26th-Z

This is the most comprehensive article on the subject of hand throttles I know of. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10229&highlight=hand+throttle This is where you owe me a beer for not searching the archives, ezzzzzz. Yes Texasz! Remember that collection? I watched all of the items someone "found" in their dad's garage. All way overpriced and all went unsold - no bids. But back to the original question. Read the thread I linked and ask away about making one. Its a simple mechanical device. The knob is going to be the most difficult.

Maybe you guys aren't keeping track of prices, but a hand throttle set-up complete and brand new has been going in the $400 and up range for well over a year. The last three I have seen were the square knobs and the cheapest of the lot went for $350 used. Brand new ones have been as high as $500. I tried to get one out of a junk yard a couple of months ago and thought the $100 price was a steal. Remember that thread?

Those are the short versions. I have a couple and $20 is a good price for a blank like that. I have seen them go as high as $40.

I'll post more pictures and I'll try to get some shots of the tank set-up with the chemical names. I certainly won't use a BAD epoxy primer, you guys! Here's the wacky plan. Tell me what you think. It's not "original", but everyone I tell seems to smile and think it will work just fine. The body shell is completely void of anything but metal. The sound insulation is gone. The seam seal caulking is gone. Everything except the plastic coating on the wiring harness tabs that are welded to the body. All the seams are wide open, rust free, and everything is exposed. Even though there is still a lot of body preparation to go, sealing the car up from bare metal is essential. I have about a ten day time frame. So we're going to put the car up on stands with a big sheet of visqueen on the floor. I'm going to mix a thin batch of primer and pour it into a Home Depot pump-up garden sprayer. You know, the ones with the log plastic wands and spray nozzle? I'm going to spray down the inside of the shell; not caring about any mess I make or how sloppy the spray runs down the inside of the channels until the car is literally dripping from the seams. You just shove the wand up in there, hit the trigger and slowly pull the wand out. In all fairness, 26th-Z lasted 35 years with no protection inside the shell. But that's why I chose this method to get rid of the rust. Its gone - inside and out.

Here is an old picture of my early key and lock parts. This was when I cleaned the locks for 26th-Z. Notice the key at the bottom right has a longer stem than the two next to it. The point at the end is sharp. I have seen this key in early Z ignitions. My key is the short version like the single key in the middle. The three blank keys are aftermarket blanks - not Nissan.

Hi Kats! I thought we talked about this a long time ago. Here is ignition and keys for 26th-Z. I want another ignition like this for 27th-Z.

I let priorities get in the way again. I bought some expensive car parts instead.

I checked out the tanks, Dave. Sodium hydrochlorate, I'm thinking. And Sodium Cyanide. And Sodium something else. There was a dangerous chemicals tag on the tank and I don't exactly remember. I was surprised. I'm told the dried finish is "like a baking powder". Its not thick enough to look white. Just a few streaks. The tank uses huge copper plates and the rectifier is the size of a large welding machine. The conductors are about 1". I'll ask more when I go to get the car next week. I had all the welding done and they are dipping it one last time to get it clean.

So whom ended up with the magazines?

That Countach belonged to a freind of mine at the time. He actually finished a real Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash the year that Rick Cline and Jack May set the record at 35 hours 53 minutes. He drove a Lotus Esprit which suffered an engine fire in Arizona. Terry met a guy in LA named Detlof Claudius who was putting Buick small block aluminum V8s in the Esprit. He left the car out there and I flew out several months later to drive the car home. True story. I remember picking up a newspaper in Texas to see that the Skyway Bridge had collapsed. Terry is in the movie standing around at the pre-race driver's meeting. The Cannonball Run movie is somewhat documentary. With liberal Hollywood interpretation, many of the events in the movie actually occured. Actors were substituted to protect the guilty! Brock Yates wrote a book about the Cannonball. It was quite the event and full of controversy at the time. The first "Cannonball" was Yates and Dan Gurney in a Kirk White Ferrari 365GTB. As I recall, there was a Camero with gas tanks filling the back seat with the strategy of driving straight through on one tank of gas. The ambulance actually happened. The car in the swimming pool actually happened. In the opening scenes, Burt Reynolds drives up to John Paul's shop in Georgia. I contend "Cannonball Run" is part of motor racing history. If you like the movie, get Yate's book.

I'm blaming the whole thing on Carl Beck. Honest. He told me to do it ! ! ! I like the response "It fits me like my favorite clothes". Right on. One restores any car because they like it and they like to work on cars. As simple as that. I like to work on cars. Her Majesty fell into my lap many years ago and I like her. She's interesting, easy to work on, and a unique example of a famous car. I'm very proud of her. Princess 27th fell into my lap on eBay last year. The electrons must have been in alignment and my monitor directed me to a unique opportunity in Delaware. I just followed the fates. I don't know...you do one car...you do two cars...la-de-da. Matt, please extend my greetings to your dad for doing what he is with you. You will treasure these moments. Enjoy the ride. A couple of other comments: the stock L24 is not slow. Everyone knows that. The 240Z is a Japanese import sports car, not American. At the time, it competed in the American sports car market with cars from Jaguar, Porsche, Triumph, Fiat and Opel. Someone said something about crashing one and fixing up another. You may not survive the crash. S30 body shells are NOT safe by today's standards. Keep that in mind when you are out hot rodding around. Furthermore, crashing is a violation of rule # 1 and immediately puts you in the poor driver category and subjects you to public ridicule! :knockedou Hanging out with you freaks has actually been a fun part of my restoration experience. When I started, I didn't realize how big a deal this is and how many people are restoring Zs. This Z thing has been fun. 26th is scheduled to return home next week. All the welding work is done and she is getting her final de-rust dip this week. A huge hurdle is passed and I'm well on my way to $35,000. She's going to look much better.

We have sports car rental places here in Sarasota. I could go down the street and rent a Ferrari by the hour. There is a place renting Harleys by the hour. Good idea, but I think I should exert some prudence and play one of my "cheapskate" cards. I did sign up for the historic Watkins Glen track tour. Perhaps I'll go down to the Nissan dealer in Syracuse and ask for a test drive.

Do any of you guys up there in NY know where I can rent a 350Z for the week? I would like to do the track day.

Terry, Most rotisseries are built to hold a car much heavier than a Z. We have discussed this several times. Do a rotisserie search. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5039&highlight=rotisserie I can lift the front end easily. The back is a little hard to find a place to grab and lift, but I would say two guys - perhaps three - can easily lift an S30 shell.

Three point seat belts with shoulder straps were standard on all models from day one. The early early belts had black buckles and the top was a lift release like ariline buckles. The later series one belt buckles were push button release with a Z logo in the middle. The chrome hardware for the two varieties differs in shape and size as well. In both cases, the shoulder strap clips on to the lap belt as Mike indicated. Can't seem to find a picture of the early belts. Here are the later style non-retracting belts.

I don't have a clue, Dan.

Rounded chrome piece? Look like this? Original coat hook.

Oh, cool! Show and tell. This is one of my all time favorites. Get this if you ever see it. The whole thing is Z car.

Hey Ken, your hanger isn't angled back properly according to the manual! I love this conversation. Everyone is right-on correct to the best of my knowledge. The screw that holds the seat belt hanger is chrome and about the same size as Dan described previously. Is there a big demand for the washers? I have a few laying around and they could be made without too much trouble. Just so everyones knows, my cars are not this way at all. I don't have the washer or the screw, my coat hooks are chrome knobs and the belt hook screws to my seats. When the seats came with retract mechanisms, the belt hooks were moved to the side of the car.

I have the third one and you are right Alfa, I'm gonna go broke! Yes, they are written in Japanese, Gav. I need to figure out how to just get a subscription.

Mike, Is that the tab on the window frame you have? That's the tab for the screw. There are frames without those tabs and no screw or clear washer either. The interior trim warps and doesn't fit well without the screw and I believe the feature was added to the cars early on. My cars don't have clear washers. The other picture is the seat mounted hook. It is very small. The link is to Kat's site

http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz903/washer.html The seat belt "clip" hanger comes in two varities. The one mounted on the lower hole, Mike, is 1-1/2" long and solid black plastic. The clips also screwed to the side of the seat and they are half the size and plastic covered metal. I need three of them. (revised) correctomundo! If your quarter window frames have the little tab and there is a hole in the interior panel, then you need the clear washer and the screw.

I call it anthracite. The grey / gray color of the hubcaps, rear valance, and front grill. It is a lacquer paint and has a dull finish. Anthracite is the color of my license plate light. It is painted over black plastic. Now...you didn't ask me about no stink'n gasket. I'll have to go back and check.

I have one new in the box, Joseph. I'll go out to the shop and report back.