Arne

Good point, Doug. I sold my fully restored '67 roadster for $9k, but that was 10 years ago. They go for much more these days.

I am looking at another parts car right now, haven't quite come to terms with the seller yet. But it has a good original style 240Z radiator, as well as an R200 and all the necessary bits there for. Should know if I get it by this weekend.

The MGB GT V8 was never offered in the US. The MGC (both roadster and GT) was only made in '68 and '69, with virtually all US models being '69s.

Yeah, BTDT. MG never used the 'Mark" terms on the Bs. But in general, a '67 would be considered the last year of the first iteration. It should have no smog gear, no side markers or reflectors, no synchromesh on first gear, and an unpadded metal dash. The '67s were the only metal-dash year (in the US) with a pull-type headlight switch, '63-66 had a toggle switch visually identical to the wiper and heater blower switches. Back when I was doing MGBs, in the US the pre-68s were considered the best and most collectible years. The later cars had a better transmission, but MG didn't deal with emissions and safety requirements well at all. $9500 doesn't sound bad at all, assuming - just like with 240Zs - that there's no rust...

Yes, both.

My red car came with polished stainless mudguards when I bought it. Maybe they were added late in the car's life, but they didn't seem to prevent any paint damage down there - my car has plenty. So I removed them, and I prefer the look of the car without.

Poor Douglas Kott. Raked over the coals for using copy that was probably handed to him by Nissan's media flacks.Actually, Kott wrote two articles for R&T on the 240Z in the late '90s. The first one was in the Feb. 1997 issue, and was a Salon article about a yellow Series 1 that was refurbished by Pierre' Z. (Don't ask me to point out all the non-original parts visible in he pictures, there's a pile of them. Still a nice car, though.) In that article, Kott mentions Pierre's involvement in the program near the end. "...in fact, Nissan has appointed his firm as one of the shops to restore early Z-cars that will be sold through Nissan dealerships." A totally accurate statement, other than possibly the strict use of the word 'restore' - some would prefer the word 'refurbish'. The second article is the above mentioned profile on the program cars. Besides the article's title ("Datsun 240Z, Factory Resurrected"), in the last paragraph he refers to the cars as " factory-refurbished". In that same paragraph he calls them "factory-authorized" which is pretty much correct. The rest of the article makes no claims about the the factory-ness of the program. And since he probably got most of that wording from the Nissan flacks, I don't think I'll hold it against him.

I replaced my front diff mount two days ago. My clunk is greatly reduced, but not eliminated. I have good mustache bar bushings, new diff and tranny mounts, and all 6 u-joints are new as well. I believe that the remaining clunk is in the rear control arm bushings, especially at the spindle pins. Those will be my next replacements. Certainly excess lash could be part of the issue, but I'd make certain that all the rubber is fresh before I went to that.

Yes. That's how they are on both my cars.

Dan, the ride height was unchanged over stock. The overall effect on the ride was MUCH stiffer. Not harsh, but was VERY firm. On fairly smooth roads they were fine. Push the car a bit hard and the handling was great. Very controlled. But on roads with lots of frequent small bumps - like poorly patched asphalt, or concrete with lots of poor expansion joints - they quickly got bouncy.As a best guess, I'd say the Mulhollands were apparently designed for a much higher spring rate than stock, as they have a whole lot of rebound damping. So if you hit one bump, no big deal - the struts were just a touch slow returning to their normal loaded extension. But hit several small bumps in a row - first bump the shock compresses a bit, then before it can rebound you his another bump and it compresses a bit more, and then you hit another... A 240Z doesn't have much strut travel. With the weight of the driver in the car there's only about 1 3/4" before it hits the bump stops. So it wouldn't take too many bumps in a short time to effectively bottom out the strut and then you're riding on the bump stops. I've experienced this before on off-road bikes and ATVs when people crank up the adjustable rebound to far and then ride on a washboard road. In the bike world this is so common they have a term for it - they call it "packing" - as in, "I cranked in too much rebound and the rear shock packed down on that last trail." I'd never experienced this in a car before, and although I can't say for certain that was the issue, it sure felt the same. On the other hand, I bought the Mulhollands on a whim, they seemed to be a cool vintage alternative. I didn't know it when I did so, but my red car ALREADY HAD Mulhollands in it when I bought it. No idea how old, or how many miles on them. But the old ones were not as bouncy as the new ones I put in. I did have a bad (seized) front strut that I knew about, which was why I planned to replace them. But the rears were still fine, and have either worn or broken in enough that they were totally useable with the stock springs. Now that they are all out of the car at once, the new rear Mulhollands are MUCH more difficult to extend by hand than the old ones. So I'm guessing that eventually they will calm down enough to work OK with the stock springs. I just don't have any idea how long that might take. This has turned out to be a rather long answer. So short version - if your roads there are nice and smooth, you'll probably be fairly happy with then in the beginning, and more so as they wear and break in. If you have lots of small, frequent bumps in the roads there, you may not be as happy.

