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I was finishing up a week away from work in one of the best ways I could: attending yet another car meet. I was expecting to be about the only one with a Z there today since ZCON is starting up just a few hours away. Boy was I surprised. Several friends showed up in their Zs, too. One new friend showed up a little late, too, with his 280Z.

Personally, I was thinking $75,000. If I owned it, I would hold 'till demand comes back. But I'm 48, I've got the time.

Wow! Let’s meet in Tokyo some time ! Kats

Hi @kats! I’m actually in Japan again right now, and will be another time a month from now. Work has brought me here a lot. If you are available on Instagram or WhatsApp, I’d love to say hello!

Yes, it is the same reproduction part i make.

Yep, the bubbles "were" there, and now they are gone, as I grinned out and filled the three small holes on one side and one hole on the other. Not a professional long term fix, but I hated seeing the bubbles, and wanted to show it at a car show, that was today, so now I have black rockers.......

A little rain makes everything better!

Hi, I did some work refreshing for metal headlight bowl case of my Z432. In Japan, headlights case has a note “右配光” (Aiming to the right) and “L o R.” Is that its lens cut different? I have a new set of the light bowl but I don’t want to use it because new replacements from Nissan has different shape of the plastic screw cover.Original is also a see through plastic but new one is white. So I cleaned it and painted it with hand written “右配光 R(L)” “12V” Please note earlier type doesn’t have tiny holes for retaining the rubber seal to the metal bowl. Kats

I am so sorry that I didn’t know I was mentioned here. Goldair, did you enjoyed your trip in Japan? To find some right places for enthusiasts like you and us is a bit difficult. Yes Nissan Yokohama HQ is the good to start, easy access and a lot of cars on the display, with Starbucks. Visiting popular vintage car shop or parts vender is also nice, if you are lucky you will be able to see a car restoration in progress. I don’t want people to rush into a restoration shop but if someone serious let me know. A Z432-R is now on the zig for its restoration. siteunseen, I didn’t know there is a vending machine other than beverage, Cup noodle. I wish Nissan could place small parts vending machines all over the country! Kats

Hi, Have we discussed this before? The date code appeared on the MIYAMOTO horn. 01/70 Z432 has S 12, 03/70 240Z has T2 06/72 240ZG has V6 So I read it like this, S 12 means 1969 December T2 means 1970 February, V6 means 1972 June. How about yours? Kats

Yesterday and today, I spent some time working on the car again. I haven't been working on it much, as I have been working on my track Z some more instead, and I had tenants move out, so I have been spending some time over the last few weekends at a rental house doing things that needed attention. I am still hesitant to modify my SM spec SU needles. Taking a lessor path of resistance, I swapped out the 10W-30 oil for some 20W-50 to see what a difference that would make. What got me thinking about doing that was the "drop test" of the SU pistons. From fully up to fully dropped, there seemed to be almost no damping. So, I decided to try a change. Comparing/contrasting, the throttle response is not as lightning quick as it was. However, the lean condition on overrun is noticeably less. I think I like the 20W50 better overall. I might try 10W-40 as well to see about getting a bit better throttle response (for rev matching downshifts). If I am cruising and I snap the throttle fully open, the engine and car respond quickly - it accelerates nicely. So, maybe the 20W50 is fine. I don't know what to do regarding the SU dampers. They are original Nissan ones - probably original to the carbs on the car. The "barrels" seem to have wear, just judging by their appearance. The barrels have an OD of a little more than .346". I purchased an SU rebuild kit, which came with new needle and seats, and dampers recently. However, I didn't use either. I found the problem with the existing needle and seats. The rear one just needed to be polished inside to keep it from sticking as when it was machined, it was finished with a coarse finish. Also, the new dampers have a "longer throw" than the original ones - the sleeve portion of the damper has a longer amount of free movement. I didn't want to introduce that change, so I have held off on switching them out. Also, the new damper sticks do not have low and high marks for oil level like the original ones have. However, the barrels measure at, or just above .346", just like the "worn" originals. So, again, given all of these things, I didn't feel like installing them. At present, I have the mixture nuts turned out precisely 2.5 turns front and back. When warm, the AFR at idle is around 11.8. At cruise on flat road, the AFR is about 14.8. I still see AFR get lean if I try to accelerate a small or medium amount. This often happens when the road changes to a slight incline. AFR on a slight incline, trying to maintain the same speed tends to be in the high 15's and can reach low 16's. If I smash the throttle to the floor, I typically see AFRs in the 12.4 to 13 range. With the 10W-30 oil, on long instances of throttle shut deceleration (like from third to second - rev match, and then just decel in second with throttle shut), the AFR would climb up to 18s... or 19s even. With the 20W50, AFR will spike lean on throttle shut decel for an instant, but then AFR will return to normal range (13 to 14). Much less popping from the exhaust with 20W50. I need to do some data logging again so I am not just pulling these from memory. I haven't heard of anyone with Hitachi SU's changing the springs, but watching various Youtube videos, it seems like changing springs is pretty standard with tuning British SU's, and it is typically done before attempting to modify needles. It looks like order of march is springs, dampers, oil, then needles. I think I'd like to try some springs which are bit stiffer. And I'd like to try 10W-40 instead of 20W-50. Maybe I will do these things before I try to modify the needles.

I messed with the radiator hoses today and had some of the same issues I had before. Here's the lower rad hose: \ And here's an example of how unattached the braid sheath is to the rubber underneath: And this happens when you slip the hose clamp over the end: And here's an example of the inconsistent braid density that I mentioned earlier. Most prevalent on the outsides of bends, which makes sense. Some areas are so sparse that there is big gaps in the braiding. Looks like this: Compare this to the original stock stuff: I know you can't get the stock stuff anymore, which is why you end up paying "only game in town prices", but still... This is what it says in the description: "All of our braided rubber hoses are very accurate replicas of the factory braided style hoses, they have been carefully molded to have the exact curves and bends like the originals!" Maybe they had a bad batch where there were quality issues. I just don't have the time to deal with it now. Maybe after Zcon. I also see in the ad that there is a warranty. I'm going to look into this when I have some time to breath: "We are confident in the quality and craftsmanship of our products, as a result we cover all of our products with our Resurrected Classics Parts Promise. This is a Lifetime Warranty that covers any manufacturing defects with your product during your ownership and entitles you to a new replacement of that part with free shipping. This warranty does not cover damage due to improper installation/handling, accidents, or improper modification. This limited warranty does not cover incidental, consequential, indirect, or special damages."

Well, I'm out of work time. In theory, I hit the road tomorrow morning. So whatever isn't done, isn't done. I got wipers on. Really don't want to be in a situation where I use them, but they're on there: Hope to see lots of you in Nashville. Assuming my radiator and my back hold together well enough to get there!!

What do you think it is worth currently - roughly?

Is this the same model you posted earlier?

My mechanic finally solved the 11 year old problem by resdjusting the carbs with the temperature of the car during traffic jams, 3/4 of the Temp gauge and an MSD blaster coil. Now he is asking me for a diagram or schematic to get the petronix 1.5 coil and 1.5 ballast resistor running and the 1972 240z tachometer working alltogether. Can seem to find it in the web or haynes manual. Do you have any reference for this? Guess the stock tachometer wont work with the MSD blaster 2 coil.

Link to ebay Reproduction fuse cover/ash tray for the 240z Datsun Series 1. Reproduced in Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate. Comes with asa silver ring insert, lid pins and a stainless steel snuffer plate. Spring steel clip- sharpish edges (careful)

Tachs are available on EBay the last time I looked. Easy to change out as well.

It sounds like the tach itself. From your description I would imagine there's a part inside that let the smoke out. I doubt the coil itself is going to have that effect. Perhaps removing the ballast had a role, perhaps not. Like Yarb said, maybe it's just old. There are discrete parts in there and perhaps the culprit could be found and replaced. The tach is just reporting entity and has no physical connection to the engine or coil. There is a battery positive and ground for power, but the "signal" is isolated - that wire is not physically attached to any part of the gauge. If you look at the back you'll see the G/W feeds a looped wire that goes through the same sort of device that a "clamp meter" (ammeter, amp probe, or the clamp that goes over the spark plug wire on a new-fangled timing light) has.

I can see from your pic the fun that the body man is gonna have with the lower fender and rocker and/or dogleg... Completely typical though.

Could be the tach just said I’m done. These are 50 year old cars.

So today is my last work day before I leave. One day left. Then a two day journey to get there. Flush my cooling system one last time and hope for the best. Check the valve lash. Balance the carbs. I was going to change the oil, but I've only got about 400 miles on it and it's really not even time yet. Anyone near Christiansburg, VA that wants to help me change my oil tomorrow evening? Hahahaha!!

Awesome. Thanks Jim!! Wish I would see you at Zcon!

I'm almost... say 95% sure that bend in that contact arm is original.. It's there for adding just a little more stability to the contactarm.

If you’re going to dent the race car, it helps to own the team!