usafdarkhorse

Thanks Tom! I need to get the engine bay looking as good as yours does! Thanks for the kind words! I've stowed the D hubcaps and the steel wheels in the garage, and I've got a set of ARE Libres, but the '72 is currently sitting on those. I thought about getting a set of wheels from here in Japan that would be fitting, but I think I'll keep the American looking 5 slot mags on the white car since I like the way it looks with them. The '72 will be my mod car and needs a mountain of work before these finally go on.

The last weekend I was in the US in May 2015, I got the GoPro out and did a quick drive through some back roads near my home in Tennessee. Turned out pretty well. Watch in HD! This is pretty much my only outlet to enjoy the car since I'm 8,000 miles away from it, so I appreciate when my brother takes it out on drives, shoots a few cell pics, and sends them my way. Here's a few he took yesterday (7 Jul 2015) while near the Sunsphere at World's Fair Park in Knoxville. I do miss driving it, but I don't feel too terribly bad since I finally ended the 6 year no-NSX drought, so I've got that to tool around with in Japan until I come back for good.

Tooled around in it for a bit before a gunked up gas tank sent rust up through the mechanical pump to the carbs on a local drive, so that took a bit to sort out. Before: After: That November, I left for Japan and I've been coming back about twice a year for a week at a time every year. While being gone, my brother Jonathan had been taking it to a meet or two. I went back to the US for training for about 5 weeks starting later April and was close enough to drive home every weekend and mess with both 240Zs for a bit. Hung the Twice Pipes up a little better Got the two of them together

Wow, 3 years and no update. Thanks for the info Mike B. So, a ton of updates all at once. I went to go pick the car up in Ohio back in May of 2012 shortly after posting those first pics. Most of the links died in the previous posts, so here they are again. Ownership! Got a UHaul trailer and towed it back to Wright Pat AFB for the night. The next day, while we were there, we decided to go to the National Museum of the US Air Force, my parents' first time visiting, my second time. Spent 4 hours there and saw probably 60% of what was there. Then we saddled up and started the drive back to TN. Overkill? Back at home.

I remember taking a look at this car awhile ago and wondered where it went to after leaving craigslist. I was going to buy it for a restomod project and ditch the auto, but it looked pretty bad through the hatch area.

And that's why this forum is awesome. Someone's bound to know the answer...although I can't seem to get to your link there^^^

Ya know, I don't really know. There's evidence of repaint, at least in the engine bay, as one member here pointed out but I was hoping to meet up with #797 here in Knoxville to compare them side by side to see what was different because I know his has been restored. If it has, it must have been awhile ago because all the stickers/plates look pretty worn Can any members here confirm that?

Found out first hand how sparingly the last owner drove the car and how inaccurate the gas gauge can be. Ran the tank nearly dry on my second drive out and sucked some gunk up into the fuel line. I guess 1/2 tank means "fumes". Have to drop the tank, clean it out, and blow out the lines. Had to go back to Arkansas and left the car with a local Porsche shop. While it was sitting there, the owner's son took a number of photos of the car:

Wow, long time no update. Thanks for the advice! Someone always has a unique take and good advice to offer when it comes to experience with Japan and Yokota in general. The year cutoff is April 1976. Prior to this date, cars should not need to meet Japanese emissions requirements (Cat A vehicles) but will still need to meet JCI. TMO doesn't want to ship a car to Japan that the owner will get in wayyyy over their head with legalization costs by being newer than April 1976. They tell you that you cannot ship a newer car there, but you can. It has to be waivered, but you probably already know that it costs $3-5K to legalize a newer car. I looked at bringing over a 1976 Porsche 911 before this Z, but Porsches don't have a month of manufacture on them, so I would have had to get a letter of authenticity from Porsche AG which I didn't feel like doing.....that and 1975 and 1976 911s are known to be basket cases... So about a month and a half ago, I took some leave and went up to Ohio to pick the car up and bring it back. After loading it up and looking back at it about once every 5 minutes all the way home, I figured out that there was no way I could ship this car to Japan just to sell it. I wanted it. Here's how I found it, phone pics sorry: It's mine!: Towing it back: Back home: I was thinking all the way up to Ohio that I was going to bring it home and prep it for the trip to Japan, but I couldn't do it. I figured out before I even got it home that there was no way I was going to tear into the taillights, speedo, whatever else it would take to legalize it, much less put it through the long boat trip over there. So now I'm leaving it at home to wait for a few years before I can enjoy it, which is OK. I really wanted this car anyway. It needs some bushing help, especially up front, and one of the door panels needs a little upholstery work, but it's all there. Last weekend I pulled the black carpet out that runs along the transmission tunnel and over the rear struts and the blue vinyl was just sitting underneath looking as good as ever. Literally EVERYTHING works on this car electrically and the switches feel like they've just been rebuilt, but I have to keep telling myself that it's better than rebuilt even. That's the way it was supposed to feel from the factory. Very happy to have this car and I don't think I will plan on selling it unless something dire happens. Thanks for reading my story.

