Marty Rogan

I have a 71 that is starting to bubble up some rust in the area directly behind the rear bumper. This is the body sheet metal, not the tail light surrounds. I have never seen a Z rust in that spot before. IT must be rare, since the Victoria and MSA catalogs don't show replacemnt panels for that part. Does any one out there know of a source for that panel? Thanks, Marty

2ManyZ's So you can change those hoses without dropping the tank? I always thought you had to take out the whole thing. The large hose on the back is leaking on the new 71. Another one of those jobs that I am not looking forward to. Just got the brakes straightened out again. The left rear wheel cylinder went bad. Sure felt good to drive a Z again! Marty

MArk, I just went throught this same situation. I have a 6/70 240Z. Definitely the early ball joints are NLA from Nissan. I thought I could get away from this problem by using aftermarket Moog ball joints. Wrong! They would not fit the original knuckles either. I ended up geting some used knuckles from Z Barn. Supposedly, you can ream them out. However, I took mine to a good machine shop, and due to the tapered hole, they said they couldn't ream it out. I believe all of the knuckles from 72 - 78 were the same. Pull them off the 78 and compare them to the 240. the only difference should be the diameter of the ball joint hole. I wish I had a parts car sitting around to pull from. Marty

Mark, Thanks. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. My car is an early 71, so I believe it should be the same as yours. thanks again. Marty

Mark, Once you push down on the wheel cylinder arm, which way do you turn the knurled wheel? Toward the center of the car or away from the car? TIA, Marty

While driving my 71 yesterday, I noticed a lot of drag while not even touching the brakes. This is the car I picked up 2 weeks ago. Last night I checked it out, and the left rear wheel seems to have the brake stuck in the "on" mode. I was only able to turn the drum by placing a long bar on it to spin it. I also noticed that the parking brake was not connected to the wheel cylinder. I don't have a whole lot of brake experience yet. It' not the parking brake cable, since it's not connected. I did not notice any leaking fluid. Could it be the wheel cylinder gone bad? What would cause the brake to be stuck on like that, and what should I do about it? TIA, Marty

Victor, How much does Gas Tank Renu charge to clean and seal a tank? And does that include removal and reinstall. I was thinking of having that done to my early like the sounds of trying to drain a gas tank in my garage. Marty

I went to put the tension-compression rods back in the other day and was having one hell of a time squishing the rubber enough to get the nut back on the rod. Tried using a couple of big "C" clamps, but they kept slipping off. These are the OEM RUBBER bushings. What have you guys done to get these puppies back in? TIA, Marty

2Many, I would have loved to stop by your place on the way back. I guess I was being a little superstitious to tell anyone before I got the car, so as not to jinx the deal. That happened to me twice before. It would have been great fun to meet more of my Z buddies on the way back. I seriously wished I had more time to wander on back home. But no complaints! Carl, Thanks for pasting in the Part 2. When I wrote it up, the system said it was too long! That was the only thing I thought of at the time. Your way makes more sence though. I'll have to remember that for the next time, ...heh, heh, heh. Thanks, Marty

Glad you enjoyed the tale. I tried to convince one of my three sons to go along for the ride, but it was no sale. Too long and boring for them as a passenger. the wife has had some back and neck problems and could not sit that long in a car either. When I picked up my 70, five years ago, I took #2 son along. That was a relatively short 6 hour drive back from Cleveland. When I was talking to the owner, I was starting to get concerned that it would be too nice to race also. It was meticulously mechanically maintained, but not as much cosmetically. I totally blackened 4 buckets of water scrubbing out the inside. It has speakers in the doors and the carpets are pretty shot. He had like 6-8 dash plaques on the dash and console. The paint is fair, but will be presentable after I have buffed it out. All in all, it completely hit the target for what I was looking for. A strong running car, with as low miles as possible, and would look presentable. It has a ways to go to be a show car, but who knows, after its racing career, I car restore it and give it a new life. Thanks for the kind words. Marty

