240z restoration standards

[richard1]

It is not everybody that can be the owner of a low miles complete original never molested,never altered,accurate down to the production marks and paint of32 years. I have been lucky to acquire such a car three years ago.

I am fairly new to this board and I am curious to know what kind of references exist for somebody who want to restore a 240z the closest to the condition it left the factory.

[MikeW]

Tell us more about you car ... any pictures?

You'll find quite a wide variety of people here. Some are going for he perfect showroom restoration while others are busy dropping in V8's or adding body kits.

Wick Humble's book is a good thing to have if you're doing a thorough restoration as is any information you can find on the Nissan "factory" restoration program of a few years ago. Feel free to ask questions here as well as searching for old posts. There's lots of good information available here.

[Bambikiller240]

A good place t6 start is the How to Restore Your Datsun Z Car book by Wick Humble. Available from Motorsport Auto ( www.zcarparts.com ) among other places.

www.ZHome.com has a lot of information on early Z cars also.

[mdbrandy]

This raises a question that has occured to me as I work on my 240Z. If, say sometime in the future, I decide to enter my 240Z in a "Z contest" somewhere, and say I have gotten it back to as close to stock as I can, is there any place where I can get a "concourse checklist" or anything to know what judging would look for? I've heard of "290 point cars" and stuff like that - that's out of 300 points? Do the judges just look at the cars and try to find things that aren't "right", or do they have criteria? Given all our discussions about what is original and what is not, it seems to me that it would be very difficult to actually put together such a checklist.

Anyway, anyone that has had experience having their Z judged in a stock class, I'd appreciate a little guidance. It's years of work before I get the car together, but it'd be good to have info now instead of after I've got it done. The more I think about it, the more I figure I'll have fun tricking up the 280 and taking the 240 back to what it was to begin with.

[Mr Camouflage]

Originally posted by mdbrandy

This raises a question that has occured to me as I work on my 240Z. If, say sometime in the future, I decide to enter my 240Z in a "Z contest" somewhere, and say I have gotten it back to as close to stock as I can, is there any place where I can get a "concourse checklist" or anything to know what judging would look for?

Try this for a start:

judge zcca.org.zip

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage

Try this for a start:

Perfect! thanks!

[richard1]

I bought my 72 z from the original owner in Tennesse in 2002 with 32k on the odometer. He told me that he bought it as an investment and tought about the collector's value to come.He ordered it fully equipped which means A/T and A/C.

He made the decision to sell it to give a deposit for the new 350z. I bought the car unseen and only on the base of a detailed picture set.

When the car arrived it looked as a real time capsule in every way and worth every penny of the stiff price paid for. Every braided hoses were still in the engine compartment, the paint job was still immaculate by 1972 standards and furthermore to the originality, the welding marks of the quarter panels to the top were visible.

This very short description of this perfect original brings me to wonder how somebody who restore an early z can find proper documentation and photograhic evidence of how a factory condition must be.

To my knowledge, there is no books that gives detailed pictures of what is a perfect original. Wick Humble book, How to restore your Datsun z, has black and white pictures that are not oriented to detail authenticity but to how to fix rust problems common to his project.

The concours checklist is only a reference to tell the owner what to look for to avoid point loss at judging. It doesn't give information to what is correct about details,finish and presentation.

So the question is does exist a book exclusively dedicated to the perfect detailing of an early Z restoration?

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by richard1 So the question is does exist a book exclusively dedicated to the perfect detailing of an early Z restoration?

To my knowledge, the answer is no. If you read the conversations we've had on this board (and on others), you'll see that there are many details that are unknown or debateable. In addition, for any single car, it is very difficult to know how it actually came off the factory floor, since Datsun apparently used parts as they had them, and thus the definitions of "Series I" or "Series 2" 240Z's as we use them in discussions are somewhat fluid for any specific car. Early parts can show up on slightly later cars if they were backstock that Datsun wanted to get rid of.

Anyway, if you can find such a book, we'd all love to see it, I think. But I don't believe you will find it.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by richard1

Every braided hoses were still in the engine compartment, the paint job was still immaculate by 1972 standards and furthermore to the originality, the welding marks of the quarter panels to the top were visible.

Is it possible that you're talking about cracks in the paint on both sides where if roof meet the rear quarters? If so, I believe this is common. My car has been repainted 3 times after leaving the factory and now has those cracks in the current paint (which is almost 20 years old).

[richard1]

It looks clearly as welding joints and not cracks in the paint.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by richard1

It looks clearly as welding joints and not cracks in the paint.

I'd like to see that. Can you take a picture or two?

[Ed]

Couldn't we start another forum with nothing but pictures of factory markings? It would be an excellent source for those who are doing that factory restoration.