Yeah I think I've got to do that before it goes to the VPC, but I'm not completely sure on that (just heard). Maybe it's old enough that it won't need that anymore, but I'm preparing for the worst. I'll be moving to Yokota in November. How was it? There's a servicemember from Yokota on japanesenostalgiccar that has a popular thread recounting the story of him picking up a '72 Skyline. Seems like it's going to be an unbelievable experience. Thank ya sir. I'll be careful with her. Possibly. The most likely place would be the Knoxville Cars and Coffee at EAG that occurs every other month or so (I think the next one is in July). I'm going to pick up the car next weekend. In reference to the carpet covering some stuff as mentioned above, the blue vinyl is still intact on the strut towers and transmission tunnel. It's just carpet over top.

I believe we met (I was lusting after your green 72). About a year ago, I had a silver 75 that was highly modified. I was at the very first C&C back in 2008 with the NSX and every one after that until I sold it in 2009, so maybe you saw it. I also had a buddy with a black 92 NSX that was its spitting image, just black interior, and he still goes to C&C with the car. I'm from out in Lenoir City, but I've since moved to TX with the military, about to move to AR for training, and then Japan, so you may not see much of me at all! Hopefully I'll be able to swing by one last C&C with this Z.

Yeah maybe jumped the gun on the "nicest Z in all of creation", but you all for sure have more trained eyes than I! If it were an NSX, I could spot it a mile away. Interesting though that she didn't mention any of that. Maybe the car's caretaker took it upon himself to do some of it because they seem a bit old to lie to me haha. You can see the blue diamond vinyl peaking out at the transmission tunnel. Haven't looked at the other places, but I'm crossing my fingers. Eagle eyes! Appreciate the kind words all. Original or not, patched up or not, she's a beaut. I'm excited.

Thank ya sir. An adventure it will be. I've heard of guys bringing 280Zs over, not even having registered the car yet, and getting offers upwards of $10K. I think it would be a shame just to bring it to sell, so I'll mull on it for awhile and drive it when I can (when it's feasible because having a car in Japan is a hassle really). It just blows my mind for someone to have owned a car since brand new for this long. I almost feel like I have a duty of sorts to see this thing well-preserved. Daunting. If I thought I was paranoid with my NSX, I'm going to be freakish with this thing. Here's my photobucket album: http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad316/usafdarkhorse/1970%20240Z/ I'll post some good ones from there at the bottom. PM'd you about the price and rubber vs. urethane question. I used to work at a tint shop with very good results on my last 280Z above when I very lightly tinted the windshield, sides, and hatch glass for UV protection. Couldn't even tell it was tinted, but it does block 99% of the UV. Coming up. Also posted my photobucket above. That's what I keep hearing. Too nice to do anything but put some wheels and tires on her and drive! Floor carpet. The only carpet that is NOT original is the rear deck carpet (being under the hatch glass). Looks brand new! Light tear in the panel Some of the underneath I was talking about Can you believe this is an OHIO CAR? Engine bay. Worn braiding. Battery tray Not a repaint!

