Terrapin Z

https://www.nissanparts.cc/oem-parts/nissan-insulator-mount-11320n3000

This CRX image appears to have the rounded ends to the outsides.

I always thought it was the flat side to the frame and the rounded side to the washers.

That is unfortunate that the tag is gone. It does sound like the motor has been changed already No easy way to confirm without the tag. Still a good car nonetheless. It's up to you to do what you want to do with it. Sounded like you wanted more power. Turbo, Stroker motor, even up to a V8. Lots of options. HybridZ is another good forum for swapped motors and more as far as mods, although we would still like to hear about your plans.

No, before you rebuild the brakes and motor, unscrew the vin plate from the strut tower. Clean the plate enough to see the indented numbers, Post your findings!!

Sounds like a bonus situation to me. Even if the DOL / DMV says it is a 71, it is still a mid 1970.

As has been noted above this does look like a late 70 or early 71. (possibly sold as a 71) The vin collaborates that as well. There is usually a build date plate inside the drivers door jam that will have a month / year when the car was built. My guess is Nov or Dec of 1970 The Drivers side strut tower should have a vin plate screwed on that will have the vin number and engine number. The stamp on the motor should be found in the circled area. You might have to clean it off some to see it. I have seen vin plates missing, or painted over. All this will tell you is if the engine is original to the car. If it is they are worth more being left that way, again as mentioned above. All in all it looks unmolested, I would keep it that way if it were mine. I do also understand the allure to add big HP and mod it up. I'd say we ^ would just like to help you make a more informed decision on what to do with it, as that was your original question. Ultimately it is your choice.

Welcome to the club. The car does look to be of an earlier model. It does look like it will have some rust issues as well. The motor looks like it may have already been replaced at some time, so it might not be a numbers matching set up to start with. You can verify the engine number from the stamp below the # 6 plug L24 XXXXXX and compare that to the ID plate mounted on the shock tower. Would you mind sharing the vin number from the dash? Just with a later valve cover and Air cleaner (72?) it looks to me like it was changed out. The 70 does have a few unique parts that are sought after, but I'd say you have a good candidate to do what you want. and enjoy the ride. Just be sure the chassis (brakes, steering, suspension, etc.) can handle the power you put in it. Be safe!

I agree @jayhawk I have learned many things about these cars on this site, discovered some tricks, and have bought and sold here too. Great community indeed. Part is going out USPS today.Glad to help out.

Well it is not as nice as your example, but it is available.

The three screw carbs had different length float valves than the earlier 4 screw carbs. Here is some info about fuel level settings from a few years back.

I know you said these are fresh from Z therapy. I did a swap with them years ago. I just bolted them on and did the basic tune. I never could quite get it to run right. always seemed lean and uneven. Recently I was going back through all the adjustments again and this time added the float level check. I found the rear to be way off. Once I reset the levels with the Float Sync. it ran much better. It was running mostly on the front three just fine, but the rear three were much leaner due to the float height. Your video sounds lean to me, but it's hard to hear clearly on my computer speakers. Just something to at least rule out. No ill will against ZT, it just might have been missed. It did trouble me for some time thinking they had to be set up correctly.

My bad 54320-E4100........ I could not get the site you used to work with the correct part number either. Try this : https://www.courtesyparts.com/oem-parts/nissan-insulator-strut-54320e4100 They are in Texas. I use NissanParts.cc in Washington = same results.

53420-E4100 insulators are still available from Nissan. My site says $64.21 each for the shorter 240, early 260, and 280 Front. 280 rears are NLA but you might be able to use the Z depot space on the shorter one.

