zcar70

Another good thread about the differences in early Zs! My 5/70 car did have the two screws with clear plastic washers along the bottom of the door panels. The washers were very susceptible to breaking and falling off with age. From what I know, most early 1970 production cars did have the mounting screws. When I restored the car and used NOS Nissan door panels, they did not have provision for the screws AND the factory clips on the new panels did not line up with the holes on the doors. There is a definite difference in mounting points on series one door panels and later versions. Regarding the plastic seat "bolsters", my car also had them. Once again, the plastic became brittle with age and they tended to break off rather easily (they were not that hearty to begin with and didn't appear to give any support anyway). I believe these were standard on most early Z production, at least up to the fall of 1970. I still have them but removed them during the restoration. The seat belt hooks to hang the shoulder belts came in 3 versions: plastic coated metal mounted 2/3 up on the seat side for the very early cars (say up to 2/70 or so), same size ALL plastic in the same spot for the rest of the series one cars, and finally larger versions mounted to the quarter window frame. These became obsolete when retractable belts came along. I believe that Nissan changed subtle items "on the fly" as Z production went along. They also first used up the existing supply of parts before moving on to the "new and improved" version. A good business practice but it also explains the reason for no clear delineation of dates regarding exact characteristics of the 240Z. Interesting!

Lots of great input all! An unscientific survey for sure, but lots of good ideas and opinions. A nice wintertime discussion. Out of the 153,000 or so North American 240Zs built, the consensus seems to be that somewhere between 3000 and 8000 are left "on the road or able to be on the road". SO, from what discussion has taken place, it seems that there are less than 800 "on the road or able to be on the road" North American series one 240Zs still in existence. Fair enough! It appears that neither Nissan or early Z owners intended for the 240Z to still be around 40 years later and treated it as such. Thanks to you who DID take the time to preserve them! Let's hope to see many of them at the ZCON in Nashville.

Glad I could help! I can only say that I had great experience using the vendors I listed, I'm sure there are others who would offer other opinions. For me, it was money and time well spent. Good luck!

I did post it correctly.... :paranoid:

I did a complete restoration of my '70 240Z from October 2006 to June 2008 and used many sources to obtain parts for the job. In no particular order of preference, here is my 2 centz: MOTORSPORT AUTO: Great inventory, knowledgeable reps, very helpful with information, many Nissan genuine parts, good prices. They do not have everything in stock at times and backorders can be slow, standard 10% Z club discount, fast shipping. Great at returns/exchanges. Good customer service. Never had a problem with them. BLACK DRAGON: Easy to reference catalogue, good supply of most commonly used items, good selection of aftermarket items, not so knowledgeable staff (they merely take your order), no Z club discount, fast shipping. Z CAR CREATIONS: Great product (Stainless steel fastener kits specific to Z Cars), personal customer service, decent price. NISSAN DEALER: I obtained many genuine Nissan parts directly from my local dealer's parts department. You'd be surprised what is still available from the factory. ZEDD FINDINGS: Charlie Osbourne makes the best replacement floor pans and frame rails out there, PERIOD. Friendly service, extremely fast shipping. www.datsunzparts.com COURTESY NISSAN: Still has many parts for older Zs, hit and miss with supply, fast shipping, knowledgeable staff. ROCKAUTO.COM : A auto parts clearing house on the web. Great selection of aftermarket parts. Great source for common mechanical replacement parts, lightning fast shipping, click and it's at your door in three days or less. BANZAI MOTORWORKS: Mike McGuiness has some of the best reproduction rare Z parts around. If you want a spot on restoration, you need to see this guys website! www.zzxdatsun.com CLASSIC TUBE: The best on pre-bent all stainless steel fuel and brake lines. Yes, they have kits for z cars! Wonderful product, well worth the money. www.classictube.com SEATZ: The main supplier of Z Car upholstery/carpet/headliner kits to retailers. Great quality, wonderful fitment. www.seatzmfg.com DANNY'S DATSUNS: Danny is in the Pacific Northwest and has tons of parts and many early Z parts cars to choose from. Good source for rust free body parts, drivetrain parts, etc. Danny was planning on retiring soon so check to see if he has what you need. http://www.webspawner.com/users/dannysdatsuns/ EBAY: LOTS to find here, both new and used Z parts. Buyer beware however! There are many other sources for parts out there on the internet however the ones above are those that I dealt with in my restoration. I did deal with a couple others that were NOT good to deal with or were blantant rip-offs, but I won't go into that here. Another source is great forums such as this and networking with your area Z club. The parts are out there, you just have to know where to look!

Ditto. 90 bucks, looks great. Problem over.

