EScanlon

With you being in Arizona you may have better luck contacting one of the best sources I know of, who happens to be IN Arizona. The Datsun Dude, or Andy Russell (email: z@datsundude.com) just recently worked up a partnership with Z Cars of Arizona. Not sure of their new website but you can contact Z Cars of Arizona at 480-816-8668 or contact Andy on his cell at 480-217-7322. Andy is not only very knowledgeable, but he is honest to the core. Give him a jingle and you will probably save tons of time trying to locate the parts you need. Hope this helps.

Sorry to rant, but this is probably the BEST reason to get the Microfiche CD that Mike sells. (See the tagline up above). Granted it takes a bit of work to jot down the numbers for the model years you are interested in, but this is what you would be asking the guys at the dealership to do. Besides, the money from the sale helps keep the site going. So, I'll answer your post this way: Check the Engine Sections in the CD for both the L24 & L26, sections 14 and 39.

And I always thought they were just these little dolls that Mimi from the Drew Carey Show put on her desk. Or is that a picture of her baby?

Bad Sensor? The Z's are notorious for having bad sensors both temp and oil. If the oil did in fact foam up, then I would suspect water or something in there, but just dropping oil pressure...I'm not sure what it could be. Then again, I admit I'm not a grease monkey. 2¢

I used it on a one to one with super hot water for something of mine, and I can atest to what you say. It will definitely leave things squeaky. Although they recommend latex gloves I bought a pair of those heavy duty chemical handling gloves at Home Depot. They worked fine until I caught a thumb on an edge of sheet metal. By the way, the Metal Prep can be saved and reused (to a degree) if you put a plastic pan underneath to catch it. Don't use that stuff without gloves either. And with the POR, get some of the VINYL gloves not the latex. They last longer and you can even clean them up a bit with Lacquer Thinner. Believe them when they say that if you don't clean up the POR from your body you will WEAR IT. It takes about 3-5 days to get it to come off. Keep a rag and some lacquer thinner for those inevitable "oops" spots.

As Laffeaux stated, DON'T DO THAT! Although the gas cap does do a major job in holding in the gas, it's most important function is to stop stuff from going IN. With a full tank of gas (about 18 US) weighing probably 7 lbs per gallon, a sharp left turn would probably put at least 30 to 50 pounds of pressure on it from inside. Now, if you want, we can probably engineer some sort of gymbal setup with gyroscopes so that you can go ahead and go around corners on two wheels, but that might be overkill..........

The side and center vents never expel heated air. They are strictly for ventilation or recirculating the cabin air. The top lever actuates 2 controls; the fresh air vent flap, located behind the blower motor, and the internal flap that directs the fresh air to the heater core and then out to either the defrost tubes or the flaps at the bottom of the heater for heating the cabin. The middle lever actuates the hot water control valve on the right hand side of the heater box. The bottom lever opens / closes the side flaps on the heater box to either force the air up the defrost tubes or into the cabin. The top lever has two cables. One goes to the right and it's fairly long, the other is short and is on the left. The one to the right, goes down, underneath and behind the blower to the fresh air vent (the floor of the windshield wiper tub). The one on the left, connects to the left side of the heater box and it actuates the flap that directs the air coming in from the blower to either the 3 vents on the dash, or down into the heater plenum inside the box. The middle lever has the next longest cable, and it goes out the right hand side to the right hand side of the heater box. There it moves the water control valve lever. The bottom lever has one cable, medium length, and it goes on the left to the bottom and rear section of the heater box. There it controls a lever that opens / closes the side flaps on both sides of the heater box. By opening, it allows the air that has been pushed through the heater core to exit the heater plenum and into the cabin (room in Datsun parlance), down there by your toes. When closed, the air is forced into the defrost tubes that exit at the top of the dash just below the windshield. In summary: The center and side vents can either provide fresh air from the outside or recirculated air from the cabin, which is collected down by the passenger foot well. (This is important if your passenger has taken off their shoes and they have smelly feet.) You can get heated air EITHER through the defrost tubes, or down by your toes, not both. (Again important to note that heated smelly toes can make the smell worse.) The amount of heat you get is regulated by the valve AND the condition of the heater core. If the valve is inoperative you get no heat. If the core is plugged, almost plugged internally, there will be no movement of the water within the system. Also, if over time debris has collected on the top of the core (dirt, leaves, etc) there won't be any way for the air to go through the heater core. Don't forget that the water valve pulls heated water from the engine AFTER the thermostat. If the thermostat takes a long time to open, it will be a longer time to get heat in the car. So, to get heat, Top lever to the right, Middle lever towards the right to get the water moving, and the bottom lever depending on whether you want to heat your toes, or the windshield. Hope this helps.

If you've maintained the Engine compartment wiring harness pretty much intact, there should be a fusible link connector going to the starter motor from the battery. Disconnect this and you disconnect the REST of the car from the battery. Even though you still have the engine connected, you have the complete ignition circuit disconnected. Check your wiring diagram and you'll see what I mean. It works.

The tape is only about 1/16" or less thick. If you trim it close to the emblem, it would be very difficult to discern. Many manufacturers are using it to hold various emblems in place in lieu of a gasket.

Sandblasting isn't done ONLY with sand. You also have Glass Bead, Walnut Shells, Aluminum Oxide to mention jsst a few of the various media available. Don't forget you also have the air pressure to work with. You don't have to use the most agressive media and 100 pounds of pressure, you could also go with 20 pounds and glass bead or walnut shells. Check the Eastwood Catalog for a better description of the different blasting medias.

Contact Andy Russell at Z Cars of Arizona. They are a boneyard with some excellent quality parts and prices to rival any boneyard. Z Cars of Arizona Phone: 480-816-8668 Andy Russell, The Datsun Dude: Phone 480-980-6512. Andy also sells NEW and NOS parts.

Where did you get smoke coming out from? The rheostat adds resistance to the circuit only when it is turned down from full brightness, as that IS the method it uses to dim the lights. When you turn it from OFF to Dimmest position, you are adding the maximum resistance it can. When you turn it to the full brightness it is essentially bypassing the resistance coil.

The rheostat (dimmer) is screwed on to the bottom part of the dash on the metal pan. There are two phillips head screws holding it in place. If you can get your hand up there and then find the screws and THEN get them off, well you're either a contortionist, or you have very small and agile hands. Since the rheostat basically has an exposed coil, these tend to accumulate crud and oxidation on the contact surface of the wire coil. When the wiper contact slides over it, it has a lot of resistance due to this crud and you have very little juice that can make it past that. To check if in fact it is the rheostat, reach up there and disconnect the two wires going to it. Then connect them to each other, i.e. short out the rheostat. If your lights then light up brighter than what you had, then it is the rheo that needs cleaning / replacing. It is relatively easy to fix / clean and get it working. The PITA is to get it out of the dash so you can do it. If the lights however, DON'T brighten up, then you have a problem elsewhere. But I don't think that's the case here.

When all else fails, you can get vinyl paint to repaint a panel / plastic piece to the color you need. You can usually find stuff in a spray can that will do the job, although you could also have it mixed by the paint shop. If you prep the panel right it should last years.

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¢