Woody928

No worries, seeing as your based in Sweden and not knowing what part availability is like over there for what its worth here is the link to the place where I purchased it in the UK if its of any use. The guy who runs the place is called Mike and is very helpful. http://www.mjpshop.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=155_95&product_id=357 Thanks dude, glad you enjoying it and thanks for letting me know your still reading. Its the least I can do given all of the advice you all shared with me in the early stages when I was first looking to buy, I'm just sorry its taken me this long to update this thread further. I've tried to do a small bit of translation from my posts on the UK Zclub to make it easier reading. Once the heads sorted and the engine tuned I'll only have one more immediate not so fun job before I can get to the interesting bits like suspension Haha I have to say I really do like them if I was starting again they'd be in my top two albeit I'm still impartial to a set of Watanabes R-type wheels I've also got some photos of some Z's by an old English castle that I'll put up in due course once I've been able to edit them.

Thanks Andreas, I quite like her as well It's a full fiberglass valance replacement which has been sprayed to blend in with the body work and giving the OEM Euro/JDM style. I had looked to source an orginal rubber front splitter to bolt onto the original valance however they're really hard to come by these days unfortunately. Cheers, Mark

More news to report in due course however the car hasn't been tuned yet due to the tuning session being aborted. On our first power run to our horror a puddle of coolant was found on the floor. THe engine is leaking coolant between the head and block at high rpm's and is going in to have the head taken off and inspected next week (fingers crossed its only the head gasket). In my most up to date report both me and the car still went to the Donnigton Historic at Donington Park in the UK (wekk known race track) and just cruised up and back to avoid stress on the engine in light of the above. Its a three day event over the bank holiday weekend in the UK with Historic racing going on covering all sorts of era's with various car clubs in attendance. I attended with the UK ZCLub and we suspect we had the largest single attendance of S30 Z's in the UK for a very long time with 32 seen over the weekend. I appreciate in the states this may be considered low but with only 160-180 240Z's registered in the UK and far less 260Z's and 280Z's known of it was a pretty big deal. I snapped some photos over the weekend and have collated my edited Z pics in the link below for those interested. https://www.flickr.com/photos/148965131@N05/albums/72157680062638424 More to follow shortly, I'm sure that's enough catch up for now though with all of the above posts

Well I've had various parts arrive over the past couple of weeks with some last minute necessary tweets before my upcoming trip to BD engineering next Tuesday for tuning. Firstly I've got to give a big shout out to UK forum member who kindly donated me a heat shield in order that I could fit some proper throttle springs rather than the completely bodged setup that was in place from the previous owners! In my haste I sent this off to the local powder coaters to be finished in a rush to have it fitted, stupidly having not tired to trial fit it So it turns out when I came to fitting that there are not in fact two different heat shields over the generations but three different ones, with the second and third looking very similar with subtle differences as pictured below :eek: Unfortunately to my disappointment it therefore wouldn't fit, while the purists will cringe and wanto to look out of the way at this point however out came the dremel to remedy the fitment issues so that following some tinkering it now sits perfectly in place (albeit I need to touch up a couple of areas and its not quite the same shape). Finally the car now has proper throttle springs fitted giving the pedal a much more progressive feel and the rather shambolic bit of wire has been well and truly removed from the subframe! IMG_1458 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr After powder coating and before some modification IMG_1428 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr With that now fitted and fully functional it was time for some new new spark plugs and HT leads to change out some of the more unknown components as part of the service. Spark plugs looked well in need of a change and I now have peace of mind knowing the current state of the usual consumable items. Big thanks to Mike F (UK parts supplier) on that front. On the subject of HT leads we decided to splash out and rather than modify a new set or buy some off the shelf items we purchased some from Datsun Spirit. In place of the traditional layout over the top of the head they are now neatly routed around it giving a much cleaner appearance. There's still a myriad of cables and pipework in the engine bay to confront however its at least a start. I think its fair to say the results speak for themselves, and should put us in good stead given the unknown age of most of the original components. IMG_1437 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1453 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1456 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Some other small details have been altered that make a big difference imo with the replacement of the worn out foot rest, and the replacement of the OEM door lock pulls. One was broken on purchase and was letting down the overall aesthetic, I'm sure again it will be to the purists disgust however we've gone with some nicely detailed Z finished replacements to modernise and detail the car further. I'm really pleased overall and think the finish speaks for itself IMG_1438 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1440 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1443 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1445 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr That's all for now, however I'm hoping that the car will be running spot on for the upcoming Donnington Historic following its trip to BD engineering on Tuesday. Hopefully there will be some dyno print outs to follow in due course. Will be interesting to see what figures its producing come the hour.

