Arne

Gray primer. Mine was the same way, had red overspray under the cowl. And that was the original paint job. Obviously the cowl was painted in place.

Another three+ days. I'm awaiting an answer to a question to the seller now.

Parts diagram looks to say that the motors should be interchangeable through 6/72 build. I know the '73 motor (starting 7/72) are quite different.

Yeah, the 240Z brackets were all black, regardless of upholstery color. But not so for 280Zs. On topic - I don't believe the SEM will work well on the metal. It is designed to "soak in" to the vinyl/plastic surfaces. Seems like when I used it years back on other projects that I could scrape fully cured overspray off metal surfaces easily with my thumbnail. Not to say they may not have changed the formula by now, but I'd bet not, as adhesion to plastic and metal are radically different things.

Nope, the '70-71 console was different. Nice originals are hard to find. I believe MSA was offering a fiberglass repro of the console itself at one time. The ashtray/fuse-cover can be hard to find as they are terribly brittle and easily broken.

Well, there goes one more theory. Checked voltages. Ignition on, engine off: At battery - 12.8v At hot side of resistor - 11.2v At resisted side - 5.9v Aha! Looking like I may have an issue. Until I checked with the engine running: At battery - 14.5v At hot side of resistor - 14.0v At resisted side - 11.2v Back to the drawing board...

Without getting into the reputation of that particular vendor, I can say that many of the replacement airboxes as sold by the Dealer parts departments were blue, not orange. I suspect that one is an example of a factory replacement.

Tried something new today - re-installed the Crane coil only, left the points and factory resistor in place. But I bypassed the tach. Went from the "resisted" end of the ballast straight to the positive terminal on the coil. Took the tach and that long run of wire out of the loop. Result? Same as before, started cutting out at high RPM. Re-installed stock coil, all is again well. So that looks to eliminate the tach circuit as a cause. I think I'm fighting two different issues on this. One of them still seems to be insufficient voltage to recharge a higher output coil quick enough at high RPM. This is what gives the problem with aftermarket coils when used with my points. But I also have issues with the Pertronix when used with the stock coil. And there I believe that the dwell time on the Pertronix is too short - again leaving the coil insufficient time to recharge before the next spark is required. Which is why combining the two (Pertronix and hi-output coil) typically works so badly. Will probably do some voltage checks at the coil with the engine running later today.

I'm watching an eBay auction that is local pickup only in West Covina. Are there any members who might be willing and able to do the pickup and then pack/ship to me here in Oregon? I'll be happy to compensate for time and inconvenience.

I hadn't seen the year in the signature. Good catch, E. Here's a picture of what a '70 or '71 should have there...

Turned over 73,000 miles on the way home from the Datsuns NW show in Canby today.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I still don't know where I'm going to go on this. I don't really NEED to convert - the points and stock coil work fine for my purposes. But it nibbles at me, and eventually I have to take another try to make it work. Obviously, there are far more options available than I have used thus far. But I am - as always - hampered a bit by my desire to maintain either stock or period-correct appearance, even under the hood. That desire eliminates a whole lot of choices...

They should be the 4½", yes. The width will be stamped on the rim near the date as well. It was supposed to be possible to buy 5½" steelies from the parts counter in '70-71, so in theory, it is just barely possible that a set of 4/71 wheels could be 5½". But the reality is that I've never heard of anyone here in North America who has seen a set of early dated 5½" in person - ever.

Good times, good cars, great people. Great weather until I got about 15 miles from home when the rain started. Didn't take hardly any pictures this year. As this is my 6th year there, I've pretty much taken pictures of all these cars before. I even joked about reposting some pictures from a prior year, it'd be hard to catch. Did see one car that was different though - a 240Z with a 3.2 liter BMW S54 ('96-99 M3) and matching 5 speed in it. It actually fit quite nicely, no butchery required.

Welcome! And before anyone else says it - we'd all love to see pictures of your car.... While it is unusual for me to suggest differently to anyone looking to stay original, unless you plan to source one of the one or two odd brands of tires still available in the stock 175-14 size, I would probably recommend that you source a set of the later steelies rather than the '70-71 units. Those '70-71 wheels were only 4½" wide, which is really not suitable for any tire with a section width over 185mm. The '72-78 steelies were 5" wide, which is a little better, and the 280ZX steelies were 5½" wide, which is better yet. Both of those wider choices are easier to find, allow a bit wider tires, both look pretty much the same as the early narrow wheels, and the early hubcaps will fit them fine. Just something to think about, if you plan to drive the car much.

The stock pump is sufficient for a stock lubrication system. If you modify the lube system (for example - change to internally oiled cam, or run both oiled cam AND spray bar), you may wish to you a pump from a 280ZX Turbo.

I'll look at promoting to an article. Might have to do some creative editing, as I believe the "promote" feature in this new forum software only promotes the first post, not the whole thread. But this is very worthwhile putting out there. As someone who has rebuilt calipers on my own for decades, I'm impressed. And I have to say that I agree with every "opinion" that Eric shared.Edit: Got it combined and promoted.

