gilltech

About 4 yrs ago I finally sold a set of 4 that I had hoarded for nearly a decade for just over 400 bucks. No dents or scrapes & sound 'D's so physically in good sound condition, but due to fine surface rust all over they needed restoration (stripping, re-chroming, polishing, painting, etc etc) before they could really be used on even a half-way decent car. FWIW, I would consider a full tidy set without surface rust ready for use, with perhaps just a freshen-up of the black paint needed, should be worth far more today if the cost of restoration for scruffy ones is factored in.

The 2+2 is wider across the back so the back bumper is different; whether it can easily be trimmed up to suit a 2-seat body & whether the various holes still match up I can't say. Basically the 2-seat & 2+2 are the same back to the windscreen & dash; then the roofline & body differs all the way to the back. If you have an early 260Z 2-seat (ie. late '73 / early '74) then you will probably find (as I have) that it has more in common with the last of the 240Zs in suspension, electrical & engine equipment, rather than later 260Z's which had running revisions & got progressively better appointed & most especially in the 2+2 models. If you're looking for parts from a donor 2+2 then best go for the equivalent year if possible.

Hey, as oldZman says, keep in touch with him, if you hit it off then enjoy the mutual interest in Zeds; personal circumstances can change rapidly, & if he knows that you would take it immediately for good money (& look after it) it could still happen! I've read in car magazines numerous stories where that's what happened.

The seller may mean it doesn't have a modern 17-digit VIN number, & just has the original 10-digit? chassis number used originally to ID the car for registration purposes. Perhaps it was registered in a state before a VIN system came in & has never had a VIN plate attached? Take a look for a factory chassis # & engine # ID plate riveted to the inner RH guard, matching the chassis number stamped into the firewall (as I recall from mine somewhere above & left of the brake booster), & then compare numbers with any old registration or ownership paperwork he has.

Anybody had a look at the new front bumpers advertised on eBay & are they a good fit & quality? They don't apear to have the holes for the rubber strips nor the reg plate brackets.

Good advice, thanks for that, that's precisely what I am suspicious of so am still shopping around; I don't know what configuration the supposed rating applies to. My plan is to lift the basic motor (without gearbox) straight up from the side & then roll the car backwards out of the way, rather than reach in from the front. I'll drop the gearbox prior, safer that way. Thanks for your input.

I have a very early 260 2-seat with the same fixed lap/sash belts as the 240, & have been told by a vehicle inspector that they are well below par safety-wise by today's standards. And one of his concerns is the steel buckle which sits against the user's guts just above the hip. Personally I'd like to upgrade to retractables. Do the later 260's with factory retractables have the same set-up for both 2+2s and 2-seaters, or are they different due to the longer body & rear seat access? If someone such as nuclear-z could post a photo of their bolt-in upgrade, or their set-up which works, that would be appreciated.

Yeah, I just didn’t want to leap in to buying something that might struggle at the upper end of its rating range (thinking of the hydraulic ram leverage like my poor little trolley jack) but the L motors & 'boxes are nowhere near as heavy as I’d have guessed; I'm truly amazed! You see the, presumably, ‘professional’ lifters advertised online & in car mags seem to be from 2000kg rating & up, 4 tonne some of them, so SuperCheap’s 1250kg model just sounded a bit light hence my dumb query. But I’m reassured – I’ll go check one out this weekend as apparently they’re on special at $259, easier to buy than rent several times over. Thanks for the advice guys; it pays to ask, this forum is great. (Should I go off-topic & ask Mike why he took a gearbox to the UK?...)

SuperCheap have got the things on special at $259 at present, so am tempted to buy rather than rent one twice over, but don't want to mistakenly buy one that might struggle; I've already made that mistake with my trolley jack! New territory for me, you see.

Good-oh, thanks for all your help, sorry if such dumb question but just wasn't sure whether the hoist would be getting near it's design limit or not or how much margin of error there might be with the things; I wouldn't want a ram or weld failure. I also didn't realise the Z cars are quite so light.

The engine hoists sold by SuperCheap are rated at 1250kg; are they any good? Is that rating sufficiently adequate for our 6 cyl motors, especially with gearbox attached? I have no idea what the motors & boxes weigh, but must be most of that. Any comment or help would be appreciated.