I had found in a couple of SU tuning instructions about lifting the pins to check the mixture. Haynes, Chitons, and even the FSM all only mention this pin as a way to determine if the piston and/or needle is aligned correctly and not sticking for any other reason. The other publications I found had, not only the method above, but referred to lifting the pin very slightly (1/32 the web page says "good luck" about this) to help determine the idle AFR to some degree. If lifted any more than that they will stall that carb out like "site" says ^ This one from the web : http://www.sucarbs.com/?page_id=20 Under "test fuel mixtures" And the attached Tuning SU Cabs book. I am sure I read about the pins in another book, but can not find that reference right now. (page 25 I think) I'm no expert by any means, but mine a running pretty good. Tuning_SU_Carbs.pdf

Did you get one to try? They are geared pretty tall. Here is some more info on the different transmissions. http://datsunworld.blogspot.com/2016/03/datsun-l-series-transmission.html

A very nice looking Z indeed, Congrats!! Many questions like this are answered with "What do you want to do with the car?" Cruise, race, show, rally, tour, some of two or three......more? The cool thing about these cars is mix and match. Any "B" trans should fit you car 73 just fine, no real mods. It's going from "A" to "B" or "A, B to C" thats the extra work. "B to B" is bolt up. R180 to R180 with different ratios is easy, as is R200 to R200. R180 to R200 needs a few more parts. An easy upgrade, IMO. The thing is to tune it to how you drive it. These are not all the options, but popular ones. Enjoy that new Z........

Yes, I'd like to put that on my Starbuck's Gift card please.

FAQ says they accept all these methods of payment. I think they prefer Gift Card. We accept any kind of payment: Gift Card, Money Gram, Check, PayPal, Money Order, Wire Transfer and Bank Transfer. However, the payment method chosen for transactions made on a Classified Site depends on the seller's preferences. No matter the chosen payment method, the money will always go in our third party Escrow Company (Oancea WBD LTD). Why am I being asked to send the payment using Gift Card? We are offering our services on Craigslist and all major Classified Sites such as Oodle, Craigslist which are the largest marketplaces in the world. We can handle a certain number of transactions per day and we often assign Gift Card payments associated with eAutoStock Traders. Thanks to the CARD Act, gift-card owners can use them when and how they want without worrying about burdensome fees and the fear of identity theft, most gift cards usually have no fees, no personal details or sensitive banking accounts shared, very cheap, fast and secure online form of payment. Gift card had been created especially for safer online purchases. However, we can only use Gift Card from countries and cities where we have agents.

$8700 bid and reserve not met yet, I see 2 days and a couple hours left on the clock. They do seem to go for high prices, for the condition they are in. I've done better on Craigslist and Offerup.

My thought too, was some turbo set up. I only see one SU and it is in the front of the apparatus.

https://www.copart.com/vehicleFinderSearch/?displayStr=Datsun,WA,[1969 TO 1978]&searchStr={"MISC":["%23MakeCode:DATS OR %23MakeDesc:Datsun","%23VehicleTypeCode:VEHTYPE_V","%23LocState:\"WA\"","%23LotYear:[1969 TO 1978]"],"sortByZip":false,"buyerEnteredZip":null} The intake looks a little strange to me, anyone know what's going on there. $12,500 Buy It Now.

I agree, I thought $5K was too much when it was on CL. I had considered going to look at it as it is not that far from me, but the money gods said don't do it!! Even if all the "early" parts were there for parting (or hoarding) it was still a pretty steep price even for that. Now at $8500 thats just BAT crazy.

I would rather bid on this and put $20K+ in to it and know it was done right. Not a low vin but a nice 70 none the less. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Datsun-Z-Series/323796794406?hash=item4b63cafc26:g:5EcAAOSwLVhczKwT Of course no rust or rot, Blue chip special too.

This was recently listed in Portland for $5k and was up for a few weeks. Now it is on eBay for $8500 out of Mt Vernon, WA https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Datsun-Z-Series-240Z/163675642459?hash=item261bd41a5b:g:wKUAAOSwqUBczJik Interesting how these cars have progressed in perceived value. A 5K investment should yield $3500 profit in 10 days. (less fees of course)