Arne

Are these two 280Z threads the start of a new trend? While we do have the gallery here on CZCC.com, it's not easy to find pictures there of a particular year car when you need them. These threads might be easier to find. Although if Photobucket or CarDomain ever die or change their URLs, the whole thread will become pointless, as all we'll see is a bunch of red Xs.

GR-2s are designed for factory stock springs. They seem to work well with the Nissan Euro Stage 1 springs as well, once those springs are cut down to give stock ride height. For aftermarket lowering springs you should consider Tokico or Koni. Oh yeah, I just remembered that the performance springs for the 240Z from Arizona Z-car are supposed to be performance springs that don't lower the car. Might still be a bit too stiff for the KYBs, but the ride height issue would be OK. http://www.arizonazcar.com/springs.html

Don't worry about the differential change until you're done and you've driven it with the five-speed. Depending on your driving style and conditions, you may not feel you need the diff change.

Mike is on the right track, Asta. The two most likely causes (now that the fuses are all fresh) are a dirty/faulty switch on the column, or a dirty/seized wiper motor. Or possibly something is unplugged under the dash and no power is getting to the switch. One thing you could try to narrow down the choices would be to unplug the wiper motor harness there on the firewall and apply power directly to the terminals there to see if the motor will run. I don't have my factory manual here at work, so I can't tell you which color wires to apply power and ground to, but will try to remember to look that up this weekend.

I can certainly understand the sentiment, but if the intent is to maintain its original look, his valve cover is correct as is. That's the way they came.

Two parts to this reply. First is that the later 260/280Z springs will not work properly on a 240Z. So if that's really what those are (and it sounds like it), they aren't right for a 240Z. Secondly, KYB GR-2s are not recommended for use with lowering springs, according to KYB. When I ignored that recommendation in the past (on a non-Datsun), I regretted it. I do have GR-2s in my stock height 240Z now, and am pleased with them as a more-or-less stock replacement. But they are not a performance shock.

As mentioned in the earlier posts, that head is not a performance head, it is an emissions head. As such it does not have any special value.

It appears to be correct for late '71s as well, as my red car has one. I had to look hard in my pictures to find it, turns out that the shots I have here were all taken while it had slipped off the hose. Look at the very bottom just below the radiator hose to see it.

On the other hand, Snopes.com - while pretty much verifying that particular "hand-over-heart" episode - could find no truth to the claim that he has refused to recite the pledge, nor could they confirm or deny that not placing his hand over his heart is normal behavior for the man. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp Again, while not wanting to get into a big debate on politics here, I also strongly doubt that Obama will win the nomination, let alone the Presidency.

Like my MGB before it, I get lots of comments about my red 240Z. Seems like 50% of the population over the age of 35 has a Z story - either they owned one, a family member owned one, or they know someone who owned one.

Persimmon is well known to fade badly towards orange in the sun over the years. I've seen several examples of it fading so much it looks like 918 Orange. Check the undersides of the toolbox lids. Similarly, 905 Red will fade until it is almost indistinguishable from Persimmon. And that I know from personal experience...

Not necessarily. If it's the only one you have, and you don't mind spending a pile to fix it, then it's a project. But if you have more than one it might be a parts car. http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28534

Elliot, BTDT. Unless you can do all the welding yourself, I'd wait for a better car, even if you have to travel to get it. Paying a pro to do rust repair correctly is expensive...

What year car? What colors are the wires? Where do they join into the wiring harness?

I hate the fees that eBay charges, so I'll be doing the classifieds first, I think. Although there are a few things that might do better posted on eBay, like the ashtray or the early no-drain-4-screw SUs.

Exactly my reasoning Brian, in every way. If the red car hadn't found me, the yellow car would already have new floor pans, and any other rust cut out as needed. Yes, I'd be into it far more that it'd be worth, but for a car I'd be keeping that's immaterial.As for which way is it worth more, no question at this point it's worth far more in parts than I can get for it as a whole car, even if I sell the various new parts at 50¢ on the dollar.

I tried selling it months ago. Too many 240Zs with way less visible rust available here in the Pacific NW. I got offers in the $500 range. Shoot, I've got almost that much in the cooling system alone (all new - three row rad, heater core, hoses, t-stat housing, OE wire clamps, etc.). No, like I said, it pains me to part it, but it still makes the most sense.

Very true. If it was my only Z I'd do it. But since I already have another that is far nicer than I could afford to make the yellow one, I was just planning on fixing it to sell it. And even then, I wasn't even trying to break even, I knew long ago I was going to lose money on it. I was just trying to not go into it any deeper than I already was.

If the defroster grid is damaged, you may be able to repair it. See m post at the end of the above-mentioned thread.

