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Last weekend we worked in the shop some Here is a seam in the leather fender covers. I made this with contact adhesive and clamps. I picked the padding out in the seam area so it was just leather to leather. We took Lily down off the cubes. A lot less sketchy than the way I put her up there. Still had to have a 6x6 on the jack saddle at this point Rolled her outside and it promptly rained... My windshield leaks and I will add some sealant under the weatherstripping soon. I also ordered tool covers for behind the seats from Zcardepot. They don't have the hinges. So they may not work for me... Since I don't have the old covers

I've been very lucky on many fronts in my life. My luck started with being born in this country and continued through being born into my family. However, for this screed I'll stick to the Z world. I started getting paid, $125.00/week, to be a mechanic at a dealer in 1970, talk about luck. I very quickly realized that paying close attention/noticing things were important aspects to becoming successful at my craft. When I opened my now closed shop in 1980 a trickle of unmodified original owner Z cars started to flow through, talk about luck. It didn't take me long to understand the importance of documenting as many details as possible. The results of my appreciation are a large stack of photos of the many fine details of 240/260/280 construction. I also have many sloppy pages of notes describing the fine points of construction and differences between model years. My goodness, I even have several pages of notes describing, in detail, the fasteners used to secure a 240 timing chain cover for production date X. Every time a serious customer approached me for a restoration I would ask, in detail, exactly what he/she wanted the finished product to look like. Before they had a chance to answer I would describe what an original Z looked like from the factory and I'd often show them a few pictures from my collection. The answer was always not just no but HELL NO! They wanted pretty. What does pretty mean? Modern, often 2 stage, paint that has been wet sanded and buffed to near perfection. Powder coated suspension and all the other bits and pieces of modern restoration required to satisfy a customer. To see 2 of my last 3 Z car restorations visit my site and click on Customer Profiles. When a 240 left the factory there was orange peel in the paint in random places. Have to mention that this particular problem improved markedly in about 1975 or so. However, there was often a serious problem with the clear coat discoloring when 2 stage paint was used starting about the same time. The paint on the bottom was applied very unevenly and often contained dirt in random places. Most of the grommets that were glued in place had glue running down from the grommet. The suspension pieces were painted a sloppy and uneven satin black. There was overspray on some of the exterior engine components that were in proximity to the engine block. The list goes on from there. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not criticizing Datsun, that was the way cars were often manufactured back in the Olden Days. I can all but guarantee that if a real factory-like restored Z showed up at a convention a trophy would not be forth coming. Now to address the hyperbole that has crept into the world of Z restoration. "Frame -off Restoration", "Rotisserie Restoration", "Factory Restoration", etc., etc., etc. There are some new ones now like "Magnificent" and so forth. The situation is often made worse with fancy photography and lighting. This is what happens when marketing geniuses get involved. Remember the Z Store Program? H@#$, now I'm often confused and don't understand what they're talking about. ALWAYS look at the car you're considering or send someone like me to have a look before making that offer. I understand that I've only lightly covered this subject but there you have it for better or worse.

I should have a lot more updates and pics here as I have finished my summer home projects. Also, I am hoping the body and paint will be finished in the next month or two, so we should see some good progress. I appreciate all of the input here. I am always open to advice and the knowledge of those that have seen and worked on these cars in the past. Personally, I will listen to the panel of experts and then move forward with what seems to be the best direction. Also, as most of you know, I own a pretty much un-restored early 240Z that I grew up with since I was 9 years old (in the family for 55 years) , so I have a nice reference vehicle. That being said, I find it interesting that there seems to be a tendency to hold the ZCON judging in high regard. Personally, I do not have a very high regard for ZCON judges. In reality, many of them have never owned an original Z car or examined one closely. As a result, they make a number of mistakes in their judging, none of which can be contested because you do not receive the judging sheets until several months after the show. One of these days I will start a thread here titled "ZCON Judging Errors" and see who weighs in, in addition to the items I would list. A few examples are the deductions on my early Z for the weld lines on my oil pan. (FYI 0042 has the same weld lines so they will probably mark this off too). Another good example is the Franklin mint car losing points for having the 'Silver zinc' coil holder instead of 'Yellow zinc' holder. I have heard of judges insisting the original brake lines were stainless steel, the rear diff cover was bare aluminum and fuel hoses were not the 'cloth wrap' style. I am sure that I am just hitting a very small portion of the errors as I am only familiar with the cars that I have been involved with and what I can remember off the top of my head. Anyway, just had to rant a bit about the judging issue. Don't even get me started on the non-Z show judging. Regarding the Exhaust manifold finish, that is an interesting discussion. For most of my restorations, I have always consulted Les Cannady at Classic Datsun Motorsports and never questioned his advice (He was just 10 miles down the road) . If I am not mistaken, I think only his shop and Pierre Z were the only shops approved to build the Restoration Z's. Because of that, I have always used the gray powdercoat that he recommended as the default finish. However, given the current discussion and comments, sounds like there are several other options out there that might be more true to form. After looking at a number of different options and comments regarding the color, I am happy with the graphite finish option. Two of the items that lead me in that direction are pics from the Nissan engine service manual and pics of my own motor disassembly that are pictured below. Both pics show a dark cast iron finish, not a light gray finish. So, I am sticking with the graphite and will probably go with that in the future as well. I installed the exhaust manifold and intake assembly to the engine. Pics below. (Also looking for a correct rear engine hoist bracket) I finished up the steering column, and replaced the connector on the turn signal assembly. The main shaft was sanded and re-painted and all the electronics cleaned up. I re-finished the steering wheel that now looks much better, but not sure I will stick with this. The wood finish should be more redish. Problem is that the wood veneer is very thin and I am not sure how much was removed in the restoration attempt from the previous owner. Previously, the nubs on the opposite side were sanded through unfortunately. I will let it be for now, but may revisit it. The center metal portion looks good though. I cleaned up the brake and cluth pedal box. Ready for install. I have no idea what is written on that silver can below.

