87mj

I never thought about spring spacers. They look very well seated on those spring perches. I really didn't want to go with used 280 shock mounts. My '71 mounts are wore out. Getting some that are 5 years newer from a 280 didnt sound smart. My car has 60k miles on it so my used springs are probably less used than most other springs so I was hitting a dead end. I will give that a try.

Thanks both of you for the suggestions. Grannyknot, where did you find those spacers? That looks like you increased your height by 3/4". Is it tricky to find spacers to fit the z coils?

I have a '71 that may be suffering from sagging springs. Does anyone know of a way to return it to factory ride height particularly in the rear? It looks as if all replacement springs lower the vehicles rather than return it to factory height. My existing springs are factory. I was considering installing used 280z rubber shock insulator in the rear. I thought that would raise it up about 3/4". Has anyone done that with any success while retaining factory 240z springs? Would it require 280z shocks too? I would rather go with 240z mounts since those are still available new but it may not be an option. Thanks

Thanks. Looking forward to hearing your results. I was actually considering installing rubber 280z rubber strut mounts on the rear to see if that helped. But I suspect I would need 280z shocks, then perhaps springs, on and on... Then it may not even work. Plus, as I understand it, you cannot get new ones any longer.

I am a bit odd. While many on the forum like lowered springs, I always liked the slight rake in the rear suspension of the 280z compared to the 240z. I never liked the squat in the rear of the 280zx. I am about to replace my factory shocks and my rubber strut mount insulators on my '71. I drive the car about 1,000 miles per year and it has about 60,000 miles on it. I don't race the car or drive it hard. It still has the factory springs and I planned to keep them. Will replacing the rear shocks with adjustable shocks such as Tokico adjustables reduce the amount of squat on acceleration? Will doing so make it ride like a log wagon? Will it have any affect on the height? Does anyone object to putting Tokico adjustables on the rear in hopes of keeping her butt from sagging and regular old KYB shocks on the front or would KYB shocks on the rear have the same effect? Any advice, right or wrong would be appreciated. Thanks Gary

I know this is stupid but after I replaced my carpets, my interior of my '71 was very clean except for those luggage straps. The sun faded them and/or the years stained them a dull grey brown. Cleaning them didn't help. I wanted to get some fabric dye but I heard the thickness can change the texture of the fabric. I know the straps are nylon but I am painfully picky. I wasn't willing to take any chance. I got gutsy and bought a bottle of liquid "Kiwi scuff cover" shoe polish at wal mart. The stuff is watery thin so you cant over apply or under apply. The straps look new again but not artificially black. Also, the previous body shop didn't realize those z emblems on the b pillers were vents. I got a little 905 red overspray on my black diamond vinyl Kiwi scuff cover worked for that too.

HI I have a well cared for '71 with 60,000 miles. I plan to replace the factory shocks this winter along with the rubber strut mounts. I would also like to replace the rubber steering rack bushings and the steering coupler but I would really prefer rubber parts. But those don't seem to be available. Will I be negatively impacting the car's ride quality by replacing low mileage rubber parts with new urethane parts? My concern is my 45 year old car feel like those new bushings are made of concrete. Is old rubber better than new urethane? I should also point out I drive the car perhaps 1,000 miles per year. I don't race it or anything like that. The suspension is completely stock (literally stock in fact). Thanks Gary

I have really had good luck with that place. I have used them since they had a paper catalog. 1985 perhaps?

Hi, I have a 5/71 that lost a headlight. I replaced it with a fairly inexpensive standard 60w replacement. While I was driving, I noticed the headlight switch was getting hot (slight heat/smell/smoke over the steering column) so I shut them off. It is a low mileage car so rust hasn't worn any connectors. To my knowledge, none of the electrical has been opened up in any way. I was curious what my options are. I saw that MSA sells a headlight relay harness. HID looks fairly complicated but should draw less current. Any recommendations? Is my switch toast now? Thanks in advance. Gary

I bought a low mileage '71 about a year ago. It is titled and in very good condition. I always thought I could use a parts car just in case. About a week ago, I found one that was near my house. It came with several boxes of parts, bumpers, a set of new rims, factory AM radio, a front spoiler, spare console, extra dash, a spare engine with E31 head (that has a header of some kind on it), tranny along with the complete car with its own engine and transmission. My car is a 5/71 and this "Parts Car" was a 6/71 which was perfect for me. I have no idea if the parts car runs. The frame rails in the wheel wells are rusted through in the usual spot but the box where the engine mounts is not. The floors are in great shape. The front fenders are in great shape (or at least they appear to be without removing them). The left rear fender is rusted but it came with a replacement. It has no title. I don't need a parts car but wanted one for emergencies. My car came from the factory with the old style transmission and now has a later one. I am installing a '72 console on it. The parts car has a '71 transmission and a mint condition console. But mine shifts so well, I am not sure I have the stomach to swap transmissions but making my car period perfect would be nice. Based on what I am seeing of other restoration projects, my parts car is a great restoration candidate and I don't know if I have the heart to tear it up. When I was in high school in '79, I my first car was a '73 240z. This car is in better shape than that. I am not sure I have the heart to ruin this car. Is there something inherently wrong with a restored car that has a salvage title? I am guessing $5,000 would make it look great. Or should I look the other way and treat it as parts?

I think the 240z sold for $21,500. The balance was auction fees. The frame and sheet metal looked very solid. The seats were reupholstered but the interior still matched them (no sun fade in other words). If I were picky, the paint was close to factory original brown but it was metallic with large flakes. The engine was very clean and the engine bay was painted. The 280z 2+2 was very low miles. I think someone wanted the rubber "Datsun" floor mats and appliance mags as much as I did.

