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https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-240z-102/ I went over to @flynjim place to check out the Z up close. After looking the car over, I will probably place some bids on it but I am guessing it will go for higher than my cap. The car is pretty much what you look for in a restoration candidate as most of the parts are there and alterations are minor. Both the engine bay and undercarriage have a few minor mods, but nothing that is a show stopper. In the engine bay, the smog equipment has been removed or capped off and the the main steel fuel line has been modified/shortened to accomodate an electric fuel pump that was once in the engine bay. Other than that, it is fairly original. There are still a number of original hoses and wire clamps which is nice to see. Alternator has an internal voltage regulator, so no voltage regulator on the engine bay side wall. Remnants of wiring to the electric fuel pump are still there but would not be hard to delete. The undercarriage looks pretty untouched except for the exhaust system. Dirty, but not that difficult to clean (or powdercoat and re-plate). Looks like all the original parts and bolts are there, having never been removed. That is nice to see. Interior is not bad with most items that need to be replaced available on line. With new seat vinyl, radio and a Vintage Dashes Dash, the interior would be pretty nice. Most of the weather stripping is trashed, but the owner has the Precision replacement kit which would be useful for a majority of the seals. Bushings in most locations are original and would need to be replaced. These items are readily available on line. The body needs a bit of work. Both rear fender wells have a significant amount of bondo and should have been repaired using welded in patch panels, again, avaliable on line. It looks like the individual that did the body work used hand formed sheet metal and bondo to repair. The hood dents are in a difficult to access spot, but still pretty standard work for a body shop. Rear hatch panel ends are rusty as usual and needs to be replaced. Other than these areas, the rest of the body is pretty reasonable needing just minor rust repair work. The floor pan looks fairly clean and does not have any undercoating on it which gives you a nice view of its condition. Frame rails had some minor rust spots and a few small dents but were better than most that I have seen. Also, looks like the rear dark gray panel has never been removed as the original plastic rivets are there. Anyway, hope this is helpful. I will be watching the auction to see how everything goes.

There are several world-class research universities in my home city. In the new 2023 term I will ask about the possibility of testing. I doubt they would do it "for free", but I will approach them nonetheless.

I invite you to take another look at the photos I posted at the beginning of this thread. Does that look like "stone powder" to you? How about "wood powder"? It's almost like you're talking about a different substance completely. Mine has a clearly-visible structure of oriented strands and what might fairly be described as 'grain'. I'm pretty sure that if I showed it to anyone on the street in a blind tasting experiment they would say 'wood'. Why still this push-back on the nature of the majority component?

I drove my '72 to the local grocer's and picked up some supplies. I do today what I plan on doing the New Year. Hopefully I want have a heart attack.

Covered in post #32.

The oil leak is a pretty easy fix. It's the bodywork that concerns me more. Assuming I were to take possession, I would probably have every single part, nut, bolt, glass, dash, etc. removed from the car within a week. I just want all the parts to be there. Running is a plus though

I offered a path to knowledge for those that want to know what, exactly, the steering wheel is made of. Sorry that I placed it in your philosophical discussion thread about what "real wood" is. Anybody who has actually worked with wood, real wood directly from a tree, would not consider the wheel to be made of real wood. It is made of wood, but the final product is not real wood. Just like in the construction industry, beams made of real wood glued together are not a considered or called a wood beam. They are called laminated wood beams. A fine distinction but informative. It tells you what it is. Real wood has inherent flaws, like susceptibility to swelling or rot from moisture, or shrinkage and warping from losing moisture, like in the hot environment of a car. Your continuous arguing is ironic in that you seem to want to show and protect the superior qualities of the Z car yet you're arguing that the Z's "wood" steering wheel is made of an inferior material. If it was real wood most of the wheels today wood be warped and cracked. Like real real wood wheels. People that know real wood understand its flaws and know what the term means. https://www.timber-technologies.com/wood-products/laminated-beams/

With all due respect, I don't think I'll be priming any independent research with your 'guidance'. One would - hopefully - imagine that a scientific examination wouldn't need any parameters - let alone restrictions - set by a third party. I don't get your comments about "real wood". Are you still saying - after all this - that something other than "real wood" has been used here? What is the opposite of "real wood" anyway? Is "real wood" somehow too exotic a substance to have been used? I would err to the contrary. It makes complete sense to me. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I have to wonder what the definition of "real wood" means to you? What percentage of content in the finished product do you honestly think is wood/not wood? Simply going on what I have in front of me, I would happily stand by my assertion that the majority percentage of the material content being discussed here is organic wood. I don't see any point in it all otherwise. Indeed, what's behind the pushback? Do people actually *want* it to be 'plastic'?

No longer in San Diego. Wife and I moved to Boise in October of 2021 and absolutely love it. We have a beautiful home in the hills and about 4 times the garage space (1500 sq-ft)

Will be checking this one out tomorrow AM. It's about 20 minutes away from my place and looks like a nice restoration candidate.

That's hilarious! My sniffer.

See how this works @jalexquijano

See how we flock together? Like blackbirds.

Ironically enough, with a couple of coats of 'restoration' varnish/gloss coat on top of the wood composite of an original wheel, 'plastic' is pretty much what you *are* touching and feeling...

Recent activity on here reminded me of this song. Good song, don't know the lyrics though so if it's some goofy song well..."it's me, it's me, it's Ernest T".

Already covered in post #6 of this thread, I'd say. Izumi - and Matsuo san - mentioned that the wood was processed in 'fibre' (conjoined strands, oriented lengthways) form. It is not a solid piece of wood in the way that traditional, mostly hand-made wood rim steering wheels used to be. The only hint (and it is only a hint....) of any seam or join I can detect is on the inside edge, where I think there is a faint line. It may be some sort of mould tooling joint line, which would make sense. Just such a view is visible from the photos in the first post. The final photo homes in on an imprinted 'negative' of the welded joint between a spoke and the outer steel hoop. There's still 'grain' visible, but the impression of the welded joint is pushed into it. You can also clearly see the dark and smooth area where the wood material was pressed around the main part of the steel hoop. I would expect the steel spokes and hoop to conduct more heat than the wood and the resin, and we know that the mould tooling itself was hot. That seems to be one of the things that affects the surfaces most in contact with the metal. I already did this, with two results. First I burned a section with the outer (shiny, dark) layer in situ and got grey smoke and a distinctive smell. Then I chipped off some of the more obvious wood inner and burned that on its own. Much lighter smoke and a very typical burning wood smell. The burned black wood can be used to write and draw, like a piece of charcoal. The material is incredibly tough. It was hard to remove from the steel rim (although it was not adhered to it) and difficult to split the material into smaller pieces. It wants to split with its circumferential grain and it is very resistant to breaking across it. It makes me think of some sort of hardwood, like Indian Rosewood.

Okay a comma would've been best, ..."good and tight, (coma) all of the connections while your bent over." Picky, picky, picky. If your last name isn't Strunk or White back off. I'm from Alabama. I get some leeway. Furthermore sniffing my house plants makes me sneeze. You must smoke them skunks like turkey meat.