87mj

This probably wont be helpful at all but I had soft pedal. I bled the brakes numerous times and nothing helped. Finally I installed bleeder valves on the brakes and bled them again. That worked.

I'm curious how accurate the bends in the steel tubes were. I saw in another post where someone was unable to use the rubber insulators in the brake line clamps. Did you still need to do some heavy duty bending to get them to fit correctly?

I have heard a lot of negative comments about the Type A transmission but I wont be able to personally comment about that for at least another couple of years until I finish another car. But most seem to say it feels very sloppy compared the later b. My tunnel was also botched. Regarding my '71 which has the transmission swap, it shifts too nicely to consider putting a different transmission back in it. So I decided to leave the "wrong" transmission in it. As a temporary work around, I did exactly as you suggested. I installed a type b console (8/71+ IIRC) which also meant I installed the later choke. The car looks kind of goofy since it has the vertical defroster with the series 2 console. A previous owner also installed a series 2 radio so the car is wrong on many fronts. Eventually, I plan to cut and weld a shifter and move it back a couple inches. Then install the original console back in it with the correct radio.

Thanks for the comments everyone. After thinking it through a bit, and since my front fenders are removed, it seems like I should first focus on aligning and gaping the doors to the rockers and to the 'b' pillars. Then align the fenders to the doors later?

I really need some help and search hasn't been my friend. I have a 6/70 car that had its doors & strikes removed for paint. The doors and strikes are now back on the car. Both doors line up great but both need to be slammed pretty hard in order for them to latch. Is there a technique to aligning the strike other than total guesswork? The car doesn't have any weather strip on it yet and both doors closed perfectly prior to the latches being removed. I should note that I don't have the dovetails installed on the doors yet. I could see how that might help a little bit but they seem to break easily if under too much stress. Any advice? Thanks

I have a parts car that has the same rust over the top of the battery tray. The battery tray and surrounding area were fine. According to a body mechanic, it is a very easy fix since it is flat metal for the most part. In my case it was caused by the cowl drains getting clogged with leaves and presumably exhaust gases coming from the caps of the battery.

I'm not sure what others think about restoring a car like this. I am going through a restore now. For me, the purchase price of the car is minimal compared to the cost of the restoration. Considering the upfront purchase price along with the fact that this car needs some sheet metal, the price gets high fast. In my case, I am restoring an early care whereas this is a '73. Plus I have 3 cars.... (ok 2 cars plus 1 derelict ) But having said that, if it was cheap and I went to look at it, I would buy it just because. I would politely ask people not to look underneath. Wow my wife would be mad. :(

Yes that car is about 1/2 hour from my house.

I never understood why a person would go through the trouble of painting a car but they wouldn't bother removing the nuts from the front strut towers. instead they paint over them.

I would remove those tow hooks and put them in the glove box. If they use them and the car shifts forward, you could damage things.

I have a mid '70 car. It's dash was in terrible shape. I was able to find a NOS Nissan to replace it. From what I was told, it was made in the mid '90s so it still looks and feels new. That being said, If my dash wasn't cracked, there would be no way I would consider replacing it. I would also like to know what everyone does to prevent theirs from cracking. My '71 has cracks but they aren't as large as others I have seen. I have heard that products such as Armor All will dry vinyl. So I have been using Vaseline on the '71. I will store the cars in a heated/air conditioned building so there shouldn't be any drastic temperature changes. I would think that would help but what do I know?

My advice would be to be patient. I decided on a whim to buy one. That moment, I started searching and found one on Craigslist 3 hours from me. Rust free 60k mile car. The first one I looked at. The owner told me he had another guy coming tomorrow to buy it and pay his asking price. I haven't been in the market for one since 1985 so I didn't know they were collectable cars. I thought sure there is but I bought it anyway. But knowing what I know now....

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-toyota-2000gt/ I'm aware of these cars, the story behind Yamaha, what they are and so on. Don't get me wrong, I really like them. But if they were worth the same money as a 240z and two cars were sitting side by side, I think the Z has more visual appeal. That is of course assuming the Z isn't wearing its factory hubcaps.

These things so far are nuisances, annoyances and so on. They can certainly be frustrating. But they don't mean the car is a turd. If it makes you feel any better, there is a sure fire way to determine whether or not you have a turd. What determines it is the quality of the underneath, floorboards, frame, sheet metal and so on. If those cost more to fix than you are willing to pay, then you have a turd. Otherwise, enjoy the journey of putting the poor neglected thing back the way she was intended. Don't forget. Just a few years ago, these cars were not worth anything. Consequently, they didn't receive much love.

What he says... If I ended up with that car, I would treat it like a rust bucket and pay to have the body put back to original. So from that standpoint, there is a lot of sheet metal there that needs repaired.

If you get lucky and get one of these, I will be amazed. I have one and have been looking for a second one for a long time.

I would have assumed a tumbler, particularly when used with abrasive media would damage the threads on screws. Am I wrong?

Anyone? If anyone has a dash that is not cracked, can you share your secret?

Wow. Who got a bee in his bonnet? :)

I may have found a NOS dash for my '70 I am restoring. I have done a little research about preventing cracks and I am curious if anyone has any updated information they care to add. This is what I plan to do: Store the car in a temperature controlled room that has very little temperature fluctuation. The garage has heat and and AC. Cover the dash and/or windshield when you are parked in the sun. Treat it with Vaseline? Don't use Armor All or similar products. Does anyone have any other advice?

I have two cars. One has a manufacture date of 6/70 and the other 5/71. Both cars have their factory rear quarters. The lines do not end on either car but the lines on the 6/70 are much more pronounced than 5/71. Its almost as if the tooling needed to be sharpened by the time May '71 came around. I would certainly call it "less prominent" on the '71.

I realize you didn't photograph the entire pan but from the photos, it looked like surface rust that as you said earlier, was cause by water getting between the sheet metal and the tar mat. Are you sure you pans need replaced? From your photo, they don't look that bad. Maybe blasted and painted only?

I'm a purist and have an early series 1 car that I plan to recover in the near future. I have the exact same dilemma. On one hand, I want to return the car to as close to stock as I can. Stock was vinyl. On the other hand, those of us old enough to remember know that 240z seats were barely durable enough to last 50,000 miles so most nicer cars are not running the factory upholstery anyway. I have a 60,000 mile car '71 that was reupholstered about 10,000 miles ago. They still look good but I am beginning to see wear along the side bolsters where you enter/exit the car. I don't think you would have that with leather. If I could find leather that looks like the factory vinyl, that would be my preference. The stitching on the sides would need to look original with the tube stitching and so on. Then I would have the factory look with the leather durability. Has anyone seen leather like that?

My car left for the body shop last week. I mentioned to him the condition of the vin tag and he said he could drill the rivets and clean it up a bit. To me, there doesn't seem to be any good way to clean this without removing the ink. Has anyone found a good way to clean it up without damaging it? If you were me, would you have the body shop remove it to get a better paint job or would you leave it alone and tape it up and paint around it? Thanks Gary

This has got to be the worst possible job imaginable. I am not looking forward to it. BTW, how accurate are the MSA headliners. Anyone? Can you tell they are not original?