cbudvet

I was wondering if it is possible to rebuild the hatch lock? I am talking about the button you put your key into and push. I want to try and keep the car as original as possible and it is also so expensive to purchase new ones. There is that little metal flapper that I think keeps the weather out and mine is loose and floppy. I'm talking about the lock not parts of my anatomy. Also, the key doesn't turn. Can they be taken apart? Any suggestions? Thanks. carl

There is one for sale on ebay currently. It looks like everything lines up like it should based on the picture. It is $49.99. The auction number is 370100423016. Thought you might be interested. carl

The original color was a dark grey color. You can get the paint from classic datsun where they have it custom made. I personally prefer a flat black. To me the color looks like it was once black that has faded to grey. They also sell the original blue for the engine block and the orange for the air cleaner. carl

I am sorry to hear about all the sorrow you have had in your life this past year. It takes a strong person to keep going when all seems lost. I am glad you had someone to help you through it. You have a tremendous attitude and I wish you the best of luck with your life to come. Keep us up to date with things and keep the faith. Carl

Nice looking car! She looks in great shape. More pics of the car, please.

Does anyone have a good picture of a firewall with the holes for the heating hoses? There are several more holes in my firewall from an aftermarket AC unit and I am not sure which ones to have the body shop weld closed. An original firewall with just the heating hose holes would be great. Thanks. Carl

I can finally say it. My car is finally going to the shop to be painted. It has spent the last few weeks being media blasted to remove the paint and rust. The body shop guy seems really excited to get to do the work on an old z car. Theres a lot of work to be done to repair the rust issues. I have a chopped up 71 240z to use for parts (frame rails etc.). I have dragged that car around with me for the past 6 years. I will post pictures when its done. The body shop said they would have it done within 2 months. That seems great compared to the horror stories I've read. He He He, I am so excited. carl:p

Something is screwed up with my computer or something. Doradox, when I click on your link, it says sorry no matches. This is driving me crazy. I'm really not this incompetent!!! I must be though. Thanks for your help.

What am I doing wrong?

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but when I do a simple search for rota, rota wheels, wheels, panasport, panasports, nothing comes up. Maybe its an issue with the search program????

I swear I did try and look and nothing came up!! I looked under rota wheels and rota and there were 0 replies. Honest! I will try again and see if I can get it to work.

Does anyone know anything about ROTA wheels? They make a model called RB that look almost identical to Panasports at about 1/2 the price. The wheels are made in the Phillipines according to the website. I don't expect them to be as good as Panasports but are they good enough. With the money I'm spending to restore my car any breaks in cost help. I don't know if the center caps will be a problem or not. They come in a variety of sizes. Thanks Carl

Wow, the censorship stuff works. It censored out the word like the author Charles Dic..ens who wrote Oliver Twist.

I am ultimately going to have my car body chemically stripped. I found a place that will do it for about 6-700 dollars. I decided to go this way as I will be taking it to the body shop as soon as its naked. Prior to this decision. I went to the local Autozone and asked for the nastiest, nuclear powered, paint stripper and bought something called AIRPLANE REMOVER. Thats what its really called. I was working on the wheel wells and it works great! Its a bit messy (gooey) and if you get it on your skin it burns like the ****ens but it works fast. I then wiped, scraped the goo off. If you are using it underneath, you must where eye protection, gloves, etc in case it drips on you. The interesting thing is, I haven't seen nearly as many airplanes around my house. Carl

Thanks. That helps. I happen to be digging around and found some boxes with most of the old bolt etc. in them. Suprisingly enough I actually labelled most of them. I still have plenty of bags of mystery bolts! Carl

I am planning on taking my car to the body shop next week for body and paint work. I would like to replace as many of the bolts with new ones instead of the old rusty ones. First of all I don't know what sizes they are, and secondly I don't know were to purchase new ones. Does anyone know of a list that would give the appropriate size? Anyone know were I could even purchase new ones? I have seen a few miscellaneous ones in Black Dragon and sometimes see some on ebay but they are never the ones I would like. Thanks. Carl

I know this has been a frequent topic and don't want to do it to death but there are some series 1 240z hubcaps for sale on Ebay for a meager $995.00. Ouch! I was doing the usual ebay browsing when I saw the auction. I wish them the best of luck. carl

In reference to Datsun vs. Nissan, the History channel showed a program about the z car and they explained it is Nissan (the parent company) was unsure how well their cars would do over here in the states. They used Datsun as a way of distancing themselves from the cars if they sold poorly. This implies that Datsun was less than a good thing. However, according to my books, Nissan motors was originally called DAT automobile manufacturing company in the early 1900's. DAT were the initials of the 3 financial backers of the company. In japanese DAT also means "hare". The cars were originally called Dat-son as the "offspring" of the previous model. This eventually was changed to DatSUN (either in reference to the sun on the japanese flag or possibly because SON means loss or bad things). Coincidentally, the factory had been recently flooded in a storm. In 1934 the company was finally changed to NISSAN Motor Company. I cannot claim that I knew all of this off the top of my head. I picked up a handy book and read the first few pages. Personally, I don't think calling it the Datsun Heritage Museum is a bad thing. Carl

I really don't have a specific reason for replacing them. I have the car stripped down to the shell and I guess I thought "might as well replace the brake lines". I think they appear in decent shape. To be honest I never thought about cleaning them up and reusing them. Hmmmmm. Thanks for the advice. I can spend the money elsewhere I am sure.

So I am continuing to work on my 240z and am looking at potentially replacing the hard brake lines. On ebay there is someone selling CNC bent stainless steel brake lines that encompases all the hard lines. Has anyone purchased these? I am very interested even though they cost a little more. Thanks. Carl

Hello everyone, I hope that people can help me. I have some spare parts that I am thinking of selling to get money to further work on my car and am not sure how much they are worth. I have 4 oringinal steel wheels (I am sure the tires aren't original), 2 original spares (I don't know if the tires are original), a hood in nice shape, a rear hatch, a replacement quarter panel steel thats new (drivers side), a lower rear valence replacement, and potentially replacement floor pans with the supports. One of the big problems is always the cost and work of shipping the parts. I really appreciate peoples input. Thanks again, Carl

Thanks. I guess I better not jump the gun and start spending money if I don't have to. Lord knows I will have plenty of costs to come. I appreciate the input and will let the guy doing the rebuilding go over it first. carl

I dont know if this helps or not, but my brother used to have an old MGA. It used very similar looking wire hose clamps. Not the worm kind. Through Victoria British, you can order wire radiator hose and other hose clamps that are the wire kind. I have no idea what sizes they are and if they would work but that is the closest I have ever found. One of these days, I plan on buying one of each and seeing if they will work or not. Good luck. carl

I have an early model 240z that I am restoring and am planning on rebuilding the engine, clutch, and transmission. I have no knowledge that there is anything wrong but the car is 40 years old and hasn't been driven/started in the last 10 years or so. This may sound like a stupid question but what do I rebuild? I have a friend who rebuilds engines for a living that is going to help me but there are so many things/parts. I have read about the valves/guides/etc. needing to be updated because of lead free gas. I guess I was planning on buying as many replacement parts as I could afford and letting my friend go to town. Should I wait until the engine is apart and rely on my friend to tell me what to purchase? I appreciate everyones input. carl

I got an iphone from my brother. I guess it makes up for all the money I've given him. I have an old Bang and Olufsen turntable and still listen to my collection of albums. My favorite is CW McCall "Convoy". Best wishes to all. Carl