Hardway

He has not been able to find a manufacturer's mark or name cast or stamped in the aluminum. The only items he has found so far is an inspector label. It indicates the name "H. Sugiyama" and the numbers 9 11 stamped in to the hub mounting surface on the back.

I read about this several days ago and have been viewing the various posts on here and FB about him. I never met him in person or spoke to him on the phone but his contributions to the automotive community are abundant. Add to that he sounded like a very generous person with his time and knowledge. It is very sad to hear of his passing and in the manner that it happened. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and close friends that knew him well. He will be truly missed. May his passing be a reminder to all of us that our time and the time of those we care about is limited. If you have a friend or family member you have not spoken to lately or heard from, give 'em call, drop 'em a line, I am sure they would love to hear from you.

I am looking at buying some slotted mag wheels from a seller on the DPAN FB page. He has provided the pictures below and has said they are 15x7. It has always been my understanding and various wheel sites have shown that the true diameter of a wheel is the measurement of the rim itself. Basically the wheel minus the raised lips for the tire bead or to look at it another way, the diameter of the hole of the tire that will fit on the wheel. He shows an overall 15.25" diameter with a lip height of .75". The math would work out to .75 X 2 = 1.5. 15.25 - 1.5 = 14.75. When I measure the 14 x 5.5 wheels currently on my 240z, they have an edge to edge measurement of 15.25 as well. So my question is this, is the wheel in the picture a 15 inch wheel or a 14 inch wheel?

That was $25 well spent. The time and misery of getting them out when they are really stuck exceeded $25 in about 25 minutes.

Its still up after 5 days. Show up with a trailer and cash. Offer $500, let them counter at $1K, offer $700 and hopefully take it home. What others have said is right, its hard to sell common Z parts. The front bumper (depending on condition), console, AM radio, Nardi wheel w/rare Datsun horn button, console, ash tray lid, and a few more odds and ends are where the money is. You would almost have to get the car for free to make it worth your while but if you were going to be using the parts on your own car then it would be worth it. If I was closer I would go scoop it up. I have the money and the room!

Duplicate post for some reason. This one can be deleted.

Low 4-digit VIN, good color, great pictures, tasteful mods, and ready to enjoy. That car has everything going for it! I am not surprised it blew past $15K in less than a day. When it is all said and done I think the final sale price will be much closer to $23K if not a little more. If a European buyer gets it the price could very well be much more. From what I have seen, in order to get $25K - $30K for a 240z, all the small details have to be correct like all the emblems being present, fully restored and detailed engine & suspension, and other things like the original AM radio being present. Its not say there are other examples that have gone for that kind of money and not met that criteria but for the most part, to get top dollar for a Z or any classic car it must be C&C, Complete and Correct (as much as possible) Good luck with the sale!

That blog is great! I have already enjoyed reading it and have only gotten to a few posts. On the topic of spindle pin removal, there are several well documented threads of pain and misery, mine is one of them below. Good luck to him with it and be careful working on them. http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/45649-spindle-pin-woes/

Great work Charlie! I love how you refer to the front bumper as the Shin Buster Supreme. Made my Monday!

Thanks for the info guys. I have read up and since the powder coat is new it should serve as a good base. Agreed, I love the color. The color name is RAL Pumpkin. I can call them on Monday to get the code.

Interesting. I am sure others will chime in but maybe a previous owner installed the round vented emblems because they liked the style of them. Either way, looks like you got some holes to fill when you are doing your body work.

Nice collection of NOS parts. Can you take a picture of the back of the B-pillar emblems? Is it possible the number of pins or position of the pins changed at some point?

I am posting this in the Body and Paint forum since this is really a paint/finish question. Several months ago I purchased this Series-1 air cleaner off of Ebay. I paid a fair price for it, $150 shipped. I was in the middle of buying a new home so when it arrived I opened it and based on a quick inspection I deemed it was good, placed it back in the box, and saved it for another day. Recently I unboxed it with the plan of getting it blasted and powder coated. The picture below shows the original rust and pitting before I dropped it off at the PC shop. In my haste to move forward I dropped it off, not really looking at the pitting. Hoping for the best I got it back and of course to no one’s surprise the pitting is still there. The rest of the air cleaner looks great and the “Pumpkin” color I chose is spot on in my opinion. Since the pitting is where the decal goes and is most visible when installed on the car I do not know what to do. Before I do anything rash I wanted to get some owner’s opinions of where to go from here. The primary reason I bought this air cleaner was because it is the only one I have seen in a long time that had a mint snorkel on it. Too many are banged up from years of use. Due to how thin the metal is, once it is damaged, it takes a very skilled person to make it look right again. At this point I “think” my only option is to blast off the powder coat, fill in and body work the pitting to make it smooth, and then have it re-painted to match the rear cover. I welcome everyone’s ideas and suggestions.

Good job on the steering wheel and kudos to your friend for offering his up. I think we all like to see parts go to the right car and the right people. Your comment on both of you being happy with the deal is best way to go. Good karma all around!

