SpeedRoo

Thanks @CanTechZ, I had looked at the thread carefully. My question was when did they stop the practice as the 1973 car doesn't have them and neither does the 2,500 mile 280Z 2+2.

After the auction of the BAT 01606 Jan 1970 240Z lots of questions were left unanswered on what is original and what's not on our cars. @zed2made the suggestion of setting up a panel of experts to answer questions and give feedback on originality. I wanted to get the ball rolling. One of the things I noticed is that the Green $310k 04684 May 1970 still had inspection marks on the nuts and bolts, even after 21k miles of use. The 14,000 mile 1973 240Z 160805 now on BAT doesn't have any yellow inspection marks. Question for the eZsperts is when did Nissan stop the practice of using the bright yellow paint inspection marks?

Excellent idea @zed2 that's what I had been trying to do with this thread. There's a wealth of knowledge on this forum and it would be great for newbies like me to be able to tap into it. Things changed so much in one year of production, let alone over the three the 240Z was in production for the USA.

Progress on engine dismantling, everything came apart easily. No broken bolts or anything seized in place. Block stripped down to be boiled out before painting in Datsun "Blue". Started work on rear brakes. Have new Nissan/Datsun hardware and NOS Datsun Akebono brake shoes. Rear hubs disassembled and NOS Datsun bearings prepared to be pressed in place. Question, should the rear inner hub flange be black or gold zinc plated like in the attached picture?

The BAT 240Z went for $165k plus fees. Who knows what one done right would go for, somewhere between this and the $310k Green one? Great to see a good 240Z holding their value.

Which code on the window shows it as 1973 Kats?

Great observations, appreciate you taking the time to comment. helps me get all the little things right on my cars. One correct I think they may be 5 JIS screws not Phillips.

@kats thanks for those, I never knew there were so many little differences. One other I found is the windshield, I believe it is not the original, the "NISSAN" logo is different.

What's the correct finish for the rear hubs, BAT car has them painted? They look to be unpainted in the service manual, other than the center piece that is exposed when the brake drum is fitted.

Thanks @SteveJ appreciate the feedback. Any tricks to fitting them or were they plug and play?

Searched back through the forum and found the correct fuel pumps. Should be a Nikki on the BAT car. Nikki is OE for 10/69 - 5/72 Atsugi for 9/72? Ampco is OE for ?/73, possibly also a later replacement Kyosan Denki is a current replacement

I keep referencing to the close to original Green May 1970 240Z "04684" to work out what is correct or not. Should the fuel pump be Nikki on early cars, also should the clip on the hose connecting to the fuel filter be a wire clamp or band type? Were the wire clamps gold zinc or clear? Or a combination?

What would be the correct number @26th-Z ? Is this the correct one, it's off a Aug 1970 build.

Great observations, please keep them coming. The inner tail panel, when did it change over to covers for the taillight access?

The engine number stamping is correct, the font of "L24" was always a different style. Here's another for comparison. Seems from engine number 5000 onwards there were two zeroes at the beginning of the number.

Keep it coming guys, fantastic comments and great feedback. What would be the right door rubbers for this car, the early 2-piece type or single piece bulb type like this one has? It seems to be missing the key number decal in the glovebox. They painted over some bolts on the rear end. Looks like it has the factory rubber bushings on the mustache bar.

The driver's side door has the later hinges, the passenger side has the earlier hinges. The cross member under the seats is in body colour rather than black.

Thanks @26th-Z there is no intention to badmouth the car at all, just use it to learn how to do things correctly. There were so many changes to the 240Z over the years it's hard to keep abreast of them all. Hopefully this will be a learning exercise for all, I know it will be for me.

Nicely done video on the MZR 240Z Evolution by Henry Catchpole.

Thanks Rich @motorman7 I'll make a note of all these when I'm doing my car "03802" May 1970.

@motorman7 Please knit pick, helps us Newby restorers to find out how to do it correctly. Have set up this thread to list what needs to be corrected.

Another lovely early 240Z, Jan 1970, has turned up on BAT. Restored by Pierre and Whitehead over the last decade. Loads of photos which really help me, and others, when we are restoring our cars. As an aid to Newby restorers like myself, could the sage experienced members on this site help picking out what's not done correctly on the car. Not trying to be negative but it really helps to document how things should be restored or how they came as original. I'll start the ball rolling and add photos to show what I'm looking at. There seems to be the wiring cover missing under the dash. The radiator support frame seems to have been sprayed completely rather than painted by hand with a brush. The radio antenna doesn't look to be the early pointed tip type. The id plate on the "B" post seems to be etched rather than stamped. Not sure if the rubber stoppers are fitted under the door levers. Were the 1970 cars finished in black underneath or body colour? Looks like a later fuel filler cap assembly has been fitted. Looks as if the black Velcro patches to hold the spare wheel cover in place are missing. Also the jute underfelt is not fitted. I believe the horizontal water hose running front to back should also be braided like all the other hoses. Additionally did the early airboxes have stickers/decals on them? I'm sure there are other things I've missed and I may be wrong on some of the items I've listed. Feel free to correct me where needed.

Sadly Mike there will always be companies like the operation in Madill OK that are not to be trusted. As long as owners try and help each other and alert them to suppliers/companies to be wary of then that's about all we can do. It seems once they get caught on a regular basis, business soon dries up and they move onto the next hot thing. Having gone through the Mustang and Volvo owners the 240Z people are the current target.