Well in other news I had a very productive weekend with some servicing and general maintenance which in some cases was well overdue. First issue to confront was ground clearance to get enough access to the car, having no access to a ramp or pit and having owned a couple of cars that are too low for ramps I’ve never bothered until now (Off to Halfords, local UK car parts supplier). With the front of the car now up on newly purchased ramps at the front we jacked up the rear off the diff and had axel stands placed under the rear sills to give 5 strong points to hold the car up. Access sorted and onto the essentials. After various debate over coolant we ended up with some standard IAT blue anti freeze from Eurocarparts on reccomendation. In light of the unknown mix from the heater matrix refurb with the rad requiring a topup it seemed prudent to flush and clean the system so that the mix was consistent. We drained the system on both the rad and engine block (which needed the asistance of a pry bar to release the engine block drain bolt) before fully flushing the system and refilling with a 50/50 mix. Onto fresh oil and after some recent advice we’ve also gone with Millers 20w-50 Semi Synthetic oil for the engine and chucked a new OEM Nissan oil filter on before refilling the system for good measure given its age was unknown. Next onto the carbs and air filters, being K&N’s it was all straightforward to strip down and fully clean (persil washing powder in warm water works wonders) before re-oiling. While at it, it also seemed prudent to strip the carbs down for a clean and to change out the oil. This was an interesting expirience having never touched carbs before and this being my first car with them, 10 minutes of Youtube viewing later and off I went. Not knowing the usual state of wear I’ve no idea what I should have expected however it seemed well worth doing. Both were covered in gunk which got sorted out with some carb cleaner (thanks halfords), all cleaned up I decided to give the dome tops some tlc given their dull apearance. Now I’m hardly into bling however out came the power drill and polishing wheels. Whilst not perfect they now look a darn sight nicer and have a nice patina to them so as to not look off the shelf new. Here’s where the plain sailing gave way to a shocking discovery particularly in light of recent conversations of fuel overflows. Whilst removing the coolant drain plug from the engine block previously I came into contact with the fuel line running below the carb, next thing I know fuel was ******* all over my hands while I tried to stop it. Having clamped off the fuel supply we went about removing the culprit fuel hose. On removal it suddenly became clear what’s horrors lurked beneath, the rubber hose (which was completely unfit for its purpose and too small) had gone completely rigid from the fuel and age cuasing it to split from the pressure of the clamps holiding it in place. It was quite clear that for the last few months we’ve been driving around with a ticking time bomb waiting to go off which could have potentially covered burning hot headers/manifold in fuel which would have been an engine fire and game over. Back off to Halfords again and some new replacement fuel hose sourced and we were back to refit and crack on with (had to return on Sunday to get a bigger hose to accommodate the fact the perished pipe was too small and had been bodged). With safety in mind we decided to replace both as a precaution. It turns out that the other hose with in a similar state and well past its sell by date, albeit wasn’t hanging on by a thread in quite the same way. Crisis averted we put the carbs back together and whilst reassembling the K&N’s noted that someone had previously drilled a hole in the back of both which was the perfect size for more fuel hose, fuel overflows now routed more safely in the air filters and fully reassembled another job was tackled. New dizzy cap and rotor arm also fitted as part of the ignition system refresh. Spark plugs are currently awaiting the arrival of our new HT leads for the US which will hopefully refresh the whole ignition system and tidy up some of the some of cables currently all over the engine bay. A few more bits and pieces also coming from the states to make some improvements which I’ll update later. After a few attempts to start up and having resolved a few random bits she fired back up, but was running a bit rough and even more in need of a tune up than before. Out of time for the day that problem was left for Sunday to deal with following a run down to the SE with the MR2OC in my MR2 Turbo to strech our legs in the early hours of Sunday before a full english. Having revisited Youtube again my attempts at tryinng to tune up the car ended in disaster, despite my efforts the car was running terribly struggling to idle before being brought back to a more respectable level albeit in need of some professional attention. Accepting I was way out of my depth I left the car until later that evening well aware that I was planning on sending the car off the BD engineering (rolling road tuning company in Kent) to be properly tuned and inspected in the coming weeks before its next major journey. To my surpise late on Sunday evening having told my dad about my completely failed attmepts to tune the car we went to return the car to the lock up where it is stored, at which point to my complete surpise it seemed to be running relativly smoothly and was a completely unrecognisable car from the state I had left it in earlier! God knows if everything had just settled down after everything that had been altered or I genuinely by fluke managed to improve our situation by the time I left it is a mystery to me. Either way I’m going to try and book the car in for some professional help on the Tuesday after the Easter bank holiday before I head up to the Highlands on a driving holiday in the MR2 and in preperation for the run up to the Donnington Historic. There will be more to follow as things continue to develop however here are some pics as that’s the bit your all really interested in! All the bits ready for servicing IMG_1240 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Starting point for the day IMG_1242 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Dirty looking carbs IMG_1244 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Clean up has begun FullSizeRender by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Some TLC underway IMG_1254 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Comparison after some clean up! IMG_1255 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Tired looking fuel line IMG_1316 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr All freshened up IMG_1308 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Period correct nos Hella 4004 GT mirrors which we picked up a while back, the drivers side will work perfectly