gilltech

Something isn't quite right there. The ignition key should be one key on it's own, & the 2 x doors, hatch, fuel filler door & glovebox all share the other. (Not all cars have locking fuel filler door and/or glovebox, often depends on which market they were destined for). The ignition key & door keys are quite different shapes, the former is a single edge & the latter a double edge. That's the way it is on my early 260 2-seat anyway, & other Zeds I've known. If your ignition really is a double-edge then either Nissan made a change with later 260's (can anyone here confirm?) or someone else has. Remove all the barrels & take the whole lot to a locksmith who does auto stuff - a proper shop, not a key cutting kiosk in a shopping centre - & see what they can do for you with what you've got. I've had such things sorted out in the past without any dramas. If you do need to buy replacement key/lock sets check that the configuration matches, some kits are generic & the tangs need altering to suit - there was a thread on this forum just recently about doing just that on a 2+2 as it noted that the locks are different to those on the 2-seaters (extra opening latches on the longer doors). Hope that helps.

Well I had the same situation with my 260 & it turned out to be the wiper motor itself, some inbuilt control gizmo was worn away. Tried another motor, it had same problem even more shaky & hesitant, fitted a third motor & all was well again. They're all getting tired after so many years. So I'd test both your motors in another Z if you can before diving into the electrics, just to be sure. I think our 260 relays are under the dash RH end on kick panel IIRC. But I've never had to replace any.

Just spotted a RH one on eBay...they might have the other side or know where to get one. There were two variations of the Z31 front weren't there?

Oops, sorry, missed the 75... Tired.

What year is your 260? IIRC there were two door lock variations therefore the door cards would have varied. Try the USA.

Looks like a pine forest so it's more likely Europe or Nth America.....& not even a barn.....sad. Well, these weren't barn finds, because there wasn't a building..... In 1990 on holiday in Hawaii I spotted some early Corvette coupes, including a desirable 'split-back-window', sitting uncovered beside a modest little house on the outskirts of Honolulu. Also spotted several sad old 280 Zeds in the same general neighbourhood, just parked up in the open, no protection from the elements. Same situation with some old Mustangs on the island of Maui. All going green with verdigris in a damp marine environment. In 2004 I was there again & all of them were still where I'd first spotted them, none had moved, except maybe downwards into the ground.

Dunno, doesn't look that great panel-wise. Plus, just because it's in a desert state now doesn't mean it's always been there. It'll cost that much & more to get it here too. And the car has been seriously cooked by the sun, the whole interior is toast. And LHD. I think your budget is realistic for a local car, just bide your time & you'll find one.

Yes watch out for rust on Japanese-home-market cars, I've seen some real shockers, wet/cold climate. Ditto UK-new cars, wet/permanently damp/soggy climate & the thin steel on '70s Datsuns.....I wouldn't. If you're really going the concours-correct route, then converting a LHD car to RHD will defeat the purpose with respect to originality. Personally I'd bide my time & hunt down a really good Australia-new car, from one of the drier areas if feasible. You could also look across the Tasman at NZ Zeds. Yes, the NZ climate is wet too but there are a decent number of cars there. You'll have to check their specs though, there's a real mixture of NZ-new, & Zeds from various other markets either brought in by their owners or by dealers of used imports. NZ-new cars should have paperwork going right back to first registration. Check out TradeMe for NZ in lieu of eBay.

Fair enough. But dashboard repair shops use vacuum technology to apply a whole new skin complete with the correct or near-correct texture; it's pretty hard to replicate that texture by hand when filling cracks, & doing that while blending out the edges of the cracks is more difficult when the edges have sprung back & lifted. Can you not find substitute products here in Australia? Insulation foam is common place in the building industry. As are 2-part epoxy fillers of various types.

Yes sometimes by widely advertising it's the only way to unearth that hidden treasure. The downside is that if you are advertising for something then there is a perception of desperation so you're immediately on the back foot when it comes to negotiating price. So you therefore really need to know your Z stuff & market & be able to talk the talk. Be prepared to walk away if the possible vendor is still expecting you'll pay silly money for his hidden gem, keep looking meanwhile, & you never know he may come back to you later. Just buy the best one you can find, your budget is realistic IMO.

Can you not just get the dash re-skinned?

Nice looking wheel but is aftermarket, certainly not original 260Z. The one you got off dat2kman would be the only correct style, in Australasia at least; was available from late '74 onwards & also fitted to a great many 280ZXs. There were all sorts of aftermarket mags fitted by dealers or speed shops, not all with the correct offset either. If you're now thinking about going aftermarket but still 'period' style then see if you can find some 15", they are around but not as numerous as 14", but would surely give you more options with tyres. I've sold them now but I ran some 15" Cheviots for many years, only trouble was that mine were 7" wide so made the steering quite heavy.

And many of the UK market cars didn't use those lower housings at all, having instead the bumper-mounted indicators & presumably parkers were contained within the 7" globes like on British sports cars. The corner valance panels were solid, no cut-outs for housings, just the pressing shapes in the metal. Books like the old Haynes 'Datsun Z 240z/260z/280z Super Profile' have B&W and colour photos showing a range of UK-new 240s & 260s, some with but many without the lower housings. That was the third version of 240 I was referring to.

Now I'm butting in...sorry, yes the 260s use a different housing (from a 240) with a metal divider in the centre (that rusts out). The 240s I think must have had 3 different combinations of parkers & indicators at the front depending on the market. I think...not 100% sure though...that the last of the 240s used the 260-style, there were a number of parts cross-overs between the '73 240 & early-74 260. [Or maybe I've just seen retro-fits, people fitting whatever Z parts they can source at the time.....]

Yes I've seen some sky-high asking prices for those wheels on eBay, when in reality they are limited in popularity due to their size. So shop around! I think the 280zxs used the '260' style of alloy wheel for quite some time, & judging by the number of used import ex-Japan 280ZXs that I once used to see around everywhere that style was more numerous than the other two styles which came later, the 5-spoke & iron cross which typically came with dress-up packages. IIRC the '260' style of wheel only became available as an option in very late '74, so the 'early' 260s (like mine) missed out. The set I have retro-fitted to my car came off an ex-Japan 280ZX. I'm not aware that there are 2 versions of the 260 centre sticking out...? could be???, but could just appear that way as while most used the push-on 'Z' cap which is quite bulky I've seen some of those wheels with the shallower metal 'Z' cap. Both types are hard to find in good usable condition today, but as you have a K you may want to use something else anyway. If you've now got one, then maybe try & find a set of 4 now, so you have a spare.

There's a set of 4 on eBay at present.

Vinyl wrapped steel. They rust under the vinyl. Available ex USA from suppliers that do the interiors.

If Yamahacam doesn't need it dat2kman then perhaps I could purchase it, as I should keep a spare or two seeing as I'm sticking with the factory design. I'm Brisbane north-side.

Just check out eBay, factory Z sets are regularly advertised on there. Note: the factory alloy wheels were only introduced for Zs after the first 260Zs had already arrived, so weren't ever on 240Zs when new. But, that same '260' design was also used on large numbers of the 280ZXs, which also used a couple of other designs. So there are plenty of sets around. Being 14" x 5.5" there is only a limited range of tyres available. The wheel caps were a chromed plastic push-on design, & they often haven't lasted the distance, so they can be hard to find. They have a white 'Z' in the centre surrounded by a blue paint infill, which by now has often disintegrated. But as you have a K you may want to use something else anyway. Alloy wheels with gutter rash or worse can usually be repaired. I've had a couple of mine that had gouges & scratches repaired & you'd never know. It's not uncommon to find sets of those wheels painted over in silver, perhaps with black highlights. I'd advise you to find a tidy unpainted set & go from there.

Yes there are any number of dreamers out there wanting (& often expecting) to get their dream something for SFA. If they can't afford to shell out the current real market going price for a popular project car then how in hell can they ever expect to pay for all the rest of the work & parts required to take it through to completion. They just have no idea. Doesn't hurt to dream, but they're just time wasters.

Gareth J, are you saying that the Z31 300ZX strut insert fits our 55mm tubes, & is, what, maybe 15mm or so shorter? Hey Yo-Yo, your car is a ex Japan-new car. Does it have the individual park lights switches?

Why? What are you on your soapbox for? I suspect many people couldn't give a hoot as to whether their car is a HS30- or RS30 or GRSL or whatever detailed Nissan model drilled down to the exact designation might be. It doesn't mean they're stupid, or donkeys, or are battling anthrax. To suggest that is just rude & arrogant. They would have little if any contact with Japan, yet love their Zeds, & are faced with keeping 40-45 yr old cars on the road, or doing total rebuilds in many cases, with a limited amount of parts availability. Not easy. They communicate about their cars calling them Datsun 240Zs or 260Zs or 280Zs or 'Fairladys' or whatever they are badged as & historical general knowledge knows them as. It's also what the general parts suppliers refer to them as. Your in-depth knowledge of the various Z car designations is very commendable, no question, but not as relevant for day-to-day Z ownership for most of us as you seem to think. As a NZ-new-RS30 owner for 30yrs, relocated to Australia, yes I'm interested in the myriad of Z car variations to some degree but only to a point. There is an interesting mix of Z cars from all over the planet here, not just Australia-new, all differing in some respects. But I've got other things to think about that are far more pressing. Back on topic: The OP just wants to find a particular switch & simply plug it into his loom which he says is otherwise ready. He's asked the forum for help. It's looking like he needs one from a Japan-new car as 'ours' - or other places - didn't get them. I was merely pointing out that the wiring looms of 240s & 260s - as we know them without getting all complicated & hung up on factory designations & production dates - basically use different plug styles. And the used originally Japan-new cars "Fairladys" & "Fairlady 240Zs" that have turned up downunder that I've seen could have either style. So to take care not to pay out a squillion $$$ for the wrong one, like the "260" example tabled by a helpful contributor, where the image doesn't show the plug.

You're right about the earliest 260s having the same front struts as the 240s. But as it happens I also have the later 260Z front struts, retro-fitted; one of mine was damaged so I changed them out for the later style, they're slightly shorter so dropped the front of the car just a little which helped combat tail-squat under acceleration. I hope the springs work OK on your car, but I was disappointed, luckily they're not a big ticket item.

Well that would be the 260z version, so has a different plug to the 240. FWIW the 260 fog or driving light switch I have is the same size overall but with a single switch centred.

I tried those ones, very stiff so even though they are lots shorter than stock springs (which vary a good deal depending on a range of factors) my car was if anything about 15mm higher than before on it's old, tired, modified-by-being-re-set to -20mm, springs. The King 260Z rears must be for a 2+2, whereas mine's a 2-seat; 2+2 springs & tubes are taller than on the 2-seat. So while the rears, being the taller of the two pairs, were just captured by the spring retainers, the fronts weren't by about 10-12mm on full droop so not happy with that, not wiring them on either. So I gave up & put the originals back on. I don't know where King got their specs from but IMHO the 260 ones are too stiff & too short. +1 for the rubber - urethane is a complete WOFTAM. USA suppliers?