26th-Z

Datsun lists a rear stabilizer bar starting 8/73 - 55611-E8100 and starting 9/74 - 55611-N3701 but they don't say what size the bar is. Another part search reveals: (to 8/74) 55611-E4200 - 19mm 55611-E4621 - 21mm 55611-E4622 - 25mm Also listed is the mounting kit - 99996-E4010 and the end links 99996-E4020 The bars list for $150 each, and each installation kit lists for $30 Bushings are listed also: 54613-66000 - $194 ea. 2 req'd Courtesy Parts - Texas http://www.courtesyparts.com/

Try Chloe, http://www.midwestz.com/index.htm

I have learned to preface these types of conversations with "my part" because I am finding that not all Datsun parts are the same - exactly the same. "My" series 1 dash frame has a rectangular cutout in the are of the indentations for the hazard switch, mystery, and later cigarette lighter. The foam in that area is rather thick. Screwed to the dash frame, set in to the rectangular cutout, is a stepped metal frame insert with mounting tabs. The insert forms the inside face of the indent and has cutouts for the switch shaft. It is the inside plate / frame that the mounting nut and washer snug up to. The mounting tabs are for screws in to the dash frame itself, and perhaps the foam. Perhaps this is the only difference between the two series 240. the 260 / 280 is out of my age bracket. Hope this helps.

I concur completely with Alan. If the X's were stamped at port of entry, it might show beneath the plate - as in stamped through. Check it out and let us know. About the fraud thing; couple of observations. One can purchase brand new blank ID plates easily and I can imagine a few Z fakes are going to show up in the future. Brock Yates wrote an article years ago about the surging number of faked muscle cars and matching number claims. One way to combat the issue is to obtain and publish documentation of build numbers and dates. Unfortunately, I think Nissan missed the boat on this. It is up to collectors to gather this information and make it available to other collectors. It only serves to increase the value of valid examples. In the end, though, its buy beware. Nissan was apparently very lose and my experience with my restoration project so far, is that determining a valid "original" example is going to boil down to examining pieces and parts. Everything is so interchangeable and the differences are there but very subtle. My very early example has original differences not found in cars built weeks later. It makes for the interesting points of collecting, though. A good conversation!

Here you go: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3538203224&category=223

I suggest keeping up with Ebay - the standard "Datsun 240Z" search. I picked one up months ago for around $20. Several years ago, I found one in a toy store and sent it to my nephew for Christmas. My sister tells me he ate the tires.

Jim, just e-mailed you about my project.

The parts microfiche Cd available on this site is great. But it addresses parts for American Import versions and excludes many parts appearing on models outside North America. I want literature in any form for part listings in other countries such as Japan, England, Europe, and Australia including model variations such as L, ZG and 432 - 432R. I have seen some examples and the exploded diagrams are far superior to our American versions. I am aware that the majority of part references match between countries, but I would like to obtain and library various source information. Any feed back on price - source - availability is appreciated.

I was afraid to give out advice or relate my personal experiences when I first joined here, but the forums here are entertaining, informational, and just plain fun. Ya'll make me laugh many times. I especially enjoy the bantering about obscure information such as production dates. I have gained a lot of knowledge and met a lot of great people. Thanks Incidently, I scored some great parts at cheap prices off that site.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I had the same experience years ago painting my Z. The glass company did break the windshield putting it back in and told me the old glass gets brittle. I bought a new windshield and ten years later IT is cracked. Go figure. Bumpers can be removed without dropping the gas tank ( a real pain), but it isn't easy and it is difficult to reach the bolts. I don't remember any special tools, just tedium.

