Arne

I've been emailing back and forth with Mike B about the car you are looking at, Tim. Both of us are pretty certain that it is NOT a '72 as advertised, but is a '70 or really early '71. If you buy it, be certain to verify the VIN in all locations, especially the firewall. Don't trust the dash pad. Compare to the title carefully. I think it is a '70 with a later '72 dash in it. If the title matches the dash pad, but not the number stamped on the firewall, beware! As for which car to do, you'll need to make that decision your self. A 240Z is lighter, has the original visual styling, and is a more 'pure' sports car. But a 280Z is a better daily driver for most people. It's up to you.

As we have told you several times already in this thread, you want the ZX transmission. Everything else needs to be for a Z, not a ZX. 1.) Yes, you want to use your current 280Z driveshaft. The ZX driveshaft won't work. 2.) I don't recommend it. The flex plate bolts are shorter. I'd buy a new one to replace the broken one. 3.) You'll need a ring, but I doubt that the ZX ring is the same. 4.) Any Z or ZX manual starter will work fine. From '78-83 both the auto and manual starters were the same. 5.) Use the crossmember you have on the automatic. The ZX part won't fit. 6.) The slaves should be the same, but if not get the one that's listed for your car, not the ZX. The master cylinder is probably different, again get the one for a Z. The holes in the firewall should already be there, coverd by a blanking plate. 7.) No 280Z had points, that was 240Zs. Don't worry about the ignition. 8.) You don't have to change the ratio. A five speed will work with whatever you have. Wait until you've driven it with the five speed, then decide.

Those aren't Iron Crosses, they are American Racing Libres, or Libre-style by Shelby or some other vintage wheel maker.

1974 VW Dasher (Passat, for the rest of the world). Radical departure from all that VW had done before. The Rabbit (Golf) was almost as new, but the engine carried over from the Dasher, just turned 90 degrees. Probably other similar stories during the mass move from rear drive to FWD in the late 70s and early 80s. Although many of those conversions carried the basic engine over from something else.

Yes, you can use the existing pedal box with the correct pedals. Just be certain to get pedals for as similar a year as possible to ease the swap. Like Stephen said, all you want is the transmission with its clutch fork and none of the parts farther back. You might want to get the flywheel and rear engine plate from the ZX if you can, those will work for you too. But the rest of the clutch hydraulics need to be from a Z, not a ZX.

I still suspect a ground issue. The bulb sockets on a 240Z require a good ground in the rear wiring harness. When you turn on the tail lights, the power goes into the dim filament and to the brass base of the bulb for ground. If there isn't a good ground at the black wire, the power then feeds backwards through the bright filament and back up the wiring until it finds a way out. This seems more likely to me than the possibility that the tail circuit is crossed with both brake circuits. Here's a couple of simple tests. Turn on the tail lights (which should light the brake filaments as well). Leave the ignition off. What happens when you use the turn signal (either side)? Normally, the brake lights for what ever side turn signal you activate should go out. If that doesn't happen, I don't think the wiring is cross-connected. Also. try adding a separate ground wire jumpered into one of the black wires at the tail light connection. See if that has any effect.

Sure did, Stephen. Thanks for catching my typo. I've edited the bad post, it's correct now.

Sounds like a possible bad ground at the back of the car, to me.

R200 is stronger, but also a fair amount heavier, and not needed for the amount of power you will be putting out of a stock or even mildly modded L28. You'd also need the R200 mounting parts from a later 280Z, the ZX parts aren't the same.

I don't think there's any such list, as it would be a bear to keep current as supplies change. Once you have the CD it's pretty simple. I get the number I want off the CD, and call my local dealer and ask. Simple as that. I've heard that there are dealers who don't want to mess with looking up parts for old Datsuns (mine is NOT one of them), but I can't imagine any dealer refusing to get a part if you provide the number.

I wrote this up a couple of years back. It's about early 240Zs, but the basics will be the same. http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21274

Ahhh! I didn't know that! Good info!

Technically, the larger tabs are correct for a car as early as yours. But for anything short of Gold Medallion, what you have now should be close enough, IMO.

Those are the later style clips. The same as on the set I sold to Mike B, which came off of a mid-71, around 4-6/71. I recall some stamped numbers on the back of mine, too. But I can't find any close-ups.

On the other hand, that 'overdrive' button could be wired into who knows what. Could be a handy but unobtrusive place for a foglight switch, or ????

Nice work, Dan! Another Z with it's entire roof! Carl, when Scott did mine, he talked about that. That was one of the reasons that he cut higher up and above the factory seam. He also welded in a piece of sheet metal to bridge the new seam, so that there was more there than a simple butt-weld. Here are some of the pictures he gave me that show the process.

I'm with Walter. I don't buy any new parts from eBay, only used and truly hard-to-find stuff.

Just realized I didn't think to check for matching engine number. Doh!

I'm going to buck the trend here. I rather like it. Paint the air dam yellow to match, de-chrome it and use fiberglass bumpers painted the dark color. I think that would pop!

Courtesy sold those remaining seven sets at about $270 per set of four, IIRC. The pre-order was less.

A few pictures, since someday the ads and the dealer's web page listing will be gone.

Hey all, I saw this ad in Craigslist yesterday, and since I drive past this dealer twice a day, I figured I'd take a peek. http://eugene.craigslist.org/ctd/905488827.html More pictures can be seen at: http://executiveauto.com/fullListing.php?stock=C6259# The car is on consignment, and they'd probably take $6300 for it. After looking it over, here's what I saw that isn't shown in the pictures. First, it's black now, but was born silver. Paint job is strictly driver quality, probably a 10 footer. Still very stock, has the original radio and the normal Series 1 parts. Was built 10/70, VIN in the 12s. A couple of cracks in the dash, freshly rebuilt seats (fairly nice, new foam?). The wheels are not American Racing, probably Shelby's. The antenna is a 280Z unit, but works fine. The biggie - my quick inspection showed no obvious signs of serious rust. The tarmat has been removed in the passenger side, at a quick glance the floorpan looked quite solid. If it needs anything at all it should be easily patchable. Frame rails and under the battery looked OK from the outside too. Hatch tray is less convincing, but still looked solid. The dealer says pictures of the underside while on a lift are available via e-mail. My disclaimer - I don't know the car's owner, have not driven the car, never bought from this dealer, etc., etc. I've actually never run into this car locally before now, either. On the whole, if you are wanting a Series 1 to restore to original, this may be more work than it's worth, although it does have a lot of original Series 1 parts still on it. But if you are in the market for a 240Z to clean up and use as a nice weekend or even daily driver, this might be a good car to start with.

Since this post I have completely changed my suspension - I'm now using the Euro springs from Courtesy (cut down as needed for near-stock ride height) with KYBs. My experience is the same as Gary's quoted above - firm and sporty, but not harsh. A good real world choice, IMO. I got in on the first buy for the Euros and am very glad I did. While I don't need another set, I think a second small production run might be well received. I highly recommend these for daily use.

#5389 is an automatic??

Yup. I've never been all that much into power and speed as I have been into handling. I don't think I want to count how many cars I've ruined as daily drivers by installing a radical suspension. Not going there again. The 240Z has KYBs and cut-down Euro springs (sits at stock height), and rides fine for the way I will use it. Plus I still have the stock springs just in case...