You aren’t seeing that wrong. Z car guy restuded his hubs for Fuchs…

Maybe I am the only one, but it looks pretty darn good.

Looks a little wrong somehow. But probably only because I know what they are. Guy has good taste tho

Weird thing is, that’s a Series 1 240Z. Apparently in decent shape. The most valuable Z car. Mine is second series and it’s worth 40-50K. As they say, it’s his car but…

Damn, that is a view. Where is that picture taken, Hawaii?

I think it's the low profile tires. They don't fill out the wheel wells all that nicely.

It would probably look better with some meat on those tires ...

I thought that was your car at first...

They might be a 5x4.5" from a VW supplier, in which case a 5 lug swap 240z isn't that uncommon.

I'm a Datsun Freak!
I have 4...
That first picture is of a 70 to early 71.
I need to see a bit more...
It should have vents on the rear deck lid.
It should NOT have vents in the hood!
The Datsun script on the b pillars/rear sails denotes and early car but could be placed on a later...

NO FREAKING way would I 5 lug it in 130mm.
It its real early car I'd leave it alone...
If it's later and I wanted to change to 5 lug I'd hit 114.3 and not 130.
There are a billion wheels available in 114.3 and very little in 130...

Truth be told, the "early" cars body panels will swap out between 1969 and 1/2 way through the 1974 260 Z. That's where the BIG change happened.
Early 260Zs had skinny bumpers and 240z platform.
Late 260Zs had big ass crash bumpers and 280Z platform.
Lates weighed almost 500 lbs. MORE!

You want to set up 250+ WHP the later bodies are far superior, bend less, less rust prone.
The late 260Z had the very worst induction on any Z car, shared it with the 73...
It 1975 they changed to 280Z and L-jet.
This is real the point that the Z car became dependable...

For performance builds I prefer 77/78 cars. Lots of upgrades, the very best AC EVER installed in a Z.

And I'm good enough to make a late look just like a early if I want to...

They built approx 6K for 1970.
Mine was serial 3252. I still have most of the drivetrain.

It got broken in half in my driveway by a distracted 18-year-old girl whose insurance company went into "receivership" 3 DAYS before her accident...

The wheels on the car in post #4, which I assume is your car, look WAY better than the one with Fuchs. There are so many great looking JDM period correct type wheels that will fit Datsuns, I don't know why you'd put Fuchs on one.

I actually spoke with the owner of the car. He ground off the studs and redrilled. He chromed the fuch wheels. It is a series 1 240Z. I think it looks ok. Wrong canvas for self expression though.

One of the cars I regret selling many years ago. When I was 18 I was living with this 30 year old Cougar. Her little sister a boyfriend in Japan. He shipped a right hand drive Fairlady Z here. She drove it up from Florida. It had a green metal flake vinyl interior. Crazy cool car.

He's still got the aluminum finned drums on the back.

If I made the change to 5 lug, I'd ALSO make the change to rear disc...

You're screwing the value anyway, why not improve the car while you are at it?

Sounds like a difficult way to do that!

That change for me would include scrounging a bunch of Z32 wheel/hub/brakes stuff and modding that to the car...

Post a pic of yours. Mine is also a 73. I'm the original owner.
Click to view attachment

A dead giveaway that you really have a 70 is the keys are different than any other Datsun Z.

"One Key Fits ALL" was from late 70 on.

The early keys had two different keys and the Door/Hatch key looked like a cheapy master lock key, 1/2 the size of the Ignition key.

I did keep my original set all together, Keys, tumblers, and hardware together.
It's somewhere in my Z part stash.

Just exactly like a 914 most (almost all) Z come with a variety of keys as locks have been changed in the past.

I've had two cars with all original locks, the 70 was one of them...

That one is NICE!
Original owner?
Outstanding!

Still got those crappy emission Hitachis?

That is the single worst variable venturi carb ever built.
Those are "un-rebuildable" as Nissan worked their ASS off trying to make those work for two years, failed miserably, and just started paying Bosch for the L-jet.

