Mckrack

How did you know it's a repaint. If it's a repaint I wonder about the mileage.

Hello fellow enthusiasts. I was looking at some of the Z cars on Ebay this AM and I came across a 1972 vehicle being sold by Schmitt which is a fairly well known Classic Car Distributor. The auction strikes me as somewhat odd. The car is very nice and I suppose the reason I find it odd is that we rarely see cars like this being sold by places like Schmitt. Now I think it's good for all of us because if a Dealership like this has a car like this then what we know of the 240z and it's history helps the value of our cars. Schmitt does not take in cars that aren't excellent examples of specific makes and models. They want $20,000 for the car on a buy it now. Please comment on whether you think the price is accurate. Should it go for more or less. Of course it's not a series one car but all in all it's very nice example of a 72. I would be interested in your impressions regarding this car. Please click on the link below to view the auction. Thanks, McKrack http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-DATSUN-240Z-ONLY-34-000-ORIGINAL-MILES_W0QQitemZ160120032098QQihZ006QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

absolutely NOT!

Yeah I had a feeling the rust issue by the fire wall wasn't much. However if the dash is cracked then the issue is solved. Take it out if there is a rust issue that you can't live with and send the dash off for restoring to one of the Dashboard restoration shops. HLS those 7 crack free dashes you have taken out. You wouldn't happen to have any series ones around. I'll buy one from you.

Mike you have a very nice specimen there. Very workable and restorable. I wish you all the best with it. I don't think you should be taking the dash out of the car just yet Mike. If the dash isn't cracked there are other ways to see if there is rust behind it. I don't know about 26 but I suppose he may not realize that if you start fooling around with a solid dash the strees of taking it out might crack it so I wouldn't suggest you doing that.Anyome familiar with these old z dashes should know if you are not damn careful you may end up with a non crack free dash. So I don't agree with that suggestion. I didn't get a good look at the dash. Is it crack free. Maybe others would like to chime in about removing a good dash with out cracking it. BTW why did you go ahead and refinish the steering wheel before doing all the other work. Are you not concerned it may get damaged in the interim?

If that car runs it's a testament to the 240z. McKrack

I have used this product with mixed results. I don't think it is the correct substance to use in place of good old welding. For small repairs that are not affected by the elements freezing and heating and vica versa I am sure it works fine but in the end I think it will eventually fail. As a matter of fact every time I have used automotively it failed pretty rapidly. McKrack

How does the MSA show compare to the Z Convention. McKrack

Looks beautiful. Are you talking about Daytona on October or the MSA show. McKrack

The bra was an afternarket product that some Datsun Dealerships sold. Bras are inherently bad for cars unless you have the Speed Lingerie bra which I had for a Porsche I drove and was color matched to color of the car. I don't like the look of a bra on a car and especially on the 240z . It really disturbs the lines of the car. However if the purpose of protection is imporatnt you could alwyas have 3Ms clear guard installed on the hood. From about 5 feet away it's almost invisible.

To do the kind of work you need done please allow me to recommend what I think is exactly what you are looking for. The issue is transportation because the shop is in Arizona. The shipping of the car is a one time deal and I think they will do the best job for you and they are very accessible and very nice people. The Business is called Z Car Source. They do it all and have all the parts you need or access to them. www.zcarsource.com. The owner is Jeff Gordon. Go tothe the web site and consider giving him a call. He's a great guy. McKrack

I was watching Annie Hall in HD and in one scene I noticed an early 240z drive by. It was an orange car and took particular notice of the color of the rear tail light panel. Now I think the movie was filmed sometime in the 70s not sure what year. The panel looked about the same color as the hub caps. So there might go my theory about it being lighter. I put the movie on pause and sure enough it was sort of dark. Unless of course it was refinished or the car was hit and repaired. In the same scene Diane Keaton got in to her 260z and drove off. The 260 was gold. The car looked brand new. Anyway just thought I would mention it. Probably doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot. I do look for Z cars in older movies these days. I must have a lot of free time on my hands.:nervous: McKrack

Yes I have one in my series one car and I purchased it from MSA. They are readily available from many vendors. I use it solely to store the female buckle side of the seat belts. This way they don't sit on the floor. I don't use it for coffee or other drinks. The down side to this item is that they say you can just place it over the console. If you do that it has a tendency to move or slide. It is not a secure fit. So I screw them in to each side of the console. Of course if I ever want to permanently remove it the console will need to be repaired. The other problem is it has a tendency to get in the way of the dial on the inside of the seats to move the back of the seat backwards and forwards. On balance I like the item as long as you know the nuances I think you will too. McKrack