however I've currently not worked out whether the passenger side will ever be able to be made functional IMG_1306 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Well its been a while, I've been updating my thread on ZClub but had forgotten to get back on here to keep you guys posted as well. Apologies, here we go anyway this is a highlights catch up. Well its update time again and the car after an extended period of 6 weeks in the garage is back on the road! After some useful advise on here and doing some research, reading online and in a few manuals/guides I got for Christmas we tried to reverse flush tthe heater matrix system having decided that our problem was likely a blockage in the heater core. Having stripped the pipework off the matrix and hooked up the garden hose there was barely a dribble of coolant flowing out despite the pressure. With it confirmed the matrix was in need of re-coring. Having met a UK Z owner on at Goodwood in December and got a recommendation to give it to Guildford radiators they agreed to take a look at it, about 3.5 hours work to get the whole unit out of the car with the dashboard in place and I dropped it in before Christmas. As promised it got looked at straight away in the new year..Once the unit finally got cracked open it was apparent that the whole core was corroded in place and to extract the core they had to attach some hoops to it so that it could be hammered out of the box. With that out it was clear the unit hadn't been touched since it left the factory 46 years ago and was well overdue some attention. The original was measured up to make sure a new unit would drop straight in and the box shot blasted to be repainted due to the surface corrosion. Having had the unit picked up for me a few weeks ago the exterior all looked great with fresh paint however having cracked it open to satisfy my curiosity I soon found that the inside had not been touched other than the new core. As is all too common these days it seems that there are plenty of people who remain satisfied with only doing half a job. Not satisfied between me and my dad we treated the surface rust and painted the inside with hammerite rust killing paint for good measure tiding it up before sealing the unit up for installation. Having previously looked at the state of the original control valve it was clear that it was well overdue retirement so a nos one had been sourced and sent from the states. All back together we were ready to tackle the job come this weekend just gone. As always the time required was underestimated with it taking more hours than I care to mention squeezing the unit back in and remembering the order that everything went back in. First job was hoovering out as much dirt and **** possible, it was was scary how much had accumulated hidden behind the dash. Next the passenger seat came out owing to a small coolant leak which gave a good opportunity to inspect the full extent of the floor. Via some minor surface rust that was all treated the original floor looked really solid I'm pleased to say with only the newly welded in chassis/floor rail being obvious. So several hours of lying upside down in the foot well bolt and re-connecting everything up and we were good to go, fortunately having labeled up all the wiring that job was relatively straight forward with a few connectors needing to be cleaned along the way. Its fair to say it wasn't the easiest job with lots of cursing and swearing along the way. Per some advise we did consider removing the dashboard however we were concerned as to what may be disturbed in the process and decided to let any potential future gremlins lie in peace just in case. Firing her up for the first time in six weeks was a great relief, even more so when several minutes later heat started flooding out into the car! Mission a success and having grabbed dinner an hour or so late and it was time for a quick burn out to admire our handy work. Safe to say the car is certainly toasty and it won't be cold anymore in winter, really impressed with how effective a relatively primitive system really is. Certainly some smart cookies at Nissan there. For those that are curious to re-core the matrix was £180 inc VAT (The joys of living in Surrey hey) That all done and another journey under its belt and it was time for a quick blast down to Basingstoke to see the same UK Z owner that I met at Goodwood again as he was dropping out his L26 and 5 speed gearbox from his UK 260Z +2. Given long term we want to drop in a 5 speed it made sense to pick one up nice and early while the opportunity was there so it seemed a no brainer being fairly local. I was kindly offered the opportunity to drive the car to see what the box was like as syncro on 2nd is pretty much gone however we weren't too fussed as we want to fully rebuild it before it gets dropped into the 240 as we don't want to have to touch it again if we can help it. All being well it will be out in the next week or so and we'll collect it so that it can be parked in the garage until it works its way up the jobs list. Despite the poor conditions it was entertaining to get behind the wheel of a RHD car for a change and make a mess of remembering that all of the controls are in reverse. The stand out difference though was how much more composed the car was even on its aged stock suspension. I was aware there was meant to be a difference between US and UK spec however I was amazed how much more refined it was to drive. It has certainly reinforced my view that our boat like suspension needs to be swapped asap so that I can get some refinement and control to start doing some spirited driving. It does make me wonder why they had such stark differences between the markets others then I can only guess cost (I also don't know whether the setup changed further from 240z's to 260z's either). UK market cars certainly got the nicer setup! Despite the greasy conditions it was great fund being back in the Z and blasting down some country back roads enjoying some slippy roundabouts as well on the way home The Hella 4004 GT mirrors arrived the other day and look great however it looks like there will only be visibility on the drivers side so back to the drawing board again. I imagine they will be back on ebay again shortly, which is a shame as they are really nice nos items. Its looking like ironically we're going to end up with some Vitaloni Californian Mirrors as I've seen various cars fitted with these and I like the look and I believe are actually functional which is the end goal here. Still to be decided though. I'm also considering removing the bumper overrides to go for a cleaner JDM look, does anyone know where I can acquire the blanking bolts to this end? Anyway time for some pictures! Presents from Christmas As it was following removal The mess inside Inside treated and painted Shiny new control valve vs old Outside - ready for installation