Down to bare metal, every nut and bolt replaced or refurbished? Sounds like a complete restoration to me! Congrats on approaching the finish line! I remember that feeling of satisfaction when you suddenly realize that there is nothing left to do!

For sure we put a lot of $$ into our cars (speaking from experience)! :classic: But believe me, for the amount of chassis work this car is going to need plus bodywork/paint plus parts plus labor etc, etc, etc..... 30 grand is not high at all. Heck, a decent paint job alone can easily be $6k. BUT, do it for the love, not the numbers....

Wow, she sure is rough. :disappoin I would be very concerned about the amount of structural rust. You can already see a lot, and there is going to be much more that you can't see. To do it correctly, and safely, the car would have to be taken down to the shell then repaired. No patch work. Cut out the bad and weld in the new. Then....rebuilding the drivetrain, electrical system and interior. In sum, it is safe to say that the car would cost more to fix (at least $30k) than it would be worth. But on the bright side, there are TONS of good valuable parts there! :classic: Good Luck!

If you don't, I will....... Seriously.

I powder coated the rear panel when I restored my car. It was a "sand" finish very close to the original texture. The result was outstanding. The only downside was that you have to remove the thin chrome trim from around the taillight openings before powder coating if you want to save it. It is a pain to remove and reinstall without damaging it. Or you can leave it on and just coat that also. You can choose a gunmetal grey color very close to original or any color you like. Did the grill and bumpers too!

Make the car what YOU want it to be. Decide whether you want a nice early Z to simply enjoy OR if you want it to be an investment. Stock early Z-cars (that is the way they were born) will always have more value on the market. Making the car the way you want it has more value to you. Your car looks like it is already pretty far from stock, so unless you want to invest that $30k PLUS to have a full size model, just enjoy the ride! It's all good.

Good idea! As long as the edges of the vinyl at the crack don't curl, it should work. Let us know how you make out.....

Exactly. The tach and speedo remove from the front on 240Z dashes, unlike 260/280s that remove from the rear. The hard part will be getting access to the wire harness plug, light bulbs and wing nut that secures the rear of the tach. It can be done, but sometimes it is easier to remove the entire dash! Then you can clean the lenses and install newer, brighter instrument light bulbs too!

5/70 hls30 03833

I checked with JUST DASHES in LA and they do not repair dashes. They build a brand new, heat formed dash on the stripped framework. Cost is about $1200. Better than a NOS dash but makes that $90 dash cap look pretty good!

Too bad! Must have been a shock for sure to see that. I agree, dash cap is the way to go. Unless you can find a NOS dash and are willing to pay $2k plus, it is the best option. And they look great.

Very interesting analysis Bob! I may question the source of the data, but it makes numerical sense and the final figure falls into a range that I would assume to be reasonably accurrate. It also shows how rare and valuable series one 240Zs are becoming! Nice job!

[quote name='26th-Z;311199 And I think Frank is stretching the rules a bit however I agree with Carl's ruling on the matter. My intention with this thread was to see how many folks have had their Z for the longest UNINTERRUPTED stretch of time. Buying' date=' selling and buying again would not count. Original owner, no. Longest owner, yes. Sorry Carl! If the first Zs were delivered approximately 5/70, then the longest time span we should have would be 39 years, 6 months. So who took delivery in May of 1970 out there? [b']and WHERE? (city/state)

As of a few months ago, the down pipe was still available from Nissan. Check with your local parts department.

I don't know if #00013 could be considered a "barn find". It is still owned by Rick Morgan who bought it in 1976 and put it in his garage in 1979. Can the owner "find" his own car??? BTW, I have had the chance to see the car "up close and personal" and it is VERY cool. 98% original and ready to be restored. A real gem in the Z world!

They certainly do become part of the "fabric of your life" don't they? Take a moment to think back on all that has happened in your lives over the time you've owned your Z and the car remains a constant. Some folks bought them, beat them and sold them. For others, it became part of the family. How else do you explain hanging on to a CAR for three decades or more???

I was hoping we might have a 40 year owner here. Imagine that!

Sorry Marty, I sold the entire blue interior (door panels, headliner, seats, floor vinyl and plastic panels) to a fellow in Texas shortly after parting the car. For a nice profit I might add....

Most of us have picked up old Zs from barns/garages/fields/etc over the years either for parts or restoration. What was YOUR best find? Mine was a series one 1/71 car that had been off the road since 1981 and was in a garage. The owner was going to "fix it up someday". Well, someday never came and his wife had had finally had enough and wanted the car GONE. It was a rare blue with blue interior car that had the most badly rusted subframe I had ever seen on a Z (it was an upstate NY car). However it had low miles on the drivetrain and the interior was immaculate. I took it home and parted it out, still have some of the parts stored. Cost me $250.