davewormald

Wow!

Does anyone here have any recent experience with Datsun Garage? I placed a big order with them back in July, and haven't received anything from them yet. They sent me a few messages not long after the order was placed, letting me know that some of the items were back-ordered, and could take a while to ship. I received a reply to an email I sent them a few weeks ago, and was told that they'd check on the status of my order, but since then they've gone silent in spite of my sending a bunch of emails and calling them repeatedly. Has anyone received anything from them recently? On the flip side of this coin, I'm seriously impressed by KF Vintage. I've placed two orders with them, and both have been delivered (Colombia to Canada) in eight days or less. Shipping costs were reasonable and tracking info was meticulously delivered.

If I'd seen all this when I first started looking at the car a few years ago, I doubt I would have moved ahead with it. So I'm really glad I didn't look too hard! It would be interesting to know what state it was in when it was moved from Georgia to Ontario back in 1994. Five Toronto winters, followed by 20 years in a garage (even a dry one) probably accelerated dramatically anything that had started in the south.

I've been in a few Tesla's, and they weren't very interesting to me at all. I got a demo of the 0-60 acceleration in either Insane or Ludicrous mode (can't remember which), and it was quite surreal, but it didn't compare to accelerating an IC engine through its gears, even though it happened in a third of the time. Silly developments like this one tell you that there are people who will never see electric cars as a replacement for their IC-powered toys: "For those who find electric cars a bit boring, Toyota engineers are working on a realistic-feeling fake manual transmission as a possible feature. To be clear, a manual transmission on an electric car would serve absolutely no purpose. It would be just for fun, an add-on for people who like shifting gears in their gasoline-powered cars." I've also seen articles talking about manufacturers adding engine-like sounds to their cars. It's hard to imagine the people they're aiming these "innovations" at being "fooled". I'm an electrical engineer. I've spent most of my career in software businesses. In my opinion, auto manufacturers have always botched up electrical systems, and have been even worse with more sophisticated electronics, and (especially) user interface design (post-physical dials, buttons, and switches). Modern "infotainment" systems are abominations. It's one of those glaring hypocrisies that we levy heavy fines for distracted driving when someone touches a cell phone while driving, but expect people to adjust the cabin temperature or change the radio station on one of those things. Give me an early Z dashboard any day (even with the cracks).

I kind of look at this as two different activities. For a lot of travel, I'd love to be able to call a car to come pick me up and drive me to my destination while I read/talk/sleep/drink a beer. This would have been especially true when I was travelling for business, and had only a crappy rental to drive. On the other hand, I like driving, so there are times when I want to go out just to enjoy driving, either as a dedicated activity, or as a side benefit while I'm going somewhere. Fortunately, I don't think driving is likely to be banned in most of our lifetimes, though gas and parts could one day get very expensive and hard to find. So @grannyknot you don't need to add the self-driving option to my car.

I can only address number 3, and only speculatively. It sure looks like a corn cob. We seem to be raising corn-fed mice or rats! The house I lived in when I first bought this car was on a lot cut out of a corn field. I moved out of that house in 1996. I'm wondering if it goes that far back! It's more likely that they pulled the cob out of the nearby garbage can in the garage and took it back to their "dining room". I did drop in on Chris the other day when he was enjoying some quality time with removal of the tar mat. No dry ice was evident, but he did comment that recent cool mornings made the mat more brittle and easier to remove.

Unless Chris has hooked this one up, I can't honestly claim that this one is still working, either! I was playing tapes in it in the late '90s, but it's been sitting in the garage for a lot of years since then. It's possible that the mice stashed some of its important parts in the ventilation ducts.

That would be great, but it isn't a priority. I agree it would look better without it, but I don't think any of it is doing any harm. I thought the passenger rear wheel well looked original - thought it still had the weld marks, where the driver's side doesn't. The paint job was pretty terrible. I suspect it was done just before the car was sold. Looks like the radio/tape deck is late '70s/early '80s vintage, so it probably came with the car (I didn't get the car until 1994). I did install a set of rear speakers in a piece of wood that ran across the back of the hatch. Sadly, I also hacked out the piece of plastic at the bottom of the slot in the console so it would fit better. I remember regretting it even as I was doing it! At one time I had the original radio (and some gauges) from either the '72 or '73 that I owned back in the '80s, but somewhere along the line I got rid of them. Too bad. The good news is that I still have a few old cassette tapes hanging around!

Shiny is what it's all about! I'm not keen on that pollution control stuff getting in the way of my driving! It mostly looks like a bunch of vacuum leaks waiting to happen anyway!

Did you have a close look at the hose I've circled in the picture? I believe it's a solid piece of rubber. I thought it was interesting that someone would actually have manufactured such a thing. I don't think any of the pollution control stuff was functional. The air pump had been removed and the air conditioner had been installed where it was normally mounted. I wonder what valuable things the mice stored in the ventilation system, aside from the jute from under the carpets. As far as the dash goes, I'm keen on preventing the cracks from getting longer. If holes at the ends of the cracks are effective, it's better than having them extend farther into the dash.

I think it's quite likely that I left them off when I was adjusting the carbs a couple of years ago. They might have been in the bag with the remaining parts of the carb refurb kit.

I remember having that problem when I had my 240Z back in 1984/1985. I also seem to remember that if you shifted out of 4th, then tried to go directly back into it, the result could be noisy. The problem got worse when I sold the 240Z at the end of 1985 and replaced it with a 1983 280ZX with a 5 speed. The problem was a bit more severe when you forgot you were already in 5th and tried to shift up one more time ...

I'm in Canada, so I tried amazon.ca, without success. Amazon.com returns a dizzying array of products. You can add a filter for the Make/Model/Year of your car, and it returns lots of products, but when you click on any of them, you're told it isn't a fit for your vehicle. Fabulous! The hassle of getting things to Canada means you want to be certain when you order something. The recent exception was an order of 9 body parts from KFVintage. They arrived a week after I ordered them and the shipping charge was quite reasonable. I figured if @inline6 has the Exedy part number, that would be the safest bet, since (based on VINs) our cars are the same variants.

Is the Exedy clutch kit this one? The page doesn't give much detail. I'm confident that this one on eBay is the correct one because the part numbers match yours. I need to order the same thing for my 04/71 car. I'm willing to pay the extra $20 to make sure I get the correct one, but won't if I don't have to!

Looks like there are owls in my cylinder head. What did you use to clean off the fender supports (or whatever they're called)? I spent hours cleaning the dealer undercoating off the insides of the wheel wells. The metal underneath most of it was beautiful, but it was quite a job. I used everything I could think of, including kerosene, wire wheels, a heat gun and scraper, sandpaper, a grinder, etc. Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk

This is what I love about this forum. Experts helping experts. None of the usual online nonsense. The car and I are feeling well looked after. Thanks guys! Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk

Good reminder. That's actually the only key to the car. I should get more made! Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk

Did I neglect to mention the neglect? I was actually pretty good with routine maintenance of the old Datsuns, although this one didn't get a tune-up for a long time toward the end. For those who weren't there, I commented to Chis the other day that I had a 2003 Mini Cooper S (great car) prior to my current 2013 model. Mini's recommended oil change interval was 25,000 km. The on-board computer adjusted that distance based on driving patterns. I was driving 150km per day on highways at the time. The longest interval the computer got to was 42,000 km. Mini dialed back their recommendation to 15,000 km (or two years) on the new models, but rumour has it that they only did it because of blowback from their service departments and garages that were appalled by the original recommendations. I'm sure synthetic oil, better filters, tighter tolerances, etc, have a lot to do with these variations. I drive a lot less these days, and do a lot more oil changes. I suspect I'll never see my car again if I don't agree to stay on top of this one. No need to worry. I don't plan to ever let this one go, so I'll behave!

It got plenty of those when I first picked it up in 1994! I remember a time just before I put it in the garage (1999?) for its long sleep when I was heading up Hwy 427 from the Gardiner Expressway. There was a guy right on my tail, so I dropped down a gear and floored it. It didn't impress him with its get up and go, but it caused him to wave his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke. It was soon "replaced" by an Infiniti J30. I had two young kids at the time, and the sedan made a lot more sense, but the engine was still fun. I'm looking forward to the first spirited drive of the car's new life next year. That will be you in the driver's seat, of course - I can do the boring break-in, if you want.

I occasionally ground coffee in cylinder 4. Is that bad?

I was the last one to adjust valve lash, so all bets are off!

Oh well. It's good to find these things early. I guess we'll soon know how bad a problem it is. I can't remember the exact details around the shifter, but Ken (who I bought the car from) had a Z with a very short shifter, that I really liked. I asked him about it and he said he'd change mine if I wanted. If I remember correctly, I didn't like the one he made for me, and by the time I went back to him to get the original back, it was gone (Ken's shop was an interesting place). I ended up with the one you've discovered (which I don't think I was all that fond of either).

You really don't mess around! Awesome to see the engine coming out. Were you able to do a compression test before pulling it? I did a couple two years ago, but didn't trust the results, which weren't consistent with each other. Can you tell whether that's the original clutch? It definitely looks to be at the end! I found quite a bit of the original marker paint when I started cleaning it up a few years ago. The car had clearly not had much done to it before I got it, and I didn't touch it. Before it started to deteriorate from lack of maintenance, the engine was really strong. Hopefully it soon will be again!

I had assumed that the seats were re-covered at some point before I bought the car, but I've never seen another Z with the same ones. If the cushions weren't shot, they'd be ok. They're more comfortable than vinyl! I asked in another thread at one point whether anyone knows why people cut the long nose off the air filter cover? I've seen some pictures on BaT that looked the same, but I'm not sure why people do it. Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk