EScanlon

Welcome to the club! Two notes: The Original grey finish for the rear finishers was a very odd shade / texture. Wick Humble's recipe is his best approximation to the paint color. The main key to getting the right "look" is to apply it kind of dry and let it get a "scratchy" finish. Wick's description of the finish was "Matchbox striker". And that is why so many Z's have had the rear finishers painted in Satin Black or Gloss, or Flat (although Flat has the same problem). When you wax the car, polish the paint, rub it out or ANY procedure that involves using some sort of wipe on liquid, you MUST avoid touching the finishers. The finishers will show EVERY kind of dirt, wax, polish or substance that has touched them. And cleaning them? Rotsa Ruck! That's why people painted them satin or semi-gloss black. Next item, regarding the overrider, most all the ones that mount over the bumper guards that I've seen have been drilled THROUGH the rubber. Yes, others have done other installations, but that's what I have seen. However, BEFORE you drill, place the overrider on the car, and CHECK FOR CLEARANCE! You may find that that little 3/8" or 1/2" spacing from the rubber becomes critical as far as having the tip of the hood avoid hitting the overrider. OH, and lastly, do yourself a HUGE favor before it becomes a massive repair problem. Check the fuse box and fuses. Don't just VISUALLY check them. Check them for continuity, resistance and make sure that the clips are nice and bright shiny where the fuses get pinched AND that the clip is tight. The sad fact is that this is probably the BIGGEST problem on the Z's next to rust. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Vacuum Advance Bearing Mechanism. Common problem, it's a little piece of plastic that holds some ball bearings for the innards of the dizzy to rotate on when the vacuum pulls on the mechanism. It also has a spring which allows the mechanism to return to base point. As the car ages, the little plastic thing gets brittle and eventually breaks and sheds little ball bearings all over the inside of the dizzy. Common problems are hiccupping, poor idle, back-firing through the carbs, even real lousy acceleration. The part is available through Nissan, would have to look up the part number, but that's usually all it needs. If I recall right , they're only about $20.00 or so. But why sell the car?

The ones that I've seen have been drilled through the rubber. Which makes it a real shame if you just bought new rubber for those guards. If you have the original bumper guards, and the original rubber, then I suggest you make sure you have them on the car, then place the overrider in place, and open and close your hood. Make sure it clears in both directions. Once you have clearance, then mark your holes and drill. 2¢

I'm also with AAA (actually ACIA), and I have no complaints as yet either. However, I DID specify a value for my car based on what I purchased it for, and an additional value based on the work that I was planning to put into it. I have it on the policy and on a letter signed by my agent, with a provision that states that this is an ongoing condition upon renewal. Now that that work has been completed, I need to reevaluate that value, and at this point in time it may be that the ~new~ value is not acceptable to AAA. My point wasn't that your insurance co. is out to cheat you, but rather that way too many times you find out AFTER the fact and not BEFORE. Sometimes a simple phone call is all it takes to discover whether or not your insurance company considers your 30 year old pristine 240Z an outstanding example of a collector car ~ OR ~ a rusty old beater. Forewarned is forearmed! 2¢

Now that you've obtained your Z, you have taken the first step in something that will give you hudnreds of hiours of enjoyment and unfortunately, a few not so enjoyable hours here and there. Take care of your car, look it over carefully and learn all you can about it, as that knowledge is what will save you much money and avoid frustrations. This is one of the best sites for that. Research the archives, but feel free to ask questions. The search feature will yield faster results than posting the same question over again. But if you truly have a new spin on an old question, feel free to post your query to the ORIGINAL question. Mike has programmed all new posts to pop up on the home page as ACTIVE POSTS and you will get more information with an old post that is refreshed this way, than if you were to post the question as new. Additionally, by keeping all subsequent questions to an item together (i.e. the same post) when new searches are done, not only the older answers but also your new spin on the item will all be presented together. Again, Welcome! Enrique Scanlon