I bet I've replaced 20+ sets of those carbs (with 70-72 Hitachi S.U. copies).
Those work AWESOME!.

Fuchs were a somewhat popular mini-truck mod back in the 80's.

No, triple 2-barrel Dellorto DHLA's. Original block and head but 280 crank so it is 2.7 liter now. Also put a 5-speed gearbox in it years ago.

People thought my Puma was a z-car.

You made a 260Z engine! That's when the stroke changed to 79mm.


My "standard" hot streetcar drivetrain was a mix of different year parts...
10.5 comp, cam in the 280 290 total range.

Engine: Short block/drive train from an 81-83 NA 280ZX including the tight ratio 5 speed and the R200 3.9 ratio differential. This is a "flat top" piston (with no valve reliefs).
Set deck height to +.002-.004. Pistons sticking out of block a tiny little bit.
Use head gasket with 1.00 mm (.040") crushed thickness.

Head from a 75-76 280Z N42 square port. Extensive chamber/minimum port work.
Milled .060 from bottom, "minimum to flat" top surface. Add cam tower shims to suite.
Electramotive L7 camshaft (or similar), stock sized valves, custom springs/retainers. Adjusting valvetrain is HYPER-CRITICAL with this cam. Verify piston to valve clearance as well.

6 to 1 header (Motorsports Auto), 2.5" exhaust. Sonic turbo muffler.
3X2 Weber/Mikuni set up. 40s have better low end but 44s are the way to go in my book. Mikunis are the best way to go.

Mechanical advance distributor. CDI ignition. Delete vac booster or provide electronic vacuum source.

This set up will "come up" on the cam at 3500 rpm and make shitloads of power all the way till the rev limiter in the CDI stops the fun. I set the limiters on customer cars at 7-8000 rpm depending on the lower end build up. Stock used stuff will normally handle 7k rpm.

Below 3500 it acted "bone ass stock/normal Z car"
Above it acted like GODZILLA!

It also sounds like nothing else in this world.
A rising howl that would make Enzo roll in his grave...
A Z built this way sounds more "Ferrari" than a real one!
Something about that Motorsports header coupled with the side drafts...
All the guys in the shop would stand outside just to hear it go down I35; 3-4 shift at 7500 directly in front of the shop at 105 mph is heaven audibly.

And, because of the incredibly adjustable Mikunis I can achieve a stable idle at 230 rpm on this motor.
This is an all-time record for "lowest stable idle" on anything I've ever built.

I've raced a brand new (this is back in the 90s) ZR1 Corvette with a 75 280Z and the above drivetrain.
Hung with him EVEN from about 50 all the way up to 125 where he slowly left me behind.
His "face" was PRICELESS!
His BRAND NEW "King of the Hill" Vette was being MATCHED by a rat box Z car.
He must have looked over my direction 10 maybe 15 times during the pull.
I would have loved to hear the phone call to his salesman later that day...

I've wondered, "could he hear it over the noise from his Vette?"
Probably could, it was loud at 7K!

I hope you kept the original crank and rods. If you didn't, I might have a spare I can sell.
The rods are especially rare now-a days.
They used to be the "hot ticket" and guys like me would scrounge them for use in builds.
I think 72-73 rods got the bigger bolts too.
They're 2.7 mm longer than a 260/280 rod.

I'm a turbo guy as well. I have (maybe the last) BNIB LD28 crank (83mm stroke) and
A set of J&E stroker pistons. I'll have to mod the pistons/rods (need those longer 240 rods!) but I will be able to build up a 3.0l 8.8/1 turbo motor that should make nearly 500 WHP. This will require a BorgWarner T3 EFR turbo that will bolt right on a stock 280ZX Turbo manifold. Down tube is in a good place from the get-go.

A final tidbit: An R200 LSD out of a Z31 turbo can be bolted into your car. Some were clutch plate, that's the one you want, avoid the viscous ones. 3.7 is a common ratio for these. Snatch the speedo-drive from the trans as well, it should fit right in your current trans.
You need the mustache bar and half shafts from a R200 equipped 280Z and the rear cover off of any non-LSD R200.
It is possible to use the LSD rear cover (bigger and finned) but that requires modifying the rear suspension cross bar with bespoke parts. Most folks just use a stock 280Z rear cover.
I found my LSD rear end at a "Pick and Pull" on New Years Day! It was 50% OFF.
Cost me 27.50!
The days of Z-cars in the Pick and Pull are long gone...

I was going to bring that up.
Click to view attachment

Sadly, I didn't have any on my 620.


I had a 240Z

This could be the most expensive Z ever!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-niss...fairlady-z-432/

Because of this thread I looked on BAT for the all-time highest price for a Z and found an active auction for a holy grail car...

What I was looking for was this.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-124/

310K for a stock USA version 71.

Not even a 70.

Not one of the stupid rare 432s.

Not even a Fairlady.

Freaking insane!

AS much as a GT3 Porsche, as much as a pair of Cayman GT4s!

No Z car is worth that kind of money in my book...

Even the Mikunis have gone out of sight!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/mikuni-44...ors-and-intake/

The entire drivetrain I posted was built for less than 6600 including the 44 Mikunis brand new 30 years ago!

Just read the comments in that auction...
No jets in those 6.6K carburetors at all.
Non-functional set!
I would wonder if that was intentional!

Funny, in 1973 I chose to buy a new 914 instead of a Z. In Southern California Z-cars were everywhere.

The Z was/is amazing. Faster than spit. It launched a continuing legacy of fine cars.

I still would have bought the 914. There's something about a 914... Perhaps it's a magnetic spiritual attraction of some sort?

Truth be told, I traded my first 914, a rusty 70 with a 1911 and the worst shifting transmission I've ever driven for my first 72 Datsun 240Z.

Straight up! His for mine...

First time I ever saw my first 240Z it was getting a ticket for loud exhaust.
He came into the Checker Auto I was working at wanting a new exhaust for the Z and asking, "who owns that blood red lowered 914...?"

The clutch on the Porsche took 3 days and $700 in 1982. PIA in Apt parking lot.
The clutch on the 240Z took 2.5 hours (first time!) and cost $78 six months later.

I've had a Z since that day, I have 4 today 72/73/77/78.

I've only just come back into the 914 World as my dad found a time capsule car and I'm building it for both him and me.

My birthday is 9-14, I was doomed from the start.

My first automotive memories were of 914s and my dad.

That first 914 helped me win my wife.
It was responsible for her decision to dump her worthless fiancé and start life with me.
No, she isn't a 914 "groupie".

This car's found a permanent home with my family now...

Exactly!

I already did. It’s up above. It’s also a ‘73. 3.0 Rebello stroker built by Rebello. Haltech EFI with DBW, crank fire ignition, cam position sensor. COP, soon to be 6 speed.

It’s got Panasport now. I’ve owned it since 1980.

Some of the best Zs are on the 914 forum.
3 liter Rebello, oh my...

I was/am a member of HybridZ,org and it's changed bigtime!
What's the good Z forum now?
For modded stuff, not interested in concours.

What six speed?

Soo nice! I just love white cars as well...

nice cars the old Zeds. (we don't say it "zee" ).
a fixture of my teenage years.

a client of mine back in the 90s had a very early zed he'd restored.
i traded him a drive in my 914 for a turn at the wheel of his zed.
loved it.
i don't know how true this was but i remember he told me the oldest rhd zed lived in australia. #4 off the line rhd.
don't know if it is still here if it was. would have been serious goal for a j collector to have acquired it by now?

what looked like a nice survivor was for sale at auction late last year.
they pull good money.
i've seen fully restored early zeds asking for 100K (aud) and apparently getting it.
thats big money. i assumed japanese buyers might be involved and the cars return to japan. its pretty dry down here and cars don't rust. + they are RHD. and have the J spec orig SU twin carb copies unmolested by usa emission spec "issues".

https://www.grays.com/lot/0001-20083920/cla...30-manual-coupe