So, with the recent progress on the chassis and body, i thought it's time to kickstart some long-pending projects. One thing i had in mind for a while was to fix the differntial. It was not really broken but i never liked the red colour which the previous owner applied to it everywhere. also the upper plug was completely stuck, there were some strange rubber bumper-things added in some places, the breather vent was closed with some kind of wax or whatever this was and the mean seal was leaking.

It's an original European 3.9 R180 Open Differential as standard on all 5-speed Manual Z's (= all european spec cars). I thought when putting in the work anyway, why not upgrade to a limited slip? First of all i disassembled the old one to confirm it's a 39:10, to see what shape the internals were in. I thought i'd give it a test to remove paint with paint stripper from the diff cover. that worked out, but somehow the metal below looked strange. like the outer layer had chipped off, or someone had added a silver layer of powedercoat. I thought i better not use it on the car.

At the end, i found a good Subaru Clutch type R180 "K" LSD differential for a reasonable price. so i thought i just go for the whole swap.
It's from a WRX STI, and also an 3.9, because it's considered the best "all round" ratio for a street driven Euro-spec 5-speed transmission setup.
The only thing you need to do is to install some drive shaft adapters, and swap the propeller shaft flange. Of cour'se it's recommended to replace all the seals and stuff while at it anyway.
Left Subaru LSD, right side Original Datsun (Hitachi) Open differential:

You can see the big "K" on the Subaru differential which usually differentiates the Subaru diffs from the datsun ones.

I also collected various parts. And had bought a cheap kit in the past, so i have all the parts to get them both back together. The subaru one will get the full treatment with all the OEM parts and Keamari drive shaft adapters.
The Original Datsun one will get the cheap parts treatment, just to make sure it doesn't leak while in storage.

Here's a closer look at the subie diff, Kameari shaft adapters and the NOS parts:

And here the original / Repladed parts and additionally some cheap seals.

I hope i find some time to get it done soon. I also plan to repaint the Subaru diff, while at it anyway, but need to see how to do this best, first.
And i have some more exciting news soon.

Recently i saw a new manufacturer "Eingeered 3D" Pop up, which sells these 240Z reproduction fuseboxes. Long-time owners know that the original tends to melt in some areas where fuses might cause overheating due to bad connectinos or moddifications over the years. so i had planned to restore mine to avoid such failures in the future. When i saw this kit for sale, i thought i'd give it a try and see which route i go. The kit is a three piece set and each one can be bought individually. the Bottom plastic part, the clear top cover with the prints and the two-piece lock button clip:

The quality and fitment is great,  but the surface (especially of the button clip) is a bit rough and seems more of a 3D print than the original plastic injection molding. Also the black base piece has some kind of structure which the original one doesnt have. Maybe it can be sanded away, but it seems like a bit of work to geth the completely flat original surface. I'm not sure yet if i'm going to use it, but nevertheless, it's nice tht somebody came up with such a product after all.

Link to fuse box source?

This is a perfect replacement for the button or clip on the cover.

90467-08119 link

Keith

 

12 hours ago, Patcon said:

Link to fuse box source?

You can find him on facebook and instagram:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553353143010

9 hours ago, 240dkw said:

This is a perfect replacement for the button or clip on the cover.

9 hours ago, zed2 said:

90467-08119 link

Keith

 

Thanks guys for the link. i will consider this one. Appreciate your inputs a lot.

So, today i had to bring the bodyshop some parts to adjust the fitment and panel gabs of some areasy and got the chance to check out the latest progress.
First the outer LH wheel arch got fitted:

At the moment they're working on reinstalling the OEM rear quarter panel:

And t hey also created and installed those Floor pan reinforcment panels that came on the cars originally:

Now i got some homework: According to the parts manual, the taillight panels are installed with plastic rivets. The upper panel around the trunk lock came without holes. If i look at thetaillight panels the holes seem to be way to big for plastic rivets and i remember that one had metals crews installed. so it was probably a hack-job done by a previous owner. Before we start to drill holes, i'd like to know the original hole size both in the taillight panel and the trunk lock panel. can anybody help me with these numbers? It would be highly appreciated, so we can get this car back to Factory specification.

Thanks and cheers.

I measured the tail light panel holes to be about 5.5 to 5.8mm, and the corresponding holes in the hatch slam panel on the car appear to be 4.5mm on both my 280Z and 240Z.

I have some of the correct plastic rivets. They are quite small in comparison to the plastic rivets used on the interior trim panels.  I will get some dimensions on them.  I was able to source them new from Nissan within the last couple of years. These holes use the same plastic rivets, but you may not have those brackets anymore as they may only be on US cars for the US license plates.

  

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 20241 yr by inline6

Been looking for those. Got a p/n?

Yep.  Also, I measure the outer diameter of them at .175" inches.  They are similar to the clips used for the inside trim panels in that they utilize a small plastic shaft which is pushed into a hole in the center of the rivet.  Pushing it flush with the top of the rivet expands 4 "fingers" behind the hole which is what grips the part into place.

 

 

Today i got a special delivery from Japan with some rare NOS items. I've never been actively searching for these, since i knew they're sold for astronomic prices and are no different from what i already have. But then this nice set popped up for a fair price, so i had to get it of course.


1) A NOS NISMO 10 anniversary steering wheel. It's a factory re-issue from 1884 from the Datsun / Nissan Competition steering wheel, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of NISMO.

2) A NOS NISMO 10th annivesrary shift knob of the same origin. what make the two NISMO parts a bit special are the fact that they come in the orignal box / Packing and have never been installed before.

3) Additionally i got a nice NOS Choke cable today, which my man Stefan has been storing for me since a while and today we finally met to swap some parts. Thanks mate!
    

4) And i also got a bunch of taillight panel plastic clips. which i realized were missing and the previous owner put some sheet metal screws there instead.
Those are important for my panelbeater to make the right holes and align the rear-end in the bodyshop. Luckily those were still available from Nissan.