This is probably one of the least discussed topics. Just adding your Z to your standard Automobile Insurance Policy will NOT, repeat NOT, insure for any of the following: a) TRUE repair costs. TRUE value. c) APPRECIATION due to restoration OR collectability. Read the fine print, and you will more than likely discover a phrase that says "Fair Market Value" or "Average Worth". These are insurance double-speak for "What we decide to give you." You MUST contract with the insurance company to either insure at an agreed upon value, or the value assigned to the car by a car appraiser. Otherwise.......you will get insurance based on the insurance companies tables. That means, tables prepared BY the insurance companies FOR use by the insurance companies in paying out claims. Trust me, in the insurance business, paying OUT is to be avoided or minimized at all costs. Yes, they have to pay out, but how much they pay out is where thousands of people have been very VERY rudely awakened. There are insurance companies out there that specialize in collector cars. Unfortunately some of these companies also impose limits, restrictions and other conditions before they'll accept your vehicle insurance policy. The alternative is to arse-U-ME that your insurance company will do the ~right~ thing. Rots-A-Ruck! Their main intent in business is to maximize the premiums while minimizing the benefit payout. They will give you what their books say is "Fair Market Value" which is based on data that will almost definitely NOT include your gem. I won't mention specific insurance companies, I'll leave that to other folks. But the bottom line here is to check your contract, talk to your agent and get it in writing what and how much your current policy is actually protecting you. If you find that it isn't what you want, then find another company FIRST, before you cancel your old policy. This is critical, especially if you have any kind of a bad driving record, or points on your license. NEVER ASSUME THAT INSURANCE IS A PHONE CALL AWAY. Get the policy, or at least some sort of written confirmation that you are covered before you cancel your old policy. You can always put the refund into your checking account. 2¢

Yup, that's a Spook alright. You can still get them from MSA with or without holes. The big advantage of the Spook is that it bolts on to your existing front valance. The other styles offered, as a general rule, require you to remove it as well as the side marker curved sections. BRE also had a short full width rear spoiler which mounted on the upper edge of the rear end. This was in part to add down ward pressure on the rear tires and also to upset the flow of air in order to avoid the dreaded exhaust back flow in through the hatch vents. 2¢

Look in the Yellow Pages, under ICE. (Seriously) But on another note: Guys, I know it's a PITA to chip off the tar paper, but it seems that using Dry Ice, Air Chisels, Heat Guns, Aircraft Paint Stripper, et al, is just making a huge volcano out of a tiny anthill. Get a fairly stiff 1" or 1-1/2" or even a 3" paint scraper. You can usually find these in the simplest of hardware stores. Take it home, and put an edge on it with your bench grinder. You're not talking about an edge you can shave with, just enough of an edge that it will cut under the tar paper. Sharpen ONE side of the blade only, leaving the other side flat. The resulting edge should look something like this when viewed from the side : /_____ Then with the sharpened edge facing up, find an edge of the tar paper, or a crack, or heck, just start in the middle of it, and either with your hand, or with the aid of a lightweight (NOTE: LIGHTWEIGHT) hammer, tap - tap - tap. You'll shove that edge under the tar paper, it will probably POP right off, or if it proves stubborn, TWIST the scraper up and to the side. I'll guarantee that the tar paper will come off. That's how I've done the Z's I've worked on. 2¢

Regarding the tar mat in the hatch area. I agree with Michael Perdue. With all the wrinkling of the metal, the tar-paper and the possibilities of water / moisture having gotten back there in 30+ years, I would remove the tar mat just to be sure that there is no hidden rust just waiting to bite you later. Yes it is a PITA to remove, but which is worse, removing tar paper or welding in replacement sheet metal? You will find that Datsun placed the tar-paper directly over unpainted galvanized (and low level galvanize) metal. Those wrinkles and moisture seepage will have undoubtedly allowed rust, whether surface or heavy to develop. 2¢

I found that a simple paint scraper botht he 1-1/2" and the 3" with an edge put on it via my bench grinder provided an excellent removal tool. You're basically looking to put an /_ edge on it. I would simply find an edge of the tar mat, push the scraper with the ground edge up underneath it and the tar mat would lift right off. There were a few times when I needed to use a small hammer to "tap" helped, but for the most part just chipped it right off. Yes, heat will help, but that will also reactivate the adhesive behind it. As far as an air-chisel set up on an air hammer, be careful as it wouldn't be hard to dent the metal. If you are going to go this way use the wide blade chisel and not the smaller blades and adjust your pressure down. You don't need the full strength of most air hammers to do this. 2¢

