MikeW

The center pin is required to hold them in place. To remove those that still have the center pin you'll need to push the center pin all the way through which will allow the rivet to be removed from the hole. Once you get the panel off you'll need to search for the missing pins (including those you just pushed through yourself). Once you're able to examine the complete plastic rivet you'll understand how they work.

Understood. However, after removing the factory tar mat, removing the residue with Xylene, cleaning with Marine Clean, prepping with Metal Ready, and putting down two coats of POR15, I don't plan on ever removing anything from the floorpans again once I'm done with this little project. How thick is the 300ZX style insulation? I'm worried about building up too many layers and having the carpet not fit properly.

Don't worry, I wasn't planning on that ... I've only done the driver side floorpan so far but it only took 8 sqaures (12"x12") and I bought 5 boxes of 5. I should therefore have 9 squares left over for the doors and any other place that makes sense. The Dynamat has an adhesive layer so I'm not sure I understand the spray adhesive part. I do plan on using spray adhesive to hold the other insulation down.

You're officially at the top of the list. All you have to do now is encourage Andrew to get me the information. I'd like to try to match the original as close as possible so high quality close-up pictures would be quite helpful.

As you can see in the picture I already have a layer of Dynamat installed which is a commercial sound deadener. I think the "thermo shield" layer that I'm going to put on top will be more useful as padding than a heat reflector but should still provide addtional thermal insulation.

I've been busy POR15'ing my floorpans and the work has progressed nicely. I've added some Dynamat and I'm ready to install some heat insulation that I picked up at Pep Boys called "thermo shield". I think it's similar to the stuff that places like MSA sell but this was only $20 for a 4'x6' roll. It's an insulation material bonded to aluminum on one side. My question ... which side goes down? I'm assuming that the foil side goes down but the installation instructions only say to put in in place with adhesive.

That would be fabulous. It's been over 15 years since I ruined mine (probably trying to get to the clock) and as you say I recall that it was fairly fragile cardboard just stapled together. I'd even consider fabricating extras for anyone else who might need one. I don't recall if it was symmetric but I can always reverse the pattern if not. Which car is it from, the LHD or RHD?

On mine a 16mm socket is slightly loose as is a 5/8 socket but not as loose. 5/8" is 15.875mm. Something makes me think that the seat belt bolts really are standard and not metric but I don't have a good way of measuring the threads. Eyeballing it with a ruler looks like the thread diameter is 7/16" and the and the pitch is 20 threads per inch as was stated previously.

There are probably plenty of us around that would love a 240Z cardboard glovebox. I've heard that the later plastic boxes (260, 280?) will fit but can only be installed with the dashboard out. I for one would happily settle for someone just providing me with a measured drawing from which I could fabricate a replacement.

Take a look at this: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm You'll notice that the design changes were introduced gradually. There are no strict cutoffs. There are even plenty of cases where there are overlaps in model years. I have a very early 1972 car which was built before some 1971 cars.

The last known 1970 VIN listed at www.zhome.com is HLS30-11618. This eBay car is HLS30-17864 which was probably manufactured in Dec 1970 or Jan 1971.

When my VR went bad recently the voltage on the battery with the car running was something like 17 volts. I think you normally expect to see something like 14 volts. I think I'd just take the car to someone who can diagnose the charging system. Places that sell batteries will often do that for free.

Like everything it's a tradeoff. There are times when OEM is far superior and other times when it's just a lot of money that somehow makes you feel superior to the rest of us. With a battery cable as long as the gauge is sufficient I wouldn't worry too much. It's not like the OEM wiring in the car is always good enough. I might go for heavier than OEM gauge just to be safe. Another example is paying $100 plus for a braided radiator hose that's 30 years old and may leave you standed. Yes, it's cool but you might want a modern spare to go along with it.

It's possible but you won't know until you start taking things apart. A good cleaning might do the trick but it's also quite possible that the rubber seals and hoses are beyond hope and need to be replaced.

Just use people.yahoo.com: http://phone.people.yahoo.com/py/psPhoneEntry.py?firstname=A&lastname=Pawlish&middleName=&street=226+Ferry+St&city=Sewickley&state=PA&zip=15143-1359&phone=4127411361

I've never heard of anyone doing the whole car with POR15 so you might have a hard time getting an answer from someone who really knows. I just finished doing the floorpans using their floorpan kit and a pint easily will do both floorpans. POR15 claims that a pint is good for 50 sq. ft. Since the price goes down with quantity you might consider just buying a gallon for $114. http://www.por15.com/howMuch.asp

That's funny; I would have thought they would have taken the chrome off to before painting. That's how my car was painted recently. Perhaps the overspray was from a previous paint job that was the same color and they just didn't clean it up. That could also be what happened to the VIN plate on the car that started this thread.

WD40 may be fine for cleaning the contacts but you may want to also apply some dielectric grease before making the connections. This will help prevent further corrosion and improve the conductivity.

Can you just pull the fuse that feeds the EFI system?

I just picked up the latest (July 2004) issue of Sports Car International since it had this cover story that caught my eye. They had six different panelists pick their top ten sports cars of the 70's. Even though everyone had other cars as their top choices, the 240Z was the only car that made everyone's list. Because of this the overall rankings came out as follows: 1. Ferrari Daytona [41] 2. Datsun 240Z [35] 3. Lamborghini Countach [25] 4. Lamborghini Miura SV [19] 5. Ferrari 308 [18] 6. Ferrari Dino [17] 7. Mazda RX-7 / Porsche Carrera RS (tie) [14] 9. De Tomaso Pantera / BMW M1 (tie) [12] The number in brackets is the total score where a first place vote was worth ten points and a tenth place vote 1 point.

Interesting. Aren't there two different types of mechanisms? I thought the mechanism with the big fat knob that you twist was from the earlier cars yet that diagram shows it as up to July of 1973. Mine are the kind that have a small lever on the side of the seat bottom. According to the production changes list over at zhome.com these flip-forward seats were introduced around 10/71 (although mine are 9/71).

Are you sure your battery is Ok? The starter turning slowly might indicate a drained battery. I've never heard of a dipstick jumping out. It's long enough that it would have to come way out before falling out. Even if there was somehow a pressure buildup in the sump I can't imagine it getting blown out.

It would be if the seat was transplanted intact. The seats really are made up of several separate components. The seat bottom and seat back appear to be the same on both sides. The recline mechansism is part of one of the two hinge brackets that connect the seat back to the seat bottom. There are also two sliding brackets that mount the seat to the floor. One of these brackets has a sliding lever. If your driver's side seat was torn up and you had an extra passenger seat it would be easy enough to swap all of the brackets and it would look proper.

I'm surprised that 185/60's cause you to read 90 when you're really going 75. Maybe that other traffic is moving faster than you think. I'd try to hold it steady on 80mph (straight up on the speedometer) and time a measured mile on the highway. 175 is the width whether the aspect ratio is 75 or 60. Here's a place that might help you figure out the numbers better: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html Plugging in your numbers 185/60 instead of 175/75 you should only be going 56mph when your speedometer reads 60mph. Perhaps a previous owner swapped the transmission/differential without changing the speedometer gear? BTW, I'm currently running 205/60 on 7" rims. According to the calculator (using 175/75 as the old size) that means I'm going 58.4mph instead of the indicated 60mph. My needle bounces around enough that a small difference like that doesn't bother me.

I suppose if you grew up around American V8's you might find twin SU's difficult to tune compared to a Holley. I have no idea how to tune a Holley myself so I'll happily stick to my SU's. I have no idea if the performance claim has any merit.