Hello from across the pond! Searching for a 240z

[Woody928]

On 8/29/2016 at 0:37 PM, Namerow said:

Looks like a nice car.  I admire your courage for buying site unseen from an overseas seller.  Too bad about the shipping damage, though -- especially considering the fact that the car was apparently loaded into a container to prevent exactly this kind of damage from happening.

Based on my own experience, I recommend that you go through the electrical connections from stem to stern, using De-Oxit or a similar type of spray to knock down at least some of the oxidation on the terminals.  Pulling the white-plastic connector shells apart can be a problem.  A bit of heat from a hair dryer before you start tugging may help.

Up front, pay particular attention to the connectors for the headlights, the wiper motor, and the voltage regular. Check the condition of the fusible links while you're at it. 

Under the dash, there are two oversized 'spade' connectors for the primary current that are usually badly corroded.  One is located in the console/centre stack area. The other is in among the bundle of connectors where the engine harness connects to the dash harness.  To identify, look for heavy-gauge white or white-red wires.  These two connectors can get really hot because of the combination of high current and corrosion.

Corrosion on the terminals within the Combination Switch (Lights on/off and Headlight hi/lo in particular) and the Hazard Lighting switch is a well-known issue for these cars.  Spraying with De-Oxit will help, but disassembly (finicky job) and polishing (Dremel tool with brass wire wheel attachments works well) is a better answer.

Don't forget to check the condition of the Fuse Block.  Look for a loose fuse (or fuses), which will probably indicate that the Fuse Block's plastic floor has melted and given way.  The usual culprit is the Headlight circuit.  If you find that your car's Fuse Block has melted like this, make sure you treat both the symptom (melted Fuse Bock) and the cause (corrosion and over-current issues within the Lighting circuit and switching).  There are several articles on this site that go over the problem and the solutions in detail.  An upgraded Headlight harness (with relays fitted) is probably the best answer.

Finally, make sure that the electrical system's body ground connections are good.  There's one in the engine bay (fender apron, adjacent to the Starter) and one under the Rear Deck floor, back around the gas tank. 

Thanks Dude  Well I'm not sure courage is quite the right word for it, more recently I've had far more colorful words to describe it. I must say Its certainly been an experience with highs and lows along the way, has been far more involved, and stressful than I imagined. Especially given I've still only ever seen the car once and am having to resolve problems, and throw money at something I've only seen once, let alone had a chance to drive! I must be mad really, that being said I can't wait for it all to be sorted and just get it and drive it! :-D It certainly seemed like I was protecting it at the time, and I don't think it was in the container that the damage happened, I'm fairly convinced it would have been at the UK warehouse. 

Thank you very much for all of the advice about the electrics! I have heard about the issues with the combination switch. Obviously as you say a well known issue for the car. I wasn't aware that the fuse box could melt itself though! I've seen this new headlight wiring harness advertised online, I take it that its worth the investment then? 

http://datsun-240z-upgrades.net/product-info/

Lots of checks to make when I finally get to pick her up, I'll be sure to ask the guys who have been sorting it what they have/haven't touched and go from there. Thanks for taking the time to give me the pointers  

 

On 8/30/2016 at 0:13 AM, grannyknot said:

Woody, that must have been heart breaking to see that damage, unbelievable. They ship millions of cars around the world every year, no excuse for that. Looks like you found a good shop to get her back in shape, looking forward to your progress.

Indeed, was completely gutted especially given how good the overall condition is. Just hoping that the insurance gets on with and agrees to settle the repairs bill. So far so good, waiting to hear how things are progressing with the welding as its turns out the rust/rot wasn't just limited to the chassis rail onthe passenger side so I believe i've got a new floor as well! 

 

Apologies both for the belated response, lots of people to talk to these days! I will be sure to keep you posted as to how I get on. Still can't wait for that first drive 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Woody928

[240260280z]

I wonder if the brakes were soft when they parked it on the lot. 

[Mark Maras]

45 minutes ago, Blue said:

I wonder if the brakes were soft when they parked it on the lot. 

 Or the driver didn't realize how far the nose stuck out beyond his field of vision.

[Namerow]

20 hours ago, Woody928 said:

Thank you very much for all of the advice about the electrics! I have heard about the issues with the combination switch. Obviously as you say a well known issue for the car. I wasn't aware that the fuse box could melt itself though! I've seen this new headlight wiring harness advertised online, I take it that its worth the investment then? 

Here's are links to a couple of good introductions to things that may need attending to in a Z...

http://datsunzgarage.com/probs/index.htm

http://www.zparts.com/zptech.html

Keep in mind, though, that comprehensive list of things to watch out for might run to several pages in length . 

 

The CZCC website has some great articles posted by members on recommended repair and upgrade strategies, as well as sources for OE and upgraded parts.  The 'Search' tool is your friend.

If the floor of your fuse block has melted (and there's a fair chance that it has), it is possible to do a repair.  A better solution, though, might be to buy a replacement or an upgraded unit.  Motorsport Auto ('MSA') can help you out with this.  They also supply upgraded headlight and park/turn wiring harnesses (as do a few other vendors, including the one you for which posted the link).

