kmack

Since I'm involved in this year's convention, I'll throw this out. As of last month we are already looking at hosting the largest, most heavily attended National Convention yet. As was mentioned, the dates are June 17-21. The Convention unofficially kicks off on Sunday, June 16 with the arrival of 2 caravans, one from Dallas and the other from Houston, both sponsored by the respective area clubs. Both caravans will be arranged by year starting with the earliest cars, with the new 350Z bringing up the rear of the Dallas group. Estimated numbers of both groups is 250+ cars! We're already planning on shutting down the highway when they get here. Monday is registration with plenty of time to wander through beautiful San Antonio. Tuesday is the Hill Country Tour. Some of the most beautiful, and fun roads in Texas are only 15 minutes away! Wednesday is the Car Show, and is being held at ranch in a classic Texas setting. Buses will be provided for those not wanting to drive. Thursday is the day at the river and water park, along with a Simpson Racing Factory Tour. Friday are the drag and autocross races. More information can be found at San Antonio's Z-Sport club website, www.z-sport.com As far as attendance, Mr. K will be there (as always) along with at least 5 other top executives from Nissan Japan. We have also heard that about 20 members from a Japanese Z club will be in attendance along with some of their cars. We have gotten pre-registrations from as far away as Nirobi! We have people coming from all over the world and there will be heavy auto-press coverage also. If you attend only one National Convention, this is the one to be at. (Sorry for the sales pitch, but we're really excited about this!)

2Many is correct on the gauge thicknesses used, but to be safe and to make welding easier, you should probably stick with the 18 ga. It's not going to hurt, but it sure will make it easier if you don't have much welding experience. And the 18 ga will still be pretty easy to shape, also. If you are borrowing the MIG, great. It's less you have to spend. But do go out and get ahold of the thinnest wire you get your hands on. Too thick of a wire and you'll end up with either a "cold weld" or burning a hole through the metal. Burning a hole is the worst of the two. Take your time and if you haven't done much welding, practice first. Much better to mess up a scrap piece of metal than to turn your car into scrap.

One thing is sure, this red will definitely stand out! Now for a quick question....anybody know what would be good to use to clean up the overspray from off my garage floor?

This was the final parting shot for the day...

The body finally has paint. But I still have 2 more coats to go.

fenders

left side

next picture

Well, this is how I spent my Saturday. Finally getting the first full coat of paint on my car. Isn't 905 Red beautiful? The pictures show how the car looked this morning and then what it looks like this afternoon.

I remember seeing that exact same picture on the internet about 2 years ago. Must have had a quarter panel replaced because it has the later model emblems. Either way, congrats on the new car.

I was looking this up for my own benefit... www.carparts.com lists a part number of E-2910 for the filter for '70-'72 240. Price is $50.82. They also list a part # of E-2900 for the '73-74 240,260. I didn't see what the price was.

Check your coil. I had an old twin motorcycle that would run great until the engine warmed up and then one cylinder would die. Turn out one of the coils was going bad, and when it heated up, would break some sort of internal connection not allowing it to work. Grab a known good coil and hook it up. Then go for a drive and make sure everything heats up good. If it still dies then start pursuing the rest if the ignition system. Definitely sounds electrical.

What you don't realize is, that's 2ManyZs in the chair teaching the neighbor kid how to mow his yard!

Well, I have yet to ever really drive me Z, but for general driving, it also depends on the mood. I drive fast 99% of the time, the other 1% my wife is with me! If it's somewhat laid back, fast driving then it's anything from AC/DC. LOUD! If it's really spirited, fast driving, then White (Rob) Zombie, Ministry, Korn, etc. again, really loud. And my all-time favorite driving song, "I can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar.

