RolfSis

Whew, two weeks later and feeling old and creaky, did get the seat happy again. Talk about creative energy. Who'd have thought? http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates-2.htm I hasten to add, this is my Bro's car and I'm helping him sell it. Wanted to keep as much of the original as possible, minimize cost to keep the selling price down. Sure feels good to sit in this puppy now vs. B4. ":0) Whew! I guess it's getting close to the time to put her out to bid.

We've has this 1971 240Z since my Bro purchased it new. It's been in Northern California (Bay Area) all its life! Kept it up for decades for his son, but things changed and we're now selling it. It's been such an adventure, when driving it, or a passenger, you feel like you're in a rocket ship. Heads turn, eyes linger, no one has ever smoked inside so it still smells new, despite it's 36+ years of age. It's still the original green, though tough up done over the years thanks to someone stealing it and taking it for a joy ride the first few months of ownership. Not sweet, but nonetheless, our adventure. '71 240Zs will remain our favorites even when we've sold it. Although checking out the beauties here is breathtaking. True artistry at work on these classic gems. ":0) Had assessments done at the Shop, and happy with the results so far. I'm a novice, can you tell? http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/KickingTires.htm

Thank you so much for your input, Carl. We appreciate it. As always, a little wiser thanks to the time spent here with people in the know about the Z. I must clarify a few things, though. This is my brother's Z and I'm trying to help him sell it. He's been the only owner, and it has lived in California all its life since he purchased it. It wasn't until I encouraged him to let me help him sell it that I found this site and received lots of guidance. It was the cleanup efforts I put into it (novice that I am) and a fresh coat of paint on the floorboards that I thought brightened it up, and apparently from your comments not the smartest move. That done, though, I do have the original photos on the links as well, and those when it was in the shop up on the lift. I definitely do not plan to rip up or cut into anything further, since we'll be putting it out to bid soon if no one locks in here. Since our Z has not been outside of California, and not experienced snow/ice/salt feel it's a jewel that someone with expertise, time and energy much younger than I will see this as "the one"! All these years, I thought what I / we saw when we lifted the floor carpets was the bottom of the car; thanks for the help in clarifying all of this. My husband is a big man, and he's the driver, I'm the passenger when my Bro isn't driving it and quite honestly, none of us are lightweights and never felt a bit ill at ease or worried about the safety of this car. After seeing things up close and personal whilst up on the lift, still not worried. I've driven this, and it's powerful and fun but a bit low for me. I feel like I'm in a rocket ship when I hit the gas, . Again, thank you for taking the time to teach me things. ":0) I should say that before I sprayed this touch up paint over the floorboards to brighten it up, it was already a green which was a tad darker and the original as best I can tell. When my Bro returns, I'll ask him if he ever had the "tar mats" painted, which would really surprise me. But then, 36 or so years of owning this gem, and preserving it for his son; who's to be sure? Asta

It's totally excellent, think I'll create one for our own car, through time. Was curious, though, if it was a file type .gif or other. Any idea?

Thank you for your response here, Bryan. I guess you're right on spot! Asker disappeared. Boo hoo. Not sure how I found this thread to reactivate it, but thought it to be worthy of checking out. Your '71 looks so good! Ours has a VIN# fairly close to yours with HLS30-28499 .... so guessing our '71 is a bit older than yours, no? ":0)

Hubby helped me look through things again, and we get what you're saying. It makes total sense, but neither of us want to rip up either of the floors, which we think you're saying must be done. Is that right? Again, sorry that we just don't know this stuff. When the car was up on the lift, there were rust colored things, but when you put your fingers around any of the discolorations, they were all topical. Isn't is safe to deduce that all the rusty colorations are, indeed topical, and no need to rip up any floor things to determine truths about the rust?

Appreciate the info, and still can't relate any of these pictures to our Z. None of ours looked rusty, and not sure I got the gist of your info here. You did say, though, you'd post others and perhaps that'll be something I can relate to ours. If I'm intruding here on an unrelated realm, apologies.