As I've been saying for some time now; the upper middle class collector car market has been depressed for at least the past 10 months. Yes, should have taken the 90K.

Too many projects are IMG_2691.movIMG_2691.movdelaying this RHD hs30… Heading to the wetblasting area to determine if anything is left to work with……

I had her up on jack stands and stood about a 12" piece of 6x6 up on the jack and lifted her up. But the block and jack wanted to slide out once she was up high enough. I had to hold the jack in place while someone put the cubes under the tires

I stole this cassette from my step-a s s hole when I was a kid. When cassettes where still off white colored, before the clear ones. I listened to it so much I still know every word to all the songs but this was my favorite.

I had their greatest hits album when I was a kid. In retro my parents were probably concerned.

That rubber glue may be the least of your problems! I've done a Z dash pad restoration, starting with something that had only 25% of the deterioration that yours has. Even at that, it was a time-consuming job. Not only does the pad surface need to be levelled (not easy to get right, given the multiple contours), it's also necessary to 'V' and then feather-edge all of the cracks so that the filler won't crack along the seams. I'll bet it would take you 20 man-hours of effort (or more) to level, edge-treat, fill, sand, and paint a dash pad like yours to a decent level of final finish. But before you even get started down that road, you'll need to convince yourself that what's left of your original pad has enough structural integrity to prevent the pieces from moving around independently when the cabin temperature goes up or down. With its many full-depth cracks, I don't think I would trust your badly broken-up dash pad to meet that requirement. As a litmus test, it would be interesting to know whether a professional dash restorer like Just Dashes would accept your dash for restoration. Maybe you should send a picture and ask them. IMO, your best path forward will be to either: 1) buy a used dash that offers a better starting point for a DIY restoration (as Siteunseen suggests), or; 2) buy one of the replacement dash pads that have recently become available. In the latter case, you unbolt the old pad from the underlying steel structure (known as the 'armature') and then bolt on the replacement pad. There are a couple of threads on this site that discuss these replacement pads. As a third, lowest-cost/effort alternative, you could just replace your old plastic dash cap with a new one.

A few dollars a month will eliminate the ads. Well worth it IMO.

Update. It's been several months when I posted questions about a soft feeling brake pedal in my 79 zx. I checked the vacuun check valve and found it to be defective. I didn't even use my vacuum test equipment but instead just removed it and blew and sucked through it and knew it wasn't holding vacuum. I replaced it and now have very good, stock brakes again.

When I spoke with Sean @ ZStory, he recommended the Street-sport or Race-sport for my build. I'm leaning towards the street-sport, but as my build increases in cost, I may just re-use the MSA header I have for now and get the ZStory later, especially with the tariffs and all...

Sold for $101K on BAT in 2019... Adjusted for inflation, to break even it needed to sell for $129K in todays money. Nonetheless in todays market - $90K was a pretty strong offer.

To get my plug out I used a small pipe wrench and a bottle jack to loosen mine. Situated the wrench so I could get the jack under the handle then pumped the jack a few times and it loosened up.

