Motorman's Build

[motorman7]

I know...so close I can taste it.  I am hoping that I can have the motor running by the end of July.  That would put me in good shape for getting to the JCCS (car show) in September.  I have just a few fuel lines to put in, and hose clamps coming in.  Then I just need to finish out the carbs and get the dash/electrical in.  Interior is partially in and won't take much to complete.  So, hopefully I get enough time to get this all complete in the next 3 months.  We will see how it goes.

[motorman7]

Really made a lot of progress this week.  Got the rear bumper installed except for the small 'bumperettes'.  Rubber for those should be here tomorrow.  The large rubber on the bumper is NOS rubber in perfect condition.  The bumpers look awesome and great on the car.  Will put on front bumper when the 'bumperette' rubber comes in.

Got the carb pistons working well and most of the rubber hose installed in the engine bay.  I need some vacuum hose and breather hose but otherwise the engine is pretty complete.

Got the door panels in.  Real happy with those.

I had to order some parts to complete the build.  I have a center console coming in that I got off of ebay.  It had choke cable with it, so looking forward to installing that.  Also got a light switch/bar from ebay.  They were missing from all the parts i got from the PO (or I will find them after the ebay parts come in, you  never know).

I put the original CA blue plates on.....it works well with the orange paint.

Here are some pics.

Also, If anyone has the license plate light for a cheap price I am interested.  I have the right paint so it doesn't need to look good, just not cracked.

[Mark Maras]

Beautiful. Soooooo close.

[dmorales-bello]

I'm drooling........absolutely gorgeous.

[motorman7]

Thanks everyone.  I am reaching that desperation stage now where I am ordering the final parts I need and burning the Paypal credit card on e-bay and other sites to make it happen.  Will soon start listing some of the surplus parts I have here to offset things a bit.  It is funny looking at some of the items that the PO collected that were in the boxes.  I have a bag here that must have about 30 of the red and yellow rectangular turn signal lenses, enough for 7 cars.  

[motorman7]

Got the heater box and hoses installed yesterday.  Got the dash installed today after the third try.  First try didn't work because the steering column was installed.  Had to undo the bolts before dash would go in.  after second install, noticed the defroster ducts were not installed, so took the dash out again.  Third times a charm, got the dash in.  Also got the vent ducts installed and the drain ducts installed.  What a pain.  Hate working on my back like that.  the seat adjustment lever dis into your back when installing that stuff.  Anyway, started connecting some of the electrical harnesses.  That is a small mess and will take some time to sort out.

Here are the latest pics

[motorman7]

Got the center console in today from e-bay seller.  Such a deal, center console with choke cables and choke plate and defroster switch for $160 after shipping. Console was in great shape.  Just have it temporarily installed because I need a new shifter boot/cover.  The one in the console was torn.  

Got the muffler secured by making a small right angle bracket and attaching to diff strap bracket.  Nice and secure installation.

[motorman7]

More progress made over the long weekend.  I got the new shift boot for the center console, so I installed the boot and the console.  The console looks great, choke is hooked up, now it's time to start addressing the electrical.

I did get the alternator cleaned up and installed.  It is the original alternator, so hopefully it still works.  I did opt for a new voltage regulator as those seem to be a bit more critical.

I got the final fuel hoses attached to the fuel tank.  Also got the fuel gauge sensor cleaned up, checked out and installed.

The breather hose is from zcardepot.  It was $16, way cheaper than Motorsports $75  tube and looks just the same.  The braid is very similar to the radiator hose braid.

Also attached the front bumper, but only temporarily.  Still waiting for the bumperette rubber to come in.  Here are the pics

[wheee!]

Looks incredible!

[bartsscooterservice]

On ‎6‎-‎7‎-‎2016 at 7:13 PM, wheee! said:

Looks incredible!

Second that ! Great work man !

[motorman7]

Made a lot more progress this weekend.  Should be ready to turn the key in a week or two here.  Very excited about that.

I bought the wrong year light/wiper lever on ebay.  My car is a '71 and the light/wiper lever is for a '74 or later and had a nine pin connector.  The harness coming from my dash is a large 6 pin connector.  So, I had an extra vintage connections 6 pin shell handy and set up the switch so it has only 6 pins, with wire colors matching the dash harness.  The 'spare' wires were a red wire and two yellows.  Hopefully they don't do anything important.  My guess is that they operate a buzzed if you leave your lights on when ignition is off,  but I could be wrong.

I got the hood release cable in from ebay/Thailand.  It is lame, but it works well.  Lame because the handle looks cheap.  I will have to get a correct one and replace it.    So, now I can close the hood.  I also adjusted the hood gap at the wiper panel so things line up well.  Now I can take pics of the car with the hood closed.

I got the wiring in the passengers foot well are about 95% complete.  The engine harness did not have any connector shells on it, so I picked up the necessary shells from Vintage Connections.  I thought the wiring would take several days to figure out but it was incredibly simple and only took about 30 mins.  The PO had tagged and grouped the wires that went to each connector.  All I had to do was get the correct shell and insert the wires int the shell matching the mating color.  Such a relief that is was so simple.  

Got the vinyl in on the shock towers.  It came out OK.  It was a bit challenging as the material seemed to be a bit off on the pattern shape.  Also, the hole in the vinyl was no where near where the center shock nut should be.  So I used scissors to adjust the cutout, and also cutout around the 3 nuts that secure the strut.  I also had to remove the panel around the rear quarter window to get the material in.   

 

So, things are moving along.  Pics are below

 

[motorman7]

Just a small rant here:

 

I am just amazed at the high cost of 240Z parts today.  5 years ago parts were way cheaper.  Prices seem to have increased 5X.  Of course the pricey ones are the items I need to finish my Z.  What am I referring too?

 

Radios:  Yikes!  these babies are listed on e-bay from $700 to $1100!  Wow, that is out of my league and the audio quality is terrible.

 

Those bullet shaped engine lights:  5 years ago you could pick them up brand new for $25 in the box.  Today the cheapest one is $75 and I have seen them listed for over $200.  Was fortunate to find an old one laying around that I could re-zinc. 

 

Plastic Battery covers.  Motorsport used to sell them for $37 but they are out of stock.  Cheapest I can find now is again over $200.

 

Rear License plate lights:  They used to go for $15-$20.  Now they are $75 and up.

 

So, just had to rant and rave here for a bit.  Will have to save up a bit or sell more Z parts to afford this stuff.   Grrrrrr

 

I can drive the car without these items, but sure would like to have it complete.