EScanlon

When I went to remove my undercoating on the front fender area, I tried the scraper, using both the ice scraper method, i.e. scrape scrape scrape, and the hammer and chisel method. I also tried paint stripper, wire wheels in various sizes and shapes, then the 3M Scotch Pad remover pads and the 3M Abrasive Finger wheels. The scraper was tedious and caused tons of gouges, scratches and was very tiring and hard on the hands / fingers. The Wire Wheels did a great job of flinging bits of undercoating all over the place as well as little pieces of wire into face, hair, shirt etc. About all they succeeded in doing was leaving little wire grooves in the undercoating. The 3M Scotch Pads on disks unfortunately would get clogged faster than I could replace them. The paint stripper worked quite well, but it was extremely messy. It did however do the biggest area the quickest. The 3M Abrasive Finger wheels worked VERY well, and gave me a good clean surface removing even some of the surface rust there. These methods were all attempted, tried or used on one fender area. Then a friend offered the use of his pressure washer. Did the other side with the pressure washer, and in only an hours worth of use cleared over 90% of the undercoating. I was able to remove undercoating even from inside the strut tower housing. To finish the job, I then used the 3M Abrasive Finger Wheels to clean off the rest. I then went back to the first fender and finished what had been a haphazard job. After all this, in order to remove the last of the rust, I then proceeded to sand blast the fenders. This allowed me to get rid of the last of the surface rust and "etch" the metal in order to paint it with the POR. After sandblasting, I then used the two steps recommended by the POR folks and used Marine Clean to remove whatever traces of oil, grease may have been left by the undercoating, followed by the Metal Prep solution. This did the final step of etching the metal as well as leaving a rust-proofing coating. I then painted with POR over every exposed metal surface. Although this may seem obsessive, I'm hoping that I don't have to worry about this part of my car for a long period of time. Anyhow, sharing so that others may benefit from my experience. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hazel Dell Exhaust on Highway 99 in Vancouver.

Modifications are like fashion. What one person loathes another can't do without, and others that just go along with whatever the masses do. Personally, I like the original lights on the 240. I'm not knocking the ones you have, they are different and they look ok. However, I'm no fan of the Ferrari Tail Lights either. I would personally have opted for something else if I had been forced to change the tail lights for whatever reason. Would I change the car back to original? If that were my intent in cleaning / repairing the car, Yes. If my intent were only to fix it to a mechanically and structurally sound condition, then probably not. You need to determine what your END GOAL is. If it is a pristine concours restoration, change the lights, paint the car, get the original wheels etc etc. If you are looking for a Custom Hot Rod built on a Z shell, then knock yourself out with the modifications. If you are restoring the car to period correct customization, then it might be fine as is. 2¢

A pressure washer used with the right tip and at the right angle will literally slice it off the car. Granted, it can and will expose weak sections in the sheet metal, (I found one that way) but the time saved in scraping! When I did it, I didn't use the soap, nor hot water, just plain old faucet water and started with the thin angle tip, then worked my way up. The needle tip does an excellent job of literally cutting through the undercoating, dirt and whatever all the way to the metal. That then leaves an exposed edge that you can use the other tips to let the water chisel it off. 2¢

I probably used about a gallon and a half to do everything I did. I'd have to check the invoices but that sounds about right. Although that might sound like way too much consider what I did: Both front fenders not only the inside but also the area around the strut from the front of the car (hinge mount area) to the floor pan, the sugar scoops, and the turn signal valances as well as the front valance. The cowl, inside and underneath. The complete interior floor pan and transmission tunnel, and inside both rocker panels. The complete hatch area including the tail light panel except for the spare tire well. Inside both doors, inside both rear fenders, TWO gas tank exteriors, the straps for both gas tanks. Inside the hatch, literally poured about 2/3 of a quart through it. A lot of this was done with brushes. Although the POR folks sell and recommend the "foam" ones, I found it just as cheap and actually easier to use those metal tube epoxy mixing brushes. You can get them in widths up to 1-1/2", and for most of the job this was sufficient. For areas where it would be a major pain to brush, I used the Air Blower Syphon. That literally allowed me to fully cover inside areas I could see and blow air towards, but would have had an impossible time trying to paint AND not get it all over my body. The Cowl area, all those support beams make it impossible to get your hand in and out of there. The space between the inner sheet metal and the exterior metal for the rear fenders as well as the area just underneath the quarter windows. An Air Blower is the attachment you use with your air compressor to release a stream of air. That stream can be used to blow dust, debris, etc. Now, the one I used had an extended nose tube, and at the end of the tube, there was an inlet connection for a vinyl hose which I then put into the POR paint. The Air stream would then vacuum (venturi) the paint up into the air stream where it would then be "atomized" or sprayed. The biggest advantage of doing it this way was TIME and coverage. Where it had taken me about 3 to 4 hours to do the interior of the doors by thinning out the POR with their solvent and then putting it into a touch up gun, it took me about 45 minutes to do both rear fender areas, inside both rocker panels via each of the access holes, the space below both quarter windows (again via the holes), and ALL of the cowl "bucket". The coverage was as good or better than two coats brushed on, or 3 coats of thinned spray. Anyhow, hope this helps.

