kenz240z

I've used a product called rust mort to neutralize surface rust. It stops the rust and can be painted over. I think most auto paint supply shops carry it, maybe even a parts house, if they carry auto body repair supplies. Kenny P.

I bought a set of D caps that are in very good shape from a hubcap dealer for $17 apiece. She had gotten them from the local Nissan dealer by going through their old stock, so most likely they were taken off before the car was sold. I recently found another one for $10, but it has light gray paint. I've purchased several of the Z caps in various conditions, from rather ratty to very good, like the ones on ebay, and have paid anywhere from $5 to $25 apiece for those. I've attached a couple of pictures of some of the caps I have: one Z cap, and two D caps. One of them has the light gray paint. Anyone have any thoughts on what Z's would have had a D cap with light gray paint? Rod's Discount Datsun Parts (www.rodsdatsun.com) has the following listings: Hub Cap, 70-71 240Z, Used, $150 each. Hub Cap, 72-76, 240Z-280Z $105.00 Hub Cap, 72-76, Used $10-$45 The 70-71 caps would be the D caps, the 72-76 would be the Z caps, at least as far as I know. Hope this helps! Kenny P.

My '73 was originally a #918 orange car. When I repainted the car I chose an orange that was a bit lighter than original. I'm guessing Mexican Orange must be an aftermarket paint name, as that is what the local paint shop called #918. I used PPG's Omni Acrylic Urethane, and employed a basecoat/clearcoat paint job. The invoice lists it as OMN-MBCB/04, but doesn't specify the color...sorry, but I couldn't find anything that describes the paint mixture. Anyway, here are a couple of pics of my car, looks more red in the pictures than it does in person. These photos were taken in the garage with a flash. I looked at some of the pictures in my gallery, and there is quite a bit of difference in how the color looks, depending on whether the picture was taken with or without flash, indoors, outdoors, up close, far away, etc... BTW, the decals on the underside of my hood are the originals. I attempted to remove them before repainting the hood, but I feared that I would destroy them if I did. So, I simply masked them off with tape before spraying the paint. Kenny P.

Another possibility to check for the poor idle is a dirty fuel filter. I was having a similar idle problem, but my '73 240Z was also hard to start and having trouble achieving speeds above 60 mph. I was pulling my hair out, checked the carbs, checked the timing, checked the plugs, everything was good. As a last resort I replaced the fuel filter and the trouble went with it. Kenny P.

Ed, My emblems cleaned up real nice with soap and water. I've used Turtle Wax Chrome Polish to shine up emblems and trim parts for some of my other (non Z) cars. Regarding the photo of the yellow 280Z, it looks like an old chevy V8 emblem, circa '62 or '63, on the fender next to the 350 emblem...cool! It would have been for a 283, the 327's had flags on each side of the V. When the 350's came out Chevy started adding an additional emblem that denoted the engine displacement. The V shape on those early emblems was short and wide, in 1964 and later years the V was tall and narrow. Forgive my digression here, but I guess it is pertinent to a Z with a small block chevy under the hood! Kenny P.

It's been about 8 months since I repainted all the emblems on my Z. I keep it garaged and don't drive it that often, so exposure to the elements has been minimal. So far they look as good as the day I repainted them, but only time will tell how they hold up. I have used the same type of model paint to repaint emblems for my '64 Chevy Impala. I did those about 15 years ago and they still look good; however, they have yet to be put on the car, as it's been a work in progress since 1987 (meant to finish that car this year, but got married instead...). I've always had them in the garage, but they have gone through several cycles of hot and cold (summer/winter). Kenny P.

Here are some photos of the dash in my '73 240Z. Mine has the pull out hazard switch that is backlit. The guages in my dash appear to have the larger font. Also, notice that the heater control panel is different from the earlier Z's, where the control levers are. My Z has had a few previous owners, but the dash is original (cracks & all, conveniently hidden under a full dash cap!) as far as I can tell. Hope this helps. Kenny P.

Another project I completed a while ago was repainting the pillar emblems. I started by cleaning the old emblem with soap and water. Then I used a bit of Scotchbrite pad, a small metal pick and a Prep Pen to remove most of the old paint, especially the white paint in the Z. Another bath removes the traces of old paint and bits of fiberglass from the Prep Pen. I used Testors model paint and the finest brush I could find at the hobby store to repaint the emblem. Flat black and eggshell white seem to be quite close to the original colors. The same process can be used for the hood emblem, fender emblems and rear hatch emblems. On the larger emblems, such as the rear hatch emblems, I masked the lettering and used spray paint to touch up the black color. I have pictures of these other emblems in my gallery. The Prep Pen uses a bunch of fiberglass bristles and comes in handy for touching up paint chips, removing paint & light scale from nuts & bolts, etc... I bought one at a paint supply house several years ago, but noticed that the local K-Mart carries them in the automotive section. Kenny P.