motorman7

I cleaned up the front wheel wells and installed some of the suspension items this weekend. First I scrubbed the front wheel wells with soap and water and then I cleaned them off with paint thinner. After that, I taped up the holes and painted the entire area with POR-15 to seal everything. After that dried, I installed the front cross-member, the left and right front suspension arms along with the anti-sway bar and T/C rods. Everything went in with the new Energy suspension parts which fit nicely. Pics below

Very Nice 1973 here on Craigslist in San Diego. Still has the original flat tops and seat vinyl amidst other parts. Pricey, but impressive. Put some original steel rims on that with hubcaps and it's a pretty sweet ride. https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/d/1973-datsun-240zoriginal/6269971669.html

I cleaned up the area where the front suspension support attaches to. After that, I hit it with the touch-up paint. I got the front suspension support and the other front suspension components back from the powdercoater. The parts look great. Can't wait to install these components along with the new Energy suspension rubber. pics below

That is a beautiful area you are in. I have been through Roseburg a number of times on my trips north up the 5 and I love it. I also notice that a number or my 2 X 4's from Home Depot are from Roseburg. Again, great area!

Thanks again for the compliments. Fortunately, I really love working on the Z's. It is pretty much my hobby and passion. Also, no need for more smog stuff, I have all I need. I mentioned that I look for smog components on a Z only because if it is on the car, most likely the owner(s) have not modified the car too much. If some one removes the smog equipment, most likely they have done a number of other mods as well. I use it mostly as an indicator, not that I am a big smog equipment fan. I like it on my original Z's because it was the standard equipment, but not on my modified.

It's only because I'm an engineer and very anal retentive, it's a curse. And, frame rails are pretty much the first thing I look at when checking out a Z. Smog equipment would be the second item. Usually if I see both of those in good shape, then I am interested. That being said: I was checking over the new chromed bumpers and noticed a very light surface rust on the inside (which of course really bugged me!) So I passivated the rust using phosphoric acid (rust turns dark when rinsed with phosphoric acid: converts iron oxide,rust, to ferric phosphate, second pic) , wiped clean and then painted with Silver POR-20. That should remedy the rust. It is pretty much a non-visible area so I just applied the paint to prevent the rust. I am told that most chrome shops recommend that the inside of the bumpers be painted so this should work well.

Thanks.....Also, thanks for the source here. I just ordered some for the rails. I looked for spray gun attachments but the tips all seemed to be 1/2" diameter or more. This has a nice small tube for internal access.

I worked on the drivers side frame rail today. It had a few significant dents, so I used a slide hammer to pull the dents out and then some filler to clean them up. I will use POR-15 on this area and then spray the undercoating on top of that. Pics below are the before pic and the straightened frame rail. Still need to POR-15 and undercoat these.

Picked up the clock from the clock repair guy. He really does a great job. I gave him the broken clock over two weeks ago. He installed a quartz mechanism and then monitored the time for almost two weeks to make sure it was EXACT. He even puts marker on the back for the clock speed adjustment which I thought was interesting. He did the clock on my 71 Z and the clock keeps excellent time. Pretty nice for a 240Z. Also installed the clock in the dash. Pics below. Installed the door latches and also installed the outside rubber on the front bumper. The over rider rubber should be in tomorrow. Pics below

Cleaned up the front suspension area hardware so I can get it plated. Got the chrome back from Pacific Plating. I think I will leave the chrome parts in the wrap for now until I am ready to install it. The new chrome looks so nice!

Before and after pics of the aft panel below. I pick up the re-chromed bumpers tomorrow. Those should be nice.