Saw this on Hemmings and just had to look further. I am not sure if it is "the best of both worlds" but I have never seen a build like this. Thought you guys would like to see. http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/datsun/240z/1765550.html?refer=blog

I never saw an update on this after the pictures were posted. Hal, did you ever end up buying the car or did you pass on it? Just based on the pictures it is pretty rough and has been living under a tarp. It all depends on what your plans are for it. As others have said, it would not make a good drift machine but it could be possibly be brought back to road legal status and be a fun cruiser, keep the cage, and get it running. Since the transmission is out of the car and the motor does not run, you have to look at it as roller. Depending on the level of rust and any other body work that is needed I would say its a $1500 car. More info about the condition of the car, suspension, what kind of modifications have been done, etc. will help. Plus, if you get any extra parts, wheels, and the like that will influence the price too. At the end of the day, my suggestion is to look it over really good and make an offer you feel comfortable with.

Thanks for posting up Clay and sharing your progress so far. I agree with everyone else that the car is very restore-able and in my opinion, despite the rust and previously repaired damage, it is still a great starting point to be at. A lot of us have started with far worse cars. Plus, based on the pictures it looks like you have all the correct parts like the early air cleaner, 2400 valve cover, smog pump, console, and ash tray door. The only thing that is not quite right is your steering wheel since it has holes but that is small fries compared to everything else. You made a great point in your first post about seeing all of the build threads and being motivated to get #1121 on the road again. Being the author of two build threads I am always inspired by the work other owners are doing. As you have probably already read a number of times, the key to staying motivated is break up your restoration in to small projects, plan and research as much as you can before spending money. As always you will be met with surprises but don't get overwhelmed. All the owners here are very supportive so ask questions, post pictures, and gather feedback. Despite thousands of threads on here there are always new questions and new topics to talk about. Another thing to think about is you have to decide what level of restoration you plan to do. Since the car has not been on the road in so long and your plan was to drive it on weekends, you may possibly want to get it to a state of being reliable and safe to drive, including the already mentioned structural repairs that are needed. Overall I think your car presents really well and with some cleaning up will only look better. A full blown restoration will move your dream of driving the car on weekends out several months to several years depending on your available time to work on the car and your budget. These are just things to think about as I have been there with several Z's and other classic cars. I too look forward to your updates, pictures, and questions. Keep 'em coming, we are all here to help.

To get the studs out, first clean them off really good with a small wire brush. Second, mix up a 50/50 mix of red Dexron 3 auto. trans fluid and acetone. I bought a bottle with a syringe on top that allows me to apply it in very tight areas with pin point accuracy. Apply it several times over the course of a few hours and even a few days if needed. Put two nuts on top backed up against one another and try turning the stud. Don't force it as it will break. If needed, get a propane torch and heat up the metal around the studs but not the studs themselves. As always, keep a fire extinguisher close for safety. Syringe Top Bottle - http://www.amazon.com/Needle-Dropper-Bottles-E-liquids-Liquids/dp/B00P0D4BRU

Thank you for the info Chickenman. Just to circle back, I can run both the Carter electrical pump and the mechanical pump on the side of the block if I want to. I understand with the electric pump turned off it would cause a massive restriction.

I think you should keep the gun metal gray and make whatever repairs are needed but no more. Since you are planning to sell your car, take a look at the past few months of completed auctions on Ebay. You will see the true high sellers were original looking and represented cars. Your color is not original but I would not go down the path of any race car tributes or anything extreme. Keep it nice and stock-ish as that will bring the most money. I am sorry to hear you are considering selling your car and the lumber event that took place. On the bright side, your car has TONS of curb appeal and no doubt will bring a very fair price.

Almost a year ago I installed a Carter P60504 electric fuel pump and Holley adj. fuel pressure regulator. I also removed the mechanical pump that had been restored by the previous owner and installed a billet alum. block off plate. I made this change since I only drive the car every 3-5 weeks and the engine would need a lot of rotations to get fuel to the pump and fills the carb bowls enough to start. The electric pump gets the line and carb bowls filled much faster thus making it easier to start the car with less revolutions of the motor. I have been working to make my car as correct as possible while maintaining as much reliability that newer components offer. With this in mind I am considering putting the mechanical pump back on and removing the adj. fuel press. regulator as the pump only puts out 3 - 3.5 psi. My question is, if the electric pump runs all the time while the car is running, is there any harm in this setup? Should I just use the electric pump as a helper pump to get fuel up to the mechanical pump and then turn it off? The issue I see with this is the mech. pump would be pulling fuel through the non-running elec. pump. Are there any other issues you foresee with running the two pumps?

That is interesting Oemz. I had never heard of vapor blasting until I saw your post. For anyone that is interested, the website below has a lot of good info and pictures. http://www.arnoldsdesign.com/Gallery.html Oemz, can you post some before and after pictures of your valve cover when you get it done? I think we would all love to see how your valve cover comes out.

I still can't believe this car brought $9600. I know it is a series-1 and all and appears to be complete but its not even road worthy at the moment, interior is shot, and it needs some body work. I would be curious to know if the buyer is in the US or out of the country.

I like your ideas guys of leaving it as is and just polishing it some more. Plus, it will be easier to maintain with the smooth finish. I don't want to polish it to a mirror finish but I will work to get the color a little more consistent. I will post updates as I make progress with it.

Great work Sweaty! Thank you for all the details and the pictures. It is builds like these that keep us all motivated on our own projects.