Hardway

Those wheel covers came out great! Since you mentioned at the top of this thread you were unsure about the direction of the restoration and questioning if this was the project for you at this time, have you had anymore thoughts on it? Seems like you are getting some small wins between the ignition system, wheel covers, and other projects you are doing. I looked at the eBay listing again and I can see you have a long road ahead of you from a body stand point. The car does have a lot going for it but is in need of a lot as well.

I liked the article and while I would love to see this $75K 240z he speaks of, his other articles are informative and a little entertaining. He is a car salesman and does provide some insight but none of it is earth shattering. Seems like he writes an article every few months so he is not a regular contributor but its probably not a bad gig.

I will add my thoughts to this. First, thank you for posting this up and sharing with the community. We love this stuff and can't wait to see more! A lot of value for a vehicle is tied to what you can prove about its history and provenance. If you have proof this car was raced by the factory, that will certainly add a lot of value, especially if it won anything. Without proof of it's history and any accomplishments, its just a JDM Fairlady Z. A JDM Fairlady Z is still special and being a fairly early VIN helps it value. Now move on to the conversion from RHD to LHD. As HS30-H said above, converting a car back to RHD will be extremely expensive and would certainly eat up a very large portion of any restoration budget. Based on your description, the conversion to LHD was pretty thorough so with that, I would just leave it LHD. Again, if you can prove its racing history, there may be a case for restoring it to race specs. I would encourage you to start researching previous owners and drivers of the car. If they are still around, try to make contact, see if you can talk with them or meet in person. If they have a lot of information to share, WRITE IT DOWN. See if they would be willing to sign a statement about the car based on their knowledge. That helps build provenance. See if they have any pictures, records, and best of all, can they put you in contact with anyone else that can tell you about the car. Beyond the fact its a Fairlady Z, it will have suffered through all the wear and problems every other Z car and old car of this era. Condition of engine, drive train, floors, pans, rails, and the rest of the body all play in to the question of what it could be worth. Based on the side picture, there appears to be a build up of dirt on the passenger side rocker panel. Under that could be more dirt but no metal. Without pics of anything else and no mention of the rest of the car, its hard to give any numbers but I will take a stab at it. To answer your questions, what is it worth today and what could it be worth restored? Based on the few pictures and your description as of today, I think its worth $7K. I am sure some people reading this may feel that is offensive but that number is based on everything presented as of today. To get a true value of anything is to know what you truly have. Clean the car out, take lots of pictures, note anything that is interesting or odd, take an inventory of everything you have including any paper work, and post it up here. Does it run and if not can you at least turn the engine over by hand? How do things look under the valve cover? Once we see more, myself and others will chime in with our thoughts and you could easily see estimates of $10K, $15K, or more. Value once restored. You can check finished sale results from BAT, eBay, Hemmings, Mecum, etc. You will find that grade A restored series-1 Z cars sell for between $25K - $60K (The $60K example was recently sold at auction in Hungry) Its unclear what impact the LHD conversion will have on a Fairlady Z but it will not bring as much as a RHD Fairlady Z. That said, a grade A nut and bolt restoration should bring $30K - $50K in the right venue. Based on what you are starting with, that restoration could cost $30K - $50K.

Please do a write up! We would all love to read it and see pictures of your adventures in Japan. Doing the 10 day trip with the ZCCA to Japan is a bucket list item of mine but would also like to go and explore on my own. Interesting that Kameari has a 2400 valve cover for sale as that would be a US spec VC. I believe the JDM version should say 2000. I may be wrong so anyone that knows better can correct me. Thank you for posting the pictures and info!

No worries Zedy! I think heater hose is the way to go. Since the rubber serves as a cushioned barrier between the two plates, I would be afraid that an inject-able silicon would just crack or split. The Flex Seal stuff might be an option but its compression strength is unknown. Heater hose is pretty durable, cheap, and readily available. If someone does try one of the alternatives we will be very interested to hear about your results.

Good call CO! I do need to double check everything with it on the ground. I will do that this evening. A good reminder for all of us!

