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im working on my 280z project car and tackling lighting currently. I went to remove and check the wiring for the headlights and one of the previous owners in the 80s decided to WELD the buckets to the fender... He did alot of body work to make the car have very minimal body panel lines and used bondo to smooth everything out. i thought that was just it until i took it off and its stich wedled... poorly at that. ill get them off but not right now. Can i replace without removing the bucket?

Yeah, Im not convinced myself. This is their latest youtube video featuring the shell. As Alan mentioned above at the end of the day a Datsun with a body made in China isnt a Datsun anymore!

Thanks for the heads up. I will double check the seat mount location next time I am out there. I was thinking it might be the picture angle but won't hurt to check. Thanks!

Easily fixed at this point.

The inner rear seat mount looks to be in the wrong place to me. You may want to have them double check.

@Mike As the title of this thread suggests... It's hammer time. It's time for you to wield the ban hammer. Wield it like Thor. ☠️ *If you wield a tool or a weapon, you handle it effectively. Picture a gallant knight wielding a sword or a skillful chef wielding a whisk. Or picture Thor. Or Mike.

I have high confidence that Ellison is friends with Patel. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were both born in the same software lab.

But a conventional rotisserie makes working on the rear of car and the nose of the car really difficult

Pad in use. Nothing new in terms of any work on the Z. Had a carport built Weather still OK, so I've been driving her around as much as possible

I'm not convinced that this is 'the real deal'. Consider what KF Vintage offers in the way of replacement panels. It's a pretty extensive list, but when you put them all together your still missing (rough guess) 33% of a complete unibody structure. Is anybody really going to tool up to produce the Z's (complicated) A-pillars? And what about the rear floor and rear frame rails? And the (complicated) front cowl structure? And the (complicated) rear hatch sill structure? My guess is that we're looking at a KF Vintage-like collection of replacement panels being bannered as a replacement unibody structure.

The 'rotisserie' set-up is intriguing. It looks like it may do a better job than conventional units when it comes to keeping the unibody structure unstressed as it goes through rotation, but... it looks like a right PIA to cut and install all of the necessary support links. In addition, the roll-over hoops are in the way all the time, whereas a conventional rotisserie has no such blockages.

Yeah, the rotisserie is pretty cool!

Be patient, They are customer friendly and will get back to you. If your that concerned call them.

Amazing what hides behind layers of metal….those repairs look nice. What kind of rotation device is that? I really like that.

I wonder who the "restorers" are. They seem very proud of their skills, but they really haven't been around that long. Since 2019. Apparently their marketing manager was born in the back of a Datsun. https://s30.world/masterpieces "S30.world launches “The Masterpieces program” A celebration of Nissans S30 platformA limited-run of factory-correct restorations of the iconic Datsun 240Z will become available, with the first one to be sold at auction in the United States on October 23rd 2025. This unique program is focused on the full, factory-accurate restoration of Datsun 240Zs, also known by the S30 chassis code, to a level of detail that makes them identical to how they left the production line over 50 years ago. Each vehicle in the Masterpieces program keeps its original exterior and interior color and undergoes a complete, ground-up restoration. The process is guided by an obsessive commitment to authenticity, where every component is either restored or remanufactured to original specifications. From the expertly built drivetrain with its matching numbers engine to the flawlessly restored original interior, right down to the smallest original equipment fasteners, nothing is overlooked. “No expense or effort will be spared to achieve this peak level of quality,” says Chris Visscher, founder of S30.world. What truly sets these examples apart is the craftsmanship applied to the bodywork. Every shell is meticulously returned to its original condition with such precision that no trace of welding or repair is visible, even under close inspection by the most trained eye. All spot welds are recreated exactly as they were applied by the factory, matching both the original pattern and technique." https://s30.world/our-company "In 2019 Gustav Oplasnik and Chris Visscher decided to join forces. The desire to do the best possible restoration with an S30 was and still is our passion. The foundations of S30.world are passion, knowledge, craftsmanship, determination and cooperation. Today we are able to do the best possible restorations on S30s and the time has come to make this available to others worldwide as well. Our next goal is creating an international platform to promote the love for S30s, our restorations and the parts we sell. To make that happen, Florian Steinl became our marketing and content manager. Florian shares the same passion for S30s as we do, since he was born in the back of a Datsun."

Recreating the various oddities/imperfections that happen during the factory assembly of the car would be a restoration. Removing those inconsistencies, like the overspray, would be "perfecting", in my opinion. Removing the stuff that they think doesn't belong. It will be interesting to see what types of finish they used on the hardware. Will they use what appears correct, or what would be "correct" for the time of manufacture? How does one tell? Apparently this is the first appearance on the market of one of their "restorations". Kind of surprising how many they have. And why are they are selling?

And...? What's your point? I experienced HLS30-00023 in the metal and it is certainly restored to immaculate original specification. It's one of the best restorations I have ever seen, if not the best. If the phrase 'original specification' is troubling you, I can't see why. The specification of the car is arguably the best representation of its original specification that it is possible to achieve for a running and driving legally-registered road car (and yes, it was driven some distance by several people on the day I saw it) rather than a static exhibit. We discussed tyres on the drive, but running it on the brand and type of tyres it sat on in 1969 would be impractical if not dangerous. It has modern fluids in it. Modern paint formulas, electroplating that's probably more environmentally friendly than those of late 1960s Japan. We could go on, couldn't we. And hence we arrive - dancing - on the head of that pin I mentioned... I wonder, what would you say about the car should you find yourself one day standing in front of it and next to the team who restored it? Somehow I don't think you'd be taking a wheel off to run your spectrograph over the front brake calipers. On the other hand, maybe you really would be that guy. At this point I should remind you that HLS30-00023 is not the car that is going to auction on October 23rd. For me, it was a great privilege to experience it in the metal, running and driving. You on the other hand are looking at photos.

Won’t find this info on FB- lol. I worked on a 72 thru Covid . The guy texts me yesterday that he has no rear brakes . I put all new SS lines in his car and had to clean/ rebuild his brake switch valve . I’ve had the weirdest stuff with his brakes . The O rings failed on the brake switch and fluid was forced from one side to the other back up into the MC . Now his rear brakes don’t work - so after reading this I assume it’s that proportioning valve . I haven’t laid hands on it yet . Looks like I have good reference material here . Wish me luck

This guys are very slow responding emails. Need another shop!

Why?

Very much agree but at the end of the day interesting to see.

@Ellison Brooks Another one brought here to espouse the benefits of Seafaom. Powerful stuff! Great for training and verification. Good luck! What brand of car do you specialize in? The four-wheeled kind or three?

Oh, and regarding the dash, it is the original and has one small crack right in the center. There is a local dash repair shop that I will have look at it to see if it can be reparied.

Thanks for the prompt. I have been meaning to update the thread here but seem to have gotten side-tracked. The metal work has been completed on the body and it is now at the body shop. It has been there for about 3 weeks now and work on the underside has already been started. Carlos said the underside should be finished by the end of this week. He estimates that the body work and paint will be complete sometime in December. Would be nice to get this back before Christmas. There was quite a bit of metal work to do as you can see from the pictures below. The battery area was pretty bad as usual, as well as the floors. There were a number of smaller areas that were rusted through, and Larry did a good job filling and/or patching those. I wanted to make sure everything was very structurally sound and that all hidden rust areas were addressed. That being said, I am glad that part of the job has been completed. It is nice to see the body work started. The underside is looking better already. Carlos (the bodyshop/paint guy) stopped by my place and took a number of pictures of 2614 to see how the frame rails and other welded on parts were finished i.e no seam sealer. He also brought a paint camera and took pictures of the car color inside the door jam for color reference. I told him the color was the 920 Safari Gold per Nissan. I asked him to let me know how the colors line up. With 55 years of age, I am curious if the color on 2614 has darkened or developed a patina over time. Carlos has his own mixing set-up so he said that he will set me up with color samples prior to paint. In the mean time, I have been accumulating parts but not much else other than inspecting the body progress on a bi-weekly basis. However, now that my summer projects are nearly complete, I will get back to work on 0042.

Seafoam really is the way to go—you’ve proven how well it preserves fuel long-term. Running fresh gas through after storage is smart too, since it clears out moisture and varnish so the engine’s ready to perform reliably again.