rdefabri

Arne, Assuming originality is not an issue? Obviously, an exchange makes numbers "not match", which is a concern for me. I am actually gonna need a full rebuild as I see I have some slight oil leaks near the head gasket/block. While the engine runs well, I figure it's best to do the "full monty" (not like the movie).... Otherwise, I can't see anything wrong with MSA fundamentally, although I might consider a "specialist" (Rebello, Cannady) rather than a "generalist" like MSA.

Run an eBay business (I have for about 5 years), that's a common scam. Don't feel bad, I am as experienced as you can get, some of these get sophisticated, even aping the actual eBay page. Just report it and use PayPal ONLY.

Hey, I'll second that - being in the tech business, I know how hard it is to work a job as well as maintain a site outside of that - amongst other things (trivial pursuits, children, family, etc.). The quality of this site and the way he manages it is indication of a class guy...kudos to Mike!

Welcome! Yes, the Z is fun to drive, but you may want to get in now...prices seem to be going up, especially for nice examples. Check out the classified section, that's a good starting point. I purchased my car from this site, and I was very pleased with the people I've dealt with thus far. Good luck!

Good feedback...I am going to try the carpet shampooer on the foam (I have one). The only other concern is dry rot -- the foam looks like it's seen better days. Presuming the carpet shampooer eats the foam up (doubt it, but you never know)...is there a replacement kit? I haven't seen one in Victoria British/Black Dragon...any thoughts?

Ah, yes - I should have stated the inner diameter of the threaded portion of the nut....I just said 13MM (hex size) since it was top of head. Good thing you clarified that, because it would have been hunt in peck on my part. I don't mind if the hex is 13MM, I am (obviously) more concerned that the nut fits the seat bolt.

Interesting. I only have 2 per bolt, and I am surprised there is an extra set that goes below the cross member. No worries, I'll be removing them as they make me sit too high (and I am 5'7"). One other question -- the aftermarket seats I had installed were not metric. The OEM seats are -- does anyone know the nut size for the seat bolts? I am assuming 13MM, but if someone knows, that would be a big help.

Well, I am pretty certain there are only 2 spacers. The 20mm up would mean you include both spacers between the crossmember and the seat. The 20mm down implies removal of both IMHO. I'm not 100% certain, but my seats came with 4 pair per seat. Also, placing them below the cross member does nothing other than serve to limit the travel of the hex nut up the threaded bolt.

Yes, that's what I thought, I am not crazy. Thanks for the response.

I am installing a set of original seats in a 1972 240Z (purchased used and slighly moldy smelling) and noticed a scattered set of what appeared to be spacers. These are black plastic, one round, the other hex shaped. The hex shaped spacer is threaded. My question is - where are these suppoed to reside when mounting the seat? If above the bracket attached to the unibody, it will allow the seat height to be higher (if using) or lower (if removing). I assume this is where they are supposed to be. Not sure the explanation makes sense -- anyone have ideas? A picture maybe?

You can see a pic of mine in the "Best Pose with a Z Car" -- it's a front view of the car, you can see the air dam. I may be selling the air dam, since I want mine to restore mine.

Awesome stuff, thanks guys! To be honest, if it is plastic, it sure feels heavy and seems to have developed some "splinters".

Yep, I know Febreze, it's good stuff. I'll also try the charcoal/baking soda thing. I just wasn't sure if this is a bigger problem and that I'd have to can the seats I meant Vinyl, I just have a tendency to refer to seats as leather!

I picked up some second hand 240Z seats that might have been exposed to the elements, they have a somewhat musty smell. Any ideas on eliminating that smell? Something tells me it may be from moisture that the seat foam absorbed over time, but I suppose it's possible the leather just needs a good cleaning. The seats, cosmetically, are in very nice shape. Any ideas?

Does anyone have any idea about how to restore a 240Z steering wheel? I just picked up a used on in fairly worn shape. I know that www.datsunrestore.com offers a service, but I am kind of interested in doing it myself.

Do NOT go with a waterproofing service, it's a scam. My brother paid an arm and a leg to do this and it still came back. You can use UGL Dry-Lok, which works very well, but I have a sump-pump, it's your best option. French drains won't really help in bad leak situations, and it's a bear to retro fit (although it CAN be done). Do you have a concrete block or poured concrete?

Here's a scary one....when my wife and I had our first child, she was on bed rest leading up to the birth. Because of this, she wasn't working and her Explorer was just parked on our driveway. My first daughter was ultimately born in June. We left the hospital and put the baby in her car seat in the back passenger side of the car, took her home, no worries. After a week of being home, I took the Explorer to work. A few buddies wanted to take me out to lunch, so we piled into my Explorer to eat. A bunch of my friends in the back passenger side noticed a bunch of wasps in the car. Well, we all jumped out and found 5 paper wasp nests. RIGHT ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE CAR WHERE MY INFANT DAUGHTER WAS SITTING!!!! THANK GOD nothing happened to her. I shudder thinking about it to this day.

Nope! It's web indexing by Yahoo -- the "Slurp spider" (their name) collects documents on the Web to build a searchable index for services using Yahoo. The documents are discovered and crawled due to other web sites having links to them.

You may be right, I am 20+ years removed from my '76 280Z. No matter, I want my 240Z to be original, so I must suffer!

Yeah, well shame on me for letting them go so cheap. I see another set on eBay that sold for $511.00. When my 5-speed tranny goes up for sale, I won't be so nice....

All, I received an offer on the seats. You guys pounced on them so quick, I think I sold them too cheap!!! While the seats are nice, for a short guy like me, they suck. I know they have more bolster than the originals, but my Z is going to be refreshed to "original" shape, so the old seats are a must. I sit SOOO low in the Recaros that it's like I am on the floor. I recall from my '76 Z the original seats were a bit higher, so that's good! If for any reason they don't get sold, I will let you guys know.

I just made a handshake deal for some original 240Z seats (thanks ZMAN!), so my Recaro Trophy seats will be sold. They are still in the car, and I have not yet taken delivery of the new seats, but I wanted to see if anyone was interested. I have attached a pic for reference. I see a set on eBay going for about $210, so anything in the ball park I will consider. These seats are in very good shape.

Yeah, I purchased my Z out of state. But depending on far it is, you should really consider transport services, there are a ton of them out there. I bought my Z from Virginia, which is about 6 hours from where I am in NJ. My car runs, in fact the owner said he had driven it to Washington DC and back. However, after much consideration, there is too much to consider from a logistics perspective including signing over title, insurance and registration. Many States are unforgiving if you are caught driving an uninsured, unregistered vehicle (NJ is bad). I know in VA, they issue "temporary" registrations, so that's an avenue to consider. However, for $300, I had my vehicle transported, with up to $100,000 of insurance coverage. It would have cost me pretty close to that to drive down there (gas, tolls, meals, and mileage/depreciation) that it just wasn't worth it. Where is the car and how far are you from it?