hls30.com

Depends on how you look at the investment... A week long stay at Disney World/Orlando for four (out of state) about $3000. I tried to sell my memories, videos, and photographs for what I have in them---no takers! What did I get to show for the money...something no one would buy at any price! Not that Disney wasn't fun...it was. Spending $3000 on a Z, well, I could feel that difference in the seat of my pants every time I got in the car-it could pay for better seats, nitrous, a suspension upgrade, and a better AC! Course there would be nothing Mickey Mouse about it... Will

Well, with any luck, the seller will get bent when the buyer tries to register it-or has it worked on. Possibly the buyer will join the club, find the thread and head right back to the seller with the law-since several of us let the seller know he had a major VIN issue that could and most likely would bite him in the butt. I would say the seller bit, found the vin problem and is selling before getting stuck with the issue-hoping it won't come back to him-if it was my 3550-you can bet I'd be bringing the police back to his door.. thrashershop...I just hope the buyer knows to get good documentation, and pays with something requiring ID to cash. Will ps just for later searching Ebay auction # 300275847579 Seller trashershop 1971 DATSUN 240 Z. COLOR IS RED WITH BLACK INTERIOR. RUNS GOOD BUT NEEDS CARB WORK. I ORIGINALLY PURCHASED THE CAR TO RESTORE BUT NOW HAVE DECIDED TO GO IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. TRUTH BE TOLD I THINK A BIT OFF MORE THAN I CAN CHEW. LOOKING TO SELL THIS CAR TO PUT TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF ANOTHER CAR OR WOULD CONSIDER A TRADE FOR A JEEP WRANGLER IN EQUAL STATE OF REPAIR.

I knew that the Japanese dumped their excess cars in the ocean before the day when "Half-cuts" became popular-I never knew the Italians did the same thing much less that some guy in Michigan figured out that rescuing them from the ocean was possible... "Just because you can do a thing does not mean you should do a thing" That is an interesting sacrifice to the rust god-reminds me of the "green: Toyota commercial about environmental impact... Will

Here is another update on The Car AL sent to South Carolina. I picked up the car from Asian Automotive/Carter Racing this morning. I spent the day with the car and drove it in all kinds of dry conditions while getting estimates for correcting Als version of award winning bodywork and Concourse paint(Every estimate included a replacement hood and a replacement hatch-those on the car were too full of poorly done previous repairs, filler and rust to economically repair at $44/hour. The lowest bid to correct the work so far is $4270.11 with the provision that hidden poor repairs will add to the cost of those that were exposed when the back sides of several repairs were examined(anyone know how to take a photo through a non-camera ready borescope?). 1) Even though the car ran strong when I drove it before, it turns out Al tuned the car for idle-IDLE! The carbs were neither balanced nor adjusted for performance. Now that they are tuned really well, the muffler installed properly, the ride height corrected, proper tires installed, and the brakes functioning properly the car is still seriously too loud at and about 2000 rpm, but at least now it is a blast to drive-it is night and day different than the last time I drove it. At 4k you can feel the aftermarket cam come into its sweet spot. 2) Only the headlights and one side of the emergency flashers work. No other lights(other than the one on the new Kenwood radio that AL installed so as to make no noise at all) actually light up! No turn signals, no markers, no running lights, map light dash light or engine light. Replacing the fuses-all of them-made no change! 3) At any speed the exhaust fumes in the car are so bad that the only way it can be driven is with the windows up-since the AC was wired to be on if the car is on(NO THERMOSTATIC CONTROL), it is on all the time, but there is very little airflow through the car, and even less cooling-it was in the 50s here in Savannah today, and with the AC running full blast all the time it was still colder outside than in the car-almost no airflow through the system, and inoperative controls! A fine example of Als HVAC ability-he was paid extra to install a WORKING a/c unit! On a 50 degree afternoon holding any speed up to 70 miles per hour with the Ac blower on full blast and the compressor on continuously, the AC Al installed can't keep up... What about the heat you ask- the AC was wired to be on all the time! Will