That second "Choke" lever you are referring to is actually the Thnrottle as kmack pointed out. And I concur as well, never heard of choking one carburator and not the other and that would be the only reason to have separate levers / cables for the individual carbs. But then again, stranger things do happen. I think this is one for Alan HS30.

Tom: Unless you are uncomfortable or unable to do simple mechanical stuff, you could do the replacement of that mechanism. Have you researched Motorsports? or Victoria British? How about Z cars of Arizona? or anyone of several other Z places in the country that could / would have a lock mechanism. Don't go nuts trying to replace a spring. Just get the whole unit and avoid other hazzles down the road.

You are a very committed fan of Monty Python and their Spam skit, in which case it's a bunch of Spam shaped in the form of a turkey.... Or.... If you are a displaced Aussie, it might be Vegamite..... Or..... If you are one of those weight conscious .......TOFU!! ! !

What you've described is EXACTLY what I did. I am just finishing geting the pictures downsized to fit on the server here and then I'll post them for others to see, along with a descriptive narrative to assist others. How long does it last? I just did it this summer, so I have no firm idea. I can tell you this, if you get any of the POR paint into a bolt hole or around a screw / nut etc, you HAVE to tap the threads, or you will NOT get the screw / bolt in. Trust me, been there and have a warehouse full of T-shirts to prove it. I literally had to retap every single piece of thread everywhere I applied POR. It WILL bend along with the metal underneath instead of cracking and peeling off. I put some on the metal gas tank straps and I had to bend those to fit around the tank. I also had to correct a bit of body work that had already been POR'ed and it held up to hammering with a pick and dolly. I shot it into the doors, the rocker panels, the fresh air vents, the cowl, the rear fenders, the space below the quarter windows after having sandblasted, Marine Cleaned, and Metal Prepped all according to their instructions. Maybe I went further than necessary, but I don't want to have to do it again. The only difficulty was in spraying it with a conventional spray gun. Even after thinning with their solvent, the material was WAY too thick. I finally got an air blower with a syphon hose and syphon sprayed it just like if I were pressure washing. THAT really helped get it on in a hurry. I even applied it to my rusty floor pans, with some rust through along with their Fiberglass Power Mesh and the floors are SOLID! Would I recommend the products to others? You bet. Is it easy to use? Fairly so, you do have to keep a good supply of gloves on hand, and I would recommend you get the VINYL and not the latex. Also get an organic particle respirator, just like if you were in a paint booth, and if you have a full body respirator, use it. Remember the stuff is an ISOCYANATE based product. Meaning it has CYANIDE in it. It isn't hazardous unless you choose to take a major whiff of it, and if you do, well that's just STUPID. If you get it on your skin and do not wipe it off ASAP, it will set. Once set on your skin the ONLY thing that will remove it is when you shed enough skin cells for it to wear / fall off. Also, it isn't cheap. But then again, I've seen what others have tried to emulate using rattle can primer and this product is NOWHERE in the same category. Bluntly put, in my opinion and I've restored probably 20 cars in my life, this product is far superior to many other products I've used over the years. And as a final note, I live in the Pacific Northwest where we might not get a lot of snow, but we get TONS of rain. Heck, we don't tan, we rust. (Last year the Oregonian published a headline that said 120 days straight with rain) So, for what it's worth, hope this helps you make your decision.

