It was in early '74 in Fayetteville NC when I saw the for sale sign on the yellow 71 Z. My life has been hell (kidding) ever since. Cost me one marriage when she found out I spent all our money on a new dash. Well, how would you like to drive a classic with a cracked dash??? Just came in from garage....can't get much brake pressure after rear disc conversion...should have left well enough alone. Z car hasn't left garage in three years now...and I have still spent a couple thousand on it. thirty-nine years and counting.

Got car back from paint- Cleaning up the engine bay before assembly. Got the rack and pinion items cleaned and painted. Will clean and re-tape wiring harness today.

Nothing quite as drastic as you guys have written. We bought a new house, haven't sold the old one yet. The Z was kept at the old house until I could get the new garage tidied adequately to house her. Today was homecoming. First mile since ZCON, and Lordy, was it fun!

I installed a "you left your lights on" buzzer today. $10 worth of parts and about 20 minutes effort to wire it between the parking light relay and the door pin. Time and money well spent!

Color sand and buffed the 73 today. Still got more to go. Got most of the sanding done. got about 3/4 of the car buffed with Maguiars 105 cutter. Will do the 205 poish once that is complete. It's starting to look nice.

It certainly is looking good!

Put the re-chromed bumper and back panel on. Painted the back panel with the paint from Les at Classic Datsun. It looks great with the silver. I also got the headlight bucket and front headlights lights on. The passenger side headlight is still the original Koito. The drivers side is a re-placement GE.

Looks great! 901 silver is one of my favorite colors on a Z.

-Mike

Attempting to replace the tension rod bushings with the original rubber kind. So far I can't get the rubber to compress enough to get the nut started on the end of the tension rod. Before reassembly I put POR-15 on the parts the rubber stays in contact with and the areas that might be difficult to get at once the rod is back on. Put grease on the whole tension rod and the inside of the small cylinder that goes inside the rubber bushing. May have to get help from the local Z Doctor to compress the rubber.

Edited October 4, 201014 yr by Mikes Z car
add grease

Mike,

Place a jack under the strut and raise until the TC rod is level.

Install the rear part of the TC rod first. It should go in with plenty of clearance for the bushings.

By the way...what are those seats in your Z?

Dave Ruiz

Edited October 4, 201014 yr by Powderkeg

Dave,

I will try the jack idea, thanks. I just noticed the original bushings are thinner than the new ones I ordered even taking into account compression on the old ones due to time. Long story, I got two of them from Nissan and 4 from MSA and those 6 are all identical. I think I will start a new thread on this with a picture of the difference.

A mechanic apparently recognized the seats as he told me what they cost, next time I see him I will ask him what they are but I don't know. I remember hearing about recaro seats but don't know if that is a generic term or if that might be what I have. They have a part of their frame that comes up on the sides that is supposed to hold you in when you are going around corners I guess. Sorry this isn't a better answer but i don't know much about seats. I plan on covering them with something to prevent wear to the fabric. I was hoping I could think of how to cover them in a way that would make them look more stock.

Mike

Edited October 4, 201014 yr by Mikes Z car

Cleaned up the brake and fuel lines a bit. Installed some of the clamps. I like the before and after look. Will fire up the zinc plater this weekend and try and finish the engine bay. Hopefully get the engine in the following weekend .