My two swiss S30Z Fairlady Restoration build thread

[JDMjunkies.ch]

During my recent work at the front fender areas, i realized that the corner where the headlight buckets go on the driver side must have had a hit at some point and the panel was slightly bent backwards:

I started to enjoy bearing metal panels with a hammer recently, so i got myself a proper hammer and dolly and started to hammer it straight.
Worked out pretty well and i'm happy i didn't have to pay a bodyshop for another 30minutes of work.

While doing bodywork anyway, i thought it's time to test-fit the rear bumper. I didn't want to mess up my NOS bumper mounts (i'll save them for the final assembly). I realized that my old ones were pretty messed up.

A bit of hammering and bending and things started to look usable

Then i recut the threads because the bolts wouldn't fit with the thic coat of primer that ended up in the holes:

And last but not least i put some rust-converter on the straightened brackets and installed them on the rear. But i forgot to take photos of that.

Then i got a bunch of panels in questionable condition from germany.

What is special about those front lower valances you ask? Three of them are specific for European spec cars, with the additional mounting points for the euro-spec front spoiler:

Here you can see them with my (very wobbly) front lip:

I once had a NOS one, but it seems i sold it a while ago (back then i thought i'd go for the xenon front bumper anyway). and now i hate myself for it. Luckily one of the corner valances seemed to be half-NOS. It still had the original protective black primer and sticker on it, but it also had a bit of rust and remaints of a front bumper that was once attached to it. BTW: those EU-spec corner valances have a closed hole for the turn signals (we got the ones mounted on top of the front bumper) and again holes at the bottom for the front lip:

Well. it took me a few minutes to get those rusty old bolts out, but now i have again a complete (albait the center part is not very fresh) set of  EU-spec lower valances.

Oh and a sea-freight pallette with some nice parts left the Port in Japan last week. so i hope in a few weeks i can show you some nice parts...

And then, recently i iwas at a very nice S30 related event in the netherlands (more about that very soon). And there i got some nice gifts.
Read more about it here:
https://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2024-10-26/240z-some-gifts-from-the-netherlands/

[HS30-H]

1 hour ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

And then, recently i iwas at a very nice S30 related event in the netherlands (more about that very soon). And there i got some nice gifts.

Was very nice to see you again, Nils.

I have some pretty good UK/Euro-spec front valances and corners in storage should you be in need of them.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Hey Alan, it was definitely great to see you again too!
Thanks for your offer. I'm currently in touch with a local guy who might have a NOS Panel, but if not i'm happily coming back to you. Thanks a lot!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Over the past weeks i collected a bunch of S30 related books again which were missing in my collection. Let's ahve a look at them from top left to bottom right.

1. The japanese "gods of Fairlady Z" magazine, which covers all kind of special Japanese Fairlady Z cars. My favourite part was the LY engine details.

2. Japanese "Racing on" Mook (Magazine book) edition 504, which covers the Nissan Z cars in race and rallye sports back in the day and shows the car and some of the details. there's also an interview with racing legends like Pete brock among others.

3. the Datsun USA Collision estimating book.

It's not Z-specific but covers many Datsun models, including the S30 and S130 chassis. It's basically a price list of parts that had to be commonly replaced after a collision / Damage and given to workshop and insurrances, so they can calculate the cost of repair.

4. Umm yeah. the next is the Nissan 50th anniversary Nissan Z book.Probably one of the later books about the Z. Obviously it covers all versions from the beginning. Iti ncludes a foreword by Hitoshi Uemura, and is nicely designed. I still have to read it in-depth. but so far it doesn't look like you find a lot of relevant history in there, but just an overview of all models, special versions and some background info. That doesn't mean it's any bad either.

5. A similar book is this one from Japan. An official Nissan licensed 50th anniversary Fairlady Z book, by Yutaka katamyama and Yoshihiko Matsuo.

I still have to go through it but i looks very nice. This one is also available in a non limited edition.

The one i got comes with a printed Signature Card by Mr.  K and a hand signed card by Matsuo.

