Zed Head

Sorry, I didn't recognize it. It would be nice to know if that picture is from a production car or somewhere else. There's no identifying text for that shot. Here it is, from post #89. More detail would be helpful. How much overlap is there in the joint? What does the backside look like? A good old rusty production car joint would be good to see.

I was talking about the C pillar. The original joint of concern, and the start of the lead focus. I don't see a lead-free but intact C pillar joint in anybody's pictures.

The remaining question seems to be - what is under the lead? grannyknot has seen it, apparently. I think that most people are just used to seeing the lead filler and don't think about what's under it. I'd guess it's more stitch welds but it might be spot. Hope he finds those pictures. Maybe he remembers and can describe more. You should be able to melt the lead out and grind the welds down to open it up but you'd probably have to do more than one seam since any flexibility will be of low magnitude. Could be a can of worms.

dspillman, if you want to refocus on your restore goal just say so. This is an interesting aside though. I found a 77 seam. It doesn't look much better than the 240Z's. Maybe a little bit smoother. Still just a fairly crude stitch weld. https://youtu.be/uN8ca_KFVcw?feature=shared&t=415

It follows from Mr. Matsuo's comments. p.s. It shouldn't be overlooked that many of the things you see on a car are there for ease and speed of production. Not performance. p.s. 2 - those welds look terrible. I wonder if they got better along the way to the 280Z bodies. It would be interesting to see some later welds. .

Filling, fixing, loading, flexing. Is everyone talking about the same thing? Lead is a soft metal used to fill defects in metal bodywork. It is generally considered to be better than plastic bodyfillers. But it has no significant structural effect. The discussion about the C pillar seems less about how the seam was "connected" but more about the dimensions of the strut. The C pillar, apparently, was designed to be the weak link in the box shape of the chassis. Designed to give before the A pillar did, so the windshield area would not be affected. Since it was designed to flex, using lead as the filler of the seam makes sense since lead is a soft flexible metal. That might not have come through in the discussion with Mr. Matsuo. Today's "Bondo" might have the flexibility to serve the same purpose as the lead did. But neither of them will affect the stiffness of the pillar's metal. They're just fillers. https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mopp-0101-how-to-do-lead-bodywork/

Just for reference.

More context might help here. Were you looking at the area of the joint on a real car? Why was Mr. Matsuo there? How many people were involved in the discussion? Who asked the question, and why? Was the part about the windshield popping out secondary conjecture from somebody else or words straight from Mr. Matsuo? Sorry, that's just how my brain works. More questions.

They changed the name to Maintenance.

Might be in the Turbo Supplement. Some of the turbo engines had hydraulic lash adjustment. No lash setting necessary. https://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/14-280zx/

I "@ ed" Gav240z so that he might give the answer to his own puzzle. Most of what I saw in that nine year old BAT sales post you linked was about definitons of title and ownership and opinions from past Z car people like Tony D (before the D appeared), who is known to enjoy stirring things up. Questions about why the engine and tag were separated from the body and other conspiracy-like things. If you're planning on reselling after you restore you might consider pulling all of the real facts together in an understandable story, with images saved in additon to links, before they get lost to dead web sites and disappearing documents. The people that actually know things about the car will be passing on too, eventually. Time...

@Gav240z What is the "odd 1"? I assume the difference is very subtle. Can't find much.

That's a nice looking trailer. Who makes it?

Was it even an auction? Looks like it was a set price. " 11/22/2013 Update: This 240Z has sold in less than 24 hours. Thanks for all the interest! We look forward to following the restoration! From 11/21/2013: This 1969 Datsun 240Z (chassis HLS30 00051) was built in October of 1969 and is the 18th earliest surviving 240Z in the world according to the Z Car Registry. Many of the very early cars were designated to be either factory test cars, press cars, or race cars from new, and most of these no longer exist. Car #13 was the first car sold to the public. This one will require a full restoration. There has been plenty of talk about where the Japanese collector car market is headed, and the earliest examples will be the most coveted of the 240Z street cars. The seller purchased a complete Series 1 parts car that is also included as shown below. The entire package shown is now available in Santa Barbara, California for $15k."

Does anyone know the details of the past infamy? Tried to find it on BAT but their records only seem to go back to 2015. The backstory makes the car more interesting. https://bringatrailer.com/datsun/240z/?q=240z

Has to be a nice ride too. Potential buyers probably aren't bothered by the mpg's. $172,000 didn't get it, but they're working on a deal.

Series 62. Everybody's doing it! https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1959-cadillac-series-62-convertible-10/

Another Datsun GTO. 240Z this time. No reserve! https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1962-ferrari-250-gto-replica/

I was just having some fun. Not clear what your thread is about. The posts are kind of random. Good luck. p.s. I was serious about the red dot mirror. Never heard of it, never seen it mentioned.

Those fuses look pretty cool. You should save them as antique curiosities. Never even knew about "red dot mirrors". Are they a "Series 1" thing? 😈 Who stitched the boy's mouth shut?

Post #9 for anybody in a hurry...

Found an obscure reference to 51 but the links are dead. Post #8 and 9.

Not more details about the plan - more details about the car. Why do you call it a 69? I see a transmission but it's not an early 240Z transmission. The diff is intact but the propeller shaft is not there. What's up with that? The plan will be a lot more interesting with details about the potential of the car. Do you have the missing stuff or did you buy a shell?

Found a seal search web site for the internal repair option. Might be a skinny seal. https://engineering.timken.com/engineering-tool/seal-search/

You could mill the remnants completely off of the tail shaft and replace it with a tubular piece with an interference fit. The mani concern would be if it fits inside the dustshield of the propeller shaft. Namerow had the same thought, almost exactly. I'm slow...but I drew a picture. It would be much stronger.