I am looking to get a nice set of the stock 14" rims and hubcaps for a 1972 240Z. If they have tires on them as well, that is fine. Send me pics if you have them and we will work out payment from there. Paypal works best. Thanks, Rich

I only get this much done when my wife is out. Otherwise, I end up doing a lot of honeydo's Got a bunch of little things done today. Cleaned the front air ducts and installed those. Touched up scratches on the rear panels and pressed them in place. I noticed the back hatch panel does not have any holes to attach the gray panels. I will have to drill that in order to put the rivets through. I installed the filler tube, flap and gas cap. i may end up getting a new flap for this. There are some small cracks on this flap at the edges. Also painted the front grill panel satin black. Pics below

The box looks great. How did you produce the texture pattern on the box?

Got some new tail light gaskets. The old ones were cracked and crusty. Cleaned up the tail lights, installed new gaskets and installed them on the car. Also cleaned up the rear side/signal lights and installed them. One of the signal lights had a crack. Fortunately I have a bag of these things so I just swapped it out and installed a nice one. Pics below.

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I found the Delrin bushing version on the Motorsport website. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/23-4170

Thanks for the support everyone. Finished taking apart the front steering and suspension. Will get most of these pieces to the powdercoater and the fasteners out to plate. More Z CSI: Looks like we have some adjustable suspension parts on here. The hex fittings with the offset center. I have not seen these before on a Z. I will have to do a little research and find out where these come from...racing parts? Anyway, some are pics below....looks like I had some grease on my lens.

I got the rolling chassis back from Miguel today and the paint is just AMAZING, way better than I was anticipating. The clear coat is like smooth glass. Factory paint NEVER looked this good. Anyway, nice to have it back in my garage. I removed the a lot of the protective paper which was like unwrapping presents on Christmas, very enjoyable. I did clean up the spare tire area and put that in. I am now removing the the front suspension. Will have most of the parts powder coated and fasteners zinc plated. I got a new Energy suspension kit to install once the parts are finished.

Yes, I think the part where he said he just 'machined' a part clued me into the fact that it was a little more involved than it reads. Thanks for the feed back. The lead time for the dash recover at 'Just Dashes' is 12 weeks. It is a long time.

And here are the final pics on the steering wheel. Now for the shift knob. Hopefully I can make this work.

Thanks, I have learned that the key is to keep the sanding to a minimum. That way there is no need to re-stain. I learned that the hard way. I think they put a thin wood veneer over the a beige plastic steering wheel form. I way over-sanded on a previous steering wheel. Still have that sitting in my garage as a reminder. Thanks for the tip on this. The shift knob is worn and the plastic has a small crack. I was thinking that I would most likely replace it, but I think I will attempt to restore using the method you mentioned here.

Continued work on the steering wheel. After cleaning the wood grain with lacquer thinner, I gently sanded the wood grain with 220 grit sand paper. I then taped up the spokes and sprayed the wood with clear enamel. The wood came out nice as seen in the pics. That's was the hard part. I will let the clear dry for a day or two and then tape off the wood and spray the spokes with satin black. Pics below with one before pic.

Your car looks Fabulous! Thanks for posting the pics. That really is a very impressive project that you have completed. Well done!

Got the Eiko A-72 4 Watt bulbs. Also got an original Nissan Glove box from the car owner this weekend. I bet there are not too many NOS glove boxes out there. This is the first one I have seen so it was treated with much care. I installed the new bulbs and the glove box, pics are below. I need to fix the glove box emblem. Not sure what to do with the rolled edges on the glove box inside sticker. I may just leave it since it is original. More Z CSI. Looks like some type of work was done with the ammeter/fuel gauge unit. As I was rotating the dash around, one of those little plastic heat stake pieces was on the glass. When I opened it up to remove it, I saw the epoxy fix. Interesting. Started restoration on the steering wheel. The key to doing the steering wheel right is to be very gentle on the 'wood grain'. I sanded the metal with 220 grit today and cleaned the wood 'gunk' with lacquer thinner. The 'gunk' is the black build up on the wheel. I will do a very light sand on the wood portion, then spray with clear enamel. Will spray the metal with satin black. Should have this done in the next couple days. The big news is that the car should be back from the paint shop this weekend. Woo-hoo! Should be picking that up on Saturday.

Congrats! Looking forward to the pics.