EScanlon

They had a brief blurp on the site some months back.

Contact Andy Russell; the Datsun Dude. You can either e-mail him at : z@datsundude.com or you can call him at 480-980-6512 (cell) or during the day at 480-816-8668 (Z cars of Arizona) I've bought tons of parts from him and have always been impressed with the quality of his merchandise, usually NOS or NEW, and his Used stuff is much better than what I would find in a bone yard.

It's all a matter of perspective. In 1970 and 71 the 240Z sold for about $3500 US. On another thread on this site, we were discussing what we would expect for a 30 year old 240Z. Whilst the one in discussion sold for $15,000, we were CALMLY discussing that we would and have paid up to $5000 for those same 70 and 71 cars. How much would you pay TODAY for a pristine, mint, showroom condition Series I 1969 Datsun 240Z VIN # 0001? If this guy can afford $95k for serial number 1, he probably has a private and climate controlled show room / warehouse where he keeps his collection. In just a few years, I guarantee that IF the Z phenomenon takes off even halfway as much as it did in 1970, that his investment will more than double in value. Besides, the guy may earn 20 times more than you or I and $95k may be like you or I spending $950 or even $9.50 . Heck, I'll bet that many of you HAVE vehicles in your driveway for which you paid approximately half to 2/3's of a years salary (pre-tax). Granted you probably have it financed out for 3 to 5 years. What if you could get a car of this caliber for ONE MONTH's PAY? That's how much it would be for someone who earns $1,200,000 a year. Baseball, basketball, football, and half a dozen other professions out there have entry level positions at that rate. Don't envy the rich, they don't know if their friends are FRIENDS or people who enjoy having their entertainment paid for.

From what everyone here has posted so far, it seems as though you're either letting the car get between you and your spouse, or she feels jealous of it, or maybe she resents it or is scared of it. My wife has been part of my "evaluating" team as well as "Ops Check" supervisor. What does this mean? It means that instead of complaining and bitching and moaning over how the car is a piece of sh!t unless I get this and that fixed / new / repaired, I bring her into the garage, have her look at the item(s) tell her what it would cost to fix, replace or have repaired and then deal with it accordingly. Then abide with what you've agreed to. If she says you probably ought to replace it, but could you hold on till xxxx so we have the money, then do so. Too many times I've seen friends, and even myself, let a bit of youthful exuberance creep into our psyche and reinforce the "I want what I want and I want it now!" mindset that later gets us into deep doo-doo with the spouse. When the item / part / repair is done or received, or installed I have Deb take a look at it and take a moment to share in my pride of having done it, and / or of getting it done so that we BOTH can share the ride. This is going to be our Cruise Mobile. Also, if you are planning on building a Land Based Rocket, keep the fact to yourself. She doesn't need (or want) to know that you are planning on turning 3 second quarter miles. Speed, handling, acceleration etc for the most part are GUY things. Mention them to the average woman and she will recoil from fear / distaste. (Kind of like you when they start mentioning aromatherapy candles or the latest in skin care products.) As far as what I would change / do different if doing this all over again? Probably I wouldn't hesitate in "only doing it this far", and just dive in, take it down to where it needs to go and fix it right.

The value of an item is that value that that item will bring. Sounds like an oxymoron but it isn't, it is an ages old truism regarding selling anything. One of the advices given out by many old timer Z owners, Carl Beck amongst them, is to get the BEST car you can for your money, EVEN if it means paying out bigger bucks for it. Many of us opt for the $2-3k car and then invest 3-5k more into it before it starts looking like what we want. We forget to value our own time, that may add another 2-3k to the value of the car. Now you are talking a vehicle that's purportedly worth between $7k to 11k (adding in your labor and parts). If you add in anything else, then the price just goes up and up. The guys at Zhome recommend buying a car that's worth more (because of it's condition / maintenance etc) and then having less to repair, improve, change etc. Which is cheaper, the $3k vehicle that ends up needing $12k in work / parts / paint / time or the one that is bought at $15k or more and you can drive it the same day you got it? It all depends on what you value and what you enjoy. Look at it in another manner. How much is YOUR car worth now? I mean, how much would it take for YOU to PART with it? What if someone said, OK!

Contact Andy Russell, the DatsunDude at z@datsundude.com He may have it in NOS condition or he can get it from a boneyard in Arizona. He's honest and fair. I've bought tons of parts from him and can't praise him enough.

2MZ's that's what I was going to say!!

What do we get if we get it right?

On the subject of the double sided sticky tape, they are referring to the one you get at the Auto Parts Store. It is a rubber based just about 1/16" thick and has a sticky film on it that will NOT bleed or discolor your paint. There are other double sticky tapes out there that are spongier and / or have adhesive that will not hold or will discolor paint. Personally I recommend the 3M brand. Whatever you do, DO NOT EPOXY or GLUE it in place, as my IPO* did. You will be guaranteed to peel or damage the paint if you should have to remove it for ANY reason. (* IPO = Idiot Prior Owner)

Unfortunately you really limit the possibilities when you say no boxes in addition to not in the doors. There just aren't that many places where a 6" round speaker will fit in the 240. Even the original factory locations were way in the back behind the plastic panels on the side. You need to get a special bracket for the right hand side speaker but it's just a mirror image of the left one, so it's easy to fabricate. Some people have replaced the tool compartment lids with speaker mounts, but not sure if a 6" will fit there. If you were to rethink the boxes, there are 4 welded in nuts on the metal just below the quarter windows. You would have to punch holes through your dog let trims which may not be what you want to do, but those nuts would provide some solid mounts. Sorry, but can't really give you any ideas.

If you check with the DOT, you'll find that they do check the number on the dash, with the number on the chassis, the paperwork etc. How do they know where to find these numbers? By convention the manufacturer's have agreed to stamp and tag the vehicles in a few selected areas. If it's not on the firewall, it's on the frame, if it's not on the frame it's on the inner fender, etc. You guys are approaching this from the wrong end. Quit trying to outsmart the system and find out how to work WITHIN the system. Call the DOT, and without divulging your personal information, ask them about the following scenario. I have a car, year X that in order to be restored needs a new front end. I have found one from another car year V, which had been totaled due to a rear end collision. If I take the front end from the car V and graft it onto the rear of car X, which VIN number should I maintain on the registration and Dash? You could also do a bit of internet searching and find that most states post what is called the Code of the State. There you will find the legal answer to the majority of questions of this type. 2¢

When you sand the old paint job, if the metal is less than perfectly smooth it is a given that you will sand down to the metal in spots. The purpose of sanding LARGE areas when sanding a blemish is to feather (i.e. gradually slope) the chip / crack / blemish. Unless you are going for a Black Paint job afterwards, AND you've feathered out properly, the probability of picking out the "low" is slight. Remember, you WILL need to use primer, AT LEAST in the areas where you've cut to the metal. You don't need to sand the whole panel down to metal, just feather out the areas where you've cut to metal so that it isn't a STEP from the top of the paint to the bottom of the metal. Besides, if you have 1/16" or .0625" or thereabouts from the paint to the metal, then you could definitely stand some more sanding in order to fade the blemish. Hope this makes sense.

Well, I'm hoping that my answer doesn't offend you, but apparently you need to review the basics of a paint job. The Main purpose of Primer is to provide a bond for the paint to the metal. It's secondary purpose is to fill slight irregularities in the surface with enough build up of material that it can be sanded down smooth. It's third purpose is to provide a uniform color background upon which the paint can be applied without having to resort to several coats. There will no doubt be others who will add / deny some of these items but in my experience this is what Primer does. Primer is kind of like a "glue" which adheres to the metal, and then allows paint to "soak" into it in order for the paint to stick on the metal. Paint as a rule, will NOT stick to metal without some form of primer. For that matter, paint will not stick to smooth / shiny surfaces. There ARE paints formulated for that, but usually not what you would use for a car's body. Primer also will not stick to smooth or shiny surfaces. Depending on the application, different types of primer are available. In preparing a blemish free car, all you would need to do is to etch the metal in order to provide some "teeth" for which the primer to adhere to. There are Self Etching primers out there for new metal, and this is generally what the manufacturer's use. Self Etching will NOT as a general rule, etch old paint. On a car that has been painted before, you need to "scuff" up the prior finish / metal in order to get the primer to adhere. This is where sanding comes in. If you have several layers of paint, or if you have chips, or if you have known uneven surfaces, now is the time to sand the panel in such a manner as to smooth the surface out. You can use a dual action random orbital sander commonly referred to as a D/A sander. This tool allows you to quickly smooth out a panel and to feather out chips and cracks. Once you have the panel smoothed out you then primer the WHOLE panel with primer. Choose a color that will allow you to apply your paint without having to use several coats of paint, in order to hide the primer itself. For Example, White Paint use Light Gray Primer. Black Paint use the good old Maroon / Dark Rust Red or find a Dark Gray. Generally lighter shades of paint require a light gray primer, darker the maroon or dark gray. If you are familiar with the whole process you could sand your whole panel and then just spot primer the exposed metal. Scuff off the "skin" and then paint. I hope that this helps you.

Pre-shock Absorber mount bumpers, NO. Post Shock Absorber Bumpers, I believe Yes.

I've seen several posts regarding Charlie Osborne's Floor Pan Kit and everyone who has used them has been extremely pleased not only with the gage of metal but also with it's ease of installation (dimensions are right on target) as well as the fact that it duplicates the "original" floor pan design. Z Findings Charlie Osborne 603 Compass Court Kingston, Ontario K7M 8V9 Canada Tel: (613) 389-1397 www.datsunzparts.com www.datsunzparts.ca E-Mail: zeddfind@kos.net

NICE! And nice avatar too!