Wow! This thread has really taken off. Once again the Z community is out in force. Well GOOD NEWS! I solved MY rear diff clunk (yours may be different). I went back to my original "diff sandwich" setup but with a small update. First, using another member's suggestion I cut a piece of heater hose and inserted it in between the two plates of the lower diff mount. This took some real effort as I used a large flat head screw driver to pry open the mount enough to get the piece of heater hose in. As I talked about it later with Mike W, it probably would have been easier to put it on the diff so it was held in place while I worked on it. Either way, its in and you can see it in the pictures below. Next I had ordered a new snubber bushing for my RT mount a few weeks ago. If anyone is wondering they are made by Prothane and are part number 19-1318-BL. Got 'em on Amazon for $17.61 shipped for two as they are sold in pairs. Just like I did with my old '72 240z, I only cut off one layer of the bushing. I also cut the threaded stud down to clear the parking brake mechanism. Using my adjustable safety stand I was able to push up on the cross member to get all four bolts in over half way, then working from side to side I tightened in equal steps and torqued anything down. With everything buttoned up I did a once over on all the other suspension fasteners to make sure they nice and tight and they were. Down came the car for a test drive, success! Just cruising around and doing some spirited driver revealed no clunks or noises. The only time I heard anything was when I drove it really hard, almost approaching abuse I could hear and feel the rear drive line make a thump/thud sound but not quite a clunk. I think it was just from drive train shock from hard driving. I never drive the car like this so in my opinion I think everything is good as the drive line now feels rock solid. I do not get any noise or vibration from this setup either. If you have any questions please post them and I will do my best to address them.

Thanks for the info guys. I know my strut inserts are good as I did them not that along ago. I double checked to ensure they were seated properly and allowed no movement with the gland nut installed. I have a lift but I cannot put enough rotational torque on the driveshaft to simulate the load needed to move whatever is being moved. With the previous "sandwich" setup I tried moving everything I could using my adjustable safety stand. Everything seems rock solid. I am debating on removing the webbed bushing from the mustache bar and install some poly bushings. I have some extra Prothane snubber bushings so when I go back to the sandwich setup, I may cut less off so the diff is tighter in the sandwich. Wife is out of town this weekend so the Z will get plenty of attention.

This is a legit offering. Its being put on by DPAN, Datsun Parts and Needs and has been on Facebook for a little while now. I believe the organizer is Isaiah Thomas.

Just a thought, you may want to check your timing and fuel. If your car is running lean it will cause the exhaust gas to be hotter than normal, thus making everything else how that it flows through.

I am currently in the middle of trying to pinpoint the rear clunk I am getting from my '71 240z. I recently installed a GM transmission mount that replaced the trimmed cone bump stop in my RT diff mount bracket. I did not re-install the lower diff mount as many owners have claimed not to need it once they moved to this setup. Additionally, there does not appear to be enough room for the old mount. Unfortunately the clunk is still there but I wanted to get opinions on the state of my old lower diff mount as I do not think I will be keeping the GM trans. mount due to the head of upper bolt greatly interfering with the parking brake cable mechanism. Looking at the condition on the surface the mount does not appear to have very many miles on it. It is a true Nissan part but I am curious, should the lower plate and upper plate of the mount be that close together or should there be more space between the two? Using my digital calipers in the middle of the mount, the distance from the outer edge of each plate is 25.15mm. Also, the rubber you see between the two plates in the middle is just flashing when the other rubber blocks were were molded in to the mount. If they come in contact with each other you should definitely hear metal on metal. Does anyone have a new lower diff mount sitting around they can provide some photos and measurements of? Everything I see online does not have a good side shot of the mount. Thanks!

My apologies Steve. I was not aware the pictures of the orange Z above were pictures of the car. Thank you for providing them.

Did anyone grab pictures of it? I would have liked to have seen it.

Okay. So you can get the nuts off of the top but the long bolts are stuck? If that is the case, just drop the diff to work on getting them out. You are taking everything else apart, getting the diff out, cleaning, painting it along with a drain and re-fill of fluid will help round out your rebuild efforts.

Total Z Parts shows to have 1 pair in stock - $105. Yikes! https://totalzparts.com/product/datsun-240z-260z-280z-rear-differential-insulator-mustache-bar-bushings-nos/ Zedd Saver - $100 for the pair. Shows to be for 240z only but unsure if they work with 260z and 280z https://www.zeddsaver.com/collections/exterior-rubber/products/datsun-240z-mustache-bar-bushings Is this what the OP is looking for? Are they wanted for factory correctness? Why not go with the ES poly bushings?

Which hardware is giving you an issue at this point? You indicate you are working on the diff mount and you have the struts out but I cannot picture which fasteners are giving you trouble. I did a full rear suspension rebuild on the '72 240z I owned and can't remember anything but the spindle pins giving me any real trouble.

Congrats Johnny and welcome to the club. Wow! Slaughtered is definitely the right word for that wiring harness. I assume your plans to are to replace all of it at this since there is no telling what is what anymore? We look forward to your updates!

