26th-Z

Welcome to mid life! Now you can do just about anything, but you know more about it!!! At the bottom of the "POST REPLY" window is a highlighted "attach file:" box with a browse button. Hit browse and find your picture or address and insert it there. File size is limited so beware of how large the image size is and adjust it accordingly. Good luck finding a new Zed to play with. I'm taking mine all apart.

I found this cable in my car and wonder what it is. The cable goes over the top of the passenger wheel arch and down into the dog leg. That end is just the cut end of the cable, but finished so that it won't fray. The eye loop is woven ito the cable. Was this used to pull the wiring harness over the wheel arch? Anyone seen one of these?

Alan, Do you find that color "anthracite" to be consistant with all the accessory trim on the car? Hubcaps, tail light valance, grill?

The U-joint casting will have a grease nipple if it is meant to be serviced. Check each joint in the drive and half shafts and you should see a small grease nipple from the + piece between the shaft yokes. Clean it off and use a common grease gun to apply grease, rotating the shaft to get the best clearance on the nipple. I'm sure we could get into a rauchous converstation about what kind of grease to use, but any common suspension grease will do. Once filled, the grease will start coming out of the four ends of the u-joint. Wipe it all down nice and clean or the grease will spin off and on to your car. If you don't find a grease fitting, it could be missing; look for a hole, the u-joint was not meant to be serviced. I have used both types and can't report any longevity difference. I seem to go through half shafts so often, I bought a spare set of shafts. You will notice the joints going bad by clicking from the axle shafts when you start out in first gear. Very, very slowly let out the clutch with no throttle until the car just begins to roll. You will hear perhaps a series of clicks as each u-joint reacts to the torque. Loud, noticable clicks are bad and mean the joint needs to be replaced.

Very good conversation, guys. Everyone loves to look at those photographs. I did not know that the bulkhead pressings came solid. The workmanship on the conversion looks pretty good IMHO. Liners for those boxes are on sale at this very moment http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=42612&item=2432492871 If I were you, I'ld do both arrangements.

I went to the German Grand Prix a couple years ago and I have been to the French Grand Prix many years ago. Take every opportunity to see this spectacle of motor racing. I know all the comments - it's boring, Bernie is a jerk, no American drivers, etc., but you just have to see a race to appreciate how crazy the Europeans are about the sport. We get kind of spoiled in America with so many different forms of motor racing. F1 is a serious big deal everywhere else. It is serious big bucks and the technology involved is beyond comprehension. I will get to an F1 race at Indy - some one of these days. I'm jealous of all of you who go. Take pictures! PS - Budweiser is sponsoring BMW Williams now, and should put on the ritz for this year's race.

Better shot of my rear deck and bulkhead

Thanks - that works. I think I can get these locally.

Kmack, The Ziex site shows them discontinued.

I'm curious. How heavy is that shell? How many guys to lift it?

You may have a broken switch. It should stay down until the steering wheel rotates back.

Can't bear the thought of drilling a hole in your car? You can patch a hole. Buy an extra set of headlight buckets. I don't know who MSA is kidding...tape. Who wants to make me a great deal and sell me a set of Nissan chrome ringed headlight covers?

Hey y y Nice. Congratulations

I have been doing a little research on this subject and buy a bunch of stuff from http://www.carcareonline.com/ EScanlon makes a good point about the rubber flexing. Rubber needs to flex or it will "dry rot". The chaulk you are talking about, Mark, is dry rot. Turns out, silicon oil and formaldyhide are the two worst things you can put on rubber, or vinyl for that matter. Petrolium products will turn rubber to thick jelly. Most nationally advertised / marketed products contain at least silicon oil. Vinyl materials develop white spots because of silicon oil and rubber dries unevenly because of the stuff. Go to this website - Car Care Specialties, Inc. - and read what this guy has to say. Do some web searches for "rubber restoration" and "vinyl restoration" and you will find similar discussions. A product called "Black Again" is very controversial and may be worth a try. Evidently, it is not the same formula as everyone loved years ago, but try 3M products, One Grand products, and Mequiar's products. Take the rubber off. Clean it up real well with soap and water and soak it with something like "One Grand Exterior Rubber and Vinyl". While it is still dripping wet, put it in a ziplock bag and spray some more in the bag for good measure. Seal the bag up and let it sit for a week. Let me know what you think.

I have two indents on the dash - typical early series - and one indent has the hazard flasher switch. The upper indent is just closed off, but has the frame for another switch behind it. I also have provision for a hand throttle next to the choke. My console has two switch locations with cover plates - one for the rear glass demister, and the other for fog lamps - as the icon images indicate. The plastic tool lids are not the same size BTW. I would love to see a chassis with both tool doors and lids. What say you 240znz?

This is the best shot I have of my deck. The rear deck wall with the tool lid tabs is just below and out of the picture. But, you can see my rear deck has simple cutouts and no tool doors. I sent some photos of the tabs to mdbrandy some time ago, but must have erased them. What does yours look like?

I would love to see a photograph of the tool doors in the rear deck AND tabs for the tool lids. Fascinating. Better yet, install the tool lids AND THEN take a picture. Now THAT'S rare! Congrats.

I had a good look at a pair of headlight covers today. They were chrome rims and plexiglass covers. The rim screws to the headlight bucket / scoop and the lens sits in a rubber seal. Check out the other thread about headlight covers. It got me on a quest.

I have a current? Fujimi catalog and the 432 is supposedly NLA. Just putting my feelers out.

Good advice, JEFF. A car that has been sitting that long will have lots of little problems and you will end up doing all these things sooner or later. Lubricating everything is essential. I wouldn't be surprised if the clutch and brake hydraulics will need some help, also. If that car has only 50,000 miles on it, there is no reason to think that all this work would result in a very dependable, fun car. Datsuns have that reputation, don't they!

I have to agree on the Lotus. I would love an early Elite with the TOHC Coventry Climax engine. You can see my taste in cars runs about the same as the Z.

Hey E TRAIN, I just started taking my Z apart for the restoration. I think I know the $9000 Z you refer to. Don't know if it sold or not. It has been advertised in Hemmings for quite a while. There are not many Z's in Sota. I just saw two older ladies cruising down the road in what appeared to be a 72 or 73 with air conditioning. Really surprised me. I'm looking for a 432 model kit in 1/24.

Some of the pictures show prices in Yen. I can't read the text either, but if the number figure IS Yen, a simple conversion will tell you what to expect. For instance the headlight covers convert to $468. I don't know if that's for one or two, but shipping must be considered. I'm surprised someone - especially you guys out in California - doesn't know someone who could translate. Great site!

The operating manual for my BMW says to not use the cruise control in wet and slippery conditions. For what it's worth.

Alan, I think price and marketing in North America had a lot to do with the initial American spec. The American market had costly emission requirements too. I suspect Datsun was completely unaware of how successful they would be and sold the cars as inexpensively as they could. It's all speculation, but I suspect Americans would have gladly paid more for the 240 Z optional equipment, had they known what a great car it turned out to be. Datsun seemed to have had a treasure chest of parts from which to construct many variations of the basic S30, as you point out. What they chose to sell in America had a lot to do with the way they saw themselves in this market. Brian Long references popular British cars as the predominant competition, however the American muscle car reigned at the time of the Z's initial introduction. First marketing campaigns emphasized economy and style whereas we look at the Z now from a performance aspect. I don't think anyone realized the potential of the Z until a year or two later with the race results from Brock, Morten, Fitzgerald, et.al. Most Americans I talk to about my car didn't even realize the Z was first sold in 1969. Most talk of their '72s or later when the components we are discussing became available in the States.