1970 HLS30-06521 Re-Restoration

[CanTechZ]

10 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Gottcha, from that first photo it looked like the rear axis was much higher than the front. Nice rig.

Thanks, I agree that first image is decieving.

[CanTechZ]

Yesterday I picked up the rear rotisserie brackets from my fabricator (in the tacked state) and this morning I was able to do a test fit to check the angle for the diff mount extensions. They fit good, so they can now be welded up as is. While they were attached I also did a squareness check and found that the left bumper mount was was note quite parallel with the right. A 1/8 inch shim (2 washers) between the far left bolt and the new bracket took care of the issue, so I will have no problems with alignment when assembling on the main rotisserie end support. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to get the body onto the rotisserie.

 

The red arrow in this next pic shows where I need the 1/8" shim.

Edited October 28, 2023 by CanTechZ

[CanTechZ]

Yesterday I picked up the finished rear brackets I had made for mounting the shell on the rotisserie and gave them a quick shot of primer. I'm very happy with the result, my fabricator does great work.

Over the weekend I will be working on getting it all put together. I was hoping to do this in my driveway but the weather is not cooperating. The predicted rain for all weekend has already started. My garage is only 21' wide x 20' long so it will be a bit crowed during assembly. When it is all  done there is not much front to back walking room but I laid it out in cad and after moving my beer fridge and work bench it looks like it will work. It was handy that I had created a basic 3d model of our house to plan our recent kitchen re-model. Here's a couple of images,

[CanTechZ]

Installing the front and rear brackets went well, time for breakfast.🙂

[CanTechZ]

Yesterday, with the help of my son we completed getting the car on the rotisserie. It went very well. Now on to the bigger task of re-organizing my garage. Here's a few pics.

[grannyknot]

Prepare to have your nice clean garage floor covered with sticky undercoat scrapings☺️

Have you spun it yet? Interested to see how your balance between top and bottom worked out.

[CanTechZ]

15 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Prepare to have your nice clean garage floor covered with sticky undercoat scrapings☺️

Have you spun it yet? Interested to see how your balance between top and bottom worked out.

Luckily I have already removed most of the undercoating, so hopefully there won't be much mess. As far as rotating it, I've only turned it about 30 degrees with my son holding the door closed. Still need to empty some parts out, like fenders and misc light items. It's been a bit of a storage bin. Also I will need to tie the doors, hood and hatch closed. It will likely be a fee days before I can do the full spin. I will most definitely report back when I get to it. 

[CanTechZ]

I took a break today from work and emptied out the shell and made some room around it to do a test flip. The rotisserie has a worm gear reducer to do the turn, I counted 15 turns of the crank handle to rotate 180. The balance point appears to be quite good with the 5-1/2" drop from the rotation axis to the bumper mounts suggested by @grannyknot, thanks for that info. Although this is a bit subjective, as the 30:1 reducer makes it a little hard to judge. Here are a few pics and a short video.

 

[grannyknot]

That 5.5" was with the hatch, hood and doors removed and I was free wheeling the spin, yours is probably bit top heavy but not a problem as the gears are taking the weight.   Looks great.

[CanTechZ]

2 hours ago, grannyknot said:

That 5.5" was with the hatch, hood and doors removed and I was free wheeling the spin, yours is probably bit top heavy but not a problem as the gears are taking the weight.   Looks great.

Thanks, and I totally agree that it will be more balanced with those items removed. They will come off eventually, just doesn't make sense for me to do it with the limited space I have.

[CanTechZ]

It's been a while since my last update, but it's been a very emotional start to the year for me and my family.  The love of my life Debbie, passed away on February 11th after a very short struggle with an aggressive type of lung cancer, and this will be a memorial post to her.  I met and started dating Deb in 1980, barely two years after I first purchased the 1970 240Z I'm documenting here. Deb has always been a huge supporter of our Datsun we even took it on a honeymoon road trip when we married in 1983. Sadly I only have a few pictures with Deb and our 240 but I will share them here.

First one is from 1981 with Deb driving our Zed in a local parade, representing the club we were members of, Cheam Association of Motorsports (CAMS). We hosted various slalom events and such locally thru the 1980's.

Next from 1996, Deb at a Concours car show, at Minter Gardens where we displayed the Zed. Deb drove the 442 on the left to the show and we displayed that as well. The 442 belonged to the owner of the local body shop where Deb worked as a collision repair estimator. We both detailed both cars together on the days before the event.

 

Lastly,  from September 2017, you can just see this her in this pic of us driving to Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway, There were about 30 members from our local club driving to whistler for a club show in our Zed's as a convoy.

 

As Deb was the person responsible or pushing me to embark on this restoration in 2018, I would be remiss not to share a few more pics so that you can get a small sense of who she was. In addition to being my soulmate, Deb was a loving mother to our son, Chris. She was a passionate traveler, a real car person and enjoyed volunteering for various events like crew hosting at the Abbotsford International Airshow.

 

 

 

 

 

This last pic, is us on a beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico  on our last vacation together, December last year.

In Deb's memory I will be completing this resto over the next few years, just as she would have wanted.

Rest in peace Deb, you are forever in my thoughts.

Feb 6th 1964 to Feb 11th 2024

[DatsunZGuy]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.  Debbie seemed like a wonderful partner to spend your life with. 

Although cars are only objects, they do hold a special place as a touchstone of great memories of happier times. 

May the restoration bring you purpose, peace and solace in a cathartic way.