Nigel Mulvey

As many of you know I had a bit of a mishap with my 260 2+2 a week or so ago and the shell is now beyond economical repair. I had thought about buying a replacement 1974 2+2 shell and swaping all the parts over - dead easy. However, I have found a 260 shell for sale (not a 2+2) and I was wondering about what parts I could swap over to that. I would have thought that the only thing that I would not be able to use would be the prop shaft which would be longer on the 2+2. Does anyone know of any other incompatibilities there might be?

FYI The gear ratios on the Aus and UK five speeds which were available from 1970 were: 1st - 2.96 2nd - 1.86 3rd - 1.31 4th - 1 5th - 0.85 Diff ratio 3.70:1 Source Road and Track Magazine, January 1970.

Royce, According to the literature I have, on cars fitted with either a four speed manual gearbox or automatic transmission, there is a sliding sleeve at the front end of the prop shaft which engages with the splines of the transmission unit output shaft. On cars fitted with a five speed manual gearbox the sliding sleeve is still present but it is an integral part of the prop shaft which connects to the box via a universal joint. I'll crawl under my '71 later and check it out for you. Sorry for veering off topic.

Bloody fast enough! PS. A 5 speed was available as an option on the 240 here in Australia and in the UK from 1970.

I've been driving my new 240 around for a few days now and have noticed an awful lot of clunking and creaking. I've just bought the Z Therapy video and I'll get round to changing the bushings over one day - that should sort out the clunking. I'm a bit concerned about the creaking though, while it seems to be coming from the interior decorative paneling which does not have all of its plastic rivets in place surely the cause of it is the body flexing. How much 'flexing' should a 240 do before I should worry? I'm not driving like a maniac, quite the opposite since I wrote off the 260 last weekend. I'm driving it like a Volvo with a fish sticker in the rear window.

I'd always wanted a 240, a 2+2 was never a consideration. However, my first z was a 260 2+2 because I found one in such good condition and at a price I couldn't knock back. After a while the shape grew on me - it is a Z after all. I eventually bought a 240 and yes I think it does look sportier but I still like my 2+2, so much so that after crashing it last week I've decided to do a full restoration.

Saw this ad in this weeks Trading Post, though someone might be interested. DATSUN 240Z 1970 VIN 197 PGQ-705, 11/2002 rego, mechanically good, body fair, $4000 WOLLONGONG 02-4285 8590

I tried to insure my 240 yesterday and no one would insure it fully comp because of its age. I tried them all AAMI, Allianz, QBE, GIO, NRMA and (yes alfa) SunCorp Metway who said they would if it was in Queensland but not in NSW. I'm still waiting to hear from Shannons but they do limited km and I'm not too keen about that.

We couldn't get fully comp in the Sydney Metro area for a 28 year old car and I'm 40+ with a clean record and 70% no claims.

Thanks for your sympathy guys. The insurance company will foot the bill for the damage to the other car involved but as far as the Z, I'm on my own. 24 Hours or so later and I'm thinking a bit more objectively, I'm probably going to part the car out but I need to do some research into what the going rate is for some of the parts. The car was very original and some of the parts could be worth a few dollars to the purists or to someone doing a restoration, I don't mean to sound mercenary but I spent over AUS$5,000 on the car in the last six months and I'd like to recover a little of that. I'll keep y'all posted.

Just wanted to vent my spleen over the buzzards that prey over the poor victims of MVA's. Today I was involved in a smash that has all but written off my precious 1974 260Z 2+2. The accident happened no more than 500 metres from my home. In a rather confused state after the accident a tow truck driver thrust me some paper work which turned out to be an 'agreement' to allow him to tow my vehicle. I was in a mild state of shock and didn't think to ask how much it would cost. When we got the vehicle home he handed me a bill for AUS$204. When I complained he said the costs were set by the State government. When I told him I had another car collected from over 50 kilometers away yesterday and it only cost me AUS$140 he told me that I had signed an agreement. Tow truck drivers have received alot of bad press in New South Wales and do you know what? They deserved every f@#$%^g bit of it.

It also has original radio in perfect condition as well as a factory option Hitachi Cassette Player with manual.

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that I have just been involved in an accident in which my 74 260Z 2+2 has been written off. So if anyone is interested in a parts car please e-mail me. The engine has recently been rebuilt with a mild cam and the SU's were reconditioned and installed last week - it is still running. The damage is to the passenger side of the car. The running gear looks OK and the front brakes had been replaced last service. If someone would like to make me a fair offer it's theirs.

I am researching the oft practised transplant of 2.8 engine into a 240z a project which I propose to do along with adding a 3.90 diff while I am at it. The plethora of information available on the subject originates principally from our Northern American cousins. The information I got from Brian Little's Datsun Garage says to obtain several parts from a 280Z, viz. the curved rear cross member, moustache bar, half shafts, drive shaft and front cross member. As I understand it this is because of the difference in size between the stock 240 diff and the R200. My question is this. As we did not have the 280z in Australia where can I source the parts I need for this project. I know it is possible because I've seen plenty of L28'd 240's in for sale ads. Were the later 260's fitted with R200 diffs? If so, is this where I can source the parts? Thanks in advance guys!

Finally got the SU conversion done and the improvement is impressive although with a loose/leaky muffler it's difficult to fine tune things just now. Geoff, no I don't belong to the SZCC although it is something I've been planning to do for some time.

Is the Toyota upgrade documented on the web somewhere? I just can't seem to find it.

Les, I bought both of my Z's through the Trading Post. Go to http://www.tradingpost.com.au/ Choose WA then enter 240Z into the search field - dead easy. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion Peter. I don't have an electronic fuel pump only the standard mechanical one. I did replace the fuel filter early on in the piece and out of interst cracked open the old on, it was very dirty but the problem continued after the new one was installed. I drained the tank and checked the fuel and it seemed quite clean. Anyway, the carbie transplant was completed today and the car seems to be running a lot better, although it sounds a bit rough because the muffler has come loose. There's always something isn't there?

Thanks for the tips guys. Well I bit the bullet and have agreed with the owner that I will buy this car. It is a 1971 SII 240Z in excellent condition and very original, the only modification is an electronic immobiliser that the current owner had to put on to get insurance (he's 23). I have lost count of the number of 240's I have looked at over the past two years but this one is by far the best. Only problem is I was looking for a project car and this one is too good to start messing about with. What I might do is use the new 240 as my daily driver, sell the 260 and look for another 240 as a project. A lot of deep thought required. Cheers,

Today I have checked out 2 x 1971 240's. One was a a very sad example despite being advertised as an immaculate original and the second was in excellent condition with nothing but a little bit of bubbling on the passengers sill. The battery box and inside the wheel arches are fine. However, there is a crack in the paint between the quater light and the rear hatch fairly close to the top of the hatch. There does not appear to be any distortion in the shape of the rear of the car and the area around the crack is solid. Could this just be a crack in the paint caused by age or is it symptomatic of something more serious. If anyone has any ideas please let me know ASAP as I am 99.9% sure that I want this car and I need to let the guy know tonight. Cheers,

I ran out of time at the weekend. I had a mishap when the water hose to the heater split inside the car pumping litre upon litre into the drivers footwell. By the time I had cleaned the mess up and by-passed the heater to prevent further damage I ran out of time. So I'll try again this weekend. Where abouts in Sydney are you Geoff? I'm in Mount Annan nr Camden. Are you in the Sydney Z Car Owners Club?

Because I can't get to the parts shop to buy the parts I need for my carb swap without a car and my car isn't working because the carbs are misbehaving (I think). I thought I'd have another look to see if I could identify the starvation problem because it seems to be intermitent (see my other postings). Anyway when I started the engine one of the water inlet hoses to the heater inside the car split and I now have half an inch of water in the bottom of my Z. My question is: Will by-passing the heater by linking the in/out hoses to/from the block cause any long term problems. I only need to drive the car a couple of miles to get it to my mechanic's to do the job for me. Not happy!!!:eek:

Thanks for the responses. If the question was unclear, I'm sorry. Bottom line is, I want to be able to run an unleaded engine in a Z. Am I right in understanding that the later engines (F54) run on unleaded? For some reason I thought that '81 - '83 was a bit early for unleaded. It's an economy thing, leaded petrol has been banned here in Australia and the lead replacement fuel is more expensive than leaded. I will keep my 260z as standard, but while I'm umming and ahhing about what engine to put in the 240 project car unleaded has to be a consideration.

Having driven the car last weekend without incident, my wife took it out on Monday and it started playing up again. She managed to limp home and nearly got wiped out on a local busy roundabout. Her love affair with z's is rapidly fading. I've done everything I can think of except change the carbies which I shall be doing this weekend (although I've got no transport to get to the spares shop to buy the gaskets I'm going to need - Catch 22:confused: ). If that doesn't do it I can't think what the problem is.

I am just about to do the flate top/SU swap. Does anyone have any last minute advice?