Careless

Sorry, been MIA here! Back with some textual updates: Dear Diary, Recently received and organized/bagged 1000+ plated fasteners and hardware. I was finding that fastener and hardware store bought washers, lock washers, and odds and ends were just really shitty and looked terribly ugly. I went shopping for a bunch of washers locally everywhere, and the ones they had were all cheaply produced. I even ordered a small quantity online from two sources, and the photos were not indicative of the item I received. Most have a knurled outside edge that looks really ugly, or the lock thickness was thinner or oddly round shaped as opposed to the distinct and well defined square stock shape of the Datsun ones. I know I'm just splitting hairs here, but even the way they sit under the bolt head was just making me hate using them if they were visible. There are also some Datsun lock washers that are distinctly fatter than the common ones, and those are uncommon and hard to find/search for- and you get weird looks asking for them at hardware stores- even if you bring a sample and tell them "No, I'm sure this isn't Imperial/Standard size of some sort. I know where it came from" The factory ones are easily identifiable in my eyes (and I'm legally blind in one eye!... so I've got a 50% chance of pointing it out if you need some help ). Also, the plating on almost every single one was flat clear zinc. No chromate to them. No yellow ones that looked decent. I decided to just dump the entire box of old washers, nuts, locks, and odds and ends into the tumbler after attempting to sort them. It was kind of an "ahhhhh f*ck it" moment where I figured I would sort them out later. So I had them all cleaned and all plated along with plenty of other brake/suspension hardware bits, and I received a bunch of parts from the dealer that will allow me to install the engine after I assemble them, and after I drill out a painted-over broken bolt for one of the brake line brackets on the firewall of the freshly painted chassis. BOOOOOOOO!!!! So far that makes 3 bolts that were just ... swept under the rug. Small issues, though. The rest of the work done on the body prior to me working on it is outstanding, so all I can hope for is that I don't chip or scratch the finish trying to extract this bolt. It's a visible one on the drivers side of the firewall just below the steering column exit hole. I'll be assembling some of the parts and complex items that have been long separated from their hardware, awaiting plating finishes in order to be put back together. Then I can reclaim some of my garage space in doing so, and then on to cleaning up interior pieces. Also got my engine-lift leveller, so I'll be carefully nestling the motor in some shipping blankets while I lift it off the engine stand to avoid scratches and disasters. Pics to follow!

ughhhhhhh so many finishes that i have no reference for. hubs... to plate, or not to plate? MSA reconditions them and plates them, but the ones I have here are painted black. Not sure if I should strip, bead blast, and plate. Will be clear zinc plating the rotors so they dont rust, but the hubs will probably never been seen.

To be fair, the body work that was done on the car was excellent, except for a couple of bolts that they did not extract before painting the chassis. The quality of the body work is exceptional, and was done by another restoration shop before I started to work on the vehicle. It may have to be body colour, but that is something that I don't think I could change, even if I wanted to. I thought about that too- but in the end, It's something that will just have to do for now!

The body of the NP valve is definitely not plated, as it wouldn't come out pretty when the aluminum is dipped in the muriatic acid prior to plating. i'm wondering about the the end-cap screws, sensor sleeve (with the copper terminal coming through) and mounting spacer. I was just going through all the stuff in the garage that I have to sort for plating this week. Man, this is gonna be a big run. I just took about 400 misc hardware items out of the tumbler and sorted them out. It was probably one of the bigger runs I've done in the tumbler but it was all flat washers, lock washers, and small nuts.

anyone know what the original plating colour on the brake NP valve is? I have two photos here, but one shows clear zinc, the other shows hints of yellow zinc on the threads. when I pulled the one apart, I could have sworn there was no yellow at all, so I was going to do it clear zinc. probably gonna go with clear zinc. really don't remember it being yellow. though i did see a fully rebuilt unit with yellow...

awesome, thanks! i figured that's how it was. I had it mounted like that, but realized I needed to have the rear engine slinger plated silver so i removed it for now.

yeah i took the original set apart today, and they were definitely seized. I'm not sure if they ever had any kind of yellow zinc on them either. but they could have been replaed at some point as well? I had to clamp the halves of the caliper to a table on both ends (where the bolt holes are) with the piston facing down. then injected some air into the bleeder fitting hole and it sounded like bomb went off. It was in there pretty good! I doubt it was ever changed. I'll inspect between the two halves to see if there is any yellowing.

yes, the image is linked from there. . I'm not concerned about the quality from them. i think it's going to take too long to get them back. I'm really just interested in finding out what the OEM finish is. I can do the plating locally- it's just JIS standard yellow zinc. just wondering if anyone knows what the 1970 finish actually was. I can't find pictures anywhere.

sooooo anyone know if the calipers were plated from factory?

