inline6

HA! That brought back a memory. We got NBC - channel 29, and PBS, sort of... and CBS "kinda" if the weather was "odd". Nowadays, I bet I watch less than 4 hours of TV a year. I do watch movies and some series on Netflix... occasional movies on Amazon, and a lot car related content and some premier league soccer highlights on Youtube. Projector and screen in the entertainment room... and a 45" (I think) that I barely use... in the main living area. Recording and watching auto racing sounds like something I'd like. By the way, the people they use in television commercials now generally disgust me. I guess that is a far as I will go with that.

I've found myself looking at that one a few times. I think it has promise. Price is high relative to current market in my opinion.

What about sourcing a correct metal tank? My 6/71 has a metal tank that fits. Let me know if you want pics of the mounting brackets on the car.

Hi Katz, There is a bonnet catch bracket on eBay right now.

I noticed my cowl panel was "oil canning" a bit on the right side and it wasn't sitting down on the foam padding (closed cell) like it was on the left side. Perhaps that sand blasting of the panel I did a long time ago distorted it a bit? Can't really tell from the pics: It pained me to do it, but I ground off the primer and filler from the top surface of the right side, worked on it to shrink the metal, and after the oil canning was corrected, put new epoxy primer, and filler on. Finishing up with that today and will apply primer. Something I found that may be useful to others: There is no height adjustment on cowl panel "per se". In order to adjust for any mismatch in height between the fender inner edge and the top surface of the cowl panel, you have to bend the cowl panel sheet metal. After stripping it to bare metal again, I was messing with bending it and noticed that this area is very thin, probably thinner than originally because of stripping off the paint: I noticed that even relatively light pressure applied at the corner there caused this thin part to flex and the height of the corner to move a little. And, in fact, the tool I was using to shrink the metal "blew through it" in one spot. So, I decided to make that area stronger to keep the panel from moving later (after paint). Front, back, and card board template: Template shape transferred to metal, the cut out piece, the spot welding tool to minimize heat: Front and back after welding: I performed this mod to both sides of the cowl panel. 9 and 1/2 hours of work yesterday. Time to get back to it.

Stumbled across this today and downloaded a copy. Lots of interesting info for the Z and other Datsun's here including production run changes with VINs, and other things like the original add on (after-market) air conditioning info. http://240260280.com/Docs/TSB/Technical_Bulletins_1969_1972.pdf

His name was Ben Herman. His Obituary. He used to buy 240z's (only) that he found out about a printed, regional publication that was around at the time. It may have been called "old car trader"? Whatever it was called, I recall seeing his ads in it and that is how I came to meet him. At the time I dealt with him 1994/1995, he kept everything in his basement. The Fairlady Z we parted out had some interesting parts on it. It was very restorable (he said is was a shame to part that one out) but I was 25 at the time and in the middle of a restoration on my 1971 Z (my first one that I still have) that was taking all of my time and money (cost me my girlfriend eventually too!) Anyway, it had a 5 speed, a 3.70 rear diff, and some really thick rubber, floor and hatch mats. I recall them being about like a quarter to half inch thick. They appeared to be factory. Right hand drive of course, with L20A engine. Anyway, it sounds like he built that inventory out quite a bit. I know is inventory of early Z parts was extensive as he had special interest in the early cars.

$380 Canadian in 1982 is the equivalent of $1,048 Canadian now. $779 US dollars. I think they might be worth $800-$1000 US each.

I forgot to mention that if there are aftermarket reproductions available for an item you want to establish a value for, you will want to consider that. An aftermarket fender for the Z exists for $250 plus shipping. Though, from the description, it is obviously not the same quality as OEM.

Nice to have all that space so you can add whole cars! I bought a few parts from a guy in Midlothian VA in the early 90's who bought unwanted 240z's and put all of the parts in his basement. I even contacted him and co-bought a right hand drive Fairlady Z when I was knee deep in the rebuild of my first 240z. He had a pickup with an engine crane mounted in the bed. Several hours of work and he had picked that car clean. Doing this in the 90's, I wonder how much inventory he stashed away. Lost touch with him and saw he died several years ago. Wonder what happened with the parts. Do you have any nice, original carpet jute pieces?

Yeah - I would love to see pics of them too! Regarding determining the value of parts, I'll offer up the following that may help: On eBay, you can search and see completed listings. And eBay keeps the completed listings on the site for quite some time, so there is a decent span of time to look through. To get to them, click on advanced on the top right here (I highlighted yellow): On the next screen, click the check box for "completed listings": Then, if you haven't put in search words up above, do so and click the search button. Scan the results for results that ended with items sold as opposed to just expired. No NOS 240z fenders there, but this can be helpful to get some transaction data points between buyers and sellers which are recent for many items. eBay has hefty fees for the seller. So, you may want to keep in mind that the final sale price is not what the seller gets. I sold a NOS dashboard a year or so ago on eBay for around $1400 US. The fees to eBay were something like 14%. Ridiculous. So, I avoid selling anything on eBay if I can. Also, shipping can be very expensive unless you get a discount through a business (like your workplace) that gets good rates. That shipping cost, almost always paid for by the buyer, is included in the buyers valuation. So, if something has a market value of $1000, but costs $500 to ship, then that buyer is not likely to spend more than $500 for the item regardless of the $1000 value. A buyer that can pick it up without shipping, on the other hand will likely pay the $1000 value.

I'll send you a pm!

Oh! Can I have them?

What month of manufacture is your 1971 Z?