This isn;'t one of those cars you buy to drive. This is one of those you buy to put in your own personal museum. Yes, it's driveable, but only to the local Concours Shows, and then ONLY in perfect weather, probably with a front and rear escort the whole way. Sorry Bambi, doing anything, and I mean ANYTHING to this car would be like trying to improve on the Mona Lisa or Marilyn Monroe, or .... Sometimes the best you can do is absolutely nothing. Besides, anyone buying this car to take it out on the road as a driver or ~shudder~ as a Daily Driver, should be shot, if not emasculated..... Like you said, this is just my opinion.

The original ones were hides from the Nauga animal. Sadly this animal is now an endangered species and true blue replacements are difficult to find as Customs have them on the same list as Tortoise Shell artifacts. It seems that poopular demand for high quality leather like naugahydes outstripped the population faster than the little buggers could keep up. Incidentally, Armor All was first introduced as a sort of a primitive Viagra trying to get the little beasts to procreate. Unfortunately, this caused their skin to crack which resulted in even greater loses of the little guys. The other item rare item is the wood they used on the steering wheel. That came from the Arboraetus Mimicus tree which only grows in a small section of Japan. Although several attempts have been made to plant the tree elsewhere, it seems that it will only grow in Japan. However there have been reports of a very similar tree found in the outback of Australia, which the natives refer to as Maderus Plasticum or in the original aborigine "Bluh Deeh Fuäacke Wôd". Just a bit of Z trivia.

I'm glad you saw that picture. Sorry I hadn't posted anything about it along with the picture, I had posted something on a post regarding Avoiding Rust or something like that. Basically I got a 45° PVC Elbow to fit into the rubber hose that goes through the side wall (Kick Panel Metal) and to the cowl drains which are located inside the passenger compartment. The PVC Elbow was both siliconed and nylon strapped in place. Next was a piece of clear Poly tubing, since that was what was available at the hardware store. You could use different tubing or hose and get the same effect. Then I routed it towards the frame rail behind the splash guard and in front of the rocker panel. At the exit point I cut the tube at a diagonal with the opening facing back towards the passenger compartment and down towards the ground. The reason for that is so that I wouldn't get splash up from the front tire being forced up into the tube and then have the air pressure force it up into the cowl. The diagonal directed as I did will also allow a bit of a venturi effect and drain the cowl during rain better than just gravity. Again, glad it helped someone. Enrique Scanlon

Per the dictionary: "Roadster: an early automobile having an open body, a single seat for two or three persons, and a large trunk or a rumble seat." However, the 1600 and 2000 SP/SR series vehicles (don't confuse the 1600 with the 510 model) are also referred to as the "SPORTS". From what I understand the name Roadster was also used by Nissan / Datsun in promoting the vehicle. That's why when people refer to the "Roadster" you have people identifying the Datsun SportS 1600 or 2000, OR the BMW Roadster, OR many of the vehicles created from 20's and 30's and 40's cars. 2¢

And that also explains why Z's in good condition in the Rust Belt sell for such high $. Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New York and that whole area are besieged by nasty snow, ice and sleet storms all the time. Urea is too expensive to use, and if you've ever encountered a sheet of black ice on the road at high speed, even if you hate salt, you appreciate what it does. Unfortunately, Salt + H20 + Steel = Rust. You could invest in thousands of dollars of undercoating, inner wall rustproofing, car washing the outside and the underside of the car everytime you drive and you would never beat the rust genie. (Ever wonder why the Zeibart and other ~RUSTPROOFING~ folks have a LIMITED warranty on their product?) Park it. Drive it in spring, summer and fall. Nuff Said. Enrique

NIgel: You could chase minor repairs all day long and never get anything done and just end up very angry at the car. Like Steve said, if the car is straight, no cracks or obvious points of impending failure, and you're not going for a 100 point concours restoration, let it slide. There are replacement pieces of metal you can get (Charlie Osborne at Zedd Findings in Canada) but you must consider whether you are literally looking to make work, or finding work that needs to be done. 2¢

See there are a couple things wrong with the car. First off, did anyone notice the grab handle on the DRIVER'S door? That's such an obvious WRONG mod that I'm speechless. Also, the extra high center armrest! Geez, couldn't the guy at least spring for one with a storage compartment inside? What's the world coming to.......................

True blue QUARTZ sand is basically Silica Sand. (AFAIK). If you use it to sand blast with, although it is harder and it will cut through paint etc, there is a distinct possibility that you will fragment the crystal, as it is a crystal. The problem is that if it fractures it into tiny particles that can become airborne, they may be inhaled. Although a few exposures may not cause the same problem, don't forget that there is a strong warning regarding SILICOSIS, i.e. the inhalation of silicate particles. Whenever you do sanding with a fracturable substance, make sure you wear some sort of dust mask. You only have one pair of lungs. 2¢

Let me ask bluntly: How much money do you have, and are you willing to invest it with a very low return? This car has some serious cancer. It CAN be repaired, but the question isn't whether it can or can't, it is how much money do you want to invest. If you have your own MIG welder, Acetylene Torch, Body Working tools, shop where you can do the work, and most importantly tons of time AND money, you can fix it. If you have more money than time, then you can have a few things done by others. But the bottom line is simply this, HOW MUCH MONEY ARE YOU THINKING OF SPENDING!? At a WAG, I would say that you have at least a couple thousand in just the areas you've shown. Your floorpan shows that there is some serious rust there, which says that it's progressed beneath the tar mats. Also the inner part of the rocker panel is bound to be rusted. The dogleg behind the rocker panel is gone, which means you have 3 different pieces of sheet metal to replace there, which tells me that your rear wheel fender lips are bound to also be shot and needing work. The roof rot, as has been mentioned may be isolated, but in fact may be the whole top edge of the roof. All those add up and I would not be surprised to find out that your sheet metal repair ALONE will be in the vicinity of 3-4 thousand. And that's before you start replacing carpets, vinyl, seats, dash, emblems etc etc. All of these ARE repairable, but from what I see, you're going to be into it for at least 3-4 before you get to the next phase, and then you're looking at another 2-3k. Now mind you, I'm presuming YOU are going to do the work. If you have others do it, multiply by about 3 whatever estimate you have now. You might definitely be better off buying a rolling shell in good condition and take the parts from this car that are good and transplant them. FWIW Enrique Scanlon

I had a 1970 Chevrolet Nova that had them. It was a knob on the steering column you would pull out / push in. If I recall correctly, a friend's 68 Impala also had them. Are you sure about the year? or the name?

In rereading this post, I think there may be some confusion as to which rubber parts / fuzzy parts are being referred to. The rubber which Mike originally referred to is simple 1/16" thick rubber which insulates the window pane from the metal brackets which hold the rollers and other attachments to the panes themselves. There are two "fuzzy" rubbers. One is attached to the outside chrome finisher which wipes the outside of the window pane as it rolls up and down. The other is attached to the inside door panel vinyl finisher. This is more fuzzy than rubber and it also wipes the glass as it goes up and down. There is a last "fuzzy" piece, that's the channel rubber that fits inside the window frame that receives the window pane. I was able to obtain all of these as NEW from Andy Russell, although I had to buy the complete inner door panel and the outside chrome piece complete. Apparently the "replacement" fuzzy rubber is not available by itself any longer from Nissan. There may be other sources out there, but Andy didn't know of them. The window channel was easily obtained and very reasonably priced. The flat rubber I didn't need, but I would use plain old inner tube rubber. 2¢

By the way, the reason it got called the "rocker" panel may be a bit of urban legend. I've heard two stories. The first says, that this is where the rocks you kick up from your front tires hit. The other says that this is where some vehicles (like the old VW Bug) had these flat "steps" and they were good for standing on them and jumping up and down, thereby rocking the car up and down, hence "rocker". I had heard the first long ago, and the second was given to me later. Personally I believe the first. 2¢