There is a great thread on early Shift boot grommets that demonstrated exactly the point! If the remnants so many of us kept had been tossed because of the tatters the shift boots were in, we would have had an issue finding something that would work instead of something that is almost indistinguishable! Will

Being that the car is in Arizona-and evidently has been for quite a while, I would not expect rust to be as much of an issue as I would on a car from the east coast. Go over the car and inventory/picture/post the issues, and we will help you figure out what to do. I don't see to much that would make me think you have any more a money pit than the rest of us. Rust repair is the single greatest source of repair expenditure found in most Z cars. If yours is fairly devoid of rust, you can get away with learning how and rebuilding(essentially cleaning and/or re-gasketing) most parts of the car yourself-if you are handy, patient, or at least determined. A factory Serivce manual would be a large step in the right direction-as was joining this club! Will

From Zhome.com Competition Hood vent illustration also clean her up, and start with the advice in the thread below! http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22619&highlight=drain

Welcome to the club! I would start with mechanicals-get the car safely driveable-if it has been stored, replace the fluids-all of them. It is much more fun to restore a car that you can take around the block after doing something-momentum becomes a large issue when the car will not move with a twist of the key and a blip of the throttle-as well being able to stop becomes important once moving! There is a wonderful thread about what to do to a car that has been on extended vacation from the road-I would start there-I'll see about posting a link shortly No '73 came with hoods vents! There was a vapor lock issue in '73, and one of the "solutions" was adding a single vent to the hood right down the middle-it is sometimes called the competition hood vent-I'll post alink to this info as well. From the looks of it, you have a '77/78 hood that came with vents in front of both the passenger and driver. Will

Here are pictures of the same seats I have. I have three pairs, two as pictured, one more from a BMW convertible...similar, but not the same... The Black ones are the ones I am leaning toward using in my 240Z. I fitted them to the car two years ago, and will recover them after the car is completely ready for them. Will

It was me! E31 sport seats I'll hun tthe thread/... Will

Tomohawk, What you do to it depends on what class the "car show experts" think you will enter. I don't know any car show expert that would tell you to highly polish anything aluminum on a stock class entry, Now bead blasing will clean up dirty parts, but you have to keep the pressure low enough not to change the surface texture of the metal. I am getting ready to clean the Auto tranny for my 300Z, and I will be degreasing it with mineral spirits, and then brushing off the fuzz/glass beading it, and clear coating with a low sheen paint-pretty close to what I would do to restore a valave cover-except instead of clear coating, I would hit the pretty side with MAAS metal polish-not to alter the surface, but to keep coorosion at bay. Will Will

Send it to me Rick, and I'll send you back exact instructions on how to do it next time... Will

On several occasions, I have used an awl to prick punch several dents around the head of the bolt(close to the outer circumference of the head) and tap them tangentially to move the bolt around its path to out as well-not as quick as Mikes answer if you have a Dremmel handy, but deep in the Pick and Pull with just a few tools it does work! Will PS, If the ignition lock is original, there should be a tag with the key number on the inside of the glove box(hopefully it isn't locked!). If your lock smith is as good as Bradley Lock and Key here in Savannah, they could make you up one from that.

This beggs the question, did dealers with upholstery issues and a shortage of cars(not to mention seat parts) have damaged seats corrected to the best of the local upholstery shops ability(with out vents) before being put on the show room floor and sold? Or is this just another case of Nissan not updating part numbers as suppliers changed parts? Will

I have NOS blanks from the early console, the clock, the radio aperture mask, and the later(late71-73) fuse panel cover. I have delayed making restoration parts in order to get a few projects(research/locate/schedule straightening out the mess Al made out Larrys car, refreshing my 300ZX Convertible, finishing my 240Z, and getting a piece of property sold-despite numerous and serious delays allowed by a mis represented Railroad right of way among them... As of the first of next year, I will be starting the making of 240Z restoration parts that are no longer available dfrom Nissan, and )if my findings are truely representative) in most case seriously rare, and beyond difficult to find. There will be a few suprises out there when the jello sets! Will