16x7 all round, they certainly look pretty good Thanks, really cleans up the front end in my opinion. All 240's looked naked without some kind of lip up front imo... I've quite impartial to the BRE look as well. Well update on the heater, its still not working! Freezing to say the least when you take the car out in below zero, particularly when you have nothing to de-ice the screen except a credit card! takes away from an otherwise awesome experience. So it turns out that the temperature slider control (middle) isn't connected up to anything following investigation which would explain why that's not being of any assistance, however the top slider control does engage towards the right which implies heat. Having traced the mechanism back I reached a control valve under the dash (pics attached) which looked pretty horrible however with some persuasion it operated. Unfortunately this did not do anything as far as we could tell. Is this the heater control valve? The only other investigation I've done is check the pipework in the engine bay, it is quite apparent that there are hot water pipes passing through into the cabin (feel very warm to the touch once the cars warmed up) which I imagine are linked to the heater matrix. I can therefore only assume the issue lie's in the cabin. Any suggestions as to how to proceed?

Apologies for the stupidly late reply, this seems to have split itself in to two threads somehow! I will most definitely go over there and check it out, couldn't agree more, hence why I try and stay on both the UK and US forums. Knowledge is power!

I've just stumbled across this thread and taken the time to scroll through all of your photos. It's safe to say the age old adage of a picture speaks a thousand words rings so true in this case! What you've done to transform this Z is nothing short of incredible! Particularly when considering you have taught yourself all this from the internet at home, I bow down to your enthusiasm and clear determination to sort out your Z and get it back on the road. I think its fair to say most would never have bothered to try and save this car given its obvious rust issues... Are you sticking with the factory colour once the repairs are complete? I'll continue to watch with great interest

Thanks for the advice when I get a chance I'll look into this. Would be great to get some more performance, comfort and economy out of the car Thank you all for the advice! This is a really helpful starting point Lets hope its this simple. Next time I get to the car from the lockup I'll have a look and see if at least the heater valve won't manually open, Interestingly we think we were getting heat when we collected the car and its since failed, I also had one of the vent control handles fly off on one journey. This could very well explain how matters have evolved and we have no heat. I imagine its been a bit of a shock for the car having had so much use in a week having been sat for a while with little use before then, all of our use has certainly resolved the issues with the car pulling the car left under braking. Definitely supports our view that these machines like to be used regularly to keep everything operating.

(excuse me stealing my post off my UK Zclub project thread, if anything doesn't make sense I'm sure I can clarify ) Well another weekend has passed and another update to follow. We managed to add another 170 miles to the tally this weekend, with a visit to see a good friend in Croydon, some late night b-road blasting, and a trip down to the South coast and back. All of which has come with experiences of their own. The friend is a big car guy but not really into his classics, he was suitably impressed with the car albeit we didn't get the chance to go for a brief spin. As usual the styling won hearts and minds as did the colour Having now been able to take the car and get a feel for its capabilities on some very familiar back roads as expected some serious flaws were shown up. The car can only be described as wafty when pushed along. There is lots of body roll present which I'm sure will be solved with the fitment of an uprated front ARB and addition of a rear ARB. The struts were unable to cope with the road surface on occasion bottoming out, leaving the car feeling unstable at various points. Certainly putting a suspension upgrade high up the list and debating the available options to find the most suitable solution. As mentioned elsewhere and to some of you, will be looking for a fast road setup with a bias towards comfort. I think I'm currently leaning towards eibachs and tockio illumias as it stands. The brakes were reasonable for the setup however I'm sure a change of brake pads would likely make a big difference, if not consideration to a mild setup later down the line. With that done on the Saturday both myself and my dad road tripped in the car down to the South coast, with him driving down and myself taking to the wheel in the evening. On the way down we stopped for various photos (mainly to get our insurance valuation sorted) however I couldn't resist with a few locations and light on route. We also met a couple of bikers who were very enthusiastic about the car and had a good look around, they seemed very happy at the opportunity to jump in the car and have a look themselves. Had some interesting bikes with some nice mods to discuss as well Once we got down to the coast I gave the car its first proper cleanse inside and out getting all of the carpets out to get all of the **** out. The air vents had obviously seen little use from the previous owner as crud kept flying out when they were first put into service by us covering the car in debris. Safe to say it cleans up really nicely, there's some stone chips here and there over the car as to be expected (not sure if it chips easily) however it cleans up really nicely. I even discovered the original luggage straps under the rear carpets which have now reappeared. With sun set looming it seemed mad to to go and get some pics of the car near the sea front with some unobstructed sunlight. Safe to say the results were stunning, I need to do a full download however they will be going up on my instagram page for those that are familiar with it, so check them out! @ 'm_woodrow94' I'll be uploading some in the coming weeks. Got a load of attention from several gents outside of the local sports bar by the curry house who were very complimentary and enthusiastic about seeing the car and its condition. One of them hadn't even seen one before, with all of them commenting what a rare sight they are these days. Both me and my dad grinning away proudly, talking merrily away about our new pride and joy Nice bit of dinner followed by a 60 mile drive back home through Sussex B-roads past Goodwood with Minimal traffic to contend with or dispatch all the way home :driving: A quick refuel revealed a reasonable 21.6mpg, so we're sure these more to come on a more relaxed cruise. We have concluded the car feels as though it needs a 5 speed and leaves you looking for another gear considering it merrily plods along in 4th from 30mph upwards. A 5 speed, diff change and LSD will therefore be on the cards along with the suspension as my two priorities. I'm sure some extra performance and economy will be exploited by these mods as well. I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable and at home with the car now, having originally being left feeling tired from my first major trip. I've not been at all bothered having done some decent miles in the car. Its different to drive to my other chariots, however its not taxing. I'm putting my original feeling of tiredness down to the amount of new factors I was having to concentrate on, and excitement/emotion of finally having acquired the car after so long waiting. Unfortunately blowing out the cobwebs did not come without its share of casualties, strangely the tachometer broke at about 4k rpm in 1st breaking out onto the A3 :eek: Only to find that having left the car around overnight and messed with some other electrics that it came back to life.... Very baffled by this The heater appears to be broken, so any tips with where to start looking would be much appreciated as with winter on the way it will become an essential piece for continued use for the front screen as well as comfort. Getting a passenger mirror is also becoming quite essential for driving to make the drivers life considerably easier. As while manageable without the drivers life could be made considerably easier. Having failed to find bullet mirrors that will actually be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing I think we may have found some round chrome mirrors on stalks that will fit the bill enough that we bite the bullet with them Finally the old man put his electrical skills to good use and after some messing around doing some investigation work we have the inspection light working again It turned out to be a blown bulb, and then and earthing issue was preventing the replacement from sparking into life, some soldering later and job done. We just need to find a 12v 8w bulb as we only had a 12v 6w available to get us going in the meantime. I'm sure we will be looking to upgrade the two interior lights to LED's to boost the interior lighting in due course. Some research needed on that front to brighten the place up. Enough rambling for now a a quick teaser pic from the Saturday and our fixed inspection light. However a new adventure well and truly embarked on :thumbs:

Haha it seems to be the way with these cars. I have a funny feeling the floors will need some attention in the coming years. Thank you for the kind words, the JDM rear lights certainly are a nice detail, and a requirement for the UK. No doubt about that Thank you! Many thanks, there's lots more interesting photos to come in due course. Now you've said it I've started looking and scrutinizing both! I think for me that's quite easy, and means I have some work to do,.. - Lowered (hadn't realized how much higher our car sits in that pic) - Over-under/twin exit every time imo - I think I'm going to have to say plain bumper and ditch the over-rides. Cleans up the cars lines somewhat. Agreed though, completely subjective debate and personal preference should win out every time. Very useful info, if I'm honest I'll be keeping it as is though. I quite like the retro direct feel and feedback that you get from the OEM setup, all part of the classic car ownership. The more I've driven it the easier its got as I've dialed myself into the car. I think it was just one of those learning curve things and a new experience to contend with. Thank you, certainly turns heads wherever it goes. Someone who understands our pain, we're extremely hopeful that it will all be behind us in due course and we can just get on with enjoying her in due course. As you say dulls the enjoyment! I think the cars just testing us and making us earn the right to enjoy her to the full

Well time for a major update, the car has finally arrived into our possession! We went down to Fourways Engineering on Friday afternoon to collect the car with all of the works being completed. We are really pleased with how the repairs to the front of the car have come out in particular. We decided to contrast the front end and a Euro looking front chin spoiler was acquired from MJP to replace the damaged orange spook spoiler. Amongst other bits, a new brake servo was fitted (big thanks to Ryan at Zcar depot), new headlining, new chassis rail fabricated and welded in, MOT light conversion, fuel sender etc. A big thanks to them for their continued efforts :thumbs: By Saturday afternoon we had racked up 140 miles before having to put her to bed in the lockup due to family commitments. Its safe to say its been a roller coaster ride all of the way and quite an experience having now been able to pick up the car. Having never driven a classic car with no power assistance or driver aids before it was a bit of a shock to the system, in particular the lack of power steering was entertaining to start with however I'm already getting well used to it now. The brakes seem positive albeit they currently pull to the left and are slightly lack luster compared to the setups I'm acclimatized to using, that being said its all part of the experience. I've been told before by my dad that driving the Healey requires concentration is genuinely a tiring experience, and I must admit I've never really fully appreciated what he meant before getting behind the wheel of the Datsun and must confess to have felt very tired having done 90 odd miles on the Saturday. I will in part attribute this to getting used to driving a LHD car as well learning about road positioning and spacing along with all of the other factors, so call me a wimp if you will but I'm leaping into a different world of motoring from all of the 90's cars I've owned! :driving: The thing that has amazed me most though more than anything is the attention the car gets wherever it goes! :eek: I know its an unusual orange classic sports car however everywhere we have stopped people have come and talked to us, complimented the car, taken photos. The amount of turned heads as it cruises on by is hilarious, I'm convinced I stopped most of the commuters coming off of the Friday evening train picking my sister up from Surbiton station in the evening. Its something I'm loving, I just hadn't realised how much attention it would draw. There will certainly never be such thing as a below the radar drive in this car! :lol: The soundtrack of a 2.6 straight six is also to die for :bow: I can't get enough of working the car up the gears and dropping back down them for tunnels. I can imagine how good some of the sounds tracks on these cars can be even when mildly tweaked. Its everything I'd hoped it would be in that respect. Unsurprisingly the low down torque is fantastic with the car pulling well in 4th even below 1k rpm, certainly a lazy car to drive if you want it to be. Most remarkably as well even with some very spirited driving the car comfortably returned 20 mpg much to my surprise, and the smiles per galloon were just off the chart! :coolgleam: We took the car down to Rawles Motorsports open day on the Saturday where I met a friend who also has a 240z and compared notes, and did back to back drives to see how the cars compared. Different setups certainly having their pro's and cons. I also met another owner who is local with an ex Nissan press car, albeit his car wasn't present due to ongoing bodywork. Lots of other classics to peruse over (predominantly Healeys due to the specialist), it was nice to have two cars together though. After all of the positive news there had to be some negatives to balance everything out We've had some developments on the insurance claim with CFR, who after much chasing with unexplained several week delays (both myself and dad work within the insurance industry and cannot understand this when they had all of the required documentation) agreed to settle our claim per our repair quote minus the policy excess ($500). We agreed this with the insurance company however felt the need at this point to remind CFR of their negligence and rightly requested that they reimburse us for the policy excess which we were having to pay. This email request was then ignored for several days (having previously had daily responses to our emails). In light of this my dad decided to make a phone call to pursue the matter with the very helpful CFR claims manager. Having explained the situation to him, our contact turned from his usual extremely helpful self to completely turning his back up at us. He tried to stipulate that it was only by his grace that our claim was processed, and even tried turning the tables on us that our claim was weak despite all of the evidence and photographs. To cut a long story short he went on to say in as few words, and without directly saying it, if you wish to claim the excess from us then you will have to sue us. Its safe to say we were both completely shocked to have had this sudden transformation in customer service! Despite being well aware of our right to pursue the excess claim (in our view) and considering the morality of being fobbed off we have decided it isn't worth the stress and hassle of pursuing the matter further. With the above in mind we signed the release and requested the insurance payment was made by bank transfer (for which they added a $50 charge), as if to add insult to injury we were sent a response to the completed release stating that the payment request would take between 30-45 days! :banghead: We were left speechless at this point and with no avenue to protest the ridiculous timescales suggested. Currently as it stands we are still awaiting the settlement payment despite having picked up the repair bill, and I can only summarise this by saying we have only been left with a bitter sentiment towards CFR having previously received fantastic customer service up until this point. They have fallen seriously short in our estimations on just the last hurdle. Both our experiences with the damage not being reported or observed, and then the handling of the claim has left us with low estimations of the company. I know various people have used this company over the years and received good service and had no issues, however I felt the need to share this so that others are forewarned of our experience before choosing a shipping company to use. We're planning on taking her out tomorrow for a cruise down to the South coast to get better acquainted as the next stage of the adventure. Anyway there's loads more positive things I could say, however that's enough for now. Here's a few pics for you all to look at, I'm sure there will be lots more to follow as things develop and we get more experience with the car :driving: :thumbs: Some of the remnants of our chassis rail (Usual rust free 240Z) Pickup at Fourways Rawles Motorsport with company

Thank you all for the further responses! All very helpful, with some interesting points raised It sounds as though Tokico Illumina Struts with Eibach springs seem like the best choice for a street car, with a sensible mix of rubber and some poly bushing in places. I take it that while in there its worth looking at replacing the 'mounting insulators' (believe that's the correct US term), adding bump stops etc to refresh the whole setup? Ultimately I'm just after a car that can comfortably tour and do distances while being well setup for spirited fast road canyon carving when the mood takes my fancy. I will need to way up the shipping/import costs as well, as relatively speaking I don't think the setup will work out any cheaper than coilovers (especially given their availability in the UK). Again many thanks for all of the contributions, any other input still welcomed

Anyone else got anything further to add? Really interested to hear from those with coilovers for comparison... I thought there were quite a few people running BC coilovers in particular?

Thanks for sharing dude, useful input to have, particularly concerning the arb's. Rubber bushings certainly seem to be the advice for a road car which is good to know. Very helpful input thanks, is the ride just a bit firm or generally harsh would you say? (again all subjective, would be curious to know tyre specs though?). Sounds like there's no doubt that the setup works from a handling perspective just ride as always is hard to balance out. I've seen photos of those here and there in my research your correct, are they worth while adding? does the car feel stiffer as a result? Would love to hear from anyone else who's got anything to add, particularly people with BC coilover setups if anyone is floating around just for comparison.

Apologies for the belated response! This completely slipped my mind Thank you both for the responses Sounds like rubber bushings should be favour in quite a few places... Really helpful to hear the feedback on the eibachs Z boy, sounds like your no better off comfort wise than coilovers overall. You just have the advantage that you can DIY this setup at home yourself rather than welding on coilovers (Unfortunately I also don't have the skills to weld). At least the adjustability is available in both setups though. Good to know about the roll bars as well, these are on my to do list and sound well worth fitting. Any roll bar on the rear must be better than nothing! Have you had any experience with strut braces at the same time? Couldn't agree more with tyres as well, will definitely be putting some performance rubber on as soon as I can. Will hold off slightly though as the plan is to fit 15x8 Watanabes long term so will hold off slightly until I can justify purchasing a set of those. Will probally fit some 225/50's on them though. I'm definitely looking at building the overall package, I just want to make sure we do it right along the way. Does anyone else have any input on any of the above options?

Hi All, I'm sure this has been discussed to death by now, and I've been slowly trawling though all sorts of the previous existing threads however I want to hear some accounts about peoples suspension setups, and their opinions on them for road use. I'm yet to drive my car however, from what I've been told having US suspension the car will be very soft and bouncy on the UK roads (compared to the European Spec suspension). We will wait and see in due course though. That being said long term I will be looking for suspension suitable for fast road use on UK roads, with this in mind I would much prefer to stray more towards comfort than to outright performance and a harsher ride being a road car. Realistically my car will be spending 95% of its time on the road, it is therefore important to me that it functions there best. Looking at options that have been batted around and keeping cost in mind because unfortunately money is finite for me, I've come up with the following 3 options. Tokico Illumina Struts with Eibach springs http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic20b03 http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PR...c20c01/23-4041 Gaz Gold Coilovers http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=GGA240Z&a=i BC Racing Coilovers http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/catalogse.../?cat=0&q=240z Straight away there is obviously a clear choice to make in terms of do I either go down the route of weld in coilovers (which obviously offer far more adjustability) or do I stick with a more traditional struts and springs option. From my limited understanding all of the above three options offer a reasonable package in their own right, and all have pro's and cons. I really like the idea of driving on the roads all day with supple ride comfort, and then just being able to turn up to a track and dial in different settings to firm things up, or changing the dampening when the car goes to Europe and the roads are generally significantly better. This appears to be present in both options albeit the struts and springs option obviously has no where near the same adjustability in terms of ride height and camber etc. So my question to you all is, given my above requirements what setup would you consider in my position? (Fast road oriented with a bias towards comfort) I appreciate that the above will be subjective as a question, and that everyone answering has the potential to have extremely different wheel and tyre combos, stiffened cars with strut braces and roll bars, stock cars etc that will influence the overall package and their answer. However I'm just looking for general feedback and want to hear from those who have been there before and hear what they've done... Many thanks in advance

