240znz

Astrohog, That is called a skuff plate. You can buy new ones from almost anywhere but they are cheapest from http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=76942-S30 They can't have rusted as they are made out of aluminium. If you have rust stains on them then this could indicate a more serious issue that I had on my car. You should take off the scuff plate and the door weatherseal to get at the seam that is formed by the outer sill and the inner rail. I'd also remove the kick plate (Datsun logo) at the same time to check the state of the sill itself. It is not uncommon that if you have a badly worn of perished door seal that water track underneath the plates and sit and rust out the sill and the seam. Mine was horrific!

Yes, you should replace that old foam. The reason it's there is to stop vibrations in the cowl at high speeds. Any foam that doesn't hold water will do in there, just use the old bit as your template for size and thickness.

39 and ensuring that the good times always roll down here in New Zealand.

All the heads I have had done have always come back nude i.e. bead blasted. Never heard of anyone painting a ali head before. I'd ask them for a reason why.

Wow, a UK N reg'd 260 2+2 on the emerald isle. Are you in NI or the republic? This website has a wealth of information, but you should also make contact with the UK based zed club. http://www.zclub.net/ Being a little more local that the US you may find it a bit cheaper to procure parts and of course there could be a chance that there are other 260 2+2's in the UK. That would be advantage in fault finding if you need any help. They are a happy bunch. Take time to check them out but take advantage of this sites forum database. Our Septic Tank friends got the majority of the S30 range remember. http://www.mjpauto.com/

Ron, Pen that in now thanks. I'll take one off your hands.

As above, its your car so paint it what you want. We are just adding our own opinions which should have no final bearing on YOUR decision. With regard to resale, then yeah sure, you may lose a little if there is another identical car but with factory paint for sale at the same time. You are right, final colour chioce is a HUGE decision. Every since I got my car I have always liked the idea of changing the colour to red. The period reds are not to my liking so I am going for a modern red called Sting Red used on Holden Commadores and is not as scarlet as the Ferarri red but just a bit less "in your face". I did have a moment or two I admit thinking that orange or yellow are nice but I always steer back to the red. You may find you do to. The only advise I can give you is do not rush your decision at all. If you get the colour wrong now, then you'll kick yourself for years. Check the Holden website out and you'll find the red I'm talking about. http://www.hsv.com.au/index_eseries.asp look under cars and GTO. I took a LS2 powered SS for a blat 3 weeks ago and confirm that they are evil things that should be only driven on race tracks.

Hi Ron, Pencil me in for one would you. My 12/70 build 240z master vac is due for a strip and respray. I just need to check the old decal with yours to make sure thay are the same for HS30's. I doubt there is any difference but you never know. James

I read that somewhere but I could be wrong. I dropped the entire back end and in the process of rebuilding the lot. So I can't confirm if there is enough space to swing it down. You'd need to loosen the inner bush bolts I guess to get enough play before trying to swing it out in addition to removing the half shafts. Hell, I'd give it a try first. I agree, I'd rather tackle it the way you suggested than pull the spindles again.

That area looked great on my car until I pulled the hatch glass out. The entire bottom lip had gone, so the glass was secured by the sides and top only. Water had gotten under the paint and rusted out between the inner and outer hatch seam. Nasty but fixed now. So as above, buy a new hatch seal and rip that glass out and have a good look. Make sure that you run a craft knife between the rubber and stainless strip. This will ensure that the stainless comes out with out a bend in it. I'd take it out first.

