Carl Beck

That is amazingly clean... Don't let Kats see the picture of that Spare - - - Does #32 still have all its chrome Z's in place? Carl B.

Well your bastard child sat all time sales records... so someone must have liked it alot!! Looks like it is in very nice condition overall - I'd keep it stock and enjoy driving it without getting too much money into it. Just spend the time cleaning/detailing/shinning and enjoying it. Dollar for dollar nice clean low milege 280ZX's are a bargan today.. FWIW, Carl B.

Given the mileage and a one owner car - plus the pictures you present - I'd say it is more in the $7,500.00 to $8,500.00 range in the North East. With todays fuel charges you'd be looking at $2K at least to ship a car from the West Coast - plus the cost of you traveling out there to find/buy a car... A green 240-Z that was not nearly that nice sold on E-Bay for $13K a few months ago - I looked at the car and I know who bought it - If I lived in that area, and I wanted to 240-Z I wouldn't be at all afraid to pay $8K for it today... it'll be $10K next year. If the seller ask me, I'd tell him to put it on E-Bay with and opening bid of $6,800.00 and see where it goes from there.. A lot of people have been looking for good 240-Z's for a long time in the North East.. FWIW, Carl B. FWIW, Carl

you can see the inside of the typical dogleg here too: http://zhome.com/Classic/CommonZRust/RustPrevention240Z.htm They can look nearly perfect from the outside... but be just months away from rusting though..

Before you take the plunge - put the car up on a service lift somewhere. Pay to have the car inspected at your local Nissan Dealership - just tell the service writer your thinking of buying the car and you want a general mechanical inspection. Most Nissan Dealerships are glad to do it while you wait... The rust hole in front of the rear wheel arch is typical - even for otherwise solid cars... the floorboards are another story. You'll want to know for that sure they are very solid or not. Floorboards that will need to be replaced, along with the frame rails under them - can knock several thousand dollars off the value of the car. FWIW, Carl B.

With OEM Strut type suspensions - it is the installed height of the springs that determines the ride height of the car. You can install shorter springs and lower the ride height, but because the shock absorber rod is only so long - installing springs with a longer Free Length, will not result in a higher installed height. If you build your own "coil-over" struts with adjustable ride height - you can extend the length of the struts, and fit appropriate length shocks... yes, you can rise the right height. However you have to ask yourself if you want a Sports car sitting up that high to begin with. If the rear tires are just catching the rear fender lip - you can roll the fender lip under. Guys that have done a bit of metal work, body work - usually take a baseball bat and insert it between the tire and fender lip. Then roll the tire forward/backward with the baseball bat in place to roll the fender lip up inside the fender... You have to put a few small cuts in the arches of the fender lips using a hacksaw.... Short of that - as mentioned earlier - get wheels with the right off-set (backspace) and put the right oversize tires on them. FWIW, Carl B.

I think Arne answered your question at Post #6. I'll only add that unless you want to retard your timing - I'd stick with super-unleaded. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Dan: Sounds like you found a well cared for example. I'm with you and your Dad. I too have had just about every type of car I've wanted (including V12 Ferrari and Jag.'s, Porsches, Vette's and Muscle Cars etc). I can honestly say that the Datsun 240-Z's are the best Sports/GT's, regardless of price, that I've ever owned. Over the years every other car has come and gone - but the 72 240-Z that I bought at the end of 71 - always stayed. If I had to get in a car and drive across the US today - it would be the Z that I'd take. For the past 36 years I've been hoping that someone would design/build/sell another Sports/GT that was as good - but so far that hasn't happened. So we'll have to keep the old ones running... Wecome to DATSUN... FWIW, Carl B.

Might not be a matter of the polishing/waxing products you are using - so much as it is the paint itself. The answer really depends on what paint your talking about - it's age and condition etc. If it's the original factory enamel, on a metallic color - your clear coat could be going bad. Enamel drys with a skin coat of solids on the top layer - once you've polished your way through that - the paint will not hold a shine for more than a couple weeks. So you don't want to use anything that is too harsh, or that would remove too much of that skin coat. Lacquers will usually polish up and hold a shine, right down to the primer under them.. that is not the case with the older enamels. FWIW, Carl B.

Check/change the PCV valve - first. See what happens... Bad valve stem seals usually cause smoke on start-up, when oil left in the head drains down the valve stems into the cylinders. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: Are you planing on doing your own rust repair? Can you do the cutting/welding yourself? See: Zedd Findings for floorboard replacements http://www.datsunzparts.com/ See : Tabco for patch panels http://www.tabcobodyparts.com good luck with the project FWIW, Carl B.

That is because by 78 Nissan was installing mag.'s at the factory - but they didn't give you five of them. The spare was still on a steel wheel. FWIW, Carl B.

You are correct. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Alan: Are the slits and cutout areas in the mats - for extensions that allow the seat tracks to be mounted farther forward in the JDM models? Carl B.