Royce is correct. There is adjustment in the hood mounts. There is also a little bit of adjustment in the hinges where they mount. Short of that, the only thing you can do is take it to a frame shop. I had the left front of mine pulled last year. My hood overlapped the fender edge by 1/8" from the radiator support forward, only. But it took ten hours of frame time @ $35/hour to get it perfectly straight. Of course I took my car to someone that restored cars and had an eye for perfection. (I actually had to reshape the edge of my fender!) Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is be prepared for the cost of having the frame pulled. It may seem like it won't take a lot of time, but there is a lot of set-up involved in making sure your car is on the machine right in the first place. Any pulling on a machine is made in small increments. (It's easier to pull a little and keep going, than to pull too much and have to try and put it back!) Go to different shops (at least 3-5) and make sure you take the car with you. (It doesn't do them or you any good to guess at what you want if they can't see it.) Let them look at it and tell them what you would like them to accomplish. Ask for an estimate. This will give you an idea of the price range you're looking at. From there you can decide if it's worth it to you to have it pulled or if you can live with a little bit of hood height. If you decide to have it pulled and have made a decision on a shop, then schedule a drop off time for the car, and get them to tell you when it'll be done. If it takes a few day to finish, then call them in a day or so to check progress. They'll be less likely to delay your car if they know you'll check up on them. Ok, enough of my long windedness....if you have any other questions regarding having this done, PM me.....I could go on and on.....

most of the paint codes were located on a sticker on top of the radiator support. It's been debated as to whether the original location of this sticker was on the left or right side of the radiator support, though. As for trying to locate the original color of the car you have, best place to look is under the carpet or behind the interior panels. Pull up some of the vinyl trim also. Most people, when changing a car's color, will not go through the extra trouble of changing the color COMPLETELY. Doing a complete color change would involve removing the entire interior (dash, seats, wiring, heater, etc.) and repainting the entire shell. It's a lot of work and has been what has kept me from repainting my car black. (I didn't want someone to pull up the carpet and see the original red.)

The first cars I'm aware of that came w/ rear sway bars from the factory were the 260's. If your car is a late '73 then you might have the mounts for it. The bars on the 260's I've seen mount in front of the rear suspension. The bar ends mount into the rear swingarm, and the body mounts of the bar mount up to the unibody structure near the front portion of the wheel wells. There are kits available to mount bars on the 240's. I have one on mine, but it mounts on the diff. support, behind the rear suspension. It required some drilling.

2ManyZ is right. If it's just flaking that is not too big of a problem, but the exact location of the rust would need to be determined. If it's in the rocker panel itself, then you may be talking about replacing a structural member. You mentioned a price of $8900 for this car? That seems rather high for a car that has any rust on it, be it just flaking rust or what-not. For that price, I'd expect it to have no rust at all. Anywhere. I'd also check the area under the battery, the rear hatch ledge, and the rear fender flares for rust. Look for any signs that show the slightest bit of bubbling under the paint. I'd also crawl under the car and do your best to check out the condition of the floors. If you can, try and find someone who is knowledgable about Zcars to go with you and take a 2nd look. Just make sure you know all you can about the car before making a purchase. That way you know what you're dealing with and you can only be mad at yourself later if it gets to be too much work. (Don't ask me how I know this) :tapemouth

240Z, I tried downloading this my self and didn't have any problems. The zip file only contains one file, the dimensions file. But I did do a search on my hard drive of the file you say is missing. It is a file neccessary for Acrobat. I would try reloading a version of Acrobat again and see if that helps. I'm running version 5.0, btw. If you need more help, send me a private message and I'll try to do what I can.

I've used a gear puller when I've had stuck drums. You'll need one big enough to open up to 11-1/2" or 12". Anything smaller and it won't hold on. Place the teeth of the jaws on the fins of the drum (a 3-jaw puller is the best for centering) and tighten it down until it's just past snug. Then beat on the centering pin of the puller w/ a hammer. This will help loosen up the drum. You may need to keep tightening the puller to keep it snug and on the drum. Eventually it'll come off. Be patient and persistent.