Oiluj

MSA sells a set that's got the curved corners that mount without drilling holes. I have a set I'm not using. Found the original larger curved types that required rilling that I like better. Remember, holes can be filled and painted over...

Just got back from a vacation to "The Big Easy" with my bride of 25 years... Looked around but saw no Z's, of any kind! Did see a nice looking race-prepped Ferarri 355 parked in the French Quarter during the Jazz Fest. Shoulda asked the question *before* leaving California, but will ask before I travel anywhere else... Going to SoCal (San Diego area ) on business in the next week or so, but it's just a quick overnite gig, so it's unlikely I can meet-up with anyone.

Looks pretty darn nice to me! Will have to see if I can see one in-person...

Late entry, but I prefer the look of the BRE spook w/ ducts best. Functional and pretty. Even more functional without the air ducts. Most air dams are too "ricer" looking to my tastes, but the less dramatic looking ones are OK. Just my 2 cents...

Where did you get the speed bleeders? Do you have manufacturer & part number?

If I could afford it... A 246 Dino, Lambo Muiria or a GT40 replica. Still out of my price range, but within reach: a Sunbeam Tiger or Cobra replica... Within actual price range... - really liked my 1960 MGA. Also like TR6's, older Alfa's and late 90's RX7's. I also agree with Johhny Rock on the Volvo P1800 Wagon's that they great looking cars.

FWIW, on my previous Z, I added thin, soft neoprene strip to the outer contact surfaces and center. Was not obvious and completely eliminated the rattle.

So what wasa the outcome? Did the car look OK?

It's a very reasonable post. I for one am interested to see how many fall into the "it's got to be 100% original category... They are building concours cars for show, and then there are some just want originality. On the flip side, I think most of us just want nice drivers and there are those who significantly modify their cars. I fall into the third group. For the latter two groups, repo parts are often a good choice.

Looks pretty good from the pics, with exception of the poorly fitted after-market driver's seat cover. Problem is pics don't show the defects well. However, if it's really rust free, looks to me like a solid car to drive or refresh. You are close enough that it's only a 4-5 hour drive or a 1-1/2 hour flight. If it were me, I'd go take a look at it this weekend.

Got my dealer after-market style, bolt-on louvers for $20 on Craig's List. Was looking at other options and even bought the MSA ones that mount under the window seal. Think I like the bolt-on version better, but will "test-fit" without mounting both before making a choice.

Repo parts are the only way I can reasonably afford my rest-mod. As it is, it's still costing me more than planned.

I'm 55 going on 25... Every morning I look in the mirror and ask myself, "who's the old guy in the mirror?". I bought my 1st 240, a 1973 in January of 1980. Drove it for 8-1/2 years. Sold it when I took an after work / weekend Masters program. Bought a 1971 240 needing restoration in 1987. Had it for about 6? years till it was hit while parked and totalled. Bought my current 1972 240 in December of 2007. It's just a few months from completion if ll goes well...

I can take a peek at it this weekend, if the timing works for you. PM me tomorrow.

This is one tough crowd! *grin* Guess I'll have to come up with a serious topic like vintage air fresheners... BTW, I used to use one of those little green liquid bottle air freshener in my first 240.

Haven't worked on the car for a while... She sits safe & snug in the garage for now. Most of January I've been busy with family and for the last 1-1/2 weeks have been working long days and weekends as we are launching a new product. I expect to be too busy to work on the car for a few weeks more... Hopefully I'll have time to work on her again soon.

My take on it is to do what you want and not think of it as an "investment". Personally, I like the idea of keeping it original with only "bolt-on" upgrades, but if you want a better suspension, more power, etc, then do it. After all, it's YOUR car...

Why not go to TAP Plastics and look in the cut-off bin for some 3/4" plexi.

My OEM antenna for my late 72' has two leads and a ground strap. One lead is power for "up" and the other for "down".

My OEM antenna didn't work so this weekend I completely dis-assembled it, cleaned-up all the corrosion and "muck" on the inside and installed a new OEM antenna mast, (provided by the PO). Installing the new antenna mast was not difficult, but the interior of the mechanism was filled with a mixture of dried-up grease & dirt. Also, the aluminum channel the nylon antenna rod runs in was very heavily corroded. Inside the motor case I cleaned-up using electrical contact cleaner, paper towels and Q-tips. Once cleaned-up, lubricated and re-assembled, it now operates smoothly. Now I just need to decide if I'm going to use it or go with a more modern, "automatc" antenna...

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The economic argument Steve makes is valid. That's why we are still driving 11 & 12 year old cars. My wife's 96' SC 300 has decent performance and gets 23 mpg. In fact, I just had the uhpolstery redone on the wife's car since we plan to keep it for several more years, at the very least. My 97' ES 300 gets about 24.5 mpg. Add to that that my commute is about 5 miles, it's not worth the expense of replacing perfectly good vehicles.

Very Nice!

To some extent, I agree with zhead240, but one has to evaluate both sides of the equation... 1) Power plants are typically are more efficient than the family car when it comes to converting hydrocarbons to usable energy. This is especially true, if as pointed out by Carl, you have nuclear powered plants. That's why electric cars can make the valid claim of operating at and equivilent cost of 100 mpg compared to gasoline powered vehicles. That's still twice as effficient as a Prius. 2) I don't have any data to back this up, but my guess is that the environmental impact of the additional batteries is probably no worse, (and probably less), than the emmisons caused by all those 100,000,000 vehicles inefficiently burning gas and diesel every day. I'm not tring to trivialize the battery recycling / disposal problem, but you need to also consider the positives, not just the negatives. 3) What I'd really like to see is more hydrogen fuel cell research. I was involved in a small, catalytic hydrogen generator company at one time and it looks like a promising approach. We actually had a fuel cell powered demo car. All that exits the tailpipe is water vapor. Of course, that requires energy, be it chemical or electric to release the hydrogen from water, or a safe means to store hydrogen. To make electric or hydrogen powered cars viable, you need the infastructure. I think that's really the biggest hurdle to overcome. Vehicle cost will come down to be comparable to fossil fuel powered vehicles as consumer demand, (and sales), increase. Till then, as long as it's just a novelty market, electric cars such as the Tesla or Karma will remain a rich men's toys. Just my 2 cents. The soap box is now open...

Saw a Tesla "up-close" last weekend and got a quick tour of the car byt the owner who saw me checking it out. Looks like good build quality and designed for a specific purpose. Not to mention those things are d**m quick! Short range will be addressed as the technology and infastructure catches-up. In cold parts of the country, some parking lots already have 100VAC plugs for engine heaters at each stall. The cost of fossil fuels will only go up. In 10 years I expect an electric compact car will be in the same cost index as a standard gas powered vehicle. I also expect that more effiecient hydro-carbon hybrid vehicles will be competing as well.