MikeW

I think you're exaggerating the difference between model years. While it's true that early '70 models fetch a premium the other years aren't that bad. Have a look here to see one estimate of the variation between years: http://www.nadaguides.com I admit that these numbers seem a bit strange as both '71 and '72 are listed with higher values (at the top end of the condition scale) than '70 models. '73 models are understandably a bit lower. I would be more concerned about the condition of the car than anything else when determining a fair value.

This is where I got my seat covers and foam. I do notice that the pattern is slightly different up near the top on the sides of the headrest. Other than that I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. I'll post some pictures when I'm done with the rest of the interior.

Welcome. If you already have an early Z car be sure to upload some pictures to your gallery.

I would have to say that the best advice to offer to someone looking at a 240Z is to get someone else to look at it instead. It's quite acceptable to get a used car inspected before the purchase and with an old Datsun this is especially true. It's easy to fall in love with the car while overlooking the flaws. Rust is obviously the biggest concern and it has a way of hiding. It just so happens that there is a business in your area that specializes in these cars. If they don't specifically do inspections they can probably point you to someone who can. They're well known for their floorpan replacements. The owner is Charlie Osborne. http://www.datsunzparts.com/start.htm

I'm surprised to see Cadillac rated favoribly. I recently saw a study where they were at the bottom of the heap of US cars. It was as if there had been a complete reversal from many years ago. Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Infiniti, etc. were the top-rated cars in terms of quality. American domestics were generally in the middle and certain European makes, such as Audi and Jaguar were at the bottom. I think I saw this in Consumer Reports.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006051485X/qid=1083190427/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-9502332-3791937?v=glance&s=books

http://www.maxspeed.it/manifestazioni/sportive/de.tomaso/images/De.Tomaso.Mangusta.2.jpg

It seems to me that we're getting a lot of posts lately related to the 280ZX. Does anyone know of a club, webpage, etc. that covers these cars? It would be nice to be able to point people in the right direction without being too rude.

Ah, I didn't realize that. I would have bought the kit from MidwestZ instead of MSA had I known. As it turns out MSA sent me two right door seals and no left door seal. I'm still waiting on the replacement.

I'm not familiar with a 1.3 liter Datsun engine but if it's the same as other 4 cylinder Datsun engines (L18, L20, etc.) it's 1-3-4-2

I am fairly certain that the front bumper was unchanged from 70 to 72. The front bumper on a 73 has a wider gap between it and the body as does the early 74 bumper. On the other hand, with the matching brackets your bumper should fit any of the above.

Ok, I'm confused. Datto-Zed was aking about the MidwestZ kit and you answered with the VB Precision kit prices. Here's what I got from Chloe at MidwestZ when I asked about OEM seals. This adds up to about $1000 as compared to $200: 70-78 Windshield Seal OE $151.32 70-78 Rear Window Seal $96.03 70-78 Hatch Seal Outer Upper $45.31 70-78 Hatch Seal Outer Sides $35.95 (2 per car) 70-78 Hatch Seal Inner $124.67 70-73 Door Seal Right $68.80 70-73 Door Seal Left $68.80 70-75 Felt-glass Run Upper $28.55 (2 per car) 70-76 Rubber-run Lower $12.10 (2 per car) 70-72 Door Molding Right "squeegee" $65.72 70-72 Door Molding Left "squeegee" $70.83 70-78 Door/Fender Weatherstrip Right $18.38 70-78 Door/Fender Weatherstrip Left $18.38 70-73 Quarter Window Seal Outer $17.54 (2 per car) 70-73 Quarter Window Seal Glass $39.05 (2 per car) 70-78 Weather Strip Rivets $0.56

My understanding is that clearcoat is essentially paint without pigment. People mistakenly believe that this is a protectant layer when in fact it's just there to look good. You still need to properly wash and wax the car. The clearcoat can suffer from exposure, acid rain, etc. just like traditional single-coat paints. Another thing to keep in mind is that clearcoat systems are designed together. I don't think you would just add a clear coat on top of a traditional base coat. If you haven't decided yet what paint to use you might want to discuss the various possibilities with the painter or the paint store.

No disagreement here. I suspect the people that go for this type of thing also have stickers all over their car.

I'm skeptical myself but a quick Google search turned up this: http://www.350zforum.com/tech/groundweb/groundweb.aspx The fact the the person who wrote this explains how to build a grounding kit yourself inexpensively lends credibility to the claim.

Just for clarification: the last 280Z in the US was a 1978 model and the 280ZX was introduced in 1979. This club is mainly for 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z people.

I've been busy working on my inner door panels. As I've mentioned here before my car was originally #113 green with a tan interior but had been re-painted a couple of times before I bought it in 1985. At that time it was silver with a black interior. I'm now converting the interior to gray and spent a lot of time removing the old black vinyl dye (which was in bad shape) with acetone before using SEM dye to turn it gray. Sometime in the past (probably when the interior was changed to black) the foil trim on the panels went missing. I used a trick mentioned somewhere here in the past of using a polished piece of metal tape cut to the proper width. They actually came out amazingly good if I do say so. My question: The foil covers the rounded ridge running along the door but what about the groove seen in the bottom of the attached picture? Was it originally just the color of the vinyl or was there some contrasting color in there?

I would suggesting looking for some of the original paint. I just did a very thorough repaint yet there are still some places that we didn't bother with since the car wasn't completely stripped. For instance, the inside of the firewall up under the dash didn't get painted. You might be able to get a visual verification of what you think the color is based on the color code you're seeing.

I just replaced all of mine with the entire "Precision" kit (sold through MSA). I contacted Chloe first but couldn't convince myself to fork out right at $1000 for OEM seals. The MSA people told me that they used to have problems with the Precision kit but that Precision was really good about addressing the issues and the new kits are much better (I think he said it was a softer rubber composition). They just sell a 280Z kit so there are a couple of extra pieces for a 240Z. If you're concerned about the door seals you could always get just those from MidwestZ. BTW, I just managed what I thought was impossible - I installed the windshield stainless trim with the windshield already in the car. If you don't know, the trick to this is to install the trim into the seal before putting it in the car. I had planned on replacing my windshield soon which is why I left the trim out temporarily. I have since decided to try to polish the scratches out of the original windshield hence the need to put the trim back without taking the windshield back out. I didn't want to risk breaking it after the aftermarket windshield broke going in.

Where specifically is the water ending up in the hatch? I would suggest trying to trace the leak better by using a slow running garden hose and start at the bottom edge near the taillights and slowly move up looking for leaks. Did you get my PM?

Their web page is woefully inadequate. They list the red categories as having not yet been created and the blue categories as being works in progress. In your case I suppose the stock body replacement page should have a blue link since it now has a single item on it.

http://www.dashboardrestorations.com.au/

The 3 middle gauges come out from the back but the larger speedometer and tachometer go in from the front. By the way, anyone thinking of a new dash should take a look at the prices from everyone's favorite Datsun vendor, MidwestZ: http://www.midwestz.com/Z_Interior.htm Makes my recent dashboard restoration plus shipping to and from Australia look cheap by comparison.

Which one? I've got their 50-1411 on my car and it's just a matter of un-bolting the original front valence panels and bolting the air dam in place.

There's no way a magnet would be used to keep the seat belt locked. I suspect it's just a magnet that keeps it latched - possibly in addition to the typical spring that's used for this purpose on most cars.