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Hoping everyone is safe. I thought I'd share some art work from a graphic design artist out of Puerto Rico named Tito Gonzalez. Super talented and very nice kid doing the best he can on that Island that was still reeling from the effects of hurricanes and earthquakes when the global pandemic hit!

Some of them may "meet Jesus" sooner than they planned.

After looking at my original "saggy" sunvisors for a few years (and with lots of "sheltering at home" time) I decided to try a "fix". The vynil skins themselves are in great shape but it seemed as if the internal stuffing had deteriorated over 40 odd years and there were wrinkles here and there on the visors. I didn't want to change the original vynil for leather (visor repair kits on the market) so I decided to cut them open along the forwardmost seam with a fine scalpel blade, staying on one side of the seam so I could later close the seam almost invisibly. To my surprise the foam layer inside was pretty intact and the cause of the wrinkles on the outside was just loose, saggy vynil. I cut out a filler panel for each side out of closed cell foam, 2.5mm thick and carefully fitted and glued it to the existing foam with 3M spray glue. Closing the seam again was tricky but all I could come up with was using a strip of Gorilla tape (that stuff really sticks). I placed half the strip along the inside of the top half of the vynil and slowly pulled the bottom half over the exposed tape until a precise closure was achieved. The result is a nice firm visor with an almost invisible seam. See pics below. PS: I've only done the passenger side (which has the vanity mirror and is a little trickier) because I ran out of the foam. I will do the driver side once I get the foam and will post any details that I might change for improvement. Original "saggy" visors (I know, they're way better than most!!) New foam filler (white) fitted and glued to each side of the original green foam: Trim the foam edges so approximating the vinyl edges can be achieved with just a little stretch: Gorilla tape on the inside of the top half and then bringing the bottom half of the vynil over the bottom half of the tape until the edges are precisely closed (start in the middle): Final result:

The line drawn between religions and cults is often a belief in God versus a belief in a charismatic leader. Too many people end up feasting on the menu and never get to the meal.

Unfortunately my dog's food ran out so I had to go to Walmart this morning. Workers there, 10% were wearing mask, about twice that had them pulled down so they could talk to each other. All young people. I've convinced myself, so as not to go postal on the idiots, they've never had the flu. I have and it's life changing wishing I was dead instead. I think mask should be like seatbelts during this, mandatory with no excuses. I bought two 40lb bags instead of one. Hope the dog doesn't get killed.

Restored the tachometer today. First pic shows cleans len/cover. Note the haze from tiny scratches over 50 years. Background is my dirty Honda Accord. Middle pic is after buffing. Quite the difference. Third pic is half on and half off the lens. You can see the distortion in one of the leaves (just off center left) on the pavement where the edge of the lens is: The hazard switch was missing almost all of the white paint in the imprint. So, I sprayed a bit of white enamel into the spray paint cap and used my finger to load up the switch (after cleaning thoroughly). I use enamel thinner. Lacquer thinner is too aggressive and will attack the plastic if you use more than a whisper. After the white enamel dried, I used a low lint paper towel with just a couple of drops of enamel thinner and wiped the top surface lightly and repeatedly, until the only paint that remained was that in the recesses. You have to go slow. If the paint in the grooves gets thinner on it, it gets tacky and will start to pull out with the wiping action. Also, the tachometer had some of the white paint (inside the back housing) cracking and coming loose, so I removed all that was loose with 320 and re-sprayed white inside to restore the factory appearance. The tachometer after reassembly. Note clear plastic tape put in original locations (It seals some holes and keeps out dust).

Back to welding up the rotisserie...today was brackets, brackets, brackets.... The rear bumper mounts have definitely seen better days, but things seemed pretty rigid once the jam nuts were tightened up .... Meanwhile up front .... I added an additional plate so I can attach the front to both the bumper mounts and hood hinge mounting points... Still need to drill the mounting holes but it should line up something like this ( with the hood off the car of course ).... getting closer - woohoo!

@jonbill you hit the nail on the head! Dropped it down to a .024” gap and she pulls hard and clean! Thank you! Super happy!

Easy if you the have hands of a surgeon.

I agree with Zed Head. That mechanic don't know or confused what he's heard which is the 260 carbs are boat anchors. The short block and head are good to go. Find another Z specific shop or a good VW mechanic, they ran those carbs too.