Continued from Part 1, Finally its 5:30, and the car is ready. Can't get the song "On the Road Again" out of my head. About 6:30 my stomach begins to remind me that I haven't eaten since 6:00 this morning, so I fill up the gas tank and pull into Burger King to inhale a Cheese Wopper. This is in Kinston by the way, same town I got stuck in earlier. As I walk back out to the car, I notice a 6 inch dark spot under the gas tank. On closer look I see that the upper hose on the tank is leaking. Damn! Seems to happen only when its full. So now I am thinking, they roll up the streets in this town at 5:00. There's not going to be anywhere open that could fix this thing. I only imagine what they would charge a yankee driving a Japanese car for this reapir job. I decide its not leaking that bad, and hey, its dripping behind the car. I hit the road again, up Route 70 towards Raleigh. I am thinking I will try to get to Winston-Salem, about 4 hours away and then stop for the night. Raleigh is 115 miles away, and by the time I get half way there it starts raining again. About the time I am pulling up to Raleigh, it really starts pouring again. The wipers are slow, but working pretty good. The wind shield is starting to fog up a it 'cause I had to close the window. No defrosters either, ... remember the blocked off heater core. At this point I am marveling at how bright the dash lights are. I never had a 240 with such good dash lights (this is my 3rd)!! Well, its getting a little hard to see, its raining like all get out, and I am trying to decide whether I should stop for the night or keep going to Winston-Salem. I look down again and the dash is black. Double Damn!!! I know what that means. Can you spell FUSE BOX MELT-DOWN!!! Well, I can take a hint as well as the next guy, so I pull into the Hampton Inn for the night. I take the opportunity to look at the original owners' log book. This is not to be believed!! I was expecting to see a few scribbled entries about his gas mileage and oil changes. Turns out that he kept a detailed journal on accounting paper of every fill-up, oil change, repair, state insection, tune-up, and anything that was ever done to the car from the day he bought, right down to the first fill-up at 184 mile on March 4, 1971. This journal is filled in by date, mileage, a description of repairs, place of repair and current gas mileage. All the receipts for everything are in the back of the book. This is the most complete history of a car that I have ever seen!! Turns out that he was vintage racer and he liked to take meticulous care of his cars. The journal shows oil changes every 2,000 miles or less. One was after 300 miles. I see and entry for Koni shocks. Another for front and rear compentition sway bars. Yeah baby!!! I guess I won't need to do the suspension like I thought, and that explains why it feels so planted. I also find a receipt at 68K miles for a complete trans rebuild, including gears, bearings and synchros. Wow!! Another big expense that I was expecting, already done. The journal just goes on and on like this. Its like the gift that keeps on giving! Next moring the news says they got 8" of rain and there was flash flood warnings. Good thing I took the hint. Grab a quick breakfast and hop into the Z, it fires right up. AAAHH, nothing like the smell of an old Z in the morning. Checked out the fuse box, third circuit down on the right, inner side holder is melted right out of the plastic, I put in a new fues and it still works!! That side is just kinda hanging in the air. It's 6:30 am my time when I hit the road. I decided to go through VA, West VA, Ohio, to Indiana and then on to Chicago. The Z is running great. Really strong, cruises at 80 with no sweat. The temp guage stays put at between the "M" and the "P". If I go above 80, it starts going more over to the "P". I have a long way to go, so I decide not to push it too much. Didn't really want any more surprises along the way, and waiting for a car to cool down from overheating did not sound like much fun. The route was a great choice. W and W. VA are beautiful. W. VA was the best, with lots of mountains and winding roads. At one point I see a sign that reads: "Winding Road Next 23 Miles, Slow Down 55 MPH" . I smile, pop in the ZZ Top greatest hits tape and punch the go pedal harder. What a blast! This Z just hugged the road through all those turns like it was enjoying it as much as I was. Kool. Ohio was mostly uneventful till I get Past Cleveland. It starts pouring again. REEEALLLY hard!! There are literally 100 cars pulling off the road. I've got the wipers peddaling as fast as they can. I heard once that it was safer to keep driving, rather than being a sitting duck on the side of the road, so I keep going. Turn on the lights, hope they work. Can't really tell so I put on the 4 way flashers. Just followed a pick-up truck at a bout 30 MPH. I drive out of the rain in about 5 minutes. The rest of the ride home was pretty calm. You can get Sunoco 94 octane on the Ohio Turnpike. I had not seen that in years. I put off turning on the headlights again till I absolutely had to, but it didn't blow the fuse again. I drove over 900 miles that day, in 14 hours. Funny thing is, the Z seats were really comfortable, till about hour 13. I really didn't feel fatigued the whole day. I don't know if it is a testimony to the Z seat design, or I was just pumped to be living out a long-time dream of driving cross country in an old Z. You get a lot of time to think on a journey like this. Toward the end, I am thinking this would be a cool Mastercard commercial. "Gasoline ... $74.85 on Mastercard. Sooner than expected hotel stay ... $87.50 on Mastercard. Driving 1,056 miles cross country in a classic 240Z through the mountains ... PRICELESS. Later, Marty

