Arne

Well, I'm not going to put them on the car (if I end up doing that) until it is done - probably a couple of years, if all goes well. So I'll "sit on them" until then. And luckily they are the later 'D' style with the better retaining clips, probably won't fall off in normal driving.

For a car that is over 30 years old, if I was going to go so far as to replace the radiator, I would probably replace the entire cooling system, unless I knew its history. (This is not rhetorical, I will be doing exactly this later this year.) Mine will get a new 3 row radiator, new water pump, thermostat, all hoses (incl. heater hoses), hose clamps, temperature sending unit, and heater control valve. In my case, I will have the heater core checked at a local radiator shop, and repaired or replaced as necessary.

A valid concern. As soon as I put them on the car and they get dirty the value will begin to drop. But they are mine, and if I want to have them on the car, I can do that. I'm leaning toward keeping the rims now, although there's rust on a couple of them from something corrosive having been spilled on them in the past. So two of the rims at least will need to be sandblasted and refinished. I'll probably do them all just to make certain they match.

MSA = MotorSport Auto = http://thezstore.com

Ahh! That makes sense, since I didn't see how you could fit much larger a flywheel in the bellhousing anyway. And now that I think about it, a larger overall diameter would require a different starter, since the ring gear would be farther from the centerline.So the flywheel isn't an issue, Bryan. But you'll want to make sure that the larger pressure plate isn't a whole lot heavier than the normal one. But I'm betting that if it is heavier, it'd only be by a couple of pounds or so. Probably not all that significant.

Just a quick note - I had no idea there were so many people looking for 'D' hubcaps. Sure, you hear of a someone hunting now and then, but I didn't figure there were all that many early cars being restored. But judging by the number of PMs I have received on these, there is more demand than I thought. (How did that cliche go? Something like, "Keep those cards and letters coming, folks!") I've received a few gentle feelers, and several more concrete offers, but none so far that are compelling. So here is the public notice folks - for the time being, the hubcaps are not for sale. This may sound a bit silly to some of you, but I am actually leaning towards (eventually) using them with very '70s-looking skinny tires as my daily driver set. I could use the mismatched set of slots with sticky rubber if I decide to do a bit of auto-X. Of course, the car won't be finished for a couple of years at least, so I could change my mind in the mean time. But for now I'm going to sit on them.

Bryan, while they are the same weight, the weight is carried farther from the centerline of the crank. So you are right, the throttle response may not feel as snappy. More inertia. It would seem to me that the only advantage to the 240mm flywheel would be on an engine that makes more torque than the smaller 225mm clutch can handle. At one point (when I was thinking more towards a high performance engine for my car), I figured I'd look for the lighter 810 flywheel. I think you'd be happier with either that or the stock 225mm over the 240mm.

Not the same. You can use one from any '70 through '78 Z (240/260/280) but not from the ZXs. The early 240s had plastic, the later 240s and all 260/280Zs had metal. But they all interchange through '78.

As a rule of thumb, you should have the same thread engagement as the diameter of the stud. So in the case of our Zs, 12 mm of engagement. (Almost 1/2")

My local radiator shop quoted me a 3 row core brand new for $215 with no shipping. Check around locally, there's seldom any need to mail order a radiator.

Cotter pins should always be replaced, never reused.

Yeah, when I had to buy a battery for mine when I bought the car, I got the 24F with reversed posts. Works quite nicely, if you're not too concerned with strict originality.

Cool, wish I could have seen it. 918 yellow was only used in '70 and '71, and that was one of my two top choices when I was shopping for my Z. The other was orange. Your car's gold would have been high on my list, but my wife can't stand it.

Bryan, it may not matter to you but were you aware that the Konig center caps won't fit on the front of 240Z's? The 240Z bearing cap sticks out too far for the short Konig caps. I think they'll work on 280Z hubs, which will fit on a 240Z if you change to the 280Z rotor as well.

I spent some time this afternoon cleaning them up and thoroughly inspecting them. (Nothing better to do - damn rain!) The hubcaps aren't perfect, but they're damn close. The chrome is a bit so-so on a couple, but it appears to me as though the base metal wasn't properly polished prior to chroming, not that the chrome itself is bad. There are a few scrapes in the gray paint, too. But my memory of old Datsun hubcaps (based on what I recall from the '74 B210 my wife owned through 1978) makes me think that much of what I see as flaws are probably just the way they were when they were new. Some of the scrapes are from storage, but I'm betting the gray paint may not have been perfect even back in 1971. Anyway, they look great as is, and if the gray paint were to be stripped and repainted they'd be as close to perfect as you could hope to find. Does any one make that gray paint in spray cans? Les at CDM, perhaps?

Hard to say for certain. There are plenty of people here and elsewhere who have had, or know someone who has had a bad experience with Fel-pro. But ask around a bit and you can find plenty of people who have NOT had any problems with Fel-pro and continue to use them all the time.So I don't know. I can't imagine that I will need a steel head gasket for the stock L24 I'm starting to rebuild, so no way I'll pay for an HKS. Will I use Fel-pro? Maybe. Depends on what I can find affordably. I strongly suspect that most any normal gasket will work for my uses, if given proper preparation and installation.

OK, based on these real world experiences, I'll probably go with the GR2s as well. Still not crazy about using gas inserts, they tend to increase the ride height if the spring rates weren't designed to take that into account. I know that Carl and Co. are looking into reports of increased ride height on the repro Euro Stage 1 springs when used with modern gas shocks. I won't be installing mine for another year or so, hopefully we'll have an answer to that by then.

Well, they certainly aren't going on the car until it's done - if then. I've got plenty of time to decide what to do with them, and plenty of PMs in my inbox wanting to know if I'll sell them. But for now, at least, they're mine, and perhaps the most valuable parts I have for my car. (Pretty sad, in a way.) I think it's likely that I will sell off the original 4.5" wheels though. Anyone need a matched set of 4-71 dated rims?

I vote for the painted lip. Wats don't look right to me if they have polished lips. I love the wheels on v12horse's car, for example. See: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20106

Hubcap pictures. Various shots, with and without flash. There are a few flaws in the gray paint which don't show in the photos. Again, note the cleanliness and lack of tarnish on the back sides. One shot shows the rust spot on the back of one cap. Seems to me that these were removed when the car was new, and really don't have many miles on them at all.

Pictures. Wheels first. Note the cleanliness, presence of the OE Japanese wheel weights, etc. Date stamp is 4-71 on all 4. Two of them are in the condition pictured, one looks like that on the front, with a little rust on the rear. The fourth is rusty on the face as well.

Ahh, didn't know that. There are several places that still have Koni stock for 240Z: 86-1811 and 86-1812. They are just normal hydraulic cartridges, that have to be removed from the car to be adjusted. But I was thinking they might be a nice choice since I'm not big on gas charged units on cars (and spring rates) that never came with gas.

While there are a few V8 swaps on this board, you'll get a lot more info on this from HybridZ.org.

The Z shouldn't be as sensitive to resistance values as a modern car is. So the NAPA wires might be OK. But generally, you'll find that most experienced Z people will recommend NGK or Magnacore. A few will recommend Taylor. I've also seen a set of Bosch wires that looked good, with proper length and differing ends for different cylinders. No idea how they compare in other ways, though.