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As I am a week away from taking the car to the painter, I find myself looking online at silver 240z's. Examining the original factory 901 silver on the inside of my tool door, I am having difficulty many of the cars I see online which have been painted "901" silver. While lighting can certainly play a role, is it possible that some people take a bit of liberty with silver - and choose something a bit less grey? For example, my other Z is silver too. Just - not 901 silver:

Well - the long version is in the 21 page document - LOL. The short version is that I want them to spray silver on top of the undercoat, but not to full coverage. I want to replicate how the factory did it. So, lots of direct spray on rear fender wells and some on the front fender wells, and some on the floor and spare tire well.

Getting so close to handing the car over for painting - I am very excited to finish this phase of the restoration. I've written up painting instructions for the place that will be painting the car. Many reference pictures included, but even so, it is 21 pages long!!!!! Link included there if any of you would like to check it out. My punch list is going to be challenging to get through by bedtime on the 12th. Hoping I don't run into any unforeseen issues. A quick walk around video: Sometime this week, or this weekend, I plan to bolt on the custom wheeled sub assemblies I made and take it off the rotisserie. I'll post some videos going around the car with some silicone and wax remover sprayed on to have a final look at the quality of the body work.

I have been motivated to put in more hours last weekend and this weekend. My deadline for finishing the body work is the night of Feb 12 when I go to bed. Little things here and there are getting addressed along with final wet sanding. One of the things I noticed a while back is that the sound deadening mats are supposed to have rounded corners at the luggage strap bolt down location and at the mid point. Took care of that: Another thing I have been needing to do is make some block off plates for the holes that were cut in the firewall for the dealer installed AC. I made some plates and tack welded them in, then sealed with seam sealer. This way, if I decide to add AC later, it will be pretty easy to knock these plates out. Tomorrow, I will be shooting the entire exterior with a couple more coats of primer. Sanding from this point forward will be 600 grit or finer.

I found some similar boots when I searched for RC boat parts like this on eBay.

I have this belief that, generally speaking, successful selling and buying should be getting easier, not more difficult. If I had to source parts by dealing with local club members, or my local community, I am afraid it would cost me more and take me longer, and actually, I doubt I could source everything I need. It is apparent to me that the classifieds section of our forum is not a hot location to look for parts. But why is that the case? It seems to me that it has a couple of advantages over other options. For example, there are no seller fees, which is like 12.9% of the sale price on eBay.

Yes.

Regarding the block, I have found that in some cases, you just have to request Jauce to look into it, and it will become unblocked. In other words, just because it says it may not be shipped internationally, doesn't mean that is actually the case. I was able to buy a couple of items recently that were both blocked for the same reason, initially. Price is what it is. Maybe another one will come along, or somebody here may have a used one to sell for less.

Got lucky with this purchase this morning - a NOS hatch lock! And it comes with two of the old style keys! I bought a lock from Kuwait recently for a Cedric that came with two of these keys. Using a lock tumbler kit, I started rekeying my locks (which is not difficult). And now, this comes along. 🙂 Sometimes this happens: I buy one thing to solve a need (need two old style OEM keys), and then find a better deal that solves another (hatch cylinder even after re-keying was quite worn). So, now, I will have two sets of these old style keys, but a new hatch cylinder without wear (and no need to have the lock cylinder outer sleeve re-chromed). I also was able to find another Datsun tumbler kit. This one has the ignition switch tumblers.

Cool!

Is this that mirror? https://www.jauce.com/auction/d1077956240

Is this you, Bob? https://skagit.craigslist.org/pts/d/oak-harbor-datsun-240z-260z-280z/7569354926.html Many Z items from this seller in the Skagit, WA on CL... I've tried to reach about these washers, but no response.

Hubcaps have arrived - these have been on my list for a very long time! Thanks Hank!

That is nice find!

New arrival today:

@kats: Do you still have this jack? (QFV) 😍

Kit with crimping tool included ($20 savings): http://www.vintageconnections.com/Products/Detail/180 Tape: http://www.vintageconnections.com/Products/Detail/184 and various wrap sizes here: http://www.vintageconnections.com/Products/Sleeving-and-Wrap

Another arrival today - various parts for repairing or replacing the wiring harness for Datsuns. The contents include most, if not all, of the parts to make a complete 240Z wiring harness, and have many leftover. I also ordered various sizes of shrink wrap, wiring harness tape, and a special crimping tool for the connectors in the kit.

Hi Katz, Thanks for the information about jacks and wheel chocks not needing to be as close to month of car manufacture as I was thinking. I will expand my range to include earlier than before. I tried finding factory assembly footage on Youtube but didn't find any specifically showing late stages of assembly. I found a few seconds of footage where the seats were being installed in a 1973 car. Perhaps there is video footage to be found of assembly of 240z's and 510's in 1970-71? I am still puzzled by the half moon cuts in the bumpers. The mounting brackets have captured nuts - welded on that do not rotate. There there is no need for wrench there and the bolt attaches from inside (other side) of the body panel. Perhaps the half moon cuts allow a tool for pushing the brackets a little to help align with the hole in the body, so the bolt can fasten? I do not know. The brackets are somewhat easy to bend and move a bit.

Interestingly, I have seen another variant, and it appears to be painted black - note both front and back are black: I am beginning to think that the ones with the beige back side (the one you bought in 2015) have a very thin layer of vinyl and are not painted. I think it has a vinyl with a different texture than the originals. I have two of them and was looking at them very closely last week. Doesn't look like wrinkle paint to me. I also have two originals that came with my 1971 car. The backside is bare metal and rusting like yours in the top of your pics. The vinyl is "non-backed" and very thin - like ".015 at a guess. It is a different pattern/texture for sure.

@SpeedRoo: just confirming my car is a 6/71. Thanks.

A few additions arrived a few days ago and today: Vacuum advance - my first purchase from an auction in Japan: A spare front turn signal lens and a handbrake boot (thanks Ken!) And, after a bit of straightening of one of the side brackets and some light glass bead blasting, I was amazed with this bumper I got off of eBay last week. It has less surface rust on the inside surface than the one that came with my Arizona/Colorado car that was stored for nearly 30 years (I will only be showing the end pieces and not the center bar in pics below): My car's bumper ends are the ones on the outside, the bumper off of eBay are the two on the inside (first pic), plus pictures of NOS ends (on the right in the third pic): Interestingly, the NOS parts have these "half moon cut outs in close proximity with the brackets - I have no idea why:

Yes, the cowl panel sheet metal moves around quite a bit. My car has this reinforcement plate added - see technical bulletin info: This replacement padding used in conjunction with the now properly shaped cowl panel gave this thin body panel some support. That helped make the bodywork easier. I found a paint color that is similar to the original primer (or is it primer?) used at the factory. I plan on spraying this to cover all the areas inside the cowl - all that is underneath the cowl panel. It is currently covered in the light grey Glasurit primer. But, I don't want to leave anything in grey primer because, to my knowledge, the primer absorbs water. Which begs the question, is that grey used by the factory a primer, or a color coat? Seems like Z's of many colors have this grey used as a coat over top of the red oxide, and then followed by the final color coats. Anyway, I do not want the cowl panel removed from the car when sprayed. I want it in place on the car. As can be seen from this picture of https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-264/, these cars were painted at the factory with the cowl panel "in place". The grey can be seen here. Note the lack of color below the slot the cowl panel slips into, and the over spray area through the cowl slats. This is one of the OCD things (of many) that I want done. So, the inside of the cowl will be this color: Maybe that is a bit more blue - I dunno. I am partially colorblind, so I did my best.

A couple of discontinued, NOS parts in my hoard for the car I am restoring:

Thanks for the information, Alan. By the month of manufacture stamped on the door tag, and the VIN number compared with others on the Zhome registry, I figured my car was completed in the back half of the month of June, 1971. By the date stamp on my tank, I wonder if I can conclude that it was completed on that day. Seems likely. Since that day in 1971, 51 years, 6 months and 8 days have passed. Hopefully, in another 6 months, I'll have the restoration on this one completed. Wish I could find a jack and wheel chocks with the correct date stamps. And for that matter, an original spare tire with a date stamp that is before, but around that, the 26th week of 1971: