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Over the last few weeks, i did some small things and collected a lot of stuff again. First, I exchanged my US-spec front lower valance. Before: And After: Euro spec valance: In case you're wondering, what's the difference? The euro spec has the additional mounting holes / nuts to install the Euro spec front spoiler lip. Here you can see the two side-by-side: This allowed me to temporary test fit my wobbly, worn-out, cheaply-repaired Euro spec front spoiler lip: I still need to change the corner valances to euro spec ones, but also the lip needs a replacement, as this one is beyond repair. But at least I could see how it will look: People often say they're impressed with what I'm able to find for purchase. But this time I even surprised myself. You might remember the Eaglemoss Fairlady Z Kit that I bought a while ago and came with a bunch of magazines? The set has dedicated folders / binders to put the magazines into. I always had two missing, so some of the magazines were stored "loosely". Luckily, I was able to find two unused Folders for exactly that kit in Japan: So all the magazines are now nicely stored: And my book shelve / archive looks much better :-) I also bought a small lot of vintage Datsun (Switzerland) Stickers. Some of which I haven't got yet in my collection: Then I also got a bunch of Documents: First, the Datsun Sports 311 Introduction Bulletin from 1967. Theoretically, it has nothing to do with my 240Z project. But with this car the FS5C71A transmission was introduced The original Overdrive transmission, used in a similar (albeit slightly different) configuration in the early EU-spec 240Z. To find information about it is a bit tricky. So when I saw that this booklet has more details about it, which I haven't seen before. I had to get it: Speaking of transmissions, I also got the Japanese Nissan Transmission service manual from 1974: This one includes the later FS5C71B transmission and some general information about Nissan transmissions, which is not found in the 240Z specific documentation: And then i also got another issue of the "Nissan Star", Swiss customer magazine from 1990, which always has cool insights into Nissan from those days: More to come soon.

I was able to buy an OE molded hose at a local swap meet, so -- even though I bought a length of 9mm (ID) braided hose from Bel-Metric for the purpose -- I never got around to trying out the idea. No reason why it shouldn't work, although you might not be able to make the straight braided hose flex quite enough to match the radius of the bends molded into the OE hose. Unless you're trying to build a concours winner, though, I doubt whether anyone would notice. CORRECTION: I just went down to the workshop and pulled out the hose that I bought from Bel-Metric. It's quite flexible and can be easily bent to match the curves of the molded OE hose... and without any signs of the walls collapsing. It also fits nicely over the nipple of the check valve (the one that fits between the engine-side and mastervac-side hoses). The actual ID of the Bel-Metric hose is 9.4mm, so the best size of copper tubing to use as an insert would be 5/16" OD (7.9mm). 3/8" (9.5mm) tube would be too big and I don't think you'll be able to find 11/32" (8.7mm). In any case, the quality of the fit doesn't matter much because there's no fluid flow happening here. It's just a vacuum hose. The only thing that would cause a problem would be if the hose walls collapsed or got pinched off. It's worth pointing out that the range of aftermarket replacement parts for Series 1 Z's has expanded quite a bit since 2019. Many items that used to be unobtanium (such as this engine-side MasterVac hose) are now quite readily available. The hose in question lists at ~ $80.00 (originality doesn't come cheap). For reference, a 3-ft length of 9mm braided hose from Bel-Metric costs about $15. Add anywhere from $0 to $10 for the copper tubing.

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That's the same as mine, door guards and all. Your paint looks a lot better though as mine has never had a respray. Yours's is my good vs bad comparison.