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My 72 even has a towel bar on the front bumper. 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr 1972 Datsun 240Z by Racer, on Flickr I don't like it, and it will be coming off soon. My plan is to get new bumpers with nothing on them, not even the black rubber strips on the outer ends.

Been putting the last bits of the engine together today, I think she looks pretty good for a neophyte’s first go round. Now if we could just get the damn salt off of the roads... Hopefully it will crank easily and run well when the time comes, till then it’s brake line bending school. P.S. I know #6 plug wire looks as tight as a guitar string, pretty sure PO adjusted the dizzy cap etc to accommodate a short wire, had me scratching my head for a while

Like tin foil would?

It was brutal! I've done the best I could and always knew I probably wouldn't end up with a Concours product. That being said I did expect a very nice finished product that I could be proud of....This was FAR from that. My hats off to everyone here that is spending the time and money to get to that level! I can't imagine how long it takes and how expensive that becomes. I had an idea in my head how long this would take and how much money I would have in it......I have doubled both! The guy that ran that shop was pretty embarrassed and did the right thing. In the end they did a nice job at their expense the second go around. Me and him are fairly close though, It could have been really bad if it were with someone I had no relationship with.

Header is done.

I thought the towel bar was there to protect the front.

They used to be called towel racks.

I guess this is also telling of my age...

Agree, but I can do without the bars on top of the rear bumper!

While tinkering with transmission isolators the other day, I noticed a little something that might be helpful that I do not remember seeing before. Often I stare at the transmission isolator as I’m about to put it on and wonder (again) which way around it goes. Which way is front? Well on a genuine Nissan mount, there is a little clue, if you know where to look Do you see it? Now I should go look at a diff isolator and see if the same little arrow is hidden under some dirt and oil I do not see this little clue on another one that I have that is an aftermarket item. Another reason to buy Nissan if you can afford it.

Anything this flimsy and transparent I would never use on my suspension or any part of the car. Wait where is that smiley facey thingy....

@siteunseen, Seems like I remember you saying you had jet hot headers, if that’s right have you been satisfied with them? I had them coat mine and they look great, just hoping they stay that way for a while anyway. PS, did you make it to Mata’s pizza yet?

Like meat suppliers, cows and pigs and other farting things like Us.

Hey she looks great, worth all the extra work to get what you want. Seeing that poor paint work for the first time must have been soul crushing, hope they cut you slack on the bill.

Driving is good for global warming: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/pandemic-lockdowns-warming-effect-1.5898234

It's a tsunami. Another orange 72. Seems mostly original even down to the coolant hoses, which is scary. Shiny on top, crusty underneath. I had rims like that way back on one of my first cars. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-161/

I like the bumper feelers. How else do you know when you're there? They don't look bad either.

Nope, I would think that it would be too bright and make it difficult to see.

Today's auction entertainment, if you like watching people spend money. The Black Pearl 78. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-datsun-280z-84/ Reserve not met at $26,000. That paint code means a lot, apparently. Otherwise it's just a crusty old 1978 280Z.

Had some wiring issues that took me a while to figure out. This car had dealer installed AC, I didn't put that back on though I may change my mind when summer rolls around and I'm sweating profusely all over my armor-all'd seats. Car seems to have plenty of power and it should handle AC without making it sluggish. I had some of that wiring for the AC jacked up and the whole thing with the blower motor wire changing colors was confusing. Somehow I had something connected that energized the radio housing! Wheel Cylinders started leaking, were working fine before but I guess they didn't like sitting on a shelf for a year. Ordered rebuild kits since this is a '71 and the replacements cost around $350.....PO must have already did the conversion to the later model cylinders cause that kit definitely wouldn't work. Ignition switch is wonkey now with the key. You have to persuade the key just right to turn in on and off and now the key will come out when the car is running. Not sure what that's about but I have a new switch ready to install. Of course after I had everything put back together and the new door cards on before I realized the locks wouldn't work and the windows weren't tracking right. If I do another one of these cars I should be able to cut my time in half after all the boneheaded things I have done on this one. Should have checked all of that before installing the door cards which aren't a breeze to install with the new clips. Locking problem ended up being simply the little plastic ends that are on the rods that connect to handle to the latch were ran out too far and wouldn't let the latch return enough so the locks could engage. Sounds easy but that was a head scratcher! Worst of all is the windows. Got the Passenger side working pretty well but the left side is giving me fits. Window tips down in the frame on its way up. I've used this site to search on the adjustment and I'm sure I have all the adjustment I can to solve that problem but its still off. There is some slop in the track that the white roller bushings slide in. Best I can figure that slop is giving the window room to dip. I didn't have the roller guides on this car and now have those to install in the next day or so but I think that is more of a fix for the window leaning towards the outside. The white roller bearings/bushings are of course out of stock.