Well Stephen, I just re-did the grid on my car this weekend, because the early style windows with vertical grid-lines haven't been available for quite some time. I used a two-part epoxy designed for this task, and it seems to have worked quite well. The product I used was from VersaChem, Epoxy Rear Window Defogger Repair Kit, part #SR-130/90130. It included two prefilled and measured syringes with the A and B compounds, a wooden mixing stick, an alcohol wipe, and a plastic spatula to apply it. The instruction recommended masking the gridlines with ordinary scotch tape and then applying the epoxy. I liked the idea of the epoxy better than the normal conductive paints I've seen, and the kit says that the epoxy will repair damaged lines up to 10" in length and can also be used to reattach terminals. In the pictures below you can see the missing grid areas, which I marked by applying blue masking tape to the outside of the glass. I then removed the hatch so that I wouldn't be trying to do this while lying on my back in the car. After masking with the scotch tape, I mixed the epoxy. The kit says you have 25 minutes to work with it. I found the spatula was too wide to do the right job (it bridged two gridlines), so I cut it in two with a scissors. After applying a thin amount to the damaged area (the thickness of the scotch tape), I let it skin over for about 5 minutes and then removed the scotch tape and put the hatch back on the car. The final picture shows the repaired areas as quite light in color, but that is only visible from certain angles. In the mirror, or from the outside they are almost invisible. The instructions say you can apply current immediately, which will actually accelerate the cure time. Without any heat, allow 24 hours for it to fully cure. I tested it today, and my grid seems to work like new. I spent $10 on the kit.

Couldn't afford a Z in those days. But a B210 hatchback has more room inside than you might think....

Some of you may be aware that recently I have been stripping my yellow 240Z in preparation for rust repair and paint. This weekend that process came to an abrupt halt. Friday morning I found that the passenger floor and associated frame rail is much worse than I had thought. After taking the car to the shop where I was going to have the work done for further consultation, the body man 'thinks' that he could still patch the floor pan, if I got replacement frame rails from Charlie Osborne. More labor, of course. (Totally understandable, and I expected that.) It still might need a replacement pan, he won't know for certain until he starts cutting. Probably figure on doing the driver's side rail while we're at it. Sigh... This is the rusty straw that broke the car's unibody. Add this latest to rust in both doglegs, front fenders and probably the rockers. Sadly, I must admit that it's just not worth it. Here's my dilemma. Let's ignore all the costs I have into the yellow car up to this point. Chalk it all up as learning and help with debugging the red car. So starting from zero now, the reality is that it's going to cost $5000 at least to get the car reasonably rust-free, presentable and reassembled. Maybe as much as $6000. After that investment, it would be a running, driving, clean and mostly de-rusted 240Z with a straight and freshly painted body. But it won't have the original engine, the interior would be intact but aged, bumpers would be there but would need re-chromed to be up to the quality of the rest of the paint, mis-matched wheels, soft suspension, old paint under the hood, etc., etc., etc.... In that condition, could I expect to break even on the body and paint? Say I finish it for $5500, could I sell it for that? And the honest answer for here in the NW and with the recently faltering economy is probably, no. Remember that while the yellow car is a Series 1, it is really nothing special, not low VIN, no longer has the original engine, and is an automatic car converted into a four speed. It will never be a high dollar car no matter how much I spend on it. Dump another $5-6000 on it now and it's probably still only a $4000 car in today's market. And since I can't to keep it for several years until things improve, it doesn't pencil out. On the other hand, instead of dumping a bunch more on it only to go further in the hole, I can part it out and cut my losses significantly. The thought of parting it pains me a bit, but it's time to get real. While the rust makes it a poor restoration prospect now, it still is still mostly complete and has a lot of parts with value. A fair number of those parts are hard-to-find Series 1 parts, which shouldn't be too hard to pawn off, either. So instead of going farther in the hole, it seems to make more sense to stop the bleeding and sell off parts to re-coup some of my investment. I can save the proceeds for painting the red car instead. And if I hang on the the shell of the yellow car, I've got a nice roof for the red car should I decide to get rid of the sunroof. (And I'm leaning that way right now.) So keep an eye on the classifieds, soon I'll be listing parts as I continue sorting and figuring out what I don't want to keep as spares for the future.

Actually, here in the Eugene-Springfield area of Oregon, I see one or two 240Zs a month, pretty much year-around. 280Zs are still fairly common, I see at least one or two per week. I see ZXs frequently.

First question - do you have copy of the rulebook for this from the sanctioning body? Are you certain that things like larger diameter wheels (your snowflakes) and brake upgrades are allowed in your target class? Sometimes a very simple and small upgrade like that may bump the whole car into a much tougher class where it will require much more money and work to be competitive.

Send me an e-mail, Brooks. I can help on your latest parts needs.