The original aluminum drums have/had a hole in the face (came with a rubber plug in it) to allow access to the adjuster from the outside. If you have aftermarket replacement drums, those holes may not be present.

I went over to Mike's place today to look with him at a fuel problem on the Yellow Jedi, think we're OK now. So Mike, me and Clint/Vickie will be driving up early tomorrow morning to meet with the people coming down from Portland. See you then...

Well, I can't seem to leave this alone. I did some testing a few weeks ago that indicated the Pertronix Flamethrower 3.0Ω coil was not up to spec. I put it in the car for testing and it actually failed. No start, no run. OK, a totally failed coil I can understand. As a replacement I bought a Crane PS20, which is rated at 1.4Ω and includes a matching resistor in the box. Thought maybe I could get it to work this way. (When will I learn?) Still failed. In fact, the combination of Pertronix Ignitor with the Crane coil & resistor may have been the complete low point of all my testing through the past 3-4 years. It was hard pressed to rev much beyond 3000 RPM that way. Bypassing the resistor made it drivable, but still washed out at 4200 or so. Total waste of time. And here's the part that always gets me - while my car runs fine on points with the stock (40 year-old) coil and resistor, it does NOT run fine with those same points firing one of the other coils. I could get it to run pretty well on points with the Crane coil if I bypassed the resistor, but with the resistor in place (as it really should be used with points) I got much the same result as with the Pertronix Ignitor in place. In other words, my car only runs right with all its factory ignition parts. Change any one of them for something "better" and the car won't rev out. This is troubling to me - someday that 40-year old coil will die, and nothing I've tried to use in its place so far has worked. So far I have tried: Distributors: Factory 1971 240Z distributor (D612-52) with stock points Factory 1971 240Z distributor (D612-52) with Pertronix Ignitor Factory 280ZX w/E12-80 (two different examples, each tried with more than one module) Coils: Factory 1971 240Z coil (1.6Ω) Factory 1982 280ZX coil (used) Aftermarket stock replacement 280ZX coil (new) Pertronix Flamethrower coil (3.0Ω) Crane PS20 coil (1.4Ω + included resistor) The only config that works flawlessly is all stock with points. The Ignitor/stock coil/bypassed resistor is close, but I dislike not running the resistor because I fear the increased voltage through the inductive loop on the tach could possibly hurt the tach over the long haul, plus I don't know how that coil might hold up at full voltage all the time either. It would be interesting to try a ZX dizzy again, as I've learned a bit more about my car's behavior now. But I sold that stuff long ago, and I am really getting a bit tired of spending money chasing the ideal ignition, when what I already have now is good enough.

Well, there are no period exhausts currently available, so that's part of your answer. If there were, they typically had more effect on the sound, than on performance, unless you bought a package with a header. And even then, the performance change for exhaust alone is not a huge deal. These cars respond to cam and carb changes, in combination with exhaust.I'm currently thinking about trying to fab a period-looking exhaust but using modern, off the shelf parts. Still a couple of months out on that, I'm guessing, now that the Summer driving season appears to be arriving.

Chris, the highest values for a 240Z are the pristine, 100% original cars. Certainly, modifying a car like that is going to drop the value, unless it can be reversed without detection. But when it comes to the more common "nice, mostly original" examples still in weekend use (which is where I'd categorize my own car), most bolt-on mods (even some that aren't "period") won't significantly affect the value. My feel - from your description - is that your car falls into this group somewhere as well. So in sum, unless your plan is to refresh it and turn right around and sell it, don't worry about the effect of some nice period-style mods on the value. Drive it and enjoy it, instead.

Chris, welcome to Z ownership! Yes, here in the US there was a Datsun Competition Department, but for the most part they marketed parts made by aftermarket makers here in the US, not actual Japanese parts. For example, the exhaust they offered was a header/dual-pipe package that was made by Clifford Engineering. Unfortunately, very little of that "original" performance stuff is still available today. Many of the manufacturers are long gone, and the few that are left generally don't make parts for 40-year-old imports. A number of us have (at different times) put effort into reproducing period accessories and performance parts, as well as stock restoration parts. For example, I spent almost 6 months getting a small batch of Bolder Tint windshield sunshades reproduced. Carl Beck worked with a spring winder a few years back to build a batch of replica Nissan Euro Stage 1 springs. Done correctly, you can safely modify most 240Zs without affecting the value. I tend to try to keep my modifications both period-correct (or at least period-looking) and reversible. Other than the things that were long gone before I bought my car (stock exhaust and wheels/hubcaps), the only non-reversible mod on mine is the front spoiler, which required drilling the front valance. Everything else is pretty much a bolt-on, and the original parts are in safe storage. Your profile location says Oregon, what part? Edit: I moved this thread into the Introduce Yourself forum.

For any of you not on Northwest Zs current notification list - the rest area group is going to try to leave the rest area for the final drive into Canby at 9:00 AM sharp this year, not 9:30 to 9:45 as in prior years. So plan to leave a bit earlier than you may have in the past.