Careless

It is indeed not original because it is a custom fabricated aluminum doohicky. It is not at all an original unit for any vehicle, ever. . what IS original is what I'm trying to determine. it could have been converted at some time? I'm unsure right now. The large tube on the driver side of the motor is closer to the front, yes? It's about 3/4 to 1" diam hose connection, and it has a smaller tube coming off of it that has a small 90* bend? The later L28's had a crank case box casted into the block in the same region and had a threaded vent hole in the same spot as the pipe you speak of, right? Is this the valve you speak of? I just checked the "Fuel Piping" section of E-Fast, and it shows "TO FLOW GUIDE VALVE", so I looked it up and this is all I could find. I do indeed have one of these on the table at the shop next to the carbs. And I do indeed have 3 non-fitting style pipes that I sent to the plating facility (i.e.- bead rolled, but no fittings for brakes or couplers on the end). This would indicate that I need to locate a plastic evap tank then, from the looks of it. or am I mistaken? E-Fast shows 4 part numbers, haha. oh mannnnnn.

Do they sell the patterns, or the carpet as a kit?

Indeed, the carpet I have is a loop style- I used the incorrect term. Thanks for pointing that out- just incase anyone is looking for the proper carpet in the future that should save them some grief. So by your assessment, Jim, I was wondering if you can answer a couple of simple Q's for me: Is this a drop in replacement with virtually no fussing required? How is the foot pad quality? Are there only 5 pieces for the carpet in total? (2 rear pieces with small rectangle cut-outs, 2 floor mats, and cabin carpet). I don't see a rear/hatch area carpet in my pile of stuff, I guess that's separate? I emailed Seatz, and they just told me to ask their distributors instead. Not my idea of a company that wants to actually sell their product :-/ siteunseen, checking that site now, I wish these guys would have some photos of their product, I wouldn't have to ask so many questions! I'll email them for some photos. Thank you!

. It could very well be, but then again- the Z was a budget sports car when it was released. So maybe it comes with the vehicle!

Well noted, and good point on the TSB/restoration thing. I got a fellow Canuck sending a set of those "stronger" steering knuckles to go with my "stronger" ball joints that I have here. Sending you my email now!

Right on! I'm going to take this one to be dipped, tested, and sealed tomorrow, then! I wish everything on this car wasn't sprayed silver. ARrrrrrrRRRrRRghghghghghghgh! thanks!

OE Finish?

Thanks for the recommendation, Jim. Is the carpet a cut to fit style, or does it come with the edging/piping around the perimeter like the OE style carpet does? The photos of their product installations don't quite illustrate this point. The carpet I do have here seeeeeeeeems ok, but its pile is a little flat in some areas. If I were to dye it, it would most likely come out looking like a new used part, but if the Seatz carpet does not have the edging, I guess that's something that has to be installed afterwards? I wonder if purchasing the OE style carpet pile and then cutting it myself is an option. The ones I have here are not shriveled like some other examples I've dug out of some vehicles. I would just have to buy a bag of espresso for my friend's Nonna and she'll probably sew up the edging for me too. j/k. Has anyone ever attempted to recreate the carpet using the correct pile carpeting? I think my process would be (if I tried): - buy large sheet of stiff cardboard. - spray glue OE carpet to cardboard. - gently/accurately cut the carpet shape out of the cardboard - spray glue cardboard cutout to new pile - gently/accurately cutout the new pile carpet shape - edge-band the pieces - put in new snap buttons in proper locations. the only issue would be trying to find a food pad. This one is far beyond re-use. I will email Seatz mfg for photos in the meantime.

, oh youuuu, zKars. djwarner, do you have a copy of the technical service bulletin or know off hand what the reason was? I'll take your word for it and will do a price check on the part nubers, but I am curious to know if it was a safety issue. Mainly because I can ether get the ACDELCO ball joint and consider it "original fitment" as far as replacement parts go. Heck, I could probably even pop off the "MADE IN JAPAN" cap on the bottom of the 14mm one and epoxy it back to the 11mm AC DELCO unit to give it that OEM look and fitment. The 14mm OE ones do not have any other markings aside from that, and the numbers on the rubber boot. but if it's a safety concern, I do not want to put the owner in jeopardy, I will buy the steering knuckles instead (which are probably twice the price of the ACDELCO ball joints)... and just add it to the list of "not stock" stuff that I've been adding to in the event he wants to change it in the future. I appreciate your recommendations and help.

The gas tank this car came with has has two small hose connections on the front face with the sending unit, and 3 larger hose connections, one on the front/top, one on the rear/top- which is curved to the side, and one that is right off the side opposite of the fuel filler neck. From what I gather, the owner told me this was an all original California car. But the evap tank was the only thing that came out of the car that wasglaringly obvious as an unoriginal item. I wonder if the tank itself was replaced at some point in time... Doubt it, though! Are there any other tell-tale signs? Like something within the engine bay that would dictate whether or not it was part of the car to begin with?

I'll give it a shot, but from my experience with every single car forum (including OZC), Canadians are generally cheap when buying parts, and prefer buying from the US because they think it's automatically in better condition. I wish I could sell some of my parts for what they're worth, but Ontarians especially like to lowball the bajeezus out of everything.

Is there any reason you can't have the original piece acid etched, and resealed with a vacuum draw system at a local heat exchanger/radiator service specialist? I've had one done before on a different vehicle, but it turned out great, and did not impede flow much, if at all. what is the original finish on the OE heater core anyways? I see some refurb units painted flat black. Is it supposed to just be bare copper/brass color?

I found a box in the pile-o-stuff with original diamond-pattern vinyl for the resto I'm undertaking, but the carpet I've been given looks pretty bad for a resto car. It would be sub-par for a street car that needs some form of carpet or another, but not ideal for a resto at all. dying it with Rit won't save it, so I'm on the lookout for a 3rd party set... But after looking at 5 different websites, and from my passed experience with my Z31 300zx carpet purchase- I will say that I am weary of just buying any one of the items I've stumbled across. Does anyone make a reproduction item that is as close to early 70's as possible? Or is it even possible to get NOS ones? looking for black carpet.

Thanks for the quick reply, Zup.

I have an almost perfect 76 dash, but the problem is that every time I try to ship it, I'm hit with huge shipping costs. If anyone in the Toronto area can recommend who to send it to, I'd love to finally be able to sell it. I know this isn't the place to offer, but I've tried selling it 3 times and haven't been able to affordably ship the unit. It's in excellent condition with what appears to be a scratch (which can most likely be buffed out). It's a shame to have it wrapped in a very well packaged cardboard column in my basement under a table because I can't get a decent shipping quote. Or maybe it's cause Canadian shipping quotes are always close to double. I dunno.

Looking in Nissan E-Fast catalog, I can see that the Air Pump can be taken apart, much like a power steering pump can be. But how much of it is available for refurbishing? As far as restoring the look of this item, There are about 3 or 4 pieces on the unit that are cast into the housings that are supposed to be plated. If I were to plate the pieces that these small items are attached to, and then spray them with "cast iron" look spray or even blast the plating off the areas that are to be raw metal, would that cause any issue for the operation of said unit? Or does anyone offer NOS or refurbed units with this already done? I can only find a refurbed one right now, but it doesn't seem to have the proper plating. (01/70 240z)

So the car I have been restoring had a custom aluminum evap tank that was fabricated to replace the original one. I have not been able to cross reference as to whether or not the original is to be of a plastic kind or a metal kind. I am curious to know if the later model 71-73 or 72-73 (whichever it is), can work on the early 01-70's. I believe the hoses I have are actually the OE hoses and look to be in OK condition, but as far as I can tell- those are also discontinued, along with the clamps on either ends of the hoses too, right?

I have a set of NOS 14mm ball joints that will not fit the 01/70 restoration due to the 11mm taper receivers on the lower control arm steering knuckles. What do I do? 1) have the OE steering knuckles tapered to accept the 14mm ball joints and pretend it never happened 2) purchase 14mm steering knuckles (are there noticeable differences?) and pretend it never happened 3) find NOS ball joints with an 11mm taper 4) buy AC DELCO 11mm taper ball joints (are there noticeable differences in appearance) originality is of most importance, but if the 11mm taper is a safety issue (as it seems, due to the change in size), I would like to know what the best solution is as far as a resto goes. my spidey sense tells me that any NOS 11mm taper ball joint I come across is going to be rusty, sloppy, or not worth the cost.