Good news, the Ebay transmission was exactly as described. It is made by DEA products and seems to be a quality unit. Once I had the old one out and placed it next to the new one, it was obvious the old mount was shot. Installation was straight forward and drama-free. Unfortunately on the test drive it did not cure the clunking I am getting at the rear. When I am driving the car if I have built up some engine speed, 3500 - 4000rpm and quickly lift off the gas, I feel and hear the clunk. Getting the same engine speed and slowly let off the gas, I do not hear or feel any clunk. With the rear of the car on ramps so I can see how things look with the weight on the wheels, the bottom of the cone bushing in my RT diff mount is touching the top of the diff. An examination of the bottom mount makes me think it is collapsed. My only theory is if the bottom mount is broken it is allowing the nose of the diff to point down while accelerating, creating a gap in between the top of diff and the cone bushing. Then when I let off the nose of the diff hits the cone bushing thus resulting in clunk. In looking at the mustache bar bushings, it has newer bar stopper bushings but its hard to tell the condition of the bushings in the mustache bar itself. What do you think my next move should be? *My apologies for the low light pictures, it was hard to create a good amount of light under the car.

Good news. I spent the afternoon re-syncing and re-adjusting the carbs. As I had noticed the idle getting rougher I had made adjustments to the carbs on the fly. I now realize i was making these adjustments to compensate for the dying coil. With everything back within factory spec and a little tweaking, the car idles like a purring kitten at 900 rpm. I took it on a spirited test drive, winding the motor out to 6500 rpm on several pulls. She still had more in her but I do not like to push it as the car is a cruiser and has its original engine. Power band felt really good so I think I am all set. I am going to drive it again tomorrow evening on a cold start and see how it does. As a final question, once I got back I looking everything over and noticed by accidental touch the coil was hot. Using my IR temp gun it red 121 degrees F. Is this normal or am I some how slowly killing this coil too?

I agree with everyone else. Your plans would not negatively effect the value at this point since much of the original interior material is gone. It is hard to tell from the photos but your seats look like series-2 reclining seats as I do not see the knobs on the sides. Since you want to go with something more modern this is a non-issue. The only thing I would suggest is pulling the half-cap out and replacing it with a full dash cap. With some nice paint, a clean engine bay, and a clean interior, your car should be competitive at any show. More people are looking at these cars, even the die-hard American only old timers. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Congrats! A one owner Z is a great find. Looks like it will be sharing space with some other high caliber vehicles. Enjoy!

Right on! I will just drive it and see what happens. I saw the same reviews of it so hopefully it will give years of trouble free service.

Good questions and good catch Zed. I corrected my post as it was supposed to say "resistor" and not "regulator" The oil coil had no markings of any kind on it, I still have it. The new coil is a MasterPro 2-5195. The website just says 12V. It does not provide any other specs. I checked the resistance of the resistor on the car, it was 80 degrees (its been a hot day) and I got 1.7 Ohms. I picked up a new resistor and it was 1.8 Ohms so this leads me to believe the resistor is good. I could not get a Ohm reading on the old coil with the leads on + and - terminals. My digital tester would constant hunt, sometimes as high as 30 ohms, sometimes as low as 2 ohms. My new coil reads 1.5 ohms across the + and - terminals. Should I consider going back and getting the 6V coil? Should I check the voltage of what is being sent out of the coil to the distributor? Looks like I could slide the boot back and stick a piece of wire in to it, start the car, and check it with my digital multi-tester.

So I went and picked up my coil at the auto parts store and installed it. While everything was out of the way I cleaned up all the oil, cleaned the wiring, and I had to replace a spade connector as the original broke upon removal. It says on the coil "12V Use With Primary Resistance Wire Or External Resistor." They also had a coil that said 6V "No External Resistor Required" My coil also has a condenser connected to the positive side of the coil. Not sure why it is is there as the distributor has one too but I put it back in place. Was this as they came from the factory? The car starts and runs fine, tach seems to be back to normal too. I will check everything in the morning when the car has sat over night and is completely cool. When I take my readings I will get the temp of items using my IR temp gun. A good drive with some high RPMs will help determine if any real change has been accomplished. The upholstery shop did not do anything to the car. The tach was acting wonky when I left to go drop it off in the morning.

Yesterday as I drove my 240z home from the upholstery shop the tachometer took on a mind of its own and the car seemed down on power and running rough at idle. Once I got home I looked under the hood and immediately saw my coil was leaking oil. Worse yet, it looks like it has been doing this for awhile, how did I miss this? Anyway, I have a new coil on the way but also wanted to test the ballast resistor. With the car running, if I ground the negative lead of my digital multi-tester against the body and place the positive lead on the resistor terminal on the right I get 13.65V. If I place it on the left terminal with the + sign I get 11.74V. From what I have read the voltage going out of the resistor should be closer to 6V. With the engine turned off and the resistor disconnected I get 2.1 ohms across the terminals and the audio signal from my multi-meter that there is continuity between the two terminals. Again, the engine runs but not that well and I sure the coil oil leak is a big contributor to that. Do I need to get a new resistor? Is it possible it is broken or damaged even though the car run and it has continuity?