I need to find out what model 260z 2-seater I’ve got.

[eddii]

Hi guys I would like to know if I have an earlier 260z 2-seater or the later. I’m in the process of buying a set of tokico illumina shocks/springs from ebay and I dont know which one to get.

 

I have no idea what year model my car is because the previous owner sold me a “240z” but used a donor 260z shell and fitted the original 240z components. So I have a 240z chassis plate, dash, tail lights, and engine and 260z everything else. The chassis no of this car is RS30-015108. id like to know the year model of my car please.

 

What are the difference in suspension components between the earlier 260z's against the later models? Any help would be appreciated

 

Thanks

Eddii

 

[sco_aus]

Geez thats a long piece of string, sounds like a reasonably early 260, but thats just confusing.

[Zedman240®]

By the chassis number, sounds like a late 260 76-77. My 77 260 2 seater was 15036. Easy way to find out is by the door latches. Early 260's had similar to 240 whereas late 260's 77-78 had a square "D"steel rod as the door catch on the frame. Its hard to explain but I'm sure only the late models had it. If someone has a late 260, if they can take a pic to show... I know 240 struts are 51mm in diameter and 260's are 55mm. You can get a vernier and measure..Hope that helps!

[NZeder]

By the chassis number, sounds like a late 260 76-77. My 77 260 2 seater was 15036. Easy way to find out is by the door latches. Early 260's had similar to 240 whereas late 260's 77-78 had a square "D"steel rod as the door catch on the frame. Its hard to explain but I'm sure only the late models had it. If someone has a late 260, if they can take a pic to show... I know 240 struts are 51mm in diameter and 260's are 55mm. You can get a vernier and measure..Hope that helps!

I agree my RS30 - is 15000'ish (but lower than yours at 15108 and higher than Zedman240z at 15036) and it is a late 76 build sold 77 and imported into NZ in 78 and it has all the later 260z stuff, taller strut towers, larger struts, later door latching, different inner guards, taller rear parcel shelf, different/taller petrol tank, R200 standard, different radiator support panel and radiator, the list goes on.

[Zeddophile]

I have no idea what year model my car is because the previous owner sold me a “240z” but used a donor 260z shell and fitted the original 240z components. So I have a 240z chassis plate, dash, tail lights, and engine and 260z everything else. The chassis no of this car is RS30-015108. id like to know the year model of my car please.

 

Well, before anything else the obvious question is did he swap the 240 struts in?

 

If someone has a late 260, if they can take a pic to show... I know 240 struts are 51mm in diameter and 260's are 55mm. You can get a vernier and measure..Hope that helps!

 

While the diameters are different, the length is probably more critical, and from memory there are 3 different lengths at one end (240, early 260 and late 260), and only two at the other end (240 and 260).  I'm pretty sure that the late 260 rears are 35mm longer than 240s, and the late 260 fronts are shorter than 240s (I had modified 240z konis for mine)

[eddii]

thanks for your input, im even more confused now  :'( here are some pics of my car

first up the door latch, looks like ive got the d-type latch

front strut

strut tower

rear strut , do i need to take another shot of the rear shock?

 

also to add some more info to my dilema.... the car had been registered to the bloke  I bought it from for more than 25 years as a 240z. when i told him that it wasnt a 240z,

apparently he wasnt aware of it.... hmmmm.  i thought i'd snatched a great deal cause

the compliance plate and rego cert stated that the car was built 204.

 

When I started pulling it apart that i found the VIN no. different to the compliance plate

 

To put another twist to my story, I later found another VIN no. stamped in the driver side front strut tower. this time it was a 240z

VIN no (HS30-00204)!!!

 

Now nobody knows the history of my car and im not sure how much of the 240z parts went to this car.

i'm in the process of pulling out the shocks. looks like i have to do some measurements to find out what i've got. what a mess LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gav240z]

What a mess indeed Eddii.

 

To be honest looking at your car I'm so confused, only explanation I can think of is the car was rebirthed. It doesn't look like an early 240z because the tool stowage area is there.

