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Hi Alan, Mr.Matsuo too. When I asked Matsuo-san “wood or plastic” 20 years ago, he explained how our wood steering wheel was made. Matsuo-san said “ real wood is pressed with liquid like plastic in a very strong force. Wood but same time plastic. That is what IZUMI doing”. Matsuo-san’s statement is for how, not for what we should call it. Matsuo-san was surprised and delighted, then said “ what a enthusiastic discussion (in the classiczcar.com), you guys are OTAKU, interesting!” When Matsuo-san talked about steering wheel, he always say” ウッド　ハンドル” (wood steering wheel). This may sounds incorrect for someone, but do we really need to say in a different way and advise Matsuo-san not to call it wood? Probably he would say “I didn’t even think about there is a point of view that it should not be called or regarded wood steering wheel. You guys are great! But I still call it wood steering wheel”… I feel very comfortable that Nissan and Izumi called it “wood”. I have never felt I am cheated. Alan’s anatomy, that is fascinating and the pictures speak themselves. This picture was taken 8th May 2003 in Mr.Matsuo’s studio. Matsuo-san told me and showed me a lot of interesting stuff to me. A Memorial Day for me. Kats

I also worked on the E brake some. I am running Maxima rear calipers and getting a functioning E brake can be a challenge. I cut some thin self adhesive foam to back the ebrake mechanism with to help seal that up Then I worked on the cable to caliper connection. I tried it with the factory brackets I just used a bolt to connect the cable to the caliper but there is not enough travel and the spring on the end of the Ebrake cable coil binds before the brake really locks down. Also there is no good way to lock the E brake cable into the thick bracket So I came up with a plan. Straighten the brackets Then I will drill and tap them to accept the original E brake brackets like this So Cody came over and straightened them for me. I need to weld them up a little bit. Dress them down and then figure out where I need to mount them. I may have to make another cable too. I may need a little more length than the factory cable has. If I make a new cable, I will weld some clevis pins on the ends to make the transition to the caliper easier. We'll see...

So I noticed a post on Zcar.com asking about finding a shop in the Atlanta area. The owner bought a non-running 280Z, and the previous owner said the car ran fine and suddenly died one day. The PO fired the parts cannon and replaced the fuel pump to no avail. Isn't it funny how the parts cannon doesn't hit the target very often? Fortunately for this 280Z, the new owner is willing to listen to diagnostics and test. First was to see if the car would fire. Yes, it ran on starting fluid. Next establish that the fuel pump runs. Yes, it has fuel pressure, but it's a little low. Constricting the return will build the pressure though. After that check the injectors. Negative on the noid light. At this point I wanted him to check for voltage at the injectors, but he started moving through the fuel injection Bible. Okay, he found some issues, but not the one that was keeping the car from starting. I pushed him again to check the EFI fusible link, and he texted me about finding a loose wire near the battery positive. He reconnected the fusible link and a couple of minutes later he sent me a text of a running L28. This year is off to a good start for me. I hope there is a lot of that to go around this year.

So I bought the firewall kit from ZCarDepot. It was ok but it required some trimming. The square openings didn't seem big enough for the heater mount bosses. The round hole for the choke cable was missing, a couple of the mounting tabs in the lower corners and a couple of other minor little things. The firewall pad really needs to go in after you have all the grommets back in the firewall and before anything else. On that note if you're going to use a spray on sound proofing like I did, Lizard Skin, then it would be best if you leave the perimeter of all the holes free of that. The extra thickness makes getting the grommets in the firewall much tougher. Also the bosses on the firewall, the accelerator pedal and a few other things need to be masked off too. I also moved the snaps over to the new mat. I am assuming these help hold the floor mats in place? I am also unsure if they were shiny originally or black? The nuts on the back are 7mm and you need a good JIS screwdriver for the other side. I buffed these out on the wheel. I think they are chrome over brass. Non metallic and started to look like I was buffing through the chrome.

Where, not when. What is touching what?