The fact that you are getting power "from time to time" is a prime indicator of a poor connection ready to short circuit on you. The power to the starter is taken directly from the battery via battery cables, however, the power to the starter SOLENOID is routed through the ignition switch and then to the starter solenoid via the fusible link. That same fusible link, that little white / red wire going from the harness to the starter, is also the easiest way to disconnect ALL and I mean ALL the car's circuitry from the battery. If that wire doesn't make good connection, you will have nothing but trouble. I'll try to post a picture here later, but that fusible link MAY appear intact, while in fact being fried inside, or if not fried, broken. That your instruments come on "from time to time" tells me that you do in fact have a broken wire that makes contact "sometimes". 2¢

You state that "Everything else lines up, and I know that the replacement roof is not causing the problem as it has no affect on the mounting position of the hinges". Look at the spacing on the sides, and compare this to the spacing at the top of the hatch. If these are even, i.e. equal, AND it is constant across the total gap, then you need to "fudge" it. You might also consider that the gap at the top of the hatch need not be the same width as the gap along the sides. Now, you can put shims on the hinges in a couple spots. One spot is where the hinge mounts to the body. This will cause the hinge to move back and hence cause the hatch to protrude further back on the body, i.e. stick out more. You can put shims on only ONE side to cause that side to protrude further while not pushing the other side out. Sometimes this is necessary to line up the back edge, however, don't go shim happy and discover that you now are kinking the hinges or striking the car fenders on one side or both with the hatch. The other spot where you can shim to adjust the hatch, is where the hinge mounts to the hatch itself. These shims move the hatch forward and closer to the roof. Again, you need to be careful here as too many and the hatch will bind on the body as you open it. I have seen where as many as 4 shims have been needed in order to make a hatch fit. Sometimes you even have to shim on both hinges and / or on opposite sides (i.e. hatch side on one side of the hatch and body side on the other side of the hatch, this essentially shifts the hatch at an angle). Aligning doors, hatches and hoods takes patience and it is where experience pays off. Wish I could simplify it more for you, but that's basically it. Feel free to PM or e-mail me if you have other questions. Enrique

I hope this post doesn't offend others, and if you are easily offfended or of a prudish nature, stop here and don't read further. I posted something similar to this on another site when the same 4x4 z came up for sale on e-bay. Modifications on vehicles are definitely beauty in the eye of the beholder, or as in the case of the two pictures above, horrendous to other people. Years ago, I met two transexual women. One of them was so incredibly beautiful, feminine and "believable" that the only way to ascertain that she had in fact been a man would have been to perform some sort of medical examination. I didn't chose to pursue it further, but she was an example of a "modification" that not only lived up to it's intent, but was an improvement over the original. The other woman was so obviously a man, (imagine Mike Tyson wearing a mini skirt and huge boobs!) as to make one wonder "Why?". No doubt that woman felt that she had achieved whatever inner peace she needed to have from the transformation. However, she was probably the only one to achieve any kind of "satisfaction" over it, as others, like I, were somewhat taken back over the "transformation". Those two pictures remind me of the second woman. How sad.

Timberwolf: You failed to mention what TYPE of paint you were using on the car port. This is important as it will help pinpoint whether or not you can do something "easily". Since it was the carport, the probability is that you were using Oil Based Exterior Enamel. I'm not real familiar with house paints so there may yet be another type out there. Oil Based Exterior Enamel would probably use Mineral Spirits or Turpentine, commonly referred to as Paint Thinner. Don't confuse this with Lacquer Thinner as this is the thinner for Lacquer type paints. If that is the case, then get a bottle of Mineral Spirits or Turpentine and wet a rag, and wipe down the areas of your car that got overspray on them. This will remove the overspray and will ALSO remove any wax, grease or oil on the paint. For that reason I would recommend that you wipe down the whole car with the wet rag, and with the other hand use a clean dry rag to wipe off the residue. If on the other hand, you were using a lacquer type of paint, or a spray can, then using lacquer thinner will remove it, but it will also tend to "cut" or degloss the top coat of most enamel type paints as well as dissolve older lacquer paints. For that reason you should be careful on how much lacquer thinner is on your rag and how fast or slow you do it. Getting the car "rubbed out" will do it, but at least in the body shop I worked at, the first step is to wipe the whole car down with Wax and Grease Remover after having washed the car. You might try this method also. Once they've wiped the car down, then they'll proceed to use Rubbing Compound, followed by the Swirl Removers and final polishing agents. The feasibility of this depends on just how good your paint is. If it is badly oxidized and or thin, they may just tell you that it can't be done because the rubbing out would just remove what little paint you have on the body lines. At that point you have no choice but to repaint the car. Hope this helps clear up things.

