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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/16/2022 in Posts

  1. Thank you @xs10shl for starting this thread. It is something of a relief after the mild social media hubbub following its appearance at the ZONC 50th Anniversary meet. Seems a few people got a not-unpleasant surprise. Not many people knew the car still existed. My inbox got very busy! "Is it The Real Thing?" was a frequent question... Yes, it is very much The Real Thing. This is an important car. Important to us as S30-series Z enthusiasts, important to Nissan/Datsun history and important within the history of the rallying world and the International Championship Of Makes (predecessor to the World Rally Championship For Manufacturers, which began in 1973). Nissan built a surprising number of these cars, but very few survive. Off the top of my head I can only think of SIX genuine Works 240Z rally cars that are still known to exist as complete entities, along with TWO ex-Works rally bodyshells converted to circuit race cars. Three of the former are owned by Nissan themselves and two are here in the UK. And this car is the earliest known surviving Works 240Z rally car. It also has the bonus of being an example of the 'Lightweight' body type (incorporating many of the thinner-gauge sheetmetal pressings used on the 'PZR' Fairlady Z432-R) and the Works team built it with fibreglass hood, tailgate and doors to offset the weight of the extra equipment a top line rally car needed. Drilling down into the details you could fill a book. Make no mistake, these cars were very special indeed and almost every part is custom or modified in some way over stock. They were hand built by a relatively small team of specialists at Nissan's Oppama-based competition department in small batches, each batch dedicated to one main event: RAC Rally, Monte Carlo Rallye and East African Safari Rally being the main three and the Safari being Target Number One. So each batch was different and the specifications of the cars and parts used evolved in steps as upgrades whilst also needing to comply with new regulations. Because of this evolution it is dangerous to generalise and say "the Works rally cars had...". Probably better to point at a batch, or talk about the cars on a case-by-case basis. For me, that makes them all the more fascinating.
  2. After a long 4 months, the ZONC 50th Anniversary was upon us! The morning of June 5 brought unseasonably rainy weather, but there was still a great turnout of cars and Z car fans at the Blackhawk Museum. The drizzle was somehow fitting for the look of the rally Z, and provided a light touch of patina, especially when considering its past history of being driven in anger through snow and mud. Below are a few pictures from June 5. It was a wonderful experience to meet so many fellow Z enthusiasts, see so many great Datsuns, and discuss and share our love for our Z cars. We were only too happy with the great reception we received, and were pleased to be able to finally show-and-tell the car’s unique features with fellow rally fans. Thanks to Linda and the ZONC community for putting on a great show. Much more content to follow in the coming days, months, and (gulp) years!
  3. These were recently posted on FB. Seems relevant to the thread.
  4. I’m starting this restoration thread for enthusiasts of the early S30 Works rally cars, so they can follow along, and perhaps also provide comments and their own insights as to the very early days of the S30 Works rally program. I additionally hope that others can chime in with comments, questions, corrections, and feedback as we go along. A preamble: this is a thread about researching, documenting and restoring a genuine 1970 Works Rally car. I’ve owned it for many years, but the realities of real life were getting in the way of getting started on a proper restoration. Given the car's provenance, I knew it would be important to get the history and the details as right as I could, given what little is known publicly about the Works program, and the scarcity of remaining Works cars. So I’ve used this time to do as much research as I could on the car's history, collaborate with a few historians (most notably @HS30-H, who needs no introduction), source a few needed parts, and work to provide a more complete pre-restoration snapshot in it’s current unrestored condition, as well as provide a glimpse of what the restored car will resemble when it’s finished. In addition to documenting and research, I've been looking for an appropriate opportunity to show the car publicly under my stewardship for the first time. Given the car’s current condition, it would have to be trailered to a show, which limited my options to β€œSomewhere on the West Coast". The stars aligned when ZONC announced it’s 50th anniversary meet in Northern CA in February for June 5, 2022. With this as a target date, I set my sights on getting the car as presentable as I could manage, given the time I had available to me. Loose parts were screwed on, dirty pieces were dusted off, and period stickers were researched, ordered, and placed (note: this last step was insanely fun). In my experience, there’s nothing like having a show deadline to motivate owners into getting their cars finished! Enthusiasts, historians, well-wishers, even skeptics and haters (although hopefully not too many of the latter): I look forward sharing this journey with you, and to your comments! πŸ˜„
  5. If you're referring to the LH-switched handbrake lever, it only* identifies it as an LHD Works rally Z. Not necessary on RHD ones. *'only' doing a lot of heavy lifting in this context...