If these were mine and I knew how to make a Weber run richer I'd just go straight to that. Most carbs you'd just raise the main jet needle and it would get richer everywhere. Do that and if it gets more power you'll have a clue. It will probably stink like gas at cruise but you'll know how to solve the problem. There is a bunch of Weber stuff out there - https://www.racetep.com/manufacturer/carbs-and-injection/weber/weber-carb-tuning-and-technical-info/jetting-and-tuning-downdraft-and-sidedraft-weber-carbs.html p.s. pretty sure that the L26 engine has at least as much power as the L24. That was the whole point of increasing the displacement. I would avoid mechanics who make blanket statements like that guy above did. They usually don't know what they're talking about. And, you might have been just talking to some kid at the parts counter. Who knows. Edit 2 - and they, the 240Z and 260Z, had the same 0-60 times, 8.0 seconds. Since they didn't come with Webers it might just be that a PO's efforts to make more power had the opposite effect. Not uncommon.

Great questions @Namerow I just finished doing the driver side visor with a denser (dark grey) foam, same 2.5mm thickness. The denser foam gives you a result that's a bit flatter, less plump. I also revised a few technical details as I went along which made things easier and I will discuss those as I answer your questions. 1.- I decided to glue the new foam because it makes the visor a bit stiffer. It doesn't flex as much when you handle it and feels much more like the visors in other cars. It would have stayed in place without the glue anyways but the visor was more flexible. 2 & 3.- Because it was difficult to align the edges perfectly with the inverted strip of Gorilla tape due to the width of it (which made difficult putting it in place without wrinkling the vinyl) and the very strong hold, I used a 1 inch wide strip of double sided tape (used for carpeting) along the joined top edges of the filler material. It's also very strong but not quite as much as the gorilla tape. I did however use a strip of Gorilla tape to join the top edges of the foam before applying the double sided carpeting tape (see pics below) so as to narrow the edge a bit and take all tension out of the vinyl edges when closing them. I think it's really important that when approximating the vinyl edges they do so with very little tension, start in the middle with about a two inch section and then work your way from the two extremes toward the middle distributing the vinyl appropriately so you don't end up with wrinkles. Both tapes (Gorilla and carpet) initially allow you to separate and reattach the material with moderate effort so you can fiddle with the edges until they line up properly. It's not as difficult as it seems. 4.- I did use a medical #11 blade on a scalpel handle but Exacto makes similar #11 blades that can fit their handles. I would not use a utility knife for that cut. I liked the second approach (carpeting tape over the Gorilla taped edge) so much better that I took the passenger side visor apart again and changed it accordingly. It took a lot of effort and care to unglue the vinyl from the Gorilla tape after it had set! That stuff will not loosen with summer heat, believe me. I don't think the carpeting tape will loose its adherence easily either as long as there's very little tension when you close the vinyl edges. All things considered I'm quite satisfied with the results and I don't have to stare at my saggy visors anymore. I hope I've described the procedure clearly but keep the questions coming if needed. In this first pic you can see the Gorilla tape covering the foam edges (on the right) and the double sided carpeting tape with it's white paper backing on the left side: Place a 1" strip of carpeting tape along the whole edge over the Gorilla tape: Remove the backing paper from the carpeting tape and you're ready to start approximating the vinyl edges which can actually overlap a tiny bit as long as you left the "seam" on only one side of the cut (step 1 in the original post). Final results: There's still a bit of waviness on the vinyl skins but it's almost invisible once the visors are mounted on the car. Filling them with more foam would stretch out the wrinkles but the visor will start to look like a pillow.

Wrapped up the week by doing some organizing. I sorted and binned most of the parts that I have removed recently. The bins also contain contents list that I have made copies of. Hopefully this along with lots of zip lock bags and pictures will make re-assembly a little easier, without relying only on memory.

There are people all over who either dodn't pay attention or take the first sign of relaxing any restraints as permission to cancel all cautions. In today's society, Darwin's penalties on those folks are not as harsh as they would have been 100 years ago.

S30 for sure, .which one, no clue. Real helpful, huh?

I cleaned up all my grounds and positive cables in the engine bay now I am getting 14.0~.1 at idle I am ok with that now Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes true!! Although the base already has a little indentation in it for something to go there I think! I will take a photo when I get round to doing it. Started the bearing job on the rear left yesterday. I’m using a stop watch for elapsed time as every 20 mins one of my kids comes out needing something and the half day job becomes a two to three day job! No one tells you this stuff before you have kids. I’m also experimenting with different rear silencers. The Z story classic straight through produces the best top end power - the engine positively sprints between 5-7k rpm. The turbo muffler on in the photo above does a great job but MASSIVELY quieter for long journeys although it robs the fun power at the top, given it’s more restricted.