I checked the calipers today at the shop, and it looks like those were sent in for cores. the ones I have are all assembled, and with the exception of the silver paint being sprayed on them- i think they're ok. below are what i think the calipers are supposed to look like. does anyone have insight to this?

earlier on this page i posted this photo with the fan clutch assembly. you can see that the front cover is spot welded onto the assembly and thus cannot be removed. the plating is looking a little washed/dull too. it looks out of place with the rest of the fresh parts. this evening and yesterday evening I developed my own method to spraying on a faux-plating look, and once it dries ill be posting photos of it. I have to wire wheel and buff couple of areas on the body of the clutch to remove overspray, but i have it resting beside a headlight housing that was plated and it looks identical. it's much better than the results i see on the Golden Cad system from eastwood, but this took a heck of a lot longer. It does have a little bit of a paint "sheen" to it, but i don't want to ruin what I produced using a flat clear that isn't compatible. But needless to say, I am proud of how well it came out, and i'll try and get some decent photos later. once it dries and the housing is cleaned i'll post a photo of it on this post with an update/edit.

That makes sense to me! I'll put the bumper back on the other car, but the bulb needs attention. I need to see if it's possible to drill/tap the rack.

It may not have been a factory installed part then (the steering bumper). but the oiling bulb would definitely look right in that engine bay. as for the shop, i removed the photo. my apologies. it's a privately owned place, so I shouldn't have posted that! those cars are all gone anyways. it's only me, a couple of trucks, and two datsuns now.

Hey doods. I was looking through some old photos of the car, and would like to know if this is how they parts are supposed to be when being put back on. Carb Coolant Bypass Tube (Over as pictured here, or under the manifold nut/washer?) brake calipers. I've seen them plated yellow zinc, but these ones are not. could have been replaced at some point. is it worth it to yellow zinc plate them? Also, no steering rack bumper/bracket clamp on the driver side. Is it normal for 1600ish VIN 240Z or should it be there? It could have been taken off. I have one to go on there if it should be there. Steering shaft and shaft assembly: Original shaft finish looks as though it was clear zinc. Not sure. And the rest of the hardware? Still trying to figure out a lot of the finishes for most of the stuff i have at the shop. Not too much documentation for the important stuff.

A full kit is available from MSA that includes everything you need to assemble the intake/exhaust properly, with the exception that the nuts are not black like OE ones (or newer OE ones for that matter, not sure what the old ones looked like). It's a small detail. It's reasonably priced, and contains 1 x Type No. 13 Medium Length stud, which I have replaced for Type No. 14 as it's only 1 or 2mm longer. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic01a/15-8082 So anyone looking to redo theirs to factory spec need not look any further!

Has anyone successfully managed to drill/tap the M10x1.0 hole on later the steering racks to an M12x1.0 hole to accept the little white plastic Grease Bulb? The old and new rack differ, and I believe it came equipped with the Grease Bulb. But the new rack won't accept it. Seems like a small thing but it's on the side of the engine bay that is pretty vacant, so I'd imagine it's easy to see or not see.

I'm really not sure! that's a decision I don't get to make, but I sure would like to hear it run for a bit!

who you is??? This is a job for a client that I am taking over and hopefully completing. I am doing some other car related stuff, so to speak- but nothing for myself at the moment.

