gav240z

I actually have a spare bonnet in primer but I bought it for my 72 240z originally because I don't like the fluted bonnets very much. The thing is I am pretty sure if I strip the front edge of it I'll find filler / repair work anyway. So I may just remove the flutes in the bonnet on the 72 and weld them up. At least this bonnet has no rust! I also kind of like the idea of having the same bonnet on the car that it left the factory with when she gets back on the road. I'll be relying on a lot help from my tafe teacher but so far just plodding along trying to figure it all out. I may need to fabricate a small section but the metal on these is quite thin so even using the heat gun it would oil can a bit and then pop back into shape. Good thing about separating the frame and skin is I can get some KBS rust seal into all those areas that wouldn't usually be accessible, which should help protect it from any rust in future. Still a bit annoyed I missed out on a NOS bonnet that was on eBay a while back, but that's cheating anyway .

Here is the profile/template, hard to photograph the gap but it doesn't sit flush on the left hand side. Compared with the right.

Wow 2 years ago I started this thread! So last week at my tafe course I started to hammer and dolly the bent area of the bonnet. However as I was trying to beat it into shape I discovered quite a thick layer of bog/filler and this made it hard to know exactly where I needed to hammer up the bonnet to get the right profile. So I spent the afternoon stripping the old paint using a heat gun because it's likely the paint was lead based and I didn't want lead dust going everywhere using mechanical action, I considered paint stripper but it's messy and I wasn't fond of using chemicals while my dog was around me watching on. I wore a mask because the paint does burn and you can get fumes, which again isn't ideal so I tried to avoid breathing any of that crap in. It's still got a small layer of filler on there, but I'll use a 'seaweed' wheel to strip all that gunk off. You can see I made a template or profile of the bonnet from the other side to see how far up the left hand corner needs to come compared to the right hand (driver side) where I got the profile from. I only found a couple of other minor dents that had been filled in with body filler but thankfully NO rust! Except minor surface rust.

Sad times, not a huge fan of the Tempe tyres look (basically early 20" FR style simmons on ALL THE THINGS!). Not sure if the quality is as good with Tempe mob behind it?

I'm just putting this here as a bookmark for myself, in future I may approach them about reproducing rare and special wheels to suit S30Z's. They are a bit hard to find on the old Google, but here is a bunch of info I managed to scrape together. Maybe you have an old set of Simmons you want to put on your S30Z or modify them / repair them? Retro Wheels Address: 74 Roberts Road 2223 Mortdale Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/ti2P2XWFQGN2 Contact: Richard Watts (02) 9570 3033 retrowheels@optusnet.com.au Open: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to midday. Retro Wheels Sydney is an approved agent specialising in repairs, reconditioning and manufacture of original custom handmade 3 piece Simmons wheels between 13”, 14”, 15” & 16” diameter out to 12” wide since 2003. Simmons wheels have been in the business of manufacturing wheels for 35 years. Started by Tony Simmons in the 1970’s providing specialised wheels for street machines, racing cars and daily drivers. The advantage of 3 piece wheels is; there is no limit on diameter width and offsets to make your ride stand out in the crowd. Retro wheels and Simmons are the rim of choice of many historic touring cars, purists and old school enthusiasts alike. Many championship winning ‘Street Machines’, ‘Muscle Cars’ and ‘Show & Shine’ contestants all wear Simmons. Damage can happen easily, but find someone to repair back to brand new is simple when you deal with Retro Wheels. Custom rims can be made to fit over your big brakes, inside the rims with the expert advice by proprietor Richard Watts from over 50 years’ experience in the performance car industry. Have an old set of Simmons sitting under the bench that need a repair, don’t fit your current car or want to make your ride a cut above the rest and order your new wheels today. See also: http://www.performancegarage.com.au/blog/simmons-retro-revival

Video of the same car.

Yep, to be honest I don't think either POR-15 or KBS has a magic formula here. At the end of the day the coating just has to seal the metal to prevent oxidation and the benefit of these types of coatings is that they are quite durable once applied so hard to chip or flake off. As a result they help prevent the surface from being exposed to the elements and therefore rusting. I also like the idea of supporting an Australian based company and product.

Pumping Iron is gold, great documentary. I have watched it more than once. .

Just saw 10 Cloverfield Lane. I suggest not watching any trailers or reading reviews. Just watch it not knowing what to expect. I thought it was great.

Yes Skyline steering wheel or 240k, probably more common than 240z ones in Australia seen quite a few S30z's retrofitted with them. Personally I don't think they suit the S30z very well... Should be able to find later style 240z wheels easily enough on eBay US.

Only differences I know of between seats are that early seats didn't have recliner function or you had to roll a knob on the side of seat. I believe Z432s had the lever from the beginning. Later 240z seats had the lever to recline. Then 260z seats had different rails. And later seats had more padding (don't recall exact year of change) but those are the main ones I know about. The seats above look like thinner padding version. So should be the same as 240z seats.

Shannon's would go higher IF they inspect it for themselves...Usually they won't go higher unless they've seen it in person.

Hey J2, I'm actually working my bonnet also, thankfully no rust so far, but... it did have a front end whack which I have been straightening out. Going to strip the paint off this weekend I think. Good thing about the frame and bonnet separated is that I can get into the places they usually rust, the rear edges and the leading edge (moisture traps). I noticed you painted the whole bonnet with KBS rust seal, are you using a brush? Reason I ask is that the brush leaves brush strokes and when you use a top coat over the top you'll see them I'd imagine? Do you plan to knock it down a bit with sandpaper or leave the brush strokes on the inside and frame?

Likely because the original image orientation is that way, perhaps wherever else you're viewing it through it re-orientates it for you automatically or you've adjusted it and rather than modify the original image it's storing information about the orientation of the image instead. Not uncommon in image editors where you can modify / change colours etc.. that it doesn't destroy the original.

You could start here? http://www.topstage.com/product-category/nissan/

Photos attached, not sure how I feel about the LH side being cut up. It's a good trim and I kind of want to keep it for my 72 (it still has the Chrome strip). I was going to try Chrome Tape to repair driver side in the 72. You can see the lower left hand corner of the driver side is stuffed. The masonite backing is broken in that corner, but otherwise they were in good shape for age.

Place I was looking at is under offer right now (not me). In the interim I'm still looking around to see what's out there. I found a place with a large workshop out the back but they are asking $1.2M+ which is just too much - even with a large size deposit. The reason it's so expensive is that they are trying to sell 3 properties next to each other or each individually and it would appeal to a developer to put multiple townhouses on those blocks... The search continues.. I still love the Warehouse I was looking at... sadly beaten to the punch. Yeah I've thought about it, I'd love the opportunity myself but I recall a similar service in Dublin which I used once or twice they shut down pretty quickly due to low adoption I think. Maybe different in Australia as a car loving nation?

Anyone need seats? http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/greenslopes/other-parts-accessories/datsun-260z-seats/1122121494 Cheap at $100. Location: QLD.

Personally having seen a few S30Z's in the US up close and personal and "Californian" cars at that. I'd probably inspect the car in person myself, so that means flying over, booking hotels, doing a road trip and going to see a few cars to determine how rusty they are or for that matter how good the bodywork is. Or employ someone in the US to inspect the car(s) on your behalf. All the costs add up, I was very close to buying 2 left hand drive 240z's. This Safari Gold car. It looked great in photos, but I managed to contact the previous owner who said the car was NOT being described accurately. The car had fallen through with a couple of buyers on eBay previous to that. I could see evidence of relatively big front-end prang https://goo.gl/photos/PAgdce5y3pyXwE3T7 I didn't like the seller much (Real Estate agent) and he was pretty aggressive - I actually shared the emails with George who had a few choice words to say about him, but I thought I'd go against my better judgement and ignore the owner and look at just the car as it is... I had it independently inspected by someone in Florida (where the car was located). http://expertautoappraisals.com/1971-datsun-240z/ Password: gavindoolan You can see from the photos the front end of the car has had a knock on the driver side, looking at the radiator support it's obvious it's been unpicked at least to some degree.. It was enough to put me off buying it, which in hindsight it probably was still a good car for the price being asked but I went with gut instinct and walked away... The second car seemed a bit more 'honest' than the first. https://goo.gl/photos/X3jTgANFS9WdbLXb6 This car was a June 1970 car which still had the 2400 OHC cover and all the early girl features. The seller had sold the original Topy's sadly... I knew the paint work was a quick blow over but I saw the before photos. I actually woke up about 5 mins too late to bid on it. It was 4am on a Sunday morning when the auction ended and I got cold feet and didn't put in a snipe bid. So I woke up and watched it sell for a price that was very cheap, even back then... The owner funny enough send me a video of him doing a bit of a burnout up the road in it. Not sure if that was meant to impress me or not? But it was funny. Anyway knowing what I know about these cars and the numerous questionable repairs and respray's most of them have had over the years I decided to pull the pin on a HLS30 import in the end. I still think it's worth pursuing but you have to be pretty careful and know what you're getting yourself into (assume the worst!). You'll be fine.

The other thing to consider is value, RHD examples seem to hold more value given that so few were made. Kind of like a DeLorean they made the majority in LHD, only about 12 in RHD so they seem to be quite desirable / sort after. The RHD S30Z's will probably always be valued higher as a result of so few being made.

HS30 00306 is the 905 red 240z. HS30 00099 is the 907 Green 240z (still registered in WA). http://www.classiczcars.com/gallery/image/8108-red-hs30-000306-green-hs30-000099/ http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/10463-my-series-1-back-home/ http://www.classiczcars.com/profile/1571-lee240zperth/content/?type=gallery_image Also in this thread a couple more VIN #'s to chase up. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/511-the-series-1-240z-thread/?p=3777 HKSZ mentions owning HS30 00098. Originally a 907 Green 240z. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/10463-my-series-1-back-home/?do=findComment&comment=70522

Thanks Alan, I would agree. There were a few things in that article that were new to me and I wasn't sure where the information came from or how accurate it was. Don't mention the war! Well HS30 00921 looks very much like an AU spec car. It doesn't have the indicators in the front guards, no hazard switch, the early AM radio etc.. but interestingly it had a heated rear screen, which I've not been able to confirm was ever fitted to AU market cars. However I have seen a couple of consoles here with the switches. So perhaps it was a rarely fitted option and made it onto some cars but those cars have since been destroyed / lost? Hard to know... all the 240z's I've seen had the clear rear screen. However HS30 00920 above as you can see almost looks like a Z432 with the Kobe Seiko wheels and that racing stripe down the side. It has the indicators in the guards and clear lower indicators also! Strange combination actually. The article states the original L24 is gone, I do wonder what happened to the wheels though! As a side note: HS30 00016 was imported from NZ to Australia but was originally a Norfolk Island car. HS30 00012 was originally from Papua New Guinea. So I was quite surprised that NZ didn't appear to receive any 240z's until 920 and 921 arrived in 1971. HS30 00352 is also in NZ but was imported into NZ from Australia in 1974 or 76, according to the owner who has the original registration for it somewhere. Build date of 12/70 based on the L24 number apparently. Colour was 905 red originally. It's being repainted Porsche Guards red now though. Current owner is: 240znz (on Classiczcars.com and zclub.nz). Funny just did a bit of Googling and found an old discussion we had back then about it. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/6908-help-needed-alan-hs-30-h/ and with that it looks like I have another lead on an early car. HS30 00306. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/6908-help-needed-alan-hs-30-h/?do=findComment&comment=43204 LEE240ZPERTH - Hopefully he still has it.

Liberty Walk showing off old school skylines. https://www.facebook.com/553755544740914/videos/1032364396880024/

LOL, I've got S30Z parts in the bedroom... It's best we don't talk about that.

Did the original drivetrain go with the car? L24 / E31 head etc..?