Site looks cool, but be careful of one thing: You have the word "ebay" in your title/logo/name. This could get the attention of the folks at E-Bay and cause you problems. If you aren't PART or a Subsidiary of them you could find yourself in legal trouble. Although the name is becoming a common use word, you will find that the lawyers love this kind of challenge. Case in point, there is a woman in Oregon by the name of Samantha Buck who has a coffee shop down the street from a Starbuck's. The name of her coffee shop? Sam Buck's. The lawyers for Starbucks HAVE sued her to change the name of her establishment, AND they won! Their argument is that the name is close enough to their clients to delude consumers into thinking they are entering a Starbucks. Besides the cost of the litigation and the hazzle, you don't want to find out that the law protects them and not you. Just my 2¢

The center console is correct for the early Z's, through 71. That this car is an Automatic AND it has the Hatch Vents is unique as that places it as a very late 70 or very early 71. The pillar emblems also identify it as such. (The hatch vents were being discontinued about the time the automatics were being introduced.) The late 71's and 72's had the console changed to where the ashtray was now just behind the shifter with a slide cover. This was about the time that they changed the seats to include the switch that activated the warning light for the Seat Belt, and the Choke warning light. The armrest on the console was always a dealer and aftermarket option. All in all a pretty good find. It does show some rust on the front bumper guard, so it does need some carefull look / see for other typical hidden rust. The Tail Light Finishers are the original color! That's a rare find! The bottom line is this, your original post mentions that you don't have the time or money to address this jewel. If you are planning on selling it, why not give the folks here a shot at it first. You know that we're all aficionados and would take care of it properly. Personally, I would tell you to avoid e-Bay although it seems a popular front for selling many items and even completely "restored" cars. How much are you looking to sell the car for? Keep us posted!

Of the ones you have posted, I like the last one best. It shows the unique "sugarscoop" of the headlight which is common to all the 240/260/280 vehicles irrespective of "nationality". So whether the car is a Fairlady or not, 240 or other won't matter and that would open the "theme" of the club to be other than 240z's only. 2¢

Tony: While you no doubt have earned an honorable mention in the Macguyver School of Automotive Repairs, you need to read what everyone is telling you here. I've no doubt that you have effected a "repair" that will maintain the pieces of the car together, and for the most part appear to hold them as they should be. The problem is that there is a strong possibility that your bolted on pieces of metal will tear through whatever amount of metal you have left just when you need it to be strong. Such as in braking, or effecting a turn at high speed, or during acceleration. This in and of itself is something to be careful off, but when you post that you then went and started racing other cars with it..... Well, maybe your intent is to be mentioned in the Darwin Awards. Or this is a lame attempt at getting everyone all worked up over it?

Actually, I became a Z-natic (thanks for the term) in mid 72 or 73, when we were playing a game of something in the street. One of the guys that hung out with us, his dad being outrageously rich, had just bought him one in the US, and imported it into Mexico. I resolved that day that one day I would own one. It just took me 30 years to do so. While I was in the Air Force, my Squadron Commander had one that he had bought from the dealer after it had been used as a demo car. He'd had it ever since he had been at the Academy in Colorado. When I saw it, I offered to do the paint job and body work for material and a paint gun, and that is the first one I restored. Enrique

Removing lock nuts without damaging the wheel can be tricky with the vise grips. That's because the only vise grips that will open wide enough to grip the lug nut hard enough are the regular or larger size ones, and that can be difficult with the rims only being 14". Easiest method, and again your experience may vary, is to go get a cheap socket from the auto parts store. Not sure what size as it depends on the style of the lock nut, I've heard that a 12 point works better than a 6, but it might be the other way around. Then you hammer it onto the lug nut and use the socket to remove it. I found it easier to peruse the different car parts stores, find the key that I needed with the set of lug nuts, and buy the set. Most of the "unique" locking lug nuts aren't unique at all and there are only a few patterns out there.

Just my conjecture and not based on anything else other than observation. The defroster lines on the glass CAN warm up the glass enough to melt ice and snow. With the lines running vertically the water run off just slides right down and does not help get the rest of the window. By putting the lines horizontally as each line melts the runoff goes down the slope of the glass and in turn contacts the snow / ice build up above the next line etc etc. When I lived in the midwest and I would use the defrost on my Mercury Capri it would take a few minutes and suddenly all the snow / ice would literally sheet off the rear window. Kinda cool to watch.

Worst case scenario, there are a couple boneyards up here in the northwest that may have one. Let me know.

Those H4 and other conversion kits only replace the sealed beam headlamp with a headlamp that accepts the halogen bulb. I've bought one, and all you will replace is the sealed beam lamp itself. You'll still reuse your mounting ring, containment cup or acorn, gasket, and wiring. If your cup / acorn cup is rusted, you need to get another one as this is what the alignment mechanism pushes against in order to align the lamp.