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Thanks for the replies guys, I think I may buy this seat belt kit from the victoria british catalog, it doesn't look stock style exactly, but at this point I am not really concerned about that. Any other thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks, Andrew

:surprised Yeah, you are probably right about it not being a good idea. No clue about any of the laws regarding that here. If I buy a belt from a 70-71 240z that does not have the retractor, will it easily mount in my 72 with the buckets for the belts? I think I would rather just use that than deal with this stuff anyway, not to mention it would probably be safer. Thanks, Andrew

The drivers side lap belt in my '72 240z wouldn't retract after I pulled it out too far and I just got done taking it apart and trying to fix it. I am guessing that the inside end of the coiled up band of metal is supposed to have some sort of bend in it to interface with the slot in the spindle without slipping under tension? I reassembled it multiple times and every time I would get it working, the metal would slip back out again after a few pulls/retracts. The band was very brittle and had a lot of surface rust between the layers so I could not create a new bend in it to allow it to interface with the spindle properly. Does anyone know if I can find a new coil anyplace, or do you think it would be easier to just find another set of retracting belts? I may just sand down the rust on the inside end and use some epoxy or something to hold it in. Any better ideas? Thanks, Andrew

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=2403886718

Thanks for the replies guys, I can't wait until I have some time to go poke around in my car this weekend. Alansz : no idea why the previous owner didn't have it installed, but I am hoping that the hole isnt just wide open letting in dirt and other junk. Anyone have any idea what kind of repair/work I would have to expect if there is nothing in the hole for the reverse switch (worst case, i.e. oil going out, dirt going in)? Also, the temp on the gauge when the car is warmed up is around 200 or so. Is this normal? I have no documentation yet, so i'm not quite sure what to expect. Also, the front bumper is not sitting straight. It does not appear to be damaged, and the braces connecting the bumper to the front end look straight on both sides. I haven't messed with it yet, but it looks just bolted on. This is pretty easy to adjust, right? (mounted too low on passenger side) Thanks, Andrew

I think my expectations were a little too high, this being a 30 year old car and also my first experience with a car this old. I absolutely love the car, and am keeping it. I plan on fixing a lot of the things I initially found wrong with it, even though I do not think I got a very good deal since the guy selling it to me flat out lied about several things to artificially drive up the price. I posted a longer related post in the open discussion forum. Andrew

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, i've been quite busy studying since I am in college. I was pretty miffed at first, because the guy selling it had basically built it up to be a car in superb condition, inside/out and mechanically. This did not prove to be the case. I considered sending it back under the terms of our secure pay agreement, but after driving it for a bit and throughly enjoying myself, I couldn't stand the thought of sending it back. It has a little rust here and there (none that will be too bad to get rid of when I have time to treat it this summer), and the engine will need some work as it is currently burning some oil, but I decided I would just fix the existing problems as it seems like it is well worth the time and effort. I paid $7500 for the actual car, and then about $700 for the shipping. Might not be what most consider a good deal, but at least I learned a few important lessons from the whole thing. Now I need to get my hands on a '72 factory service manual and I can really get to work on the weekends. Initially, I have a few problems that maybe you guys could give me some advice on before I have time to get my hands dirty this weekend: 1) The drivers side lapbelt will no longer retract. The 3rd time I drove it, I pulled the seatbelt out too far i'm guessing, and it will no longer retract. I have yet to get it inspected or registered, and I think this would prevent me from passing the safety requirements. Any ideas? 2) Reverse switch on the transmission needs to be installed. For whatever reason, the previous owner did not bother to install it during his "restoration," so I ordered a used one from Z Barn, and it just came today. The gentleman at Z Barn told me it was relatively easy to install given that I can access the underside of the car easily. Should I be able to do this without referring to the FSM? The switch has 2 unlabeled leads coming off, and i'm wondering what the correct wiring should be since I do not have an FSM and haven't had a good look at the underside since the day after it got here. I have yet to take the car to be inspected because I am pretty sure this missing part alone would block passage. 3) Some blue smoke comes out the exhaust while accelerating. Does this likely mean I will need to replace the piston rings or some similar engine repair? The previous owner did not seem to care too much for changing the oil in this car unfortunately. 4) Shifter is extremely sloppy, and I sometimes cannot find gears. I have read about a set of replacement bushings for my tranny that will make it feel tighter and more precise again. Are these commonly available at nissan dealerships? If you guys have any other recommendations for things I should check (i.e. stuff that might be worn out or damaged that would need replacing from age), I would be glad to hear them.