I think the body would be easiest for that trick.

I have never used a tumbler. Usually I use the wire wheel on my bench grinder for a light cleaning. Also, I have found that platers differ in what they will do prior to plating your parts. The plating shop just down the road here requires that I have all the parts stripped and in very good shape before plating, so it is a lot of work. Also, I think their finish is a bit too dark and not enough shine or rainbow. The place I use in Phoenix is great and I do very little prep on the parts. I just wire wheel the heavily rusted items and parts with paint on them. I am pretty sure that they tumble and clean the parts before plating. I noticed the the rubber on some of the parts, like the oil pressure cable support on the engine mount, or the speedo cable supports have the rubber pretty beaten up, and almost falling off. I just re-dip those parts in the liquid plastic stuff. The finish on the parts is just about perfect.

Beautiful!

I don't remember the minute details... Clearly from your highly detailed recollection of the other place, that's what I had you for. Something about the two guys were competing in the annual BBQ competition and were thinking they might win? Placed high previous year and thought they might take first place that year? They didn't want to recommend any Q from any of their competitors. They were not in the restaurant biz... One was a lawyer and the other was an a software guy or something? I bet they opened a BBQ joint after we met them. Any of that ringing any bells? Oh yeah, and their female companions were attractive. That's probably why you don't remember shitte.

No trouble on the air cleaner info. Regina the 3rd will see it eventually and speak up. He's a lurker. Says he's "busy" or some crap like that. I'll bug him again @GGRIII . Nice. They won't like getting crushed, but still probably thinner than the foam. The real trick would be to chuck up the dome or body in a lathe and cut an O-ring groove.

Okay here 's a gem no one can resist! I've tossed all my old cassettes a long time ago.

Alright gang so we have a success story here - solid idea with the camera. The clip ended up indeed being INSIDE the support beam box and was a real pain to get out. We ended up using one of those cameras and a long piece of thick gauge wire to keep poking at it until it peeked its head out for a quick grab with the tweezers. I'm happy to report no more rattles and door locks that are usable now haha. Thanks for all your solid ideas per usual!

@Gav240z

what sort of spark plug gap are you using? You could try closing them down to 0.6mm.

@Gav240z - sorry, no spares or other loose bits.

I'd have to unpack my stash of Z radios to see for sure, but that tag shown in the photo looks very familiar. I think it is a serial number and if matched against others would yield the model of this one. To me it initially looks like it is an early Hitachi signal seeker as referenced by the position of the antennae switch on the side. I am unaware of any AM/FM units that had the side mounted rocker style switch. Those later units had the momentary switch mounted on the top right hand corner and it was of a different design. Open that puppy up and take a photo----it will be definitive once we see. @Gav240z Maybe more than you need, but I knew Jim would have the parts!

Best bet is to reach out to fellow hoarders for replacements. There are more than a few here who have gutted the original radio internals and have just recycled the case and faceplate, using Retro-sound, or equal, modern solid state components for their myriad features (Bluetooth, etc.) These wouldn't need the rf choke and probably have their own integral fusing. Someone surely has kept these original bits and might pass them on to you for your restoration. Put out a plea in the "Wanted" classifieds----- @zKars or @jfa.series1 might have spares--unfortunately I do not. I will ask around and see if any turn up from my contacts.

Funny story Bruce, it’s hard to find a good part of town there. When the sun goes down it’s like the movie “I am Legend” I get it...I spend more time than I want in Memphis. It’s a shady place. I have a car there I bought when I started working from there. It’s parked in the company parking lot at the airport. It’s a 2002 Nissan Xterra. Its manual transmission and I searched for that for one reason other than later Nissan’s builds some of the worst automatic transmissions and that was theft. I read that only 18% of Americans can drive a manual and most are over 40 yrs old. That means at minimum about 4/5 criminals wanting to steal my car will walk past mine. Car theft is very high in Memphis. Memphis had 4,450 car thefts in a single year. Cliff, Bruce has both a kill switch and a steering wheel lock bar. He had a bad cam so they wouldn’t have gotten far for too long....hehe! Here’s my Memphis bomber. She’s been a good car. Has a persistent ABS and Airbag light that I’ve chosen to ignore. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I gotta admit... It wasn't as classy, but it sure blended in. It's like my daily driver... I want it to be invisible. You remember that one shaky looking neighborhood when we ended up startling the guy in the brewery? Him, clearly startled - "Woah! Uhhh... Can I help you?" Us, being a tasting flight up already - "We we're looking for beer." Him (thankfully) amused - "Uhhh, OK. We got lots of that, but we don't sell it here." Hahaha!!! We could have easily ended up in a cell for that one! I think the only thing that saved us was your trustworthy face!

