26th-Z

Yes, that chassis can be saved. Why do you want to? I think I have two good excuses. What's yours? 26th has been collectively that bad over her years and to stop the same condition your car is in, I had to dip her - inside and out. I plan to dip 27th as well. The dip was around $1,600 and body prep, welding, new metal and primer was around $5,700. Now it is time for paint and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the whole body will cost less than $10,000. I did all the grunt work - grinding, sanding, scrubbing, sealing, and sweeping the floor - provided beer for months on end and expect to have the body shell in brand new condition when I am finished. Best of luck!

MSA sells Schneider products. http://www.schneidercams.com/ I bought a whole kit including cam. rockers, lash pads, springs and retainers for the $600 figure. "Rebello" sounds a lot better than "Tom and Tommy's Machine Shop", and I think you have a good plan. I wouldn't say that valve clatter is natural depending on how much noise you are talking about. How many miles do you think you have on the valve train?

Some interesting comments! It is impossible to set a new valve seat too far into the head. The head is machined to recieve a proper seat. There are specs on this in the FSMs. By all means don't work with any machine shop that doesn't know what they are doing. (At least, I don't) The noise you are talking about can come from a number of sources including the timing chain and tensioners. However, the wear pattern on the rocker arms, cam lobes, and the valve shims is critical and will cause noise if any of it changes. In all probability, the noise you are hearing now was caused by something that was changed. I agree with Carl in that as long as you are going this far, you might as well do it all. Especially if your prmary reason for doing this at all is because of noise. Don't forget that worn cam chains and tensioners are noisy also.

I'll tell you how great the Z community is: I was given one of those signed posters and it hangs, framed, at home. I got a Mr. K book in a goodie bag for a convention. It comes with a small card version of the poster as a bookmark. Mr. K signed my book in Syracuse with a special inscription to me and Mike Taylor gave me a signed bookmark card in Dallas. Thanks Mr. K! Thanks Carl! Thanks Mike!

Hey KenshinX! Is it possible to download and save the video files from that site? I can't seem to figure it out.

I think that's pretty cool. Very discrete and nobody but a Z fan would recognize it, but once recognized, would be appreciated. Do you realize that the clock face design came from a wristwatch? Fact. I know who owns the watch and I went looking for pictures of it, but the site is down at the moment. If I am not mistaken, this is the watch - photo taken in 1969.

Thanks for posting this, Gus. Good talking to you last night! This is the "mark your calendars" notice. More will develop next week, like registration, accomodations, etc. But we are go for launch. Florida Z-Fest 2006 in preparation for the 20th annual ZCCA International Convention in Daytona Beach, Florida, 2007. Stay tuned!

Awe...you got it. How long ago was it you told me about this dream? My best congratulations, Alan. I'm going to break open some of that tea and savor this thread!

Steele Rubber Parts http://166.82.96.9/homeframes.html

Welcome to the Low VIN Club. You are going to find that a 1973 model doesn't comapre very well with an early car like yours. I want to comment that Carl and I go around and around about the rubber floor matt thing. I have some rubber matts in 26th, but I also have the window sticker and it clearly states that carpeting is included. 26th came with carpeting. Your example might be interesting to discover what might be Canadian variations to the early HLS30 theme. Do you still have the original alternator and starter? Check out the amperage capacity. I see you are a new member here. Start cruising the archives for discussions about all sorts of parts unique to the early cars. Your link, AZ-240z, is probably the best "show and tell" site going for early stuff. Kats' site. Best of luck with your car! Let's see pictures!

Nutz, Good question, but you need to be a little more descriptive about what you call "undercoating". The underside of your car may have what appears to be a thick, rippled texture to the painted finish. I have noticed this and although I would not refer to it as undercoating, it is a protective painted finish. Undercoating, in most cases as we commonly refer to it, is black. Your '72 did not come from the the factory with black undercoating. It may very well have a "protective painted finish", but it is not what we would refer to as undercoating.

Mine came from a Nissan parts guy friend. I'll bet if you go down to your local dealer and ask the service manager, he'll point you in a good direction. They are vinyl covered foam rubber and have sewn ridges in them at the folds. A quick search of "fender covers" on the internet will get you pages of leads and I will always recommend covering the fenders when you work on the engine. It is just to easy to scratch, dent and stain.

You could prolly go down to Nissan and buy some.

A qualified no. The original upholstery for a '71 model year American import (HLS30) car had metal vents.

That is pretty much the answer, unfortunately. You could try Classic Datsun http://www.classicdatsun.com/ but be wary that certain interior plastic panels apply to certain years if you are looking for correctness.

Looks like everyone loves the new suit of clothes for your queen, C David. Congrats.

All cars - stamped in the firewall in the engine bay, just above the brake master vac. All cars - a plate screwed to the RF strut upright in the engine bay. This ID plate also has the engine serial number.

Carl, I disagree with you and I will thank you to not refer to my opinion as "dribble". In kind, I will try to stay off your case. I too, have read a significant amount of various accounts and documents. I too, have spoken directly with Matsuo-san and Katayama-san. I too, have an example of the car undergoing meticulous reconstruction. And my opinion is "family". I'm sorry you disagree and I think if you buy me a beer, I will feel much better. Alan, you gotta get off his case! Hi Kats! I sent your link to Jim - he is looking for clear glass. Chris

I have a few pieces of old glass with defroster lines and when some friends started asking me to buy my clear pieces, I tried to scrape the defroster lines off with a razor blade. No work! The Yahoo Japan auction has a starting price of about $170 which is about the going rate for clear glass. I have seen it go for up to $300. I guess my encouragement here is "don't give up just because it is in Japan and the seller doesn't want to be bothered with the hassel of international shipping". Stuff is shipped internationally all the time and the fact is that the glass is available. Our cars are old and this is what it is going to take to get the real stuff. And if you think this is an expensive proposition, try getting a windshield!

Yes, arrangements would have to be made. It IS possible and one of the things I have found is that to buy original stuff, one must return to the mother-land.

Notice the picture of the car is not LAL but PTD. There is a lot of confusion surrounding this car as well as the real LAL. I have been following the saga for some time now. $25,000 huh?

The defroster grid cannot be removed from the glass. The glass is etched. Buy a new piece of glass, and if I were you, the correct one. http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k34893503

John Frankenheimer essentially filmed the 1966 Grand Prix season to make the movie. Enzo Ferrari endorsed the work (which was unheard of) and many, many of the racing greats participated. Coupled with the social commentary of Formula One at the time, the movie captures the drama of what was really happening in a sport with such a high death rate. One may think some of the stunts would be typical Hollywood, but no: in fact many of the scenes happened just the way they are protrayed. Frankenheimer pioneered the techniques used for filming racing and the movie won three academey awards.

Just watched it twice. Ten thumbs up. The two-disc set comes with all sorts of extras including interviews with the drivers who helped make the movie – Gurney, Moss, Bondurant, Phil Hill drove the camera car, a GT40. Grand Prix is the best racing movie ever made, hands down. The extra segments that come with this release make the deal a must-have for anyone's racing collection.

John Coffey, I liked your viewpoint and thought I would throw my thoughts into this. I have vested interest and I keep my ear to the market of early cars. I casually watch eBay and the stuff that occasionally pops up - mostly by staying tuned into this site. The first issue I would mention is the award system and car judging standards of the ZCCA. We might argue how comparible the various systems of judging are, but a "gold" system DOES exist in America for judging Zs and top honors are for the few. Yes, there are a lot of Zs out there and we watch them trade all the time. I think the volume of trading has risen in the last two or three years - thus the reported value (which is an average) is lower. Because more cars are trading, the range of value is wider and the junk is outpacing the gems. I have seen several early Zs trade in high twenties / low thirties. A year ago, we watched some fine Vintage Zs trade. What we have not seen publicly, private sales, come to me occasionally also. I have heard of a car trading in Japan for over six figures. I am also aware of other "special models" trading close to the six figure mark. I don't think these cars are computed in the averages. I'm not the most connected, but I hear about and see private collections all the time. There are guys out there collecting gems - large collections of gems; enough for me to comment that the really pristine cars are being found and bought at a very interesting rate. It reminds me of the guy in Atlanta who bought up all the Shelby AC Cobras years ago. The next thing you know, the price of Cobras went through the roof. I firmly believe this is happening right now in the Z market. Yes, the cars are Japanese...and your point? I truely believe that by the time I finish my $40,000 restoration, my Z will be worth $40,000. Like, next year. I truely believe there are guys out there, as you say, who are at the point of being able to buy a toy...or two...or "hey! these are cheap - I'll by four". I'm watching guys younger than me doing it right now. Hell, I have two! My conclusion is that the junk is going down in value and the gems are going up way high, way fast.