Yeah got a look at that one yesterday. I think the description said restored. NOT! The car has a lot of issues. I can say that this one is over priced. Getting to like those stripes though. McKrack

Never really cared for stripes until your pics. Really nice job. The white stands out and was the right choice. Great job. McKrack

That it is too funny. This guy deserves to sell those hubcaps at a record price for having a sense of humor. You know we don't laugh at ourselves enough in life. This fellow is quite the character and I think he should be rewarded for being a piece of work. Don't you think. McKrack

I agree with what has been said. I think Carl Beck has a very good understanding about this problem and the other responses were very accurate as well. However there is one thing that I would like to stay with for a moment and that is the general issue of rust on early Datsun 240z cars. If you have symptoms like you have posted in the pictures I have always been told that generally there is stuff going on that you just haven't seen yet. I would be interested in knowing how your floor pans look, and the rockers and dog legs and frame rails. Have you looked at those areas. I know Ospho as Mr. Beck said is a good product and because of it consistency gets to places where other products might no necessarily get to. I guess it depends on what you are going to do with the car and the level of refreshing you want to do on the car. McKrack

Hello Avemood, I certaily don't want to be the bearer of bad news and cause you any undoe upset however if you have that sort of a rust issue then I believe that unless you don't want to investigate further I must tell you that your car probably has other areas of rust going on. You may want to take the battery out if you haven't already and look at the platform it sits on and then peak down at the frame rails. Now with the pictures you sent I see that this may not just be superficial rust around the tail gate window gasket but a much deeper issue that no product will help. I do notice that whoever painted the car painted the edge of the rubber gasket as well. First I think you need to take the window out because there is a better then not chance that the rust extends in to the window channel that requires body work and sometimes a new hatch. As for the rust on the door sills that looks like deep surface rust or worse with some denting going on but it will need attention again at a body shop in my opinion. You may want to look at the dog legs as well and those are behind the rocker panels and in front of the rear wheels. Now if you had true surface rust and you were going to attempt to fix it yourself then POR 15 can be used or a some of the other liguid products that take the oxygen out of the rust and basically neutralizes it but I think you have a more serious problem brewing. I apologize if I have been too critical but I would hate to give you the wrong advice and then you go ahead and waste a lot of time and some money. Then again I may have mantioned things that you already know or assumed. Please do not take my advice only there are some pretty knowledgable people on the site that I am sure will chime in. Good luck I hope it all works out for the best. I'm sure it will.

It's interesting that this seems to be a chronic problem. I think that when these tanks are strapped back up if they are removed for whatever reason just the palm of ones hand can dent them when your holding them in place and strapping them up. I think I may have the solution for the problem if you are going to take it down and empty the tank other then sending it to a place like Moyers Fuel Tank Renu who I used to re doe my tank. Call Dent Wizard or Dent X or one of those companies that takes dents out of the body panels. They can get in their with their tools and work the dent out I am sure. Good ones are like magicians. I have used them so many times on my cars and I have yet to be able to tell that the vehicle was ever dinged or dented. Price about 75-125 bucks a panel so what could a dent in a gas tank cost? McKrack

Thanks folks. I think after more investigation that 26th is correct. The 69 cars were North/south and after that east/west. McKrack

Thanks for help 26th but I am not sure that you are correct. I posted that question off line to some people I have met in the last few months who have some knowledge about the early cars and they tell me that they all were meant to be in the north/ south position whether they were plastic or metal. That it had no bearing on the lines of the car and that the knob like just about all knobs when locked are in the above position for better grasping. Please can you document here where you found that info. Because I have tried and haven't found it. Let us all know.

The one I have is the one on the right. The area where you grasp to open and close is shallower. I thought that this was going to be a silly question but I suppose it has garnered some interest. Thank you all for responding. I couldn't get the information anywhere other then this site. McKrack

Thanks Kats. Somehow my knob doesn't look like any of those. The edge does not stick out that far. McKrack

Thanks Geezer but the car is about two months from being done and I just can't take much more of the refresh/restore project. I'll live with what I have. It's very nice of you to ask and I do appresiate it. Hop I can help you someday. I've gotten some responses from some folks about the position of the knob off the site and they all tell me the latched posi5tion is east / west. So now I don't know.

Yup that's it. I think the fuel door is from a different year car. It has the spring so it can open and close with out the knob although it doesn't have the lip. So the knob is basically a holder if you get my meaning. Thanks for taking the picture I appreciate the effort. McKrack