gilltech

Fantastic job! They look excellent. A few years ago a bloke showed me a NOS set, & even they weren't mint perfect as had obviously oxidized a little over the many years despite careful storage. Yours actually look better & fresher. A lot of work but you must be pretty pleased with the results & justifiably so. I suppose I'll have to dig up the courage to do the same some day...

I concur with Reverendzed's comments. I have had a LHD Mustang for the past twenty years & for very occasional use it's not too much of an issue. There are times when it's problematic when making turns & merging into traffic etc due to literally sitting on the 'wrong' side of the car as you just cannot see surrounding traffic as well. It was easy with my convertible as I had a 360 degree view with the roof down; but not that great with my fastback due to the large side pillars. [i've never tried a 'drive through']. However, I prefer to keep my 'Stangs original & not convert to RHD so therefore I just have to cope with the occasional downside. If I were to import a LHD 240/260/280Z though, I would seriously consider converting it to RHD for reasons of practicality, & with a small eye on resale too. Unlike the Mustangs, with the Zeds built in both LHD & RHD form conversion from the former to the latter is more straightforward although there is still a fair amount of work involved & RHD-specific parts to be obtained, not to mention compliance hurdles to jump over. With many of the Zeds in this part of the world suffering from rust issues & an under-supply, it may get to the stage where a sun-baked Zed ex a dry US state is an attractive & practical proposition, although there's not an infinite number of those available either. As ever it really comes down to personal choice & a careful assessment of the true costs involved for a given scenario.

Couldn't you just make them from tempered hardboard, using the Zed card to provide the right outline? Then wrap them in vinyl. The GTOs were race cars so their interiors were basic functional & the door panels plain flat cards.

Have you looked on Gumtree? There's a LH guard on there. Why can't your existing guard be repaired? Pretty much anything you buy used is going to need some repair anyway.

That's factory, clips into place next to that dashboard brace. All part of the wiring in that area which connects to the various electrical items in the console zone. Just tidy it up & leave well alone if everything's working.

More to the point, ring up Shannon's and talk to one of their people, they'll know what they think replacement value will be. They may want to see some photos. Point out that you will want 'lay up' insurance which is obviously cheaper than 'on road' cover, as it doesn't cover the risks of road use. Also any security that will be in place to protect the car where it will be - locked garage, alarm system, up on blocks, dismantled, whatever. And whether you would want salvage rights on the vehicle. I have Shannon's comprehensive insurance on my three vehicles. My Zed's cover is bundled with my Falcon daily, & my Mustang. My Zed's share of the annual premium is just $132, as it's 'usage' is Laid Up (no cover for road use). The Zed's basic excess is $200, & theft excess is $0. I pay my total premium monthly, at no penalty over the annual amount, which suits me best. Hope that might be of some help.

Jayzee, take a look on Gumtree, there's a bit of stuff for sale around Brisbane and the GC. Sometimes people advertising stuff have got yet more so can be worth asking.

Ah, so there were original ones in black, thanks for confirming.

Hmm, having an interim model of sorts can certainly make things interesting.

and glovebox! Not all Zed cars had a lockable fuel flap - some just had a turnknob.

Some parts will match or cross over, others not, depending on what they are & what year. The 2+2 and 2-seaters are essentially different in many ways from the windscreen back, & from the front seats rearwards, as you'll soon find out when you put the two cars side-by-side. And even the same body styles can vary from one year to the next as various running changes or improvements were made to the Zeds by Nissan. You'll pick up on all that as you go. I presume yours is an 'early-74' car like mine, which I've found has some commonality with the last of the 240Zs; so don't just assume when you look to buy new parts that you will be buying '260Z' - you may find that you actually need 240Z items, suspension & brakes specifically. Some of the '260Z' aftermarket parts are actually 2+2 specific, which the majority of 260Zs sold in Australia were. Just proceed with caution & ask lots of questions.

Oh right, I misunderstood & assumed it was yours pre-repaint. Hard to tell colours from photos, all depends on the lighting at the time. Yes as you say the number plate light unit is a grey plastic on top, IIRC has white underneath, so not painted, while the screws and threaded clips are metal plating colours, only installed after all painting complete just like the taillights etc etc. If you need a photo just let me know.

As a early '74 owner myself, it certainly looks to be a good honest Zed that hasn't been messed about by a succession of owners like most have. Those rear speakers look to be mounted right where the perforations were for the factory speakers which were concealed in behind. But better there than in the door trims! Ditto Chris240's comments, but I'd say not too much south of 10K seeing as it's one-owner, as long as the rust is fairly minimal. However, the reality is that the car really needs a full body paint job, interior tidy-up (ask him if he still has the plastic caps for the rear strut towers, otherwise they are expensive to buy), plus a complete mechanical going-over. A nice project for a Zed enthusiast with DIY skills. If you don't buy it then I'll put my hand up for it!!!

Hi Rev, email PM heading your way. R, John

Thanks Groundhog. No the HWP102 code didn't work either. I'll track it down on eBay as you suggest. Cheers. BTW, in your photo above, is it just a trick of the light but your taillight panels look very pale? Or is it a 2+2 difference? Just curious. Nice body colour BTW, is that 901? Looks good ilbert!

Part no. on all 3 of these is 40343N3200, sort of a blend of the two numbers you've suggested. BUT, a light-bulb moment! today in clear daylight (not my gloomy garage) I've now twigged to what the bright 'gold' trim is - the metallic blue & white infills were applied, then a clear coat was put over the top to flush the finish across the cap - that clear has yellowed over the 2 1/2 decades these caps have been stashed away (wrapped up, in the dark), hence the gold-appearance outlines & the stepped edge & the yellowing to the white. Sorry guys for the red herring, bright clear daylight makes all the difference. One 'blue' is distinctly more 'aqua' than the other two, must be due to distortion thanks to the deteriorating clear coating, I can now see some crazing starting on that one cap. Bloody hell, Nissan's paint type selections for the 'blue' and the clear coating were IMHO very poor, given that they basically detached within a few years for most people or in my case deteriorated even in storage. Looks like I'll be stripping & restoring them.

The never repainted number plate light and rear panels on my red 260 2-seat are a matching graphite/grey coloured plastic. The registration plate panel is the same or close enough given that the substrate is different as it's painted metal not plastic. Q. is that Duplicolor Graphite 102 still a current number? I just went to Supercheap, it wasn't on the shelf nor could they find it in their database.

Well those restored ones look pretty good with choice of blue, except that mine are completely filled with the blue & white so are dead flat across the top, if you get my meaning.

Yes they might well be. I got them from Motorsport Z Auto as they used to call themselves back then. They weren't touted as being for a specific 'package' or anything, just that they were 260/280Z caps. By the time I went to place another parts order they had sold out so sadly I only ever got the three. They weren't cheap due to the exchange rate either. I'd be keen to see a photo of your Aus spec cap. IIRC all the tidy ones I've seen in Aus & NZ have had matt black inserts, all this time I've been assuming they were careful retouches by their owners, especially when I see the rough cast inner portions of the alloy wheels painted too, but I could be quite wrong.

I don't know how many are interested but thought I'd post up an image of a NOS (New Old Stock) 260Z or 280Z centre cap, one of three I bought ex USA more than two decades ago to complement two which I already had. It was only when they arrived that I discovered that they had metallic blue centres around the white 'Z', & gold embellishment. The two I already owned had no blue or gold inset left at all, seems it crazes & falls out judging by other caps I've seen around. I don't know if the blue & gold combo was the only inset colour used, or if this spec was USA-market-specific. Note that the 'white' in the Z symbol has gone a mustard yellow over time, it used to be & should be a bright white. I'm going to experiment with some modelling paint to see if I can closely replicate the blue & gold on my other two caps. The blue is matching on two of the caps but is slightly more greenish on the other, whether that's a result of aging or not I don't know but it might mean I have a little leeway in selecting a suitable pre-mixed off-the-shelf blue.

Could someone please explain or describe the various different rocker cover variants, which ones are seen on which engines, & why some variants are so particularly sought after?

Those are the 55mm dia. later style struts. Thanks anyway Z for dropping them off at Jason's so I could see them, but I want the early '240 style' front struts 50mm dia. which are correct for my car then everything matches up as it should.

I'll grab some wheel nuts off you this weekend Jason, I've put my hand up for these wheels.

PM sent.

I think you're right, and it's overspray that's gone on half dry. Buff it back?