My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread

[Patcon]

Almost 40 years! I feel better now 😉

[Captain Obvious]

On 8/5/2023 at 1:15 PM, Zed Head said:

The kit is supposed to allow the rod end to move around the pivot plane of the mounting plate area.  Looking at the parts in that picture it looks like the designer did not get the shape right on the combination of parts.  It's meant to move but the pivot point is extended out by the thickness of the aluminum cup.  And/or the hole in the aluminum cup is too small and the rod binds up as the angle changes, you can imagine it just by looking at the picture.  Seems like a person could/should just open up that hole and it would work like it was meant to.  Somebody messed up.

I think the parts are designed "OK". The real mess-up is this pic:

That pic has the parts assembled incorrectly. It has the locations and orientations of the plastic bushing and the aluminum cup backwards. And it also doesn't show the original OEM required rubber bushing on the rear side of the mounting hole in the frame. You see... Never shown in the pics is the original big rubber bushing on the back side of the T/C rod before you install the washer(s) and nut. They mention it in the instructions, but the wording is really confusing.

So that said... If you turn the aluminum cup around and put it on first, then that cup is stationary with respect to the T/C rod shaft (meaning that the hole in the middle is just fine to be a tight fit on the rod). And then the oversized tapered hole on the plastic bushing is where the rod wobbles around inside.

So yes, the pivot point will be moved out away from the frame hole, but the rest of it looks reasonably designed conceptually. No evaluation of materials used or clearances involved, but at least the concept works. Compression is hard plastic. Tension is soft rubber. Kinda like using poly up front and rubber in the back. 

[Captain Obvious]

Actually looking at the second page of the instructions... That pic is the correct orientation for the NON-Z car applications (like the 510, 610, etc).

So it's actually correct for some applications, but not the Z.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

On 8/8/2023 at 3:51 AM, Captain Obvious said:

Actually looking at the second page of the instructions... That pic is the correct orientation for the NON-Z car applications (like the 510, 610, etc).

So it's actually correct for some applications, but not the Z.

Yeah i forgot to mention it, the pictures came from the Datsun 1200 website, so the arrangement of parts is most probably for non-Z cars.
http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/index.php?title=Tension_Rod

[JDMjunkies.ch]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:40 AM, 240dkw said:

Here is the one I bought in 1984 and have not used yet. It is supplied by Interpart. The plastic pivots are a hard black material.

It seems there were quite a few who made this kit.. i also found a canadian maker of those. all look the same, except the plastic part which seems to be different material every time. and most probably also the weakest part of the design. Nevertheless, not sure if i'm going to use it, but i thought it was nice to get one of those kits as long as they're still available anyways...

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So i got a few cool British Datsun price lists from my Friend Daniel. It was nothing i was really looking for, but always nice to have some stuff like this in the collection.
 

From left to right: October 1971, July 1976 and August 1978 Price lists by Datsun UK Ltd.

I think the design was somehow foldable, why you will find half of the prints on one side upside-down.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I have two dashboards hanging on my wall, both with the hand marked Japanese Su-i-su katakana characters (ス イ ス), for destination switzerland. We all know that those dashboards all crack sooner or later crack on the top and mine are no exception.

So far there were these options:
- Repair it yourself with some backyard-engineering. It will most probably crack at a different location soon, or look terrible
- Have them repaired in the USA by Justdashes. Seems like a nice option but two-way shipping costs would be overboarding.
- Find a NOS Nissan dashboard. I got offered some, but as expected the price is exorbitant, and who knows how long those last before cracking.
- Buy a replica Dashboard from Vintagedashes. I heard mostly good (aside from some small fitting issues) about them, but i had some "unprofessional" experience with the owner of the shop. Generally the website got updated meanwhile but back then it didn't have a lot photos with details and lacking information so i never got conviced to buy one.

