine firing, issue is something to consider. Replaced this little plastic terminal and problem solved. Good Luck Dan Just thought I would mention, since you live in Tucson where I grew up, there is a shop that knows Z cars and works on mine. The owner has worked on Zs for the last 40 years and is very good. The shop is "Micro Import Service" in case you get stymied.

I just had my valves adjusted, and agree with what Diseasd mentioned. The mechanic that did my adjustment popped out each rocker and checked the wipe surface for pitting and wear. I watched the process and he said that a pitted wiper surface on the rocker could rapidly wear and damage a cam lobe. He began working in Datsun dealerships and Z cars in 1973.

Jim, after reading this, I just realized that I bought my "918 Orange Babe" 6 days before you bought your car, and I turned 29 6 months later. So, my congratulations on such a wise purchase and all of the enjoyment it has brought you. Dan Slagle hls30-20419, original owner L24-027116

Jim, is it just me, or are your heater hoses going throught the firewall grommets reversed? They both end up at the correct hookups, but, on my car, the inlet hose goes through the bottom firewall grommet and the outlet hose goes through the top grommet. Dan

I would go the www.zhome.com and scroll down to Z REGISTER on the left side of the home page. I took a quick look there and hls30-87164 build date is 03/72 & hls30-87414 build date is 04/72. Your car appears to be right in the middle. Dan

Hi Mike, Just to get you started, I would try the most obvious first. That would be to replace the thermostat with a "NISSAN" unit. Aftermarket thermostats tend to have a much smaller apurature to pass coolant than the stock unit, adding to an overheating problem. While you have the housing apart it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the temp sending probe also. Much has been written on this problem in previous posts, a wealth of knowledge if you search with a few key words. Good luck. Dan

My bad, I replied to an old thread. Please ignore!

Under the ash tray, you will find that there are a couple of screws holding the fuse panel. You will need to remove these and, either, unplug and remove the fuse panel, or try to work the console out and around the fuse panel and its mounting bracket attached to the console. Make sure you disconnect the battery before removing the fuse panel as it would be easy to touch it to surrounding structures and short it out. I found it easiest to just remove the fuse panel making sure to tag all connections for correct reinstallation. You will also find that the choke wires are possibly retained to the console by a couple of metal clips attached to the underside of the console. I found it easiest to disconnect the choke cables from the carbs and withdraw the cables through the fire wall grommet during removal of the console. When removing the console, put the car in 4th and work the console out by lifting the rear and working it out aft and over the shift lever. I have found that sometimes the more labor intensive method is the best as it creates less risk of damage. Take your time, and good luck.

I was doing a search through old threads for valve stem cap information, came across this old thread about D-cap differences, and realized I might be able to help define the date when the newer D-caps were introduced. I had purchased a full set of 14 x 4 1/2" steel wheel and there original D-caps. The seller had purchased his 240Z new, and, after a couple of weeks, as he explained, had removed and stored these wheels and caps favoring the look of aftermarket wheels. These wheels and caps are in close to perfect condition, not rust, etc., and, all four wheels had identical date stamps of 11-70. They, also, have the valve stem hole centered on a spoke as defines the earliest caps. If you were to look at wespaks post #17 above, he has caps dated 2-71 with the valve stem holes centered between spokes. I have no reason to question the creditability of the seller of my wheels and caps, so it would seem a logical conclusion that the change-over date may have coincided with the transition between series 1 and series 2 cars sometime in the middle of 1-71. Dan