I've been looking at this as well, and have come to the conclusion that there are many (most) parts that are to be chromate finished, but that is rare finish to come by nowadays. The best thing to do is find a local plater that can match a yellow zinc plated finish to the chromate finish as close as possible, as chromate finishes are almost impossible to get (at least one that matches the datsun kind). A word of advice from myself and my plater who advised me on this: Buy a tumbler. An 18lbs one from eastwood or harbor freight is ideal. You can dump some fasteners in there and do something else while it chugs away for 4 hours. I told my plater that I have ordered one, and he was ecstatic (probably because he knows I'll have buckets of hardware for him to plate in the near future). With the larger 18lb bowl versions, you can even toss the hood hinges in there, or anything about 4 inches wide and 10 inches long, or even 6x6ish in flat size. The different media and different times alotted to each type will provide a nice base so that the zinc finish that is applied doesn't come out "sparkley", which is what sandblasting will provide you with, as it does not even out the surface. I've found that sandblasting pits the surface very finely and the peaks and valleys left from the process produce a very slight "metalic" look. If you see a NOS plated part from datsun, it's not quite polished, but it's a very subdued plating colour. My plater here in Toronto can match the colour pretty close from what I've seen, but the end result is all in the pre-process finish that you provide them. Some things they will not do (i.e. -remove paint from all your little nuts and bolts). I will post an update on how they turn out soon. I have just refinished all the brake line and fuel line hardware and capped them off with custom M10 flare fitting caps and rubber caps with crimp caps to have those plated- so I can post photos when they come back. I'm dropping them off in 4 hours. For anyone wondering... my plater uses a 7 foot tank, and some lines are longer. You can gently bend a wide arc into the longest portion of the lines that are outside of that dimension, and straighten it when you get it back- which is the only solution I've come up with. If need be, I will purchase a line straightener at some point- but I am going to try and get it as close to straight as possible with my current tools.

I have 3 alternators for use on the 01/70 resto I am completing. The only photos I can find are of the internally regulated units. However, I would like to disssassemble the externally regulated unit and restore it to the factory appearance. The main issue i'm having is locating the original stator band colour. The one that is in the center of the alternator and goes around the entire unit. I've seen cast-iron grey, green, and also red. This is for the externally regulated unit, which I have a new regulator for as well- so I would like to continue using this one instead of the internally regulated rebuilt unit I have. I think all 3 of the alternators I have are in good working condition, but I have to EXT regulated units that I can mix and match parts from if that's not the case. Thanks!

Hi ladies and gents. I am starting to assemble the parts for the motor and found that the previous gentlemen working on the engine painted it with a ford blue of some sort. I was wondering if anyone has pictures of a full restored engine, with or without factory overspray. What gets spray bombed, and what stays clean? I am particularily looking at what gets re-plated and what stays bare or gets coated with the engine paint. I have little things like a new dipstick tube that sees like a stainless piece (NOS part), but I am unsure as to whether I should stick it in there prior to painting, or after. I am trying to get as close to the factory 01/70 finish as I physically can. The gentlemen working on the car prior to myself have sprayed all the bare parts with aluminum-like silver paint, which I wish they didn't. I have purchased sharkhide metal protectant to cover up the aluminum items to give them a longer lasting OE look, but it seems as though my use of that product will be limited because I'm not sure if I should tear the engine down again just to apply it. Does anyone have any completed photos or original engine removal photos? many of the items are rusty in the tear-down photos I've been provided with- and none of the restoration books have coloured photos. I am curious to know what the plating on certain items is as well. Again- some have been painted all silver, and if it were up to the last guy, the entire car would have been dipped in silver paint- but unfortunately that didn't sit well with the owner of the resto vehicle.

Hi guys. I have a Nichira Datsun 240z Exhaust... It is a full unit with a seamless bent pipe. Looks to be in great condition. I was wondering if anyone has any pics of what the full unit is supposed to look like. From what I understand, the later 70's Z's have a Nichira exhaust with the part number last 5 digits being N3300... I'm not sure if this transfers well to the early 01/70 early z's E4100 5 digit suffix. Does anyone have any insight into the original finish/exhaust system for the 01-70 z's?

Hi Guys, Datsun Parts LLC has "True Blue" which is supposedly close to the original colour. I've ordered two cans from Al Allen @ Datsun Parts, and await their arrival. They are 30 dollars a can.

And it looks like I have a new Intake/Carb plenum that is waaaaay off on the orange colour. Anyone know the ideal restoration colour or where to get it? Datsun Parts LLC does not have the paint, but I will be ordering the engine block colour from them tonight.

Hi everyone, So I've been wire wrapping some items and I found that for the brake lines, the best course of action is to take an M10 x 1.0 Female Union (Part #3059 at your local parts place, as it's the most common supplier part number), and take a 1/8 NPT plug bushing. I then chucked it in the vice very gently, lined one side with flux, tightened the 1/8NPT plug bushing down, and applied LEAD solder (not silver) to the bushing and union fitting.This generates a good seal and will prevent any of the zinc or cad plating from getting inside the lines, as I was advised by the plater to do so- removing a coating from the inside is near impossible to do easy. Which brings me to my next problem... I have gently rounded the fuel lines along their longest/straightest potion because the tank is a max of 7 feet long. The fuel lines are over that, so I gently curved them to about 6 feet lenght. But now I have to cap off the lines. How does one do so with no fittings to tighten against? Can I use rubber injection hose and some worm clamps and plugs to cap them off? I know that plastic is safe for the the coating tank, but is rubber?