1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration

[Namerow]

On 5/17/2023 at 11:18 AM, HS30-H said:

The front spindles were drilled for the Halda drive cable to pass through

Thanks for the explanation and photos.   It takes a brave man to drill a 3mm-dia hole down the 6" length of a wheel spindle.  

Edited May 22, 2023 by Namerow

[HS30-H]

11 hours ago, xs10shl said:

Just to circle back to this with some measurements: Dimension A and B match the front strut housings on my car, but the damper rod is thicker at 25mm, perhaps for off-road use? The only other difference of note is the TKH vs TKJ designation on the strut housing.  At any rate, the identical sizes of the strut housings lends credence to the theory that at least some suspension setups used the same parts. So it seems reasonable that I may be able to re-use the strut housings with different dampers and shorter springs, and achieve a close result.

Here's a further reference piece from Ye Olde Black Museum of Original Works Artyfacts. Another 'short', oil-filled, non gas-charged, fixed-platform Works front strut.

It has lost its original DYMO labels, but there are some Turin Shroud type witness marks in evidence. I can certainly read 'NISSAN', 'TOKICO' and a 'TKJ' prefix which corresponds with 'TKJ-552' stamped into the spindle casting. This would correspond to the '70 and '71 season fixed platform type Works struts.

'A' and 'B' dimensions, also the strut tube diameter, are same as the Y0901-54302 I posted earlier, but this time with a beefier damper rod at 25mm.

 

[xs10shl]

After months of delays, the car has finally been stripped of paint, and delivered to the body shop to start the lengthy process of returning the bodywork to pre-Monte Carlo condition.  This point always feels like a milestone of sorts to me, because from here on, the car is coming back together.  There were thankfully no real surprises (yet), which is always a good sign.  Of course, there is rust in the usual spots , necessitating the retrieval of a few donor panels.

Ive also included a picture of the seldom-seen fuel tank mounts, which appear to be identical to PZR stampings. Based on my understanding, these pieces were installed in place of the standard componentry as the four sequentially-numbered (I assume) Monte Carlo cars traveled down the assembly line. 

One thing I expected to see was the damaged passenger-side dogleg and right door, which occurred during the 71 Monte Carlo.  This was hastily banged out, filled and painted.

[Patcon]

I guess a question be would be. Do you preserve these battle scars that authenticate the car and it's provenance or restore it? I would probably come down on the side of restoration but I like the "history" that is displayed in the car.

[xs10shl]

18 hours ago, Patcon said:

I guess a question be would be. Do you preserve these battle scars that authenticate the car and it's provenance or restore it? I would probably come down on the side of restoration but I like the "history" that is displayed in the car.

It’s an interesting question- one that I’ve given quite a bit of thought to over the past few years. here are some long-winded thoughts on the subject:

When I previewed the car at JCCS in 2022 (see picture 4), by far the number one comment I got from onlookers was "Leave it as-is, and don't restore it”. I really appreciated these comments, because I myself had considered the very question “Can I leave the car as-found, and do just enough to get it running?” Short answer: I could probably make that work in some fashion, but not really in a way that makes much sense to me from a historical perspective. if I left the car as-is, I really wouldn’t be “preserving” much of any historic rallying patina.

To explain: the interior appointments of the car was largely salvageable (and will be preserved, apart from the metal work) but most of the original exterior patina from its rallying days was already long gone, and any originality that was left was unlikely to be usable without a complete overhaul. The rally “patina" that was displayed in 2022 in the form of racing stickers and fog light mock-ups was largely applied by me to give event-goers an idea of what the car looked like in period. The car is REALLY rough (see picture 3, on the lift), and IMHO, beyond the sticker appliqué, there’s really almost no exterior patina that evokes its past as a Works Rally car.

The damage on the dogleg and doors raises perhaps a slightly different question, but I personally feel it can also be considered in the same vein. Someone had already repaired this damage to the door and body in Spring 1971.  Fast forward to today, we’re really only looking at their “fix”, and not the original hit.  So. I pose the question: do I leave the fix as-is, re-damage it so it looks like the hit in the 1971 Monte, or fix it properly?

I think if the car had any authentic “Post-Monte” patina, or even “Post-RAC” patina left, it would be much easier to re-create, preserve, or otherwise highlight damage such as this dogleg, and I’d have a much tougher time deciding which condition to restore the car to. However, In this case they’d already applied the fix by April 1971, and rallied it with the fix in-place.  Further: apart from retaining its RAC ride height, and a few dents in the floorboards, IMHO the car really has no other external rally patina showing- it’s pretty much all gone.

