motorman7

Hey Z owners in SoCal, don't forget the Irvine Cars and Coffee and MSA show this Saturday, April 16th. Should be a lot of Z's and a lot of fun. Hope to see you there. Rich

Took my yellow Z to a TV commercial shoot here in San Diego. The TV commercial is for the San Diego County Fair. They were looking for a '70's vehicle and I was selected. They liked the bright yellow color. (not an original color, but your average TV viewer won't know). The short ~6 second spot showed two actors dressed '70s style running to the car and getting in to go to the fair. Was cool to watch. Nice to see the Z promoted and they took some good shots of the car. They also gave me $150 and a catered lunch for about 2 hours of my time. Not bad.

I doubt the spoiler had a flex agent applied to it. It was painted at the somewhat local Maaco shop. Other than the spoiler, everything else came out great. The spoiler had some major peeling at the flex points. I touched up the peeling by doing some light sanding of the area and adding 'bulldog' adhesion primer. I then put the touch-up paint over that. That, combined with the center support, seems to work pretty well.

Looks like you have the same Urethane front spoiler that I do. It is a bit flimsy and deflects at higher speeds, causing cracks in the paint. I added a steel support structure in the center to prevent the flex. I have not had any problems since. It's not pretty, but it works well. You might want to consider some kind of support for that. Rich The sock is optional

http://irvine.carsandcoffee.info/ Hi Randy, Here is the web site with directions. It's not far from MSA, I think 5-10 miles. It really is an impressive show of cars. We did this last year and it was great. Get there early, about 6:30AM, or you won't get a space. I will try and save some spots for the Z's that show up. Hope to see you there, Rich

I am assuming you have a Silver 240 based on the name. Looks a bit scarey to me. Reason being, I dont see how that bolts to the transmission housing. If you can secure it firmly to the transmission housing with two nice sized, torqued bolts, you might give it a shot. Hopefully you dont grind off any teeth. But realize, those things put out MAJOR torque. How much torque? I was once stuck on the 5 in stop and go rush hour traffic going up a hill when my clutch went out, then I stalled the motor when traffic stopped. Only way to get the car going and off the freeway was to start the car from dead stop, uphill in first gear. The starter was strong enough to get the car going....that is a Major amount of torque. Careful what you mess with. I'd take the time to get the right starter.

I heard the same from Montezuma as well. Maybe I will stop be this Saturday and see what is going on. It's just about 10 miles from my house.

Wow, just noticed your Silver 73 Z looks a lot like mine except I have the 14" rims.

I'm planning on hitting the Irvine Cars and Coffee with my 3 Z's before the MSA event. Would be nice to have a bunch of us that are going to the MSA show at the Cars and Coffee before hand. I am planning on being at the C&C from 6:30AM to 8:30AM, then off to the MSA show that starts at 9:00. Bring your Z and lets have a great event. Rich

Just found this pic of bigfoot carrying the Yuasa N50 Battery. I know we are getting close now.

Thanks Carl. Those early Yuasa batteries are as elusive as Big Foot or the Lock Ness monster ("Our underwater ally") . Rich

I am beginning to wonder if an original battery case still exists somewhere. Still no current pictures of one. I think you have the right idea here. All you would need is a 'jacket' or wrap around the looks like the original case. The top and bottom are hidden. Put this over a modern battery and that would do the job.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Worlds-Finest-Datsun-240Z-/290549073822?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item43a613079e He's at more than 2/3's the asking price now with 2 days to go. Reserve has been met. This should be fun to watch.

Ahh, will check that our when I get home. Thanks!

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/96382-original-240z-yuasa-battery/ I have searched everywhere and still cannot find a picture of the original 240z Battery - Yuasa?. The most info I have gotten is off the Hybridz thread above. Also found a simple sketch, but that is it. If anyone has one, can you post a pic of it. The folks at Antique Auto Battery are in the business of replicating old batteries for show cars and I would be quite interested. Need to get them pics though. Thanks, Rich

Finally popped for the braided hose. Also zinced some of the clamps that grnsky got for me and installed those as well. I am still a few clamps short but will pick those up soon. I love the original wire clamps but they are a bit tricky to install. You really have to torque down on them to get them to seal. After replacing most of the clamps, I started the car up and had 3 leaks :stupid:. Pretty bad. All I needed to do was tighten them tighter to stop the leaks, but still, was questioning my mechanic ability with that results. Cost of the hoses was $160 (yikes), but they sure look nice. Total cost of the refreshtoration now stands at $5705.

I guess not in detail. I took my valve cover to the machine shop and had them bead blast the exterior. I think it was just $30 - $40. Make sure you clean it well when you get it back. Blast with air and rinse with paint thinner or similar. Put two light mist coats of clear high temp engine enamel over the cover to make it easyto clean. Otherwise it will hold onto finger prints and dirt.

Personally, I copied Diseazd's idea of bead blasting the cover and putting a light coat of high temp spray clear enamel over it. It looks sweet. Rich

I remember you telling me about the sale. I wasn't going to say anything. Trying to maintain my pacifist role here. :classic:

Maybe the unlimited mileage is for cars 1990 and newer. Tried to get my daily driver insured through them, the 1971 240Z, and they said 'NO'.

I run the motors on my '70 and '73 at least every other week, occasionally taking them out for a 2-10 mile spin. I also drive them to car shows in the San Diego and LA area. That's about it. Easily staying within my Hagerty's 2500 mile limit. I am planning on taking both to the MSA show and the 2012 ZCON in Pheonix.

I must say, with all due respect, I have seen this car in person and it is really in amazing condition for a car its age. Carl and BobC can both testify to that as they are both very familiar with the car. Other than mine, I can't say that I've seen an un-restored car that comes close to it. Yet, as you have said, it is worth what someone is willing to pay. Rich

And I wonder what this one would do for the average? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-Z-Series-240z-Datsun-240Z-26K-Miles-Museum-Condition-Time-Capsule-/290545169512?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item43a5d77468 Of course, I think mine is better

Hi Mike, Thanks for the info on the manuals. I was surprised that they didn't have a bunch of oil and grease marks on them. All of mine do . As for these ones, I won't touch them. Will probably just leave them in the car. I also found a couple slides that my dad took at the Ontario 500 back in 1971 or 1972. It looks like the pace car or something like that was a 240Z. Nice looking car with what looks like a BRE front and rear spoiler. The number on the car was '0'. Will have to research that one a bit. I will see about getting the slides made into jpegs and see if I can post them here. Rich

Went to Idaho to help mom clean up a bunch of Dad's stuff. Was nice to spend some time with her. Dad had a large Radio Room (Amateur Radio Operator) and an attic filled with stuff. We got most of it cleared out. I came away with a lot of gems related to the 1970 Z. First off, I found dad's original engine and body manuals for the car. They are in flawless condition and were kept in a nice 3 ring binder. Also got the receipt for $6 cash for the green body manual. Found the original purchase receipt for $3820.25 from Bob Restina Import Center in Titusville Florida. Also, a funky accessories guide dated 1987. Have yet to look through it. Found a cool 240Z model. Unfortunately, I am a little too late to get the advertised 'Union' sticker as the offer expired in 1975. Found the old water pump and a set of new rear brake shoes for the Z. Still looking for the old battery cover. Dad said it was around somewhere, before he passed. Will look again when I go up here next. The coolest thing (non-Z) is a picture on my dad on the cover of Electronics magazine. Just thought I'd share the picture here. I have one other thing to share but will show that later as there is a story behind it that will take some time.