It was the NON-illuminated rear window defog switch. It was put up for auction by Z cars of Arizona, Andy Russell (aka The Datsun Dude). Two of those "might" work, but I only have one and the starting bid on it was a little stoo steep for my pocketbook. Thanks though. Enrique

Check the reclining mechanism on your seats. The Early 71, and 70 had a knob that would allow the seat back to pivot and therefore "recline". Not a true recline as we've come to know. Additionally these did NOT allow you to pull a lever and bring the seat back forward to allow for easy access to the hatch area. This style of seat did in fact have a gap between the seat back and seat cushion. How much depended on how the seat back upholstery was finished. That is, whether they used hog rings to leave a seam, or if they folded the back under the front and then either hog ringed or stapled. The first method leaves a raised seam similar to the flange when two sheets of metal are spot welded together. The second method eliminates that flange which increases that space by about 1/2" to 3/4". Please note that these are my observations and not something I looked up in a book. The seat back mechanism on the late 71's and upwards now had a true reclining and forward tilt mechanism. I don't know if this affected the height of the seat back compared to the early 71's but it may have. The main problem with this newer style is the availability of the cover for the mechanism. These were prone to breaking off and many times were simply lost and never replaced. NOS of these have sold for as much as $80 for the pair. Hope this helps.

You're up for a long search. Your best bet is to find one where the metal is still in good condition but may need rechroming. No, this isn't cheap, but unfortunately it is about the only way. You may still find one or two in the bone yards, but be aware that many bone yards are slowly crushing old cars that they see as unprofitable. 2¢

Let us know if it worked or didn't. The hard part about posting "advice" is not knowing if you described something successfully, so that others may duplicate it, that to you seems easy. Enrique

Excellent, thank you. Take your digital camera and get some photos of those items that may be commonplace in Japan, but for those of us in the U.S., non-existent, rare or in the "You have to be kidding me" variety. Thanks again. Enrique

Best part of helping other Z owners out is when they come back and post that they found the problem and were able to fix it. Thanks for the feedback. Enrique