To buy the plates from the better vendors, you have to supply a copy of your title, and they come stamped. Will

Here is another update, 1)Larrys car has had the springs corrected( the ones on it were short to the point the rear suspension was resting on the bump stops and the springs rattleing anytime the car went over a bump-from no longer being under tension), 2) One caliper replaced, as one was frozen, and there is still an issue with the car pulling hard to one side when braking-the pads will be replaced, they appear to be mismatched left to right(one pair of high performance-one set of run of the mill) 3)Four proper sized tires put on it-the ones on it were too small-put there to allow more clearance to address the clearance issues from the severe lowering of the car. 4) the Muffler was reinstalled(Al had put it on upside down and backwards), 5)the check valve for the mastervac was re-installed correctly(it was installed backwards-meaning the car had no vacuum to power brake booster-and thereby no power brakes) 6) There is still a shimmy in the front end, meaning the rack probably needs to be 7) serious Dents in the floor from jacking the car in the wrong place to replace the wheels have been removed. Most of the issues left to correct are: a) restore the steering wheel, clam shell, c) restore/replace the turnsignal switch-only works one way, d) restore the hazzard switch and its hardware, e) Restore the original radio(completly dead, worn and broken face plate), f) correct the after market radio -lights up but no sound) g) Restore the scratched shifter, replace the torn shifter boot, h) restore the worn/missing/broken hardware for the ps door, seats, visors, mirror and seatbelts i) restore crazed/worn/broken console, j) cracked rear trims(all but one), k) cut shock tower upholstery, l) worn tunnel upholstery, m) scratched up gage lenses, n) cracked knob(s) on HCP, o) replace the mismatched fasteners through out the car, p) no key to the doors(ign Key only), q) several dash lights are out, r) replate the engine hardware that was painted instead of replated s) correct Fit of the PS headlight cover that was installed improperly(3/4" off) t) correct the core support damage u) Remove the dents in the car that was said to be ready for a concours paint job he was paid extra(exactly the amount he asked for) to do and did not. v) replacement of the hatch(raw bondo squished in all over the inside) w) replacement of the hood x) hatch shelf/corner replacement (slathered filler all over the swiss cheese) y) Strip the car, professionally repaint(Al was paid what he asked to remove the glass and paint the car properly-he did not) Z) Put the car back together in the condition AL chose to advertise it as being in-even though it was no where close: Quoting from ALs Ad: "Datsun Nissan Z 240Z Restored 1970 All New NOS Parts ... This restoration includes over $25,000 in New and Genuine New Old Stock 240Z parts. Every last nut and bolt was removed, re-plated and restored. This Z was a personal project car that I took special pride in to make sure it was a true award winner. Nothing was left undone, completely restored interior includes and NEW Dash, New Door Panels, New Seats and New Carpet. All of the gauges including the clock work perfect. ... Overall every single part is brand new or restored to better then new condition..." Photos of the car as delivered can be seen here: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3526 More photos showing the difference between Als work and the correct way to restore a Datsun have been taken as the work has been done, I will see about adding them over the next week or so. The car was pretty, but it was not driveable as delivered, and it was far from the description Al gave it on ebay. Will PS, In Als version of "a true award winner", with "Nothing... left undone", and "completely restored..." car, There are a good many more issues to correct than I listed above, but in a project this size, it has to be taken in smaller bites so as not to be overwhelming. In fairness, Al does seem to have done a good job on the engine/drive train, the car runs well(though the shifter was sloppy-Al forgot to replace the shifter bushings in his rebuild-once that was corrected, the car shifts very well-too bad it wasn't safe to drive as delivered-no brakes(emergency or otherwise, and a steering wheel that was impossible to hold for a 240lb man(me) at 40 miles per hour.

