240znz

Thanks Steve, Yes the silicon is an off white colour. I guess it must be the original factory applied sealant as you have pointed out. Under the tar covering, the metal is a red oxide colour (I guess this is the factory rust protection). The white sealant is near the front and rear mounts for the seats as well. That makes me feel a little better now as I was beginning to think that the previous owner had made a botch job of a repair there. I know that I have rust in this car but I've stopped poking around with my screw driver as I need to keep it on the road. What I have found I will fix for now then I'll get the screwdriver out again. The lucky thing is that I haven't found any rust in the chassis rails...yet! This car has been left out in the rain for some time and is showing all the signs of it.

I insured mine under a Classic Car policy here in New Zealand. Full comprehensive with a low excess. Only $113 NZ a year. That's about $70 US. The insurance is void if I do over 5000 km's a year.....not too bad eh? So your options are. 1. Pay the money 2. Sell the car 3. Move to NZ and enjoy a cheap insurance (yes I am over 30, married with 2 kids, morgage and haven't had an accident in 5 years, had a license for 18 years). If you do take up option 3, then let me know so you can pick up some parts for us parts deprived NZers. In tongue and cheek......

Thanks all, It's pouring outside and is forcast to do so for the next 5 days.....and some are having a heatwave!!!!!...geez. So I won't be trying to find the leak until it fines up somewhat. One thing that I do know is that I have a rust hole in the sill that could be letting in water. Maybe it is running in along that seam. I don't have any jute underlay. I have removed all the factory tar paper/sealant stuff. Came off real easy with a large blunt screwdriver and as a result a blister in the middle of my palm. I'm thinking that the surface rust made it easier to remove. There is a large amount of white silicon sealant around the left hand corner where the firewall meets the floor and left hand panel. I'm sure that silicon wasn't around in 1971 and that means that someone might have tried to stop this before me to what success??? My heater doesn't work so I'll pull that apart and at the same time open up the air-vent grill and have a poke around to see what I can see. Odds are that I will find rust.

After washing my Zed, I find that I have a pool of water in the passenger footwell. Tracing it is fast becoming a major PITA. It's not the heater core as I have bypassed that at the block It's not a leak in the winscreen rubber as I have run silicon along it. The only thing I can think of is maybe water is coming in from the airvent grill between the bonnet and windscreen. I've had a look up under the footwell and noticed a right angle rubber hose which could be a drain from the airvent? Is this what it is? No water is coming from that though. Any ideas/thoughts??? Cheers

Same as what I am finding. Tonight I have removed all the tar covering on the passenger floor pan. You want to see the rust there. Also poked around under the passenger wheel arch and found a bubble in the chassis rail. Managed to push a screw driver through that....oh my God. I've found waht looks like to be white silicon sealer under the tar. Didn't know if that was around in 71...probably not....so this means that I might have a botch job on my hands.....yikes. Still...........it is better to have the heart attach now and not after the thing has caused a accident.

The rust starts on the drivers side threshold (what is it called?). As this car has been left outside, the water has run off the roof down the drivers door hinge area and sat under the threshold aluminium plate. It worked its way along under this and also under the door rubber and rusted out most of the seam. Doesn't look like a major job. I'll cut the metal out and weld in a fix. Other side also has a few spots but nothing right through. Ground out the rust today and applied a rust killer. Tomorrow will see the wire wheel out again to grind away the killer and apply more if I can't see shiny metal. Drivers side dogleg is shot...big rust bubble....yikes.....still smiling though....double yikes. The rear hatch panel is the same paint as the rest of the car. The paint is shot and needs a new spray. The orginal radiator has been replaced so I haven't got the colour indicator. However, the paint is the same everywhere so it must be the original colour. Have found some rust on the passenger floor pan. Not al the way through but there. I washed it and found that water has entered down the back of the firewall (I think). So either a leak in the screen/heater/hole in firewall from vented panel......only a pull apart will sort that. Can't upload pics on my PC yet...damn USB port is a pita. But I can tell that the engine plate and numbers match.

After 3 weeks of driving...here is the update. Can't stop driving it...but I can now as I have found where the ugly rust monster has been hiding. So some serious work ahead with the wire wheel and the rust killer. I knew it was there but was a little suprised just how much. Typical places like rear hatch/ sills. The list is huge of things to do but that is what you expect when you but a car that has been unloved for some 10 years. Tried to cut and polish it and the first cutter (Re-po Extra Cut) wouldn't touch it. Ended up with some 1200 wet and dry and gave it a very light sand to cut through the crap. The colour underneath is a metalic burgandy. Nice. Polished the wheels.....came up a million bucks. Have a clunking diff. Not too sure if it is just worn bushes (they look very perished) or the diff itself. That will have to wait as it is well done the list. What I must say it how suprised I am with the performance of the engine. It just keeps pulling. Third gear is a dream with it just not showing any signs of struggle. Fourth is the same but it jumps out of 5th with the gas on. However, if I cruise in 5th it's OK, only if I floor it will it jump out. So all in all, after 3 weeks......the fever is down but the excitment is not. Viva la ZED.

Any ideas about the sway bars???

My 71 240 has front and rear sway bars. Were these standard on the early models. Also, how do you tell the difference between a R180 and a R200 by looking at the rear face plate???? Mine clunks a bit, wonder what is causing that?

Thanks Zedrally...yes I am happy as hell to have it...at last. Not without some work mind you but that was realised once I had had a good look at it, so I kno wwhat I'm in for. As for the hand throttle.....what a classic. Yes we have enough straight roads in New Zealand to use it. I tried using it when I drove it home but it didn't do anything. I'll add it to the list (ever expanding) of things to do/sort/fit/swear at. Cheers.

