1974 260

[Z Greek]

Well,

I have been wanting a Z for years. I have owned a number of Datsun Roadsters, including my "forever car," a 67.5 2000 I have had for over 20 years, and will never sell. I found this Z car down by Bend, OR, in April of this year. Although it did not have an engine, or gearbox, the body was in pretty good shape, and otherwise complete. It is an early 260, s/n 3836. I purchased it, drug it home, and have been gathering parts for it since. I pulled an engine and trans out of a later Z at our local pull and save, pulled factory air out of a 76 280 (Since factory air was an option on the 260, I thought that would be a nice addition) also at pull and save. Other parts include:

3 screw SU's

Factory airbox

N36 Manifolds

Uncracked dash

Tokiko struts and springs

240 tail-lights and trim ( I will be putting these in the 260, I like the looks of them better)

Complete parts car, less than 200 serial numbers from mine (what are the odd's?)

I won't bore you all with all the stuff I have accumulated, but gathering the parts has been a hoot. I have been working on Datsun Roadsters for over 30 years, and by comparison, Z parts are very plentiful.

I have been getting a few things done on the car, and thought I would share my progress.

I finally cleared the lift bay out in my shop, and my 13 year old son and I towed it up from the garage attached to the house, to the shop. I was so proud of my son Drew's driving, I stopped to snap a picture, when one of my daughters pet goats jumped up on the car! I guess it is lucky we are just starting on the car, and not just finishing.

I pushed the car onto the lift, and began disassembling it. I removed the front and rear suspension, and interior. Next I began the entertaining task of removing the undercoating from the bottom of the car. It turns out the car has a bit more rust than I had seen, but still pretty solid. Rust so far is confined to floors, and battery area. I purchased new floors, and floor stiffeners. That work will start after I get the rest of the undercoating off. My goal is to have a nice body color finish on the bottom of the car.

In the meantime, I finally got my block and crankshaft back from the machine shop. I painted the outside of the block Datsun Blue, left over from my Roadster work, and painted the inside of the block with electric motor shelac. I will start assembling the engine in the next couple of weeks, I am still waiting for a cam kit (been waiting four months!)

I also pulled the parts car in under the lift, and started stripping it. I have a complete set of front and rear bumpers off of this car. It is an early 260Z under 4000 (I cant remember exactly, 3977 I think). They are far from perfect, but everything is there. Bumpers, fillers, brackets, hardware. I would like to trade these for a set from a 240 if anyone is interested.

Sorry about the sideways picture of the parts car, I couldn't figure out how to fix it!

I am at the airport getting ready to get on a plane, so I have to cut this off for now.

[z e r o]

Thats odd, my early 260z had factory air conditioning.

[motorman7]

Looks like a great project! I am going the opposite direction from you in that I have restored/ refreshed 3 Z's and am now doing a full restoration on a roadster. You are right about the parts, Z parts are easy to find. Roadster parts are harder to find and a lot more expensive. I don't think I will be restoring another roadster. Fortunately I have a good car to start with, so I don't need a lot of new items. Enjoy the resto.

Rich

[Z Greek]

What year and model roadster are you restoring Rich?

[motorman7]

What year and model roadster are you restoring Rich?

I have 1970 1600 Roadster. I’m pretty sure it has only 86K original miles, but could be 186K. It hasn’t been operated since 1988. Currently, I have it completely disassembled and will be taking the frame (and other frame parts) in to powder coat next week. I am really looking forward to the assembly process.

I’m very happy with the condition of the car. The only bolt heads that snapped off during disassembly were on the exhaust supports. Otherwise, everything came apart smoothly. The body has a few small rust areas, but very manageable. The interior needs a lot of help, but a good friend of mine runs an upholstery shop, so no worries there.

I had a 1967 1600 roadster for 10 years, from when I was 16 till I turned 26. Wish I’d never sold it. Coincidentally, I sold it in 1988. So I think this roadster was destiny.

Rich

Edited December 7, 2011 by motorman7

[Z Greek]

Picture is of me and my 67.5 2000 at the Shasta Roadster meet in California this July.My first roadster was a '70 1600 back in Summer of 1980. Regarding your interior, there are many good seat and carpet kits, as well as door panels, etc. Ross Mullen at Sports Imports in BC, Canada does a great job, as does Les Canaday in CA, Stan Chernoff in CA, and many others. Your dash, of course will be a challenge. The late cars, like the 70 you are working on all cracked, just like Z dashes. You can get the thin covers like for Z's, but new dashes are made of unobtainium.

If I can be of any help with contacts for parts, or questions about the cars, please feel free to ask. I am not as fluent with the later cars, like yours, as I am with the early cars, but have been around the late cars quite a bit also.

Good luck, and have fun with your project!

[Z Greek]

Spent a bit more time on the under-coating this evening. I had been using dry ice to cool the under-coating off and make it brittle, but difficult to do on the vertical, and compound curve areas (like the wheel arches). I had heard that the canned "air," for cleaning keyboards, etc., gets really cold if you turn it upside down and spray it. Well it works pretty darn good. I did the spare tire well the other night laying dry ice from the inside, and then scraping the undercoating off with a harbor freight oscillating scraper. It took me a couple of hours to get to the point it is in the photo. I used the inverted can on the wheel arch. I would "cool down," an area about 6 inches square, and then hit it with the oscillating scraper. I only spent about a half an hour and got it pretty clean. Came in to eat dinner, I think I'll head back out to the shop for awhile this evening.

[Z Greek]

......

Edited December 8, 2011 by Z Greek

[grantf]

Reminds me of my long lost 260. It was the same orange and I miss it.

[Z Greek]

Reminds me of my long lost 260. It was the same orange and I miss it.

I am pretty fond of the orange. My 13 year-old is not wild about it (he is my partner in crime), but I am definitely going with the original color. The cold weather is really helping with the undercoat removal. I spent a little while at it again tonight but pretty damn cold in the shop (hence the undercoat is brittle). I did not want to build a fire in the wood stove and wait for it to warm up. Weekend is almost here, I'll get out there then.

[Z Greek]

Got the shop warmed up and spent some more quality time battling the undercoating. I have been wanting to try a needle scaler, but did not own one, so I bought a cheap harbor freight one yesterday to try out. Wow, that thing works great, especially for the nooks and crannies. I would freeze a section with the "canned air," and then buzz it with the needle scaler, and the nasty black stuff pops off pretty slick. I spent about 5 hours, and pretty much finished the the whole tub from the front fenders back. I started working on the front inner fenders, but the needle scaler gave up. I guess you get what you pay for! I am going to try to exchange it today, I'll spend the 6 bucks and get the 2 year warranty this time. I hope to get the fenders off, and clean up the inner fenders today. I am also going over to my buddies shop to help get their "Chump Car," ready for an eight hour race at Laguna Seca the 22nd of this month. I attached a picture of the Chump car, with my roadster at the 24 hour Spokane race this summer, which they won! That's about it for now.

[Z Greek]

Not sure why my thread got moved to "introduce yourself." I am sharing progress of my project, seems like "what I did today" to me!