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I'm working on a knowledge post about the S30's automatic transmissions, and for that, I tried to update my document collection. Since I don't have any Auto transmission and don't plant to install one ever, it was obviously never a priority. So recently a few things arrived again from all over the world. Some of them are pretty cool and rare: First, a set of original Nissan Japan 3N71B Auto transmission service manuals from 1971 and 1973. They're not specific to this car, but they have some good general information about that specific transmission. I also got the English version of the earlier 3N71A transmission manual. This time specific for the 240Z. Nothing crazy inside, but good for some reference data if you're a nerd like me. Speaking of Automatic transmissions. I got this cool troubleshooting guide slider, which was issued for both the A and B transmissions by Nissan USA in 1972: The delivery also included some Mikuni triple carb-setup parts: And i also came across this Mikuni PH level gauge for 2 bucks, so I had to get it: It even came with a nice little operation manual leaflet and padded pouch: Then I also got this nice booklet called "Z-car" by driver magazine JP. It's basically a collection of all their S30-related publications from their monthly magazine. I still have to read through all of it, but so far it has some very nice stories, including the original designers of the car. The only downside so far is the overload of praise for Mr. K as the sole man behind the Z, which is of course nonsense. But as said, i only read two pages so far. Speaking of documents. I made a copy of that original Nissalco 240Z special service toolbox manual, as it was falling apart. And I have to say it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at something like this. I picked up a load of tool-related things yesterday and have a lot of pending orders. so stay tuned for another update soon.

Recently, I was able to obtain something rare, which I've been searching for five years, or so now. But let's start in the beginning. In 1937, Nissan registered a daughter-company called "Nissan Auto Sales Co. Ltd." as a sales division spin-off. In 1957, the same company registered the "NISSALCO" trademark, with the aim to develop and produce service tools for Nissan factories and workshops. They produced all kind of mechanical and electronic testers but also accessory parts for Nissan Car owners. Here is a picture from the Nissan Cherry assembly line, with a NISSALCO sign above every test bench: Today, the company is still existing, but under the "ALTIA" Name. In the early 70ies, they developed a Special service tool box for the Datsun 240Z sports. ST0929-0000. And yesterday, I finally got one, after many years of searching for it. The toolbox comes with a selection of Special tools for the 240Z. And this box came with a lot of extra tools inside. You can lift out the upper case, and then you have access to the lower level. Mine included also the Booklet that comes with it. So first, I had to get all the parts out and go through them. Luckily, i collected some of the Datsun / Nissan / Kent-Moore Special tools books over the years. And the box (even though without any part number or information) and some of the tools are also listed in the US-service manual: Sadly, I quickly realized that my purchase came with a lot of additional tools which do not exactly belong to the S30, but random Datsun's, and some original tools from the box are missing. It seems that the previous owner also recreated some missing tools. Overall, it's still a good starting point. After cleaning the box out, hammering the metal straight and fixing the locks. it started to look good. I wanted to keep the patina, but still clean up all the parts. so i gave them a quick wash in the parts cleaner: And then put the original parts back in: Assembled (some tools are not correct): And closed: The set also included this nice Nissan wooden tool box, with the lovely lock: I still have to figure out yet what this is used for, but i just love the looks of it: I'm also working on to restore the original manual that came with it: But it appears that the last few pages are missing and the back cover. But still better than nothing. It also has a very strange format, where each page is only printed on one side and then folded to have a print on both sides, which is a bit weird. That's it for now. I will try to keep finding the missing tools and pages. If you know something, I'm happy to hear from you. Expect some more tools related stuff in the coming days, but i also hope to work on the car itself again, in the next days. Stay tuned!

No worries. You know me - I always like a good background story :-) I researched a bit. Ernst Seiler seemed to be a very illustrious person with a long Porsche racing history. I wasn't able to connect the dots between the two names, but it's very well possible. First I thought it was Heiko (Seiler) from Datsun.ch 's parents former Garage. But he confirmed that they only started in the late 70ies and the name was Garage Seiler in BE. The one mentioned in the booklet is from the AG Canton and the booklet is from the late 60ies or early 70ies, so it's possible that you are right. Interesting nevertheless. In Switzerland, during that period, there were many small, independent garages, but also some big names who quickly started to build large holdings based on small garages, gas stations, etc, and then became big names.