Say what?????? A hand throttle? What is that for? Are you soposed to adjust it for idle or something??? Still got me stumped?

First post on my Zed. There are two levers that are in the console in my 71 240Z. The left hand one is the choke (has typical butterfly symbol) but the lever on the right has got me stumped. It is a symbol that I can best describe as a butterfly in a venturi with three what looks like squirts of some thing at the bottom of the venturi. My Haynes manual turns up on Friday but its bugging me. Any ideas:cross-eye

First post on my Zed. Attached is a photo of the two levers that are in the console in my 71 240Z. The left hand one is the choke (has typical butterfly symbol) but the lever on the right has got me stumped. It is a symbol that I can best describe as a butterfly in a venturi with three what looks like squirts of some thing at the bottom of the venturi. My Haynes manual turns up on Friday but its bugging me. Cheers.

HS30 00352 is MINE. It has some need of repair with regard to rust/heater not working/clunking diff/5 gear popping out when you put on the power/ no dash lights. What a drive home. The torque! Going up a steep hill in 4 and pulled away from 2000rpm like the hill was a pimple. Got to love the engine. L24 with sahved E88 and lumpy cam (not sure what lift of duration is, but all hel;l breaks loose at 4500rpm to 6500. Idle is rough. Seems as though the accelerator is ON/OFF. Thi smight be due to a sticky cable or just the cam. Thanks for all your help and advice. A very happy........

Thanks guys for the info. Yes I have the digital camera all ready to go. Stay tuned for some pics on..... A) It is a piece of crap due to these rusty pictures. or..... Look at the sweet thang I've got. I hope it's B. Cheers,

Just had an important thought. Where in the interior is the VIN number stamped? I guess this is the only way on confirm if the body matches the engine bay plate. If off in 12 hours so if please reply as soon as you can. Cheers,

I'm also toying with the idea of driving it back 600miles to home. If I were to do this, I think that a new fuel filter and oil filter would be a wise investment...what else should I think about doing or should I just get it put on a transporter????

The engine has been rebuilt. This done some 4 years ago when the head was changed. Since then the car has only ticked over 120miles and that explains why the enigine paint is still gleaming. This does make me a little taken a back. Why would you go to all the trouble of rebuilding a engine, change the head and then only drive it for 120 miles...some more stories to had here I suspect. Good news is that I checked out the car at the post office. Crazy law in this country lets you find out the current resistered owners name, address, the vehicles VIN, when the resistration expires and how many owners its had...all that for 90pence/$US1.00/$AUS1.80....magic. The document states that the VIN is indeed HS30-00352. Apart from the obvious rust trouble spots...what other things should a really look into?

Saying that tripple cards are unreliable is not really true. You may have some setting up to do but once setup right they will provide you with some extra flow as long as you have done some addition mods. If you are buying a car that is local to you then your problems should be small if any. If it is a car from a different sea level then you will need to paly around with jetting and aircorrection/emulsion tubes. The best for thing in that case is to seek help from someone who knows how to tune tripples. The best way to do this is on a dyno. However, tripples only really come into thier own if other mods have been done, IMHO. Shoving 40mm throats on will give you more flow but without a cam and headers, you might just want to stick to the excellent original SU's. Many a Zed has gone very quick by use of the SU, so don't be too hastie to change. There are sopme excellent pages on getting the most out of Zed without going to tripples. Keep surfing and check them out. The Datsun Garage is a good place to start. GHood luck.

Yes Ben, I agree with you that it LOOKS like it has very little rust, but I haven't seen this car in the flesh....so it will be interesting to see what it looks like underneath and the rails.

Thanks for the encouraging news guys. Yes the engine has afresh coat of paint. I'll ask him about that tomorrow. The vendor has indicated that the rust spot on the drivers side sill could be quite big. How strutural is that part of the unibody? There is also some rust directly behind the drivers door but in front of the rear wheel arch. From memory I have seen some posts on replacing this part but I remember that a patch had to made from scratch...any ideas? When the head was removed (due to water leak), the head was replaced with a E88 of a 260. Maybe the rocker cover was also used...might be in luck to get the original cover. He replaced it with a mild cam grind, so it should be a little shifter. This does make me a little dubious as it could have been screwed. Dash has two cracks in it. Console has been recovered some time ago. Carpet is shot. So all in all, it sounds like a fair example of a early Zed....... The fever...oh the fever....it's about to be abated.

other side of engine bay

engine

Well here are some pics of the mnoey pit. Not too sure if the early models had the plastic overriders on the bumpers (if that is what they are called). Also it has a 5 speed badge on the rear. Not too sure if it has a 4 or not. Looks like the E31 is also included (has a water leak)...not too sure what is wrong with that. It has a E88 on it now. Take a look at the rocker cover. I think it should be "Datsun" and not "Nissan-OHC"...any ideas. Anyway....booking a flight tomorrow for Carlos county....yikes. There is a little rust that I can see on the drivers side sill. Hopefully a easy repair. Your thoughts? James

Not too sure which head has been put on but I'm not really concerned as I'm not going to go the full hog as to regard to restoring it. If I get it I'll use it for a 2nd car and slowly build up a L28 with some handling and stopping upgrades on the way. That will just start the money pit filling up I'm sure but that is not the reason I'm buying one, just need one really, and while the wife is on holiday in the UK I'd better get it eh. Anyone got any good excuses???? But thanks for info.