Yes you're correct. However, will a customer accept an exhaust manifold that will start to show corrosion almost the minute he leaves my shop after spending X amount of $ for a Y operation? Asking rhetorically as the answer is obvious. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE was very happy with the Jet-Hot cast look including, but not limited to, the Franklin Mint car.

Yes, nice shade of yellow. Looks a lot like mine. This is a Chevrolet color...'Rally Yellow'

Cody continues to make progress on his car. Thanks to SteveJ for helping us sort the engine bay harness @SteveJ He has the harness in and has started sorting out the electrical issues. There are quite a few We think we have a solution for the throttle control. It's loosely based on Ken Firch's cable system. His bracket won't work but we are working on making a heat shiel that will also hold a throttle cable and hooks for the throttle return screws. It will mount to the two lower studs on the SU's. The smaller SU's only have two studs and they are set diagonally. We are planning on using the the mounts at the balance tube to add a different 10mm OD tube with a donor part from a 240z. Which will supply a ball end for the cable to connect to I worked on a template for the heat shield today. I don't have a good way to brake the sheet metal so we will need to sort that out. We are leaning towards using 1mm stainless sheet...

This one’s got four wheels!

dzcg might be having seller's regret. 🤢 Everyone knows about ad blockers. They work. Good luck.

FWIW.. subscribing to a VPN like Surfshark or Nord, etc... eliminates at least 90% of the ads.

@Yarb

Yep. Been down all those paths and I STILL don't know (for sure) what size they actually are. I see what you used, but I don't think you used what was intended to go in those holes. I've seen more references to BSPT than anything else, so I suspect that is what it is. There are MANY holes that can be plugged on these cars; holes in the block, holes in the exhaust manifold, holes in the thermo housing, etc. Looks like some may be just metric threads (which are a parallel thread), some are BSPT (I'm presuming, will confirm) and some others may be BSPP. I also googled, "240z balance tube plugs" as was suggested in the thread you linked to, and many of the resources provided by Google were links to places where one could purchase said plugs, but they were not identified as to which size or threadform they were, in fact, a couple of the sellers provided two different plugs with two different threadforms and said both, "will work". Call me picky, but I prefer to use the proper fitting when a threaded hole is provided.

I'm installing new KYB's I like the idea of a light coating of lube on the inner walls.

A little doesn’t hurt to prevent rust in the tube.

I mailed the balancer to the guys in Reading this AM. $300. Thanks for the tip🙋‍♂️

They have a 15mm square socket available on Amazon. Works like a champ with a 1/2” pull bar. I chose the Harfington model. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=15mm+socket

Fifty-year-old rubber exposed to heat, cold, vibration and air pollution. Aftermarket replacements are available. Your chances of finding a NOS unit are low. Your chances of finding a good-condition used unit are better, but will require you to rely on the quality of the seller's photos. There are a couple of businesses (Damper Doctor, Winslow Mfg) that will re-core your old unit.

@cgsheen1 I was going to post in another thread but didn't want to thread jack, I'm hopeful to make it to Zcon in your area next year and check out your cars

The difference is modern bumpers are TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin) and a urethane bumper is different. I routinely plastic weld TPO bumpers for my cars I repair but Urethane bumpers can't be plastic welded. At least not in the traditional meaning. TPO is also stiff and takes paint better because it's more solid and less rubber like than urethane. Some TPO bumpers for 240z's would be very interesting

Not a "snark" - just a sigh from a bona fide Turbo Swap and EFI Enthusiast... Always have been and never apologetic. And although I sigh, I never fault anyone else's decisions concerning their own vehicles. A comment is just a comment, everyone has their own opinion, and some have greater experience in a certain sphere than others.

Zzzzzzzzzz…..

You might also consider using vinyl paint. I used it to re-colour my Z's interior (from black to butterscotch). Pix below should give you an idea of the flexibility and adhesion characteristics (I've seen zero evidence of paint lifting over the ten years since I originally did the application). It sprays on easily using an HVLP gun and doesn't require much in the way of surface prep. It took me three coats to achieve full coverage over the black soft and hard trim pieces. We had a supplier in the Toronto area (Parasol) who would custom mix colors from a customer-supplied paint chip (my results we spot-on, based on a small piece that I snipped from the hem of my new butterscotch seat covers). I expect you'll be able to find a comparable supplier somewhere in the U.S. south-east.

I used this on my front air damage prior to paint. Can't remember who recommended it, but seems to work.

