Leaderboard

Time flies, and it's been a while since my last update. Fear not - much has been happening in the background! The shell is nearing the point where panels are being welded back on, and I'll post an update when that process is a little further down the line. Today I'll give a preliminary update on my efforts to memorialize some unique Works pieces. I've begun the process of scanning in some unique or hard-to-find parts. in some cases, this will be the only way I'll be able to rebuild the car "as original", because the original piece is so far gone that it's unusable. Such is the case of the bespoke Works exhaust header, which is a rusted metal hulk (picture 1). Thankfully, it retains almost all of its original shape, so recreating it will hopefully be a fairly straightforward process. My plan is to have the custom pieces 3D printed out of metal (such as the expansion chambers and collectors), have the flanges cut at a metal cutter, and then use relatively standard piping to recreate a near-exact look of the piece. The whole thing is likely to be made out of stainless, which I can then ceramic coat to provide a more matte period-looking finish. Stay tuned. In other cases, I'm scanning in some parts which have limited value for anyone who doesn't happen to have a 1970 MY Works car- the pieces in this category are fairly unique to the early cars, and my interest in scanning them are primarily to teach myself about the state of parts reproduction, and be able to refer to them should something go amiss, and I lose or damage the original piece. An example of this is the side jack points (picture 2). In still other cases, there are some pieces I am scanning that are actually stock Nissan Competition parts. The oil catch (picture 3) falls into this category. Although the function of this part is easily reproduced by other modern replacement parts, creating a few samples that look original might be of interest to the larger community, as even authentic competition oil catches are quite rare and expensive. Then there are the most difficult cases, free-hand creation of parts which just don't exist in the market. A good example of this are the spotlights. These Koito housings are just not obtainable- let alone trying to obtain the four required for each car- it's to the point where I openly wonder if they were ever sold to the general public at all, or perhaps just some special-order pieces supplied by a trusted vendor. Thanks to friends we all know, I have a fairly good notion of what they look like, and I've assembled a series of parts which I think I'll be able to fashion into a reasonably correct-looking "tribute" spotlight compete with "Koito" glass lens (picture 4), but without the special protective covers, which I don't think anyone has an example of. To make these tribute lights look reasonably accurate, they will require the 3-D printing of a special front bezel, which has a unique flat-face design, to replace the more conventional rounded bezels more typically seen on spotlights of the day.

Nope. Just traced out a paper template from an existing windshield, copied to the Lexan. Then I just carefully bent it to the contour of the frame, held with Cleco's and clamps, then pop-riveted it in place.

I have my fingers crossed 🤞 By the way... Here's a link if you ever need to replace your choke cables. I did mine several years ago and it made a big difference on how smoothly it operated. https://woodworkerb.com/home/datsun-240z-rebuild/repair-choke-cable/

Product arrival from the Netherlands yesterday, new seals and welting as anticipated. Next up is to watch the install video on their website. Wheeee!!! 😁

It's this little plastic switch with a small button that moves in and out in relation to your choke handle arm. All the way foward shouldn't have any contact with the button, therefore turning the light off. Make damn sure there's no contact with the handle and the little button when it's pushed foward (no choke) and you should be good.