I don't really want to chime in here into this discussion, but I have seen the S30.world cars in real life, and talked a lot to the people behind it and all I can say is: - Those are the best restored Z's I have aver seen. And I have seen plenty of them over the years. - They make their own parts, where new ones are not available anymore, and those parts are the best reproduction parts I have seen, with real attention to details. - The team behind it is OBSESSED with small details and correctness. Down to things like the correct color and position of the bolt-marking dots. Everybody is free to have your own opinion, but I really recommend to check out the cars in real life and talk to the people behind it, and then only you can understand how many extra-miles these guys went to build some of the best restored 240Z's out there.

Before I hand my Chassis for final (re-)work and alignment to the bodyshop again, I want to make sure that I didn't miss details. Over the years, many shops and people have worked on the car, and installed replacement panels from various sources. So the risk is high that some small things are not correct. For that reason, I try to test-fit as much as possible to figure out problematic areas, so that I can discuss with the bodyshop how to fix it, before it's too late, when the paint is on. It also forces me to take some decisions in which direction to go with certain areas, and gives me the opportunity to go through my stockpile of parts and see what's missing for the final assembly, and order some stuff here and there. One of those areas where I identified a small issue was on the rear lower body. The EU-spec cars have an additional number-plate light in the rear bumper, and therefore there is a hole in the rear panel. Obviously, all the replacement panels are based on the US-market models and therefore that hole is missing. Luckily, my man Heiko was kind enough to measure the position and diameter on his unrestored EU-spec 240Z. Here are the measurements, in case you need it: And here we go, the hole is in: I realized the Tank needs to go out (again) to have the hole cleaned from the inside: But that also gave me the opportunity to replace the rusty J-hook bolts with the replated ones, which I got recently. I have ordered New ones already, as these are definitely not the nicest ones, but still better than the rusty ones which were installed before. After that, I was able to install the rear bumper: And the rear number plate lighting. Please note, it's still all just a quick mock-up to identify problems. Most parts are only temporary and will be replaced by nicer ones later. So with this, I think my test-fit of the rear-end area is completed. Luckily, that area doesn't have any issues anymore, Unfortunately there are still some areas here and there, which need to be addressed. But from my point of view, I'm nearing completion of what I can do myself, and I feel confident to deliver the car as-is to the bodyshop to fix the remaining things and have it painted, soon. Oh, and I also got this early Swiss Datsun dealer list, recently. I love how it appears to be a copy from a type-writer or something. Unfortunately, there is no date on the list, but I assume from the looks of it that it's from the late 60ies or early 70ies. I got a palette with some exciting stuff yesterday, too - which I will show you soon, so stay tuned for another update in the coming days.

Just a quick update: After returning from holidays, i spent some hours to finally sand down the remaining areas with old layers of paint, filler and primer: And finally: Done. Still needs a bit of love here and there, especially around the edges, but I'll leave that to the body shop. I Also made a little stress-test with my crack-repair and it seems pretty solid. So finally I got it installed back on the trunk at all original 6 mounting studs, like intended from the factory. It took me quite some hours to get that wing back into shape, but I think it was well worth it, and I'm more than happy i was able to save another OEM part which belongs to this car. Then I got some stuff in my mailbox: First. A spacer for the trunk / hatch damper, as mine are all toast. And more importantly at the moment: A bunch of fastener / retaining clips for the front fender side markers: Which allowed me to finally also test-fit the other side. Note protective foil on the lamp is just there to not damage it during trial fitments: And then I got a nice book from Autoliv in Sweden. They were the manufacturer of many of the aftermarket seat belts installed by European Import companies (along Britax). I asked them for a bit of Background information about the company and the specific seatbelts. They were not really able to help me with the 240Z seatbelts, since they're now a global company, but instead they sent me this very cool Company history book, which they released last year for internal use only, with some very cool information. I will prepare a post about those specific seat belts in the coming months. As for now, I wait for a few parts and information here and there, to proceed with the next steps on the car, but that should be possible in the next few days. I'll keep you updated.

Yesterday, I made a 4-hour "tour de Suisse" to collect various parts which I've purchased and visit some friends. My first stop was at my good friend Stefan from Cagedude. Aside from always finding crazy builds in his workshop, I'm always full of joy to see his collection of C10 and C110 Skylines in various states of Restauration. The red one in front is a genuine Swiss-Market 2000GT Shortly after I got my tool-wall, another original Datsun workshop tool wall popped up for sale. Since I already had one, I told hem he should get it, which he did. The wall stayed in his possession for a while, but then he called me and told me he has no time to complete it, so I should get it instead. So I picked it up yesterday. So it means the hunt for all the missing tools starts again. Luckily, I already was able to complete an empty wall once, so I hope I'll manage that again. Oh, and I also picked up this 280ZX T-top Nissan Press poster for another friend of mine. The second stop was at my mate Heiko, who has a nice collection of Z's and roadsters, among some other cars. The reason was to pick up a complete euro-spec rear bumper center section, which is increasingly hard to find. The EU-version has additional holes for the lower number plate lighting. I have several, but all have messed up mounting brackets. This one needs some love too, but at least the brackets are good, so I can use it for test-fitment of everything. And then i got another "Mystery package" from a long-standing parts dealer partner, which included various interior and battery parts. Plus a rear bumper side section, ashtray, etc. And some random NOS parts, plus a lot of replated parts. It's always a bit of a mixed bag from this vendor. Some parts are really useful, NOS or good quality, Some appear to be from different generation Z's or even other cars, or are not in the best condition. Usually, the good parts make up for the bad ones. This-time the J-bolts for the tank straps came in very handy, and it's always good to have a variety of parts on site. Even the "bad" ones usually get used for trial-fitments, etc. I hope with all this new parts and information from yesterday, i will be able to spend another few hours in the workshop with hopefully some progress on the car. Stay tuned.

Time for another update: I spent the last couple of days in the Workshop and installed all the hood alignment parts, so the body shop can properly align the hood. I also put back all bolts to the body panels, since they were missing after I had to remove a lot of things for alignment and rework. Not much to see, but all panels are now secured for transport. Slowly, but steady, t starts to look like a complete car again. Well - there is still a lot of work. Next, i decided to test fit the side markers, just to be sure the holes are still correct. I assembled to mock-ups from various used and NOS parts which I had. And installed: (Note plastic wrap on the NOS lens, to protect it) Now the big project. The rear spoiler. As you can see, the inner bolts are missing (compare holes with the missing bolt, left): I thought it had probably rotted away in the past, so they just removed it. That made me want to drill back a hole to install a new one, but it seems the previous owner just cut off the previous bolts and the metal part was still inside the spoiler mounting position. Luckily, I was able to drill out the remains of the old studs by starting with a very thin drill and then working the size up until the original 4mm: I made myself some new bolts from some M4 screws: While sanding off the area to glue back in the new bolts, I found a crack underneath the various layers of bondo, primer and paint, which the spoiler has collected over the years: Now also that glue-remains on the inside made sense:, which chipped off like nothing, once hammered: I was able to clean the whole area And then glue both the crack and the bolts back in with some two-component epoxy glue: The result is not bad, if you ask me. It appears to be quite strong, too: Next, I wanted to get back the holes for the original emblems. After sanding the areas, I finally found some black dots, which is probably black filler, which they used to fill the original holes: While trying to tap-mark the holes for drilling, the black filler bits just popped out. So I only used the drill to clean the holes to correct size. Lucky me :-) And the Emblems can go back again, as intended from the factory: Last but not least, I spent quite some hours today to sand off those dozens (!!) of layers of filler, primer and paint from all the years. You might wonder why? Because in some areas the paint and filler is so thick, that the spoiler almost has a different shape. I'm almost done, but still need to spend a few hours. But it appears I was able to save another Original part for the car, and I hope I can install it back soon...

Over the last few weeks, various envelopes with small stuff arrived from all over the World. Time for a little update: First i got this cool Nissan "Automatic transmission" flyer, which explains the new NissanMatic transmission for different cars, including the S30. Then i got a nice Z-3 Service bulletin, which was missing so far. My man Jerome sent me a few documents. Which included a Swiss market 240Z brochure. But also a "Nissan Autographic" magazine (I believe this was either a customer, or internal Employee / dealership magazine) with News about the company from around the world. And then this useless but interesting sheet from "Asbest Technik", the then Swiss importer for Akebono brake parts. Which lists the official spare parts for various Datsun Models, including the 240Z: As shown in the previous post, my man Florian sent me some nice goodies. One is a spare (NOS?) rear number plate piece A broken (but still good for trial-fitting) upper number plate light, And some cool die casts of a sunny Pickup and new CTR. And today a small delivery from Japan. Aside from some number-plate bolts for my EK9, It also included this Rally collector's set of ChoroQ cars. I'm not really a collector, but these went for a superb price and I liked them so much, I had to get them. I also got a Japanese Nissan Shizuoka dealership price list from 1975, which includes the S30. Not really useful, but good to put them next to my JDM Fairlady Z brochures. And last but not least, another Service bulletin book. The Z-6. I soon have the full set, I think. Only a few issues are missing. That's it for now. I hope later today and tomorrow i get some work done on the car again...