Hi All, I'm sure this has been discussed to death by now, and I've been slowly trawling though all sorts of the previous existing threads however I want to hear some accounts about peoples suspension setups, and their opinions on them for road use. I'm yet to drive my car however, from what I've been told having US suspension the car will be very soft and bouncy on the UK roads (compared to the European Spec suspension). We will wait and see in due course though. That being said long term I will be looking for suspension suitable for fast road use on UK roads, with this in mind I would much prefer to stray more towards comfort than to outright performance and a harsher ride being a road car. Realistically my car will be spending 95% of its time on the road, it is therefore important to me that it functions there best. Looking at options that have been batted around and keeping cost in mind because unfortunately money is finite for me, I've come up with the following 3 options. Tokico Illumina Struts with Eibach springs http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic20b03 http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PR...c20c01/23-4041 Gaz Gold Coilovers http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=GGA240Z&a=i BC Racing Coilovers http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/catalogse.../?cat=0&q=240z Straight away there is obviously a clear choice to make in terms of do I either go down the route of weld in coilovers (which obviously offer far more adjustability) or do I stick with a more traditional struts and springs option. From my limited understanding all of the above three options offer a reasonable package in their own right, and all have pro's and cons. I really like the idea of driving on the roads all day with supple ride comfort, and then just being able to turn up to a track and dial in different settings to firm things up, or changing the dampening when the car goes to Europe and the roads are generally significantly better. This appears to be present in both options albeit the struts and springs option obviously has no where near the same adjustability in terms of ride height and camber etc. So my question to you all is, given my above requirements what setup would you consider in my position? (Fast road oriented with a bias towards comfort) I appreciate that the above will be subjective as a question, and that everyone answering has the potential to have extremely different wheel and tyre combos, stiffened cars with strut braces and roll bars, stock cars etc that will influence the overall package and their answer. However I'm just looking for general feedback and want to hear from those who have been there before and hear what they've done... Many thanks in advance

Who knows what caused it, its more a question of whether they knew it and just pretended it didn't happen. As long as the shipping company resolves the damage then I can move forward. Thanks for both those links, just had a flick through and read, I'm sure I'll be referencing those as I go along. I'm aware its a 45 year old car so its going to have problems, sounds like the electrics are starting to show their age on all cars and are a weak point. I'm all in favour of upgrading parts to improve things, sounds as though a new fuse box and some wiring elements will be a good one to have on the list. MSA sound like they stock most parts that you could ever want or need for your Z. I've just got the joy of all of the shipping charges and VAT across to the UK :-( It's much more cost effective to run these cars in the good ol USA. (No advert appeared for me btw)

Thanks Dude Well I'm not sure courage is quite the right word for it, more recently I've had far more colorful words to describe it. I must say Its certainly been an experience with highs and lows along the way, has been far more involved, and stressful than I imagined. Especially given I've still only ever seen the car once and am having to resolve problems, and throw money at something I've only seen once, let alone had a chance to drive! I must be mad really, that being said I can't wait for it all to be sorted and just get it and drive it! :-D It certainly seemed like I was protecting it at the time, and I don't think it was in the container that the damage happened, I'm fairly convinced it would have been at the UK warehouse. Thank you very much for all of the advice about the electrics! I have heard about the issues with the combination switch. Obviously as you say a well known issue for the car. I wasn't aware that the fuse box could melt itself though! I've seen this new headlight wiring harness advertised online, I take it that its worth the investment then? http://datsun-240z-upgrades.net/product-info/ Lots of checks to make when I finally get to pick her up, I'll be sure to ask the guys who have been sorting it what they have/haven't touched and go from there. Thanks for taking the time to give me the pointers Indeed, was completely gutted especially given how good the overall condition is. Just hoping that the insurance gets on with and agrees to settle the repairs bill. So far so good, waiting to hear how things are progressing with the welding as its turns out the rust/rot wasn't just limited to the chassis rail onthe passenger side so I believe i've got a new floor as well! Apologies both for the belated response, lots of people to talk to these days! I will be sure to keep you posted as to how I get on. Still can't wait for that first drive

