MikeW

After pulling the driveshaft be sure to put it back on properly. Years ago when I first got my 240 I was driving along and started having some horrible vibrations. Not being very smart I nursed it home only to discover that a couple of the bolts at the front U joint had fallen out and the others were loose. I hate to think of what damage could have occured had the front end of the drive shaft dropped to the pavement while the car was moving. Even worse would be hitting a pothole. Anyhow, I put it back together with new self-locking nuts and bolts and made sure it was very secure. You'll want to mark the shaft and joints to make sure it goes back on the same way it came off - this will help keep things balanced.

As I said it just glues to your existing dash.

That's a full cover. All caps cover the top because that what's always cracked. A cheaper half cap doesn't go all the way down the front. Here's a place to buy new caps that shows you the differences in price. Keep in mind that this is a thin black plastic player that glues to your existing dash. http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=DC

http://crazy.codetroop.com/randimg/?tea_pot_mirror.jpg By the way, you can waste a lot of time clicking around on this site. Here's one more appropriate for our group: http://crazy.codetroop.com/randimg/?car.jpg

Yeah, well, I don't know anyone who can weld so I guess I'll be paying someone. Just so you'll know I pulled out all of the plugs to avoid damaging them while scraping up the tar and sanding on the surface rust.

I agree about the turn signals; that's just dumb. Someone obviously bought a 280 airdam instead of one for a 240/early 260.

I hate to break it to you but chances are just about any old worn out Datsun key will work. I'm actually kind of surprised that your copy doesn't.

My driver's side is about the same but with the worst rust right beneath where your left heel rests when you're not on the clutch. I suppose wet shoes and the constant pressure in a relatively small area contributed to that. So, the consensus seems to be to weld in small patch panels. Having never welded before is this something I should even bother attempting to do myself, i.e, go out and buy the smallest welder that will work and practice on scraps of metal? Or, should I try to find someone who can do it for me? From reading other messages here I gather that most "body" shops want to just slap on a repair panel and paint it as quickly as possible. How would I go about finding someone who could do this sort of job?

Sounds more like a problem in the stalk switch itself.

I got mine from MSA. The new strips come with the bolts already embedded. The nuts that secure them are sold separately.

When I was shopping at Home Depot recently and had already picked up a quart of Acetone and a quart of Xylene I noticed the Goo-Off or Goo-Gone, whatever it's called. I started to buy some of that as well when I noticed that the main ingredient is - well - Xylene.

Wow, I can't believe the wiring harnesses are so expensive. I was thinking about trying to replace some of mine due to a previous short that was rewired. Other than being able to find the connectors, it doesn't seem to me like a wiring harness would be all that hard to fabricate. After all, it's just a bunch of wires wrapped up in electrical tape.

Yeah. No mention of rust either. Amazing how much rust can happen in two short years.

Earlier this week I removed the tarmat on the floorpans but didn't go that far up the transmission tunnel because there wasn't any rust there. For the tarmat, anyhow, I found that heat from my 500W worklamp ($9 at Home Depot) worked well. For the remnants I tried both Acetone and Xylene. Both worked but Xylene seems to work better; it's also more toxic. I also got those at Home Depot (a quart of each for under $10). The adhesive you're referring to may be more difficult to remove than the tarmat but I bet Xylene would work. If not I noticed a number of other products that said they removed adhesives.

Oh no - I'm quite happy with my 240. I was just pointing out that with all of the problems people seem to have trusting sellers regarding condition, mileage, rust, etc., especially on EBay that the people selling this particular car, <a href="http://www.datsunrestore.com/">Too Intense Restoration</a>, should know what they're talking about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=2431673559 I wonder how much it will go for?

I finally got up the nerve to pull up my carpets to see how bad the floorpan rust was. Using a 500W worklamp for heat I was able to pull up all of the tar mat and used Xylene to clean up most of the residue. I then used an abrasive disk on my drill to clean up as must of the surface rust as I could get to. I've attached a photo of the results with areas of concern marked. The red circles a few areas that are rusted clean through. The green circles an area of relatively deep surface rust with lots of craters. The rust showing around the perimeter seems fairly minor; I just couldn't clean it up with the sanding disk. The rounded humps along the top of the frame rail seems to be in really good shape as do the sloped panels near the firewall - even the seam where they meet the floor. The worst rust is certainly in the low areas where water probably accumulated. Even right next to the holes I can't push a small, sharp, flat bladed screwdriver through. The only place I can push it through is in the deepest of the craters and even that requires a little effort. Since many of you have been here before, what's the recommended approach to repairing this? I'm hoping I don't need replacement floorpans but I'm guessing a simple coat of POR15 wouldn't be enough - or would it? How about POR15 putty? Could I use that to fill in the craters and cracks?

For anyone interested, here's a picture and description of the differences: http://zhome.com/Classic/Restore/FreshAirIntake.htm I'm guessing you're talking about the vertical guards and not the horizontal overrider bar which doesn't have any rubber. I've got a couple you could have but the chrome is probably nowhere near good enough for you. They would need to be re-chromed.

Looks like a 280ZX to me.

Jasper rebuilt mine for just under $2000. Their current online catalog lists an L24 for about $1950 and an L28 for about $2200. http://www.jasperengines.com/

I used Jasper to rebuild my original engine earlier this year. My mechanic pulled the engine, Jasper came and picked it up, and returned it about 6 weeks later completely rebuilt and better than new. It comes with a 3 year 75,000 mile warranty. For anyone in a hurry who's not concerned with originality I believe they can take yours as a core and give you one that's already finished. It appears that they keep the block, the head, the crankshaft, and the camshaft and cam towers. Everything else (pistons, rods, valves, sprockets, etc.) is replaced. There's a nice video on there web site that shows the entire process. It's around $2000. The only problem I had with them is they put the distributor back in 180 degrees off and forgot to put the timing marker back on. To give you an example of how they stand behind their work they affix a temperature sensor to the side of the block in one of the freeze plugs. If the temperature ever gets above a certain level it melts and proves to them that the engine overheated. That will void the warranty. Other than that everything is apparently covered. Even though Jasper is based in Indiana they apparently rebuild import engines at a facility in Washington state.

Keep in mind that this question gets asked quite often. You probably ought to search old messages here; you'll find lots of valuable information. A good word to search for is "rust".

Yes

Pull off the horn pad. There's a nut in the middle that holds the steering wheel on - I believe it's 23mm; I'm not sure of the size because I just use a univeral lug wrench that happens to fit. After removing the nut and locking washer you should be able to pull the streering wheel off.

http://www.zzxdatsun.com/bits.html