Mr Camouflage

We'll have to get some South Africans onto it. See if they can dig up any marketing literature. Anybody got any contacts down there?

What condition are the plugs in? I'd start with a basic tune up, plugs & points gaps and check plug leads. You could try the "pull one lead off at a time" test. The revs should drop, sound different. If you pull one lead off and nothing changes, then there is a problem with the plug or the lead.

I don't think stringent emissions would have been much of an issue in South Africa in 1984.

So the guys at the Nissan Help Center don't even know what a Datsun is.:stupid: Probably thinks it's some new Korean brand.

Yeah you should be able to reach up and pull the holder out of the back of the gauge. I find a digital camera is a great tool for "seeing" into places that you cant actuall see very well. Take a few snapshots and you can work out what wires you need to feel for to get to the bulb. Might even be that the bulb holder has poped out the back of the dash. You could try bypassing the dimmer rheostat, since your never really need to make the gauges any dimmer then they already are.

Cant you just reach up under the dash and remove the bulb holder(s) from the back of the speedo, swap in a new bulb and be done with it?

The surrounding pannel is as wide as the car (one piece panel), so shipping may be a problem for you.

Amen to that. Great photos. Great 70's colors.

which is roughly $500.

What? no "35 years of Awesome" Z31 300zx?

Yeah, actually we talked about wangan midnight back on page 2 in 2003.

How can you call yourself a Z lover and think there was only one Live action movie? They made lots of them, and they are not hard to find, you just order the 11 DVD box set from Japan Then theres the new anime version....

Ben Ellis, now why does that name sound familiar? Isn't he the "Lightweight Z" and "Z-philes 2JZ" Ben?

I was under the impression that wheel spacers were generally bad, because they change the loading on the wheel bearings and stub axle, unless your using the spacers to correct the position of the centerline of the wheel on the axle, instead of adjusting the wheel for purely cosmetic reasons. Eg. if you has a wheel that was correctly centered between the bearings on the axle, but spaced it out to be flush with the fender (purely for cosmetic looks), moving its center further to the end of the axle, you would increase the loading on the outer bearing and the forces acting on the stub axle. So potentially I guess you could snap axles. Which is why they are illegal for road use in Australia. Or at least thats my understanding of it. Whats the story in the US?

I agree with Arne. I think its mostly because the kids these days are so used to cars having cloth trim, that they cant tell the difference between leather and vinyl. Just ignorance.

It will backfire on him. No one in Australia will pay that much for a sedan. So what if they are worth 12K in Japan. This is Australia buddy, and here they aint worth much at all. As for the middle east, there's always someone that wants one, till you actually have one for sale.

I'd start whit the turn signal switch. They wear out, just like the headlight switch does.

Z31 or Z32?

I would, but that price isn't that unreasonalble to an overseas bidder from the Middle east, provided they had the firewall off a wrecked one to convert it to LHD. Wont sell to a local Aussie bidder. WTF is with that scoop though?

Yep thats caused by the starter not engaging the flywheel ring gear correctly. Causes: a solenoid problem as mentioned by Diseazd, or by a worn starter gear or ring gear. Due to the compression when turning off the engine it will usually stop in one of six positions. If the ring gear in one of these positions is worn too much it will grind, which is why it seems to happen randomly. Pull the starter and inspect the condition of the gear. You could also inspect the flywheel gear through the starter hole, by turning the engine over with a socket on the front of the crank.

JDM lenses = Euro lenses. Clear lenses = Aftermarket

Personally, I think you should have smoothed out the roof-line bump in the rear, like the other z convertibles. Looks a little 911 Porsche like with the bump there. Though I guess the other 'verts dont have working fold up roofs like yours does. Maybe you needed the extra room. Is it electric? Also I'd cut the roof to follow the curve of the window at the top there. But I guess you cut the metal to match the roof instead of modifying the roof to match the contour of the roof. What car is the roof from? Looks Miata or S2000. Looks like a quality job. You must be in the trade otherwise you wouldn't have the advertising on the doors. What are the chrome bits on the hood? Car needs to be lower with more bling wheels.

Worth? Not alot. $500 to $2500 for a really nice one in Aus. About AU$5000 for the good ones in Japan. You'd be fixing it for the uniqueness of the car, if you wanted to get around in something different, or to just keep it from being crushed. I know a guy here in Perth that was looking to buy one if it for sale, and if it's in good condition. I can PM you his contact details if you like.

Not really JDM though. JDM had amber lenses instead of clear. Cool though.

Thanks Carl. I'd seen the claims on a couple of websites, always with no substantiation or references to sources. Some of them with other mis-informations as above, so I wasn't really sure whether to believe it or not.