Broman

I need help identifying some 240 front bumpers. The lower (rusty) bumper came off my 240Z. I bought the upper (clean) bumper at a swap meet but now see that the attachments to the bumper brackets are totally different. (The circled holes are for the over-rider.) The lower (rusty) bumper has the inner mounting studs 30.5 inches apart. The upper (clean) bumper has them 33.5 inches apart. And the license plate brackets are also drilled differently. The rusty one seemed to be original to my May 1971 240Z and fit perfectly. But what the heck is this upper one from?

May 1971. I dug around and found the original, old rusted-out one from may car...one drain hole. So sometime between 5/71 and 7/76 they added a second drain hole. Also, my 5/71 tub did NOT have a heat-shield on the side. Here's a pic of a later tub that has the second (rear) drain hole and a heat shield. I wonder when this change was made.

So what Is the factory color? I'd really like to find the PPG paint code for these.

The hinged lids of the 240Z attach using the outer pairs of tapped holes. But why do both doors have this extra pair in the middle? I have seen pics of brackets bolting here for the 1977 and later false floors, but why were they on earlier cars?

Regarding the deep (full-size) spare tire tubs, I have seen two differences. 1) Some have one drain hole (fwd) and some have 2 (fwd and aft). 2) Some have what looks like a heat shielded welded to the side next to muffler. The question: what is the date of these changes? Before I weld in my salvaged tire tub I wanna make sure I have the correct one.

Aha!! Many hours later... Once properly shaped, the piece is perfect! But as-delivered the shape was quite a bit off. Perhaps it warped in the Colombian sun before shipment! "Patience, grasshopper"

Other than KFVintage, what do y'all think is the best fitting/most accurate dogleg repair panels? KF makes some fantastic panels (some panel more fantastic than others) but I just can't come close to getting them to fit with the KF ones I have. Looking for folks who have install experience with other panels.

Does anyone have a source for this rubber/foam seal for the fender inner wing. It seems it will likely push out the fender slightly and I want to have it installed before I get more picky with panel fit. It is what is attached here (thanks to Geezer for the stolen pic!) Nissan has discontinued it, but I imagine someone here has found suitable material somewhere. Thanks in advance.

After cleaning out the Bondo, I gauged the hole with a (drill bit) to be 5/32 (0.156"), which is a bit too small for a standard .177 pellet or BB. But interestingly (well, to me) is that the clean fit of the drill bit shows the direction of travel. The shot came from slightly fwd and above the door. Almost as if someone stood next to the car and shot. With something. Just another mystery about this car.

Whatever the projectile, it had enough energy to punch a clean hole thru the outer skin. No hole or dent on the inner metal panel of the door, but if the window glass were down, that would explain it. Now I need to take a look at the data code on my passenger door window and see if it matches the car!

I did some digging in the material oozing thru the hole and it turned out to look like simple filler. So it seems to be later damage that was just filled. What had me suspicious was that the impact that caused the divot did not deform a larger area. Physics suggests this was a rather high-speed projectile that cratered and pierced the door rather than something pointy that fell against it. Oh well, just gonna fix/fill it and get back to more serious metal issues. 🙂

While fighting door gap issues (separate thread) my attention was re-drawn to this odd divot on the passenger door: It was clearly filled before paint, but blasting off the paint and filler exposed it. Here is a close-up There is no deformation outside of a 3/8" radius. This small but deep divot seems machine-made, albeit a mistake. And the divot had a hole in the middle that was filled with some factory material that looks identical to the bonding adhesive used inside the door. Here is a pic what the backside looks like: Anyone have any insights here?

I'm making good progress on the metalwork of my May 1971 240Z. But when I rehung the right fender and door, I simply could not get the gaps acceptable. Here is a pic of the car before stripping and disassembly. I can live with these factory gaps. After stripping and epoxying, the door still fits with all the body lines aligning nicely. But now the front gap is much larger than original. Of most concern is this: The vertical gap at the lower corner of the door is a whopping 11mm wide! Now my first thought was that the fender was simply not aft enough. But the lower shirt of the fender is up against the the little jog in the rocker (so it sits nice and flush) and the screw holes at the cowl are maxed out. So the fender is aft as far as it can go. So just what the heck is going on here?

Before entering the world of 240Z's, I was deep into mid-sixties Corvette restoration. And I have re-upholstered a number of seat covers. We used hog-rings only when two items needed to be pulled close together. But, like these 240Z seats, the wire in the seat pocket was not pulled down so far, and was certainly not secured with hog-rings. These are what comes in the Corvette seat install kit. They pull that same wire down to about 1.5 inches from the springs (or straps in this case).

When the hood is open, I believe you see the shaft inside the vertical supports. I'm trying to decide if these get plated with the rest of my bolts or painted with DTM epoxy primer.