SpeedRoo

Do you want me to measure it? You'd be amazed the stuff I've found on EBay and Craigslist!

Keith buy a battery bolt and round off two of the corners with a grinding wheel, https://www.amazon.com/Wilmar-W1680C-Battery-Terminal-Bolt/dp/B0076EVKO8

Keith I picked up a NOS 240Z battery cable off EBay and it has the rounded head.

I had one of my masters re-sleeved, due to pitting in the bore. Works great with new seals and been trouble free for over 4 years. I'd rather rebuild and refurbish original components if they can be, newer parts don't seem as well made. Thanks for checking your clamps, I'll go with what was on the Green 5/70 BAT 240Z as it was low mileage and relatively untouched.

@Captain Obvious I'm always on the lookout for NOS OEM parts, sometimes they have the right part number but are not in Nissan boxes...you just have to know where to look. I have a spreadsheet with all the period correct cross reference numbers and keep a look out for those on a regular basis. It seems the Nissan part suppliers of the day back in the early 1970s had no qualms about selling the same part to Lazorlite/WorldParts/BeckArnley. I wont try and reproduce the coating, too many other parts to restore at the moment but will keep it in mind for the future. I will use the master cylinders with the cast in letters on my 8/70 and 10/70 240Z, the engraved one will go on the 5/70 for period correctness. The fun anomaly I have discovered in the wire clamps. Some people say they should be all clear zinc, other say gold zinc...what's correct. Again referring back to the Green BAT 5/70 240Z, it has gold zinc wire with clear zinc screws...go figure that one out as it's totally original. However the large ones on the radiator hose are clear zinc.

@Captain Obvious I've been buying them up from Ebay, they pop up every now and then. Last kit was in Feb this year, I got the pistons/seals/springs/washers for $85! Yes the piston did have the black coating, it was already coming off when I stripped the cylinder down. I hit them with the brass wire wheel to clean them up. I'm not sure the original coating from 50 years ago is still available so I'll keep them as it is. Hopefully nobody faults me for this. Nothing wrong with pedantic, you guys have been doing this longer than me and are more knowledgeable. Thanks for pointing it out. I have a rebuilt cylinder with the early engraving, I'll make sure I use that now I know it's the correct one. I have two of the cast type so I'll keep those for the later August 1970 and October 1970 240Z I have. Anyone know the exact changeover date? I'm using the Green May 1970 240Z that went for $310k on BAT as my reference along with @Zspert for his intimate knowledge with the cars. Again appreciate you correcting me and guiding me to the correct parts for my restoration.

An original early brake master cylinder was also sourced for the restoration. The ultrasonic cleaned it up nicely and I've disassembled it and replaced all the seals with original Nissan/Tokico parts. I just need to bleach the plastic reservoirs so they are nice and white. It should look like this once complete.

Continuing on from rebuilding all the original suspension components, brakes are next in line. Fortunately my May 1970 240Z came with the early brake rotors. I have derusted them, machined to tolerances and painted them to original spec. The hubs are cleaned and painted and I have NOS OEM bearings for them. A set of original Nissan brake pads have also been sourced. The brake calipers are the correct date coded set for 1970. I have degreased them in the ultrasonic, cleaned off all the corrosion using a acid solution. A light sandblasting and high temp satin clear finish give them the factory new look. A NOS OEM Nissan caliper seal kit is used to finish the build. All bolts and fittings are re-zinc plated. My goal is to use all original/OEM parts in my restoration.

What a load of rubbish, there's no way the ball can wear out that much! The Japanese engineers that designed that part knew enough about metallurgy to design the part so that never happens. The cheap stuff now coming out of some countries may be a different case, but not the originals.

G'day @26th-Z , easiest way to check if you have the 11mm 40160-78500 or 14mm 40160-A8610 is by the diameter of the thread on the ball shaft. The early ones measure 11mm. The early steering arms 40052-E4101 R and 40053-E4101 L also have the smaller diameter tapered hole to match the 11mm shaft. The original ball joint is peened on the body to lock the lower cap into position. Careful grinding away of the peen allows the lower section to unscrew without damaging the threads. The parts are then degreased in the ultrasonic cleaner followed by corrosion removal in the cleaner. A brass wire wheel is then used to polish them up. The ball is lapped into the housing and bushing using valve grinding paste. I've managed to find four of the early 11mm ball joints and steering arms in my parts stash and have rebuilt them all. Everything is cleaned, re-greased and assembled. The tolerances and loading are checked per the data in the service manual. Once it passes, it's then painted in VHT satin black, a new dustcap fitted, the grease nipple removed and a OEM filler plug 40189-7300 fitted. They are now ready for fitting back to the car. The beauty of many of the parts on the early 240Z is that they were designed to be serviced or rebuilt rather than discarded and replaced. I've been fortunate to find many new old stock parts to rebuild my May 1970 240Z with.