Given all this input, my current plan is to restore it to 1971 Monte Carlo “Pre-Race” condition (picture 1 below, credit unknown), while keeping as many of the original and period pieces as possible, restoring them to their pre-race state as best I can.  This restoration target will likely include properly repairing the dogleg, and saving the original “repaired" piece for my wall.  But I’m still open to hearing opinions, so I’d love to hear yours if you think differently after hearing my thoughts. Just to note, this restoration target is slightly different from an “As-New” condition, which I’m not really sure is even possible, given that these cars were hand-assembled and field-tested. IMHO “As-New” would probably yield a less interesting and inaccurate result.

Edited May 30, 2023 by xs10shl

[HS30-H]

5 hours ago, xs10shl said:

Given all this input, my current plan is to restore it to 1971 Monte Carlo “Pre-Race” condition (picture 1 below, credit unknown), while keeping as many of the original and period pieces as possible, restoring them to their pre-race state as best I can.

 

5 hours ago, xs10shl said:

Just to note, this restoration target is slightly different from an “As-New” condition, which I’m not really sure is even possible, given that these cars were hand-assembled and field-tested. IMHO “As-New” would probably yield a less interesting and inaccurate result.

A wise choice, in my opinion. It can be difficult to know where best to wind the clock back to, or indeed whether the clock should be stopped in just one place...

Kevin Bristow faced a very similar dilemma when he acquired 'TKS 33 SA 3640'/'PTE 337L'/'HS30-00879', his 1971 RAC (and more...) Works 240Z rally car. He had to contend with period-repaired damage, deterioration and further damage - caused by decades laid up - as well as a few missing parts. He finally targeted a restoration of the car to the way it was immediately prior to the start of the 1971 RAC Rally, but - pragmatically - also including some of the patina and minor modifications it received in its post-71 RAC rallying career, each of which has its own story to tell us. I think it turned out well.

The trick is to avoid throwing out the baby with the bath water.   

[SteveE]

I like YOUR plan.   Keep up the good work.

[Patcon]

I think you have thought this out well and the lack or existing patina does change the decision making progress. It sounds like a solid plan and the end result aught to be really nice

[xs10shl]

S30 Works gearboxes: we weren't really sure what to expect as far as condition and composition of this particular box, given that the car was non-op when it was acquired, and the box had been used in competition 50 years ago, followed by several years of street use.  Indeed- prior to cracking it open, we weren't even really sure what we'd find inside: a stock box with standard ratios, a hybrid solution, or perhaps something totally custom. 

Upon opening the box, it appeared to be something I'd label as an "iterative" upgrade from stock- the primary components were stock A-Box 5-speed, with a few internals that were modified from stock, and an "Option 1 Middle Close" gearset. Thankfully none of the unique pieces were damaged, but there were a few chipped teeth on the main shaft, likely due to several hard shifts.  Although these chipped teeth may not have been noticed during regular driving, we elected to replace the main shaft with an identical spare from another A-box 5-speed anyways, as a precaution. 

What we learned about the composition of the box itself is probably not applicable to any other S30 Works gearbox, given that this example is probably one of the earliest surviving iterations built for the 240Z Works cars, and was likely followed by a series of improvements used in the later 240Z's as the technology developed. Included in the unique pieces we found were shift forks made using a different casting (picture 1), and shift rails with additional grooves cut into them to provide some feedback while shifting (picture 2).  Also, as previously mentioned, the stick mount is different from stock (picture 3 & 4).

So it appears that for this 1970 Works A-box iteration, the Works team made several modifications to improve reliability and gearbox feel, and utilized an available competition gearset, but otherwise kept things the same (apart from a few other small details which I won't dive into). When examined on a timeline, this makes some sense to me, as this car would have been assembled roughly in late summer of 1970, building on knowledge primarily obtained from the 1968 Monte Carlo, and the successful 1969-70 rallying season with the 1600SSS.  During this era, I personally don't know of any earlier Works models (SRL311 or 1600SSS) that suffered gearbox failures- anyone know more details?

After vapor honing the case, we've got it all back together, and ready for installation (picture 5). I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out, to see if I can feel the difference!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by xs10shl

[xs10shl]

And now, on to something truly specific: Nissan Works Rally lights!

This particular topic is sure to be filed by many readers in the "Not really sure why anyone would care, its just a couple of extra lights" category.  And yet, I'd venture to say that being able to see where you're going at high speed thru mud, sleet, snow, dirt, and dense forest - in the dark - ranks high up on my list of Rally "must-have" abilities.  Like several previous topics, this one has so many surprising details attached to it, that I'll have to break things up into several posts.  In addition, this is also one of those areas where advancement was ongoing throughout S30 development, and probably well into the Nissan rallying heyday of the late 70s.