Two hours for spring changes. Changing the struts too adds another 30-45 minutes.

I honestly don't know if that's a good price or not, as I haven't been pricing that kind of package for my cars. But doesn't seem out of line at all to me. I now have the KYBs in with my original factory springs. As expected, the ride height went up about 1/4" or so. I also have a set of the repro Euro springs I could put in if I want to firm it up a bit more. We'll see how it goes after I drive it this way a while. I have driven Gary's (beandip's) 240Z with KYBs and the Euro springs (cut down to adjust ride height) and the ride was still acceptable. So either the original or the Euro springs seem to work fine with the KYBs.

KYB specifically recommends against using their GR-2 struts with lowering springs. I tried that once before (non-Datsun application) and the results were bad. I'm a bit fan of matched sets of springs and shocks, as that way you are assured that the spring rates and shock valving are compatible. And the Mulhollands I took out last Thursday are already spoken for. I actually arranged that before I ordered the KYBs.

While we're on this, I've got a really good (uncracked) plastic one I don't need as well.

No, Jason. Just the '70 and '71 240Z's have the odd early master cylinder. Your late '72 has the later cylinder with the front brakes supplied by the rear reservoir. I believe that is the same as the ZX cylinder, and you shouldn't have to reverse the lines.

Try these. Not my car, just some pictures I've kept for future reference.

Mid-year in '71. Both my 10/70 and the 4/71 parts car had plastic, but the 7/71 has metal. So somewhere between April and July of '71.

Yup. I've got two early cars now, one with the proper cylinder and one with the later cylinder. The later cylinder does require the lines to be swapped at the master cylinder. My red car was in the exact same boat as yours when I bought it. The previous owner had a shop replace the master cylinder and they used the later one without swapping the lines. It worked, but the brake balance wasn't right. I bought the correct cylinder from Nissan to correct the issue. The 'wrong' cylinder went on my other car (which will never be more than a nice driver, at best) with the lines reversed.

Oh, I'm pretty certain it would fit in the car. But pretty much everything else would need to be changed along with it. The choke assembly, defroster switch, fuse cover, etc. There is also a possibility that the hole for the shift boot/lever is farther forward on the later consoles to match the Type B shift lever position. Might need a bit of tweaking there too.

The choke lever assembly is completely different as well. Best to stick with the early style console, which was used through 7/71 build at least, perhaps into 8/71.

If you folks coming from the North can estimate what time you'll be getting off I-5, maybe Deanna and I could try to hook up with the group there, and join the caravan.

The clip is a secondary retainer, not the main event. The adhesive is the main part. The stud is a molded part of the center chrome trim, and is vacuum plated white plastic. After all these years, that plastic is soft and fragile. Once you get the outer clip off, you'll have to pry the lens loose from the backing. You'll be surprised at how tough that adhesive is, and how hard it is to separate the lens. I had to use a 3" putty knife to break the adhesive bond and pry against the backing plate. Once the lens is removed, you'll see that the chrome strip is attached to the lens with three more metal spring clips. These are more standard type clips, and are easier to get at to remove them. But again, the studs are plastic, so be careful.

Man, I wish I could find 240Zs in the yards around here.

You have found the hardest part of this job. Getting the clip off without breaking the plastic stud. The safest way to approach this is to damage, cut or break the clip, rather than to try to remove it. Removal almost always breaks the stud. Using tools like dental picks or similar, try to lift the opposite edges of the clip. Then use a long-nose pliers to squeeze the clip until it deforms or breaks. Even doing this, there's still a chance that the stud might break. If it does, for non-show car use, you can drill a small hole the chrome trim piece where the stud was, then use a small head black screw and nut to replace the stud and clip. (I did this on my yellow car.) It's not pristine or original, but it works well, is serviceable and is darned hard to see the difference unless it's in your face.

Probably on consignment, owner may have a relative who works there, etc.On the other hand, I like VWs. I've owned several, all of the sportier varieties. GTIs, GLIs, Sciroccos, and a Corrado. And if I had room, I'd love to find an R32.