He Cardogman,

Awesome car . Very nice!

Just a word of caution (mabe). As you bought the car, in part, for investment purposes I would be leery of repainting it without checking what, if any, effects that might have on its value.

While I personally prefer the all silver paint scheme (without the black-striped hood and hatch), from an investment standpoint, a car can be restored an infinite amount of times, but is original only once. Repainting may adversely affect its value.

I had a '72 back in my youth, and thought it was as indestructable as I was. Alas, time was not kind to either of us (although at least I'm still around to tell the tale ).

It's been a long time, enjoy the ride.

Peter

Peter

Thanks for the advice peter I appreciate it and have a tendency to agree with you. I could live with it. The hood accent is painted around the raised part of the hood. The rear panel is painted gloss black. I don't think I'll touch the hood but the rear panel would be easy to spray original and probably won't change the value to much. I'll post pictures when I figure out how to do it. Probably will have my wife or 14 year old son do it.

regards Burt

I think you'd have to work out WHEN this was done to the back of the car before trying to make it "original". If it was done at the dealer or something then I'd leave it be. If the PO did it 5 years ago then blast away.

Personally, I like the looks of the car more when the back is painted black instead of grey, but as far as originality goes....

thanks for the feedback alphadog . I need your advice if you can answer thequestion I posted about installation. I don't kbnow where I posted it maybe on open discussions. any way does the overider front bar attach over the rubber strips on the bumper guards or do you cut the strips and lay the bracket part of the bar on the metal. Do you know what I'm talking about or have I completely confused you. Do you have beauty bars on your Z?

thanks burt

In my experience the answer is both YES and NO. On the 1972 I currently own, the front bumper guards were cut to accommodate the overrider bar. On the 1973 I owned previously, the bar was directly on top of the rubber guards. My front and rear bumper are off and being rechromed down in Los Angeles. I think I’ll leave the overriders off to have a cleaner look.

Datsun Z guy what do you think I should do. Should I cut or should I drill throught the rubber. I just got a pair the rear is new the front is used but very good condition. Maybe you know someone that knows exactly how I should do it. Thanks for your help

regards Burt cardogman1

sorry can't help you there! All I can suggest is BE CAREFUL!

careful has never been my middle name. If there is anybody that will screw something up it's me. By the way have you ever had any trouble with your su carbs. I don't remenber what year your z is but if you have them do you like them or are they just constant trouble?

regards Burt

I see that you have a 71 sorry about that

burt

Well apparently they're the easiest carbs to fiddle with, but I dont know much about them... they can go out of whack very easily... if you have them I suggest learning how to tune them (I should probably take my own advice too!)

Welcome to the club!

Two notes:

The Original grey finish for the rear finishers was a very odd shade / texture. Wick Humble's recipe is his best approximation to the paint color. The main key to getting the right "look" is to apply it kind of dry and let it get a "scratchy" finish. Wick's description of the finish was "Matchbox striker".

And that is why so many Z's have had the rear finishers painted in Satin Black or Gloss, or Flat (although Flat has the same problem). When you wax the car, polish the paint, rub it out or ANY procedure that involves using some sort of wipe on liquid, you MUST avoid touching the finishers. The finishers will show EVERY kind of dirt, wax, polish or substance that has touched them. And cleaning them? Rotsa Ruck! That's why people painted them satin or semi-gloss black.

Next item, regarding the overrider, most all the ones that mount over the bumper guards that I've seen have been drilled THROUGH the rubber. Yes, others have done other installations, but that's what I have seen.

However, BEFORE you drill, place the overrider on the car, and CHECK FOR CLEARANCE! You may find that that little 3/8" or 1/2" spacing from the rubber becomes critical as far as having the tip of the hood avoid hitting the overrider.

OH, and lastly, do yourself a HUGE favor before it becomes a massive repair problem. Check the fuse box and fuses. Don't just VISUALLY check them. Check them for continuity, resistance and make sure that the clips are nice and bright shiny where the fuses get pinched AND that the clip is tight. The sad fact is that this is probably the BIGGEST problem on the Z's next to rust.

Hope this helps.

Enrique Scanlon

Thank you enrique and alphadog I'm getting to like this club.

regards cardogman1 from Rockville Centre New York that's on the south shore of Long Island where it's about twenty degrees.