We're bringin' back the Flat Tops!

[motorman7]

18 minutes ago, Mark Maras said:

 I can't figure out the bushing orientation in the pic.

I had to save the pic and blow it up.  Looks like they have the rounded edge facing 'forward' and the squarish side facing 'aft' for BOTH bushings.  That's weird, but then again it's a 280ZX.

Edited May 30, 2019 by motorman7

[Mark Maras]

 That was my first impression but I found that difficult to believe. Does anyone have an idea of how the bushings are oriented on other makes of cars?

[Terrapin Z]

This CRX image appears to have the rounded ends to the outsides.

[240Znomad]

I just replaced my compression/tension rod bushings recently on my '71 240Z.  The car sat idle in a garage since '89 so they hadn't been replaced since before that time.  They were oriented with the flat surface of the bushings mounted against the frame mount and the rounded side facing outwards toward the big washers.  The washers were oriented with the concave side on the outside (ie. away from the bushings), much like @Captain Obvious post from yesterday.  I just took pictures and replaced them the same way.

[Captain Obvious]

240Znomad, Thanks for the contribution and another data point.

10 hours ago, motorman7 said:

More muddy waters...Another item that comes into play are the mounting features/cups on the body that the bushings insert into.  The feature is rounded inside.  It would seem odd to put the squared end of the bushing into the rounded cup. 

Absolutely agree. And that rounded cup on the frame member is exactly why I had my bushings in rounded side towards the cup at first. Then I kept seeing pics of other people's bushings and they were always the other way, so I switched mine. (Despite the fact that it makes engineering sense to me to put them in the other way.)

So I'm not saying it makes sense. I'm just saying that's how I always see them.   

In reality it probably doesn't matter much. As long as it doesn't cause a caster change or cause the T/C rod to bind during normal movement, then the orientation probably doesn't matter much at all.

[motorman7]

And here are two quick upholstery pics from the camera phone.  Should have more to show this weekend.

[motorman7]

More upholstery pics.  Got the seats complete and mostly installed.   That white sure is bright .....I end up washing my hands every five minutes to make everything stays nice and clean.  I really love the colors and think this area will look pretty nice once I refinish the steering wheel.

Need to check with @jayhawk about the seat risers.  With the new seat foam, you sit pretty high.  I sat in the passenger seat that still had the black plastic risers installed and my head touched the headliner.  For the drivers side,  I took the risers off of the rear attach point of the seat since @jayhawk is fairly tall.   I think his wife is a bit shorter and she may want the risers.  Anyway, once we get that figured out, I will secure the seats in.  (I had the drivers seat stacked on top of the passenger seat for several weeks and it made a  depression in the middle of the passenger seat  foam.  I am guessing that will fill back out over time or after someone starts sitting in it).

Got the vinyl installed on the rear shock tower areas also.  That is the difficult section to install.  I wanted to finish out the wheel well vinyl, but the factory missed  putting in the hems on the ovelapping edge. Wife says she can sew that up for me.  It's surprising, as I recently installed a blue vinyl kit from the same manufacturer and the hem was done correctly.  This one was overlooked.

Got the parts that were sent earlier this week wire wheeled and off to the Plating shop.  Also started the evap tank hose install.  Will hopefully finish that out tomorrow and post pics.

Edited June 3, 2019 by motorman7

[jayhawk]

News to me that I'm "pretty tall" Maybe 5'10" on really good days.  Are you sure you are not confusing width for height? But risers "out" on the driver's seat works for me - unless I shrink...

That interior is looking so bright!  I originally wanted a blue Z with a black interior, sure glad now I got the white.  Probably cooler also, since we are going original with no air conditioning.  Will have to make future summer driving with a cooler full of ice in the back.  A bag of ice on the arm rest really helps too.  (Ask me how I know...:-)

Looking so good! Thanks!

Edited June 3, 2019 by jayhawk

[motorman7]

The interior really looks great and even better in person of course.  For what it's worth, this interior kit is made by the same company that made the interior for the Franklin mint car, currently on BaT.  The quality is excellent....except for that missing hem.  Will try and show pics of that tonight.

[w3wilkes]

12 hours ago, motorman7 said:

Need to check with @jayhawk about the seat risers.  With the new seat foam, you sit pretty high.  I sat in the passenger seat that still had the black plastic risers installed and my head touched the headliner.  For the drivers side,  I took the risers off of the rear attach point of the seat since @jayhawk is fairly tall.

I also did the new seat foam and I'm about 5'9". I too noticed that I was higher in the seat by maybe 1 to 1.5 inches. Definitely noticeable, but I kinda like being a little higher. ? 

Edited June 3, 2019 by w3wilkes

[motorman7]

Test Picture

[motorman7]

Got the evap tank in Along with the fuel tank items and rear fuel lines.  Since this is not very visible, I did on spend much time cleaning things up.  Also, you can see the missing hem on the vinyl here.  Good thing the wife can sew.  She has made stick shift boots and hand brake covers in the paste.  Nice!