Ours is a 1971 240Z, and only one of the seat elements was ruined from years in the California sun, and that was the bottom of the driver's seat. We had a lot of estimates and none was below $160 just for that one bottom cushion. Since we're selling our family jewel, didn't want to increase the selling price any further, so I spent the last two weeks 'fixing/patching' that original '71 seat. Here's a link to the work done, and it may not be the most prized of possessions, but then, the '71 is and we've managed to sit pretty/sit comfy and maintain the original seat set-up. It's been really interesting as well as challenging, but my hubby helped me through all this and it works for us. Environmentally sound to boot. . http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/images/Oct-Asta-Z-Seat-fix42.JPG Here you see how the sun blasted the stitching on just that cushion Here you see the various steps to fix/patch/repair. Needless to say, it's a fix, not brand new, but is adjustable to height, and works well for us. http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates-2.htm I guess I'd ask, given the info learned from this thread, what does it take to keep the "original" validly called "original"? In my case, would it have been "original" if I had purchased replacement parts instead vs. patching up the originals to legitimately be called "original" ??? Thanks bunches, ":0)

Howdy! Beandip, when you said "First of all be sure to remove all the tar matt from the floor" .... sorry to be such a novice, but novice I am. What's a tar matt? Our floors both sides of our 240Z (1971) when the carpets are taken up look green, like the original car paint. What is a tar matt, and should we do something there as well? We don't see rust on ours, but then it's been in northern california all its life, so maybe we're missing something, thus my intrusion here to ask. All ears. ":0) Asta Maybe if I post pictures of some recent seat fixes, which include pictures of the floorboards on driver and passenger side, you can give me a clue. Thank you very much. http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates-2.htm

Posting to listen for updates. Thanks for the info here! What a nightmare in all our lives when tragedy strikes, and this is big time bad! Your Avatar is nifty! Did you create this as a .gif image with multiples? Very interesting and totally effective.

We're up north in the Bay Area, but tracking things daily and it is SO intense and makes each of us realize that there are no safety zones nor guarantees, but reading this thread and seeing the response from friends all around is heart-warming. Jason King - don't know how much power our well wishes and/or distant reach can contribute, we care lots and hope things are vastly improved NOW!

YIKES! Still not right, sorry about that. Web updates didn't publish correctly, will fix later today. Thanks for hanging in there with me on this. I guess, even though it's tough to read and tough to see (webpage white background, much missing, etc), when you linger the mouse over any thumbnail to see verbiage and/or see the enlargements with comments, you'll note this was more of a work of love to keep the original than might have been logical. Tsk tsk; feels really good to sit in it and drive! ":0) More later today to update the web.

Still working on some at home repairs, but making progress and learning stuff. http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates.htm http://asta.bizhosting.com/240z_work_in_progres.htm http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates-2.htm

also some progress noted here and is most recent: http://www.asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates-2.htm

Thanks for letting me know that link is broken; I have lots of others to upload, and hope to get to it this week. Here are some links http://asta.bizhosting.com/OctoberUpdates.htm http://asta.bizhosting.com/240z_work_in_progres.htm More shortly on the after...

The original looked like it was melted in outer space; spooky! It was gnarled and unrecognizable, like it had been scortched. Too strange.

:stupid:Trying again.

Where'd my thumbnails go? Ooh, maybe now. :mad: :laugh: :eek:

Wow, what an adventure. Trying to be creative in webbing alternatives, etc. Here's part of the stuff and confusion:

I guess I should show a few more about my process along the way, thinking I was on it, until I found this missing thing attached to the vinyl seatcover. Fooey.

Went to Ace Hardware, purchased some 2" webbing in a roll and grip locks, LOVE IT! Made my 4 connectoids which were GREAT, and used the original hardware hooks which are slick/work with the connectoids (webbing strips) to the seat frame. Worked great so far... So surprised to realize (rediscover) I have two metal bars and a center strip coming out of the chair cover itself (original)..... what the heck is that all about? Thought I got it, didn't yet. Need to figure out how to connect it. I took pictures, they're here. WHAT ARE THESE THINGS? and HOW TO MODIFY/CREATE if needed.... have bars and hooks, but can't find how to connect those bars, where. Thanks bunches....

Right on spot, Mike, thanks. Will explore both. ":0)

Again thank you, Mike. Tried that link, but use a safesurfing tool from McAfee, Site Advisor and warned use because of spam (link below). Will search for webbing further. http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/datsunrestore.com?ref=safesearch&aff_id=0&premium=false&suite=true

Thanks, Miles. Now that it's on the living room rug in bits and pieces, I've got a few days to ponder and see if I can fix anything on my own, and appreciate your help. Since 3 of the 4 seat pieces are in really good shape, only hoped to be able to fix the bottom piece. But may end up doing what you recommend, since we're selling it and not wanting to put too much more $s into it, love it as we do.

Thank you very much. My hubby got it out for me and disassembled it. WOW, what a complex seat setup. Clearly need to get some replacement things for the driver seat bottom. But also need to figure out what some of the things actually are.