Nick: The Gold paint I used, in no way is to be confused as being the same color as what's on the car. The Gold Rust-Oleum is a very shiny metallic paint which is the best approximation to "plating" I could find. The paint on the car, which is a repaint of the original color, is not metallic, and closer to "mustard" than gold. But Gold is what Datsun called it, so I chose a "gold" theme. But this brings up a good point, I WANTED that gold look on the wheels to complement and accent the body color. Look at the pictures in the gallery and I think you will agree, even friends who felt I should paint black or gray liked the finished look. So, applying it to your car. Matching the color for your wheels to the body is one approach. You could probably go to a paint shop that specializes in automotive paints and they could mix up a quart for you. Some shops can even mix you up aerosol cans, although if you know how to paint and have the equipment it would be much cheaper to buy the quart of paint. BUT, why not look at what you can get off-the-shelf? You may find a paint that will actually highlight your wheels / tires / paint job and may or may not even be the same color as your car. This is where a color wheel helps a lot. A color wheel is something designers use to demonstrate matching / complimenting colors. Go to a home paint shop they usually have one, or check a local crafts store. I've seen white, gray, silver, gold, black, metallic black, yellow, red and various shades, metallics of each used on wheels that made the whole car look bitchin! Granted, I've also seen paint jobs that made you want to splash mud on them right away. The trick is to do what pleases YOU. 2¢

The Rocker Panel is that area of the outside sheet metal right below the door between the front fender (wing/guard) and the rear "dogleg" in front of the rear wheel well. The "dogleg" is called that because of it's shape. It is just the forward part of the rear fender sheet metal. The Sill is that area of the rocker panel which is the transition from outside sheet metal to the inner sheet metal. This is where the aluminum sill guard goes. The sill is also where the seam on the metal for the door gasket is. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

I wouldn't remove the complete roof from either car to just do a sunroof hole fill. Not only are you liable to bend the donor roof, you're also making a volcano out of a molehill. When we did this kind of repair at the body shop I worked at, what we would do is take very careful measurements along diagonal lines drawn from key points on the "receiving" car. This in essence gets you the exact X-Y coordinates of your "grid". Now you know the exact location of the hole. This is so you can match curvatures. You then transfer the diagonal lines to the "donor" car, and mark off the area on the donor roof that corresponds to the hole in the receiving car. Don't use a drill to make holes yet, you're just marking at this point. Once you've traced out the "plug" you very carefully measure out from the plug another half inch or so. The amount depends on the amount of throat that your edging tool has. An edging tool is what is used when patching sheet metal, it puts a "step" on the metal. That step is used as a stop for the new metal to align to AND to leave a small gap where you lay your bead of weld. The width of the step is determined by the depth of the throat of the tool, and the edge of the metal is used as a guide for the tool. Now, you have marked out a plug that is both wider and longer than the hole in the car to be filled. Your best bet to cut without distorting this is to use a jig saw with a sharp metal blade and take your time, you don't want to warp the edge of the metal NOR heat it up due to friction. Be careful that you end up with a nice straight edge as that will be used by the edging tool to form the step edge. Once you've cut out the metal from the donor car, you edge it with the edging tool. Next you put the plug up into the hole and align all the edges so that you have a nice even step / space all the way around. If you still have your original diagonal line markings, use them to align also. Once aligned, you can either do a series of quick spot welds to hold it in place or you drill holes for pop rivets, or weld clamps. Once done, you can proceed with welding the patch in. You won't be doing one continuous weld all the way around, you'll be welding in short sections, alternating between sides, and front and rear. The key here is not to over heat the metal such that it warps. The use of a Heat Dam or Sink is a good idea, but that still means short welds and alternate sides. If you do a good enough job, you shouldn't have to do an additional weld underneath. You can just caulk it with some hard caulk or epoxy. Doing the roof in this manner, ensures that you match curvatures on the donor car to the receiving car. This is why the body shop will recommend getting a donor car to donate the metal as fabricating this from sheet metal can really be a bear. This is the most critical part of this job. The roof strength is mostly through the drip rails and front and rear edges. If you feel that this is out of your league, contact a good body shop, tell them you have a donor roof and let them do the work. 2¢