EScanlon

If you have the CD (available through 240z.org) look in the "Miscelaneous" section. It specifies which emblems go where, and which ones to look for. Be aware that there is a subtle difference in the "script" DATSUN for the rear hatch. There is one that has the squared off "T" crossbar and another that has a rounded off one (the horizontal bar). This is important if you are doing a concours style resto. You can get emblems from various sources: MSA; Victoria / British; Too Intense Restoration; Datsun Dude to name a few. E-Mail or post a message if you need info on how to get a hold of these guys. I personally used Datsun Dude and his pricing is very good, and his quality is OEM+.

Beandip just recently installed a "short" one as you described. It mounts "between" the bumper guards and to the bumper itself. I checked the CD and could not find mention of either one anywhere. Be careful when you mount the short one to the bumper in that you make sure that the hood will clear it as you open it, otherwise you'll have to relocate and drill new holes.

I'll admit to some technical deficit on my part. I've been running my Z on Unleaded Mid or Premium and I use a Lead Additive I was recommended. STP brand if I recall properly. I simply pull up to the pump, fill it with Unleaded Premium, dump in one 8 oz. bottle of the Lead Additive and I go on my merry way. Or at least I have been until this post. Am I using some sort of snake oil that is really nothing? I've not seen leaded gas at the pumps in at least 10 years if not longer. So, how is it other 240 drivers use their cars and keep them original without a head change? I can see the rework done on the valves for harder seats, but my mechanic has not suggested nor advised me on this. So bottom line, Unleaded with Lead Additive or park the car and not use it till I can get the valve reseat kit?

Point taken. In my car, my ameter was giving an intermittent short signal to the tester my mechanic hooked up. We replaced the instrument only to discover that my "FULL" tank of gas, now was reported as Half Full. Ran it this way for a couple weeks to check. It ran through to empty pretty much ok, but Full was half way up the gauge. Took my old gauge, and transplanted the old fuel gauge into the new ameter/fuel gauge instrument. Voila! Fuel gauge now reported a Full tank as "FULL" and not as half. So, what was different? Not the sending unit, but the gauge. Are the two items somehow mated? It appears so. What's your take on that one?

1) Go back in daylight, SOON and find your hubcap. Otherwise the litter patrol will get it and you're out. 2) Check the way your seat is mounted. There could be one or two spacers under each bolt to raise the front / rear of the seat to accomodate the ORIGINAL user of the car. You may be more comfortable with one or none, or if that's what you have with two spacers. The spacers are hexagonal shaped plastic nuts that screw on the bolts to raise the seat. 3) Also check the operation of your seat. The 73 seat not only allowed you to tilt it forward to allow access to the rear cargo area, they also reclined. The little handle that allows the tilt also allows you to tilt and lock in place so that you aren't sitting ram rod straight up. 4) Your fuse box. Go through and clean and tighten ALL the connections to all the fuses you have. Do a continuity check on them, don't just check them visually. This is the source of the vast majority of problems on the 240Z's. Use a bit of sand paper or an old INK eraser pencil to clean the inside of the fuse holder contact. Then press the holder halves closer together to ensure snug tight contact on the fuse. When you check the fuses, do a continuity check, not just look to see if the wire is visible. Can't tell you how many times this has bitten other Z drivers. The continuity check will tell you that the fuse element you see IS in fact good. 5) When you get the time, get to the connectors at your headlights and check to make sure they are clean and free of corrosion. Then if you have the long jumper cables on your meter, check to see what kind of resistance you read from the headlight back to the fuse box. If it reads a value higher than barely there, then you might look into frayed connections, frayed and therefore shorting insulation, broken wires, or just run a supplementary wire to reduce the resistance and hence the possibility of blowing fuses. just my 2¢