Brian, There are two sets of bushes on the rear suspension that could be the issue. The outer bushes are pressed into place and the spindle pin runs through the centre. The small pin in the centre is there to stop the spindle pin from rotating when you tighten the nuts. Yes this is the dreaded pin. There are a few threads on spindle pin removal but do yourself a favour and pay a shop to do it for you. They are evil evil things. The inner (diff end) bushes are easy to change out. Loosen the bolts that secure the pins in place before removing the arm. The treads are more than likely rusted a bit and a little difficult to remove afterwards. I had to use a rattle gun on one end and a soak the other for 24hrs with CRC to get it to budge with the rattle gun. I'll be running a tap through them later and apply grahite grease to stop this from happening again (well there's always hope). If I were you, I would buy new rubber bushings, spindle pins, nylocks and cotter pins. You can choose to go with poly pushings now if you wish, all depends what you want to do. I would also look at axle stands and dropping the entire rear end and rebuilding it as a whole. Check the shocks while you are at it and fit new if they are suspect. Changing the shocks can not be done without removing the spindle pin. Why do it twice. Parts list for a full on rebuild is: 2 x spindle pins 2 x cotter pins for centre of spindle pins 4 x nylocks for spindle pins 2 x outer bushes 2 x inner bushes 2 x moustache bar bushes set of rear sway bar links and bushes 2 x half shaft boots 1 x rubber diff mount set of wheel bearings 2 x gas shocks (or strut inserts if you like to call them that) Check for play in the half shaft universals and replace if worn. Make sure you get new ones with grease nipples. If you do the lot then you have peace of mind that your arse is safe.

Book your holiday and come and see for yourself. You will be amazed. Why not email the US embassy and ask them if the is an expat community forum in NZ that you could ask some questions on. You guys will be able to chat and compare apples with apples. For my sins, I am a 4th generation New Zealander, or "KIWI" as some like to say. I have spent 10 years away from this place travelling to over 50 countries and I can say that this place is very laid back. We have issues as all countries do, some more some less. But most issues are found in the Auckland region where they have a higher mix of nationalities. It is almost impossible to buy a first home here now for someone starting out as the prices have soared in the past 4 years. We will soon be a nation of renters or 50+ year mortgagees. The cost of living is high too. Yes fuel is expensive at about $1.50 a litre. 70US cents to NZ$1. It was US45 cents to the NZ$1 about 4 years ago. So book your tickets and come on down. But remember that you will be viewing this untouched place with hoilday eyes. Look at http://www.zclub.org.nz/ for a Auckland based club. There are very few zeds in the south island when compared with the north. Climate is weird here now. As a kid we had hot hot summers but we have just had the wettest December on record and the coldest winter in ages. But today it was 32 degrees, then down to 7 then back up to 18 again. Small island in the southern ocean gets whatever is coming, no large land mass to help. The "western desert island" is a 3 hour flight away thank God. Aussies and Kiwis share a passion for beating each other in sport. We recently won 3 nil in a cricket match series against them. So the question is "What is the difference between the Australian Cricket Team and an arsonist?" "An Arsonist wouldn't give up his last 3 matches." Good luck and email me if you want anymore info as per the PM.

Check these guys out "if only for the wow factor". My guess is that the pricing will be enormous. They look like art but a shame you can't see them under the carbs and a heat sheild. http://www7.plala.or.jp/ysgarage/

Weather you get the dogleg fixed or not is a matter of opinion. You've been here long enough and I'm sure all those threads regarding the strength of the S30 is in the unibody design have come flashing back by now. If you are going to the trouble of getting a paint job, then I'd bite the bullet and do it right first time. Of course it depends on how long you want to keep the car but you know that the ugly rust monster never sleeps. That section behind the dogleg consists of three panels. The outer sill, inner sill and internal wall rising up behind the seat belt mount. If you have a dollar size patch of rust, then as Arne suggests, the other side is probably gone to. I'd purchase both dogleg panel steel patches and have someone whip those sections out so you know what you are looking at before you commit to paint. Not trying to scare you here you know, but we've all been there, buying these things knowing full well that there are some issues and hopelessly hoping/praying that the rust is going to easy and cheaply fixed. Whatever you think you can repair it for, add another 50% to be reliastic. 20% of the purchasing reasoning is emotional, especially if you used to have one.

Welcome back. Here is a pick of what I found the rocker on mine. Just a small area about the size of one of your quarters on the external dogleg panel. Look what was behind. Someone, sometime did a good job of rust proofing as many panels as they could get to. You can see a little legs of it running down onto that rusty panel (which is the sill panel). There are 3 panel sections all spot welded together in there by the way. Good luck with it.

Sounds like you do have a transison model. So keep it as it is. Some consider these to be amoungst the rarest models of all or at least unusual. FWIW, HS30's did not have the door plates either, or dash displayed VIN numbers for that matter. Wouldn't it be strange if USA import rules allowed a HLS30 in the country without a door plate? At the end of the day, change the car as you want to. You only have you to answer to. There is a HS30 in NZ that I know of with exactly the same cross over items as you have. Does your have a hand throttle?

Take a can of ether with you to squirt into the air cleaner. CRC make one called "engine start" and there is a Aussie crowd to label theirs "Start ya bastard". I doubt you have that in your neck of the woods but any product with ether in it will be fine. You might need another set of hands to give you a hand so you can squirt just before firing it up. Ether evaporates very quickly.

To be far, English is and probably will remain the international business language for a very long time to come. Yeah, it does seem "nuts" that Nissan would crush any cars as they are aware of the following that the z has worldwide.

Me too! We all do in one way or another.

Ed is onto the right track there. You also could look into the following. I'm the same a Ed in that I'm not up to speed on the 280Z as we never got them here. I had the same problem, wash the 240z and water would end up on the floor boards, but only if I fired the hose into cowl slots. Water collects under the cowl and is directed to the fender ends where a drain is located. The drain exits into the cabin where it is connected to a thin walled 25mm diameter rubber tube with a 90 degree bend in it. This tube passes through a rubber grommet on its way to the outside of the car where the water is dribbled down between the inner fender guard and the door pillar. I found that the rubber tube had perrished and water was just pouring out but hidden as it drained nicely into the jute sound deadening on the inner firewall. That stuff mops it up and holds it hard against the inner firewall so as to greatly help the rust monster. A very bad design and I am suprised that they keep it there for the S30 range. It is not easy to get to either, but I think you should be able to loosen the clamp and remove it. Good luck finding a replacement, just about as hard as finding a rear hatch hinge rubber boot.....ie forget it. There is a thread about replacing this tube with a longer version that ensures that the water exits lower down the fender/door pillar area. Here it is http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19467&highlight=cowl+drain

Digital camera. Clear plastic ziplock bags of various sizes. Permanent marker (fine tip). Take images from all angles before taking any part off you car no matter how easy to remember it is. Put all parts in plastic bags with the date they were removed. Store all digital images of your parts in a folder on your PC with title set to the same date as that of the part in the bag. That way you will be able to take that "what part is that" to you PC and check where it was on the car. You'll be amazed just how hard it is to recognise some parts after a year being in bags. All electrical connections label as well. Just put a letter on each pair of connectors.

Hell Enrique, What the hell is the girlfriend doing in the car with slacks on in the first place. Sheesh! Mini skirt, lycra, nothing?????

Not wishng to add any further fuel (pun not intended) to the discussion but.... don't internal combustion engines work like this. Please correct me if I'm wrong. You know, always learning and all that. O2/fuel mix enters the combustion chamber and is burnt. The more fuel and O2 you get in there, the bigger the burn, therefore the piston moves down the bore faster = more grunt. The O2/fuel ratio is set at a constant in the "ideal" world but in the "real" world it changes due to pressure and temperature changes in all cars. FI handles this alot better than carburation. Carbs are tuned to the "local" conditions to get the best out of them. So isn't it safe to assume that the more dense the air, the more fuel you can get into the chamber to achieve a bigger bang. Surely there must be an advantage in using cooler air than engine bay air. Maybe a very small one but measurable. How obvious is it to the average zed owner driving out (locally without driving up mountains where large pressure changes are expected) and about is probably neither here nor there, but in racing where every little bit counts then sure, I would think that cold air would be vital. If not then why use cold air induction or intercoolers on turbo engines. James

It's 10:42 PM and Christmas day is near over down here in New Zealand. Kids woke us up at 5:30 and we are shattered. Ate too much BBQ food, cold ham and salads, all washed down with a ale or two. So to all members here and afar, a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. Love your families. James

As another aside. Is it probable that Nissan released the HLS30 with the standard HS30 heater control panel? This panel has the off position to the right as this is where the driver is. Is it probable that Nissan moved the off position to the left on HLS30's after US market feedback got back to Nissan Japan. Bit of a shame really as HS30 versions of the panel are now very very expense to get as NOS where your HLS30 ones are about half the price.