[Namerow]

BTW, when I just made the post above, an advert placement appeared in the middle.  I have no idea how that happened.  New feature for posts?

[Woody928]

Who knows what caused it, its more a question of whether they knew it and just pretended it didn't happen. As long as the shipping company resolves the damage then I can move forward. 

Thanks for both those links, just had a flick through and read, I'm sure I'll be referencing those as I go along.  I'm aware its a 45 year old car so its going to have problems, sounds like the electrics are starting to show their age on all cars and are a weak point. 

I'm all in favour of upgrading parts to improve things, sounds as though a new fuse box and some wiring elements will be a good one to have on the list. MSA sound like they stock most parts that you could ever want or need for your Z. I've just got the joy of all of the shipping charges and VAT across to the UK :-( It's much more cost effective to run these cars in the good ol USA. 

(No advert appeared for me btw)

[Woody928]

Well time for a major update, the car has finally arrived into our possession!

We went down to Fourways Engineering on Friday afternoon to collect the car with all of the  works being completed. We are really pleased with how the repairs to the front of the car have come out in particular. We decided to contrast the front end and a Euro looking front chin spoiler was acquired from MJP to replace the damaged orange spook spoiler. Amongst other bits, a new brake servo was fitted (big thanks to Ryan at Zcar depot), new headlining, new chassis rail fabricated and welded in, MOT light conversion, fuel sender etc. A big thanks to them for their continued efforts :thumbs: By Saturday afternoon we had racked up 140 miles before having to put her to bed in the lockup due to family commitments. Its safe to say its been a roller coaster ride all of the way and quite an experience having now been able to pick up the car. 

Having never driven a classic car with no power assistance or driver aids before it was a bit of a shock to the system, in particular the lack of power steering was entertaining to start with however I'm already getting well used to it now. The brakes seem positive albeit they currently pull to the left and are slightly lack luster compared to the setups I'm acclimatized to using, that being said its all part of the experience. I've been told before by my dad that driving the Healey requires concentration is genuinely a tiring experience, and I must admit I've never really fully appreciated what he meant before getting behind the wheel of the Datsun and must confess to have felt very tired having done 90 odd miles on the Saturday. I will in part attribute this to getting used to driving a LHD car as well learning about road positioning and spacing along with all of the other factors, so call me a wimp if you will but I'm leaping into a different world of motoring from all of the 90's cars I've owned! :driving:  

The thing that has amazed me most though more than anything is the attention the car gets wherever it goes! :eek: I know its an unusual orange classic sports car however everywhere we have stopped people have come and talked to us, complimented the car, taken photos. The amount of turned heads as it cruises on by is hilarious, I'm convinced I stopped most of the commuters coming off of the Friday evening train picking my sister up from Surbiton station in the evening. Its something I'm loving, I just hadn't realised how much attention it would draw. There will certainly never be such thing as a below the radar drive in this car! :lol:

The soundtrack of a 2.6 straight six is also to die for :bow: I can't get enough of working the car up the gears and dropping back down them for tunnels. I can imagine how good some of the sounds tracks on these cars can be even when mildly tweaked. Its everything I'd hoped it would be in that respect. Unsurprisingly the low down torque is fantastic with the car pulling well in 4th even below 1k rpm, certainly a lazy car to drive if you want it to be. Most remarkably as well even with some very spirited driving the car comfortably returned 20 mpg much to my surprise, and the smiles per galloon were just off the chart! :coolgleam:

We took the car down to Rawles Motorsports open day on the Saturday where I met a friend who also has a 240z and compared notes, and did back to back drives to see how the cars compared. Different setups certainly having their pro's and cons. I also met another owner who is local with an ex Nissan press car, albeit his car wasn't present due to ongoing bodywork. Lots of other classics to peruse over (predominantly Healeys due to the specialist), it was nice to have two cars together though. 

After all of the positive news there had to be some negatives to balance everything out We've had some developments on the insurance claim with CFR, who after much chasing with unexplained several week delays (both myself and dad work within the insurance industry and cannot understand this when they had all of the required documentation) agreed to settle our claim per our repair quote minus the policy excess ($500). We agreed this with the insurance company however felt the need at this point to remind CFR of their negligence and rightly requested that they reimburse us for the policy excess which we were having to pay. This email request was then ignored for several days (having previously had daily responses to our emails). In light of this my dad decided to make a phone call to pursue the matter with the very helpful CFR claims manager. 

Having explained the situation to him, our contact turned from his usual extremely helpful self to completely turning his back up at us. He tried to stipulate that it was only by his grace that our claim was processed, and even tried turning the tables on us that our claim was weak despite all of the evidence and photographs. To cut a long story short he went on to say in as few words, and without directly saying it, if you wish to claim the excess from us then you will have to sue us. Its safe to say we were both completely shocked to have had this sudden transformation in customer service! Despite being well aware of our right to pursue the excess claim (in our view) and considering the morality of being fobbed off we have decided it isn't worth the stress and hassle of pursuing the matter further. 

