gilltech

Are you talking about the original factory shock componentry, or a cartridge insert (shock replacement), that's stuck?

Yes I did wonder as the taillights were a clue for starters. Nice car, good job.

Best use a USA supplier, such as Motorsport Auto the Z Store.

Yes I reckon do that. They're pretty simple to work on. My guess is that the central fuel jets are blocked with residue and corrosion build up after fuel evaporation and from sitting unused and will just need a very careful disassemble and clean of all the orifices. The slides and needles should freely lift up and return down with the overhead spring pressure without sticking. Also make up some new gaskets for them especially for bolting up to the intake manifolds.

The Hitachi flat tops are pretty simple, I wouldn't have thought they'd be too much trouble to get working as long as they are complete. As for the British SUs I had, IIRC I on-sold them to a British car owner as they were slightly bigger than the ones he had so a worthwhile upgrade for him. But 240Z Hitachi round-tops do come up for sale occasionally, as people up-spec to triples or swap in different motors or fuel injection or whatever. My NZ-new early 260Z has the simple mechanical fuel pump and the double metal tube fuel rail, ie. one inlet and one return, with the latter having a restriction formed at its downstream end. Whereas some Australian 260Zs I've seen have a triple tube system and I have no idea what that third tube is for, something to do with emissions or maybe to do with the electric fuel pump which the later cars had?

Yep, as Dave says! Same set-up as came on a spare 260Z motor I once bought. I think it's a case of people bolting on what they can easily get hold of, which are SU carbs from any number of once fairly numerous British cars. As opposed to most likely waiting in vain for a set of Nissan round tops to come available from a written-off 240Z, which would only happen once in a blue moon given the limited number around. Or a 240Z owner going racing and upgrading to triples, which is how I got mine.

Well done! So grab a Haynes or Nissan WSM and it will explain how the flat tops work. Take them apart and clean them. Check the hidden filter screen at the fuel inlet on the side of the carb, that's what tripped me up that time. Or, put your energies into the round tops. I've seen service kits on eBay Australia. Or if no joy then get a pair sent over from one of the USA suppliers. It would help to know what year 240Z the carbs came off, as there were differences. I can't help you with the carb bridge pipe vacuum diaphragm question, my car was NZ-new and didn't have all that emissions stuff that Aus-new 260Zs seem to have.

AFAIK it's the other way around. My early '74 260 has its original switch, same as the one on the right in your picture, with the squarish beige coloured plug. And I have a spare I removed from another early 260, matching same same. My car has those beige coloured plugs throughout its wiring loom. I also have a spare switch I picked up on eBay (from a parted-out 2+2, the year I don't recall, but a later car than mine) and it matches the version on the left in your photo with the bigger style translucent white plastic plug. As you've discovered, they don't interchange, different size, different design entirely. So I think the translucent white plastic plugs came later. I don't know if there are more than the two S30 switch versions, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are, given that Nissan kept tweaking things during the S30 series production.

AFAIK all the 260Zs had the 'flat top' Hitachi carbs from new. I think the last year of the 240Zs for the American market did too. Mine did, and it's a very early 260 2-seater. Like many 260 owners though I did replace them with a set of 240Z 'round tops' later, under advice from other club members that they are the better option. Other 260Z owners have installed English SUs, easier to obtain I suspect. IMO the flat tops get a somewhat undeserved bad rap. In my experience they tend to run a tad lean (exhaust emissions era), have limited adjustability, and internal parts to tweak them are pretty much unobtainable AFAIK. Yet, when cleaned and serviced they work as they are designed to do; I ran mine for several years before installing the round tops. The only problem I had with the flat tops was a fuel starvation issue I experienced at a Z Club track day; eventually, after a very slow trip home, I discovered a little concealed filter screen at the fuel inlet on the side of each carb which just needed cleaning. Otherwise no issues. Your car sounds like a great project to tinker with! Good luck with it.

Fabulous work as always, and another S30 brought back from the brink!. One extremely happy owner I'm guessing who will soon be happily putting the remainder of the car back together. Awesome!

Sure, I've used this USA mob numerous times: Motorsport Auto Z - https://www.thezstore.com/

The 240Z and 260Z (and respective Fairlady S30 or whatever) steering wheels and horn pads are completely different designs, as noted by Dirtydatto above.

You mean the stampings in the metal? Any paint or powder coating system will begin to obscure those if applied too thickly, so just make sure whoever does the repainting uses restraint. A good quality paint system shouldn't need to be applied heavily. As you infer, it's a nice finishing touch to maintain those details. Shouldn't necessarily need to be a 2 pack, there are good single pack systems too. It comes down to personal preference regarding cost, availability, convenience, time scale, expectations of longevity etc. Some suspension components will flex and the paint coating system will need to flex in tandem so you wouldn't want a coating that sets too rigid.

There are some pretty tough industrial grade paint coating systems out there, if you can get hold of them. A mate of mine years ago, who worked in the marine coatings industry, when restoring his Mustang, stripped back all the suspension and steering components to bare steel then painted them in satin black 'ice breaker' paint. It contains carborundum or somesuch. Absolutely indestructible. Whack the product with a hammer and not even a bruise let alone a chip. As he ably demonstrated. But I digress. Personally, I'd confine powder coating systems to aluminium products. I'll always use a good quality wet paint coatings system on steel substrates for long term protection and performance. Put it this way - send parts off to be powder coated and quality control is largely out of your hands. Whereas select a robust wet paint coating system and you have a far better idea of what you should be getting. So I concur with C.A.R's recommendations. My 2c worth anyway.

Do you need to buy the whole thing? You can buy kits for them ex USA if not available here.

Another one on the way to being saved. Nice work!

Well these cars weren't being dipped back in the day. So the only 'rust proofing' was the paint coating. All the areas that the paint couldn't reach or properly cover remained as basically bare metal. Maybe some kind of phosphoric coating in some areas. But yes, the shell sweated and, bingo, corrosion soon formed. And from what I've seen on my own RS30, Nissan weren't generous with the paint either, the colour coat only being applied where it needed to be.

That's pretty exciting that you have quite a bit of info on the car, (even back to '78!!). As long as those receipts definitely match your car (is the VIN listed? - a colour change might be a problem) then they could provide proof that your car has been registered on Australian roads in a previous life. And is not just some grey import for parts or racing with no Import Approval. Surely also the old rego number(s) in SA or wherever, and contact details of previous owners, meaning you might be able to trace it's background further if you were so inclined. I'd go talk to the NSW rego authorities next so you know what you need to do to satisfy their rego requirements. Hopefully they will be accomodating given what info you have. PS. I recall blank repro data plates for a 2+2 model being made available via this forum a while back, maybe still available? I know there are several styles, the 2+2 ones being slightly different to the 2-seater ones, and early and late versions. But a nice finishing touch.

When I first read the OP and it mentioned a clean engine bay I wondered about the car's ID and provenance. There was a much modified 240Z or 260Z on FB a while back with no ID at all, meaning the owner - or new owner, as it was up for sale - might have a battle to register it if even possible. But at least you have the VIN. Normally there would be a factory data plate with ID numbers, and an Aus-new car of that era also a compliance plate. No old rego plates? Any history at all? As in which state it originated? Before you go spending any more $$$ go talk to the NSW rego authorities and find out what they will need for registration. Some states are tougher than others.

Bloody hell. Words cannot adequately describe the detailed extent of work being undertaken nor the dedication of the artisans. Phew!

Did this conundrum ever get sorted?

If you have the original carpets then you just take them to an auto trimmer and he will make new replica ones for you. You don't need to go to some specialist auto carpet supplier. Particularly when Nissan made several running changes to the floors so the pattern that the specialist auto carpet supplier has to hand may not quite suit your particular car. Which is what all the griping was about originally with the above mentioned company, and long lead times.

Well finally found time to again test fit the repro front bumper I bought a few yrs back. It came with holes for fitting the rubber strips and over-riders. I bought all new rubber strips at the same time. Its tip to tip inside dimension is 1503mm, whereas my original is 10mm wider. On my initial test fit I had been concerned it was too tight and so had set it aside for another day. This time around, however, after applying lots of protective tape and very gently pushing the panels inwards just a little at the valance/sugar scoop bolt-up joint lines (on my car they tend to bulge there slightly) to gain a few precious mm, I found the new bumper slotted into place better than I'd expected. (It's still too close to the bodywork on the RH end, some more careful massage work is required there. LH end is fine now). My original bumper has no doubt taken its share of knocks, and has already been re-chromed, so who knows how 'true' it is. Years ago the number plate and its brackets had been bent inwards, and my bending the brackets back into place - rather crudely - had stressed the metal and the chrome had crazed so that is why rust has developed. My bad. But the new one is now on to stay! Am quite happy with the result. It wasn't a plug'n'play in my case, took time due to the vagaries of my particular car. I had to slot some of the holes for the fixing bolts of the rubber strips so they would comfortably fit without stress around the curves. (Maybe the rubber had shrunk while sitting in storage). I also slotted the holes for the over-riders so they could adjust to line up better. The bumper came with an extra pair of holes top and bottom and inward of the over-riders, for bumper-mounted turn indicators I presume. Redundant in my case, I will source some chrome blanking plugs. Before its final fit I also painted the back of the new one with a generous coating of silver cold galv to keep it good. My 2c worth FWIW.

Nice colour! Well hopefully someone will recall seeing it around, distinctive enough, you never know your luck. Snap, when my RS30's R200 diff shat itself some decades back (nasty grinding noises, spider gears) I did the same, a R180 with halfshafts from an auto 240K at a wrecker was way cheaper than repairing the R200, and I kept it for several years until I got another R200 and swapped back. I didn't change the moustache bar, just installed longer mounting bolts and spacers as it was just supposed to be a temporary fix (!!!). The higher ratio was a bonus for weekend trips away.

My mistake , you're 100% right, I stand corrected, I looked it up and for the Australian market both auto and manual had the R200 all the way through to Aug.'76 and then both went R180. Not quite the same R200/R180 split in other world markets it seems, hence my confusion. Can't see the logic... As for the OP, any photos? Rego or VIN?