The Fuel Tank Sensing Unit has two wires connected to it as Daniel pointed out. However, just by connecting the two together you will have grounded the signal coming from the fuel gauge and you should read above FULL. By disconnecting the lead, it should read below empty. If by connecting the Yellow and the Black Wires at the sending unit together your gauge does in fact read higher (More towards "Full") the gauge appears to be working properly and may just need calibrating. Now check with the Yellow wire disconnected. If it now reads BELOW what your "empty" indication is, then you do in fact have a gauge that either needs calibrated to the ohm range in the sending unit OR you have a sending unit that is unable to move it's full travel in one or both directions. The sending and the fuel gauge are mated together. When you replace one or the other, you usually have discrepancies. Sometimes tolerable and other times not. Whether it was the sending unit or the fuel gauge is a moot point at this time. I mentioned in the prior posting that it more than likely was your fuel GAUGE because the Ameter that is in the top half of the gauge is known to go "bad" and people replace it readily. The problem is that unless they replace the fuel gauge below (swap out their original with the replacement one) they will more than likely find themselves with a gauge that doesn't read right. Now, you can either calibrate the gauge to the fuel sending unit and assume that the sending unit is in fact going full travel. Worst case? You read empty with a larger than normal amount of fuel in the tank. OR You can remove the sending unit from the tank, to see IF it is in fact not moving the whole amount of travel allowed the arm. This is the low end possibility. More than likely you will discover that the sending unit is in fact moving the whole distance, and the problem lies in the gauge. The main reason I'm saying it is the gauge and not the sending unit is simple. The sending unit is incredibly simple, and very unlikely to fail mechanically. It is as simple as a toilet arm mechanism with a variable resistor on it. Remember slot cars and their controllers? The controller had a sliding contact that contacted this coil of wire. The farther up the contact the less resistance, the more current you got throught the coil. The lower down the contact, the more resistance and hence the less current you got through the coil. There are two different postings here. BOTH appear to deal with end point readings, which is a calibration issue; hence gauge.

Saw this done by someone who had access to a LOT and I mean a LOT of shrink tubing in the right width. He removed all of the trim from around the windshield, (in this case it was a 1976 Mercury Capri II), inserted the trim into the black shrink tubing. Shrank the tubing with very very mild heat, just enough to conform to shape. Re-inserted into the rubber. Looked pretty sharp. Reason he had to be careful with the use of heat is that the Capri's trim was plastic with chrome back plating. In his case the chrome had peeled and all that was left was the yellow plastic. He used the black trim and it restored the rubber seal to taught around the window and looked outstanding. Don't know how long it lasted as this was 1982 or so.

It sounds as though your gauge was replaced at some time. The fuel gauge is nothing more than a modified ohm meter. It measures the resistance in the coil which is what the sending unit is. Check the back of the gauge. (Been a while since I've been there) but if I recall, there is a small access hole by which you can adjust the travel of the needle based on the resistance presented by the sending unit. Use a plastic screwdriver to adjust this. If in doubt, remove the gauge, open it up, look inside and figure out what that access hole does and then do what it is obvious it does.

Before you go pulling sending units, and everything else, why not check the condition of your tank. Mine had a nasty dent that apparently got put into it from someone backing up over a concrete divider. It was bad enough that the bottom of the tank AND the drain plug actually allowed a couple of gallons to sit in there below where the pick up tube could get to them. I didn't find this out till I took the tank off and was able to look through the filler neck hole. It may be that this is NOT the case with yours, but it is a simple visual check and might save you some very tedious work. 2¢

Before you go off and start changing everything on the engine, address one very VERY common problem that plagues the Z cars with the mechanical distributor. Go to your distributor, remove the cap. Look down below the advance plate, see any ball bearings rolling around loose? There should NOT be any. Disconnect the vacuum advance hose, either hook it up to a vacuum pump or just suck on it. Does the plate rotate smoothly AND return to it's prior position without hanging up and stuttering, then you're ok, but if it does NOT, and I'm guessing it won't, then your vacuum advance plate is shot. This is a little plastic squirrel cage that holds several ball bearings that allow the distributor mechanism to move forward and return in response to the vacuum in the engine. When this isn't working properly, the vacuum advance is essentially gone. Now your timing is off by several degrees, and the worst thing is, that it isn't consistent, as a good throttle push will cause it to advance, but it won't be able to return, and then vibration WILL return it some, and then it will seem to get worse, then better, then not at all, then repeat over and over again. Check this BEFORE you address all the other suggestions, as it will cause backfiring through the carbs, the exhaust, as well as limit power and then seem to disappear, only to begin again. 2¢

Unfortunately you are discovering one of the "joys" of being a Z owner. Some of the pictures you posted show typical rust, and others show the problems with most typical budget paint jobs. Right now, about the only thing I would suggest, is that you slow down. From your posts, you are basically beginning to dismantle the car and hoping that just one more fix and the car will be perfect. All you will succeed in doing is finding ONE MORE THING TO FIX. Here's a post to help you with the door problems you posted on a different post: http://zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=222776&t=222738 Now regarding your paint around the sunroof and hatch, from the paint ON the gasket, it's apparent that the peeling you are experiencing is from water seepage beneath the paint. The only fix that I know of, is to sand down and apply a new small shot of paint in such a way as to avoid the lip. Unfortunately, it is tricky and it is usually better to remove these items in order to avoid such a lip in the first place. The rust on the hatch, give it a spot treatment and leave it for later. POR-15 makes a good product to help slow / stop that rust. Try to get some into that area from the inside of the panel. The bubbling of the tar paper is typical. All you can do is scrape it off, fix the rust / holes etc and reapply the tar paper. There are many things you've addressed, and ONE post isn't going to get you all the answers. As a suggestion, I would suggest you concentrate first on the MECHANICAL goodies. That is, are the brakes in good condition, how about steering, then suspension, and of course, what's the condition of the engine. As you work your way through these items address those items and the surrounding areas. THEN go to the cosmetics. Down the road you can do a good paint job, do a good rust removal and the like. Mind you, first evaluate the car, make sure you address those components that qualify as serious and dangerous rust right away, otherwise you won't have a foundation on which to make the other items rest on. Like I said, welcome to the club.

