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So during a trial refit of the panels of my May 71 240Z project I had an issue getting the lower lip of the LH headlight bezel ("sugar scoop") to lay flat against the upper lip of the lower corner valance. While researching the issue, I quickly went a rabbit hole and discovered no less that FIVE variations of the S30 bezel, and the differences all seem to be related to the number and type of holes on the lower lip that overlays the top of the lower corner valance. Here is the original fiberglass bucket, with two holes (#1 and #2) that align with the two cages nuts on the valance. These holes are the same on all the variants. But here is a bezel where an additional mystery hole (#3) shows up. I have no idea what it is for, but it does have a matching hole in SOME 240Z valances. (Other 240Z valances do not this this hole.) This mystery hole seems to be continued on all further variants. When they switched over to a metal bezel, they appeared to keep the same hole positions. With the new 260Z bumpers that use a rubber filler between the bumper and the body, this filler has a metal tab that is screwed into yet another, albeit smaller, hole (#4) in the bezel. And this hole has a factory-installed hex (not square) nut resistively welded to the back of the bezel to accept the screw holding the rubber filler. BUT...when this nut showed up on the back of the bezel, a corresponding notch in the top of the corner valance was added so the the valance and bezel lips would still lie flat. (This is what caused me a problem. Some previous owner put a 260Z bezel on my car while keeping a 240Z valance and the nut gapped the panels...no bueno.) When the 280Z grew a even larger bumper, this rubber filler strip was no longer used. While I am just speculating, it appears that they did away with the hex-nut-welding step, but left the #4 hole (no savings to delete it from the tooling). This all is just one man's observations, and I welcome other findings y'all have made.

Wait. You didn't cut yourself with the razor, but you cut yourself with the paint. Did I understand that correctly? Sorry... I know it's not really a laughing matter. But. So that adds a new meaning to it when someone says "Wow. That car is really sharp. I like the paint!"

Got the Dash installed. It wasn’t as easy as some have mentioned. There are some tight spots and areas where you can get caught up. The key it to do it slowly and stop when you hit resistance. The drivers side was the hardest part. I actually think this might be a one and done but can’t say for sure yet. Everything seems to be working after a little glitch with the lights. The only light not working is the tach back light. The brake light is always on also, not sure it the switch is bad next to the E-Brake. Trying to move slowly and not crack any of the plastic parts that attach the dash.

Got the same set a few months ago. Wish I had done this years ago. The perfect tool for my perfect Z.

The secret motivation is to get the car running before the Russians deploy an EMP off the eastern seaboard. The Z might be the only car that drives in my garage. [emoji3166] If we’re gonna be in pre-Armageddon situation might as well look cool in the Z. [emoji1787] All joking aside what’s happening in Ukraine is absolutely horrid. I worked on a NATO staff in Naples, Italy. I was on the team that drafted the NATO maritime operational plan to counter the Russians in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea. War can get out of control very easily. It just takes one mistake and you cannot control every soldier on the battlefield. We need to all hope and pray for good leadership. If anyone has questions about no-fly zones…fire away. A Navy Officer (the guy fired as the Commander of the Theodore Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier during a covid outbreak on his ship 2 years ago) and I designed the no fly zone over Libya. To defend a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine could lead to full on war with NATO. These are dangerous times and we need clear heads making non-political decisions about how to handle this aggression. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Cliff, I’m trying to keep my motivation up and making progress helps tremendously. Next stop on the Z train is seat restoration. I have new covers already and new foam is on its way. After that it will be carpets and getting the headlights and taillights working. My goal is to register the car in April and start taking it on small local trips to work out any bugs. I’m holding off on rear suspension for awhile as I don’t want to start another long job. I have most of the parts but they need to be sandblasted and powder coated and I just want to drive it a bit first. The company is very short pilots so for the time being I have a job. [emoji1787] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Coincidentally I was exposed to yet another wrinkle in the Datsun/Nissan parts story just this afternoon. I've been doing business with the same crew at my local Nissan dealer for more than 30 years. Recently one of the old gang left after almost 30 years and was replaced by a young chap. When I called with a small order the young blood answered the phone. About 95% of the time I have current part #s but in this case I didn't. After telling him what parts I wanted the first question he had for me was "what are the last 8 digits of the VIN"? I told him that the VIN for the 7/71 240 in my shop didn't have 8 digits! He told me that he couldn't help me as his system didn't go back any further than 1985. I politely asked for one of the other chaps who chuckled and took my order. Luckily for me all of the guys there are 12-15 years younger than me so when I'm gone they'll be looking hard at retirement - but what about the future of available Nissan parts? Many thanks to all who complemented me on my reproduction Ever Wing mirrors. I just hope that I have a similar level of interest for my reproduction - made in the USA - 280 valve cover breather hoses. Manufacturer had a good size minimum order!

