motorman7

That's a nice looking car. Always nice to have an extra Z to play around with. Congrats and have fun. Rich

No air galley's at MSA :disappoin

The drivers side floor of my '73 is slightly lifted due to PO's bad jack placement. I have tried both the rubber mallet, and the standard hammer and 2X4 method with little success. The steering wheel and dash make it hard to get a good whack at it. I am thinking perhaps a 3lb sledge and 2X4 may work better. I like the secured 2X4 idea. I will need to look at the drain hole plugs and see if I can rig something that will work without making new holes. Maybe even the seat support lip could be used. Thanks for the tip.

MSA shows them in stock. I think I will order mine from there. I spoke with them before about these and they mentioned that they obtain them from a Japanese supplier that makes other parts for Nissan. I also think they have the best price, unless you can find one on e-bay. Not sure where to get those new. You can get the clips zinced at a number of local shops. The rubber is a challenge. I have always cleaned up the old rubber. May have to go to the junk yard for those. For the fuel lines, typically I clean them with Scotch brite (just enough to make them look clean) then put a clear hi-heat enamel over them. If you are super serious and industrious, you can remove them completely and get them re-zinced also. Personally I do my own zinc and love it. It gives me a lot of control over the process and I can do it any time I want. Rainman-Thanks for the kudos -The car is coming along well.

Started doing some of the interior items. I put on a full dash cap from MSA. It looks nice and clean but seems to be a bit glossier than the original. It makes the glove box look a little dull. I will look into putting some Lexol conditioner on it to see if that brightens up the glove box. It was pretty easy to install. I used a razor blade to flatten the high spots. I lightly sanded the dash and the underside of the dashcap as directed. The fit was very good. The only part that needed help was the portion that goes around the radio. I used two pieces of wood wedged against the seat to hold that part of the plastic in while the glue dried. I started do the weather stripping. A huge thanks to the person that suggested masking tape to hold the stuff in place. That works very well. In spite of the masking tape, weatherstripping is still a big pain to do. The only part I like about it, other than the elimination of the exhaust smell, is peeling the glue from my fingers when I'm done . I got the passengers side door completed and panel in. I re-did the clear cover plastic under the panel using the bag from the dash cap. It is a nice thick plastic. Used the old brittle and torn plastic as a template for the new stuff. Secured the clear plastic with the weather-stripping glue. In the engine bay, I have been waffling on the air galley. One part of me wants to use the yellow zinc paint as it is much cheaper and easier. The other side of me says I need to get a new air galley. Still really not decided yet, but I am leaning to the new air galley. They are such a pain to remove...I tried already with the wrenches. May need a blow torch if I go in that direction. As for now, the galley is painted with POR high temp silver. Still need to get a few parts, but haven't bought anythng lately (put the dash cap cost in earlier). Total cost is still at $5229.

Black Dragon sells the door handles for cheaper than you can re-Chrome them. http://www.blackdragonauto.com/features/z/ZDHO.htm

Lots of advice here. The one I like best is having the machine shop straighten it for $40 bucks. That would be well worth the money spent. I say that based on experience with my MSA 6 into 1 headers on my '71. Nice pipes, but the number 5 tube had a small 1/16"-1/8" gap when checked for straightness. I put in an extra gasket to span the gap and installed the headers. After a few weeks, the gasket blew through and I had a small exhaust leak. Time to take it apart again. I ended up welding a bead around the number 5 tube flange and filing it till it was flush with the other tubes. This has worked well without blowing through. I think you have to make this interface flush before you install. I would not count on the bolts to straighten the flange. Might work with aluminum, not with steel. Just my thoughts. Rich

Nice video...thanks for sharing Carl. It was also nice to meet Matsuo when he was out here at the DHM. He is a very impressive individual, very innovative. Funny, at the start of the video I thought the car was mine. Nissan did a photo shoot with my car and the 40th anniversary Z that included some driving shots. Looked like the exact same set-up, except I forgot they requested the Panasports for the shoot. I much prefer the hubcaps on it now. Also, I am pretty sure I met Omar at the 2009 JCCS show. He thought my car was also from the restoration program. If I am not mistaken, he lives up near the Orange County area in CA.

Cleaned up the spare tire area and installed the rear carpet. There was a lot of that horse hair stuff to clean up. Put in the carpet for the rear deck and the passenger side. Will get to the drivers side this weekend. The rear carpet did not have the cutout for the turnbuckle at the aft most end, but that worked out OK. I loosened the buckles and tucked the carpet under the buckle to secure it. The two cloth belts are a bit faded. May talk to my wife and see if she can dye them for me. This spare is probably pretty old. Toyo Z-1 14/175 series with Rayon cords.

Hi Grant, The windshield rubber is from the complete gasket kit that I purchased from Black Dragon. The cost is about $200 and include almost all of the gaskets for the car. I got the same kit for my yellow one. Only thing I don't like on the yellow Z is the tight door seal. Takes some effort to close. This is a newer kit and the door gaskets are packeaged different than the rest of the kit. I am hoping these are improved. I will know in a couple weeks when I get to them.

Finally got a chance to work on the car again. With moving the in-laws, fixing up the rental house, and celebrating the 25th wedding anniversary with a nice eight day get-away, haven't had much time to get anything done on the car in the last four weeks. Now that all this is done, I can finally get back to work here. I did go to the SoCalRoc Show on Saturday, 27 Nov. I love the roadsters. I took second in the Z category with my yellow Z, so that was nice. Getting back to the '73 refreshtoration, I got the windshiled in. It was a piece of cake. Had my son help me put it in place and the rest I was able to do myself. I have installed two windshields and two rear hatch glasses and feel pretty comfortable with the process. It did not take that long either. Maybe 2 hours total to put in the glass and the stainless strips. Also got the windshield wipers on and a side emblem. Still a lot to do but it's nice to get back to work on the car.

Ztherapy also sells the SM needles for a little extra performance. I think it's about $30 for the pair. Rich

Re-install of the frame is a pain but I've done it several times now in prepping for paint. It's tricky. I always do it with the window fully down and door open. I also use a flashlight to see what is going on in there. Make sure the door handle rod/mechanisms are out of the way. They need to be close to their 'completely assembled' position (I had the door handles off, thus causing the problem). They have a tendency to lean over and block the frame from sliding down. I broke one on my '73 by not checking for this at the very start. As Escanlon said, make sure the window is in the frame groove as you slide it down. They will not be close to each other, however, until the frame is almost completely in. Focus on the back part of the frame during install. There is a hump (metal attachment protrusion) on the back part of the frame that causes most of the difficulty. You need to get this past the internal door latch mechanism. This is easiest done by keeping the window frame as far forward as possible during the install. Slide the back part in first about 4 -5 inches. Now make sure the forward part of the frame is in the forward slot. It goes in at a bit of an angle with the back part lower. Once it stops after about 6-8 inches, push the back part of the frame forward to help negotiate past the door mechanism. Use your flashlight to see what is contacting. Once the 'hump' is past the mechanism, the frame goes in easy. At this point nudge the window as needed so it goes into the groove. Hope that works for you. Even worse is putting door handles on Best Regards, Rich

I agree on that. You have to know your stuff. I usually talk with my dad to see what coins are good. That is more his bag. I just dabble in it.

Thanks Guy! I have to say, I am doing my best to get up to your level. Your motor and paint pictures have been a great inspiration. I have saved those pictures and use them as my models. I even have your Safari gold engine bay paint job on my rotating screen saver slides . I will need to contact Mike at Banzai. The paint shop painted over the gold stickers on the underside of my hood:ermm:. It least I know where to place the new ones Best Regards, Rich

1 oz. silver coin melt value is $27.65 at today's silver price. http://www.kitcosilver.com/charts/24hoursspot.html Indian Rupee More info....interesting http://lunaticg.blogspot.com/2009/09/sport-car-coin-datsun-240z.html

No, will not be ready at all :disappoin. My renters moved out so been spending the last couple weekends fixing up the rental house. What a pain. House work is not nearly as fun as car work. Hopefully can get it rented soon. Hoping to start back on the car in December

That is very cool. Would make a great gift

Wow, that car is a gem. Looks like original seats and original radio. Body looks great as well. Only off item that I can see are the rims, but that can be easily remedied. If motor is original (and I am betting it is) and the frame rails are good, that car is worth some descent cash, $3-4K minimum; $6-8K if the frame rails and motor are in good shape. Would make a wonderful restoration project. Tiffanie, If you replace anything, do not throw any of the parts away. You would be amazed what they go for. That AM radio goes for $150-$400 on e-bay. Even old braided radiator hoses go for a chunk. Keep the spare tire as well, those are rare. Your car is a major score at $500. May even have been a good buy at $5000 if the undercarriage and motor are good. Congrats and take care of that baby. Best Regards, Rich

Thanks for sharing....It's always hard to lose those who have been a great help to us. It is a sad loss. Rich

Nice color.....garage space?

Boy, this is taking a while. Too many things going on in life. Had the half marathon last week, moving in-laws this week and next. Not getting my car time in. It is a bit frustrating. I was able to do a little bit last Thursday. Got the Brake master cylinder in, cleaned up the drivers side shock tower, zinced the coil bracket and other parts. Got some emblems in from e-bay. Got the hood emblem and both rear hatch emblems for under $80. Not bad. Only prob was that the hood emblem had no pins. I made a simple bracket to fit inside with two #4-40 screws attached to the plate. secured the bracket to the emblem with gorilla glue. Used two keps nuts to secure it to the hood. Works very well and it is removable. I put the hatch emblems on, the rear opener button, and the rear glass. The back end is looking nice. Just have to keep pluggin away bit by bit on this. Add $80 for the emblems and $125 for a carpet kit and now I am up to $5229.

Very Cool!! Hope to be able to paint my own some day. Keep up the good work.