Every labor day there is a very large collector car auction in Auburn Indiana. It lasts about 4 days. This year, a brown '73 went on the block and sold for $21,500. Does it belong to anyone here?

Yes absolutely. The problem is now that I know I have the later B transmission, I am not sure what year car it came from. Since there were so many later model transmissions, if I need a new clutch for example, I suspect I will need to be able to identify which year the donor car was.

I have a 5/71 240 that had "series 1" style center console fitment issues because the shift lever kept touching the front of the console. I found later that the transmission was replaced with the later Type B transmission. When was the Type B transmission in production? Was it '72 up to the last 280z's in 1978? Thanks Gary

Well Captain Obvious (I love saying that), The soft rubber was stock. In the olden days, when a 240z was not a classic and was just a 10 year old rusty car, one of the first things they recommended were to replace the struts and the steering coupler to return the front suspension to factory handling. I have a low miles '71 with a factory rubber coupler on it. There is a lot of play on it but not as bad as my '73 had in 1979 with 90,000 miles. I was planning to replace it with poly but this thread is giving me second thoughts.

Can anyone explain what that dark stain is on his driver side front strut tower inside the engine bay? I have the same color car and the same stains. It wont come off.

I am interested in your center console. Would you be willing to ship that? Thanks

I absolutely agree with you Carl. But in the 240z case, how about "Thin, weak and of poor quality".

I have seen 240z's sitting on hoists where the host stands are sitting on frame rails right behind the wheel wells. I would hesitate to do that too. Anyone else?

According to the owners manual, we are suppose to be able to jack up a 240z at the jack points along the rockers. I did this back in the late '70s with my '73. Then I tried again in the mid '80s on my '72. They were both unrestored cars that lived in northern Indiana. The sounds that were produced by thin rotten 20 gauge steel still haunt me to this day. I am sure the titanic sounded similar as it went down. My current car is a mint condition '71. Its frame is as solid as the day it came off the line. Still, I am reluctant to use the jack points. Honestly, I am reluctant to even try. 240z sheet metal is very thin. In the front, I jack up on the reinforcement on the front axle. On the rear, I jack it up at the rear dif using a hydraulic jack and a block of wood as an insulator. My son claims the rear dif is aluminum and that I am asking for trouble by using that as a jack point. But that is how I did it with my other two 240z's. Do any of you 240z owners jack up your cars at the jack points or do you jack them up at that axles as I do? I am not sure but I think this question only applies to 240z owners. They thickened the steel on the 260/280z if I recall correctly. Thanks

Thanks everyone for the assistance. I guess I will try trimming. Is there a VIN on the transmission? I cant imagine it is not the factory transmission but it must not be. The underneath (frame, springs, etc) look like it has 10k miles on it. It is a 4 speed.

It is definitely the S curved stick. My car is a 5/71 car with less than 60k miles. The article suggests that I don't have the factory transmission. Agree? Is the solution to simply drill new holes in the console? That solution sounds so rigged. Like I use duct tape excessively or something. Thanks

I have a low miles '71 that was well taken care of. However, the center console was broken where the top of the shift boot is connected (between the leather boot and the fuse access panel). It didn't make sense to me that it was broken there. I found a replacement console of the same era. After I got it installed, I found that the shift lever lines up too close to that section of the console. If I installed the new console, eventually, that section will break again. After close inspection I found that my "new" console was cracked in that area, I bought a very used one recently and a slightly used one too. The very used one is badly broken where the leather boot. It looked as if the gear shift was hitting it over several years. The stick looks stock to me. Based on what I am seeing, this looks like a common problem? Is there a trick to mounting a console to make it fit? Thanks

Hmmm. I think I believe that story. I remember sometime during the '90s I stopped off at a used car lot to see an old blue '73. It had surface rust spots on the paint all over it about the size of sand dollars. The frame was in great shape and the odometer read 20,000. The salesman started it up for me and it still had the smog pump on it so it sounded like crap. Due to rust and the smog pump sound, he thought it had at least 120,000. I could have almost stole that car from them that day. I wonder if your story could have caused the rust on that car. When they rust in Indiana, its from the inside out. I've not seen anything like it since.

I am a little surprised some of you didn't realize how serious the rust issue can be. The early Datsuns were among the worst. Slightly worse than old Jeeps but better than international scouts. If you drive an early z in this area of the country year round, it will be totaled in 5 years. The rust areas are that small steel plate inside the front wheel wells. That turns into a hole 3" high by 8" long. The frame rails the engine sits on are the second to go. The tops of the front fenders have nothing to protect them from stones hitting them from underneath so the tops of those wide fenders rust through (280z's had some protection underneath). Then the rear fenders go. The rockers and floors go at about the same time. In '79, the frame on my '73 was so far gone the sway bar was no longer bolted to anything on the driver side. There was nothing there to bolt to. My current '71 is the first Z I have seen that didn't have any rust. I am not saying mine is the only one not rusted. I am saying as a Z fan, this is the first car I have seen that is not rusted. You never see series one on the road any longer. Literally never. Oh and I forgot to add one more thing. Back then in Indiana, vehicles had to have safety inspections. Mine didn't pass because of the floorboard on the driver side. There wasn't one. Recently, I was very passively shopping for one. Then I ran across mine. It was originally a California car. I dont think it has even been wet for 20 years, certainly no snow. The frame looked new. The springs still had a slight gloss to them. The frame, floorboards, insides of the fenders looked as if had only 10k miles on it. As I looked it over, all I could think of is "Holy mother of God. My wife is going to kill me." Then I bought it.