Marty Rogan

Thanks for the info. That is good to know. Do you still have to cut the dust shields to make them fit? Marty

Just remember, you are paying the premiums for a reason. To fairly compensate you for the loss of YOUR property. It is not only being paid to make the insurance company rich!!! Consider whatever they offer you as a starting point in negotating a fair value for the car. In 1987, my first Z (1973 240Z) caught fire and burned. This was after I had spent 7 years on a ground up restification. The inexperienced young female claims adjuster offered me $1,900. I told her that her offer was completely unacceptable and I demanded an in person meeting with her supervisor and his boss. I brought to the meeting several pictures showing all angles and features of the car, a monster stack of receipts, and recent copies of Hemmings Motor News showing comparable cars for sale. Fortunately for me, the boss was a car guy who had just restored a '68 Camaro. He knew the value of what I had done to the car. After about an hour of negotiating, I walked out of there with a check for $6,700. It was short of the $10K I actually had into the car, but I am sure that I could not have gotten more than that if I had sold the car. I was bummed at the loss, but reasoanbly pleased with the settlement. Moral of the story. The settlement is negotiable. The more you are prepared when you go in to meet with them, the more you will walk out with in your pocket. Today I have 2 240Z's and both have stated value policies on them, so I know what they will be paying. I hope the car is found in good shape before you have to go through all of that. It can happen, just ask Vicotr. Good luck! Marty

$5,900 sounds pretty high for a car that has rust. For that price, I would expect the car to run and drive well, have decent paint and only have some minor things to fix. Keep looking. There are lots of Z Cars that come on the market. Be patient and wait for the right one. You won't be sorry. Check all of the Z Car websites weekly (daily). Check here: http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com/ Ther are 47 240Z's and 76 280Z's available right now. Don't be afarid to call on cars in the rust-free zones. Several members here have offered to look at cars in their area for other club members. I know I have done it. The cost of a 1 way airline ticket could be substantially less that the cost of rust repair. Good luck and enjoy the hunt! Marty

Lance, Check here: http://zhome.com/ There are some good tips on what to look out for under "Buying a Z Car". I really don't know much about the price ranges for a 280Z. As they say pictures are worth a thousand words. A test drive is even better! Marty

jamrk, I went back and looked at your pictures again. Your car has the ash tray in front of the shifter, so it DOES have a Type A tranny. You said it has vertical defrosters? And I see it has the fresh air vents on the side instead of the hatch. It appears that you have one of the transition cars. Right on the edge of the change over to the new style. Dogma said: "I was wondering, I know for a fact that the stock bushings make a huge difference from the old worn out ones to just new ones (the 2 side ones and the ball part that drops into tranny)....what kind of difference is there between new stock and the performance ones you have? Any links on where to get them?" What you are describing sounds like a Type B trans. The kit that I have and what jmark showed from the Courtesy website are for the Type A trans only. I have seen sound so-called "performance bushings" for the Type B trans on Ebay, but I have not first hand knowledge of how well they work. Anybody out there use those?? Marty

What's the build date stamped into the door jam? Check Bambi's response: "Notation at the bottom of that page indicates it's for 240Z's mfg'd up to 8/71" If you have a Series II, you have a Type B tranny and this kit won't fit. Marty

Jmark, That's the one. The Type A tranny was only used on the '70 and early '71 models. When they swithed to the "Type II" series 240Z, they switched to the Type B tranny. All the 5spds are considered Type B trannies too. Dogma, the short shift kit is a different product that what we are discussing here. We are discussing a bushing only kit. I would sell you my delrin kit for $15. I would like to wait until I have the 5 spd in my hands though, if you don't mind waiting. Marty

The Nismo shift kit I am describing is only for a type A tranny. It basically replaces the rubber bushings with aluminum ones, or in the case of the knock off kit, delrin. Either one gives a very positive shift with a lot less slop. Marty

Mark, FL is pretty rough on a car. That could explain the fading. You mentioned that he is giving you the paint. Is it SEM vinyl dye. I used that to change the drivers door panel from black to blue. Couldn't find a blue one. That stuff works great. PM me with your email address and I can send you instructions on how to prep an use SEM. I put a NISMO shifter bushing kit in and it works great. Takes a lot of the slop out. The kit consists of 2 aluminum bushings and new washers. I bought a knock off kit off of eBay that uses 2 delrin bushings instead of aluminum. Haven't seen another one listed for a while. I am planning to put a 5 spd in my '71. When I do, I won't need the knock off kit. Marty

Mark, You can try wrapping the shifter threads with some plumbers teflon tape. Sometimes that is enough to tighten it up. Some of the very early cars I have seen have had a darker shift knob. My '70, blt 6/70 has a darker knob. The car looks very nice. I am partial to cars with the blue interior. It's very rare. My '70 has it as well. It is somewhat surprising that the seats would need to be replaced and the interior panels are faded on such a low mileage car. Even the paint for that matter. It must have sat outside for some of its life. With 37K, it's hardly broke in. Nice find. Marty

