Namerow

Was the OE bush split?

@zKars Are the OE bushings split, like this one appears to be? If so, it adds some interesting wrinkles to how the ID and OD specs should be interpreted.

I've never been very enthusiastic about poly bushings. I know they appeal to the 'go fast' group, but they punish the car's occupants on roads that are anything other than perfect. Here in the salt belt region, perfect roads are hard to find. With wide, low-profile tires, poly bushings in the steering will amplify every seam and step in the pavement and feed the result right back into your wrists. You may end up 'communicating with the road' a lot more than you really wanted to. That said, I see you live in North Carolina, so winter-damaged road surfaces may not be a concern. And if you're only going to use the car for occasional fun blasts, you probably won't be behind the wheel long enough to notice. Back in the day, a lot of 'enthusiast' owners decided that the original Z's steering system was too mushy. Before poly bushings arrived on the scene, the solution was to: 1) substitute a hockey puck for the shaft coupler bush, and; 2) shim the mounting faces of the rack bushings. While I don't recommend the hockey puck, you might consider the shimming strategy so that you can retain the rubber rack bushings. It's a low-cost (and reversible) strategy for reducing compliance in the rack mounting. A suggested shimming material: 1mm polyethylene sheet stock (no worries about rust).

My 5/70 also has this plastic clamshell motor cover. I wonder if Nissan switched to the soft-vinyl bag because it made the wiper system installation a little easier during the vehicle assembly process.

Such lists have been created by at least three CZCC members in the past -- in varying degrees of completeness. In fact, I think somebody just posted another one a couple of weeks ago. Here's my favourite (because it includes photos). It dates from 2019 and, IIRC, was posted by either @CanTechZ or @240dkw. Whoever it was, I hope they spot this re-post and claim credit. It's very nicely done. s30_Hardware_pictures.pdf

Remarkable quality for this price.

It is a special group of true believers (perhaps slightly mad) that decide to do their own parts prep and plating. If I had it to do over again, I think I would build a Shinto shrine next to the garage so that I could visit it and ask for the gods' blessing before committing my parts to the plating bath .

Thanks for taking the time to photo-document. These pix will be a great reference for others. They also give us interesting insights into the design and assembly strategies that Nissan was using fifty years ago when the Z was launched.

How did you get your Z up on the elevator pads?

Very nice. The word, 'hooligan' comes to mind. Make sure you read up on the new revisions to the Ontario stunt driving laws .

Does your wife know that you're using her bath towels in the garage?

I wonder if it's just a programmed-in emissions thing specific to manual transmissions. My car (2006 GM product with a manual transmission) does the same thing. The hang period is similar -- a few seconds. Really annoying.

And I'll add to that: Which die grinder type do you find works best for spot-weld work: straight? right-angle? Or does it depend on the weld location and accessibility? Do you see any merit in a variable-speed feature for this type of work? Have you tried the 'low-noise' designs and, if so, do they live up to their billing?

Are the Nissan OE bushings NLA?

The only source that I know of for ready-made sheet metal for this area is UK-based Automotive Panel Solutions (no website, but can be found on Facebook). The proprietor does beautiful work but -- as noted above -- it ain't cheap. A third solution will be to find a donor car, cut out the required sections, and then graft them into your car. I can't see the rest of your car from the photo you've offered. However, if this level of rust is typical of the entire vehicle, you may want to consider acquiring a better vehicle to start your project with.

Question 1: How did you secure the oak template? It looks like it's sitting on top of a bench vise, but it's not clear whether it's actually being clamped by the bench vise. Perhaps the oak template actually has two levels, where the top level (forming section) is full-width while the bottom level has a reduced width so that it can fit inside the span of the jaws of the bench vise? If this is the case, how are the top and bottom levels joined together? Glue? Wood screws? Or were both levels carved from a solid wood block? Question 2: It looks like there's a sheet of copper sitting on top of one of the jaws of the bench vise. What is its purpose in this set-up? Question 3: What 'gauge' of sheet metal did you use here? p.s. It's nice to see these 'old world' panel-forming techniques being practiced. Your results look just as good as anything our friends at Tabco have been turning out. Probably better.

I have exactly the same issue with an approach slope to my garage... although the frequency of my new-project arrivals pales in comparison with GK's. I bought a hand-crank winch and bolted it to my workbench (which is bolted to the back wall of my garage). Motorized would have been better, but it was certainly an improvement over a come-along

Going back to the engine removal for a moment, I noticed two things you did that I'd like the hear more about: At the front hoist point, you bypassed the lift bracket installed on the hoist chain and used, instead, a clevis and a bolt. Was the clevis a part of the hoist kit, or did you source it separately? At the rear hoist point, you appear to have removed the header stud and used a bolt instead. Please explain.

That's impressive work. Nice attention to planning and details. Not a great deal of ceiling clearance in your garage workspace, either. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about pulling a Z engine without removing to hood. I don't think I've seen anyone bring the hoist in from the side, either.

More of your most.

Really? Are we out of contributions already? I think that the old Atlantic Z-Car site could deliver at least a dozen ideas all on its own. CO should be able match that. ZKars and Grannyknot, too.

That's a nice reward for all those hours spent on the restoration. Perhaps it's time for you to re-post a picture of what the car looked like when you started...

This is all really good stuff. Hopefully, we'll end up with an inventory of, 'Why didn't I think of that?' items that will save others a lot of time, grief and/or money. They might even inspire some new ideas. Pictures help, if you've got them.

As we all know, not all needs are answered by over-the-counter tools. As one example, my Z-friend Dieter Roth made his own special wrench for one particularly annoying Z job (halfshaft U-joint bolts, IIRC) by simply grinding off the excess metal from a standard open-end wrench so that it would fit inside the limited-clearance space. For my own efforts, I've enjoyed constant use over the years from a 18" length of 1"-dia aluminum tubing (from a TV antenna mast) that I squashed one end of so that it would fit over the end of open-end and box-end wrenches to give extra leverage. What's in your tool box?

For a slightly different take on farming in England, watch the 2020 Amazon Prime series, 'Clarkson's Farm', hosted by the former Top Gear host, Jeremy Clarkson. Really funny.