Richard McDonel

Just for fun, I decided to look up the early road tests of the 240Zs. Not sure who did the driving, but in 1970, Road & Track had a 0-60 acceleration result of 8.7 seconds. Car & Driver came in at 7.8. Misprint, or numbers criss-crossed? Bad driver at R & T? Top speed was also in two different ball parks. Car and Driver had it at 109 mph, while Road & Track claimed 122 mph at 5,800 rpm. Could it be a difference in gear ratio? Road & Track shows a rear-end ratio of 3.36/1, while Car and Driver does not mention that. Were the early batches of 240s sent over with two different rear ends? Curious

@Mailnome, Quite right. Other things a guy will likely get right on the first try. Make sure everything is clean, get the right parts on in the right order with the proper torque, and even if it's your first time, you will get it right. But painting? Not so much. It is a practiced art. Best equipment in the world and you will still have too much or too little - all bald spots and leaks. It would be as If you were a lousy golfer and Phil Mickelson loaned you his clubs. You would still be a lousy golfer.

Siteunseen, Thanks for the tip on the silver sharpie. I'll try that. As for the hood emblem retaining clips, I had a s.o.b. time getting them off back when I was at the tear-down stage. Easy getting the nuts off and on with an 8mm socket if I need to ever touch up the emblem.

I can't say whether this bright idea of mine has been offered by others before, but here goes: The metal badge on the front of the hood has a raised centre section and DATSUN letters that are chrome finished. The recessed areas are painted black. Over half a century the black paint had faded to pretty much nothing. I briefly tried to paint the recessed areas, but getting into tiny areas like the interior surface of the "A" was beyond my artistic skill level. What I came up with was to take a very thin touch of vaseline on my finger, and run it over the raised chrome areas, being careful not to get any on the black areas. Again, a very thin layer on the finger. Then spray paint the badge - three coats in my case - let it thoroughly dry, then wash off the vaseline with soap and water. It worked! Attached is the finished product. I regret not taking before and after pics, but I think any 240 hounds will have a pretty good idea of what it looked like when I started.

View Advert cowl finisher Used 1973 cowl finisher. Good condition. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/31/2021 Price $50 Category Parts for Sale

View Advert 240Z rear control arm Used rear control arm, Straight. Powder coated machine black. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/28/2021 Price $75 Category Parts for Sale

View Advert Driver side floor pan New. Driver side only. Purchased a set, but only needed passenger side. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/28/2021 Price $150 Category Parts for Sale

Aren't "collector cars" fun!

View Advert Horn button Believe it's for a 280Z. Excellent condition, $25. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/21/2021 Price $25 Category Parts for Sale

View Advert Horn button Believe it's for a 280Z. Excellent condition, $25. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/21/2021 Price $25 Category Parts for Sale

View Advert Horn button Believe it's for a 280Z. Excellent condition, $25. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/21/2021 Price $25 Category Parts for Sale

YARB is right. Change them both. For a start if you haven't done the the job before, the first one will take too much time. After that, the second one will take half the time. Also, if one cylinder has failed, there is no reason to expect its twin has much, if any life left.

Gentlemen (I hope that's the appropriate salutation), I really do appreciate your interest. I think - not totally sure - I'm the wiser for reading your comments. Here's a final question: Is the use of a vacuum pump for bleeding any less effective than having someone pump the pedal? Have a good weekend all - and a Happy Thanksgiving for my Canadian friends.

Captain, OK, I think I follow what you are saying, but it seems to assume that the air is ahead of the fluid in the lines. What about air that has fluid both ahead and behind it? Air that got in because of a leak somewhere else - front brakes or proportioning valve for instance. It seems to me that a guy is going to have to push and awful lot of fluid out before he gets to the bubble? Does that make any sense? ps, For the record I did not flunk Fluid Dynamics because I never took the course, so you're ahead of me there.