This is where I stopped taking pictures and got to work. Most everything else was just putting all the parts back on. Still more problems to come but mostly just annoying old car stuff.

All in all I am pleased with the Headers and exhaust from ZStory. I think the problem with the pipe angles has been addressed and the car sounds great to me. This is my first Zcar and I have never driven or been in another but it sounds very nice inside the car and out. Has enough sound to make it tough but not enough to wizz the neighbors off! IMG_5627.MOVIMG_5648.MOVIMG_5649.MOV

At this point it was running but something still wasn't right. It wouldn't idle smooth and we couldn't get the carbs dialed in. Sprayed brake cleaner all around the exhaust manifold and the area where the carbs sealed with the Intake and as soon as the spray hit the engine it would smooth out and run good for a few seconds. We had pretty bad vacuum leaks at the headers and the carb to intake. I feared the headers weren't going to seat up correctly when I was installing them due to the angle of a couple of the pipes coming off the flange. I should have looked over the carb assembly too before installing it because straight from ZTherapy there was one gasket they had missing a bolt hole with. The carbs were easy, simply took all of that apart and fixed the gasket and used a little silicone to put it all back together. The headers were a bit more involved. Removed them and had to heat and reshape a couple of areas where we could get the proper studs in place and use the fat washers that bridge the gap and hold everything tight to the head. Just more work but after we got everything put back together the vacuum leaks were fixed and we were able to set the time and adjust the carbs. IMG_5625.MOV

Are you replacing the slave as well? a few weeks back I started having issues getting the proper feel on the clutch (and would grind if I tried to engage). I too did the lets bleed it, perhaps I goofed it last time I did a maintenance fluid replacement. I seemed better but a few weeks later started acting up. the Clutch would not disengage even when it was freshly blead until it was all the way to the floor. I bought the Nissan master and slave getting ready for the operation. about a week ago I noticed a drop of brake fluid on the bottom of the slave bellows. At that time I replaced just the slave (the master was newish but not OE from the PO). I was surprised by how much more throw the clutch fork was getting while bleeding, and now the clutch will be fully disengaged much earlier than ever before. FYI if you order a new hose from Nissan it does NOT come with a copper washer. There was one on the slave I replaced so I assumed it was supposed to be there. the threads look to be the kind that need the washer to seal.

Octo = 8 So you got a sectopus... = 6 😂

So I don't have any additional advice to make the install any easier, but I was thinking about your clutch problem a little more since we talked. I took a look at the exploded parts pics in the manual and I stick to the theory we discussed that there's something wrong with the valve that closes off the fluid reservoir when you push the pedal down. The valve is probably stuck open or the front seal is messed up. Either of those could occur maybe from leftover chips from the manufacturing process as ZH mentioned. In any event, good luck with the replacement and I hope your shoulder holds up! Try knocking on the outside of the master a couple times with a plastic screwdriver first... Maybe (longshot) if the front valve is just stuck, you might be able to knock it into temporary working position.

Like father ........like son. This car is going to blow the Z community away! Can’t wait to take the twin Safari Gold cars to an East Coast Z event.