Mike B

Funny! I didn't know they were actually going to use the picture with me in it or I would have sucked my gut in some:). Mrs Brock wanted to test out the car cover fit before she started sending them out across the country, and I think I am the only person close by that they know with a Z. Anyway, they are very nice people and it is always fun to talk to them. Peter looked my Z over for a long time. I think it has been awhile since he has seen one as stock as mine. He seemed really impressed with the original hubcaps that I have on it now and he liked the red with white interior combination. I should have brought two Z's and a couple of LeMans wheels over and we could have recreated the original photo! Did anyone notice anything about the picture of the 510 with the cover on it? Carl, I was surprised that it was a different design than the original one you posted pictures of in this old thread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=211600&postcount=14. I asked the Brocks about it, but they didn't recall the type you have. -Mike

Chris, How would that work if you completed one as a running car in the US? Would it be drivable on the street or only on a track? I wouldn't think you could you register an aluminum recreation of a 40 year old body shell for street use without safety testing, etc. -Mike

Here is a similar thread from a couple of years ago. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28881

I've never seen that approach before. Let us know how that turns out. -Mike

Here are the pictures after the POR-15, top coats, and sealant. -Mike

Just thought I would show some before and after pictures now that I have the tank back in my 72. I'm really happy with how it turned out and glad that I went ahead with sealing the tank while it was out. Here are some pictures of the tank and straps before I took it out and after the POR Metal Ready and Marine Clean treatments. -Mike

I agree that the Sblake01 related posts don't belong in the thread, but I don't think we really need people posting for sale ads in threads either. If he has a question about whether he should sell or not, that is fine. He got several opinions about that and what his car might sell for, even though the thread comes across as more of an ad for the car to me. However, I don't see the need to bring the thread back 6 weeks after the last post by asking for offers.

Not to be rude, but do we even need a "parting with my Z" thread? Why not just post it in the classified ads section?

I have never seen a metal one, so I would say that it is probably not original. -Mike

Isn't it just black plastic? If you strip the silver overspray paint off it, wouldn't it already be black without having to paint it?

Well, $100 an hour is actually a pretty stand hourly rate for a mechanic, at least here in Seattle. It shouldn't take more than about 15 mins to change the spark plugs. You can just buy a spark plug socket for a few dollars and do it yourself. Hopefully you at least have a ratchet set to use with it. -Mike

I don't know about a 280Z, but for a 240Z you can get spark plugs for less than $3 each, so about $18 for 6. Changing spark plugs is about the easiest thing you can do. If his labor rate is about $100/hour it sounds like he is charging you for an hours labor, which seems excessive to me. -Mike

The car show is always on Sunday, so everyone meets up Sunday morning. -Mike

I hope the weather is as nice for the show as it was this weekend! -Mike

Yep, that is the original touch up paint. There should be a small dab of the color on top of the can (905 red in your case). Here is a picture of the can of 904 white that came with HLS30-00210. My 5/72 came with a can of touch-up spray paint and a small tube of paint. Not sure if when these were made, but they both still say Datsun on the can, so it was before the name change to Nissan. -Mike

Looks good Dan. I think the center of the horns in the second pictures of post #37 are pretty representative of the original color and it seems to be a good match. The paint number on your can (#24087) is the same color number on the paint I am planning to order tomorrow. -Mike

I just noticed something else about the horns. All four of the horns from #32 and #210 have a date code of "S10" and the horns from my 5/72 car have a date code of "V5". I am guessing that "S" translates to the year 1969 and "10" is the month of Oct (#32 has a production date of 10/69 and #210 has a production date of 11/69). "V" would then be 1972 and "5" would be May. What is the date code on yours Dan? -Mike

Good question Dan. The screws and nuts look like they were painted separately, so maybe the olive colored components were painted separately and then assembled? Notice the olive paint on the back of the screw heads and on the threads in the attached picture. I also took the horns off #210 today and cleaned them up a little bit (no sandblasting) and took some comparison pictures of them with the other two sets. Notice that the heads of the bolts used to attach them to the radiator frame also look to be painted olive, but the bolts used on my 5/72 are cad plated with no paint. It also looks like the horns from #210 may have some olive overspray on the back side, or maybe its just dirty. Its hard to tell. What brand of paint did you use to paint yours? I found some semi-gloss dark OD paint on the internet today that I am planning to order tomorrow. -Mike

That's the way I did mine too, but it is still a slow process to get the metal trim into the rubber channels without damaging them. Based on this comment, I believe Oilju also installed the metal trims before installing the windows. -Mike

Looking good. I have found that the Duplicolor graphite wheel paint is a very close match to the original rear panel and hubcap color. Putting the metal strip into the rubber seal properly was the hardest part of the installation of the hatch glass for me too. I paid a glass shop to install the windshield in mine, because there was less room to maneuver and I didn't want to screw up the Nissan seal or break my NOS windshield. -Mike

Yeah, that is what I was thinking too. Might explain the increase in "NOS" 72 style dashes I have seen on ebay over the last year or so. -Mike

This may be the ebay ad that Ron was referring to in this post, where he noted a dash with "CAN" on the barcode and was wondering if that meant the dash came from Canada and if they were still available there. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=292285&postcount=126 One of our Canadian members should check that part number with a local dealer and see if they are still available and what the pricing is. -Mike Edit: NissanParts.cc shows the price as $919.99. Not sure if it is actually available (at least in the US) or not.

Hmmmm.... Seems to be the same ad posted in several different cities with different prices for each city. http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/1184235476.html http://atlanta.craigslist.org/pts/1185180492.html The Houston ad says the location is Dallas, but the Atlanta ad doesn't. -Mike

I finally got my own blast cabinet set up today and started blasting a few things. It is addictive. I started blasting the overspray off the horns from HLS30-00032 and then I remembered this old thread about the color of the horns. Once I got the overspray off, I could see that the horns from #32 were originally the olive color that others described. I took one of the horns apart to get a better view of the original paint and some comparison pictures next to the black horns from my 5/72. I think they were originally the darker olive color that you can see on outer edge of the center section and the back of the disassembled horn. The silver color in the middle section is the bare metal where the paint was completely removed. The horns from my 5/72 are definitely original and they are black, not olive. -Mike

They are called window louvers and Motorsport Auto sells them for both the rear window (most common) and the side quarter windows. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/WL1 -Mike Looks like Zbane beat me to it....