AZ-240z

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

Ron, From what you describe, and the attached picture, it looks like the chrome ring and plug that is glued inside the wood knob is one molded piece. So, if I used a heat gun from the shift pattern end, after removing the shift pattern button, to soften the glue, I may destroy the plastic ring/plug part. All great information, but maybe some adhesive clean/remover may soften the glue if allow to soak from the button side. Thanks, Ron, and I'll post any successes once I decide a good approach. Dan

Arne, Although my shift pattern emblem is free of cracks, I had, also, thought how to approach this kind of repair. In the past, I have had good success repairing scratches and chips in the plastic tail light lens using clear paint as used in two stage finishes. It adheres to plastic well and can be buffed to a high gloss. My thinking is that, if the cracks could be enlarged with a fine exacto knife or similar tool, it would allow the clear paint to penetrate the crack which it may, or may not otherwise do. Then, successive coats could build up, and then be smoothed to an even finish. Just a thought Dan

Has anyone had any experience in restoring an early series 1 shift knob? Specifically, the knob is in excellent condition except for the chrome mounting ring at it's base where some chrome has pealed off. I would like to remove this chrome ring and have it re-chromed without damaging the wood part. It appears that the chrome ring is glued to the wood mounting hole with some sort of epoxy. I hate to just go in and try to drill out the epoxy without knowing exactly how it interfaces with the wood. Thanks for any thoughts. Dan

Chris, Not quite sure what you meant, but, when I purchased my 01/71 in March 1971, I had the AMCO front bumper guard installed as a dealer option. It was an AMCO aftermarket option, but was offer and installed by the dealer when the car was new. Dan

I looked up the Z Car Home Registry, and car hls3018124 was manufactured in 12/70, so I would guess that is the manuf. date of your car. This is Carl Beck's web site www.zhome.com. Look under zcar registers. Dan

Gary, ditto what duffman said. Glad to hear that you and the cars are doing well, but my car misses you terribly. Maybe you can hook us desert rats up with someone here who can help us keep our Zs going. Take care. Dan

I don't know where to start. Apparently Arne owns my car as his name is next to my vin, it is now red and not orange, and it was produced six month out of sequence. Dan

Take a look at www.vintageconnections.com Dan

For what it is worth, when Pierre did my car, he outsourced the paint work where they also used Dupont 918 Orange. This is, of course, no verification that same was used on the VZ program cars. Dan

spitz17' Could you share some information concerning the original grapefruit alternator shown in one of your attachments? On the housing, there should be a part number engraved and, would love to know this to confirm what the correct early 40 amp alternator is. From the information I have, the numbers should be: LT140-53 23100 A4800 I am also a little confused about correlating the early production date with what appears to be a series 2 appointed car. Thanks, and congrats on the nice find. Dan

John, Just my take on everything I have read, so far, in this thread. I would forget about the razor blade, (too much of a chance of gouging the paint) and just use fine paper on a very small hard rubber block. I would, initially, mast off the drip and sand the bulk of the run, then remove the masking tape and try to cut it down to match the rest of the painted surface. Then use something like a 3M polishing compound. I think you can achieve perfection without the trouble and headaches of trying to blend in touchup paint. I have done this many times and, when done, cannot find the runs I worked on. Dan