Hardway

I have the rear suspension apart on my '72. It has a R200 diff in it and factory half shafts. I did not get to drive the car very much prior to pulling everything apart. The half shafts need new boots which I plan on replacing but question is there a way to tell if the u-joints are bad? They are grease-able units which leads me to believe they have been replaced at some point in the cars life. If there is no way to bench test them should I replace them with some solid brute force joints for assurance or just pump them full of grease, drive the car, and go from there?

I made some progress this past weekend on the Z. The diff had been leaking for sometime as evidence by the black sludge at the bottom of the diff cover. Got the diff drained, cleaned up, and painted with a fresh coat of satin black paint. I had considered ordering new diff cover bolts as some new yellow zinc plated bolts would have set everything off quite nicely. However I decided that waiting on some to get here along with the costs did not add much value since most of the diff cover is hidden once it is installed. So I used my wire wheel bench grinder to clean everything up. While I had the cover off I inspected the gears and found no signs of abuse or damage what so ever. I cleaned the cover, laid down 3 light coats of aluminum silver paint, sealed it up with a new Fel-pro gasket and a thin layer of black RTV on each side. Everyone has their own method of sealing diffs and this is mine and it has never failed me. I still need to fill it up with new fluid and will do so once it is installed. Not too bad for a few hours worth of work.

I ran in to this same issue when reassembling the front suspension on my '72. First, make sure you are putting the bolt in from the front side so that the head is basically sitting behind the steering accordion boot. You may have to move your wheels to get the boots out of the way. Second, you have to have the bolt in exactly straight. The hole seems just big enough for it to go in perfectly. I got mine on and gently tapped it with a rubber mallet to coax it in. Once it was about 1/4 of the way in they slid all the way in and out the other side.

Great progress pics. Not only is Eiji's work great to see but his workspace is equally as nice!

The value in "matching numbers" is subjective to the person looking to buy the car and what they intend to do with it. For someone looking for a show car or investment low miles car then matching numbers plays a much bigger importance to them vs. someone just looking for a nice car to drive. Potential buyers that actually plan to drive their cars on a regular basis will probably find value in a 2.8L engine vs. the original 2.4L and probably would like a 5-speed to go with it. If you are passionate about keeping your car as stock as possible and have the means to keep the matching numbers drive-train then I think it is definitely the right decision.

Thank you for the tips guys. I will give it a shot this week and let you know how it comes out.

The passenger side sail panel emblem on my '72 appears to have been replaced shortly before I bought it and looks mint. I would like to get it off the car without breaking the pins. Is there any way to accomplish this? I have a good arsenal of tools but not sure if I have one for this job. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Congrats on your new '72. As a owner of a '72 lime green Z it really comes down to what you want. Obviously keeping the original color will be easier as you may not have to shoot the door jambs and around the engine. I keep going back and forth on what to do with mine. It needs paint and while I like the lime green I don't love it. I would prefer it be red or silver but even then I can't decide which of the two. Of course if there was a fresh coat of lime green paint it may look awesome and I may love it. The lime green is very "period correct" for our cars and they do stand out in a crowd. For now I have Z's in different colors on my computer wall paper. Seeing one in a different color every day may help me decide. Keep us posted on the progress of your Z!

Yeah, I have always liked these little lights and I kick myself for not picking up a few sooner. Nissan Parts Zone cannnot get them either. Scott from Courtesy wrote me back saying Nissan may bring these back as their maybe a reason for pausing production like a change in materials vendor. In regards to DIY cad plating, there is a cool looking system that done yellow zinc chromate. Copy Cad® & Zinc Plating Kits - Electroplating & Anodizing - Caswell Inc Check out the PDFs that are available on the page.

A big group would be great! Unfortunately I am sure my 240z will still be on jack stands at the rate things are going.

These are officially NLA through Courtesy. I just tried to order 2 and they can't get them. Hopefully a manufacturer in Japan will pick these up and start making them again. With so much passion for these cars and plenty of owners its just sad that either parts are truly drying up or they won't ship them from Japan anymore.

Thanks for posting this up! I live just minutes from the track so this would be awesome to attend and meet up with other Z owners.

Great write up 73 and glad to see you are making progress. Your pics and info are great and look forward to more updates. Good luck!

I am so sorry to hear that Mad. That sucks so bad and is sickening to boot! I agree, makes you wonder what they put it on with. Hopefully the dealer can sort it out and not give you any grief on the head being stripped. Odd that its is only 10mm, most drain plus are like 9/16 or bigger, especially on American cars. I just did an oil change on my '06 TL and the plug was 15mm. Keep us posted.

This is a great write up Madkaw! Thank you for taking the time to do it. We have already chatted about this and I have pretty much all the tools I need to do this job, now I just need to buy the floors. This helps to set my expectations on what I will be getting in to. Look forward to seeing more of the finished product.

Yes, I plan to eventually ditch the black mirrors that are on it but prices for an original style mirror are pretty steep. I have a pair of new chrome mirrors for a '69 Camaro and may put those on but have no plans to mess with the mirrors anytime soon.

Thank you for the offer Mike. I am about 99% done with the puller I made but if for some reason it fails I will reach out to you. I think you PM'd or I PM'd you awhile back on trying to meet up. I have only been to one club meet and that was when it was at the pizza place that is now closed. I can't make it to the new south meet location as I am in Pflugerville. I wish it was somewhere more central or north, possibly flip flop between north and south. I work in the Arboretum so maybe we can meet up one day after work somewhere and talk shop. Would love to connect with some other Z owners!

Hey Chase. I bought my tie rod ends from Rock Auto. They were the Moog brand and from what I can tell they went on just fine and should function like the originals. What kind of issues did you run in to on the ones that did not work for you?

After a decent break from the car due to the holidays and work I decided to dive back in to the Z since I had a 3-day weekend. I got just about everything pulled from the rear of the car on Friday night. Everything came down with very little drama. This is where air tools are your best friend! My R200 diff looked to be in good shape except for the leaking cover gasket which will be addressed. I am unsure on the snout seal. It has a tiny bit of seepage but other owners has said to leave it along unless it is leaking bad due to the expertise needed to properly replace it. Thoughts? When I was pulling everything apart I noticed the parking brake cable has several rusty broken strands in it so I removed it on Saturday. Spent pretty much the whole morning wrestling with the gland nuts on the strut tubes. After about an hour of applying heat and sheer strength they broke loose. Needless to say the old KYB’s were shot. Moving on I embarked on what is probably one of the more entertaining aspects of a rear suspension upgrade, the burn out of the mustache bar bushings! With about 15 minutes of fire and 20 minutes of clean up with my Dremel tool the bushing shells were clean and ready to accept their new bushings when the time comes. Since I knew I would need to build a spindle pin removal tool I started stripping some of the suspension components that were free of other assemblies. As mentioned earlier in this thread my Makita variable speed rotary tool with a wire brush is a true life saver. I welded part of my spindle pin removal tool together this evening. Once it is complete and I have proven success with it I will post up the pics and continue on with the clean up process.

Thank you Arne. That is what I thought based on my reading but wanted to make sure before placing my order.

I have the rear suspension apart on my '72 240z and want to install a R/T mount. My car is stock type setup with a 2.8L engine and 5spd from a 280zx along with a R200 diff and no plans to install a V8 or anything. From what I have read I think I would be just fine with the traditional bump stop design and possibly cutting off 1/4 of an inch of the bump stop if I needed to. However the method of using the GM trans mount looks much better since it eliminates the bottom mount all together thus eliminating any possibly movement. My question is, would there be any negative effects on my stock style drive train by using the GM trans mount setup?

"Buy another one" I love your logic! Great find on the car, as others have said, $1,500 was a deal. Excellent work and pics on bringing her back up to speed. Will be watching this thread for sure!

Just had to say GOOD JOB!!! I am just north of you in the Austin area. Glad to see you are bringing this one back to its former glory. I try to keep my eyes open for Z cars up here. If a 280z gas tank comes up I will let you know since you need one. Look forward to seeing your progress in this thread.

240z's like just about any other old interesting car out there has some prime condition examples and then there is "everything else". The everything else is subject to so many different factors that no price guide of any sort can really focus on much of anything. What is important to one potential buyer or seller is not as important to the next. Any guide, online or on paper is just a guide. Any seller or any buyer should do their due diligence when looking to sell or buy a Z to help ensure they are getting what they want and don't get taken for a ride. Research of course is key, talking with other owners, and as usual if you have not owned one you have to look at a few to discover what separates a good one from a great one. I think any kind of compiled data is good to have but it should never be the last word on the value of a particular car.