Luckily just recently a new option popped up: JDM-Car-Parts. Well known for their usually highest-quality available parts from Japan, they this time teamed up with an american producer to have them made:

Quote

"We worked closely with Dashes Direct under our technical advisement to recreate the dash pads for the S30 series"

In the same way as the original and vintagedashes ones are made, it's some kind of a rubber foam mold covered in a vinyl wrap. A little rework is required here and there (cutting away excess material, etc). and you need the backframe from an original dashboard to install it here.

They also recommend a repaint of the dashboard (no matter if your old glove box cover is still fresh or faded) to match the colour with the interieur, but i think it's pretty close to what i have. Here  you can see the JDM-Car-Parts dash compared to my original (quickly washed, but also colour-faded) glovebox cover. In reality, the difference is even smaller... and i think the colour didn't even match 100% in the original setup as the glovebox lid is hard plastic and the other is a vinyl wrap.

The difference i did spot though is that the original glovebox and dashboard vinyl had a more "dotty" pattern (See photo below), while the one from JDM-Car-Parts has more of a "grainy lines" type of pattern (See photo above). Looking at the vintagedashes website, it seems they use the same material or at least pattern als JDM-Car-Parts. However i don't think anybody will ever notice that small difference. And it might also be possible that there were slight difference in the factory parts as well. In my case the original glovebox and original dashboard pattern mach nicely,  however.

I got the 1972 dashboard with the hazard switch indent and JDM-car-Parts also supplies the (Separately sold) Sticker for it:


And i thought let's throw in a set of chrome vents into the basket. They might come in handy when rebuilding the new dash:


Also got a pair of replica "Datsun" doorsteps. My bodyshop needs those to get the position of the fastener holes right when installing the new side steps:


And while ordering anyway, i thought i could add a set of heater control wires:


Also ordered a full set of door clips, because my old ones are either crispy and dry or missing or bent, or rusty.


Oh and today i also got this datsun enamel badge, which i recently found on a swiss auction website. I've seen plenty of similar ones, but this one seemed authentic and old with the paint chips and some rust on the backside. Most other i see these days seem to be some kind of replica stuff. It was cheap so i had to get it and will look for a nice place in the garage.

That's it. I have a pallete with some cool stuff from japan, which should arrive here anyday. And the bodyshop guy should return from vacation soon, so i hope there are some updates again soon.

[Namerow]

22 hours ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

Luckily just recently a new option popped up: JDM-Car-Parts. Well known for their usually highest-quality available parts from Japan, they this time teamed up with an american producer to have them made:

US $899.00

That seems like an attractive price, esp. when compared with the amount of time and labour required for a DIY repair and restoration of a cracked original dash. 

I wonder what Just Dashes are charging these days to refurb an S30 dash?  You'd need to also take into account the fact that their solution requires 2-way shipping, whereas the JDMCP dash cap ships outbound only.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

33 minutes ago, Namerow said:

US $899.00

That seems like an attractive price, esp. when compared with the amount of time and labour required for a DIY repair and restoration of a cracked original dash. 

I wonder what Just Dashes are charging these days to refurb an S30 dash?  You'd need to also take into account the fact that their solution requires 2-way shipping, whereas the JDMCP dash cap ships outbound only.

The two-way shipping (from switzerland-to-USA-and-back) was exactly my reason for going with this option. it would have probably cost me alone 500 to ship it to the US these days.

Also i have seen many repaired dashes that shortly thereafter cracked in a different location so i thought the most sustainable solution would be a completely new dash.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Recently, at the bodyshop i got asked what piece of metal this is between the original floorpan and the repair patch they put over it. I had to admit that i don't know if it was original or not, but the welds definitely looked like OEM Spotwelds.