Well I thought it was about time I updated all of you, given how helpful you've been! With that in mind I can now announce that the car has finally arrived to the UK, and I've seen it for the first time! I went down to Fourways Engineering (A well known Datsun 240Z specialist in the UK) on Monday afternoon to await the cars arrival, after a nice tour around the treasure trove of a workshop, and a small wait it arrived. On first sight being backed down the driveway, it looked stunning in 918 orange. Within seconds it had several of us crawling all over it to have a look at what I had bought with my dad based on photos several thousand miles away. Unfortunately to all of our disappointment the car has clearly sustained damaged in transit from the US. the front end had been impacted denting the bonnet, chipping the paint, and most frustratingly left a dent in a fairly immaculate original looking chrome bumper. Damage also extended to the chin spoiler which had numerous cracks across it. There were also chips of paint missing from the door where it had clearly been knocked, potentially following been driven into the container. To top things off the head liner was hanging down with very sticky glue having failed to do its job. Safe to say, there's a fair bit of work that needs to be done to right these issues, and an email has been fired off to the shipping company to make an insurance claim. With that out of the way, the car was taken off of the trailer to have a look around and see what I'd got. Safe to say first impressions were very good, the respray looks fairly good, the interior is in very nice shape and looks to be very complete (minus the head lining issue). The car appears to even have its original spare wheel along with a lot of correct features for a car of its age. Next to try and start it up, absolutely nothing.... Some investigation later the battery looking very suspect and its out and a temporary replacement found. Still nothing, after coercing the starter motor, still no luck. Next job, rolled into the work shop and time for further investigation, up she goes to reveal whats underneath. A very clean looking engine, which had been tarted up, along with lots of shot rubber bushes and some interesting brake lines. Safe to say those are all on the to do list. The arches appear to have had a few plates welded in, however look very solid and clean with no rust visible. Further discovery however unfortunately lead to some investigation of a suspect looking chassis rail on the passenger side. With permission to get digging given, and the reasonably solid looking chassis rail begins coming off in chunks, revealing the rusty remains of the original rails. Safe to say more digging will need to be done, however some serious welding will be required to make the area solid again. Once I'd composed myself again and we'd looked around some more generally speaking it was good news via a few details here and there. Car was dropped back down again to see if the guys could get her heart beating again, a temporary starter motor was magic'd up and after some quick testing was installed in the car. The moment of truth came again and the started motor started clicking over, and over. A bit of fettling later, some gas and more perseverance and finally she roared into life! Relief does not come close to describing how good it felt to hear that car scream into life, safe to say I was grinning like a four year old child on Christmas day. Via a slight rattle that will need some investigation and she was sounding glorious, at that moment I knew this project was going somewhere and after months of emails, phone calls, sleepless nights and concerns vanished. There are going to be numerous bits of work to be done, and the above doesn't really come close to describing my rather Roller Coaster afternoon. However we have on the face of it a very good car, it needs some TLC in areas, some damage repaired and then it should be an extremely good (fairly rust fee) example that can have its wheels driven off and enjoyed for years to come. This brings me on to giving a big shout of to Fourways Engineering who have been extremely welcoming, knowledgeable and helpful this afternoon :bow: The whole team was on hand to check the car over for me to see what we've got, it was very clear that there is a team of people who are all Zed lovers, and complete Petrolheads. They were determined not to let me leave before hearing her roar into life, finally making the project very real :thumbs: Which after some disappointing discoveries, meant I left on a high note. The car unfortunately won't be making it to Goodwood Revival this year given that there is lots to do, and I don't want anything rushed for the sake of making one event. Hopefully over the next few weeks it will slowly have its niggles sorted so that we can get it onto the road and enjoy it, before the winter hits home hard. I have attached a few photos below, albeit I'm sorry to say it was so focused on taking photos of the damage (for insurance claim) I only took one very poor photo of it on the ramps. I promise once its out and about I will get some good photos of the whole car and share on here. Its safe to say, after getting home I felt completely drained however I'm looking forward as to how the next few weeks progress and will share as and when things develop. A few pics for you all below as I know you love them. More to follow shortly. The Dreaded Damage What Was lurking underneath A souvenir from the underside

I'm watching this with great interest from across the pond :-)

Thanks for the replies, interesting to have a bit of a read of your thread to see notching the bore's. The only logical explanation I've come up with is what you've said EuroDat. Maybe there were some serious issues with the original block and it was just more economical to drop an L26 in its place at the time. If it was an L28 I would have understood for the potential gains but it has me baffled, either way long term I imagine I'll try and drop an L28 in there to get some extra performance especially given it doesn't have the original engine I'm far less worried. In other news I had it confirmed on Friday that the car was collected in an enclosed trailer and was heading to NY to have it customs cleared and prepared for shipping to Southampton. I've just got to work out the logistics of how I'll get the car collected as I don' think I can drive it on US plates in the UK, and see if I need to modify the rear tail lights so that I can get it through an MOT to get it UK registered and a UK no. plate assigned. It's all making progress, just really looking forward to seeing the car for the first time and finally getting to take it for that long awaited drive....

Apologies again for the late response, the last few days have been hectic arranging logistics, the seller has now received full payment and is currently arranging a collection time for the car with the shipper .I'm attempting to try and have the car collected for me by Tuesday next week with the seller going on vacation, no easy task with the public holiday coming up and independence day on Monday from what I understand. I'm glad to hear you say that, from my limited knowledge that was the opinion I had, however I don't know the market like you guys do. I don't feel hard done by at all, I'm just really excited to get the car back to the UK so that I can finally see it in the flesh and take it for a ride. I'm sure that's going to be a special moment when I finally get to do that. It seems that I got very lucky with finding a car very close to my spec, thanks again. I really do hope that I'll have it for many years to come and can become part of a much loved collection. Thanks for your honestly, I think as you say both parties can walk away happy Cheers buddy, definitely my favorite Z colour (color). I've always wanted an orange car so I feel complete now. I'm sure it'll turn lots of heads when its back here as last year there were only 188 cars registered as road legal in the UK! Another question for all of you guru's. I'd definitely like to find out more about the L26 engine as I really don't know much other than its obviously higher displacement than the L24. Below is the spec I've been given by the owner regarding the engine mods, what differences can expect over the original engine? and will any of the below make a noticable difference? I think if I'm correct the L26 got strangled by emissions equipment? If so I'll definitely be wanting to get those bits removed on its return to the UK as there's not emissions controls on vehicles of this age, so if I really wanted I could even go with straight pipes! Engine L24 replaced with L26 (P30 Block and E88 Head) Ceramic header Turbo exhaust tips Cam upgrade to Schneider 17033 model that produces a beautiful sounding vehicle at launch. Original cam is available. High flow carburetors Crane Fireball XR700 ignition