AZ-240z

My 1/71 is insured by Hagarty here in Phoenix, no mileage restrictions, but just usage restrictions, ie., can't drive it to work, ( no worries as I am retired), or use it as one would a daily driver for shopping, etc, which would leave it in an untended situation. I can use it for personal pleasure, club events, and the like. To get this type of insurance, one must have a second car to use as a daily driver. Dan

Ron, I do find it curious that all of the Nissan documentation shows the orientation of the hose attachment facing to the front of the car, except the brochure picture mike attached to #24 above. I do agree that installing it as shown by Nissan manuals would be sufficient proof of correctness. Thanks for your thoughts and anyone else who would like to chime in. !!!!!!!!!!!Chris? My apologies to all if I have strayed too far in my inquiry from the original thread topic Dan.

Chris, Mike, Ron Thanks for the pics. All pictures that you both have so graciously provided to compensate for my lack of computer skills seems to result in a toss-up. It would appear that either orientation of the servo diaphram assy would be correct from this information, yes? Thanks, Dan

Kat, Great addition to your site which I reference often. I just have a question about something I noticed in one of the engine pictures in the new picture slides. This may bore most readers, but, originality is my motivation. Anyway, I apologize for not knowing how to cut, paste, etc., but, in one of the engine slides showing the Servo Diaphram and the Control Valve,which are mounted on the emissions control vaccum manifold, the servo diaphram is mounted with the vaccum hose pickup pointing toward the front of the car. In one of your blue car engine pictures, as well as on my car, which have both been restored, the little vaccum hose pickup is pointing to the rear of the car. Have we got the Assy-Servo Diaphrams on our cars mounted 180 degrees out? I know, "Get A Life, Dan". Just something I have to live with. Dan

Carl, Related to your questions, my recommendation to anyone attempting to do a proper restoration of there 240z would be to, first, get a copy of Wick Humble's book " How to Restore Your Datsun Z - Car. This book addresses many, many questions seen in these threads, including yours, and leads you through the process with great illustrations. Now, get down to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy and you won't be sorry, FWIW. Dan

Sorry Arne, but a 12/70 car, still a series 1, has the same, early, flip latch as all of the series 1 cars. My car, one of the very last series 1 cars built in 1/71, was delivered with the same seat belts as one made in 1969. Dan

I have a small piece of NOS door weatherstripping that I trimmed off when installing. It is NOS Nissan, and just the rubber, as the weatherstrip I installed was the early two piece with separate welting which holds the rubber weatherstrips to the pinch welds on the door frame. I may even have a piece of the welting that was trimmed off, also, but will need to check. The welting appears to be a plastic with embedded metal mesh and is, also, NOS early part. Let me know if this would help. Dan

Banzai Motorworks, www.zzxdatsun.com, has all of the vent hose grommets and boots for all of those hoses that pass throught the rear deck floor.

You could mask off the paint work and try using some medium grade steel wool. I wouldn't use anything caustic or wire brush wheels for fear of accidental damage to the paint. BE CAREFUL Dan

I believe the part number is 74986 - E4100 Cap - housing rear suspension strut Page 112 -4 on the club parts CD Dan

No apology necessary, at least for me, Mike. I knew what you meant, but, sometimes I feel a little self-conscious about being too much of a perfectionist, thus my little explanation for originality. And, yes, it would have been nice if Nissan could have a little more accurate remake. Nice pictures, Arne. This will help me in getting the finish close to original. Arne, is the color and wood graining pretty consistent around the entire knob? Mine has some darker grain issues in a couple of places. I think I will use some sanding sealer before staining to get a lighter, more consistent coloration on the whole finish. Dan

MikeW, Arne, ajmcforester, Thank you all for your replies. Good point about compatibility of repair material to specific plastic, aj. I will try to locate a local plastics fabricating company to see if they have a compatible glue or repair material. MikeW, the original knob appearance and finish is quite different, as Arne described, and originality is my goal. My car was restored by Pierre-Z in 2002, and I have been tweeking it ever since. I know that perfectly original is an unobtainable goal, but I'm an old guy, and remember the whole experience and enjoyment of buying, test driving, and even smelling my new car. Just trying to recapture some of that with the "original" word. I'll try to update this with progress of knob renewal

Ron Finally got around to using your technique with the heat gun and got the chromed plastic finisher off. The plastic did have a crack which enlarged when I tapped it out of the knob. Before I have the finisher replated, I need to find a material to repair the crack and am hoping someone might have some ideas of a good material to use. I was thinking of something like J B Weld to repair the crack. Any thoughts? Dan Original Owner hls30-20419

Why not just buy a fusible link from Banzai, www.zzxdatsun.com. Look under catalogue and wiring.

Keith, I've got an RD-150 on the original steel wheel. Bought it as an original spare but, when I found a Bridgestone Superspeed-20 for my spare, don't need the RD-150. It is used but in very nice condition if you need one for show or originality. Let me know if you would be interested. Dan

Key word, BRAIDED, but, just in case that was meant as a compliment, it certainly does appear that esprist has hit another home run. Dan

Esprist, I just got my set of radiator hoses today from MSA and they look terrific. Nice Job. I will have to agree with motorman7 about the length of the upper hose. It is about 1" longer than my NOS braided upper hose and the naked hose presently on my car. My NOS braided upper hose has a manufacture tag on it saying "SCHNEIDER 21501-E3000 japan automotive/products association". So, it was made in Japan but my be an aftermarket maker. I, too, will need to shorten it by about 1" so as not to force the bend when installing. Have you put a set on your car yet, and did you see the need to shorten the upper hose? Thanks, again, for a terrific project well done. Dan Edit: Sorry esprist, just noticed your post #27 above about the length of upper hose. At least now I won't be too paranoid when it comes to cutting on your nice repro hose.

I like Jim's idea of the clear film. My only concern would be how aggressive the adhesive is on the film. If it ever needed replacing, I would hate to think I might lift any paint, unless there is a product to help release the adhesive other than heat. The Sem Chip Guard is a neat idea, except it complicates any future repair or repaint needs, and I like simple. The film should be easy to get and looks professional, as many new car manufacturers use a similar product in chip prone areas. Dan

It just depends on the degree of originality you want to maintain in your car. In early cars, the natural fibre jute was not glued down anywhere in the car and carpet just lay on top, also not glued. Very early cars used velco on carpets to hold footwell carpet, and rear deck carpet in place. Later series 1 cars had brackets just in front of the seats which the carpet looped over through serge bound holes.

Yes. If you take a close look, there should be a little rounded notch on the lower edge of the tray right next to that front weld. "J" end of rod sits right in that notch.

I think that sandpaper is way too agressive, give the many irregular surfaces in the engine bay. The chances of going through the paint in high spots is too great. Why not just use rubbing compound/polishing compound?

Sounds to me like the most obvious adjustment should still take place at the door striker. You say that the doors closes solidly, but, are they hard to close, or do you feel like there is still room to move the strikers inboard a little? The strikers have quite a bit of latitude to move inboard which may help considerably in aligning the aft edges of the door panels with the quarter panels. If the weatherstrip is too compressed making to doors hard to close and latch, I found that a good application of something like armorall to the spongy weatherstrip eases that compression considerably allowing greater compression of the weatherstrip for easier door closure. Just some things that have worked for me. Dan

GregP, I have a '71 restored series 1 car and the diamond vinyl is on the rear strut towers and wheel wells glued directly to the metal, no padding except for some cardboard cutouts covering inside part of towers. Also vinyl covers the front of rear deck riser behind seats, again glued directly to the metal, no padding. The trans tunnel from the rear deck riser to the firewall is also covered with diamond vinyl and does have the original natural jute padding, both glued in. For suppliers of diamond vinyl kits, check www.datsunspirit.com, www.zzxdatsun.com, and www.classicdatsun.com. Hope this helps getting you started Dan

I did see that thread but this is an early knob so no need to reshape it. I was thinking that it might be helpful to thread a bolt onto the knob to help extract the plastic plug, though, or maybe thats what you intented? Thanks for all the helpful info and I'll let you know if I am successful. Dan

Thanks, Ron. Did you use the heat gun mainly on the threaded hole end, or the shift button end? I was able to gently coax the shift button off with no harm so the plug end is accessable for heat, also. I guess I'll try the heat gun to slowly soften the glue. It would be much easier to chrome, I think. Mike, Thanks for the pictures of your restoration. Very nice job, but all of your restoration projects turn out exceptionally great. I also have a place that used to do plastic re-chroming, and just hope he is still in business. Dan