Seems like a slow news day today, so I thought I might share my latest Z story: Last June I did a drivers school at Blackhawk Farms Raceway, and was hooked. However during a practice session, I blew a brake line going into turn #7, which made things a little hairy. That day someone put their Supra Turbo into a guard rail, and shortly after that a guy from our club put his 300Zx into a rail. These things combined with the fact that I had some bucks tied up in my 70 (show car), I decided that I needed another 240 for the track. So I have been looking since last June, and in earnest since May of this year (when I sold the wife on the concept). Sold maybe a strong word, let's just say she's tollerating it. A couple of weeks ago, I put out a post for help to check out a car in northeastern NC. Well, apparently, this is God's country and the nearest Club member is 3 hours away. A big thanks to Jim, Tony and Jim, who offered to drive up to 3 hours one way to check it out for me. That seemed like alot to ask of someone, so I had Eastern Carolina Nissan check it out for me. Also a big thanks to Wayne, Gary, Bryan and others who have looked into several other cars for me across the country. This spirit to help each other out is what makes this club great. And a really big thank you to Carl Beck who checked out a car in Tampa and helped me avoid near disaster on that car. Anyway, the Dealer does not find anything really huge wrong with the car. The choke cables aren't hooked up, the heater core is by-passed (needs replacing), left rear brake cable not hooked up, fuel pump is on the way out, and they say it needs the rt rear axle replaced (later found out its just a u-joint). Had them do a compression test too. The high cylinder was 162 and the low was 154. Yeah baby!!! The rest of the car checks out good. This is '71, a one-owner, one driver car with 73K original miles, with just some surface rust behind the rear bumper. It is being sold by his daughter and husband who is a Marine Captain being shipped out to Quate any day now. I asked if he could prove the mileage. Said, sure, the father-in kept a log of all his fill-ups and oil changes (more on this later). Well after a little back and forth, he agress to fix the axle and we strike a deal. To seal the deal I had to interview with the wife to assure her that I will take good care of the car. Sent him a deposit via FedEx, the next day. I order a fuel pump and make some reservations. Turns out Podunk NC is not easy to get to. A flight from Charlotte to Podunk costs $364, ONE WAY, no matter how far in advance you book it. No sale there. I cash in some frequent flyer miles to Raleigh, NC and book a reservation on Greyhound for $25. That's more like it! So Friday, I get up at 4 am, and hit the airport. Land in Raleigh, catch a cab to the Greyhound Station, to catch the hound to Podunk. So far so good. So I am on the hound for my 2 1/2 hour journey through God's country. This thing makes several stops. We stopped in a little town called Kinston for over an hour, waiting on another hound, so that some passengers can transfer on. Once we get going again, I can't stop thinking about that old movie, "Trains, Planes and Automobiles". Called the owner on the cell phone, telling him that I will be delayed. So finally the hound rolls into Podunk 4 hours after my 2 1/2 hour ride started, its pouring like you wouldn't believe. The bus station is locked, so I stand out in the rain waiting for the owner to pick me up. The Captain, Trent who is a really nice guy, picks me up in his Audi TT. Never seen one up close. Neat little car. So we head to Eastern Carolina Nissan to pick up the car. I go check it out while he pays the bill. It looks pretty nice, a little bit sun-faded like he said, but not bad at all. It has a couple of other minor spots of surface rust that I had not counted on, but again, not bad. The Service Manager walks out and hands me the keys. I jump in and it fires right up, with no choke at all (remember its's not connected). It emits a roar from the Ansa exhaust. SAAweeet!!! I follow him down this long windy road to his house, where I'll perform surgery on the fuel pump. Hey this thing shifts reaaaalllly nice! Thought I would need to rebuild the synchros at a minimum. Runs really strong and stops great. The car feels really planted on the windy road. I've got a huge grin on my face at this point. The fuel pump goes in like a breeze. But you know, it just couldn't be that easy. The fuel inlet is narrower on the new pump than the old one and I can't get the hose clamp tight enough. Neither Trent or any of the neighors have a hose clamp. We hop back into the TT and drive for a clamp. But, this is Podunk, and nothing is close by. We burn up more than an hour getting the clamp. See Part 2, Marty 70 240Z 71 240Z Had the car 5 days and love it already!