With the above in mind we signed the release and requested the insurance payment was made by bank transfer (for which they added a $50 charge), as if to add insult to injury we were sent a response to the completed release stating that the payment request would take between 30-45 days! :banghead: We were left speechless at this point and with no avenue to protest the ridiculous timescales suggested. Currently as it stands we are still awaiting the settlement payment despite having picked up the repair bill, and I can only summarise this by saying we have only been left with a bitter sentiment towards CFR having previously received fantastic customer service up until this point. They have fallen seriously short in our estimations on just the last hurdle. Both our experiences with the damage not being reported or observed, and then the handling of the claim has left us with low estimations of the company. I know various people have used this company over the years and received good service and had no issues, however I felt the need to share this so that others are forewarned of our experience before choosing a shipping company to use.

We're planning on taking her out tomorrow for a cruise down to the South coast to get better acquainted as the next stage of the adventure. Anyway there's loads more positive things I could say, however that's enough for now.  Here's a few pics for you all to look at, I'm sure there will be lots more to follow as things develop and we get more experience with the car :driving: :thumbs:

Some of the remnants of our chassis rail (Usual rust free 240Z)

Pickup at Fourways 

Rawles Motorsport with company

 

[Patcon]

Yup, that's the usual "rust free" Z!!! The car looks great. Love the tail lights. Have fun putting miles on her...

[moelk]

Niiiice!!!

[Namerow]

Nice photos.  The latter two raise once again three of the ongoing Z 'style' debates:  stock vs lowered ride heights; over-under vs. single exhaust tips, and; plain bumper vs. over-riders. 

(If anyone asks, there is no correct answer.)

[EuroDat]

On 21-10-2016 at 11:49 AM, Woody928 said:

Having never driven a classic car with no power assistance or driver aids before it was a bit of a shock to the system, in particular the lack of power steering was entertaining to start with however I'm already getting well used to it now. The brakes seem positive albeit they currently pull to the left and are slightly lack luster compared to the setups I'm acclimatized to using, that being said its all part of the experience. I've been told before by my dad that driving the Healey requires concentration is genuinely a tiring experience, and I must admit I've never really fully appreciated what he meant before getting behind the wheel of the Datsun and must confess to have felt very tired having done 90 odd miles on the Saturday. I will in part attribute this to getting used to driving a LHD car as well learning about road positioning and spacing along with all of the other factors, so call me a wimp if you will but I'm leaping into a different world of motoring from all of the 90's cars I've owned! :driving:  

If you drive modern cars a lot, the Z will always feel wierd at first. Depending on what you want to do with the car, you could think about power steering. You can use a Subaru rack that bolts in and run the pump where the AC compressor would mount. Or the eletric option, but need to check if its legal in the UK  

 

The car looks great. Good luck with the insurance. Pitty that went bad. Dulls the enjoyment a bit when you have to chase after stuff that wasn't your fault.

 

 

 

[Woody928]

On 10/21/2016 at 0:04 PM, Patcon said:

Yup, that's the usual "rust free" Z!!! The car looks great. Love the tail lights. Have fun putting miles on her...

Haha it seems to be the way with these cars. I have a funny feeling the floors will need some attention in the coming years. Thank you for the kind words, the JDM rear lights certainly are a nice detail, and a requirement for the UK. No doubt about that 

On 10/21/2016 at 9:42 PM, moelk said:

Niiiice!!!

Thank you! 

On 10/23/2016 at 2:24 AM, Namerow said:

Nice photos.  The latter two raise once again three of the ongoing Z 'style' debates:  stock vs lowered ride heights; over-under vs. single exhaust tips, and; plain bumper vs. over-riders. 

(If anyone asks, there is no correct answer.)

Many thanks, there's lots more interesting photos to come in due course. Now you've said it I've started looking and scrutinizing both! I think for me that's quite easy, and means I have some work to do,.. 

- Lowered (hadn't realized how much higher our car sits in that pic)

- Over-under/twin exit every time imo

- I think I'm going to have to say plain bumper and ditch the over-rides. Cleans up the cars lines somewhat. 

Agreed though, completely subjective debate and personal preference should win out every time.  

23 hours ago, EuroDat said:

If you drive modern cars a lot, the Z will always feel wierd at first. Depending on what you want to do with the car, you could think about power steering. You can use a Subaru rack that bolts in and run the pump where the AC compressor would mount. Or the eletric option, but need to check if its legal in the UK  

 

The car looks great. Good luck with the insurance. Pitty that went bad. Dulls the enjoyment a bit when you have to chase after stuff that wasn't your fault.

Very useful info, if I'm honest I'll be keeping it as is though. I quite like the retro direct feel and feedback that you get from the OEM setup, all part of the classic car ownership. The more I've driven it the easier its got as I've dialed myself into the car. I think it was just one of those learning curve things and a new experience to contend with.

Thank you, certainly turns heads wherever it goes. Someone who understands our pain, we're extremely hopeful that it will all be behind us in due course and we can just get on with enjoying her in due course. As you say dulls the enjoyment! I think the cars just testing us and making us earn the right to enjoy her to the full 

Edited October 24, 2016 by Woody928