Thanks for letting us know. Craigslist functionality is geographic/regional by default, so it can be hard for buyers outside your area to find the info. Do you ship, or do you find that you can find enough buyers in your region? Here is a tip for searchers if they have time and patience. It works to look at listings on Craigslist in more than one's own geo area using the special Google search command "site:" put your search words first, then a space, then "site:craigslist.org" like this: The special site: search works for any site. I use it to find stuff on Amazon without looking through all the garbage they want to push (their search results are awful). I also use it for searching this site. For example, try "original carpets site:classiczcars.com". Do not include the www. or https or whatever is in front.

I think there must be too much "friction in the process", meaning providing information about what exists to be sold by the seller, and an any easy way for the buyer to find what one needs without wasting time viewing items not needed, etc. eBay, forums, craigslist, Facebook, etc. are where people are spending time looking. But, each is lacking. Also, a lack of motivation/desire/initiative is an issue preventing selling/buying. Can I hit you up with a PM of my current list of stuff I am after?

Thanks for the head's up. I placed an order.

If I am honest, one of the reasons I started this thread is that I know there are people here who have lots of spares, but the classifieds section doesn't get much attention. Perhaps the classifieds section is too cumbersome to use. There are certainly parts in the hands of members here that will never make their way back into cars and that is a shame. So everyone, please consider this an opportunity to tell the other members that you have parts that you would be willing to let go of. Your post could just be - "I have some parts I'd be willing to let go of". Or, you could include a description and pictures. Hell, if you need help creating a listing for the classifieds, let me know. I'll help and see how that goes. Help prevent liquidation of your Z stuff at an estate auction (or from being thrown in the garbage) after you are dead. And, if you don't want to sell stuff, but just want to share cool parts in your possession, then please do! And please provide pics! I recently scored on eBay by buying a NOS lock that came with these:

Thanks for the compliment! I know, right?! I know exactly what you mean. Driving my P car can be a bit nerve racking. I may find that driving this car will feel very much the same. I mean... the hours I have in the body work now are quite outrageous. But, I can't stop my quest for the best I can do. And I also can't avoid driving my cars. So, this car will see spirited driving indeed.

Is the embossing on the vinyl by Distinctive Industries as deep/defined as the original? I have the sense from pictures that it is not. But I haven't compared them in person.

I appreciate the compliment - thank you! It's been a while since I provided an update, but I have been working hard on body work, trying to finish it up. I actually have been redoing some body work that I was not happy with. For example, I realized I was not going to be happy with the right front fender. I got it as good as I could, and then realized that the rear edge of the wheel opening was pushed in a little. You can see it here: The fender was hit in this area, and when I worked to straighten it, I did not realize that this corner was still pushed in some. I spent hundreds of hours most likely on this fender in total only to have to redo it. I actually got out my Port-o-Power and jacked against the part of the fender in the corner of the yellow lines to push it out. That cracked some of the primer and filler. And of course, I sanded the effected area back to metal and started with body work again. Additionally, I have spent a lot of time on door fitment. Some pics: For the door gaps, I aligned the doors to the best possible position first. This averaged out the gaps at the front, rear, and bottom. Additionally, the door shells (empty of all parts and hardware) are somewhat "flexible". That is to say, I twisted them a bit to then find the best fit for the outside edge of the door panel with that of the fender and that of the quarter panel. From that point forward, filler and primer were used to get the surfaces to match from fender to door, and from door to quarter panel. Left door - to left quarter panel: Left door to left fender: To get the fit this close, I am fixing the door into position where it can't move, and then use sanding blocks across the gaps. So, the surfaces of the adjacent panels become continuous. Right side door to quarter panel: Right side door to fender: Right side door gaps: None of it is perfect, but I am trying. I've got very little time left before I have to hand it over to the painter. I made plans back in November to drop it off to them in January. But that was before reworking the fender and so now I am running behind. I have precious little time left to finish up!

I've been restoring a 240z for over 4 years now, and in that time, I have been having fun collecting parts for it. It seems to me that there is a fun aspect of this car hobby that comes from finding and obtaining old Datsun parts. I suspect there are many of us here who are "hoarders", those who engage is this aspect of the hobby and who have collected either a large amount of Z parts, or perhaps, some amount of quite valuable Z parts? Or, both? So, who are you on the spectrum? Are you focused on collecting parts for just one car... or do you have a hoard to be envied in either its massive size, or high value? And please share some description or pictures of the discontinued/rare exceptional parts you have.

I saw that one in person when I visited Duncan Imports. He has quite a neat collection. https://www.duncanimports.com/exotic-used/Datsun/1972-Datsun-240Z-afe8c89e0a0e0adf0b3b8914a942e2ed.htm

I received the keying kit I bought on eBay. Not sure how complete it is, but looks good: I took the wafers out of the hatch lock that I do not have a key for (row 1) and then looked through the kit to pull out matching wafers (row 2) along with the matching tumbler number from the kit (on the paper). So, if the kit calls them tumblers, they are not wafers? With the wafers (tumbers) all out of the cylinder, I can confirm that the cylinder is the part that is different with regard to R or L or whatever type keys. So, you need the cylinders to match for keying all locks to one key. Also, here are some pics of the part of the hatch lock that seems to wear most. This chrome plated sleeve has the "bar" inside that prevents the lock from rotating as the tumblers press up against it. I think this piece is really soft metal. Sure would be nice to have a quality replacement part for these sleeves. First pic is from my "ratty" hatch lock with no key, second and third pics are from my "nice" hatch lock - for this one I took pics of the lower "bar" and upper "bar". So much for appearances. This is the part that needs to be re-plated. Any ideas for repairing the damage to the bars? Get it chrome plated and then use a two part epoxy? Of course, there is always the quip "not worth the trouble" - I know.

As removed from my 6/71 car that lived in AZ for an unknown amount of time, and was subsequently stored (non-operational) in a garage near Denver CO for over 25 years. So, painted black from the factory.