Put it out of it's misery. Years ago, I met two transexual women. One was drop dead GORGEOUS and it was very difficult to ascertain if she was lying or telling you the truth regarding her sex change; and the other was so obvious as to remind you of Mike Tyson in a miniskirt. Many times modifications to automobiles / paint jobs / soup up items, can come out like the analogy with the two TS women. Sometimes the modification was the next logical progression to a series of events / procedures and the outcome is a resounding success. Other times the only thing that comes to mind is "Why?".

"The work order number for the manufacture and production of the car was 240Z" This part is incorrect if I recall right, and someone please post the story / link. If I recall, the reason the car got renamed 240Z was due to the displacement of the engine and that the letter Z in Japanese denotes the symbol for the ultimate, or something like that. The engine displacement definitely was part of the name. (otherwise why 260, 280 and 300, and now 350?)

I think we should post some of these. I believe the MSA one is this weekend or next someplace in California. Unfortunately I've got work trips planned, and can't escape. I believe zdriver.com has a "regional" site where people are supposed to post things going on in their region, but last time I was there there wasn't much listed for the Pacific North West, but maybe someone can post. I've heard of a "camping" get together up by the Coast on the Washington side of the Columbia that I'll be investigating. This is supposed to be sometime in August.

I know what you mean about them maroons. And I had no doubt you are careful when you drive, what I meant is that when I drive my Acura or the Subaru, I AM careful, but not if you will, PARANOID. Whereas when I drive the Z, I AM PARANOID and assume that every other driver I see has me in his sights and is looking for the way to do get close and then reach out and touch my car. [Note Aside: Years ago, I did a complete restoration on a Series I 1970 240. The individual who had been driving it at that time had gotten accustomed to the glances he would get with the car PRIOR to restoration. The restoration took close to 9 months of long days and weekends. When we finally got it back on the road, he told me that he had to get used to being "oggled" at all over again. In the words of his wife " Driving the Z is like being a beautiful woman," (which she definitely was) "everywhere you go, there will be people who will just plain stare at you, others that will walk up to you and ask inane questions, and others that just want to touch you. You just learn to deal with it." Or put it the way Datsun did "Enjoy the Ride".] So, to summarize, when I'm driving the Z, I double my "careful" zone. I become that little old man who seems to go 20 miles below the speed limit, the one who lets EVERYONE go at the stop sign before he goes, while also being the young man who parks out in the middle of the boonies at an angle to the regular parking to get away from everyone else. And you know what? Even THEN I find people parked next to me. Why? I don't know, I guess if I were a chick and sported size DD I would understand and learn to live with it, but I'm not, and like you I just want to reach out and shoot them with a bazooka when they get too close. The problem with that is two fold: getting a regular supply of ammunition and putting up with the bad reputation. Personally, I think we should adopt Jeff Foxworthy's idea. All stupid drivers should be forced to put on bumper stickers on all 5 views of their car, identifying them as "STUPID". That way, even the helicopter cops will know why certain things are happening. 2¢