Thanks, order underway with zspert. I for one appreciate those who take the time and money to reproduce parts no longer available! I’m sure it’s not get rich plan. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I made my own smoke machine, too. Buy some tire valve stems, and remove the valves inside. I bought the soldering iron at Walmart.

Lets address this in different terms. There are two steel lines along the frame rail - one is larger diameter than the other. The larger one is the fuel supply, the smaller one is the return to the tank. Similarly the fuel rail has two diameter openings. The larger one is the supply side for the carbs, the smaller one with the pinhole-sized opening is the return to the tank. Your filter should be on the supply side between the frame rail line and the fuel rail. There is no need for a filter on the return side.

Trouble shooting electrics is not my thing, but,I do remember that tiny adjustments on a set screw on the back of the hone housing makes a big difference. You’ve probably already gone there, but this set screw adjusts the gap of horn coil points. Here is the reference in the Service Manual:

Luckily so far no cuts from paint, and btw I am wearing eye protection, more chance of an injury with that. However I did shave off a strip of lead from the quarter panel to roof joint. Strangely some of the paint chips/strips were sharper.

I have a set of SUs I sent to a member (won’t say his name, don’t think he’s ready to advertise). He’s refreshing them for me. He’s been busy but someday I’ll see them. I have 4 ECUs vacuum packed in mar bags as well at a an backup distributor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You would have to switch over to a 240z points driven distributor & carbs to harden the car for a EMP John. Maybe add them to your spare parts stash, lol. Zup considers that a feature of his 73 as the as the increasing theft protection of the 4 speed ...

Nice - I like that you got the matching plate in place there too.

I bought this 25? years ago. Finally got a real one.

Yes, they will cut you The older I get, the easier I bleed. Tis merely a flesh wound... 😉

I have this same set and they are great. I love them

And here we are again with more evidence that there is something new to learn every single day. Thanks for the great detective work.

I'll bet the metal clamp from the later style inspection lid would work. I'll do some measurements when my replacement arrives.

My first layer was spray can flat black. No heat used on that layer, just eye protection. I did use a heat gun and chisels on the base coat as well as stripper on the difficult to scrape areas.

It's the ground for mine. Shine them up and reattach. Good luck. Cliff Ckuld be the horn pad connections too?

Make sure the relay is good. Make sure you have good grounds for the horns, that is no paint under the mounting point, since they ground to the chassis. Make sure the wiring up front isn't corroded. You should have seen how bad it was on my 240Z when I went to get her back on the road last summer. Make sure the grounding is good between the horn button and the steering column. (Added) Make sure the fuse is good.

This is totally unrealistic. When pros go racing, their cars are NOT the street versions. This has been true since about the 1930s. What you see on any race track may look like a stock vehicle, but it has nothing in common with stock engine, suspension, bakes or rubber. In many cases it has little to do with the stock body or aerodynamics, either. OF COURSE what you see on the track doesn't tell you anything about a stock Z. Stock vehicles haven't been in professional racing for about 90 years. But it helps sales!

Still waiting for my body guy to complete a project before he can start on my car, so I decided to start the process of paint removal. I had planned to leave this to my body guy but decided to do part of it. After considering sanding or chemical stripper I decided to try razor blading. Using single sided 1.5" wide x .009" thick razor blades and a heat gun, it seems to work quite well and cleanup is very easy. Anyone else tried this method? Here is a short video clip and a few pictures.

Thanks! Installing it against the header made sense to me but my brain is getting old and can be fuzzy at times.

Glovebox base chalkings have become one of my first calls when I see one of these cars in person. Getting down on your hands and knees with your head in the passenger side footwell often requires an explanation to the owner... Clearly Nissan Shatai didn't really need to put much information - if at all - on North American market variant dashes during assembly (although that letter 'A' seems to pop up as above, as well as 'H'), but other LHD market variants certainly got their destination market chalked up either in 'Romaji' or Kana. So did export RHD markets. For the domestic market, Nissan Shatai noted the sub-variant type there (probably indicating content difference) so your 1970 Fairlady Z would have a chalk mark indicating that it was a 'Standard'/'Z-S'/'S' model rather than a 'Deluxe'/'Z-D'/'D' model. I've seen several variations for the same thing, so I wonder if it was an informal - rather than standardized - notation by the assembly line workers? I see 'S' and then '30', plus something else on yours that I can't make out. Frustrating!

Today with my son's help I finished assembling/installing the rolling support frame for my shell. The Unistrut channel comes in 10 foot lengths so I decided to leave the long members full length. Here is the result, no major issues were encountered.

Annoying for me because it was so littered with ads and crap that I couldn't even get through it! There were ads on top of some of the answer buttons and I couldn't make them go away. Then the whole thing ground to a halt and restarted. I gave up when it did it a second time. I don't know how many questions there were in total, but I was doing 100% before I frustrated enough that I decided I didn't need something like that to evaluate my automotive prowess. I got better things to do.