I'll be going over the lighting details of my car in my following posts.  Prior to that, I thought I'd do my best to introduce the topic with a primer on what I've seen as a "typical" setup.  Much of what I'm summarizing here is a generalization based on pictures I've seen, and I'm probably missing a bunch of significant details, which I hope to be able to fill in as I learn more.

The basics: All the S30 Works cars that I've seen have the following typical setup;

1) a pair of main headlights mounted in a custom bucket, which facilitated the ability to change the bulb from the front of the car.  Monte Carlo spec cars also incorporated standard headlight covers, and a small tube opening connected to an air hose, which ran all the way back to the heater box inside the cabin.  I've also seen pictures of very early 1970 Works Cars which also had headlight covers.

2) up to 4 front-facing fog lights, typically in 1 of 3 configurations.  Early cars had their fog lights mounted on special brackets which were welded to and extended beyond the front bumper. Later cars had special competition bumpers which allowed the lights to sit flush with the nose.  Safari cars had what most enthusiasts would probably list as the "iconic" look - 2 lights on the hood, and one central light, mounted proud of the bumper. There were actually mounting brackets for up to 3 fog lights on the Safari bumper, but I can't say if the wiring harness was actually designed to have all three lights (for a total of 5) installed simultaneously. 

3) an additional reverse spotlight.

 

In order to support this many amps, some changes from stock were necessary:

1) A larger alternator, which we've already discussed

2) A way to switch combinations of lights on and off, allowing for multiple setups and configurations, usually in the form of a row of toggles on the central console.

3) A modified wiring harness to accommodate all these possible configurations.  In my car, this also included a custom relay. I'd imagine that as the cars were developed, the use of custom relays probably multiplied. 

In addition, on many cars there is also a dial switch on the central console which, when turned on, introduces something into the lighting circuit via a box on the front of the car.    Alan and I have had several discussions about how this switch may actually affect the lighting output, but I'm really still not sure I fully understand how it exactly works, and what it's effect on lighting output is supposed to be, if that is at all what it's for. I previewed this mystery box in an earlier post Here if you want to read more about it. I'll probably also have more to say about it later.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by xs10shl

[kats]

Hi, I am always enjoying reading this thread, thank you so much. 

Today I have a question about an air intake system of those works rally cars. 
Maybe for Safari cars, not for your car.

An old interview with Mr. Namba and Mr.  Wakabayashi they said “Our rally cars are designed sucking air from the cabin. It prevents engines from sucking heavy sand dust or water”.  

Did that mean works rally cars had ducting system on the firewall acting as a corridor between the cabin and the engine room?  Was the engine room sealed enough for isolating it from the outside? 
 

And they said “when cars need to across the river, mostly a few seconds, cars have to have ability to go through”.

 It makes me think the huge duralumin under cover would help the cars float a few seconds over the water, wouldn’t it? 
 

Kats

 

 

 

[HS30-H]

9 hours ago, kats said:

Today I have a question about an air intake system of those works rally cars. 
Maybe for Safari cars, not for your car.

An old interview with Mr. Namba and Mr.  Wakabayashi they said “Our rally cars are designed sucking air from the cabin. It prevents engines from sucking heavy sand dust or water”.  

Did that mean works rally cars had ducting system on the firewall acting as a corridor between the cabin and the engine room?  Was the engine room sealed enough for isolating it from the outside? 

Hi Kats,

What was the date of the interview? I don't believe there was anything like that on the Works cars before 1972, and I honestly don't ever recall seeing anything of that nature in *any* of the Works 240Zs. It's hard to imagine how such a system could operate without big changes to the structure of the car, especially in the cowl and firewall area, and any ducting joining the cabin to the carbs or injection would easily be visible in the engine bay. Never seen anything like that.

I wonder if it might be a case of misunderstanding between Namba san, Wakabayashi san and the journalist involved? The only thing I can think of is the modified cabin blower system used on the 1972 RAC Rally and 1973 Safari Rally cars, which was fundamentally different than the stock item. They turned the uprated fan and motor through 90 degrees and added some huge filters and ducts to the system. On the Safari Rally - if the weather was dry - they had huge problems with 'Murram', the fine red dust that forms many of the road surfaces on the route. It got everywhere, clogging up instrumentation and mechanisms. I should imagine the modified ventilation system was part of dealing with that.

It's not a very good shot, but here's my view from the passenger seat of '7924', the 1973 East African Safari Rally-winning car (Shekhar Mehta/'Lofty' Drews) which had previously used by Rauno Aaltonen on the 1972 RAC Rally. You can see the 'clocked' fan and housing and some of the big ducting that was part of the system: