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I thought I would post this here, since I would only clutter up my own thread. Cody and I worked on his wagon today. We found a new hood with SteveJ's help as well as the radiator support I needed. The hood had some rust bubbles along the front so I knew it was rusted through. So I drilled out the edge of the hood and the places where the structure was welded. The rear edge of the hood where it is pinched over doesn't have any spot welds. I used a putty knife and open the pinch up a little to get it open enough to get the support structure out. I took the structure out of the hood. Then we used Eastwood rust dissolver to get the rust out of the inside of the hood. It worked pretty good, just kept brushing it on to keep it wet. The shiny metal is where the rust has already been removed. The process slows down when a lot of rust get into solution The structure of the hood had big globs of black stuff, sort of like silicone to bond it to the hood skin. I cut those with a putty knife This is what it looked like after we were done with "Rust Dissolver" Razor blade off the remainder of the black goo This is it with the structure laid back in it... I will take the structure to the media blaster to get him to strip it for us. We stripped the hood with aircraft stripper today. works great but don't get it on ya' Treated it with "After blast" and started dollying out the dents. Next we will prep the radiator support we picked up. Then I will reassemble the hood. If I decided to salvage a Z hood with rust bubbles on the front edge I would go at it the same way. The only way to get it clean and deal with the rust is to disassemble them.

So I decided to start a thread to keep track of my mild build and to share my experiences and such 25th of august a longtime dream came true. I often wrote on my blog "one day I will...". I do fantasize about a S30 for at least 10 years now. And the 25th was the day, I got myself a Datsun 240Z. It was imported from the US to Europe in 2011. It is a 1973 model, and I love it! On the second try I managed to pass technical inspections and got the car registered. Thanks again Eric for borrowing me the stock-ish wheels. Till now I did a tune up (spark plugs and wires; distributor cap, finger, points and condensator; ignition coil and ballast; fuel pump). Soon I will get the carb setted again. And then it's a go for modding and restoring piece after peice. Think i will start by optimizing and restoring the interior and modding the suspension. And 2 pics from cars and coffee this weekend. I love driving this car. And I try to do it as much as possible to find as much weak points as possible. So I know what to change, modify, make better this winter.

Charles....... 10 to 12 inches so far. The snow is like a blizzard as we speak.....expected to stop at 10 pm tonight. I was hoping we'd get through the winter snow -free. Are you guys getting any in S.C. ? Don't know how our Canuck friends get through their winters.....guess that they must be laughing at us!

I used Tom Monroe's book reference as well. Yes, I used a circular pattern after running the bolts down finger tight. BTW I just checked the Harbor Freight website. Even without a coupon, using the usual 20% off, you can walk out of at store with a 1/4" torque wrench for under $20. If you watch for coupons, maybe only half that.

This is what mine looked like. Tail panel, spoiler and wheels all the same color. This is not really the true Nissan light panel cover color. I found a color pretty close and repainted all 3 items the same.

Hi.....have been to this site many times, although haven't posted. This is a great site that has helped me greatly. I'm not really a car guy, but getting there. Bought first non running car that had set for 10 years in a machine shed from original owner, 71 orange 240z in 08, not running, towed it home. Added Z therapy carbs, re manufactured distributor, pertronic ignition, ceramic header, urethane bushings, including rear lower pin bushing (that was a little hard), new master cyl, slave cyl, kyb shocks, cut front springs to level car, had gas tank redone (it was bad, like new now), re manufactured brake calipers, wheel cylinders, all rubber hoses, had radiator rebuilt (should have bought new, still learning), ......starts and runs really well, and fun to drive. Still have several things to do, horn, heater blower, seats, etc. I don't have pics, right now. Will get more pics this summer. Anyone from SE Iowa here?

Thanks, I hope putting the hours in will help him make good decisions. "Dime" parts are very hard to find on the East coast. If he crunches that hood we will have a hard time finding a replacement. It is our quality time, we have had a hard time relating, the car is a good connection point...

a stripped chassis is probably 300#-350#, I can pick up one end of the chassis by myself

There's a Z-train on Ratsun. Tucson, AZ. Active today. I'm just a newbie.

Wisdom

I think that CO may be implying the right thing, that the relay is okay. You might be on a wild goose chase, from seeing a red herring. I have had the fuel pump relay problem from a dirty AFM switch, on my 1976 car. What happens is the car will start just fine, run for about 3 seconds, then die. If you turn the key to Start real quick you can keep it running, but the grinding noise will stop you from doing that many times. But, for 1978, Nissan used the alternator and oil pressure to determine if the engine is running. So AFM switch wouldn't be the fuel pump issue with a 1978 car. But, on top of but, if it won't even try to start without starting fluid, it may not have anything to do with the fuel pump. The simple test, if you get stuck, is to hot wire the fuel pump or the pump relay or its connector, to keep the pump running. If it's a relay or pump power problem it will start and run. I've heard, but not tried it, that with everything connected correctly, removing the oil pump wire will let the pump run when the key is on. Easy to try. If it doesn't work, just jump the two spots in the fuel pump relay connector (the other relay not the one you're looking at now) that power the pump, with a short piece of wire. Also, the initial buzz that you talk about it not a design feature but some kind of odd timing phenomenon. CO and others have discussed it before. It's not a priming pulse, it's just an accident. Not supposed to happen.

Here are my latest two. A 2002 Mini Cooper S and a 1970 Plymouth AAR 'cuda 4-speed. Chuck

Argh, my ears are burning! (Captain told me y'all were wondering where I've been.) I'm sorry I've been such a stranger, but life really threw us a curve ball. My partner of 15 years was diagnosed with melanoma -- a rather advanced one with a pretty awful prognosis. I dropped everything like a hot potato and went into research/advocacy/treatment/support mode. It's been a hell of a ride so far. The good news is that she's getting the care she needs from the best in this part of the country. Surgery went well, and the surgeon MIGHT (!! maybe !!) have gotten every trace of the cancer -- about a 50% shot. We're shooting for 2020, the 5-year mark, which will be our 20th together. If we can make it that far, we've probably got the thing licked. If she has a recurrence before then, it's going to be a heck of a fight, but one that can actually be won if we are lucky. My Z apparently isn't doing as well. It's been mostly sitting, and you know what happens to cars that sit. I started it up to evacuate it from this coming storm (as we will be having some tidal flooding). The first part of the trip was OK, but the last part ended on a tow truck. Felt like an intermittent electrical problem with the EFI. I'm guessing it might be corroded contacts in the fuel injection relay, for a number of reasons. No time to diagnose, so the car now sits in the driveway at our new(to us) house, to be moved into the garage as soon as I can clear boxes. My back-log includes an oil change on our new-to-us Mazda CX-7, which has become our highway cruiser for our frequent trips for cancer treatment; and a speedometer cable on the Miata, which I probably won't replace until the spring. Ah yes, and then there's the sailboat, which actually takes top priority before any of that, except for the oil change. I've got to reqire the nav lights. Yeah, life just fell apart on us, but we're struggling our way back.

Have been taking a break on the Z and just finished up rebuilding this 9"x 45" Logan lathe,

My wife had this made for my Z garage.......

I celebrated 17 looooong ago but any age would like these. I may buy one myself. http://thecurbshop.com/products/curb-datsun-240z-t-shirt