Hi all, I'm mostly a lurker on here, but I thought I'd share with you all. I've owned a few Zs, my last being this 1975 with L28ET and MS2 that I sold in July of last year. Miss that car, but couldn't stand to let it sit out in rainy weather and rust after I moved down here in Corpus Christi. This past December, I found out that I was moving to Japan this coming November, so my NSX aspirations were put on hold after I had found the most perfect 1992 Comptech supercharged black on ivory NSX up in New Hampshire (telling that guy I couldn't buy his car almost literally hurt) . My last NSX for kicks: Miss that car dearly as well, more than the Z. I've been in a sportscar void for about a year now after getting sensible and buying a decent 2002 Accord to DD back and forth to base. Thought about getting an S2000 to have fun before I left for Japan. Then people started putting this crazy idea in my head about shipping an old car to Japan, to drive and possibly sell, because the Japanese go nuts for anything they can't have, just like us (a la Skyline). So I've been casually looking through old Datsun Z and Porsche 911 classifieds. Came close on one 911 down in Georgia, but the owner couldn't get me the info I needed (apparently older Porsches before the 1980's VINs did not have a month of manufacture stamped on the body...very important for Japan). Ended up stumbling across an ad in Ohio for a 240Z advertised as "one owner". I inquired. What I found was probably the most perfect, original 240Z in the United States. This lady bought the car brand new in 1970 having just come off the boat. After some time, she drove the car less and less and let a good family friend take care of the car for her, the person I originally contacted. It has 59K original miles, and the rust-problem was widespread enough by this time (July 1970) that the dealer took the car to a local shop to completely rust proof the bottom as brand new, and it looks like it. This car is so perfect, I'm starting to have trouble thinking about possibly taking it to Japan, but I know that it would probably survive better there than here. It may just need to go to a museum. I present to you 1970 Datsun 240Z Series 1 #7356, white on blue interior. Floorpan. The only drawbacks I see is that the car shows some evidence of sitting. The bottom has some surface rust on the suspension components as well as some dry rotted bushings. It was just not driven all that often (maybe once a month). Doing all the fluids and replacing the bushings with urethane. Then I'm getting in contact with a government vehicle processing center to prepare for the move to Japan. I'm going to need the amber turn signals lenses for the rear and the speedo changed to KPH, but it's gonna be well worth it. Alot of people think shipping an old car to Japan is a PITA. It'll cost me about $1K to register it there, but I think just being able to say you drove an old Z, left hand drive 240Z at that, in Japan is priceless. It really is. More updates to come. Thanks for reading my diatribe.

How ironic. I'm from Knoxville, TN, and just bought a white on blue interior 1970 240Z. I got on here just to see who else had a car with the same color combination. She's # 7356, 7/70.

Hi all, Sorry if this in the wrong forum! I'm mostly a lurker. I've owned my 75 Z for about a year and a half now. I bought it from a prominent member on another forum and have really enjoyed the car 100% for the 30% of the time it has ran (which has actually been the majority of the last 6 months after the previous R200 gave up the ghost). I've been riding around on regular collision and comprehensive insurance for the car, insured by USAA, but I am a little wary that if something were to happen to the car that I wouldn't get the full value of what at least I would think she's worth (sounds like the beginning of a fraud! haha ) So I've been looking into an agreed value sort of insurance policy. USAA doesn't offer it, but they partner with another company that does (and their name I can't remember for the life of me). So the question is, what should I be looking at as far as an agreed insurance value? Here's some car specifics: -1975 280Z, 2/75. Originally sold in Chicago I believe and once bronze in color (not sure of the color code). -Spent over a year getting stripped, rust proofed, and painted silver. OK paint job. Only rust I can find is two pea sized holes where the driver's side frame rail meets the wheel well, and a few little holes in the passenger frame rail. -Car has ~95,000 actual miles on the chassis. -'82 L28ET completely torn apart, knived crank, 5 angle head, nismo pistons, 2mm HG, ARP studs, Garrett T3/T4 Hybrid, GReddy FMIC, TiAl 38mm wastegate and 50mm vent valve, 2.5" downpipe with 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust, JSK rail with 440cc Supras, Aeromotive FPR, Walbro 255, sumped OEM tank, ZX oil cooler,running on MSII w/ EDIS spark, Innovate LC-1 wideband, and manifold pressure controlled by GReddy PRofec B Spec II . Less than 15,000 miles. -'83 BW T5, rebuilt when engine was rebuilt, Pro5.0 billet shifter. Extremely lightened and machined OEM flywheel, ceramic clutch -Custom driveshaft, R200 3.54 differential, solid mount, polyurethane bushings -Sectioned strut housings with my spec'd strut and spring combo which feels excellent to me , heim-jointed control arms, Carrera CC plates, can't remember much on the brakes anymore but I believe 13" rotors with Cobra PBR calipers. -5 lug swap (part machine work, part 300ZX guts), ARP wheels studs, Aero race wheels, junky tires ha Really need new wheels for proper rubber. -Decent seats with RCi harnesses, full autometer cluster, Grant GT wheel, PERFECT headliner and interior panels, dashcap. Dyno'd once, 303rwhp at 10psi. Consistently runs at 10psi and 16psi, tuned to 21psi (only because MS MAP sensor pegs at 21psi! ). Looking at maybe their newer 4bar sensor. Impressively runs like a top, could idle at 250rpm. More importantly, I've made sure just about everything in this car works like OEM. Every modification the previous owner did pretty much runs along the same routings wiring-wise as the old system, and the car is very simple. There's an engine, a turbo, and a gas pedal. I've always had turn signal issues with my old cars and I was determined to fix it, so I did on this car. Completely turn-key. The only things that don't work right now are the horn (I think I bumped a connection because it DID work) and the oil temperature gauge is dead (fixing that). Shew! That was pretty longwinded. All to say I know she's not a 240Z, nor original, and the added value perceived by modifications in reality probably has no bearing at all, but what should I insure her for? If I overestimate, I'm losing money on premiums. Car was always garaged in Tennessee, and kept under cover ( and car cover ) here in Texas. I know some places will only insure agreed value if the car is garaged. At any rate, at least I'll get an idea of where she stands. Give a restomod some love? Thanks in advance! Jared PS. BTW I abhor the front end and have been planning on retrofitting it to the 240Z w/ Type 1 airdam for awhile now. Just acquired a nice set of OEM black Fairlady Z fender mirrors to bring it all together.

