Namerow

Hmmm. Not sure if this will help, but: OEM weatherstrip often makes strategic use of 'rubber stuffing' (technical term -- I just made it up) at locations where the strip has to make a tight bend. It's put there to keep the hollow section from collapsing (which would possibly lead to unwanted wind noise or water ingress). You can't see it. You'll only know it's there by doing a pinch comparison at selected locations along the length of your the weatherstrip. I found it in both the Kia Sportage and Nissan Altima weatherstrip that I experimented with. The 'stuffing', as used, was ~ 4" - 5" long. I wonder if the aftermarket suppliers are doing the same thing? p.s. I used the front-door weatherstripping from a late-1990's Kia Sportage for both my doors and hatch. Very happy with the results.

Nice ad. If they did it thoughtfully, there might also be promotional value in highlighting two other successful Datsun models from the early 1970's: the 510 sedan (contrast with Rogue), and the 520 pickup (contrast with Titan). Not too many buyers in 2025 realize that the pecking order for Japanese imports back then was Datsun-Honda-Toyota, rather than today's Toyota-Honda-Mazda/Subaru. The decision to re-brand from 'Datsun' to 'Nissan' (1977?) was such an unnecessary a disaster. The bland-mobile 1980's models didn't help either.

I have also used a plumb laser to do frame measurements on my Z. I began by taping together a bunch of poster board sheets to form a single big rectangular sheet that was long enough to go from bumper to bumper and wide enough to just fit between the inner sidewalls of the tires. Once I had it in position under the car, I taped it to the garage floor so that it wouldn't shift while I was lying on top of it taking sightings on the various targets. Once I got the laser aligned with a target, I used a Sharpee to make an 'X' mark on the sheet (along with a little note to record what target it was for). After I had marks for all of the targets, I pulled the sheet from under the car and laid it out on my workshop floor so that I could make the various target-to-target measurements with a tape measure. This system works pretty well for most the undercar measurements. The car can be sitting on its tires, but it needs to be elevated a bit (I used wheel dollies) so that you'll have enough room to slide underneath. However, it won't help you with the fore-aft locations of the shock towers unless you remove the struts and sight the laser down through the hole in the centre of each shock tower cap (the procedure for this is to put a piece of wide masking tape across the hole, trace the hole outline with a pencil, mark two intersecting centrelines, and then poke a small hole at the centre point for the laser to shine through). You'll also need to set up some kind of the platform above the shock towers (I used a length of 1 x 6 lumber) to give you a perch for the laser to sit on. Additional requirements: You'll need to get the car up on axle stands. Don't do any of your measurements until the car is up on the axle stands. You'll need to get the lower control arms out of the way b/c they'll block the laser beam from reaching the floor. This isn't too hard to do at the front (the LCA's can be folded up to a near-vertical position after the struts have been removed). I'm not sure whether this can be accomplished quite so conveniently at the rear (I didn't try). It might be necessary to actually remove the lower control arm from the car ☹️.

Even though you put a ton of work into fixing up your old garage, I guess it wasn't too difficult to leave it behind in return for a clean, modern garage already equipped with a good floor, good lighting and three bays (not to mention a separate, two-level barn for storing panels and parts. 👍

The reference points used to generate that 913mm measurement are tricky to replicate in practice. If you look closely at the small sectional drawing of the front shock tower, you'll see that the 'A' point actually lies on the plane defined by the underside of the shock tower cap. You can't measure at this plane unless you remove both front struts and then use either a trammel bar or a plumb laser. So, instead, you have to measure across the tops of the shock tower caps. But... Not so apparent from the sectional drawing, but very clear to the naked eye, is that the shock tower cap has a lip on the top (this is a little more evident in the sectional drawing of the rear shock tower that appears on the right side of FSM Dwg. BF-3). The top of this lip sits (by my measurement) 13mm above the bottom (reference) surface of the cap. So when you take the 13.5-degree cant of the front strut into account, it means that if you measure the A-A distance at the top of the lip, the result it will be somewhat less than if you were measuring at the (intended) bottom surface of the cap. My calculator says that 'somewhat less' = 7mm, so a measurement of A-A taken across the top of the lips should be 906mm. Now, if you left the press-in black plastic trim buttons in place (did you?) and took your measurement across the top of the buttons, you'll be measuring at a plane that's even higher above bottom (reference) surface of the shock tower cap. 906mm will shrink to ~ 902mm (est). Also: It's difficult to make this measurement accurately with a steel rule or (worse still) a tape measure. The correct way is to use a trammel bar*. If you used a steel rule or tape measure, your measurement accuracy will be no better than plus/minus 1mm (and more likely only plus/minus 2mm). * You can make your own single-purpose trammel bar. Start with a 4-ft (1219mm) length of 1" x 2" lumber and two 6-inch lengths of straightened 0.032" wire. Drill a slightly undersized hole into the flat side of each end of the wood strip (drill all the way through) and then press the wire lengths into the holes. The holes should be about 900mm apart. Now, using 1-qt paint cans sitting on each front fender, support the wood strip (your 'trammel bar') above and across the shock towers. Adjust the projecting length of the wires as required. Then line up the tip of the LHS wire with the centre of the LHS shock tower trim button. Then -- taking care not to disturb the trammel bar -- bend the RHS wire until its tip aligns with the centre of the RHS shock tower trim button (you may need to go back and forth a bit, until you're satisfied that both wire tips are correctly aligned with the centres of the trim buttons). To get your final measurement, transfer the paint cans and the trammel bar to your shop bench (don't disturb the wires!). Then position a steel rule on the bench top so that it sits under the wire pointers and take your measurement.

Is it possible that you've misinterpreted the reference point for the 465mm measurement that appears in FSM drawing? The way I read the drawing, that 465mm measurement defines the distance from the so-called 'C-point' to the centreline of the moustache bar's chassis mount bushings (if you look really closely, you'll see the moustache bar's circular end loops defined just to the rear and inboard of the rear shock tower chassis mounts). Let's call this location on the vehicle the 'E-point'. The 'D-point' refers to the centreline of the top of the rear struts . But, according to the FSM drawing the centreline of the top of the struts lies directly above the centreline of the 'gearcase mounting rear crossmember' (which is a more useful reference point when taking measurements off the vehicle). The D-point sits 450mm aft of the C-point The E-point sits 15mm aft of the D-point (so 465mm aft of the C-point). The photo below (source?) provides a good visual reference for what all this looks like on the underside of a bare Z structure. As far as I can see (I could be wrong), the FSM drawing makes no attempt to provide dimensions for the location of the rear lower control arm and its mounting points. You'd need to construct your own layout drawing for the diff, moustache bar, and rear suspension in order to specify (in mm) the locations of the rear lower control arm and its mounting points relative to the C-point.

Great to have you back on board, Phil. Your how-to articles, posted both here and on the Atlantic Z site, have remained an important resource for all of us Z owners.

You did a great job, with both the car and the build thread. Thanks for the update. We now have closure! 😄

@Parman This thread ended abruptly on May 25th. What's the current status of your project?

I've had one of those in my toolbox for years and, yes, it does work. However, if the base of the nut is flush with face of the part it secures, the chisel point will tend to climb up the side of the nut when you start applying torque to the drive bolt. That means that part of the upper part of the nut gets split first, while the lower part hasn't quite separated. If you're lucky the nut will pop, even though it hasn't been completely split. Remember that you'll need adequate clearance in all directions to make the splitter fit, as well as enough room to get a wrench or socket on the drive bolt. That makes the splitter useless for recessed or restricted-access nuts. For example, it'll work great on the top nut on the front anti-roll bar link, but it won't work for the nuts used in some locations to secure the intake/exhaust manifold.

Just make sure that the block-off strategy (whatever it might be) used at the Y-connection on the other side of the engine is sound and secure. For example...

Nice enough car. Disappointing price.

Fun to see how the person who did the floor 'repairs' neglected to remove the original set of rubber floor mats before getting busy with the welder ('Hey! What's that smell?') The photo of the dog leg area, taken from the rear wheel housing looking forward, is a sad comment on the lack of effectiveness of the Ziebart rustproofing in this critical area. The seller's photo essay is missing any pictures of the front frame rails. I suspect that this Z is going to need a lot more than just installing a replacement dash!

If this was a Ferrari or Maserati, a VIN 'typo' like that would either add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the vehicle's value or (more likely) add the same amount of dollars to the coffers of the lawyers and auctioneers adjudicating in its re-sale value.😄

This topic has already been pretty thoroughly discussed by CZCC members. Here's a good place to start...