Oh you got me started. I gotta have a tool box of King d*** tools to match my personality! ROFL ROFL

Bart, there is no such thing as valve rings. Valve seats, valve seals, valve guides perhaps, but no rings. Rings generally refer to piston rings. Now, exhaust smoke can be black and it can be blue-grey-white. Black, sooty smoke is too rich a fuel mixture and your carbs need work. Blue-grey-white is burning oil and you have engine problems. Do a compression test on your cylinders to determine if you have piston ring problems. You should get even compression numbers from all six cylinders. Squirt some oil in a low compression cylinder and if the compression jumps way up, its piston rings. If the compression reading stays about the same (with blue-grey-white smoke), suspect the valve train and do a valve job. Your explanation of back-firing sounds like carburation and fuel delivery. I assume you set the timing correctly from your description of ignition work, but bad timing will cause a backfire. Check your spark plugs after running the car and shutting it off from steady revs of 2500 or more. Are they oil fouled or black and sooty? Spark plugs should look light brown. Oil fouled plugs will look oily and grimey. Fuel fouled plugs will look black and sooty. After sitting for such a time, the car may have a number of problems, but from your description, I would thoroughly clean, tune and sync the carbs. Finally, make sure the timing is correct.

Look at you go Mark! Way to strip that car!

If you are going to take the glass out of the car to paint it, and I recommend it, cut and waste your rubber weatherstrip molding and replace it when you put the glass back in. Be very careful with the old glass.

I just erased the link this morning. The set of ZG flares went for $197 on Ebay two days a go MSA has fibeglass repros

I heard 47 from Carl Beck, but I could have it wrong. I'm sure Carl would be interested in any accounting of them. Supposedly, the one and only automatic resto is in Tampa. This is a lousy image of the restoration data sheet. I think this is for a 71.

There is a thread in the technical articles forum called "Old Car Price Guide" that discusses what one might expect for $20,000. There are some Z's out there that would command such a price. I hope to hit that level with my restoration some day. But with that respect, originality is the primary concern. I see cars on this site I just drool over and suspect should demand equal attention. I don't think Ebay is the proper venue for such a sale; at least not for me. I would hate to think I spent all the time and effort sticking to a regime as discussed in the article just to find a lesser example reach the same price plateau.

I don't know, Mark. Cracked windshield? All my experience with windshield cracks is that tiny little crack will grow over time. The crack weakens the whole unit too. I would toss it. I replaced mine when I painted the car years ago and the thing broke putting it back in. I was told the glass gets brittle over time.

Yes, here we go. I know some people who bought several of those gear shift knobs waiting for this very day. You will probably see them on Ebay soon.

Any bolt-in roll bar or cage installation must consider the points of attachment. These areas spread the load back into the unibody and must not be rust damaged or in bad repair. Reinforce the underside of the bolt area with a big - 3" - washer or backing plate larger than the cage base plate. Round off the edges so the plates don't act like can openers on the unibody metal. Make sure the bolts aren't too long that they catch on something underneath. The front of the rocker makes a good front hoop mounting point. The main hoop was (I think) designed to mount on top of the wheel arch. There is a forum about the Nissan sport bar floating around here. Bracing goes back to the shock towers and can be crossed if you like, depending on the main hoop diagonal brace. I'm not a big fan of full cages, although they do offer better side impact protection. This all depends on what you are going to do with the roll bar. The bar MSA shows is a street bar and is not SCCA legal. I don't know what they mean by their SCCA bar. I think SCCA requires a six point cage, now. Check the GCR before you buy a bar or have one fabbed up.

I know many of you discuss floor work and floor replacement. I am restoring from bare metal and one of my issues was to find the thick tar-like insulation material bonded to the interior floors. Nissan still has it and I ordered plain sheets of it as the original part number (precut) is NLA. G5930-89902 replaces the original 74913-E4125 Now I found the same material for half the price at Auto Carpet Direct in North Carolina. Their material is called MASEL and it comes in 72"x48" sheets for $60. www.automotivecarpet.com They also have jute padding, foil faced padding, and carpet kits for the Zed.

I will try to get out to the car today and get a photo of my brackets to you. Let me see if I can find you some brackets too. I know of a couple of donor cars in Clearwater.