Without sounding aloof or condescending, I'll just post my 2¢. Even when traffic insists on jumping into the space between my Z and the car ahead of me, I try to maintain ample safe distance simply to avoid the "oops" factor. By "oops" I mean, a) Debris falling off the other car, b)Oh Sh!t he ran over that? c)I don't know what it is, but I'm not going over it. In my experience driving in various countries and states, it isn't a specific vehicle, nor person, nor ...? that causes these kind of problems. Trucks, Jeeps, Cars, Convertibles, Motorcycles, Trailers all are susceptible to losing something, and if you follow too close it can make it impossible to avoid the ensuing collision. Same goes for someone following too close. If possible, I change lanes. If not I pull over and let them by. I've even purposely slowed down to as much as 20 mph BELOW the speed limit SIMPLY to let them pass me easily in areas where I couldn't pull over to the side. Am I a wuss? Probably. Definitely when it comes to my Z. I'd much rather leave without damage to my Z and my pride dinged, than my pride undamaged and my Z dinged. Not trying to p anyone off, and I apologize if you feel that this post is a slight, but it isn't. Your Z just needs a careful re-adjustment in your thinking when you drive it. You're no longer driving the easily repairable, parts available, every mechanic can fix car, you're dealing with a Classic. A Fine Car that like a good wine must be savoured to be enjoyed. If you want to do shots, get some cheap tequila and enjoy. There is a paperback book that details driving defensively. The biggest admonition that the book gives is simple: ASSUME EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET YOU! If you drive KNOWING that the moron coming up to the 4 way stop sign is going to run it, slow down or hold off on starting. That way you don't cross his T, if you know what I mean. Worst case? He blows through it and you avoid the smack or he honks at you for taking too long at the intersection. But in BOTH cases, you escape unscathed. Just my 2¢

Mike can you get the T-Shirt with a pocket? Then the small logo (I like the Red /Blue Ellipse) either above or on the pocket. 2¢

Driving a good looking Z that just shines and purrs along the street is like dating a Tall Beautiful Gorgeous Woman. If they're not looking at her, it's cause they're looking at you in a) sheer envy, jealousy, c) they're evaluating you to see why you merit such a prize. You've got to learn to take it in stride. As enjoyable as it can be, it can also be down and outright annoying. Welcome to the Club! You're one of the lucky ones, Enjoy The Ride!

Sarcasm? Here? naaaaaaah But just in case, could you let me know when the moratorium on sarcasm is over so we can have a bit of fun?

And if you notice the driver's side door is open. So how did she get out?

A grille Emblem like the older British and European road rally cars have!

The plastic rivets with the pins can be obtained at Lowe's Hardware store in their specialty fastener section. They are a bit bigger than the originals but if you aren't picky they will work, especially in the tail light metal finishers. On the interior plastic pieces they are a bit more difficult as the diameter of the rivet is a tad bigger. (1/4" instead of 6 mm.; if I recall right) Unfortunately, the thin trim is not only very easy to bend, it scratches if you look at it too hard. So, if you feel the slightest bit of resistance to removing it, don't sweat it. Either use the aircraft stripper if you are going for the full paint removal, or use a layer of duct tape that will allow you to scuff the surrounding paint up top and right to the edge of the trim. Then mask it off carefully with some masking tape before you paint. Although the polish / protectant / vaseline / wax idea sounds easy and good, in my experience the close proximity of a waxed surface to the area that I'm painting has usually resulted in a fish eye occurring and NOT a masking of the item that was masked. In my mind, the fish eye is MUCH more problematic than having to take the time to mask the stainless. The ACTUAL color of the front end grille and the Tail Panel Trim Pieces was actually a really weird finish. To quote from "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car" Wick Humble describes it as follows: "The original paint is a silver-gray "match scratcher" finish, which retains all sorts of contaminants, especially paste wax." From personal experience, the LAST thing you want to have touch the original paint panels was paste wax. It would literally grip on, and the only way to remove it was to blast it with wax and grease remover, and of course, in order to not muck up the wax job on the rest of the car, this involves removing the panels from the car, etc etc etc. That is why so many of those panels got repainted Flat or Semi Gloss Black. If you cared for your car, it was an even bet that you had wax streaks on the finishers, and again, if you cared for your car, it was easier to repaint them. The main problem was that NO ONE knew the paint formula. Datsun wanted you to buy new ones, and therefore "didn't know" and the paint shops couldn't match that "match scratcher" finish, so everyone matched as "close" as they could. The silver gray sueded finish is UNIQUE, and therefore a very tricky item for a concours restoration. The closest match I've heard of is given in Wick's book; 1 pint DDL 2862 ARGENT with a lot of Suede Additive 200 Units DX265 300 Units DX264 Thin 100 to 150% and spray on fairly dry. Wick recommends you: "regulate air pressure to the high side. Swirl paint around in the cup constantly to help keep texture additives in suspension. Maintain spraying distance and overlap coverage on the final coat, or variations in surface texture may be unacceptable. This paint should have no gloss, so don't expect any." Hope this helps.

2MZ as far as the stainless trim around the tail light openings, I have been able to remove it, granted it takes a LOT of patience and time since the main problem is that they are EXTREMELY easy to bend. Additionally, there is an outfit that sells the duplicated color for the rear panels already in a spray can. Kind of spendy if I recall, but if you're going for that original look well worth it as I've yet to find the paint store that could duplicate it. I'll research and post.