Also it comes in a nice hardcover and cardboard box sleeve. it's limited to 300 pieces so i'm happy i found one at a reasonable price. Also thanks to my buddy Stefan who sent me a picture of this from  Japan!

6) Speaking of nice japanese cardboard-covered books. I alrady had the fairlady I and fairlady II books, but part three (the ZX sensation) was always missing. Since they're not S30 related i never wanted to spend a lot of money on it.

But somehow i always had the feeling i should complete the three-book set. So when i recently stumbled across one of those for a good price, i had to get it.

7. Oh and then i got some nice Kameari catalogues (sorry, all are gone already) from Japan:

8. And i found another vintage Datsun switzerland sticker, which i had to get for my collection 🙂

That's it. I hope for some work on the car again soon.

[HS30-H]

15 hours ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

4. Umm yeah. the next is the Nissan 50th anniversary Nissan Z book.Probably one of the later books about the Z. Obviously it covers all versions from the beginning. Iti ncludes a foreword by Hitoshi Uemura, and is nicely designed. I still have to read it in-depth. but so far it doesn't look like you find a lot of relevant history in there, but just an overview of all models, special versions and some background info. That doesn't mean it's any bad either.

 

I think you can already guess what I'm going to say about this, Nils.

It's not good... There are so, so many misconceptions, examples of bad takes and plain old mistakes I find it amazing that it had any editing, proof-reading or fact checking at all. Who was looking over the author's shoulder in all this?

Taking just the two pages 118 & 119 open above, I can count no less than twenty clear mistakes. Extraordinary. Even the photos are wrong! The photo of a "432R" bottom right actually shows an owner-modified 432. The photo caption and description for the car top left mixes up specs for an S130-series car (it calls it a "280Z-L", says it has "ventilated discs in the front and discs in the rear"). The photo actually shows a 1977 S31 Fairlady Z-T model. The photo comes from Nissan's press office and the car itself is part of Nissan's Heritage Collection at Zama. How can simple facts become so confused via official sources?

It's one thing for a book like this to get written and published, but what I can't understand is how it has been endorsed by Nissan themselves. It's such a disappointment.

16 hours ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

It includes a foreword by Hitoshi Uemura

In fact the foreword was written by Mr Hiroshi Tamura. A massive contrast with a generation of true engineers like Uemura san and his colleagues, and perhaps as good a symbol of Nissan's current situation as any.   

Meh. 

 

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

7 hours ago, HS30-H said:

 

I think you can already guess what I'm going to say about this, Nils.

It's not good... There are so, so many misconceptions, examples of bad takes and plain old mistakes I find it amazing that it had any editing, proof-reading or fact checking at all. Who was looking over the author's shoulder in all this?

Taking just the two pages 118 & 119 open above, I can count no less than twenty clear mistakes. Extraordinary. Even the photos are wrong! The photo of a "432R" bottom right actually shows an owner-modified 432. The photo caption and description for the car top left mixes up specs for an S130-series car (it calls it a "280Z-L", says it has "ventilated discs in the front and discs in the rear"). The photo actually shows a 1977 S31 Fairlady Z-T model. The photo comes from Nissan's press office and the car itself is part of Nissan's Heritage Collection at Zama. How can simple facts become so confused via official sources?

It's one thing for a book like this to get written and published, but what I can't understand is how it has been endorsed by Nissan themselves. It's such a disappointment.

In fact the foreword was written by Mr Hiroshi Tamura. A massive contrast with a generation of true engineers like Uemura san and his colleagues, and perhaps as good a symbol of Nissan's current situation as any.   

Meh. 

 

 

Damn, you have good eyes 🙂
Haha, yeah i didn't have any high expectations either. But the fact that it was officially Nissan approved made me have some hope that it's maybe better than some of the other books. Nevertheless. it will end up in my "junk" section of Z-books (which is the Majority of those books, tbh).
Funny enough Flo asked the guys at Nissan germany for some press info regarding the Z and got some clearly wrongly-labelled photos from their archives). I guess this book was proof read (or not) by Nissan USA and hot any historian at NMC in JP.
I keep buying and reading these books for fun's sake, but always take them with a big pinch of salt.