Looks nice. Interesting back story to go with it. They misquoted the type of front airdam though. It's not a BRE spook.

What's the modification? Are you talking about the G nose or the wire wheels? Or just all of the above as a kit? ( As in "240Z w/ Mr. K's Selection package" )

Ironically, my right rear bulb blinks! I've read a few threads here where if a bulb is out on one side, the bulb that is not blown stays lit constantly. When the hazards flash, the front right doesn't blink then either. An another forum, some mentioned that the turn signal wires lead to a box just behind the glove box. Any idea? Would love to finally tackle this issue. I've got an intercooler in the way blocking my view of where the wire harness goes.

I've had my 75 Z for 6 months now and the entire time I've not had turn signals ( like my 76 Z before ) and it KILLED ME. So this weekend I decided to tackle the issue. Here were my symptoms before: All hazards except front right blink, no turn signals at all. Every parking light is lit. I ended up taking apart the hazard switch and cleaning it, purchasing a newer generic flasher relay, and taking apart the turn signal switch and cleaning it. I followed a few helpful threads here and got some good advice toward the likely candidates that might be causing my problems. Afterward, my symptoms were these: All hazards except front right blink, all turn signals except front right blink. Every parking light is lit. Seeing a connection here? Anyway, everything is MUCH better now, but I still cannot manage to get my right blinker to flash. I didn't think the bulb was bad, but I changed it out anyway ( no telling how old it was ) and it was still a no-go. Keep in mind that my front right PARKING light is fine, but the actual FLASHING is not. It will go out when I turn on the hazard switch. Anyone have any idea about how I can negotiate a legal right hand turn? Locations of grounds and important items through the circuit would be immensely helpful. Thanks in advance!

Pulled the filter and found a few bits of crud in there. It's a 100 micron filter so it mattered quite a bit. Fuel pressure's rock solid and when clamping off the return line, the fuel pressure pegs the gauge and I have to turn it off before it breaks. Sounds good to me haha.

