MikeW

I wouldn't say that I confirmed your statement. In fact, I've always assumed the badge switching thing was a tall tale but it has certainly been repeated many times.

Prepare for story about Mr K. himself standing on a dock removing badges ...

I'd also do a compression test before taking the head off. That might determine that the valve job Carl suggests is warranted but it could also show that a ring job is needed. This could turn into one of those "while you're at it" things but it's true that in the long run you'll save time and trouble doing multiple things at once.

They also park in front of fire hydrants. Historic trivia: in London in the 1700's came the modern advance of burying wooden water pipes to help fight fires. When a fire started people would dig down to the pipe and drill a hole in it. The hole that was dug would fill up with water which could then be scooped out in buckets to fight the fire. Someone then came up with the bright idea of pre-drilling the hole and stopping it up with a plug. They called this a "fire plug".

Yes, I believe it changed for 73. As Arne said the difference is on earlier cars there's a single pointer with multiple notches on the pulley and on later cars there's a single notch on the pulley and an indicator with multiple marks.

I seem to recall the seat bolts being carriage bolts with the squared shoulder that fits in a square hole in the seat track. That way only a nut is needed on the bottom along with any spacers you might want to use. Am I remembering wrong?

Are you sure those aren't the original British SU carbs? Our carbs were manufactured under license by Hitachi.

One minor step that Bob left out: use plenty of penetrating oil like PB plaster or Kroil on the nuts. Your careful planning regarding properly handling the carbs to ensure a quick and easy swap might go out the window with the frustration of rounded nuts or broken studs. The next thing you'll know you'll be tossing the carbs aside and going at it with a sledgehammer.

It seems to me that any competent mechanic should be able to test your charging system: alternator, voltage regulator, and battery. Are you saying that the newly installed voltage regulator is now melting?

Yes, it's a capacitor but I think the common term is condensor. A Google search found this nice explanation: http://www.austin7club.org/Ignition%20Condensors.htm I'd always thought that the condensor was to improve AM radio interference but it looks like protecting the points is a more important use.

Does the driver and passenger door paint look mismatched in person? They do in almost all of the pics.

Wow. $6582.00 for a crankshaft. http://www.zccjdm.com/catalog.php/azcarbum/dt43033/pd858314/KAMEARI_L6_3.2L_CRANKSHAFT_85MM_STROKE_

If it's really HLS30-06018 then it was made around 6/70 and therefore it's a '70 and not a '71.

I don't see the 240Z or Datsun emblems at Courtesy so I don't know how easy they are to find new. It just seems to me that the time and effort put into restoring emblems would easily be offset by the ability to buy new ones. When I painted my car a few years ago I bought a complete from Chloe. I don't have any experience with rechroming the plastic but my understanding of that process leads me to believe that doing only one or two at a time would be quite expensive.

I think that fixing the missing pins would be nearly impossible. Even if you have the broken pins I just don't see a way of re-attaching them. Emblems aren't hard to find. Used pairs are always on eBay and Courtesy Nissan sells them new for $25.08 USD each which is proof that the pair on eBay right now from reddat with a buy it now price of $74.99 is a bad deal. I'd personally just buy them new and be done but if you want to spend the time and effort to restore a set you'd be better off a least starting with used emblems that still have the pins. As a last resort I suppose you can attach yours without the pins using adhesive.

The copper stuff is what I was thinking of. If the flange is pitted that alone may not be enough to cause an exhaust leak assuming there's flat surface surrounding the pits. I'd be more worried about a long scratch or a crack.

Just how bad are the imperfections? It seems like exhaust gasket sealant would fill them in.

I assumed that the original poster was asking for both sides. The left side is always worse than the right due to the exhaust placement.

They are no longer available. If you ever find a NOS set for sale expect to pay over $1000. At least one vendor offers reproduction lenses but I can't comment on the quality and they don't come with the chromed plastic trim which is usually one of the first pieces to deteriorate. http://www.datsunrestore.com/photo4.html One of our members, Zs-ondabrain, offers LED taillight upgrades which includes cleaning up and polishing the lense itself.

Was that same wheel design offered in a material other than magnesium? If so is there an obvious difference besides the weight? Also, I was under them impression that magnesium wheels were for racing only since they could catch on fire and that they've even been banned from some forms of racing for that very reason. Perhaps some countries have less restrictive rules and have no problem with using them on the street?

"This set came off a one owner Z432 in Japan." I'd be curious to know why the wheels came off a one owner Z432. That alone seems strange to me.

It looks like they simply let their domain name expire a few days ago: Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC. Record last updated on 27-Dec-2008. Record expires on 24-Dec-2008. Record created on 24-Dec-2005. </pre>Chances are they just need to renew it.

They seats were red if the interior was red.

How old is the fuel? Sitting 3 months shouldn't be a problem but if you last filled it up 6 months before that it might be.

It's all old stuff that's in good condition. The cover of the price list has a 1978 date on the bottom but you can just look at it and see it's old. It has a monospace type that appears to have been created using a typewriter.