jfa.series1

You'll find that most of us are compulsive in that way. The anal retentiveness has to come out.

And no finger guard on the radiator - no obvious sign of its removal.

The snorkel on the air filter has the butterfly / heat riser feature. Per a comment I received from Carl Beck a while back, the heat riser from the exhaust manifold was added somewhere about 6,000 units into production, not reflected in the parts catalog. The car can easily be a '70 production date. I see the coil has been replaced with some kind of electronic box.

Thread Hijack Alert! If we can agree that this is a "Almost-NOS" wheel having been well-stored and protected for many years, then can we also agree that the rim color accurately represents the wheels delivered in production cars? When we look at other recent threads showing lots of promotional photos with blond steering wheels, where do we find any production cars actually delivered with anything other than a red-toned wheel? While I cannot produce a photo of my car at time of delivery, I can state with confidence that this is how mine looked. I have several wheels I picked up for restoration and they are consistent in showing the red color where color remains intact.

As the others said, its all about the build date when you are on the search for parts. Technically your car is a '70 model in that regard. When looking at the parts catalog, you'll find most (but not all) changes / supersedes occur beginning with month 07. With a late model year build like yours, the car probably arrived at the original selling dealer about month 08, possibly 09 in 1970 so it was likely sold and titled as a '71 model.

Note that your valve cover has a O-ring seated in it so you will want to use a cap that snugs up to that ring for a good seal (no seal on the cap). Later model valve covers did away with the O-ring in favor of a seal on the cap. My OE cap has the same shape (6 protrusions) as your second pic but no elephant, only the word OIL, my valve cover also has the O-ring seal.

Keep in mind that stains respond differently depending on the type of wood and type of stain. My stain was Behr, an oil-based stain. Your results may vary!

I applied multiple coats of lacquer that held up for about 5 years. Ultimately the oil from my hands caused a breakdown. Its time to redo it, will likely use poly.

Red mahogany.

The rim is wood impregnated resin - it readily accepts stain.

The unit I spotted at Rockauto for $35 has pics, it shows the correct T connector.

A good buddy @chaseincats put me onto this upgrade last year, he originally found it over on HybridZ. The replacement motor and fan comes from one of our favorite donor cars - a '99 Kia Sportage. He pulled one from a salvage car and installed it into his 280Z. Yes, the housing needs a 1/16th trim all around the opening but that is the only mod. His electrical plug was a direct fit. For my 240Z, the OE motor is hardwired with a spade and bullet fitting. Another buddy recently did the same upgrade for his '72 resto project and he put together a jumper for me with the correct plug for the motor and the spade and bullet for my harness. Grinding out the housing with everything still in the car is a bit of a PITA (I'm getting too old for this crawling around!), but everything came together well. The new fan puts out lots of air and is super quiet. A new motor with fan is available at Rockauto for $35 if you not inclined to hit a salvage yard, as in my case.

What you have done with and for this car is simply amaZing! And... it certainly doesn't hurt that you chose my favorite color for the project. Congrats on truly awesome work.

Welcome to the group and thanks in advance for taking on the challenge of getting another car back on the road. Going back to pure as-delivered stock can be a daunting process but whatever direction you take, doing it well will have the greatest rewards. We are all here to help and everyone will enjoy "looking over your shoulder" as you proceed.

I'll second Mike's welcome. That is indeed a very nice ride, congratulations on your purchase.

I agree with all the comments that this is indeed a lovely car - lots of attention to correct details and, yes... a couple of misses. The dash cap is an important item and probably should be mentioned in the description and not left for discovery. As to other small items: the antenna does not have the correct bullet tip, the braided hose from the valve cover to the air filter should have a spring clamp at each end, the taillight surround looks to have a shiny reflection - suggesting it may have a clear coat. I see no issue with the mix of braided and smooth hoses. Most braided hoses I see today are from Germany and have it clearly printed on them. This shop is putting some very nice 240Z's back on the road and in doing so is raising the values for all of us. Now if only I could afford more insurance!

My car has this arrangement: four plastic rivets at the outboard corners, six screws inboard - three top and three bottom.

OE-style rubber bushings are generally best for street cars, poly-type bushings are best for track cars. Rubber bushings provide compliance in the suspension so that harsh impacts are absorbed and not transmitted directly into the body. They also provide a small amount of flex that is not wanted in a track car where the suspension must respond immediately and consistently to driver inputs. With poly bushings the ride is very tightly controlled and more harsh. I initially installed poly bushings with my resto, did not like the ride quality and immediately swapped everything out to rubber. Some OE/OEM rubber bushings are NLA so poly is the only choice - the steering rack is a typical example. The online catalog shows a change in the steering knuckle and ball joint beginning with build date 7007. I think the ball joint size was increased for durability. If your car is prior to this date, you'll need to locate a pair of steering knuckles from a later car to fit the currently available ball joints. Here's the link to the catalog reference: http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/axle/front-axle Hope this helps.

Thanks. We had the S30 series totally covered with my 240Z, the green 260Z, and blue 280Z. The 280ZX 2+2 GL is true survivor: one owner, 485k miles on the odo with the engine NEVER having to be opened up. Most of the miles are highway as a saleman's car, religious about oil changes and valve adjustments.

Similarly, made it to a local show yesterday - about 125 entries. Four members of our club attended, I managed to snag a Best in Class award in the Post-War Import class. Voting was a People's Choice process by the entrants, a nice recognition for my car from peers. Quite a few rare and unique cars entered in addition to domestic restorations and rods. Check out the FB link below for pics of some very interesting cars. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.2425401730816296&type=3

Clearly, we all need to on the lookout for "whack jobs"!

Going forward for anyone recovering the seats on an early car, here's a tip on locating the hole for the hanger: After the old seat cover is removed, install a small round-head screw in the hole, install the new seat back cover, locate the round head screw, make a small "X" cut on top of the screw, remove the screw, install the seat belt hanger.

I have those - homemade style. A bag of cheap hockey pucks with a slot milled thru them. The bag had 12 pucks so I was able to give a set to a couple of buddies. They also work perfectly with jack stands to get the entire car off the ground.

John, This is the site I referred to at the club meeting - get your FSM here, it should include the wiring diagram if you don't already have it. Jim http://www.xenonzcar.com/s30/fsm.html

Although the plastic spacers are threaded, they are not intended to actually secure the seat mount bolt to the floor bracket - that is the job for a metal washer and nut. The spacers are threaded more as a convenience to keep them in place on the shaft of the rail bolt. If the metal nut won't tighten, then something is damaged - either the threads on the nut or on the rail bolt.