I didn't vote, since I'm just going to give my opinion based on what I know. Ziebart: EXCELLENT stuff when applied to good rust-free metal, i.e. brand new cars fresh from the dealer / manufacturer. When applied to older vehicles that have already had some rust begin in hidden places it pretty much seals it in and IF no further air or water can get to it, will SLOW down the rust pretty much for ages. Note I said SLOW down. The problem with rust, is that once it starts it's pretty much a chemical process that has begun and it doesn't just ~STOP~ because you put a coating on it. Ziebart for the most part is a tar / oil based product that will "penetrate" everywhere. They need to drill access holes for various panels (depending on the vehicle) and will need to keep it for a given number of day's to allow the excess stuff drip out and have them clean it up. UNDERCOATING: Some definition in order here. There are various types of "undercoating" out there. The most popular is a product called Shutz, which is literally liquefied tar with some additional filler material to give it a "spongy" feel when it finally dries. This is what you very commonly see on the undercarriages of cars and wheel wells with that "gritty" black look. It's somewhat hard, but will "give" when pressed. It's main function is to protect the painted undercarriage from paint chips due to gravel, sand, ice, snow, sludge etc. The other type of undercoating is a rubberized undercoating that can either be tinted to match the color of the car with some of the paint for the car, or it can be painted by itself. If painted alone it is usually a milky translucent shade. This stuff is that pebbly looking stuff that is used on the outer side of rocker panels, and behind wheel wells to absorb and deflect rock chips and impacts from the debris kicked up on to the car from the tires. Shutz should never be used on the "exterior" or "visible" side of the car, and although you can use the other on the undercarriage portion, it's cost is usually too high to give you the benefit that other undercoatings can. The main reason for Shutz not being used on the visible portion is that it literally looks as though you smeared road tar on your car. It stays flexible and pliable for years, and as a result protects from dings and scratches excellently. Additionally it adheres to the underside without prior sanding, scuffing or other preparation. About all you need to do is ensure that it's not being shot on top of dirt or other stuff that might flake off. There are also some other undercoatings that come in spray cans or even brushable, but in my experience the Body Shutz works much easier and better. However, NONE of these will STOP rust. POR-15 purports to stop rust. I've bought some, and I'll admit to looking forward to using it but I don't have any personal experience with it, so all I can repeat is what the rep says. POR-15 is closely related to Isocyanate Glues (super glues) these glues use a given amount of humidity (water) from the atmosphere to catalyze and set. From what the rep says, the POR-15 stuff has been specifically formulated to continue to need humidity, not just use a small amount and set. This is the critical "ongoing" protection phase of POR-15, since it purportedly "leeches" out the moisture from the rust and "reverses" the process of rust. Additionally since the additional moisture helps it set harder, it actually ~improves~ with time. Now, I will admit to being a bit skeptical about it "leeching" out the moisture and reversing the rust process, since my chemistry professor pointed out that once you have a chemical reaction, in order to change the product of that reaction it needs to be a reaction that the material will naturally transcend to OR you need to add energy in order to make the change happen. Brief example; Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is plain old salt. But Chloride will react with Aluminum very readily, so much so that it will break the union with Sodium to mix with Aluminum and create Aluminum Chloride. This is the main reason that you will never see vehicles that transit roads that have been salted; in use in airport taxiways and around aircraft. So, for me, the selling point of POR-15 was that it forms a tough and FLEXIBLE barrier that SEALS the metal. Rust can not form in the abscence of Oxygen, and although the rust that will have been coated will not be eliminated (in my view) the remainder of the steel that is coated will not be exposed to the air, and hence allowed to rust. Personally, other than the thickness of the material, and the problem with applying it everywhere, I would literally DIP the entire car in it. But, putting a nice finish as we like on a POR treated surface is difficult. So, what I will do is coat those surfaces that are hidden and hence rust prone with the POR stuff. Floor-Boards, inner fenders, rocker panels and just about everywhere I can brush or spray the stuff EXCEPT where I can see I am going to apply a nice painted finish. Undercarriage? Steam Clean, and then POR on any rusted areas, and finally BODY SHUTZ everywhere else. Sorry for the length. I used to be a body man so I have a bit of experience with all but the POR. Good Luck, let us know what you find. Enrique Scanlon

The preformed hoses are 'de rigueur' if you are going for a concours restoration, but if you are planning on making this a daily driver and plan to enjoy it, then you might find yourself happier and not as poor if you just use standard fuel / water / heat hoses. Trust me they can be used, and no they aren't cloth covered, but you are after all planning on using the car daily. If you were planning on showing the car and wanted the MOST original engine compartment, then definitely, cloth covered original or re-manufactured to original specs. Just my 2¢