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions folks. What I'm thinking is that any air will naturally rise to the highest point available. Therefore there is not going to be any air at the bleeder screw; it would have already risen to its highest available point, that being the hose where it clips to the top of the brake backing plate. Regardless of how high one holds the bleeder jar, if there is air in the brake hose at the top of the assembly, that air is not going to be sucked all the way down to the bleeder screw. Isn't that why with the front discs the bleeder is at the top of the caliper?

I have a 240Z. The brakes work fine, but I can't understand the bleeding process. Why is the bleeder screw on the rear drums at the bottom of the assembly? Old Chevs and even back to DKWs I've worked on always had the bleeder at the top, which makes sense, because air rises and we want to get it out of the system. What am I missing here? Thanks

1971 240Z. My headlights, dash lights, and horn all work, but not well. Headlights are dim, dash lights are barely there, and I doubt the horn could be heard from 100 feet. Fuses are OK. Any ideas? Thanks

View Advert "Datsun" script badge on hatch I need a 1971 240Z Datsun script badge for right rear of hatch. Not sure what they mean by "price" on Line 6. Tell me what you want for it. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/05/2021 Price Category Parts Wanted Year 1971 Model 240Z

View Advert Shop manuals 1. Wick Humble Z Car restoration manual. Fair-rough condition, but all pages are there. 2. Chilton's hard-cover Datsun Repair and Tune-Up Guide 1961-1972. Intact and good condition. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 10/05/2021 Price $20 Category Parts for Sale

Heyitsrama: A dried out joint. I hear they can be brought back to life with some time in a cigar humidor. Great idea, right? But I'm two years late?

Good evening All, All these years of working to turn three dilapidated 240s into one good cruiser has come with a lot of expense I'm sure that everyone on this forum knows what I'm talking about. But this evening I'm delighted to share with you that I have taken the first step towards recovering my investment. I had in my garage two trash-grade seats. The idea was to take them apart so the seat cushions and backrests would fit into my garbage bin. On two of them, I made a profit. Jammed between the seat cushion and the metal arm linking it to the backrest, I found money! A 1974 nickel and a 1981 dime are now safely in my possession! Finally, a return on my investment! I shared this news with Momma, but for whatever reason she did not share my jubilation. Cheers,

Many months ago I posted a query on this forum. At the time I had two interior door panels in rough shape. They had been bought without door-latch holes and my attempts at cutting my own had failed - perhaps by 1/8 to 1/4 inch, but enough to make an ugly scene. My usual supplier, MSA, had new ones on back order for months, and I was becoming convinced they would ever have them. So I asked this forum for suggestions. ZKars and one or two others answered and referred me to Zcar Depot, a firm I had not previously dealt with. I called, and yes, they have them in stock; door latch openings pre-cut. Ordered a set. Have to say I was very impressed with the package. The panels were bagged in clear plastic, then perimeter-wrapped with thick straps of felt, then inserted is a form-fitting cardboard box. That box in turn was set in a slightly larger box, so four layers of protection altogether. Open it all up, and everything was good. It took me a while to get around to installing the panels - winter you understand, and my heated garage is occupied by my next project, and 1965 sprint car - but I finally did the job last month, and while the installation process is a time-consuming pain, the new panels fit perfectly and look sharp. Thanks to ZKars and others who steered me in the right direction. Richard

@Namerow Will definitely let everyone know how they look - probably this weekend - but progress report on installation might take a while. Here, in central Alberta in the depths of winter, my 240 is on a hoist, above my '78 Mercedes 450SEL. The other garage, the workshop, is filled with a disassembled 1965 oval-track sprint car and related parts. So...freeing the 240Z might be more of a project than is practical with a foot of snow on the ground. Again, thanks for your interest.

7tooZ Good to hear!

Door Cards. It's been a couple of weeks since I posted my plea for advice on finding a set of 240Z door cards. My great thanks to the fellows who offered suggestions; 240DKW, Namerow, and ZKars. Here's what I found. Nissan no longer has them. I even took in the part number from the PartsManual website. Nope. Nothing on Nissan's computer older that 1975 Banzai. Expensive, and looks good, but door handle holes aren't pre-cut. I don't want to make that mistake again. ZCarDepot. Bingo. Should be delivered Friday.