The first versions were (as far as i know) never sold officially, but only delivered for testing as prototypes. Some ended up in private ownership. but i guess those were very few. The upgraded suspension, front and rear spoilers, 5-speed transmission and the different front turn signals, etc were standard equipment on all european cars. Even though the parts catalogue lists things as optional, as far as i know, most (all?) european Datsun importers didn't sell any dealership options and most cars were sold as standard european final spec cars. Aside from Portugal, of course, which had their own specifications.

I'm on HS30-H side here when it comes to Factory Nissan JAPAN Plating. The official Nissan documentation clearly shows Zinc plating plus Cadmium plating was banned in Japan by that time, so why would anyone believe it was anything else than Zinc plating (or yellow / blue passivating, as it's called here) On the other hand, the Z-restoration program was executed by selected workshops with support from NMC USA! According to the Z-head document in the previous post, it appears that those were indeed replated with Cadmium in the USA by some private shops. At least according to that checklist. Which is kind of interesting that the restored cars are different from the factory cars. Which is also a bit strange. Because there is a bit of difference in appearance between cad and zinc, so why would they choose something different - especially much more poisonous?? Maybe missing knowledge? Or was it cost saving?

Over the last few days, I was busy in my workshop, getting some small tasks completed on my Z project. Time for a little update. After installing the partial gearbox to test fit the brackets and stuff, I realized that the gear lever is too much in the front of the hole: A quick look into the manual made it clear: I had mounted the lever the wrong way. So, gear box rear-end out, gear lever corrected: And back in, this time, correctly: Then I spent a lot of time at the rear end of the car. I had to clean the holes for the three taillight panels, so that the plastic rivets would lock properly. After that i re-installed the taillights, and ensured the sealing rubbers were set correctly, using my "string-trick": Next i have to finish the slightly worn chrome / metal trim around the taillight panels and get them back on: While working at the rear, i decided to install all those fasteners, stoppers, alignment pieces, guides, etc. Like those rubber spacers: And trunk dampers. I have a NOS set of everything, so the installed ones are only temporary, to not mess up the new ones: And the last bit at the rear end was to align the trunk / hatch. The body shop had installed some spacers to get it straight, but after all the parts got installed, I had to remove them again and massage a few areas lightly to have it all aligned: Next? Seat rails. I had those Bride seat rails from my Histrix lying around for a while and wanted to test-fit them. I'm most probably going to use something different setup in the end, but I wanted to ensure that the distance and position of the seat mounting brackets was right after all the bodywork. I thought the best way was to use the original seat rail mounting studs and spacers. Since I had several highly-damaged OEM seats, I hammered out the fasteners and used the plastic spacers after grinding away the factory spot-welds on the bolts. This worked unexpectedly well, so now I can do some trials with different seats, rails and setups - to figure out what will go into the car in the end. Next: I realized that I didn't have any upper rear number plate light in my part collection. Luckily, Florian from Datsun-Autowerk was kind enough to send me one of his broken ones including some other parts (more on that in a following post), for trials. After puzzling and glueing all the parts together... I could mock it up all together and drill the required holes. Fun-fact: I always thought that slight "dent" in the gray metal piece was a production fault of the reproduction panel, but it's actually there to make space for the number plate lighting bolt. After the holes were done and cleaned, I got the upper plastic part installed. And then the whole thing with the lens. Note all bolts and the light itself are temporary units for the mock-up only, final parts will be correct and fresh. Looks good if you ask me! Special thanks to the person who gave me the hint with the holes (I wasn't able to find the mail anymore, but you know who you are!) And then? Spoiler-Alert. Again. After i realized that the currently installed spoiler is beyond repair, I remembered that I had another one lying around. But it was bent in all directions and super wobbly: But all the brackets were still in good shape, so I gave them a little wire wheel brush and corrosion protection: I placed them on our terrace, which tends to get quite hot now in summer And let it take the heat every day. My thought was that the Polyurethane gets weak and goes either back in its natural shape by itself, or can be massaged. At the end, some areas turned out to be pretty stiff, even with heat and required some proper bending over my special bending bench :-) It didn't really work out. It's way better than in the beginning, but still super wobbly. I thought if i'd install it on the car, it might straighten itself a bit. Let's see. I have my doubts. The good thing is, there seems to be another spoiler on the horizon :-) I've seen worse ones, but yeah. Not good enough for me: I also went through my plated fasteners and sorted them a bit. I got various boxes over the years from various collectors and Z-specialists, so it was about time to ensure I find what I'm looking for :-) The to-do list gets smaller by the week. And there's not much left from my side, but some tricky bits. I guess I've earned my favorite Japanese "Hitachino Nest" beer for today.

It has been a serious while since I was able to put some actual work in the car. I had some urgent projects on the house to complete, and then I managed to injure my hands, but now I'm back at it again. First, I had to re-install my tank. Since I sold my new fuel tank including rubbers and straps at the Japanclassic, to help somebody get is car running again quickly, I had to wait for a new one to arrive from S30.world. Unfortunately, new straps are currently not available anymore, so i had to go through my set of existing straps to get the best ones for temporary usage: First i had the rubber insulator blocks installed on the tank: And then had it all wrapped to avoid scratches on my brand new tank: And then everything installed. Thanks to my new transmission hoist, this was a lot easier than last time. And last but not least, i had the drain plug installed, which comes with the tank: Next? Front end work. Ever since I had my wobbly bent EU spec front spoiler installed, I was wondering myself which route to go. EU-spec corner valances with the mounting holes for the spoiler, but no holes for the Lower turn signals or other way? After thinking about it for a while, i decided to take the best of both worlds. Some might call it sacrilegious, but I decided to go what appeals the most to my eyes. US spec lower turn signals, but EU-spec front spoiler (which also helps stabilize the car and is not just for the looks). My original thinking was that the US-spec corner valances need to be modified with that "loose-nut" mounting brackets for the lip, but when checking my EU-spec valances, i realized that on the corner valances (unlike the center valance) there is only a simple hole. So the modification of US-spec valances to fit the EU-spec spoiler is simply to drill a 5mm hole in the right place. To get the right place, i made a nice little template from tape. Transferred it from the EU- to the US-valances, and drilled / cleaned it. Unfortunately, I found that on the LH-side somebody had previously drilled holes in the wrong places, for whatever reason. Probably they had some different spoiler installed? I'll leave that to the bodyshop. So everything set to install the spoiler completely? Almost. As you can see, the brackets on my worn out spoilers are quite bent. Some were even completely missing or "fixed" with a bit of backyard-engineering: After I bent all the existing brackets in a more-or-less correct position and installed it back on the car, i have to admit it looks quite good, even though it's still just a completely temporary mock up. I also had my replica US-spec turn signals installed (I will look for some good OEM-ones, as these lack the mandatory E-stamps on it). Which made the iconic, but also a bit ugly, EU-spec turn signals obsolete. Even though I don't think the look is too bad, I always have the feeling that they were just slapped on the car in a hurry, and are held on the bumper with only one nut, so they always look a bit off in their position and are hard to get it right (see previous photo). So I had them removed. The US / Japan spec turn signals always looked much sleeker to me, fully integrated under the bumper. Like intended from their designers. So for the moment, I'll stick to this setup. But I might change back to full EU-spec, if required. During this work, I was also able to fix two previous issues with the front bumper alignment, which is great too. From my point of view, the front-end (everything in front of the radiator support) is completed now. Next I'll focus on some other points. My 2-do list is getting smaller, and I'm happy with every task I can check off. I expect DHL ringing on my door with some nice stuff from Japan every moment, and i have some more things on the way here, so expect another update soon.

I have some urgent projects around the house which I hope to be able to finish in the following days, but I hope after that I have loads of time for the Z again. So this will be a very quick update: I got some nice documents from Japan again: The first one is the "Z-2" Service Shuho Book, which is the equivalent of the English bulletins. They have become quite pricey recently, so i stick to focus on the most important ones, but when Z-2 (introduction of the Automatic transmission cars) showed up for a reasonable price, i made sure to get it. Here's my collection so far. There are plenty more, which I hope to add to my collection whenever they pop up for a good price. The second document is the December 1973 Nissan sports option catalogue for the HS30 "240Z". It's probably the most extensive one, which is 12-pages strong. It focuses on the HS30 Fairladies only, which means most of the listed parts also fit my HLS30 car. The other catalogues are either much thinner, or focus on a different car (Z432, for e.g.) or a whole range of Cars (240 / 260 / 280Z). But basically, it was a good price and missing in my collection, so that's why I got it. I hope for more updates, soon, I have some things planned... And I have some very cool things waiting to be picked up by me, or on the way here...

I have some urgent projects around the house which I hope to be able to finish in the following days, but I hope after that I have loads of time for the Z again. So this will be a very quick update: I got some nice documents from Japan again: The first one is the "Z-2" Service Shuho Book, which is the equivalent of the English bulletins. They have become quite pricey recently, so i stick to focus on the most important ones, but when Z-2 (introduction of the Automatic transmission cars) showed up for a reasonable price, i made sure to get it. Here's my collection so far. There are plenty more, which I hope to add to my collection whenever they pop up for a good price. The second document is the December 1973 Nissan sports option catalogue for the HS30 "240Z". It's probably the most extensive one, which is 12-pages strong. It focuses on the HS30 Fairladies only, which means most of the listed parts also fit my HLS30 car. The other catalogues are either much thinner, or focus on a different car (Z432, for e.g.) or a whole range of Cars (240 / 260 / 280Z). But basically, it was a good price and missing in my collection, so that's why I got it. I hope for more updates, soon, I have some things planned... And I have some very cool things waiting to be picked up by me, or on the way here...

Over the last few weeks, i did some small things and collected a lot of stuff again. First, I exchanged my US-spec front lower valance. Before: And After: Euro spec valance: In case you're wondering, what's the difference? The euro spec has the additional mounting holes / nuts to install the Euro spec front spoiler lip. Here you can see the two side-by-side: This allowed me to temporary test fit my wobbly, worn-out, cheaply-repaired Euro spec front spoiler lip: I still need to change the corner valances to euro spec ones, but also the lip needs a replacement, as this one is beyond repair. But at least I could see how it will look: People often say they're impressed with what I'm able to find for purchase. But this time I even surprised myself. You might remember the Eaglemoss Fairlady Z Kit that I bought a while ago and came with a bunch of magazines? The set has dedicated folders / binders to put the magazines into. I always had two missing, so some of the magazines were stored "loosely". Luckily, I was able to find two unused Folders for exactly that kit in Japan: So all the magazines are now nicely stored: And my book shelve / archive looks much better :-) I also bought a small lot of vintage Datsun (Switzerland) Stickers. Some of which I haven't got yet in my collection: Then I also got a bunch of Documents: First, the Datsun Sports 311 Introduction Bulletin from 1967. Theoretically, it has nothing to do with my 240Z project. But with this car the FS5C71A transmission was introduced The original Overdrive transmission, used in a similar (albeit slightly different) configuration in the early EU-spec 240Z. To find information about it is a bit tricky. So when I saw that this booklet has more details about it, which I haven't seen before. I had to get it: Speaking of transmissions, I also got the Japanese Nissan Transmission service manual from 1974: This one includes the later FS5C71B transmission and some general information about Nissan transmissions, which is not found in the 240Z specific documentation: And then i also got another issue of the "Nissan Star", Swiss customer magazine from 1990, which always has cool insights into Nissan from those days: More to come soon.

I collected a few parts again, recently. Some stuff which is required to complete the car: First of all, one of those beautifully crafted S30.world reproduction fuel tanks and tank insulation rubbers. I sold mine at the recent japanclassic show, so I had to get a new one for my project. Secondly, I got a NOS euro spec front lower center valance (with the additional installation holes for the euro front spoiler): This means i can finally replace the crappy old one with the one that actually belongs there. Huge thanks to Alan for helping me with this! Then I got one of those original printed Datsun competition parts catalogues. I already have the Japanese versions and had this one digitally, but I always prefer to have the original printed stuff. For those who don't know the competition parts catalogue, it's basically a "sports option" and racing parts catalogue by Nissan themselves: I also got another issue of the "Nissan Star" magazine. It was a Swiss Datsun / Nissan customer magazine, which always has cool insights at how Nissan (Switzerland) operated back in the days. I also randomly came across this "Nissan 50th anniversary" catalogue from Switzerland. It's completely unrelated to my project, but since I have all the original "50th anniversary" badges, I thought it would be cool to have the fitting catalogue to it with the same logo on the front. Things are a bit crazy at work at the moment, so progress is slow, but I hope to jump back in the project soon. I made a major decision to have the car completed by some professionals, otherwise the project will drag on for another decade. But I still need to complete some tasks by myself, and more details on that topic soon.

Hey @HS30-H, thanks for sharing! Big thanks go out to @kats. Without all of his relentless research, none of my article would have been possible. I hope you all enjoy the read. It's really a topic often overlooked in my opinion, as these cars are quite special.

Recently, a friend and I were working on the 240Z Original R180 differential and we both were not happy with neither the state of the original factory-installed differential strap belt, nor with the replacement options. None of the available replacements look anything close to the original belts. After a b it of research, my friend found this one on AliExpress, which is some sort of V-belt or something: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005006145171328.html make sure to order the 12ribs pk560 type. NOTE: We realized all original belts had different lengths (probably due to wear and tear), so make sure to measure your original one (best done with a piece of tape) before you order. I also cannot guarantee that this will fit perfectly and was not able to install it yet. But so far it looks pretty good: The only problem: the replacement belt has some pretty colorful markings on the outside and is quite shiny. I tried different things, but the best to get rid of it was simply to sand it off with some 80-grit paper: After some manual attempts, I chose the belt-sander to get rid of the rest. Be careful to sand off a minimum only, if you remove too much material, the woven white threads inside the rubber will become visible. Not what you want. And here is the result: Left AliExpress replacement original, Center: Aliexpress sanded down. Right: Original Nissan Belt. I'm quite satisfied, and so far it looks like the most OEM-looking option I have seen so far. Somewhere in future, we'll see how well it fits, too :-)

You're of course right. The FS5C71A transmission (from my cars), have the Porshe style Servo synchros. If you look at the mixed bag of synchros you can see there are all kind of synchros (Brass and Steel synchros) So we were hoping that something might fight my transmission, or at least we figure out what car / transmission they belong to.

Recently, I collected a lot of cool, rare or needed Datsun / Nissan parts and documents again. Let's have a look: First, i got gifted this lovely 510 / bluebird Die cast model from my Lovely lady Myrtha. Big thanks again! She also brought me one of those famous green Datsun Switzerland folders. This one has all the spec-sheets of all Datsuns sold in Switzerland at that time. The specification goes quite deep. These folders were given to dealerships and were in the HQ for a quick check and comparison of technical specifications of all cars: So far I only had copies of the single Z-specific sheets, but now, finally, I have the missing folder in my collection. Very cool. And big thanks gain to Myrtha! Additionally, I got various random bits and pieces from Alibaba, thanks to some tips from my man Urs. Two different sized rubber plugs for the drum brakes (It seems that not all drums have the same hole-diameters?) And various Nylon washers. I will try to see if one of those fits the rear hatch strut damper. Since my original washers are either broken or damaged: My man Stefan also gave me a box of what appears to be Brass synchro gear wheels. We still have to figure out if they'd fit the Z, as they all came without part numbers or description, included in a big Datsun Parts lot. From my Man Dan at Japanese Allstars, I got this starroad Poster. Dan is an official starroad dealer in Switzerland, and he got this during his last visit. Although I'm not a huge fan of the Starroad creations, these days, I really like the photo on this large one-page calendar: After Months of searching, I finally found this 1994 NISMO 10th anniversary parts catalogue. I will put it on display with my NISMO 10th anniversary collection of Accessory catalogue, sticker, steering wheel and shift knob :-) The cool thing is, this catalogue came with an invitation flyer o the NISMO 1995 New year's garage sale at Nissan KN's factory: And even better, a two-page flyer invitation to the founding of the NISMO "club Le Mans". You can read more about that on the official NISMO page. And last but not least, I found this original printed Datsun 240-Z one-page flyer from Datsun Italy. Something very rare, which I've never seen before. Generally, 240Z information from Italy is very sparse, so I had to get it, when it came up for sale: I had some physical work done on some Z-parts too, so I will post another update of a little project soon, too.

I've been busy dealing with life recently, but that doesn't mean I forget spending money on more or less useless automobilia :-) First, the Japanese L-series Service manual. I have it in various language, but never had "the original" one from JP. And since it popped up for a reasonable price, I had to have it. Then i got another Datsun Switzerland price list. This time from April 1980. As usual, you can find all of them scanned in high-resolution for free download, here Some may know my List of various Japanese L6 Intake manifolds, carb kits and Turbo / Surge tank kits. And thanks to a hint, I recently acquired this lovely Japanese printed ad from the very first FET / HKS Turbo Kit. You can read a lot about it in my Intake / Turbo surge tank post, here. Thanks to a hint from Mymechanix, i got a beautiful Differential strap. The originals are usually worn out, and this replacement belt from Aliexpress has the perfect fitments and dimensions. All other alternatives come either in a leather look or rubber, this one is much closer to the original design. Unfortunately the surface is glossy and has some prints on it (see the one on the left) so i will try to sand it down, to get as close to the original look as possible.

So, I have been busy test-fitting various parts on my Z again. To set the alignment of the hood and fenders properly, I had all the hood hardware spacers, dampers and rubbers installed. Next on the to-do list was the rear hatch damper, so I can work on the hatch without having that temporary wood rod as a not-so-safe hatch holder. Wile both dampers I had were still working nicely, the mounting brackets were worn out on both and both had missing or cracked plastic / Teflon spacers. So after I got everything straight and assembled a temporary setup (I still need to find a good set of those plastic spacers). I finally had it all installed. Works perfect. It seems like that little-bit of extra-tension from the damper is required to have the hatch aligned properly with the roofline. I didn't expect the damper itself would already fix the alignment, but I'm happy it does. Now I only need to finalize sanding on the trunk spoiler and bring back the holes for the spoiler emblems. I also need to find a good rear bumper to test fit it. Mine both had a decent hit and are way too wonky to use them for test-fitments. Then, some people were suspicious about that extra sheet metal on my transmission tunnel (I have the updated body version from 1972, but still the early A-transmission, so I suspect they added that sheet metal to cover the hole?). Even though it's the original transmission of this car, it made me want to test fit it, just to be sure it all fits, before i paint the shell. So i had to assemble parts of the transmission first. Mainly the gear selector with the shift rod mechanism. For simplicity, I only used the center section of my FS5C71A five-speed transmission, because that's fine to test fit it. So I added the transmission bracket with the rubber insulator to it. And installed (Bolts only temporary, as usual - please ignore). And here we go. I can shift in all directions without hitting anything. But it's still a bit close to the front. I need to check if I put the directional insulator between the transmission and the mounting bracket in the right direction. And since I had an original center console lying around from my recent center console comparison i put it in there, just for fun's sake. Even though it's all only temporary test-fitting, it's really fun and nice to see all the bits and pieces come together nicely. I have already prepared some next steps on the interior, so stay tuned for another update soon.

Yesterday I got another bunch of NOS parts for my project, straight from the Nissan Stocks: Fuel tank sensor / sender Mounting ring and O-ring, plus the timing cover gasket. Front and rear bumper rubbers, Inspection lid foam rubber pieces and rubber seals Various spark plug wire brackets Hood bumpers, Hood stoppers and inspection lid rubber bumpers Window crank fasteners, Engine tube hose clamps and some heater panel knobs And last but not least, I also got a Swiss 260Z 2+2 brochure, which i for whatever reason didn't have in my collection yet: I also did some actual work on the car again, so stay tuned for another update, soon.

I've collected some parts again recently, so it's time for another update full of random bits and pieces. Reader RIP260Z pointed out that the Pump diaphragm is missing in the American Mikuni rebuilt kits which I got recently, but are included in the Japanese Mikuni rebuild kits. Luckily, I was able to find a guy in Japan who sells all OEM Mikuni / Solex parts individually, and I ordered plenty of parts, that were still available - Including the Pump diaphragms and many wear and tear parts like springs, etc. Speaking of Mikunis, I also found an original Japanese Solex NPHH44 service manual. I had a Copy of it before, but this is an original one, which is very nice to have :-) And on the left side, you can see an original German PHH44 manual. This is a completely different manual for the original Solex PHH44. Those were used on the NSU TT and TTS and the BMW E10, 2002, etc. if I'm not mistaken. The manual is quite useless, as the NPHH44 Mikunis / Solex don't have too much in common with these, but nevertheless it's cool to have a reference to the "original" design of these, with some German explanations. The explanation of the working principle in the German book is really cool, with all those hand-drawn graphics. The biggest part of the various deliveries was this Center console: It's made by VintageDashes in the USA. After he explained how he made it and so on, I decided to give it a try, despite the big price-tag. So far it looks very promising, but i have to check the details. I will compare it with the OEM console and the one from ResurrectedClassics which i also have in stock, soon. I found another Datsun Switzerland pricelist. This time from February 1978. As usual, I scanned them all in high-resolution, and you can download my whole collection here, for free. And then another useless, but cool part. The Eaglemoss-spareparts box. Which belongs to the kit, but sadly was missing in my set. If you want to know more about the eaglemoss 1/18 Fairlady set --> read here, and here. Aside from 2 empty binders (for the magainzes) and the original tool-pouch, my set is pretty much complete, now :-) I already have the next bunch of parts waiting in Japan, a delivery from Nissan directly, and I've worked a bit on the car too and did some research, so you can expect more updates again in a few days. Oh, and I also got a free heavy-duty grinder for my workshop, and cleaned / restored it a bit this week. If this is your kind of thing, then read the full story here.