I can't, but many people seem to be doing just that. Perhaps the thought that started this thread is more correct than not. The media discussion, the political propaganda and the responding automobile marketers all depend on everyone sucking up the 15 second "feel good" sound bits, and then repeating them as though they were true. Most of us are old enough, experienced enough to know that subjects of this nature are extremely complex to say the least. The problem is we don't usually have the time to personally research any of these "Green Slogans" to find what is being traded-off for the reported end result. We also allow ourselves to be diverted from the objective we all support - ie a cleaner/greener earth for everyone - when we are refocused on simplistic solutions. Simplistic Solution #1 - Americans should drive cars that get better fuel economy. Is the Prius the car that serious environmentalists should put their money into? I use the term "environmentalists" here to actually mean the people that want to care for the earth, in scientifically proven ways; as opposed to the new Socialists politically correct "environmental movement" that is based mostly on junk science and feel good propaganda. For Example: Go Green - Buy a Used Car. It's better than a Hybrid. "As Matt Power notes in this month's issue of Wired, hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt -- one you won't pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so. There's an easy way to avoid that debt -- buy a used car. The debt has already been paid. But not just any used car will do..... See: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr.html or Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d. http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/used_car_reviews/article3552994.ece Here is another interesting perspective: Hummer vs Prius - the Hummer is Greener... http://www.vegfamily.com/earthtalk/hummer-prius.htm Everything is a trade-off, I think we all realize that - - and if we are to really make a difference in the future of our environment - we need to know the entire story. I'm not saying any of the above are true or even perfectly factual - just that they deserve your consideration, and if we are serious about the environment - perhaps we should seek more comprehensive information. We may be lead to doing more harm than good, so that others can profit in the short term. When chicken little is running around yelling "the sky is falling in" - we should learn from experience and be very very critical of that warning... and we should start looking for who is paying that chicken. Keep driving that old Z - its greener than most people realize. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: Three of the 69's I've owned had some the rubber mats - minus the driver side as Jim mentioned. Yes, some of the 510 models also had only rubber mats and yes they are similar.. but not interchangable. I also ordered the rubber mat for the rear of my 72Z, when I bought the car in late 71. Didn't think to order the complete set back then... FWIW, Carl B.

Is your 137 a Right Hand Drive model? That looks just like the Right Hand Passenger side of the Left Hand Drive cars... but then there is no cut-out for accel. pedal either...hummm FWIW, Carl B. Oops... Arne beat me by two minutes...

But the disparity you point out - is between the Past 100 years and the present. The disparity we should be worried about is that of the future. The disparity between North America with it's clean air acts, EPA, CARB and OSHA's etc etc... vs. China/India with none of the aforementioned. The disparity between the damage done by three hundred million people vs that which is going to be done by an additional three or four billion people if they are allowed to continue on their present path. I agree - but the masses are in China/India/Southeast Asia. When they work to become as green as we already are - then we can work on a level playing field from there. It's not just oil - its all fossil fuels. How much soft coal is Canada burning? How much is China burning today? The air is so dirty in China that many Olympic Teams are talking about not attending the games there for fear of their health. I truly believe we need to put the focus on where the major part of the problem will be - not where it was in the past. Of even more concern to me - is the effects of deforestation. If you want to go green - we have to stop cutting every tree in the world down... and that has NOTHING to do with CAFE. FWIW, Carl B.

The article is intended to show you how to do the fix - without welding. You just cut and drill - and bolt together. For example see below - Of course you can replace the mechanical linkage, with a modern cable type - hot rodders do it all the time, but then that might also involve welding new brackets in place.. FWIW, Carl B.

Your comment sounds like sour grapes to me... jealous perhaps? FWIW, Carl B.

Actually the car's body lines curve... and that is one reason many people install the side markers wrong. I think it would be better to say that the lens of the side markers has to be parallel to the car's centerline. just a thought.. Carl b.

The Amount Drive is one thing - but really not that important in the overall game of averages. It's the Passenger Miles Per Gallon that really count. I've been driving Datsun 240-Z's since March of 1970. For many many years the 240-Z was my DD. On typical short trips to/from work, to/from the Mall etc... I was lucky to average 15 mpg in town. Pull the choke on, drive three or four miles and shut the engine down. Same thing on the return trip - and both in stop and go traffic. Today - 38 years later - my wife's Yukon averages 14/15 mpg during the same use, only it's running on unleaded fuel, and has reduced harmful emissions by 98.6%. Where the Z carried only my wife and I on longer vacation trips and averaged about 22/23 mpg... the Yukon carries my wife, my daughter, my dog and I - and averages about 17/18 mpg. The 240-Z and the Yukon break even in stop and go traffic. The 240-Z averaged 44/46 passenger miles per gallon. The Yukon averages 51/54 passenger miles per gallon. "Saving The Environment" used to mean running vehicles at greatly reduced air pollution levels. We have accomplished that in spades!! Now the meaning has been redefined - to using less fossil fuels!!! Overall Consumption has to be world wide!! I suggest that the "using less" discussion needs to be held with China and India FIRST. Every drop of oil we Americans pay to save - fuels China and India's booming industrial economy with cheap oil. It does NOTHING to reduce total consumption. In fact quite the opposite effect. If you believe the world should use less fossil fuels - then the more we Americans use now, the higher the price of oil will be - the higher the price, the fewer Chinese/Indians will be able to afford it, and the slower their economies will grow. We've done our share, we've lead the world in reducing air pollution, removing lead from gasoline etc etc etc - now it's time to hold the other 95% of the worlds population to the same standards. FWIW, Carl B.

Well there is "something"... The SEMA Action Network. Every car club, every car nut should be an active part of it. As far as I know it's the only professional lobby representing "us" at the State and Federal Governmental levels today. They have been and continue to be very successful on our behalf. http://www.semasan.com/ FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Terence: Not just your opinion. Carl B.

Did your Father buy the 73 new in Spokane? Maybe he bought it from me! I was at Jaremko Motors and Valley Datsun in 73. Does he still have the 73 also? Good luck with the restoration.. FWIW Carl B.