Leaderboard

Some of my unique experiences? I got to ride in my first series one car. Maybe you saw it? Jim - jfa.series1's car? I think it won a couple awards or something? I failed as Jim's navigator, but in fact, it was actually a ploy to spend more time riding with him, chatting about past lives and technology that was cutting edge at the time, but few would even remember at this point. Thanks Jim! I got to start Cliff's - siteunseen candle burning at both ends with a microbrew tour of Memphis. With horns honking behind him, he pulls his car over to the curb at the end of Beale Street, I pop the passenger door and jump in. We had never met before that... Cliff says "I'm completely lost. I got no idea where we are. Can you get us back to the hotel?" So did the best I could with my limited resources. No nav, no smartphone, and the only map I had was the one I posted earlier with the brewpubs as landmarks. We made it back to the hotel just fine, but we "had" to stop at three of the pubs along the way just to make sure we didn't get "lost". It wasn't that we WANTED to, it was strictly necessity. Thanks Cliff! I got to spend a bunch of time with my buddy Philip - Blue and Mrs. Blue and share my non-tourist philosophy with Mrs. Blue. It turns out that the two of us had completely independently acquired the same targets when it came to food. And I also was learned that my ideas for restaurants was NOT what SteveJ and his wife were ready for. Thanks for indulging me anyway!! Thanks Blue and Steve! I regret that I did not go out on the last night's food and drink expedition with Mike W. and crew. I unfortunately had an early flight the next morning and couldn't stay out partying till 3:30 in the morning as was promised . I would have loved to go, but really needed to be sharp the next day! Thanks Mike! I got to have a wonderful small group conversation and late night drink with Mr. M, one of his companions and Jim - S30Driver. I was trying to ask questions that he doesn't get asked frequently and it was great having Jim there to participate. Thanks Jim! I got to meet my long lost brother Jim - Zup who's got a whole lot of experiences and perspectives on the world different than the average bear and I'm glad you're able to share them and stay sane. Thanks Jim! I've got some (what I consider) interesting pics I took along the way and I'll get them posted soon. So thanks all for the wonderful experiences and I'll include more when I can!

I visited Jai (pronounced "Jay") on the way back from Zcon15. I looked at her 240z and will make a thread later on that. On her 280z she had me pull the plugs and make pictures while I was there. This is viewed from the spark plug side of the engine #6 is on the far left and #1 is on the right

Sandblasted Primed Donor frame ready

Here's a short clip from this past weekend where we just miss hitting a slowing 280Z and I finally catch and pass the 911. https://youtu.be/MsdoBB1fSQM Chuck

Grabbed a few from my camera: MikeW's Jewellery Box Don't know but I like Janet and Mr. K and his Yellow 2+2 Bill Coffey's Monster and its heart JFA's Winner and its go-go unit Bpilati's 240z Gnosez's Track Beast and its Deep Dish Delight

I completed the Pertronix igniter points replacement and Pertronix 40,000 volt coil modification. Runs fantastic and smooth. The tach even works normally. Very happy.

Thanks Lumens :-) I've taken the car today to a company who will install the header and Weber 40's and tune the Z, It's the furthest I've driven it since it landed, about 20 miles, a few of things I noticed were that it changes gears very smoothly, the brakes feel 42 yrs old :-) and not many people on the road had seen a 240Z for quite a while if ever, oh and the tick over rose up to 2K! I should be able to collect within 2 weeks .

Cleaned up, filled and installed the 4:44 R190 in the race car today. Going to Palmer, MA the new road course called Whiskey Hill next week. The 4:38 R180 is toast. Case filled with metallic sludge from the ring and pinion.

Going in to this project I faced the dilema you mentioned. I had two choices. Get hung up on it or get on with it. I could have easily cut 2 inches on either side of the VIN and stuck it in another shell but that would never have felt like #19 to me. This car that I'm sweating on does feel like #19 - we're saving as much of it as possible and that's all that can be done. The alternative is to scrap it and I know no one wants that. A friend told me about grandfather's axe before I began restoring this car. A grandfather bought an axe as a young lad and worked it pretty hard througout his life. One day the handle split and he had to replace it. Soon that handle got chipped and dinged and aged with the axe head. The grandfather passed on the axe to his son who left it in the shed for so long it rusted and pitted beyond repair. When the grandson inherited the axe he got nostalgic and decided to fix it so he bought a new axe head and started to use his grandfather's axe. One day he will pass on his grandfather's axe to his son...

The red hoses on the fuel filter may be ok. They are Gates multi use but I haven't researched the part number yet.

Closer view

I posted some of mine here: http://www.classiczcars.com/gallery/category/2264-zcon-2015/ Now Mike can be happy.

Some bits and pieces I've acquired over the last few months There's more but it's much the same. Will start work on the greasy bits soon.

Mighty Purdy Don't Mess With Texas (Double Barrel Trouble) SteveJ's Golden 260z

Obvious (the real thing) Cool Z31 Mike's 260z SteveJ's 260z suffering tornado damage This one has my heart Nashville Fred's Place (non-ZCON 280zx in front) Graceland Nashville Roller Janet on Elvis's drums (Meg White... watch out!)

I had that same header over 20 years ago. The quality looks better now than the one I had. Mine was chrome. I see now they have the better polished exhaust coating. The biggest issue I had was where the slip fit head pipe connected to the header with exhaust clamps. It always leaked there. Never could get a good seal. Also I had to grind some areas on my Mikuni manifold to clear the header while attaching the intake. It was not real noticeable though. Mine connected to a 2-1/2 in exhaust.

Dropped the fuel tank and the drive shaft (er, propeller shaft). Hardlines are next, and finally the engine and gearbox. Then, roll it into a trailer and get it down to the body shop. Does anyone have a recommendation for how to safely store the windshield and hatch glass for a few months? I assume it needs to be vertical, bit I don't want to just lean it against a wall - it WILL get broken if I do that. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Although I won't be updating this thread all that often I would like to share milestone updates. With that in mind here is the first one: Tonight I'm contemplating sleeping inside my empty car shell as it will be the last time I see it for many months. Tomorrow it will be picked up and delivered to Custom and Classic Cars 1,400 km away who will restore it to its former glory. No tears will be shed when the car is towed away; maybe tears of joy - I've swept away more rust than any man ought to. Here is the shell as it stands. Stripping the 240Z As a boy I took great pleasure in taking things apart and seeing how they work. If they functioned when I put them back together it was a bonus but that was never a measure of success and I never let that get in the way of my fun. To this day I enjoy the process and I’ve learned that taking things apart requires less finesse and is usually a lot easier than putting them back together. The opposite applies to a neglected and severely rusted car. For the past couple of months I have been chipping away at stripping the 240Z. It currently sits in the garage bare of all the bits that make it a functioning marvel. It has been a time consuming process (partly because the car is at my parent’s place) with frustrations along the way but all of it enjoyable. A snapped bolt here and a stubborn clip there, strange wires and plywood panels aplenty – and of course the odd coin found for my purse. Observations The first thing that you notice after stripping a car is that the parts you take off take up far more room than they have a right to. After all, they weren’t taking up much room while on the car but all of a sudden you need boxes and shelves, hanging room and wall space for leaning panels on and snap lock bags for nuts, bolts and clips aplenty. It’s about here that you start to appreciate the work that went into manufacturing and assembling what is an elegant mechanical machine. I sought out advice prior to starting the stripping process and received a lot of good tips (thanks to you guys). Repeatedly I was told to bag and tag everything, even the broken parts. This advice was echoed in Wick Humble’s book, 'How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car'. I have taken this advice on board but haven’t been obsessed about it. Some of the parts were not original so it was pointless to waste my time with labeling and storing them, others seemed so obvious as to not require any documentation while others yet, for example the wiring, seemed so complex that it was pointless for me to fuss over it since I have no plans to do the job myself. I might be regretting that last one as I am now considering having a go… Other advice mentioned patience and a delicate touch. The car is over 40 years old and requires a gentle and patient hand. I can tell you I’ve used hammers and mallets, grinders both large and small, screwdrivers that will scare the screws off by simply pointing at them, vice grips that have survived what looks like a throwing competition, but most of all a large broom to sweep away the rust that falls off every time I breathe near the car. I will concede it takes a delicate touch at times but when that bastard of a bolt doesn’t want to budge after being soaked in enough penetrating liquids to develop a mild addiction to it, you just have to bring out the breaker bar and standby with a grinder as a threat. Mistakes You won’t learn anything unless you have a go and make some mistakes. I had a go and now I know that taking out a windshield with previously mentioned scary screwdriver is not a good idea. The right tool for the job rings a bell but when you don’t have that right tool it’s mighty tempting to make do with what’s at hand. Exercising patience avoids costly mistakes. Throwing out damaged original parts is a big mistake with emphasis on the word original. Even if you would never use that part again it makes sense to keep it for reference until the day you have a replacement in hand. There are so many variations in parts from early cars to late cars, between models and between cars of different markets that finding the exact part you need becomes a huge task without an original for reference. This of course applies only if you are concerned with originality which I am. I learned this lesson very quickly and now I have a cache of broken clips, panels, bits of trim and even some brown stuff that looks like horse hair… Mechanical Mechanical objects fascinate me. My intention is not to sound macho but I love the challenge of stripping something bare, getting my hands dirty with its grease and grime, figuring out how it all works in a detective like manner and damned be your instruction manual as I soak up the marvel, the simplicity of mechanical objects designed and built by my father’s functional and practical generation. The 240Z is one of these mechanical objects and while certain parts of it are complex and possibly beyond my mediocre skills, the majority of it is simple and just makes perfect mechanical sense as I’m tearing it down which gives me confidence for the restoration and then the assembly phase of the project.

I wanted a better transition from the old to new rail, so I made up a piece that would bridge the gap: Bought this great chisel set with removable ends last week - a real nice set that I could have used hundreds of times over the years!