I believe the Kirk people said the harness bar extended 2" behind the main bar to allow for seat travel. Their DOM bar was 1 3/4" also. Good info on the height of the horizontal bar! I am new to this and need all the help I can get. After I sort out the bar, then I need to look into helments and harnesses. What fun! Marty

Rick, Thanks for the info, it was very helpful. I also called the MSA Tech line. Here's what I have so far: MSA: SCCA Bar, by Autopower. HAs diagonal brace and shoulder harness bar. Mounts to the floor and to the wheel wells, with all mounting hardware. 1 3/4" diam., .120 thickness In stock for $269.95 I/O Port: 4 Pt by Autopower, which mounts to the wheel wells, with diagonal brace and hardware $269.95. Shoulder harness bar, otional at $54.95 2-3 weeks to get it. Kirk Racing: SCCA "ERW" Bar 1 3/4"diam., .120 thick. with diagonal bar and harness bar. Harness bar is made from the same tubing material and stretches the full width of the car. Mounts to the floor and wheel wells. $285 Same thing with "DOM" tubing $315. Takes 3 weeks for delivery. So far MSA has the best price and quickest delivery. Marty

Hi Rick, The one they show and list in the catalog is a "street bar". without the diagonal brace or harness attachment. They also mention SCCA bars available, but they don't show any pictures or give any info as to what that means, or price for that matter. Do you know who manfactures their bars? TIA, Marty

When I was in CA last year, I visited Les at Classic Datsun Motorsports. He showed me a body shell of one of the earliest roadsters that he was restoring for Nissan. I can't recall which model. If your friend doesn't want to do anything with the car, maybe Les could use some of the parts. Marty

I am looking for good roll bar to use for autocross. I wan the kind that mounts to the wheel wells behind the seats. Must have a diagonal brace and harness attachments. TIA, Marty

Jeff, Do yourself a HUGE favor and buy the spindle pin tool here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=6901 Darrel is real nice guy too. I have heard horror stories of guys spending an entire day to get 1 pin out. I used this tool a couple of weeks ago. It took 15 minutes for the first one and 10 minutes for the second pin. But make sure that you have the spindle pin lock bolt removed from the center of the pin, before you try to remove it. Good Luck, Marty

Felpro make a very good head gasket, and gaskets for the rest of the engine for that matter, that are every bit as good as Nissan's, at a lower price. I would use the Felpro. It has a self sealing compound in it, so you don't need to add any type of sealant. Good luck, Marty

Hi Gary, I am in the market for a very clean 240 right now. I would like the number if its not too much trouble for your son-in-law to stop by again. I want to stay more in the $5-5,500 range, but who knows, he might come down for a serious buyer. I would call him first, and if it sounds worth pursuing, i might ask you to take a look for me. Thanks, Marty PS, you can contact me directly if you want at marty.rogan@motorola.com

Well thanks any way. Anybody know if there is a Z Shop in that area? I may have to get a Nissan Dealer to check it out. Marty

Daniel, The guy said he was located in Eastern NC, (near Moorehead City?) about 1 1/2 hours East of Raleigh. He is stationed at a Marine Base there, didn't catch the name of it. I can only go by what he told me. I can get more info though. Does that sound anywhere near you? Marty

Daniel, So this this is just trial and error anyway? There is no way to get it accurate, BEFORE you put it in and fill it up? Marty

Kroil is some really amazing penetrating oil. It is about 100 times better than WD-40. I have removed rusty manifold bolds easily with this stuff. So how do you go about adjusting the sender unit? It has been broke, so I don't know how much gas is in there. I know it is not alot, since I was keeping an eye on how many miles I had driven. Marty

While I've go the entire suspension out, I am replacing the fuel sending unit that stopped working. They wires were corroded and one broke off while trying to remove it. Strange way they had that attached! The other wire just appeared to be soldered on. Anyway, everything is rusty and crusty down there. Soked it with Kroil, but the reatining ring does not want to turn. It does seem pretty thin. Do you see any problem with just bending it under the tabs to remove it? I have all brand new parts anyway. TIA, Marty