 

You have a 240z dashboard, yet you have 260z strut towers (you can tell because they are longer) and it has the seatbelt retractors.

 

The door catches appear to be later 260z type. Like a series 2 77 260z style latch.

 

The fact that the RS30 number has been drilled into looks very suspect.

 

Can't tell for sure but the struts look lower (perches) indicating a 260z also.

 

Door trims are definately 260z type and the strut tower vinyls are also.

 

If I was to guess I'd say your 260z is a later model 260z probably 76 / 76 series II and someone has gone to great lengths to make it into an early 240z. The early 240z was probably a car in a wrecking yard and for whatever reason (suspect or not) someone has tried to badge your car as something else.

[gav240z]

Sorry just read the posts above (I didn't read them before my first reply) and understand now. Oh well looks like I could tell it was a later 260z just by looking at the shell yay for me.

[Zedman240®]

Definately a late 260, with those door latches and retractable seatbelts. Do you know if he replaced the suspension as well? measure the diameter of the struts and that will tell you if the driveline has been replaced or not. Depends on the laziness of the person who did the repairs! Front hubs are 260 and your enterior trim is 260. You even have that emissoin crap "bulge" behind the trim where the fuel filler cap is...

[eddii]

thanks guys, i shall do some measurements tonight to definitely find out what suspension I have. it would be soooo much easier if i can hunt down the person that did this LOL

[Mr Camouflage]

Drilling out the chassis numbers of cars is also something the crooks do to rebirth a car.  The stamping on the strut tower is a fake. Wonder what happened to the real HS30 00204?

 

Its definitely a later model 260Z chassis, as it has the taller rear strut towers. Also has a 260z seats an steering wheel, but with a 240Z dash. What engine does it have in it? The same L24 thats listed on the vin tag?

 

You should measure the struts, as it might have 240z front struts and 260z rear struts.

[eddii]

if i was the crook i would grind it off but since it was drilled out but the numbers are still visible then im assuming that it was done the legal way....i hope. the police already checked out the drilled out vin no and they didnt find it in their database as stolen. they said i can get a surrogate vin when it is time to go back on the road.

also my engine matches the plate - which is an L24

as for the struts, they are 55mm all around. i guess it is a late 260z suspension then.

thanks

eddii

[NZeder]

I guess the person might have owned both cars HS30-00204 and this RS30 then did the rebirth of HS30 as the body was too rusty (common with the earlier bodies - hence why I sold HS30-00016 as at the time I did not have the $$ for the full body restore that it required).

 

They might have done this as HS30 sell for more and thinking that most can't tell them apart they would get more $$ when it was time to sell. Who knows if the cops are happy and you are happy - move on and get the car back on the road and enjoy.

[gilltech]

I have a very early '74 260 2-seat & agree with the comments others have surmised as to the shell age of yours being a late 260.

Look - you actually have the best of both worlds - the last of the 260's apparently had the strongest bodies (admittedly at the cost of some extra weight of course), while the stock 240 motors generally had more 'go' than the stock 260's due to the shorter stroke & higher compression. So I agree with NZeder - just get it back on the road & enjoy it as a nice car, & an interesting hybrid if one must be picky!

At least your body shell sounds good & sound. I once saw a Zed in NZ (many years ago now) that appeared to be a 240 rear half with a late 260 front half grafted on (joined at the top of the windscreen I suppose); the 260 engine bay had extra brackets & bits, & the 240 dash was badly fitted into the 260 shell - so check the fixings on your dash match up as on this car the dash was loose at the bottom corners & lower centre, but I didn't get to look closely to see if it was a part interchange problem or was just simply not fully bolted in.

You'll have to check the length of your struts as well as diameter if you require new strut inserts as already noted by others - the length varies between the various age groupings. For example, I run late 260 front struts that drops the front of the car a bit compared to the original taller early 260 struts.

Keep us posted as to how you get on - sounds like a very interesting project! Good luck with it.