I think I should also note that the current color and original color are both orange, so unless they applied the same paint to the underside of the car, I guess I should assume that the orange/reddish areas are rust?

this is a closeup. the above attached damage pics were the result of the shipping company improperly restraining the vehicle.

more attached pics

It suddenly occured to me while driving out to dinner (and passing a large car carrying semi like mine was delivered on) that the damage I had been so worried about was actually the result of the shipping company chaining it down improperly! By the time I went to the parking lot to meet the truck, they had already released it from the restraints. I will attach pictures, I am not sure what I should do about this should I choose to keep it. I feel that it is a decent car in many ways, but has several flaws that the owner lied to me about. I have been thinking about it intensely all day, and am beginning to think "maybe I wont find one with such a clean body for a LONG while." I was a little too quick to judge I think, mainly because I expected a little bit too much out of a 31 year old car. This being my first classic car I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I will post some other pics as well. The previous owner had a rather sloppy paint job (overspray onto gaskets, some fixtures, etc) applied to it 4 months before. I did a bondo check with a magnet and couldnt really find any spots that were not ferrous. The spare tire well area seemed to be in good condition, no real rust that I could detect. He basically told me that he had the "underbody washed" and then "sprayed it down with black spray paint" as opposed to doing any sort of real rust treatment and undercoating because he said he does not need it in california, but I am worried that he just did it to cover up a rust problem. I am posting some attached images, and some of the larger high resolution ones to show certain areas of concern to a seperate webserver. http://www.wildshot.net/DSC03280.JPG (2560x1920 2.1mb) Pic of cracking on one of the sparse patches of undercoating (subsequently sprayed over with spray paint) that is beginning to crack, and I believe there is rust underneath it, but to what extent I could not tell without just stripping it all off. This particular area is on the drivers side floor pan. http://www.wildshot.net/DSC03266.JPG (2560x1920 2.1mb) Overall pic of the underside of the front section. You can see some of the damage to the right hole at the center of the brace that is southeast of the oil pain in the picture, as well as the appearance of reddish-brown from underneath the spray paint he applied. I did not observe it at the time, but the camera flash made it visible in the photos. The same is true of the photo of the floor pan area Any advice you guys may have would be much appreciated. Thanks, Andrew edit : fixed a typo

The car looked great when it got here, supposedly "rust free" and "dent free" and "running great," but this was not the case. I'm a little short on time, so I cant give a full explanation of all the things I found wrong with it, but I will post more when I get home later tonight. One of the things that concerned me the most was the deformation of the drivers side frame rail, so I am attaching that picture right now. What do you guys think about it? I havent bought it yet, and after seeing the condition of certain areas and the engine putting out blue smoke under load, I am inclined to send it back to california. The owner, one "Ray Toms" or "Jerold C. Rule" (I can't tell who I am dealing with here, because the Ray Toms character claims to be the owner but said after the transaction had begun that the title was in the name of Jerold C. Rule) Ray Toms (I think) has been giving me lots of garbage. The engine only had about 3 quarts of oil in it, extremely black when we took it out, and he claimed that he changed it less than 1000 miles back, he flat out lied about the condition of the car, basically making it out to be a near show quality car (it is FAR from it). I bought this over ebay and had it shipped here, but I am using the securepay option, so I have the right to reject the merchandise by tommorow and then ship it back at my own expense. Given the discovery of rust in various places (camoflagued by black spray paint) I am going to send it back. I just want to post here to A) get an idea of what happened to this car, and make sure that NONE of you get suckered by this guy. He is a congenital liar, and I recommend that none of you do business with him when he makes an attempt to sell it again later. Thanks, Andrew

My 1972 240Z finally got here from california. The body is in pretty good shape, with no detectable rust (except under the battery tray, but the previous owner says it has been there for a very long time) and found no bondo while checking with a refridgerator magnet. I have a few problems though: I don't have an owners manual yet, and when I checked the oil, it was extremely low! The treaded part of the dipstick wasnt even oiled up when I pulled it out, and the oil that was on the tip of the dipstick was pretty dark in appearance. I plan to change the oil tommorow before I even THINK about driving it anywhere else, and I need to know how many quarts of oil it takes, and what type of oil and oil filter you experienced owners recommend. Also, for other Texas members, what exactly do Texas inspections include for a car of this year? The owner told me the reverse switch in the tranny is missing, so I think this would be in violation, correct? I will upload some pics in the next few days. Thanks, Andrew