Thanks for all the love and appreciation, people! Couldn't have put it together with the level of correctness without everyone's help. I know there are some things that need to be changed (like the block colour, according to chris. so I'm starting over!!! ). The valve cover bolts I used were just the closest ones next to me while I had RTV painted on the gasket. I just used them to hold it down so it cures flat. I will be checking back on the original photos of the vehicle and making sure I put the right ones there. Some other things will be double checked while I wait for stuff to come in. I'll be developing my own faux-plating style paint system today and tomorrow to touch up any items that are difficult to plate 100% since Datsun assembled them after the plating process or used a certain jig to hold them in a way that made the run-off stains less apparent. There are always areas where the plating colour might run, or there is "bleed out" of muriatic acid after the plating takes place (blind holes, etc). One item is the thermofan clutch for the radiator fan. The front is tack welded on after being plated and assembled. so I'll be painting that with something I found that is close, and then doing a "wash" over it with some more colours to give it the right look. Eastwood has a product that does it as well called Golden Cad System, but I'll try my own first!

Do you have any brands/product names for that type of stuff, Matthew? I won't be able to use it for this current build, but I'd like to experiment with various finishes in the future. This is for the heatshield, right? The thing with the heatshield final finish is that it's supposed to look like a velvet grey. Most paints aside from Cold Galvanizing do not give that finish, as it's 93% Zinc rich, so it's essentially zinc, paint base, and adhesion promoter. It has a very distinct look to it.

little bit more of a sneekitie peekitie with the carbs and manfold on. i painted the heatshield with high heat paint, and i found a half full can of cold galvanizing compound. I'm going to spray that on top of the high heat stuff and hope it doesn't come off when the engine is running. It's not that hard to remove and refinish anyways.

UPDATE: For what it's worth... Type No. 13 (LONGEST) is no longer available from Nissan. You can use a Type No. 14 (LONG). It seems as though the fuel rail, washer, lock washer, and engine slinger WILL fit and when torqued down to crush the gasket, it will have juuuuuuust a smidge of the end of the stud poking out. Usually when tightened, a stud has 1 to 2 threads poking out- in this case it is about 0.5-1 threads. I think that's ok and suitable for use in place of the Type No. 13 which is NLA.

I tried to find those a while back. I saw a set that was much too expensive so I wanted to buy the individuals locally. In hind-sight, if I had ordered them on amazon I would be able to use them right now. doh!!! The ones I COULD locate were the knurled cam-wheel type ones that require too much room to use most of the time. Thanks for reminding me of these ones, I'll have to put them on the tools list! For now, I only have 6 left- so I'll be ok.

Looking for photos with measurements for where the Intake Filter plenum box has the stickers situated. Anyone have photos of OE placement? I have repro stickers and would like to put them on soon. Once the thermostat is actually in there (just set it up for photo) and the carbs are on, I'm going to have the Smog Pump put back in, and the front bolt should be torqued tomorrow. Hoping to put the engine slingers on there too so I can put it in the car soon. I think I can get to every other part with the engine inside the car.

Won't be long now, the engine is almost complete! I know the oil filter is the wrong type. I have 4 of the japanese OE ones, and I need to replace the plug on the end of the alternator. The wires are actually uninsulated near where they go in, so i might have to take it back apart. bummer!!! just a couple small things left to do going to sharkhide the carbs tomorrow to make sure they're ready for the new Type No. 12 studs at the top of the head. some small bits still need plating, but they' be done soon. I don't want to install the exhaust manifold yet, because that would make the Air Gallery easy to scratch- it's in the way of where I have to put the studs, so I'll do that first, then install the exhaust manifold and carbs in one go. I'm shooting for Monday/Tuesday. I wire wheel'd every inch milimeter of the cylinder head with a tiny stainless brush to take the paint that was previously put on so that I can get it to look natural, and I then coated it with sharkhide. I don't think I'll be doing the overspray thing that the OE assembly showed. I know it's original style... but I think it would be a shame to do that since I've taken more care than Datsun did at the time to make sure everything is as good as I can do it without going extremely nuts. As far as I know, all the bolts are in the right place and the right size. The engine mount bolts are little odd though. I think I'm missing one of the same size, so I'll have to use a different one and hope that wherever it goes I can use a different one there too until I reach a threaded hole that I have an extra bolt for. hehe Taking extra care with every one of the RTV'd surfaces. Rather than put a bead on the surface and tighten it down with a gasket, I am painting both sides of the gasket with an extremely thin/smooth RTV coating that barely gets pushed out of the ends. It's very hard to find an area with more RTV than shown here on the valve cover cork gasket. I had another white felt looking gasket that was in the box too for the valve cover, but I used the cork one instead. Am I supposed to use both or something?