stevef1972z

Thanks Gary. I know there is at least a rebuild in the future, no matter how bullet proof these engines are, the miles will catch up to it one day. Not sure if it will be a rebuild or a swap, but thanks for the brain candy to get my plans working. I dont want to do much to the car until I have a solid end plan in place. Thats the one thing I have learned over the years, plan it and build it. The extra step saves a lot of time money and heartache! Springs and struts are in the future they have to be sagging after 36 years.

Thanks Arne thats a great list to start with and I agree with the "period correct". That is just the thing I am looking to do. I love my 70s turbine wheels and they cleaned up nice. I just won a new in box Jensen AM/FM Cassete player from the mid 70s for a big $10 w/ shipping from Ebay. Glad you pointed out the worn out dizzy, seens a shame to put a Pertonix in there with all those miles it has to be worn out and that would be a waste of money. Thanks for saving me the bucks there! Got me thinking now!

So here is the story. I have the parts ordered to fix the floors and will get the needed parts fixed. The car will be road worthy again in a week or two. I am looking for a fun drive to work on nice days car, that will turn heads and be a turn key classic. Might take it out to run the cones a few times but nothing serious. Basically drive, look cool and have fun car. Stock exterior and keep most of the basic systems intact but make things easier, reduce matenance etc. Its a numbers matching car, and I am third owner. Nearing 170,000 miles. Nearly everything is factory or replaced with Autozone type parts so showroom concours is not in the future. It came with a Weber DVG conversion on it that works fine and will not be swapped back until the throttle shafts wear out. There is some valve seat blowby but with the miles that is expected and the orginal radiator is full of deposits and is prone to heating up on St Louis 95 degree days. Other than that its all there. So what did you do for your 240 to make it more user friendly? What are the upgrades that were the best bang for the buck? Ignition upgrades? Electrical? Interior? Suspension? What did you do that you didnt like? What didnt work as well as you wanted? What would you suggest I never do because for the money it just plain sucked? Thanks in advance for the ideas. Steve

That swap is not as easy as it sounds. The car is not designed to handle the torque. Make sure you upgrade all systems to keep it safe, brace the frame or the torque will cause body stress, and upgrade the brakes, going fast is great, but being able to stop it in time is even better. As with any large project that uses non stock products together, there will be lots of unseen unthought of little problems to deal with. Thats why the web is full of half done V8 swap project cars. Do your research, move slowly, think things through, or you will end up with a lot of money spent and a car that still doesnt run and is in pieces.

I am 43 as well. I have only had my 240 since 07/2008. Story of the ride home and blown headgasket on my blog as well as some questions for you guys that have done some mild upgrades and ease of driving mods with a stock look. Would appreciate some comments there. I have had muscle cars, lifted trucks and all kinds of little sports cars. I have done MGBs and Midgets, a Bug Eye Sprites and even a turbo charge 1970 Opel GT! I was looking to get out of my 79 Camaro T-top street/strip 450hp car for something I could drive to work on nice days, turn some heads, and go to some stock class autocross and have some fun. I went through the list of cars I had owned before and compared them to the other cars of the time. Found the 240 was head and shoulders above them. I have never had a Datsun before, a couple of Toyotas for the wife and my driver truck. I found my car locally and started in on it. Should have it back on the road with new floors and rails real soon. I am becoming found of this little car!

OK with more than just the pans, I am not in a position to say much, but it is a unibody car ans will need supported, i learned that the hard way on another project. There are some great posts here on bigger jobs. Good luck, and with Charlies product, you can always use some additional 18 guage to make up for the toe panels etc. Good luck in your tin worm battle.

You can replace the floor panels without doing a full frame job on the car. You mentioned that you had to replace the frame rails. Is it the frame rails that are bad, or the floor supports under the floorboard? That makes a huge difference in what you need to do. Floor pans and floor supports can be swapped out with out much drama, I know, I am in the middle of doing it myself. Zed Findings makes a fine product from what I have seen, I am fabbing mine myself as well as the floor supports. The product should work good for you! Good luck on your project!

Welcome! Good luck with the car. Sold a 1972 Mustang Convertable when I was in your country stationed in Bamberg, always wondered what happened to it. The Z should be a blast there! Enjoy.

