motorman7

Was really a great day for the Z cars. A number of Z's hit the Irvine Cars and Coffee early in the morning, then went to the MSA show. Attached are pics from the C&C show. MSA pics have been posted by previous posters. Best part of the MSA show was the huge crowd that showed up. Seemed like a lot more than last year. Lots of people to talk to and a lot of people restroring there Z's. That was great to hear. There was one gentleman at the show who is the original owner of his 1971, series 1, 240Z. It was a very nice car. S/N in the 14K region. Also, got a personal invite from a representative of the Muckenthaler Concourse D' Elegance. Gave me a pre-approved form to enter to the show with my '70Z. Looking forward to that one.

Got my three ready. Have a couple friends driving two for me. Very excited as this will be the debut of the silver Z with the flat tops. She's looking good. See you there. Rich

Wasn't going to say anything, but decided I have a few thoughts to share (it's because I'm getting old). When I think of this car, the thing that keeps coming to mind is the antiques road show. You see over and over how things are worth more in their untouched condition. Unfortunately, many of the people on the road show 'clean-up' their antique resulting in a large loss of value. The same can be said about coins. Take off the patina of that 1909 VDB penny and you've turned your $800 penny (yes, $800 penny) and turned it into a $40 peice of shiny copper. Present both pennies to a kid and guess which one he picks? The cost to restore a car to that condition is often brought up. That is a non-issue. How much to restore your antique to its original condition? In doing so youv'e just missed the point, and 9 times out of ten, more than halved its value. The beauty of the e-bay car is it is virtually untouched. There are very few like it, very few. Are there better looking cars, absolutely. Faster Z's, definitely. As for worth, that is for the market to decide. But cars this original are hard to find and rare. Just my two cents -(and wish one of those cents was an untouched 1909 VDB).

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