After asking on the Classic Z Forums, i got the information that this was a factory reinforcement plate for the floorpans. Unfortunately it was not listed in any of my parts books, so i guess, it was either added to the cars during the assembly process withohut proper documentation, or it was part of the original floor pan part and never sold separately.
A friend of mine has his car over at Romas from DCW Classic at the moment for some bodywork and told me, they currently have such plates removed from the car and he could give me the exact measures so i can replicate them:

See following photos for your own reference:












So i thought it's easy for my bodyshop to replicate them with all the photos and measures. Now while searching the interwebs for something else today, i accidentally stumbled on those ready-made replacement panels from ZCardepot for 19$ per side:
https://zcardepot.com/products/floor-pan-reinforcement-sheet-metal-240z

The only thing that makes me a bit unsecure, is the fact that they're stainless steel. I have no clue how good it is to weld stainless steel to regular steel. I know you need a bit of a special welding technique or electrode, which any bodyshop should be able to handle. But my main concern is corrosion, as i know metals tend to have so called "contact corrosion" aka "galvanic corrosion" when two different metals are put together?  Not sure in this case however. the pieces should be easy to replicate from scratch, but hey, you need to have something to think about, right? 🙂

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Today i got a long-awaited delivery from Japan.

it constisted of three parts:


1) An OEM Adjustable factory competition suspension by KYB.
 

I still need to investigate a bit. I'm not even 100% sure if this was intended for this specific version of car, and i know there were many different versions of adjustable suspension around.

 

Especially this part (I assume it's to adjust the push / pull pressure rate?),  ius not seen on all of these adjustable suspensions.

As you can see it's not in the best, but restorable condition and one spring is missing, so i got it quite cheap. that's the reason i bought it. Mainly to investigate further and figure out the details.
Here a quick reference (top: Adjustable / bottom factory Euro spec 240Z):

Meanwhile i was even able to buy a second (complete and better condition) set, which is still in japan and will take another few months to arrive here. but yeah, it will definitely give me further insights. I will definitely need to find some time to find out more and will share the details with you.

Here is a reference picture from the Competition / Sports option catalogue:

2) The second item i got is an OEM Sports Option / Competition rollbar replica by Mizukami Auto (JP). According to mizukami it is an 1:1 Copy of an OEM rollbar they have in their shop, but with some improvements to simplify installation and fitment. I think the main difference are the mounting plates on the wheel arches.
.

Which seem somehow pre-assembled (welded) vs the single screwed-together puzzle-pieces you get from an OEM bar, but otherwise seems to be a quite similar design. What is not visible in my photo is a separate lower plate on the wheel-arch mounts, since they are screwed to the mount sin the picture. but they are detachable, just like the original ones. Since an OEM bar is almost impossible (and expensive) to find these days, i thought this would be the next-best option.
I have to say the quality is really high and it looks pretty good and the single pieces are quite complex, which justifies the not-so-cheap pricing. Unfortunately i don't have a chassis in-house at the moment to test fit it.

So the next best thing was this cheap mock-up. and i probably even did it the wrong way around without the car as a reference... Nevertheless, it looks good.

Here's a reference from the JP Competition / Sports option catalogue (see single plates at the bottom left and right).

And here's an installation guide from the Race and rallye preparation manual. From what i understand, every OEM Z should have the installation points prepared in the chassis to install this, but again i was not able to verify this without the car on site at the moment.

3) OK and last but not least i also got this drian plug from Mizukami auto. I mean it would be a shame to not add some small gimmicks when placing a big order, right?

Despite a few questionsmarks i think the suspension is quite rare and cool and useful and the rollcage definitely better then the Saito full rollcage i had originally purchased many years ago. Also in terms of registration as a historic car and the general MOT in switzerland.
More updates on the suspension topic will definitely come soon and i will also try to test-fit the rollbar as soon as possible.

Edited September 11, 2023 by JDMjunkies.ch

[HS30-H]

7 hours ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

1) An OEM Adjustable factory competition suspension by KYB.
 

That looks like quite a 'late' pair of struts (late 70s/early 80s?), and I don't *think* they were for use on the S30 chassis.

I don't recognise the part numbers (54302 indicates RH Front, but is the suffix number '16230'?) and I'm wondering what other chassis they might have been made for. None of the factory adjustable-platform struts for the S30 were externally adjustable in that way.