Hi, I don’t know much about originals of our cars, but if this helps for your reference that would be nice. The L20A is for a Skyline GT but it can be a useful reference. The Kaku -U crew inspecting the cylinder head that was a screen shot from the video of 1969 US & CANADA test drive. Kats

Quite true, thanks.

Turbo, Julio. You can do just as well with that P90 head and flat tops on that F54 block. I know you've read this before but I'm gonna post it anyway. https://datsunzgarage.us/engine/

I assumed he was mourning the loss of another turbo block to N/A..............

Yes, the plan is to paint the airdam too. Hopefully it will stick...

Yes. I've had the turbo motor sitting here for a decade, and the original plan was to go turbo, but I changed my mind and want to keep it N/A and make it what I might have done back in the day to hop it up for a, "somewhat period-correct street rod" that is clean and simple under the hood, with not a lot of spaghetti or that immediately looks like it has been modded. Of course, I want to keep it easily-returnable to its stock configuration and will be keeping the original, numbers-matching L24 and the rest of the original bits. My plan is to bore to 89mm add flat-top pistons and new rods, L-Spec Datsun-worked head (shaved, ported, new springs, SS valves, valve guides, stage 2 or 3 cam and cam tower shims). I just purchased the A123 electronic ignition distributor, Champion radiator with fans and will be doing the GM alternator conversion, light flywheel, performance damper, turbo oil pump and keeping the dual SU's. More than I bargained for, but I think I will end up with a really nice driver that will satisfy my butt dyno!

I've seen good results achieved by hammering the metal over the long edge of a length of 6" structural I-beam. Use Vise-Grips to clamp the metal to the I-beam. Then hammer from one end to the other, making 3 to 4 passes to get from flat to fully bent.

Wow, that dash has got some issues! I guess the answer depends on your budget and focus. You could always find another one and go that route, or you can send it to a restoration shop like Just Dashes. However, with the screws and missing foam, you are probably better off finding a better dash to use as a base.

Shame you had to get rid of the 240z but glad to see the 280zx getting some more attention. I just ordered some parts from the US and will try to fix my 280z over the coming winter. I will definitely come visit you this spring with my 280z!

I have used the Zcardepot style pans in the past. It is a lot of work getting them to mate up well to the tunnel. If it were me, I would get the KF pans. I think they are better pans and will give a better finished product. You may not care today about an OEM look today but you might in ten years...

My 3.12L is finally going in!

I just wanted to chime in, since I'm also a member of S30 World, a later edition, so not in the group photo with Takeo Miyazaki, which took place when the museum opened. However I am thrilled to have been asked to join in and represent the Australian part of the team, as mentioned Chris' goal is to ensure we have a global perspective on these cars and I've been the local train spotter in the Australian market for many years now, having got into my first S30Z back in the late 90s and joined this website in year 2000 I believe? I am also the owner of a couple of low vin # Australian delivered cars - which have their own unique differences. Even though I've been passionate about the S30Z for 25+ years, I still have things to learn, especially when it comes to cars delivered to markets outside Australia. I think we are all still learning, which is why the S30 world project and website is important, to help educate, discover and document. I'm also thrilled that through the restoration work Chris has spearheaded new parts have come to market to provide quality OEM-like reproduction bits and pieces (eg: fuel tanks and door seals just to name a couple). I was fortunate enough to see the quality of work first hand back in 2017, a local Australian had his car in display at the Nissan Datsun Nationals in Sydney. (attached photos). I've seen many 'restored' cars over the years and this was indeed top notch! Obviously not a 'factory style' restoration, but a superb finish none the less. The quality of finish achieved on cars completed since then has only improved! On a personal level, I feel the S30Z series have been greatly under appreciated for many years, however it would appear that more and more are starting to appreciate these cars these days and I'm very happy to see more cars getting quality restoration work performed at this level.

Nov 1971 Mid-1972

I'd say more like 1971, if not even early 1972. Most of those drivers were assembled for a similar shoot with the photos published in 'Auto Sport Young' (a special edition of Auto Sport magazine) in early March 1971, and the difference in hairstyle/length is noticeable. They were pretty much all following a trend for longer hair at the time and I reckon your photo was taken later than that shoot.

Thanks again Alan! I am guessing it was taken near the end of the first S30 racing season in Q4 of 1970. Would you have any insight? Here is the 2nd Revision. I can add more annotations or make corrections in the future if needed.