Well, I hope this isn’t the case but “hope” has never been a course of action that produces results. Life is beginning to return to more normal where I live. People have come to the conclusion, right or wrong that this “destroy the economy” cure is worse than the disease. We’ve had 3 deaths in my county and all were in their late 70’s and 80’s and had other morbidity issues. We had 24 cases total and everyone else but 4 have recovered completely. People’s lives are at risk from loss of income. We had 9 beach drownings last year, 3x Covid-19 deaths and we didn’t close the city and county and people didn’t loose their jobs and businesses. People are demanding the state open back up. Sorry, this post is probably for the Covid-19 thread which I have stopped following. How many lives is our $20 Billion economy worth? It’s a morbid thought but it’s real. I’ve done several aviation mishap investigations and the airlines put a $$ on you’re life. Most deaths in airline accidents are due to smoke inhalation but to put non-toxic materials in the interior of passenger jets is too expensive. They chose to spend less knowing it will mean more lost lives. I’m an optimist and I’m planning for success. Humanity can do incredible things when pushed to the brink. A breakthrough is possible. I’m plan on going to ZCon until we are closer to Sept. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the guide failing was a outlier..I think they robust enough unless it been in there since new. If that’s the case maybe replace. Cars are like planes, they want to be driven. The less they’re driven the less reliable they become. Driving in AZ without Air Conditioning is a no-go. Alabama humidity would suck too. Not sure if Cliff has AC. If we keep the pressure on him maybe we can get him to ditch the Camry for a weekend. I’m probably gonna take a load of crap because I’m going to try to get my car there but it’s going to be a stretch. I might make it from a mechanical perspective but the body and interior probably won’t be complete. I sold my current house last week and have it’s closing is on 15 Jun. The new house should be complete by them and then the Z arrives from my parents barn and the race is on to get her ready for a 11 hr drove to Nashville. It’s has AC, doubt it works but another thing to get sorted out before ZCon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Small Update: **Ignore some the dates mentioned in the pictures, I haven't reset the clock of time stamps, these are inaccurate. Wiped Down Interior (Before / After) After light washing Cleaned out pine needles under wiper motor plate and vacuumed battery tray Changed the diff fluid Removed the fuel tank, most of the fuel tank hoses were rotted away, including the "Fuel Tank Filler Neck", and the "vent hose, ordering replacements soon. Drained fuel, looks very orange.. Rust is the worst at the inlet, I think this is because the filler neck was rotted through. Drained remaining fuel and will try to re-seal tank. Need to clean and reseal. Removed Rear bumper since it is damaged and little easier with the tank out. Minor damage directly below license plate, notice black line. This is cracked paint and rust. Picture doesn't do justice, bend it pretty ugly. Having trouble removing wheels, without wheel lock key. Trying decide which lug key I need to buy. Anyone seen this style before??? Hard to get good pictures, I may have to get a universal tapered style removal lug tool. More Progress to come.

I totally agree, my wife calls it car jewelry!

No - you are thinking clearly. Sell the 280Z and find a great 240Z. If you "think" you'll have regrets now - you will for sure have them later. If 50 years of car buying has taught me nothing else - it has taught me that. The DATSUN 240Z is THE car that changed the Sports Car world overnight. It is a significant part of U.S. Auto history - as it opened the doors in America - wide to the acceptance of Japanese Cars as being World Class. {not to mention changing Japanese Auto History}. The 280Z will never have that distinction. That is also one of the main reason the 240Z are so Collectible - They are a Milestone Car and now most certainly a true Classic. The only reason to "restore" or "refresh" one today - is because you love the process of doing it yourself. To love that process and devote the necessary time and money - you for sure want to start with a car you love - not one you settled for. Shop, shop and shop some more - buy the cleanest, lowest milage, best cared for example you can find - no matter where it is - pay the money up front - it is always far less expensive in the end. FWIW, Carl B. BTW - the above said - I would love to have a really original, low mileage, super clean 280Z. But only after I had a 240Z. No reason to only have one.