I've now seen several 240/260 Zeds done this way - it always reminds me of the 2-tone later-shape 280ZX colour scheme, commonly blue/silver or gunmetal/silver as I recall; the first one I saw I just assumed the owner was trying to update the styling of his older car as this was when the 280ZX was still available new in the late 80's! However, I think a few of the (American) 280Z cars were delivered in 2-tone schemes, just before the 280ZX shape arrived? Personally, I think the 240/260 has a purity of line that doesn't really need complication, but if the 2-tone scheme is selected with much thought & care it can look quite good - the demarkation line has to be picked very carefully over the c-pillar/rear guard hip for it to work at all viewing angles; I once saw one car where it wasn't quite right, which spoilt it. Many of the 240/260 race cars from the 70's had two-tone or three-tone schemes & look pretty cool today. Time for Photoshop?

My rear spoiler has a pair of aluminium flats cast into the fibreglass, across the base, one near each end, & is screw fixed - the underside of the hatch has a pair of large removable rubber grommets, & these provide access to the pair of self-tapping screws used to secure the spoiler in place.

RS30 (2-seater) #000115 Early 1974 Paint Colour 110? reddish orange Black Interior Manual John G QLD (Brisbane northside) Sold new in Sth Is NZ; imported Qld '07; On blocks waiting for engine rebuild

Grange (Brisbane north-side); '74 260 2-seat, reddy-orange; manual; still parked up awaiting engine work.

Sounds like bound-up spindles are a pretty rare event, then; my car must have been a freak, strange as it originated from the dry Otago region of NZ's South Island - no rust or corrosion evident anywhere else on the car, but no sign of any lubrication to the spindles either. I had expected bronze inner bushes like on motorbikes I'd owned but all parts were steel with incredibly strong rubber inserts. Subsequently I've heard of another Zed owner having hassles removing spindles but he had access to a machine shop & a big press & drove the spindles out after making purpose-made drifts sized precisely, after some trial & error, but the spindles were beyond saving after a huge amount of force was applied to their ends. I think the puller idea has merit, but as has been pointed out may be a tool to be used a few times then thrown away as the threads will really suffer. What type of thread would be strongest for this - Whitworth?

Yes the spindles weld themselves to the steel inner bushes; certainly with my car '74 260Z Nissan must have used little or no grease when they put the thing togther. Check, however, that you have removed the spindle lock pins - they are a wedge type bolt to secure the middle/side of the spindle & prevent it moving forward or back. I had a devil of a job with my car; I bought it car at 10 yrs old & 2 yrs later noticed that there appeared to be limited movement in the rear - it looked like it was bound up - so pulled it all apart to rebuild it. Not having spare money, fancy tools or knowing anyone in the trade I had to resort to basic home mechanics 101. I carefully & surgically cut away each spindle at each end to free each suspension arm, then used heat to gradually burn the rubber & break the steel corrosion bond & a fine cold chisel to chisel it all away enough to finally break free the bonded-together steel & molten rubber messes enough so they could be driven out. Then had to carefully file & cut away / drive out the remaining outer steel bush sleeves, remedy the damaged paintwork, press in new bushes (local garage helped me here) & installed new spindles & spindle lock pins with lots of anti-seizure copper-based grease. 22 yrs on & all is still well as far as I know. Took ages & a lot of patience & persistance but it worked for me. Good luck.

I concur with gav240z - all of the ex Jap home market used import 240 & 260 zeds that came into NZ years ago that I've ever seen had the mesh grille, so in NZ at least they can't be rare. It was an easy way to tell a Jap import car apart from a Z sold new in NZ or another country such as Australia or UK. (They also had 'Fairlady' badges, not '240Z' or 260Z', and the 2L 6-cyl motor). Unfortunately many of the used import 240 & 260 zeds ex Japan were rusty & became basket cases so have perished, so there must be spare mesh grilles around. Perhaps try the NZ Zed club?

Best check out the customs website for applicable duties etc. I brought my Z over from NZ & didn't have to pay customs duty as it was more than 30 yrs old. But I did have to pay 10% GST on the 'landed value' of the car, which included the assessed vehicle's shipping cost & insurance just to get it here. That 'landed value' was compiled by an independant valuer, & was for a vehicle 'as landed' here at the wharf, assessing the vehicle's worth at that point in time, & taking into account the fact that the vehicle was not complied or registered 'on the road'. The valuation was quite thorough, & consisted of a 3-page condition report & assessed value.

All a big help, thankyou, & obviously of interest to many. My 260 is a very early one, with E88 head. From looking through the Forum I get the impression that the N42 is the head to go for, as it has bigger valves??. I happen to have one to hand, so presume better to spend the money on that? I don't want to up the compression too high - say, 9.0 to 9.5:1 or so, like a 240, in lieu of the stock 260 which as I recall is around 8.3:1 or so. So I won't go chasing flat-top pistons which are rare anyway, & which gave you 10:1, but is there a choice or range of 'dished' pistons, as in different dish depths, to choose from? Sorry for all the questions but I want to get the direction clear & correct so I can brief Torqueteam accurately (& not be completely ignorant). With the 240 having a shorter stroke so faster revving, how come 240 owners don't bore their existing engines out with 280 pistons which are 3mm wider, & up the cylinder capacity that way (would make for roughtly around 2550cc I think), rather than going for the 280 motors with the longer slower stroke? Or is it just that there's no substitute for cubes?

Wahoo! Great results! Thanks Alan for all the timely information, that's going to be a huge help to me to find my way, now I'm even keener to stick with my original 260 engine & not go looking for a pre-loved motor.

Thanks modular9 and 260coupe, thats very much appreciated. I'll contact Torqueteam & get a quote, I had no idea where to start & the yellow pages looked a bit too scary. The engine is already stripped down & quite clean so Torqueteam should be able to assess it quite quickly & accurately which always helps with quoting. Fantastic. 260Coupe, what's with the 280zx high volume oil pump? Sounds like a damn fine idea, is it easily available & how do I visually tell the difference from a standard one? Cheers, Gilltech

Thanks for writing all that up - was very pleased to read your article as I too have my original 260 motor at around 215,000km having got tired & a bit smokey, & am seriously considering having it rebuilt as opposed to dropping in a lower-mileage 280 which is the other option & no doubt much cheaper. But my 260 is numbers-matching to the body so now I'd prefer to re-use that. Before I go ringing engine rebuilders around Brisbane & to give me some idea whether I'm getting reasonable value for money, can readers just give me some sort of ballpark figures for engine rebuilding so I can form some idea of budget? I don't want to go crazy, just freshen the motor for more mileage, but hobby car not daily driver. So I suppose I would keep my early 260 pretty much standard, with perhaps a bit of head work to suit unleaded & perhaps a small increase in compression so as to be closer to a 240 in spec if that makes any sense. I already have had a set of 240z carbs rebuilt, & bought new headers. The rest is unknown territory. Any advice & cost ranges would be very much appreciated. Thanks, GillTech

Actually there should be 2 x double open-ended spanners, & a reversible black-handled screw driver (phillips one end, flat the other), as well as the pliers & wheel brace, all in a black vinyl pouch, if my '74 is correct. The tools are probably common across all the Datsun models in the '70's, & look pretty basic & nasty. Most items have 'Nissan' cast into them. Mine's a 2-seater 260, so the tool kit lives in one of the storage bins along with the jack (it all just fits). Whereas the 2+2 has the jack stored on the passenger area floor with a clip-on plastic cover, self-clamped against a metal bracket.

Thanks guys - I was about to try ABS but tried my local Repco first, & was surprised when a very helpful & persistent staffer managed to hunt one down (& only one) & get it in for me from someone's warehouse somewhere - it's in a PBR box, not OEM style as the plastic reservoirs are different & it has black plastic caps instead of the metal original style so no good for the concours boys, but I'm not in a position to be fussy right now. Cost was $141 (retail). So they are a bit thin on the ground as I suspected from previous experience. If I can find an OEM or Nissan one - & I'll try ABS next time I'm up that way - I'll grab it & stash it away. So thanks everybody for your input.