You don't say whether it is BOTH sides of the hood or just one. If it is both sides, you need to move both hinges downwards in order to get the hood to "level" out with regards to the sugar scoops. Look at the hinge closely and you'll note that there are 3 screws for each of the hinges. These screws provide not only front to back adjustment but also up and down, and to a limited degree side to side (although this is not a parallel side to side adjustment) You've already done some adjustment so we need to back track a bit. First of all look at the general alignment of the hood, and here I'm referencing how the hood fits in the opening between the fenders and to the cowl. Don't look at flush with, but rather evenly spaced on each of the 3 sides. This is your first adjustment that needs to be made. Is the spacing to either side of the hood even with the other side? Is the space even from the top of the hood (closest to the windshield) to the bottom (by the sugar scoops)? How about at the cowl, is the space the same (approximately) as the side space? How does the bottom of the hood line up, as seen from the top, with the sugar scoops? If all those are "ok", and here is a subjective term, because if one side is at 3/8" and the other is 7/16" then it's up to you how anal you want to be as far as aligning it. Then again if one side is 1/2" and the other is barely 1/8", then it isn't in the opening properly and you could possibly have problems. Also with the overall fit. It could be that at the top you have 7/16" on both sides of the top of the hood and on both bottom sides you have 5/16", meaning that the opening tapers down by an 1/8". You can get in there and play with the fender mount, and do a LOT of work, but in reality it's going to be frustrating to get it to align PERFECTLY. Adjustment to the space between the hood and cowl is done by the back and forward placement of the hinges. Side to side is more complex and can involve spacers on one side or the other of the hinge bracket at the hood, or in extreme situations the hinge mount on the side fender. Uneven spacing along the sides of the hood generally shows up on BOTH sides of the hood at the same time, with one side showing the opposite of the other. i.e. the top is narrow on the right side while being too wide on the left top, AND the spacing is too wide on the bottom right and too narrow on the bottom left. If you have spacing differences on one side but NOT the other, then it's more than likely the fender on the uneven side as opposed to the hood. The main key here, the spacing around the hood's 3 sides (cowl and two fenders) should be approximately even. If it is, then you're properly aligned within the opening. Now we can move on to FLUSH. Flush involves looking at the fender and the hood surfaces and how they relate to one another. Let me forewarn you that you're not going to get them to line up exactly. If you'll note the fender has a slope TOWARDS the engine compartment while the hood has a slope towards the fender. What you need to do is level the hood with regards to the fender in such a manner as to not make it look like a STEP. Before you can align the hood to the fender and sugar scoop, make sure the sugar scoop outline is in fact aligned to the fender. I have seen Z's where the sugar scoop is actually out of line with regards to the fender, i.e. the scoops top edge "dives" down from the top edge of the fender. This is going to make it next to impossible to align the front (or bottom) of the hood to the sugar scoops, since it's top edge isn't in two separate pieces and it should be what you align your scoops to, and not the other way around. However, if the scoops are properly mounted then the generally profile of the fender / scoop should match the profile of the hood. Ok, presuming no problems with scoop to fender. If at the top of the hood (by the cowl) it is flush with the cowl and the top of the fenders and the inspection panels, then you're fine. If not, check the hood latch pin first. This is the MAIN component that will pull down the hood to the level it needs to be. Take note that the rubber bumper stops on the side of the cowl do in fact push on the hood, and you need to adjust them as well. What I do is to first lower the bump stops below the level I'm working to. Then using the hood latch I adjust the hood until it rides even with the cowl and the fenders, or the "best" fit I can. Then I adjust the bump stops UP to support the hood and not push up on the corners. Then moving down the hood. The edges should line up with the fenders all the way down to the sugar scoops. Your post says that at the front is where you're having a problem. Again presuming both sides. Open the hood, look at the hinge and note that you can adjust it front to back as mentioned before, or within a given range up and down as well as how and where it pivots. Sometimes the adjustment to get it lined up in front by the sugar scoops involves bringing the front edge of both hinges down a bit, while leaving the back edge of the hinges at the same height. This essentially shifts the pivot point (where the scissors cross) downwards and hence lowers just the front part of the hood while generally NOT moving the back edge of the hood down. (it will change it's angle slightly, but not a lot, as a lot is NOT required). You'll have to do both hinges evenly in order to align both sugarscoops. Loosen the back bolt just enough that it will alow the hinge bracket to shift, but not move freely. Then loosen the front bolts. Be careful here, it might involve closing the hood, reaching up and behind the grill in order to get to the hinge mounting bolts (that is NOT the ones that mount the hood to the hinge, but rather the ones that mount the hinge to the car). loosen them, carefully open the hood, push down gently until you can feel or see the front edge of the hinge shift, then tighten everything back up and check for fit. You'll do this several times until it finally does what you need / want it to. Now, you also have a small amount of adjustment on the hinge to hood mounting bolts, although this is usually a very small amount in relation to the hinge base adjustment. Hopefully this helped clarify it. (sorry for the length, but panel adjustment is somewhat of an art.) Enrique Scanlon

I don't know if I can. I'm not sure what it's caught on if it isn't still on the mechanism. You should be able to look at it and determine whether it's something caught between the spiral or if it is still attached at one of it's ends. Sorry, this is where you have to figure it out.