  6. progress so far.. removed the cam shaft, took it to a shop where they polished it. It had some pretty bad scoring on #10 and #9 cam base circle. for some reason the damage seemed limited to just the base and not the lobe itself. But since it had hyd pivots the base stays in contact so I did not want to run it and do more damage. the rockers themselves looked ok. The shop said it really should be re ground to clean it up, but agreed to try a polish. He said it came out better than he expected. I will take that as a partial win. The cam bearing surfaces looked good both on the camshaft and the towers. there was some burnt oil on one side of the tower bearing I cleaned it up with some carb cleaner. Again the engine looks to have had too few oil changes, hence the cleaning of parts as I go. the pivots are tedious but strangely satisfying. I to the tear down, drain the old oil, soak in gas, remove the internals, spray off with brake clean, allow to dry, then dunk in the gallon sized carb cleaner (the one with the basket inside), let it soak for about 30 min, comes out pretty clean, use some Q tips and simple green on it. If its still dirty it gets dunked again. I am not sure if you can damage anything by leaving it too long, prob should do some research on that. Anyway when clean I reassemble in a oil bath to keep air out, then clean out the head well of oil where they screw in, and tighten to about 62 ft lbs.
  7. May I? Here's an excerpt from an original contact sheet of photos taken by Neill Bruce at Old Woking Service Station here in England, prior to the 1971 RAC Rally. I purchased all Neill's Works rally-related negatives and he signed the copyright over to me. Rob Janssen brought the car over from Holland in November and had Old Woking Service Station prep it for the event. They added a thick rubber fuel tank shield to give some extra protection and also a pair of rudimentary silencers to the original Works twin exhaust in an effort to cut down on noise. Not for the general public or the event scrutineers, but for the occupants... Also visible in the photos: The rear garnish cut-arounds for the quick-change rear lamp units, the mudflaps, the 100 litre tank, the auxiliary reversing lamp, the Dutch registration/license plate and - most importantly of all from a provenance perspective - the factory 'Kanri'/maintenance code number '8D-424' on the bottom RH side of the rear valance.
  8. The silver vertical is only one part of the heated screen system. There are zig-zagging horizontal elements embedded in the glass (just like a modern heated 'screen) which cover at least 90% of the glass. They are very effective.
  9. No takers yet? Don't want to spoil the fun, but I'd be in my element (ahem...) if I tried to answer. πŸ˜‰
  10. HI Kats, I can't really answer your question, maybe just add a bit. The CSP went on as a design concept as a 2 by 2, by lengthing it, plus other changes. The CSP and the SP/SR are all based on the typical height of a Japanese person, as its their home market. So, was the sketch looking at how the CSP and SR look like for person room, so they could decide where they wanted to go ergonomics for the following concepts/ideas?
  11. I can save you the trouble of looking. There's nothing in the FIA 3023 fiche which covers the handbrake or console.
  12. 1 point
    Overhere the fuel IS over 10 dollar a gallon.. 2,40 euro per Liter! And that's Euro 95 with that $^!# in it (ethanol...) Happy that i don't need a car, i drive about a 1000 km a year.. (in differend z(x) cars!) That's what I DID !!! πŸ˜‰ Lots of things you can buy in bulk and i just did that too!
  13. OH !!! WE got many of those!! They ALL have plastic fingertops filled with auto sealer shooting tips! Don't your country have those to??
  14. I'll let other folks keep finding the Works pieces (apart from Alan, who can rattle them all off before anyone else gets a turn, LOL!) There are several more items in the dash picture which are not stock, but are common to most/all Works rally cars. Hint: there's one going right down the center of the picture, which can even be seen from a distance.
  15. They also made custom center consoles to go along with the driver side mounted handbrake. I'll have to look up the FIA homologation papers to see if they are listed. Also the choke lever is deleted as the triple sidedraft carbs didn't have chokes fitted.
  16. I would say the rally devices above the ash tray and mounted to the glove box.
  17. Oh, so you have a Volkswagen engine builder over there as well!
  18. I would not recommend Fastenal for small purchases of any kind. The couple of times I’ve tried I walked out after finding out $2 parts were $75…. They are definitely geared to industrial customers. BelMetric is a favorite of mine.
  19. 1 point
    The places you mentioned that offers free shipping on large orders enjoy the benefits of economy of scale. Companies like Summit and Jegs offers a vast product line that covers a variety of models and makes. As a result, they can negotiate shipping arrangements with logistic companies without adversely impacting their bottom line.
  20. I apologize Chris, I will reply for the question from Chris. Sorry for this slow . But today @Ian , I have forgotten that I have this unique thing , a plan view for the coupe based on SR311 . The memo said β€œ it never made happened due to lack of head clearance ( Note CSP roof line for comparison) β€œ And the body line were already looked like a S30 β€œ I don’t have any knowledge about Roadster and Silvia , and who did this study ? Mr.Matsuo and Mr. Yoshida started their design based on a roadster. Is this plan view related to them or whom any other else? Kats
  21. White Post Restorations – Fine Automobile Restorations & Brake Cylinder Solutions My buddy used their services to repair brakes on a 30's Packard.
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