After a discussion arising from a recent thread, I took a closer look into the question of 'The first Z pace car'. That is to say, the first S30-series Z car to be used for 'Pace Car' duties in a race event worldwide. I have been encouraged to post this information here on the site for all to see, so here goes: The first instance of use that I can back up with solid documentary evidence, data and pictures is at the 'Race De Nippon' event - held on 12th April 1970 at FISCO ( Fuji Speedway ) in Japan. This 6-hour race included 'TS-II', 'TS-III' and 'GTS' classes, with two SCCN ( Nissan's works team ) Fairlady Z432-R cars entered in the GTS class. Car no.1 was crewed by aces Hasemi and Kitano, and car no.2 was crewed by Teranishi and Yokoyama. The main challenge to the two Z cars for overall victory was to come from a gaggle of Skyline GT-Rs in the TS-III class, a brace of very hot Mazda rotary coupes also in TS-III and a couple of quick Isuzu Bellett GT-Rs running in TS-II. Several Fairlady SRs were running head-to-head with the 432-Rs in the GTS class, and as these were pretty much at the end of their development period they would have been well-sorted and still fairly quick. The no.1 432-R of Hasemi and Kitano took the overall and GTS class class win - covering 959km over the 6 hours, with Skyline GT-Rs following home in second and third positions. One of the Mazdas came in fourth. This was the worldwide first ever race win for the S30-series Z car....... A pace car was deployed more than once during the race, and it is this car that is the subject of this thread. It was a Fairlady Z432, and was actually one of the cars that was part of the Nissan Racing School fleet - which was based at FISCO. For this event, JAF ( the Japanese Automobile Federation ) 'borrowed' the car from the Nissan Racing School, and used SCCN race team driver Yasunori Toshimori as the Pace Car driver - accompanied by a JAF official in contact with the Race Controller by radio. As one of the cars in the Nissan Racing School fleet, the 432 was prepared for fast circuit use - with many of Nissan's own 'Sports Option' list and Works parts fitted to it. It would certainly have been able to keep up a reasonable speed on the circuit, especially with Toshimori driving. Below are pics of the car in question. First pic is of the car being used in the race after an incident. Second is the same car in its Nissan Racing School livery. Third is a nice illustration of the same car in some Nissan Racing School publicity, and the fourth pic is a portrait photo of SCCN team driver Yasunori Fujimori, who drove the Pace Car illustrated. I hope this is of interest to some site members. Alan T.

Hi Gav, In that particular race the 432s were up against the PGC10 4-door GT-Rs ( this was before the debut of the 'K' 2-door ). The weight issue must have helped, but there were races where the Z was beaten by the GT-R overall even though they were racing in different classes. Incidentally - the 4-door GT-R was lighter than the 2-door, which is interesting isn't it? Bambikiller240 & Alfadog, I doubt that this particular car survived its Nissan Racing School career, and I have certainly never heard tell of such a 432 surviving. The only Nissan Racing School Z car to survive as far as I know is the LY-engined 240ZR that NISMO restored a few years back - which is a much later car. Unfortunately it was probably the case that the cars were worked to death and then split for spares or scrapped within just a few years. ChrisA, The emblem that you see on the centre of the grille is the 'SCCN' ( Sports Car Club of Nissan ) steering wheel / leaves / tricolour shield emblem. SCCN was in effect the organisation that the Works team drivers belonged to ( and were employed by ) and which entered the Works cars in the races. The Nissan Racing School was also part of the SCCN organisation, along with the NDC ( Nissan Drivers Club ). The Katakana script around the rim of the steering wheel on their emblem reads "Nissan Sportscar Club" - which does not actually match up with the SCCN acronym...... I am attaching a photo of an SCCN sticker below: MikeW, Don't forget that this particular race was not actually the race debut of the Works cars. You might be more impressed to hear that the race debut of the Z car was on 18th January 1970 - in the "All Japan Suzuka 300km" race. SCCN works driver Moto Kitano was leading the race in his 432R until he was hit broadside by another car - destroying the first Works 432R race car in its first-ever event. 1GENZED, The Nissan Racing School was set up initially to recruit and train drivers to become members of Nissan's race teams. They mainly operated out of Fuji Speedway and Tsukuba Circuit, and the teachers themselves were Works drivers and SCCN team members. This was purely a race driving school, and was not set up to sell Nissan products, or to instruct customers who had bought Nissan cars in how to drive them - so the comparison with Bob Bondurant's school would be a good one. They used many different types of car, ranging from Fairlady roadsters, Sunny Coupes, Skyline GT-Rs, Cedric and Gloria stock cars right up to single seaters. The school was still running until recently - so they would have used many many cars over the years. See the photo below of an early Nissan Racing School 'starter pack' of text book, FISCO course map and Nissan Racing School sticker. Alan T.