MikeW

MSA sells both the Synchrotester and the Color Tune: http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TZS&Category_Code=TE

I prefer "It's always darkest just before it goes totally black ..." Good one ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82432,00.html

Well, there were those two drunk driving charges in his Porsche in Aspen.

While I haven't used them it appears as though they replace the entire floor: "The floors in length start at the front seam where it meets the firewall and continues back past the rear seam and up the angled bend behind the seat." http://www.datsunzparts.com/FLOORS1B.JPG

I think he was a fairly good pilot; perhaps a little too enthusiastic. He made a stupid mistake. I suspect some of us have done similar things with our cars. You're so excited about taking it for a test drive after getting it running good that you forgot to remove all of the tools from under the hood, etc. http://www.airsafe.com/events/celebs/denver.htm

Don't believe everything you're told: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/denver.htm

On the jack itself is a little diagram that shows how to place it. There's a vertical ridge that runs along the edge of the car and it has some semi-circular notches that indicate the proper jack position.

Perhaps, but remember that in the 60's and 70's "Made in Japan" was equivalent to today's "Made in China", "Made in Taiwan", etc.

I can't tell from the pictures; what the brand name? Unless it's a Hitachi I would have to guess that it's aftermarket.

That doesn't sound any different than POR-15. To get a surface that is "free of oil and dirt" you'll need something like the POR-15 "marine clean". If the surface is clean fresh metal (not already rusted) you'll need something like "Metal Ready" to give the surface more to grip. Unless this product can also be used on clean, smooth metal it seems to be the same. How much cheaper is it?

I'm not sure where you live but the following only applies to US models. The fact that you have a Land Rover makes me guess that you might be an Australian member. In the US the 260Z model was only available in 1974 and had two distinct versions at that. In other locations I believe the 260Z was produced longer. The bumpers are obvious differences. They generally got bigger as the years went by. The other differences involve front turn signals and rear turn signals. The 240Z is easily distinguished by the white backup lights that are in the lower inside corners of the tail lights. Both the 260Z and 280Z have rectangular backup lights that are separate and closer to the license plate. The 240Z and early 260Z shares the same curved front turn signals that are beneath the front bumper on each front corner. The later 260Z and 280Z models have front turn signals above the bumper in the grill area. The 240Z has a "Datsun" badge at the bottom of each front fender whereas the 260Z has a 260Z badge and the 280Z has a 280Z badge in that location. 1970 240Z models have the further distinction of rectangular vents in the rear hatch beneath the window and a 240Z badge on the quarter panel near where it meets the roof. Later cars moved the vents to that location and partially covered them up with a round 'Z' badge. You might want to just browse the gallery here to see pictures; I'm not sure how well my descriptions have come across.

I don't know what kinds of temperatures fiberglass can withstand but the entire exhaust system can get very hot. I think you're very much in danger of melting the fiberglass. It doesn't seem like there should be any contact, however. Why is the bumper so low? Can you upload a picture?

Thanks. I do have <a href=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1855203952/ref=lib_dp_TFCV/103-2336276-2040601?v=glance&s=books&vi=reader#reader-link>this book</a>. It's a complete collection of reprints from just about every US and UK motoring magazine article on the 240Z and 260Z. Many of the articles contain typical comparison tests amongst similar cars of the day which I find quite intersting. It was published in 2000 and has several Road&Track reprints but doesn't include the page I was referring to. It sounds like you probably have many of the magazines already but it might be worth getting if you don't have it already.

When I was looking for my first car in the mid-80's I was considering trying to find a Porsche 914 (because it was a Porsche), a Fiat X1/9 (because it was mid-engined and designed by Bertone like the Countach) or an Opel GT (because I thought they looked cool). I then read a one-page "used car classic" in the then-current Road&Track magazine on the 240Z. Their praise for the car is what caused me to buy a 240Z instead and I'm sure glad I did. I can't imagine how hard it would be trying to maintain those other cars today. I'd love to get a copy of that particular page ...