^^^^^^ FUEL pressure^^^^^^ ( oops! ) Hi all! I know this is a forum with purist intentions, but I have a highly modified Z car with a problem that could plague any car, purist or not. Alright, so I've posted a thread or two before about the problems I had been having with my '75 Z. So about 5 months later, I've come full circle having fixed alot of nagging problems, and I've got one left to solve. My Z has an L28ET from an '82 and runs MSII, and somehow between reflashing the firmware or my alternator troubles, the tune was either corrupted or lost. So after getting retuned ( MS thought my car was running a V8....it is not ha ), the car runs beautifully. Idles as smooth as can be after the warmup enrichments. However, after taking her for a few test drives, I've still got a naggy problem of shaky fuel pressure at idle and losing fuel pressure while under boost. The specifics of the fuel system is I've got the OEM fuel tank with a welded in sump, feeding a Walbro 255LPH, to an Aeromotive FPR, to an aftermarket fuel rail, through a 100 micron filter, and then back to the tank again. Tests performed: -Blocked off sensing manifold pressure to the FPR; no difference: not vacuum problem. -13.8V to the relay board and 13.2V after the fuel pressure relay (voltage drop due to resistance?) Fuse gets very hot, and new fuse made no difference ( as well as getting hot too ). -Get anywhere between 12.4V to the potential 13.2V I see at the relay board at the pump positive. Oddly enough, very little resistance along wire from relay to pump. -Connected pump straight to battery positive momentarily; no difference. -New ground straight from pump to battery ( sometimes shows some resistance, sometimes none...oddly shows voltage at times ). No difference. -Turned pump on without engine. Pressure peaks to 50psi as normal ( for my car ), but slowly loses pressure ( I monitored to about 35psi and it was still dropping ). The higher resolution gauge on the fuel rail bumps around ever so gently, even while the engine is off. Points toward mechanical problem. The pump is a few months old with less than 100 miles on it. The tank has run very low before while testing the car. The fuel tank has been coated in a sealer that very well may peel off despite its claims to be perfect for fuel tanks. The previous owner suspected he might have some blockage before he sold me the car, so he dropped the entire fuel system and blew it out. Eveything was clean. Again, the car runs great while not in boost ( even runs great while in boost, just loses pressure ) and the shaky fuel pressure at idle doesn't seem to affect it that much. It's just that it drops from about 40psi to 30psi or lower while under boost and should increase. Should I be looking to drop the tank and system again? Fuel pump the culprit? FPR? Should I look somewhere else? Sorry for the huge post! Thanks in advance!

So, after addressing my charging issue, I'm moving on to my fuel pressure. I'm running a Walbro 255 inline pump that's on a Megasquirt relay with about 10ft of wire in between. Should be a pretty simple system. With 12.5V across the battery at idle (14.1 @ 2000RPM), I'm getting 11V at the pump. So I wired in a hotwire from the positive battery terminal straight to the pump and got around 12.1V at idle, which is obviously better, but really weird considering I've got a direct connection from the battery to the accessory, so it should be the battery potential (12.5V). So I decided to take grounding out of the equation by wiring another wire from the negative on the battery terminal to the negative side of the pump. Still got 12.1V. My fuel pressure evens out at 39psi, and then bounces around from 39 to 37 for about 2 seconds, then evens out again. It's really weird. Should be rock solid at 40. Any ideas? Glaring obvious fixes? The tank was dropped and lines were blown out about 2 months ago when this started happening. Everything was clean. Has an Aeromotive FPR, 100 micron filter. JSK fuel rail, and running 440cc injectors. Lines run and return the same as a stock Z, just beefier lines.

YES! So I got a new battery, free since it was less than 2 years since it was bought. I found the firewall ground, but mysteriously one wire went down to my MS relay box and the other went in an enormous cable that was cut at the end. Oh well, decided to clean it up anyway. After fixing the battery terminals and cables, cleaning the firewall ground, and chucking in a new battery, I now get about 14.1V around 2000RPM. I ran her for about 5 minutes and went and checked the battery potential again. Hadn't changed so I was thrilled. Took her down the driveway to go down the road and back and my gauge lights go out before I even hit the road! Looks like I messed with one too many grounds... :mad: Anyone have the location for the gauge lights ground? :stupid:

OK, so today I made sure it wasn't my battery terminals by cutting off the cables just before the terminal ( they were one piece ) and putting fresh cable into new terminals. The negative side looked a little corroded so I had big hopes. Had the battery charged up to 12.8V and chucked it into the car to try it out. Started it up. Had really good fuel pressure. Idle bobbed around from 750RPM down to 500RPM. After 10 SECONDS, the car shuts off. I turn the key to start her back up ( standard procedure with the car by now ) and *CLICK*. Nothing. Check the voltage across the battery. It's 12.25V. Pulled it out of the car and set it on the floor. Between yanking it out of the car, setting it on the floor, and grabbing my multimeter again, the potential had dropped to 12.05V, in about a 10 second span. An hour later I check it and it reads 11.6V. Time for a new battery? :stupid: