General help request and update

[alordzot]

It has been since Aug since I have been out to this site. Thanks again for all the info that all of you gave. It helped a lot. I have been making steady progress on restoring my Z to running shape.

A little history.

I Purchased a 73 240Z from my old Navy buddy ($200). He was the original owner of the car. The Z was parked in the garage 20 years ago because the battery had died and he was un-employed at the time. No other mechanic problems existed at the time the battery died. He loved the car and just never got around to fixing it. During the years that it was parked the mice decided to make a home in the glove box and fill the under side of the seats with dog food that they swiped. The muffler rusted off and the antenna was snapped off. The body is in good shape a few rust bubbles on the doors and the Floor panels are rusted through in a few locations. Since I got the car I have been working on restoring it as time permits.

The following has been completed over the winter months.

1. New break lines (rubber and steel lines on all 4) and master cylinder were installed. Still need to bleed the system so they work. (should be doing that this weekend)

2. New Muffler from the header back. What a pain in the arse that was. The stud broke off in the manifold and it took one day of work to get the darn thing out.

3. New relay for the fuel pump in the rear was located, purchases and installed. This is not an item that is any of the shop manuals or books that I have looked at, nor did any one have information on it here when I asked questions on the site. I was finally able to find it by tracing wires through the dash and following the electrical diagrams in the book.

4. Found and replaced the gear shift boots (inner and outer) Found a local shop that made me the outer gear shift boot out of black leather instead of vinyl for $40 bucks. Cheapest I could find the replacement for was from Victoria British catalog and it was the vinyl, they wanted $42.95 plus $7 for shipping.

5. New plugs, cap, points, condenser, oil change, radiator flushed, and all new fuel lines and filers.

Problems still waiting for a fix.

1. Rusted floor pans Driver side. (any advice) Found a place in Canada that has replacements. But have no idea about installation costs. Kit costs $232.00.(ANY ONE HAVE ANY IDEAS)

2. Replacement of the carpets. (any info to pass on about padding for it) I have seen some 3-in-1 Insulation, Heat Shield and sound deadener that looks good or should I just use the insulation material that is normally installed.

3. New Tires the existing are 20 plus year old.

4. New Radio antenna. (Original was a power antenna) Can not find a replacement. Haven’t really looked for one yet.

5. New Speakers

6. Reupholster the seats.

General questions.

1. Should I replace all the bushing on the car? They do not appear to be cracked or compressed but they are really old.

2. Any other things I should do.

Thanks again for the great site and all the helpful people here

[Arizona240z]

Sounds like you've been busy! You should post some pics to the gallery for us :classic:

My short answer to your question would be yes replace them. But it really depends on what you are doing. Do you want to get the car running and have it be a daily driver/project car? Then wait until you are ready to do them. If your trying to get it to the point where you can drive it and only have to worry about regular maintanence issues, then do it right away. With it sitting for so long I'd be concerned about dry rot.

[2ManyZs]

Hmm, so many questions...

The floor pans you are looking at are nearly identical to the ones that MSA sells as their Premium Floor Pan kit. Either supplier is good.

I'd leave the bushings alone until all the other problems are solved, you might as well do the bushings when you get around to doing other suspension repairs, such as strut cartridges springs, etc...

Carpet, well, Too Intense has a decent set from what I've heard from members who have purchased them. Rember to give him your IZCC number so he knows that his ad on the site is drawing in business so he will continue to advertise..:classic:

He also has re-upholstery kits for the seats as well.

If you replace the floors, you could coat them with POR-15, which should offer at least a little sound deadening, which along with new carpet and backer ought to help.

Antenna might be a high dollar item, as the ones I've seen on Ebay are going for 100+...Suppliers aren't going to be any cheaper either as MSA's price is 144+

[mdbrandy]

Charlie Osborne (of Zedd Findings - the floor pan supplier in Canada you mention) tells me that MSA actually sells his floor pans as premium floor pans. So they're not just close, they're the same thing! I can't compare prices yet, since MSA hasn't managed to send me their catalog yet...