I just saw it and was pleasantly surprised after this discussion prepared me for the worst. I was expecting to see a bunch more on Goertz. Fortunately it was a small clip that really didn't give him much credit other than state the fact that Nissan brought him on temporarily in the early 60's. As others have pointed out there was quite a bit of footage of the same street cars driving. I did find the racing portions interesting as I've never seen video of those cars, only photographs. Mr. K was featured prominently and it was interesting to hear him speak on the subject. I had never realized that the Datsun name was chosen for America because Nissan thought the export program might be a failure and didn't want to hurt the Nissan name. After seeing some of their early US market cars it's not a surprise. I do wish they had gone into more technical detail with engine and interior shots. Most of the interior views were simply pulled from television ads of the time. The copyright date was 1996 so the ending was understandably sad as people discussed an uncertain future for the car.

I paid $1.25 today for 87 octane

Are you sure MSA doesn't carry it? The current catalog lists that part as [M] meaning that there are multiple versions and you just need to call them with proper car model information. Only the sending unit itself for 79-83 280ZX models is listed as [A] or not currently available.

You probably won't get an unbiased answer asking here. The general consensus among members here is probably that 1st generation Z cars are a) reliable easy to repair c) inexpensive to repair. There is a good supply of both aftermarket and OEM replacement parts. The mechanical stuff has always been easy to deal with and the L series engines are regarded as very solid. The biggest problem with early Z cars tends to be rust. I'd read all of the old discussions about where to look and what to look for as well as what's easy to repair and what's not before even considering making a purchase.

1) While the master cylinder cap does kind of lock on with a twist (wouldn't want it coming off unexpectedly) I don't think the cap is supposed to do anything more than keep dirt out. The cylinder shouldn't be under pressure. I suspect you might need to replace the whole thing or at least find out what's causing the problem. 2) That sounds about right

Yes, that's the only place I've seen them. Their web page actually says "colors, add 10%", but doesn't mention if any other colors are available and if so, which. At this point I'm thinking a nice blue exterior with a grey interior might be nice. Here's the Infiniti color that I like; how do you guys think it would look on a Z?

EScanlon, Thanks for the input. I think you're right. I'm keeping things mostly stock for sentimental reasons. I got Jasper to rebuild my engine and send it back to me even though I could have gotten another on exchange. I somehow am more comfortable with that. As far as a show quality type restoration goes I don't think I'd ever want to do that. Sure, I'll polish things up here and there. However, if the only disadvantage of going with a non-original color is losing a few points at a car show or a few hundred dollars on a resale then I'm not going to worry. It looks like the people at <a href =http://www.datsunrestore.com/catalog.html> Too Intense </a> offer just about all of the interior components in lots of colors (including non-stock colors). The only thing missing there are the plastic panels.

Interesting. It looks like the only stock colors with a black interior in '72 were orange, red, and yellow. Unfortunately black seems to be the only easy interior color to get now. I'm starting to have second thoughts about making things original. I may keep but refresh the current black interior and go with an exterior something like the Carribean Blue that Infiniti offers on the new G35 coupe. I test drove and came close to buying that particular model with the 6-speed but decided to instead put some money into my old 240. I figure there's not much point worrying too much about originality, certainly not because of resale value. It's not like it's an early '70. I've had the car 18 years and am putting way more money into it than it would be worth to someone else so I might as well just pick a color that I like. Painting it #115 with the extra cost of trying to do a white interior would probably not make up the difference in a resale anyhow.

Interesting ... that means the previous owner(s) did more to the car than I thought. I plan on replacing those anyway since they're all cracked and otherwise damaged but now I'm wondering ... what else is wrong? I assume that the non-black interiors have non-black seats, inside door panels, platic trim panels and the diamond vinyl stuff. Am I missing something? Headliner? I plan on painting the car again (paint job number 5 if you're counting) and may be leaning toward an original color this time (but not the original #113). The metallic blue is close to what I have now and I like it more than the other original colors. Does that mean I'd have to switch the interior to white to be original? Were any 240Z's custom built?

I've thought about registering but wasn't sure what to put for the colors. I appears as though my car was originally a #113 green (which was apparently introduced in 9/71). When I bought it in 1985 it had already been repainted twice and needed another paint job. Being a poor and naive college student I personally strippped it to the metal, primed it from spray cans, went to the paint shop and picked out a nice blue Imron from the samples book, and paid a guy $200 or so to spray it. It actually turned out fairly well. Looking at the paint codes list at ZHome it makes it sound like the green cars only came with a tan interior whereas mine is black. The interior plastic panels in the hatch area are black but are also a brownish color on the back side. Is that standard or did someone dye them black? The seats are also black so I'm just not sure.