abas

totally mad price. I noticed that one of the bidders who pushed the price up ( but not the eventual winner of the auction)was the same guy who bid huge money for early d hubcaps and for the braided radiator hoses.

Alan Yes I did. What a song and dance. I shan't ever suggest that any one does it the same as I did, without some very tall axle stands or a lot of friends helping out Anything official Nissan sounds expensive, but if I can come up with one at a reasonable price I would go for it. Thanks for the part number. I was hoping that the cut section might be below the gaiter and as such a coat of paint might be enough so as to avoid rechroming. I am hoping someone here can provide a picture of how extreme the bends are.... Cheers, Andrew

Guys and Gals On my 14 year project to get my car back on the road, I have finally got the engine and gearbox into the car. It is a 1970 car and I have fitted a 1972 gearbox. As is usual when putting a later gearbox in an early car I have now got to decide how to sort out the problem with the gearlever now being too far forward in the gearbox tunnel hole. As I have a spare gear lever I would prefer to cut the gear lever and weld in a section to move the piece that protruded into the car back into the right spot, but I do not know where I should cut the lever and how much I should weld in. Has any body done this and can give me some guidance or pictures. Thanks in advance Andrew

I think Mperdue might be winding Mike up somewhat. I have seen some fairly heated messages recently, but I don't what the root cause of it is.

I haven't driven a z for 12 years, so for all I know it will be huge disappointment when I finally get it back on the road (kidding) Andrew

I'll agree with that. I've got a 200,000 mile 1985 small datsun commuter car (micra) that keeps going on and on. Incidentally it is currently using a 240z interior mirror, 240z plug leads and fuel filter so I have some of my z with me most of the time. Andrew

Presumably caused by the Texas heat? In cooler climes mine 'seem' to be OK after 30+years.

Panchovisa Paraffin over here is sold as a liquid heating oil and probably as a wax too like in the US. It can also be used as a cleaning fluid, but its not too harsh as it is oil based. I used to use some when I ran out of WD40 for cleaning up oily old motorbike parts. Having said that I have tried WD40 on this oil stain on the diamond vinyl I have tried to remove and it won't remove it or soften the vinyl. Back to trying Naptha I think Andrew

Thanks for that Alan. Is there a make or any other ID on the cleaner you used? You have got me thinking now. Paraffin is an oil based cleaner ( which I haven't yet tried, with ( as far as I know) similar characteristics to Naptha. I may ( very carefully) try some of that. I've just ditched an old bottle of Armor all. Fortunately as both my cars have been in bits for years I never used it on them. Andrew

James I have found that to install them 'easily' you need to check first whether the area around the lock bolt on the pin itself has been damaged. If the lock bolt is overtightened it can distort the sides of the chamfer on the pin where the lock bolt goes, which effectively increases the diameter of the pin slightly ( making it harder to insert). If you file the distortion down it should make the pin much easier to insert hope it helps Andrew

The interior diamond vinyl in my 1970 car is in good condition but, there is a place on the transmission tunnel vinyl where it touches the floor where it looks as if some oil or something similar has come in to contact with it and has dried, and the vinyl has gone 'stiff', and the edge has 'curled up'. If I was to tried to flatten it out I think it would split/tear. Does anyone know of a way to clean up the vinyl so that it becomes soft again.? As always, any help gratefully received Andrew

On my screen the donations button now obscures part of the latest gallery pictures and some of the latest post info, which is a major pain for me. Anyone else seeing it like this? Andrew

James the HC panel plastic is the same LHD/RHD, but the letters on the adhesive strips below the lever slots are transposed to make the same setting always nearest the driver. That may not be important, but it is relatively easy to remedy though I would think. As Enrique says there are still some new ones on ebay, and if your budget can stretch I would go for a new one, as items like those are probably not going to be around in good/new condition for much longer ( assuming they are not being made any more) Hope it helps Andrew

I don't know about Carl, but some of the aftermarket transmission mounts (including engine mounts) I have seen are made from cheap India rubber. Whilst they fit OK, I don't expect they would last very long compared to OEM.

In theory there were quite a few in the UK, as there are a number of LHD cars that have been imported over here, and converted to RHD. The LHD battery tray is probably discarded in the process as it is handed, and will not transfer across to the other side. If you are really interested in an original battery tray, it might be worth making some enquiries this side of the pond, as there are cars being converted all the time over here, and there are only a few places will actually undertake the conversion, and who might still have the battery tray. Hope it helps Andrew

Jeff I'd say that whilst you describe your project as a 72 swap into a 70 car, it is closer to a rebuild of the 70 car using the 72 as a donor car. Stripping the 72 car will probably not take long but it will not be as simple as taking parts off the 72 car and puting them into the 70, unless you want to put worn parts straight onto your 70 car. The one thing I have found is that a z dismantles and re-assembles quite well in modular chunks, and there is a pretty logical pattern that things have to go back together in. If you are not replacing that many parts it won't take that long to put it all back together again, but you must expect to have some problems along the way though as you are looking at parts/components that are 30+ years old which might not take kindly to being removed from one car to be put on another. I hope you have plenty of space for storage. A dismantled z takes up a lot of room. Perhaps those jet-skis will have to stay outside for a little while Hope it helps Andrew

Luke If they are the originals it might be an idea to replace them anyway. difficult to tell from the photos, but I would definitely replace them if the rubber has a lot of oil contamination, or the rubber has torn/cracked or come away from the metal plates. Andrew

UJ's for the shaft that goes from the gearbox to the diff are different (smaller) than the ones on the halfshafts. Andrew

There are some solvents you can use to flush out the fuel lines that won't damage new paint. I use what is known over here as 'white spirit', a general paint thinner, this doesn't affect the paint once it ( the paint) has hardened.

The difficulty I found with the long rear brake line is that you have to undo the clamps holding in the fuel lines at the same time. Taking all fuel/brake lines out is not a problem, but getting all the lines back in the car again takes a lot of adjusting and fiddling to make them fit up properly. Not difficult, but just fiddly especially if you dont have a car pit to work in. You could just take out the long brake line on its own and leave the fuel lines in, but you still need to undo the clamps for the fuel lines anyway. Do your fuel lines not need any work, or have you already done them? Hope it helpd Andrew

240znz I bought a quartz 260z clock, and swapped in the front face, and front housing. Connectors are different but I just soldered on the leads from a 240z clock. I had to make up a small bracket to attach the newer clock into the 240z dash as the 260z one attaches differently. I couldn't use the rear housing from a 240z clock because the quartz mechanism is so much bigger. I did this myself after trying zclocks.com, but I assume he doesn't ship outside the US as he never replied to my enquiry. hope it helps Andrew

Enrique Do you have a Haynes manual for 240z/260z/280z? The wiring for the relay and switch is in the wiring diagrams in the back of the electrical section. ( for some reason it doesn't appear on the UK spec wiring diagram but it is there on one of the USA wiring diagrams - strange.) If you don't have a copy I will try to scan it for you. Andrew

Enrique on my 1972 HS30 (UK spec) car there is an extra relay attached to the cardboard kick plates next to the driver's footwell, that is operated by the button on the end of the indicator stalk. I thought about trying to fit this into my 1970 HLS30 car, but as the stalks go on different sides ( LHdrive compared to RHD) I might have to retrofit both the turn signal switch and the headlight switch. I have not gone into it any further than this. Hope it helps Andrew

Perhaps the PO tried to retrofit a later wiper motor into your car with different connectors and wiring. I know the connectors changed significantly between the 240z and 260z. Andrew

GTO replica? be good to see some photos