I would like to ramble on this subject and share some of the experiences I have had in the last few months. I have this lovely old 240Z. She is very dear to my heart, but she is old and tired and worn out. I quit driving her three or four years ago and put her away with plans to restore her some day. That day came to me last January and I began looking for parts and making plans and working on the car. Years ago, I used to go down to the Datsun dealer on Saturday mornings and shoot the bull with Jim, look through the parts fische, and order parts. In those days, you could buy a series one dash for around $400. They were still available. D hubcaps finally became unavailable after reaching the outrageous price of $25 each and you had to buy one every now and then because they kept falling off. Then Datsun became Nissan, Jim retired, and Nissan did one of the most incredible things; they bought old Zeds, restored them with their parts inventory, and sold them again. A story of automotive history in itself! I have spent countless hours over the last six months tracking down parts and searching for sources. I joined this club for that very reason. I know it is still possible to go down to Nissan and order parts, but not only does the guy behind the parts counter shrug his shoulders, he laughs as well! Of course, the computer and the internet has made the parts hunting process a dream. Do any of you remember magazine want adds? My old-guy buddies with 1920's Franklins or Rolls Royces chuckle at my workings and tell me how fortunate I am to be able to buy substitute parts at all. When Brad was cutting a new frame out of ash timber for his Franklin, he decided to carve a spare just in case anyone ever needed one. I don't believe the Datsun 240 Z is the inexpensive driving sensation any more. Even though I will swear by their reliability, I think they are becoming as expensive to maintain as my BMW. Several things are happening with respect to parts. I know people paying big bucks for choice Zeds. I saw a 72 go for $20K at auction several months ago. I know people with collections of Zeds and collections of parts. I know people who go to Nissan and buy all the parts they have left, or, buy all of one certain part they think is in high demand. Look at what is happening on Ebay. In short, I am firmly convinced that people are buying up and hoarding parts for their inflation value. I admit I am guilty of this habit myself. I bought an E31 head not long ago just because I found it at a reasonable price. I have a brand new hatch glass with vertical de-mister lines I probably won't ever use. I also collect silver coins and gem stones! Please don't blast me for joining in the game - I passed on a set of ZG headlight covers for $125 last week. They were gone within 2 hours of the posting. Zed parts are going to get more expensive and more difficult to find. It is just happening. The one common source for Zed parts is unloading them to us collectors. BTW, what happened to "nissanautoparts.com"? It's been down for a couple of weeks, now. The internet is the greatest source of parts I can possibly imagine. Not only can I buy the American parts, but I can find and buy domestic market parts as well. Do I dare post the fifty-odd websites I have found and purchased from? I'm sending my dash from Florida to Australia to be recovered after interviewing three different companies I found on the net. Hell, I almost feel like putting on my lace bonnet and Sunday dress to go "shopping" on Ebay! Actually, it's been a lot of fun. I have made a lot of friends here and a lot of friends in the parts world. I met Carl Beck at Sebring last March, and he has been a real inspiration. Carl believes the price of Zeds is going up, up, up. Zeds really are great cars and there is a great history behind them. It all makes them desireable, collectable, and inflationary. Once, there WAS one "list". Datsun had it. Then, there was Aftermarket and the "list" became a little diffuse. Now, the "list" is called Internet and I believe Ebay is the Goddess Of Parts Exchange. Other parts exchanges exist - this one is my favorite. The original "list" still remains. It is now called Cd Parts Fische and this site has it. I love reading the want adds and make it a part of my daily routine. It took me a while to find the routine, but I am having fun. It's all part of the game called "surfing". I can't imagine one "list" any more. Most of the parts are in private hands now, and places like this will become the future where one can reach out for hope of finding the part they seek. I am very fortunate to have a way cool Z with a way low serial number. Some of the members on this site have cars I drool over. Many thanks to eveyone who has helped. I'll be around surfing this game for quite a few years while I restore my precious Zed and then go to shows with her.

Great help available from this clan, Rosbud. We need more info. VIN number and date of manufacture (on the ID plate driver's door). Photos would help too!

Take a look at this sway bar on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=33592&item=2422617497