You've confirmed what I had deduced. Since the "early" dashes, meaning the ones with the fuse / ashtray cover combination had the cigar lighter mounted through that cover, it didn't make sense for Datsun to have place a SECOND lighter in the dash. Even though some dashes apparently got drilled for that, it just looked odd. Why have a lighter on the dash, and another one less than 18" away on the fuse box cover? The early console didn't have another opening other than the parking light switch hole for a fog lamp. This is probably why so many folks in the U.S. believe that the parking lamp switch opening is / was for a fog lamp switch. When I was told that that opening was for the fog lamp, I wondered why there would be two instances of the word "ON" directly above the switch. As I investigated that, is how I discovered, with the help of this site and another site and of course, you, that that was for the parking light switch. I've not yet run into an early fog lamp switch, although now that I look at the "later" style, I may have seen one in a boneyard and dismissed it (darn!). Ok, at least the early switch can be "fabricated", meaning that there are various toggle switches that match the basic look of the switch. Do you have any idea if the switch was illuminated? From the fact that the switch in the picture only has 2 terminals I would tend to doubt it, but stranger things have happened yet. Also, do you know what symbol it had engraved on the handle? The hazard switch has what appears to be a double triangle, one inside the other, so it stands to reason that the fog lamp switch would also have a symbol on the handle. Thank you again Alan, this has been extremely helpful. Now I can go out and see what I can do to manufacture, fabricate, or otherwise modify switches that I can find in order to at least have the correct appearance even though they won't be OEM parts. Enrique Scanlon

I have no excuse, I've been busy yes, but not so busy that I couldn't take the time. I've printed out the picture and have gone to several places trying to find something similar or ...... Yes, it was extremely helpful. Yes, I hope to find something. So, I apologize. Now, not as an excuse, but rather an explanation. The weather here in the Northwest portion of the United States, has just in the last few weeks started to turn towards winter. While the summer was great, and I had my car parked outside while I removed the interior, front fenders, hatch, wheels, and then proceeded to refurbish. Refurbishing means, sandblasted the floor pans, trunk area, inside the hatch, behind each front fender as well as the front frame members. Then using POR painted over all the aforementioned metal. Restored all of the Tar Paper sound deadening, and took it a step further. Due to the POR have had to tap just about EVERY nut or bolt hole that got POR on it. Repaired several bad areas of rust, as well as several areas where the paint job by the IPO didn't work well. Removed and repaired the "bondo special" job on my rear valance. Removed, repaired, POR'd the fuel tank as well as replacing all the fuel line vent hoses. Repaired / replaced all the rubber seals everywhere. Headlights, tail lights, side lights, interior lights, dash lights all checked and cleaned / changed / brought to life. New Carpet. Repaired / replaced seat mechanisms New Interior panels. And it is the last item that had held me up from putting the car away for the winter. Remember it rains for about 4 months straight here. That's where I began working on the console etc. and it started the round of questions that this is a part of. The weather the last few days has been excellent, and I just received what I thought were the last interior panels. Unfortunately, they're for a Series I 240 and not a Series II. Therefore the rear panels don't have the ventilation holes above the shock towers. Trying to get the car finalized and mothballed for winter is what kept me away from replying, as I wanted to thank you and reply with some pictures of my own. (that's been the major hold back) So, Alan, I once again humbly apologize. Your knowledge of the Z (Zed) is encyclopaedic and impressive. It is for that reason that I approached you with my queries. However, in an effort to put my baby away, I forgot my manners. Enrique Scanlon

I just have a few minutes to post, so I'll post the answers to your identify the parts picture. Clockwise starting top left. 1. Sheet Metal Nut, possibly from a speaker installation, or something that was due to grip the fiberboard panel. 2. Possibly part of the same spring that broke. By the way, without that spring the latch bolt just wobbles around in the assembly. You can get the spring replaced by finding another one, but it might be easiest to get a replacement from a junk yard. 3. Rubber Receptacle for the panel hold down clips. 4. Rubber Bumper that goes on the bottom of the door for the window pane at it's lowest point. This uses a clip identical to the ones for the panel to hold it in place on a small rise / bracket almost all the way to the back of the door. If you look on the bottom, right by the pivot point for the locking mechanism you should see where it goes. 5. Side Rear View Mirror Reinforcement bracket. This is simply a reinforcement for the door sheet metal for when you tighten down the nuts on the original mirror. Many after market mirrors use sheet metal screws, and when you drive them in they tend to dislocate this bracket. Hope this helps Enrique

You may think you're getting away, but trust me, you're hooked. For all the problems you may have had, and difficulties, I'll guarantee that that Subaru will not satisfy you. It is a sharp little car, and yes you'll enjoy it, but ....... Once you've had a Z you can never go back, why do you think Nissan re-issued it? I bid you Au Revoir, mon ami, and not Adieu.