Thanks @Patcon and @Zed Head for answering. I have stripped both joints down, they are the early 11mm type. I have lapped in the ball section to the parts it mates with using valve grinding paste, polished everything up with a brass wire wheel and reassembled. Will paint it in black satin as per original and grease up before removing the grease nipple and fitting the original plug @zspert mentioned should be in place.

I have no idea what you are talking about, there is no way the ball joint can come apart, it is a enclosed joint. The nut would have to shear off the shaft but even then there would be no catastrophic failure. How can you say someone's life ends if this happens? My question was if I should keep using the original balljoint if it meets all of Nissan's tolerances as @Zed Head said.

What's the general consensus on the ball joint, replace or rebuild. The manual says replace if the dust cover is damaged, however the dust covers are still available from Nissan. The specs for testing the ball joint are also in the service manual. I've managed to disassemble, clean and rebuild my original ball joints, any reason for not using them with a new dust cover and fresh grease?

Just watched this video with Randy Jaffe who owns a Vintage Z and had 8 at one time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_TjHwA1xgE&t=161s Some interesting comments. The spreadsheet shows 59 cars but only 37 sold, must have been a few that were sold off unfinished. What's the 3rd iteration you mentioned @zspert

Why are the Vintage Z valued so highly? From what I have read here they were built as a marketing exercise. They were supposedly built to be as new but not original, lots of parts and finishes that were not on the 240Z when first built. Additionally they seemed to have been built to a price rather than price no object. They also came out of a number of restoration shops so there seems to be no consistency with the builds, the ones done by Pierre have underseal on the chassis. At the end of the day what is more desirable, an early 240Z restored to original using NOS parts or a Vintage Z? 1970 240Z 01606 BAT $165k, 1970 240Z 12070 BAT $129k

Is it a case of the original Z432R being rebuilt on a new chassis/body by Nissan a long time ago or a genuine case of cloning. I had read that the engraved number on the firewall doesn't match genuine cars and has some type of Nissan logo, which the others didn't have. Is there a non intrusive way to check the thickness of the metal on the body, from what I understand not all the metal panels are thinner gauge.

If you have access to an ice blaster, that's where I start with a rare set of carburettors. Very gentle on the original castings and doesn't remove any metal in the process. For less valuable carbs using the ultrasonic cleaner is the easiest way to go. The trick is the right combination of chemicals to gently remove dirt/oil/corrosion. For the metal parts I strip them with EvapoRust before plating. Here's some 50 year old Dellortos I did for my 240Z restomod. I did a special set of factory development Weber 50IDF carbs for one of my V8 Vantages 20 years ago using ice blasting. They still look pretty good.

If you are willing to drive up to Snohomish you'll find almost 100 sitting around in a warehouse. Do you want one that is close in spec to what you are removing from your car or will any engine do. Place is called ZSpecialities, 360 668 2979. He advertises on CraigsList quite often.

Appreciate it, I had searched for 240 delivery documents but these didn't come up.

Thank you, a simple answer that explains exactly what I was inquiring about. I searched for 240Z delivery documents but couldn't find anything, can you post a link to where they are please?

I always love your responses as you cant resist anyone questioning you. "Typical" response...yes. I never mentioned anything about "build sheet" at all, just asked if this was with the car when delivered and what the entries on the sheet mentioned. Doesn't take much to set you off, try answering the question as you are so versed in Japanese. It's sad when someone who claims to be so knowledgeable sees a challenge to their character at every opportunity. I hope Kats can translate the sheet and what the entries mean. Here's another on for Kats to translate, came from 04684, the Green 1970 240Z on BaT. Also is it a delivery note?

Great find Mike, was this with the car when delivered? Nice bit of history, I wonder what the translation is of the different sections. Also what do the numbers along the right on the third line mean?

To be clear Richard, I do not have any 1971 plug wire sets.

Just checked my stash. Have NOS sets dated coded 1972 and a 1973 set, white lettering. Also a set of unstamped ones I'm doing up for my car in yellow lettering for 1970. Don't have time to do the reproductions, busy developing next gen drones!

11.3cm L x 3.1cm H x 3.4cm W 3mm thick metal. Use these anti vibration mounts which can be cut down to a square shape. https://www.amazon.com/EASYEAH-Mechanical-Silent-Blocks-Compressors-M10x28-40x30mm/dp/B0D5JKBT44 I use a m10 thread PEM stud cut down to fix the damper to the bracket. https://www.pemnet.com/products/product-finder/hfh-m10-15zc/