WOW! I would love to have mine look like that one day, but for now I want the floors in and the welding done, but I am really impressed.

Thanks Doug. With nearly 170, 000 on the car, I know I have to do a total rebuild one day, the head scares me to death. I havent found Z mechanic in the area yet. Funny thing is I always hated yellow cars! I went to look at this one and fell for it. Now I cant imagine it another color.

If I get the floor and suspension in I will be there!

Got to love car parts on the kitchen counter! I get in trouble everytime I do it!

I have the plastic bullet nose caps on my rims. Got them from Ebay and they came with the little Z emblem sticker for the center. They are nice for the price and if they start looking bad in a few years, I would likely buy another complete set and push them in. They fit very tight and the person selling them has them in many different diameters.

Please burn lots of digital pics for the rest of us that cannot attend. Love seeing this kind of activity on the site and about the car. It helps get me off the couch and on the creeper!

OK, I bought the car to drive and enjoy and not have to do as much work as I had with my Z28 street strip car. That didnt happen. New plan for the car: Fix the floors and the frame. Redo suspension: new springs new struts new ball joints new steering boots update sway bar and mounts and redo the rear ujoints. Engine will need a rebuild. Not confident in doing the engine, I have never rebuilt an overhead cam head, so I will most likely look for a replacement long block and swap them out. The original will be wrapped and stored since the numbers match. Goal Nice driving and looking S30 with the ability to hold up its head at an autocross as a stockish 35 year old car. Some modern updates but not many and drive and enjoy. So for the guys that have been down this path, what updgrades/changes have you made or are you considering?

The look great. How are they for comfort?

Agreed, I wouldnt have the mess I have now if I would have had some one that had a knowledge of these cars with me. Or if I would have spent more time searching the site and had an idea if what I was getting into!

Interested! See pic to left to see why!

Correct on the valve function, well stated.

So I get the head gasket fixed, do a tune up and I am fairly happy with myself. I take the car out for a run and it starts to heat up, no big deal I am close to home and figure it will make it back. It gets a little warmer, and more difficult to get off the line at a stop light and labors. Having never driven one of these cars before I am not totally sure how it should feel but I know its not right. Get back home hot but not overheated completely. I shut it down, and forget to put it in gear and grab the e-brake. My drive has a bit of a grade to it. I go in for lunch after opening the hood to help her cool down. I come back out to find the car down at the end of the driveway. I jump in and pull it up and notice it rolls backward when I put in the clutch. If I drive it more than a few miles, then it will hold itself in the drive without rolling. I figure that it is the rear brakes locking. The car had set a long time and I figured they were sticking. I get out the books take them apart, rebuild the cylinders, grease everything up and put it together and adjust. Same problem, drive it a few miles and they rear brakes drag and then slowly lock up. So I decide its contaminated brake fluid and the rebuild and bleeding didnt flush it all out. So I flush the entire system. No difference. Now I am confused, so I keep looking and adjusting. Brakes, E brake, brake pedal, everything I can think of. Out of things to adjust it is time to replace or rebuild some stuff. I am worried it might be the pressure switch or the delay valve in the back that keeps the rears from coming on at the same time as the fronts. I start with the master. Come to find out that the rear brake section of the master pitted from the bad fluid. Got a replacement from Autozone bench bled it, installed and bled the system and presto! everything works and the car is a hoot to drive. I spent the next couple months taking it everywhere and dealing with all the small things that were popping up due to the car sitting for so long. Headlights that would not stay on, dash lights that were 50/50 a few rattles and squeaks. Then I found this site and started learning about the cars and the standard problems with them. Started to follow up on what I learned and guess what. Rust!!! See the floorboard post for the details.

What oil did you use? When you pull the plugs what condition are they in? They can help pinpoint the problem.

I hear that! I know the busy feeling for sure. At least its warm enough down there in the Keys to work. Post some pics if you get a chance when the seats are done I am interested in seeing how they turn out.

You got a real good point there

Welcome and good luck! Wish I could put the words surface and rust together in the same sentence with Z here in the rustbelt!! Enjoy!

Did you get the leather in yet? Wondering how it looks, I need to replace my seat covers and I am a little afraid of it, never done much interior work before, but this is one of the simplest cars I have ever worked on.