I used to have 16" wheels on my Z when I first got it. The rear had 225/60/16 tires on it with no rubbing problems. The front was another story. If you put anything bigger than 205's on there, it would rub the front of the fender well on full lock turns. I didn't like the look at all and dumped the wheels for some 15" Panasports. Now I have 215/60/15's on there. After a minor amount of rolling the front fender lip, I don't have any rubbing. A 50 series tire would not probably rub at all. This car is more of a cruiser, so I was was trying to save some comfort. Marty

I remember reading an article, maybe in Sport Z magazine, about a guy restoring a 240Z in the UK. Sorry I can't remember his name, but it was a green Z. The guy had done a quite extensive restoration, the car was beautiful. That is the first time I saw them. I looked around and could only find one, not so great picture of the ones I am talking about. Do you have a picture of the ones Datsun UK fitted on them. Thanks, Marty

Nice pictures of the UK Car. That brings up another thing that I have been wondering about. I have seen a few pictures of UK cars now. Did they have different rear view mirrors mounted on the doors than the US spec model? Most of the pictures I have seen show dual mirrors and they seem to have a more bullet-like or streamlined shape. I really like the look of them. Marty

I bought the MSA seat covers. My bet is that they are the same ones that Too Intense sells, since the description sounds just like what Mike W said. I visited Classic Datsun once and saw their covers in person. I could not tell the difference from on original Nissan cover. The grain is the best match I have seen out there. Marty

About $450!!!! Pana's are nice, but very pricey. I have 2 sets that I bought before you could get 15" Rewinds. Otherwise, I probably would have bought those. Marty

For the vented rotor swap, you need calipers from a 1988 V6 Forerunner and rotors from a 1984 300ZX. Get the braided steel brake hoses from MSA. They are Earl's brand, some of the best. Marty

Ok, ok. Poor choice of words, I guess. What I meant to say, is that you don't need to pay high Nissan prices, unless you are going for a 100 point show car. You certainly do need a HIGH QUALITY part in this area. IMHO Moog provides as good quality for a more reasonable price. They are beefy and have the zerk fittings. Marty

Hi Rick, Of course a genuine Nissan part is going to be expensive. Nissan parts are not critical here. I don't know what brand VB uses. You can probably get tie rods ends locally. Just don't buy cheapo units from China or Korea. I recently bought a set of Moog tie rods from Carquest for $32.83 each. I believe Spicer may also make them. These are some brands that I would trust and save a few bucks for other parts. Marty

Chris, Thanks for that clarification. Obviously in my case, that color is not as it left the factory. Its good to know that it would not keep me out of the stock class. I imagine it would be a big deduction though. And from pictures that I have seen, the competition at that level is pretty stiff. Enough to not place, I am sure. If I made it over to the Nationals, I guess I would be better off in the Daily Driver Class. It's a shame they don't judge the engine bay in that class. That is best part of my car. I have detailed it pretty well, right down to the correct CAD plating and hoses. Kats has been my inspiration there. His car and mine are the same blue on blue color combo and built fairly close together. Oh well, I am not likely to repaint it the correct color for quite some time. In the mean time it still does quite well in the local shows. Cheers, Marty

This is an interesting post. I have often wondered how the judging would go at the National Convention. I have read the rules and participated in several local shows, but never the Nationals. From what Vicky has said in the past, they sound REALLLLLLLY picky. I have often wondered how they would react to my '70. It's really pretty much bone stock. I can even put in the original radio and "D" hubcaps. The only issue it has is that the PO painted it a non-stock color. It's pretty nice, but not stock. Would that make it an automatic loser in the stock class? Are any mods allowed in stock? Here's the link to my gallery if you care to take a look: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showmembers.php?si=marty+rogan&perpage=12&sort=4&cat=500&ppuser= Thanks, Marty

Thanks for the info. Marty

Hi EZZZ, I saw your 4.11 diffs on Ebay. Are these a direct bolt in for 71 240Z? I noticed that they don't have the side flanges. How do those attach? Are they just unbolt from the stock diff and bolt onto the new one? Any other mods needed to make them work in the 240? Any idea what those puppies weigh? Thanks, Marty

Thank you Carl, You get the prize for reading what I actually said. I understand now. I might not be getting the fork and throw-out bearing collar from the 280Z. Won't know till I pick it up. So I wanted to be sure that I could use what I have. Besides, the clutch that is in there has pretty low miles on it, so why just throw it away. So, for now I will keep all the parts from the 240Z (except the trans). When that clutch wears out, I 'll swap everything over to 280Z parts. It's good to know that you can swap over to the self adjusting slave (if you have the right fork). That' just one less thing to mess with. Thanks again, Marty

But if I keep the 240 clutch pressure plate and disk, and use the longer 280 collar, that would be a mismatch of the parts. Marty

It still seems like I am getting conflicting info here. It might just be me. It's been a REALLY long day. If I read between the lines, I think what I am hearing here is: you should keep all the parts matched, clutch, throwout bearing collar, fork and slave. Either use all the parts from the 71 240Z or all of the parts from the 280Z to match the trans. Is that right??? Marty