I've been restoring a 240z for over 4 years now, and in that time, I have been having fun collecting parts for it. It seems to me that there is a fun aspect of this car hobby that comes from finding and obtaining old Datsun parts. I suspect there are many of us here who are "hoarders", those who engage is this aspect of the hobby and who have collected either a large amount of Z parts, or perhaps, some amount of quite valuable Z parts? Or, both? So, who are you on the spectrum? Are you focused on collecting parts for just one car... or do you have a hoard to be envied in either its massive size, or high value? And please share some description or pictures of the discontinued/rare exceptional parts you have.

I'm pretty sure the brakes are supposed to rub when you hit the brakes.

I don't maintain much of a stock of Nissan parts, but there are many parts I keep in stock, either for my cars or to help other people with their cars. I did buy a bunch of combo switches about 10 years ago that I have used for parts and to help others keep their Zs lit up. Then again, I'm not striving to do a restoration like yours. I am more of a person who enjoys keeping them running.

Now that the Z is done, I really have no desire to hoard parts. As long as consumables remain available to keep it on the road, that's enough. This is my fifth and final 240Z I'll own. I'd much rather see my spare parts in circulation going towards other enthusiast's restorations than being stockpiled to be estate liquidated after I'm dead.

inside

Nice looking 72 240 here. Almost giving it away at $10K so far. https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club/my-garage/marketplace/auction/DzfUha63TM1NP6Xh42OSh

Oooff! That's no good! Be safe down range! C

The cowl drain that runs into the front fender "dogleg" then drains into this rocker area too. I added a drain spout from the inner footwell out to the fender area.

It's probably that love-hate relationship we have with rust.

Wow…..”Now that’s an RV Clark!”

If the goal was to answer the title question then the simplest answer is "neither". Nothing left to discuss. It was fun.

White ChriZmas here in Oregon for all Z big and small. Enjoy the season!

I've took advantage of the weak British pound and purchased some leather interior parts from the UK. I installed the door covers this past weekend and will do the center console next with the dash sometime this winter. The leather panel cover looked plain so I added some quilting to it using a sewing machine I barrowed from the library and 1/4 and 1/2 inch foam. The panel looks OK but I need to try and get some wrinkles out with some heat and leather conditioner. I also need to get the door latch straightened out and find a replacement plastic chrome piece for the top of the door pull. (Anyone have a used one they want to part with?)

A package arrived from France the other day.

The VAST majority of the OK decals were scraped off by the guys in the wash rack before the Z was delivered to the happy new owner. Therefore just about every time I sell one of my reproductions my customer asks me where, exactly, it should go on the right quarter window. Before I give my recommendation I stress that the guys on the assembly line weren't to exact about location. Over the more than 40 years Banzai has been in business I've been very lucky to have a large # of original owner cars go through my shop. A couple of days ago another landed in my shop. It's a blue on blue mid 71 build correct down to the hubcaps. It does have dealer installed a/c. This picture of the factory installed OK decal is an example of what I'm talking about regarding placement! I've also included a picture of our latest offering, 240 tire info decal. Unlike the decal offered by our would be competitor in B.C, ours has the correct font.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, clean & lube the wiper linkage, too. I just took mine apart and cleaned it today and I now have two speed wipers with the original motor - good as new! Dennis

Well, as some have heard through Facebook etc, my stroker motor developed rod knock on cylinder 4. This in turn ended up with me pulling the motor and taking it in to be assessed. Good news and Bad news: The good news is that the LD28 stroker crank is not severely damaged and can be saved. Bad news is that the block and the pistons are done. I have arranged for my builder Reg Sumaru, a racing and engine building legend in Canada, to build me another stroker. So for now, the plan is to use a spare F54 block from Reg and bore it out for the larger pistons and accommodate the stroker. Pistons are currently being sourced and then the reassembly will begin. I will be replacing the monster camshaft with something a little more subtle, just so I can make it able to idle and hold vacuum under 1300 RPM. This one is a great race cam but not the best street cam. Colt Cams in Vancouver will be grinding me a better cam based off of @Chickenman recommendations. New and refreshed will be the result, and I will be installing it into SASSZ as soon as I am home from deployment. Enjoy the pictures of the strokers destruction... (oh, and the cause seems to be historical oil starvation that finally caught up to the bearing by the time I installed the motor last year).