Since i got the triple Mikuni / Solex carb setup, i was looking for an original Competition fuel rail that belongs to it, as shown in this 1978 american Datsun competition parts catalogue:

Lately i found a NOS one for sale, and of course i had to get it...

Here's how it's listed in the Japanese Race & Rallye preparation manual:

And while ordering stuff anyway, i decided to include the floorpan rubber plugs... 

Oh and there was a free little early christmas gift inside the box too:

I've always wanted to decorate my workshop & Garage with some authentic Vintage datsun signs or so, but they're not exactly easy to come by.. So when this one popped up, i had to get it immediately. Yesterday i undertook a 6 hour drive to the other, french speaking side, of the country, to pick up this vintage dealer sign. Due to the language barrier and short time we had, i wasn't able to figure out the history. But the seller had other, similar signs, so i guess it must have been part of a combination with other signs outside a dealership in the french speaking area of switzerland. Nevertheless. i loaded it into the back of my car and brought it home.

 

It's basically an aluminum frame with a plexiglass front which has the datsun logo printed on it somehow (it doesn't seem to be a vinyl sticker or so)


I wasn't really sure if it's working or not, and honestly i was expecting the inverters to explode when i power them up, simply to the fact that it hasn't probably been used in decades. But this beeing an "industrial grade" outdoor sign, made by a well known swiss signmaking company, it just came alife as soon as i installed the cable and plugged it in. great!


Now i have to find a nice place for it, it is much bigger then what i expected when i bought it. but i love it 🙂 Probably will convert it to LED lighting before hangig it somewhere on the wall, to avoid a repair after a few working hours. This thing is big and it might e tricky to hang it somewhere, so it better should stay there forever 🙂
 

While browsing through some online classifieds, i stumbled on this Datsun price list. Issued on 14. March 1977 and including cars like the 260Z, the 2+2 and the 240K-GT, Cherry coupe, sunny etc... There isn't any evedince that it's from datsun Suisse SA, but it's in german and french so it seems to make sense.

I got it from france, but the seller stated that it came originally from switzerland. There's also no currency for the prices, but i assume it must be Swiss franks (CHF). While my 240Z is not directly listed, it's another nice piece of Datsun Suisse memorabilia and some reference prices to talk about..

 

Click here to download the full high-res scan of the price list:
1977 Datsun (Suisse) Price list
 

I also got a vintage Datsun sticker, which was a give-away by swiss datsun dealers at one point. This is not a replica, but (according to the seller) a genuine marketing item from the seventies. It is a bit worn and yellowed from the years in storage, so i assume it's the real deal. And it was merly the price of posting an envelope, so i just had to get it 🙂

 

Oh, and while googling for some other information, i stumbled upon this random file from the swiss Matchstick museum, which shows different "Gulf" branded matchstick box variants, with various Car dealerships, service stations, gas stations, etc.. Some of them beeing swiss datsun dealers. This just as a total random discovery 🙂

A while a go i made a CAD drawing of what the manual calls "Felt", but are actually rubber pieces, that work as dampers between the fuel tank and the chassis. Then took the drawing and sample to the local rubber shop and they cut them to spec for me:

 

Left new, right old (with some dirt):


Had them make two sets, in case if they mess up something. but the second set is already sold to a local owner...

Oh and since NOS A-type 5-speed manual transmission parts are a bit rare, i just had to get this bearing when it popped up for sale. Also love the genuine oldschool Datsun (Suisse) SA Bag, it must have been in storage for quite some time...

Edited December 18, 20204 yr by JDMjunkies.ch
units sold

Finally, something that i've really should have done first, happens now after many years. I decided to have the complete chassis blasted. Not sand-blasted but blasted with various media, depending on the area. Mostly Plastic-blasting and dry-ice blasting.

I thought i'd take a few "before" shots. so here we go. I hope in one or two weeks all old paint and underbody coating and rust is gone...

Some panels like the roof and the LH Rear quarter will only be blasted partially, because they'll bee replaced anyway or have already been replaced with new panels.

So last week they came to pick it up and the car headed east two hours.

It arrived safely at the sandblaster, but is now waiting in the queue to get blasted. Due to holiday-season, COVID measurements and the fact that they're not exactly around my corner,
i wasnt able yet to check out their place and discuss a few details. but i still hope they can start the work soon...

Wow you don't see many pick-up trucks in Europe!  And a Ford at that!

  On 12/18/2020 at 12:36 PM, 240260280 said:

Wow you don't see many pick-up trucks in Europe!  And a Ford at that!

Haha yeah, in the more rural areas where there are more snow and mountains, 4x4 Pickups are more common, especially for industry service and construction companies that have to move heavy stuff. All the others mostly prefer small commercial buses or trucks, since they're enclosed, have a lower loading height, and generally more space and many options like shelving, high-top roof, lifts, etc.. available from factory or third-party suppliers.

This is what I always saw in Ireland:

 

The Bolts that hold the footrest to the floorpans have custom specs, that do not fit into any DIN / EN / ISO norm, so it's not possible to purchase them at any standard hardware supplier.
There are similar ones, but most of them have a too large head, that needs cutting to fit with the L-shaped "Feet" of the footrest).
So i had a local milling shop (specialized in oldtimer-parts) make the bolts for the footrest according to the drawing i made (see below) in stainless steel, since the original ones where bent, and pretty worn.
 

Original ones:

 

New ones:

 

Perfect tight fitment, as the factory ones.
What might be interesting is that the bolts where added to the "feet" before painting the whole thing as one unit, from the factory.
You can clearly see (not in these pictures), that there is rust and no paint on the area below the original boltheads.

 

Here's the drawing if anyone ever needs to make those. I have a set leftover, since i ordered two. If anyone is interested, let me know.
(since the "f" value is covered by my logo - it's also 4mm)

Today i got a very accurate OEM Glovebox replica from Czech republic. Made by Privateer Pavel Dvorak. It's very close to the original regarding materials, shape and even location of the bostitches and little metal clamps. Excellent work, sir! Excellent work, sir. looks awesome.





 

And then i got various vintage swiss Datsun stickers from various sticker collectors i found online. nice to have them to complete my collection.
it appears that the round ones where made in two batches. one with the additional latch and one without. as not only the latch is different, but also
the colours are slightly different...

That looks like a very good replica. Here are pictures of my original (1970) in similar orientation for comparison. The only difference I noticed was the quantity and orientation of the staples.

Edited January 6, 20214 yr by CanTechZ

  On 1/6/2021 at 12:21 AM, CanTechZ said:

That looks like a very good replica. Here are pictures of my original (1970) in similar orientation for comparison. The only difference I noticed was the quantity and orientation of the staples.

Maybe there were different versions? According to the seller he spent quite some time go get the location and orientation of the staples right. but nevertheless im quite happy with it 🙂 thanks for the reference pics!