Matthew Abate

Alright! All those holes have been tapped. I started with the largest diameter (easiest) and worked through to the smallest (most difficult) in case the last one needed a drill, which it didn’t. The one in the photo above was the first one, which gave me mostly just rusty sludge and a little coil of por-15 that had dripped into the first few threads. The last one yielded the same rusty sludge plus a bunch of shiny silver metal. Now they are all clean, shiny, and the same size. I can’t find a difference I can’t blame on my micrometer being less than top shelf and my test bolt feels pretty much the same in all of them. I did the brake caliper and dust shield bolts, too, since I was in that mode already.

Problem solved. Ran the tap. Cleaned it out. Ran the bolt. Cleaned it out. Ran the tap. Cleaned it out. It’s bright and shiny and very little damage to the threads. The bolt goes in smoothly but not easily. Feels correct now. I have some new bolts coming to replace this cheep junk.

Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about. I have a time-sert kit waiting to be ordered in case I need to repair them. Here’s the deal with the measurements in millimeters: ZCD’s Stainless Steel bolts: 60.06 long (28.96 grip, 31.1 threads) Strut-base hole depth: 16.04 to 17.55 (top is angled) Front knuckle hole depth: 13.93 Rear knuckle hole depth: 11.6 Spacer hole depth range: 25.83 to 25.04 M12 lock nut thickness: 2.5 New Front Bolt: Min - 16.04t / 41.47gl (57.51mm), Max - 17.55t / 42.26gl (59.81mm) New Rear Bolt: Min - 16.04t / 39.14gl (55.18mm), Max - 17.55t / 39.93gl (57.48mm) I found a place that has 55mm long grade-8 bolts for the rear knuckle holes, although I could just get thicker lock washers. I’m not going to find anything where the grip length and thread lengths are different and I don’t want to cut them, so there are going to be some threads inside of the spacer. If I gets 60mm bolts and let them go all the way through (which looks okay from a quick google image search) I can keep it simple AND put more grip inside the spacers.

The measurements of the hole diameters on my struts from my micrometer are as follows: Left Front: 10.71 Left Rear: 10.68 Right Front: 10.52 Right Rear: 10.43 So not a full MM off, but enough to explain why the 11mm tap went it like it was the right size and why these aftermarket bolts are having a hard time. I’m pretty sure running an m12x1.25 tap through them will solve this.

Not sure of anything, but I didn’t notice any inserts when I inspected them before refinishing them. I used a micrometer on them and I’m starting to think it is poor machining tolerance rather than a totally different size. There’s a very wide range across the four holes. I *might* be able to force a 12mm bolt into the small ones, but I think I’ll just run taps through them to make them even so I don’t break a bolt. The 11mm tap goes in pretty easily, but it’s not sloppy like you would expect from a 1mm diameter difference. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Are all 240z front struts the same? NO! Those two struts have different sized bolt holes. On the left you see m12x1.25 holes, and on the right you see m11x1.5 holes. I think this was done by a previous owner. Either the bigger holes were retapped or one of the struts came from a different year car. There was suspicious overspray of body color on these parts when I pulled them, so something definitely happened here. BUT! The bolts I got with my bump steer spacer kit are m12x1.25, which means the manufacturer of those probably match them to a bigger size, so maybe m12x1.25 is right on some cars. *** Regardless, I have a drill and a tap coming in the mail. Now I’m going to find some grade 8 or higher bolts to replace the stainless ones that came with my spacers.

They ended up pulling the tire well Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

I just asked the shop about drilling out the spot welds on the spare tire well. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Some people call it the rear valance or apron: https://zcardepot.com/rear-valance-apron-roll-pan-sheet-metal-240z-260z-280z

I’m looking at the roll pan on Z Car Depot and wondering if this is the best option for replacing the caved in one on my car. The spare tire well makes beating this thing back into shape way more expensive than just welding in a new one, so I was just about to pull the trigger on this, and then I started wondering if it would be better to try to find one someone has on a dead car. ZCD wants $253 after shipping, which is QUITE a lot. If I can finagle free shipping it would be $189, which still feels high. Thoughts?

I’m missing something. The Z Home site doesn’t have anything that tells him how to mix the paint.

So this is all I need then? Why did I think that would be so hard? I feel like we should make a sticky thread that has this for all the years.

So my painter was supposed to scan the paint before they finished the sandblasting, but they didn’t do it, so now he’s asking me to find out what formula he should use while he tries to figure it out on his end. The car was 918 originally, but the several threads I’ve found about that paint are inconclusive. I remember seeing someone say they figured out the right formula so it doesn’t end up dark sludgy orange brown and comes out the right spicy orange that it’s supposed to be. If anyone can point me to the right threads or just tell me what I should tell the painter I would appreciate it. So far the only advice I have found is "get the leaded PPG formula," get "Dupont Chromo-based paints," and the code is "PPG 60636," but I don't know if that is adequate. I also found this on a site called Paintref.com: Year: 1972 Make: Datsun Color Name: Mexican Orange Code: 918 Ditzler PPG: 60636 Dupont: 8715 Sherwin Williams: 4334 Is that all he needs? Any help would be much appreciated!

Problem solved:

Okay, all of this was valuable feedback, so thanks. I've decided to not risk jumping on wheels right now and to wait until I have the whole thing back together. There was a sale on the Group4 wheels I've been looking at, but it won't be their last one. In other news…

That’s a great deal Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Man that looks nice. I’m not normally a fan of that style of wheel for S30s when I see them on a website or off the car, but these look soooooo good mounted. Thanks for the comment on rolling the fender, too. I'm glad to hear someone successfully runs 8.5" rear wheels, although I wasn't clear what you ended up using in the front. I’m going to the body shop today, so I’ll discuss it with them. Is the rubbing issue always on the outer lip or is there an issue on the inside as well?

Still not clear on that 8” wheel in the back question. Is that too wide for my setup? Can anyone say definitively? I’ve seen people say yes definitely and I’ve seen people say it’s no issue.

Interesting. I didn’t know that. I’m seeing that 8” is too big for my damper/spring combo in the back. If I go square it’s probably got to be 7” so steering isn’t heavy but I’m maxing out my contact patches. Makes finding wheels easier, I guess. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Last time I did this was a corvair, which has the same kind of needs of maximum contact patch in the back and narrower front tires to lighten steering weight. I’ve been told that works in general for cars that don’t have power steering. So if I go square I would go with 15x7s +0 all around with 205/60-15s, right?

I am looking at getting some custom wheels made and was looking at 15x6.5 in the front and 15x8.5 in the back. Does anyone have any experience with that width in the back? Are 15” wheels hard to get good tires for? Is that too narrow in the front? I’ve read a bunch of threads on these issues on this forum as well as others and there’s too much noise to draw a consensus. Hayashi Racing told me to get 15x7.5 with +6 offset all the way around. I think 16” wheels look wrong, but I also want to be able to get tires. Also, I have the eibach springs and Tokico Illuminas to take into account.

My old bolt vs the eBay 210/310 bolt. Problem solved.

Found some from a 210/310 on eBay. I have a feeling they aren’t the same, but they were $15 for 4 so I too the gamble. We shall see. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Yeah, that’s a problem too. I’ve read and been told not to use a regular washer with a split lock washer, so I’m trying to source some more correct bolts or a m10 split lock washer that is at least 4mm thick. Tall order. These might work: http://www.dli-teknik.se/index.php?section=products&subsection=7&cat=83&s1cat=578&s2cat=1056&showprod=10154&lang=en I called ARP and they said these were probably custom manufactured by them for this distributor. Looking into the details. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

I just got off the phone with them. They had only checked them on 260/280Zs so that’s part of the problem. My options are find some OEM ones (just emailed Jim), find thicker lock washers, or grind these down. I don’t like the grinding option because I would be reducing the thread contact area from the intended design. For reference: Bolt = 40209-22000 (NLA) m10x1.25, 27mm long, 10mm grip length Lock washer = 08915-14010 m10x3mm thick