Sorry for the confusion! I'm going by production date, early '72s were made in late '71! Will

Clearly a late 71-73 console with an early Ashtray... Will

Welcome! and congratualtions on the find and your progress! Will

Stephen, Quite neat! But No...the one that gets me started was an original S30 study-I'll locate the picture and post it-probably over the weekend. Will

Well, I have too many S30 parts cars to count. In order of age: I have a 1968 2000 Roadster driver. I have a 1972 240Z W.I.P. that will be seen by those of you coming to Amelia Island to see Carls Rally car on the field. I have a 1977 280Z Alpha1 rebody that is waiting for me to finish the 240Z I have a driver 1982 280ZXGL... I have recently bought a 1993 300ZX Convertible that I am replacing the engine over the next 10 days-It is getting a quicky refresh-JDM engine swap(kept NA), new top, front bumper, and seats over the next 45 days or so. I have wanted a Z32 for years, and this one just fell in my lap(thankfully I was sitting between a pair of jackstands!) I think the Z32 is "the second truely beautiful Z". I will find a low vin 240Z to restore for a gold cup quality car-I have all most all of the NOS parts to build a new one. I would love to find a 510 four door or wagon for the family about town car- And the Datsun I would most like to have I will have to round up a picture of-I don't think most of you would recognize it-I stumbled across it only recently while doing some research for the DHM. Will

Several of us Own more than one Datsun/Nissan, which ones do/would you own and why? Please distinguish between those that are RTG, those that are in progress, and those that are parts cars...

Reminds me of the Logic vs Sex skit from Monty Python years ago. I have the sound byte somewhere-I'll try to post it after finding and listening to it again myself...I'm laughing just think in g about it...but who in this thread would be the wife and who would be the husband? forget the video-just listen to the audio...but turn the volume down at 2:55 as there is additional audio added. http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15517388 Will Ps for those of you who would rather read the exchange: Professional Logician monologue "Good evening. The last scene was interesting from the point of view of a professional logician because it contained a number of logical fallacies; that is, invalid propositional constructions and syllogistic forms, of the type so often committed by my wife. "All wood burns," states Sir Bedevere. "Therefore," he concludes, "all that burns is wood." This is, of course, pure bullshit. Universal affirmatives can only be partially converted: all of Alma Cogan is dead, but only some of the class of dead people are Alma Cogan. "Oh yes," one would think. However, my wife does not understand this necessary limitation of the conversion of a proposition; consequently, she does not understand me. For how can a woman expect to appreciate a professor of logic, if the simplest cloth-eared syllogism causes her to flounder. For example, given the premise, "all fish live underwater" and "all mackerel are fish", my wife will conclude, not that "all mackerel live underwater", but that "if she buys kippers it will not rain", or that "trout live in trees", or even that "I do not love her any more." This she calls "using her intuition". I call it "crap", and it gets me very *irritated* because it is not logical. "There will be no supper tonight," she will sometimes cry upon my return home. "Why not?" I will ask. "Because I have been screwing the milkman all day," she will say, quite oblivious of the howling error she has made. "But," I will wearily point out, "even given that the activities of screwing the milkman and getting supper are mutually exclusive, now that the screwing is over, surely then, supper may, logically, be got." "You don't love me any more," she will now often postulate. "If you did, you would give me one now and again, so that I would not have to rely on that rancid Pakistani for my orgasms." "I will give you one after you have got me my supper," I now usually scream, "but not before" -- as you understand, making her bang contingent on the arrival of my supper. "God, you turn me on when you're angry, you ancient brute!" she now mysteriously deduces, forcing her sweetly throbbing tongue down my throat. "**** supper!" I now invariably conclude, throwing logic somewhat joyously to the four winds, and so we thrash about on our milk-stained floor, transported by animal passion, until we sink back, exhausted, onto the cartons of yoghurt. I'm afraid I seem to have strayed somewhat from my original brief. But in a nutshell: Sex is more fun than logic -- one cannot prove this, but it "is" in the same sense that Mount Everest "is", or that Alma Cogan "isn't". Goodnight. " Will, PS-is this an early exchange between Rick and she who must be obeyed?