Captain Obvious

Well the reinforcement strips weren't as expensive as that aluminum pan! I'll re-run the numbers when I get the chance. I've never seen one of those pans in person, but if it's stiff enough, a gasket should seal without goop. In thoery.

Oh, and the last time I did an oil pan, I did things a little different. First the same: I bought a cork/rubber combo gasket like Datsun used originally and I used permatex gray (a very tiny bead) on both sides of the gasket. That tiny bead hopefully will not make it very difficult to get the oil pan off again if I ever need to. Hope I never need to, but hoping it won't be a battle if I ever do. After applying the tiny bead, I I torqued the pan into place and let the sealant cure. That much of the process is pretty much what I had done in the past. Then I did something different... After giving the sealant a couple days or so to cure, I went back, and ONE BY ONE, I removed the bolts, put some blue thread lock on them, and torqued them in again. My thinking on this is twofold: First, the gasket had time to compress and take a set. This was confirmed as I was taking the bolts out because some of them were looser than they were when I put them in couple days before. And second... The torque spec on those oil pan bolts is so small that It barely even compresses the lock washer. I'm thinking that maybe not even enough to prevent the bolts from loosening over time. So my theory, which is mine, is that the blue threadlock will keep the bolts torqued (even at such a low amount) while giving the gasket a day to take a compression set before final torque will keep the gasket under pressure. Won't know for a while how successful that whole thing was, but I'm hopeful!

I made up a CAD file for better / longer reinforcement pieces and ran some quotes. The costs were higher than what I was willing to deal with at the time. And that was before covid. If there is interest, I can open that can again and get a fresh quote?

Sorry Mike... It's not. I know you wanted it to be. ☺️

They all are, my friend. They all are. ☺️

Glad to help. And hope your clunk is gone for good!

You can do final torque to the center nut after installation of the strut assy on the car. That way, the three insulator studs are held firm by the car body and you can get a good torque on the enter nut. So keep an eye (or ear) on it and if the clunk develops again, it's quick and easy to snug those center nuts while on the car. If if happens again and torquing those nuts takes care of the issue, it might be time to get some new vibration resistant center nuts. Replacing those nuts is easy with the car on the ground... The weight of the car will keep the springs compressed and you can take that center nut completely off and replace it. Buzz one off, buzz new one on. Easy peasy.

Glad the clunk is gone. I assume it was the strut nuts. A small amount of play in there can be tough to discern with gas struts and spring pressure helping hold things still. But if it went away with some torque on the nuts, I'm guessing that's what the issue was. The fact that it appeared gradually over time is still a little disconcerting. Are they nyloc style vibration resistant nuts on the tops of the struyts?

Both of those plates are for 72, so it wasn't the very early cars. Maybe the GVWR wasn't increased for the car itself... Maybe they were increased for the change in American drivers. 😄

Oh, I totally get it and agree completely. It's just odd that Datsun put out a document that seemingly delineated the timeline. Sounds like they were trying to differentiate between the two and put a stake in the ground as to "when". So here's a thought... Maybe that VIN of 21001 would be better interpreted as "We've been making changes over the past couple months, and as of VIN 21001, here's a list of what we've changed so far. Moving forward, all the cars will have these changes incorporated." Maybe that's a better way to think about it instead of "As of this VIN, we will be making all of these changes from this point forward." and changing all of them overnight at that VIN.

Interesting that you two guys @Johnz1971 @w3wilkes both have the hooded map light. Poking around a little, there was a doc put out by Datsun in Feb 1971 that described a bunch of changes to the 240Z for "1971 late models", and that map light hood was one of the changes listed. But according to the document, those changes went into effect at VIN 21001. Seems that was not correct?

At the top of my list is that it does not have the 2400 valve cover. Did they talk about if the engine was original or not? Between the over 100K miles, the carbs, the fan, and the valve cover, I'm thinking not. So it's a historic car, but it would be a huge project. And the biggest hurdle to getting it to top level would be if the engine had been replaced and the original is not available.

My bad. Still a discontinuity, but I had it in the wrong spot: 16530 has the black - inline6 17486 has the yellow - w3wilkes 17770 has the black - Johnz1971

Actually, looking at that thermostat housing you have on your 1/70 is not from 73... It's from couple years later than that. 75 at least. It's got a thermotime switch and temp sensor for the EFI system.

I believe that hole on the 73 was used for the temperature switch for the EGR system. This pic is from 74 260, but 73 had the same thing: