Well I just got the final word from Pierre regarding the Z. I asked him to go over the car so that he can give me a professional opinion of the cars mechanical and electrical state.

He again mentioned that he thought the car was in very good condition, and feels that I should keep it as original as possible. Pierre says the engine is in very good condition and compression checks are “spot on”

He’s advised me to perform the following;

• Change all fluids

• Flush entire cooling system

• Front Brake job

• Charge cooling system (everything works on the AC )

• New Flasher switch

• Install new floats and jets in the carbs

• Replace three hoses

Once the above items are taken car of I have decided that I will strip the car and have it painted the original Universal Blue and proceed with a drivable restoration. I hope the end product will be a very clean driver that is close to show quality. I really don’t want to go all out full show since I intend to drive her as much as possible. I’ve done the “trailer queen” thing and have decided I don’t want those headaches again. All in all I am very happy with the car and can’t wait to get started. By the way, the body man states that it will be easy to prep and paint the car since there are no major body work just a few small dings that can easily be “massaged” out. I will take pics of the car this Friday so that I can post them here.

I agree with this with only one reservation - installing a 5 speed in an early car will require you to enlarge the hole in the tunnel for the shift lever.

I am not saying this as first hand experience, but just as something to consider. I have personally seen cars modified this way, very poorly, that looked terrible and was visible above the console. I had always understood that Arne is right on, with his comment. But, I have heard from someone recently, that you can create a shifter that has a serious bend in it that will allow the tunnel to remain uncut. Steve Epperly, of Z Therapy, 's dad was involved in making the shift lever.

Take this with a grain of salt. I can double check, or you can research.

Hi Bryan (everyone):

There is no cutting of the transmission tunnel in the early cars - to install a 5spd. "IF":

A. you find one of the Nissan Competition Shifters provided to put a Type B 5spd in an early car.(70/71)

B. you bend your shifter to about the same profile as "A" above

C. you put a Type "A" 5spd. in the car (with the Z bellhousing and tail shaft housing).

FWIW,

Carl

Quite the find there. Congrats on your new Z. If I were you, I would drive the thing for a year or so before tearing it down for a repaint. Enjoy it for a while if you can and don't be in a rush to paint it. T he paint looks good from here.

Quite the find there. Congrats on your new Z. If I were you, I would drive the thing for a year or so before tearing it down for a repaint. Enjoy it for a while if you can and don't be in a rush to paint it. T he paint looks good from here.

Thanks but I cant help wanting to start the restore

Mark:

I agree with Enigma, drive it, enjoy it, get the mechanical work recommended by your mechanic done, and put a couple of thousand miles on the car. If it's everything you've said it is, and everything the e-Bay ad said it was, and everything everyone else thinks it is, then why rush to tear it down?

There will be plenty of time to let it sit in the garage waiting for the next batch of parts....later. Right now, get to know the car, find out what and where to spend your money on before deciding that it needs restored just because it's an older car and that's what one does to older cars.

Otherwise, you may find that in a few years, after you've lost interest in the restoration....that's STILL not finished, you end up selling it for pennies on the dollar. I bought two just like that in the last couple of years.

FWIW

Enrique

Mark:

I agree with Enigma, drive it, enjoy it, get the mechanical work recommended by your mechanic done, and put a couple of thousand miles on the car. If it's everything you've said it is, and everything the e-Bay ad said it was, and everything everyone else thinks it is, then why rush to tear it down?

There will be plenty of time to let it sit in the garage waiting for the next batch of parts....later. Right now, get to know the car, find out what and where to spend your money on before deciding that it needs restored just because it's an older car and that's what one does to older cars.

Otherwise, you may find that in a few years, after you've lost interest in the restoration....that's STILL not finished, you end up selling it for pennies on the dollar. I bought two just like that in the last couple of years.

FWIW

Enrique

Thanks for the advice and great feedback. I will certainly have fun with the car before tearing it down.

There is nothing on the car that would indicate that it was an A/T - and I don't see any reason to keep the A/T in the car if you don't want it. I would go with the 5spd... instead of the 4 if I had a choice.

The only reason to keep it an A/T that I can think of - would be if you had the original window sticker, bill of sale etc. that shows it as an A/T and you want to have the car match the paperwork for Show Purposes... But if you bought it to drive and enjoy - enjoy it the way you want it.

2400 valve cover - darn... there's a hole in that hypothesis... all the other one's reported the non-2400 valve covers..

thanks,

Carl

Carl,

I have to correct my self. The valve cover has the words "Nissan OHC" written on it not "2400" like I stated in my earlier post. Also, my vin number is 9603. By the way, I placed a few pics in my gallery. I plan to get better pics once. I can get the car on a lift. Will do that soon since I plan to start the tear down process.

Hi Mark,

Just looked at your pictures. You are one lucky SOB, that car is a beauty. Nice find. I know you'll enjoy it.

Chris A.

Wow, that looks like one heck of a Z! Definately one took take good care of. I got a similar report when I took mine to get the exhaust put on. He told me I had very little underside rust and the frame was very strong. Naturally i still have rust, but it felt so good to hear that.

Spridal

After reviewing the pictures in your gallery, let me rephrase my prior comment....

From the looks of every picture, from some very telling angles and critical places for rust and other defects to hide, I'd have to say that if you were to tear the car down for "restoration" you'd actually be taking a MAJOR step BACKWARD and actually REDUCING the value of the car.

Unless you have access to a world class quality restoration shop, and can pay TOP dollar, you're not going to get what the pictures show.

Unless you SPECIFICALLY took pictures to HIDE defects and AVOID showing problems that are visible to you and not the camera, then attempting to restore this would be like taking some grade school paint to the Mona Lisa to touch it up and "brighten" the colors.

I hope you're getting the message. In my opinion, it doesn't look like it needs much work of any type....on the exterior. The interior / engine ~may~ need some, but that's only because you haven't posted pictures.

There are areas that you will want detailed, but not anything requiring a "tear-down". Not knowing your level of expertise in working with automobiles or even Z's, I'd really - REALLY recommend postponing doing a major learning curve on something this nice.

Just my 2¢

Enrique

Spridal

From the looks of every picture, from some very telling angles and critical places for rust and other defects to hide, I'd have to say that if you were to tear the car down for "restoration" you'd actually be taking a MAJOR step BACKWARD and actually REDUCING the value of the car.

There are areas that you will want detailed, but not anything requiring a "tear-down".

I concur. This car looks as new as it possibly could. Dust it and detail it, nothing more is needed. Congratulations.

I tell you what, if you are just chomping at the bit to tear down a Z, I'll send mine over, so long as you send it back in one piece.