geezer

We don't hate you...much! Hey, it must be a cold 71, are those goosebumps on your arms? Seriously Randy both cars are looking great and a lot of us are a little more than envious for sure. Nice work, enjoy!

Well Zak, were just trying to stay warm. You, busy working on Z parts and me getting my a$$ scorched.

Congrats! Is this the car Carl pointed out to us a short while back? If it is, you couldn't get a better recommendation. Good luck and have fun with it!

First, I have to apologize for my feeble attempt at humor in that last post. It was not meant to belittle any of the points made by anyone in this thread. Toxic, I don’t think I or anyone else can answer your question with a great deal of accuracy, without seeing the car up close & personal. Quotes will vary greatly, depending on the quality of work you specify and the type of work normally done by a particular shop. You know the old saying, “you get what you pay for?” Well, that’s only true if you are lucky and are treated fairly. Also, most shops would rather take on high volume insurance jobs and not cater to enthusiasts like us. That brings you to a shop that specializes in restorations, which in turn cranks the price dramatically skywards. Hey, these guys have to pay the bills too. From the small amount of practical Z experience I have acquired since owning my Z, I can see how it would be beneficial to have a shop specializing in Zs do the work. It really depends on the extent of the work needed & parts needed. That’s why it is so important for someone like yourself that is not able/equipped to do the work themselves to spend the money up front on a better condition car to begin with. As far as doing the work yourself, there are a lot of pros & cons. After spending more time in the garage in my lifetime than most will ever do, and a few dozen varying degrees of restorations behind me, I can tell you a few things. First, from a financial perspective. It may be expensive to turn your car over to the pros for a restoration, but if you consider the expenditures you would have buying all the tools (and there is no end to what is wanted/useful) and the additional cost of acquiring and maintaining a suitable workspace, you are no further ahead. Then, there is the learning curve. Don’t expect to get professional results out the gate. It takes years to amass the amount of knowledge and level of expertise you would find at a pro shop, There are so many aspects to a restoration that no one man can do it all. Show me someone who says they can and I’ll show you someone who is mistaken. Over the years I have done much more freebie work for friends & family than I have done for myself. I’m not complaining and would do it all again. That’s what doing it myself means to me. I have enough great memories to last me a lifetime. Starting out at a young age, working with my Dad, my Brother, my Son and countless likeminded car guy friends, I guess you could say it’s in my blood and when I am unable to do it any longer, I won’t have any regrets. That’s me, but I don’t think people who have brought their cars to a professional restoration shop or bought their cars completely finished have any regrets either. It’s no different than buying a car off the showroom floor. You will still take pride in owning, maintaining and showing it off and you will also have memories to cherish & share. Sorry for the long post, but the stories relayed in this thread touch me and is a subject close to my heart.

Sex? Yes, I prefer doing that myself and not farm it out.

It looks great Brian! It would get lost up here right now and blend right in with all of the !@#$%^&* snow! Yes, resist the urge to reassemble anything that will make it more difficult to watersand & polish when the time comes.

Hey, great tip Frank. I can relate to that working well. Before they built up this area and I had no close neighbors, I used one of those cheap screened dining tents for sandblasting parts outside. It contained the sand but allowed the dust to escape. In a blasting cabinet a simple hinged, sealed around the perimeter, screened device would work great I bet. I wandered into Princess Auto today, and a blasting cabinet comparable to the one Kurt pointed out in Post 1, had a price tag of $249.00 CND. I couldn't check to see if the gloves were long enough because they were not assembled yet. I didn't buy one but came home with lots of other crap.

Probably the biggest consideration made was the marketability factor of the car chosen. The producers and Ford must have hashed out an agreement.

I am in the market for a blasting cabinet and have looked at a few. My first impression was, they seemed to be too small, but after thinking about what I need it for, it will accommadate most pieces. Speaking of problems such as leaking, dust, etc, the other complaint I have heard is the sight glass becoming etched and too cloudy to see through. I wonder how hard it would be to adapt something like a rolling or replaceable tear away film on the window? Back to the original question. I think $179. is a fair price for that one. I was considering building my own, but don't think I could do so for less money. The shelf & casters is a good addition Moonpup and thanks for the headsup on short gloves Jon.

Oh OK, a better question would be...at what speed will those D hubcaps fall off? Pretty car. I'm partial to that color this week.

Neat...I like how Leno says "nowadays you just want your car to shut up!":D

Is this a statement made by a seller or someone just bragging about their car? I wouldn't think that statement is out of the realm of possibility, depending on who said it, and about what car. Engine build specs and drivetrain gearing details are a must, to answer a question like this. Ultimately it is the guy with the big smile on his face about to attempt it that would know if it is possible.

This subject needs to be tossed around some and we will see which end is up. We all have some ideas to throw into the ring. I am going to put together my thoughts on how to create a useful resource within the confines of this site. At that time I will start a new thread, unless someone else does first.

Will, there are not any lists that I have done, but lists that I have or had that were created by the Chrysler Corporation for their use. Part numbers of the fasteners are used in conjunction with a detailed description. Adding a photo would turn a simple spreadsheet into a much more dificult project, but could be beneficial in some cases to aid in the description. I don't think I'm ready to take on another project now but maybe could be of some help elaborating on a spreadsheet so it better suits this intended purpose.

If that is the case, what I would like to do is, compile a list of fasteners as they become NLA. Using the Nissan part numbers and descriptions coupled with the physical dimensions and attributes it would be a real time saver locating needed hardware from alternate suppliers. PS - I emailed you some scans Guy.

Good advise but it would be nice to have this information at our fingertips. I have never come across a list of nuts & bolts with a description of their use, size, length, thread and grade. This is something that would be very helpful indeed. I have lists from other manufacturers with this info but not from Nissan. Sounds like a worthwhile project. With enough input from everone as the information is found out and verified, it wouldn't take long to compile a complete listing of all nuts, bolts & related fasteners. Or maybe this info exists already compiled in one list, and we just haven't seen it yet? Sorry I don't have the answers you are looking for readily available Guy, but I will look up the part numbers when I can, unless someone beats me to it.

But if you do have the money, and you want it done quickly and thoroughly, the $1k price might very well be worth it. By the time you buy the unit, the blast media - whether sand or ..., and designate the space to do the work and put up with the MESS (and it IS a mess)... $1k may be peanuts. 2¢ Enrique After doing all my own blasting for the last 30 years or so, I have gradually come around to agree with Enriques above quote. Today we have local outfits that will blast a Z inside and out for $600. The initial cost of buying one of these small units will escalate into quite a large investment by the time you are set up to begin blasting. Unless you are planning to do this on a regular basis it is not worth it. The main problem for me was the development of the area I live in. It was great when I had no close neighbors to disturb with my activities. It doesn't take long to cloud up the hood now. Don't even think of doing this in a garage where you keep tools or anything else you don't want caked up with dust and rust. It gets everywhere and a dedicated work space really is nessesary. No problem if you live in the wide open spaces I guess, but I guarantee you will still ask yourself...why didn't I just pay someone to do this? My next purchase is going to be a blast cabinet for doing parts and I'll farm out the next large blasting job.

Hi Carl, I know many people have submitted the information on their Zs over the years allowing you to create the lists, and it is well done. We have all used this resource for information at one time or another. I was just curious of how accurate you believe them to be today. With these cars being parted out at a record rate, I wonder how many are still on the list but actually no longer exist. Do you get any feedback from anyone in that regard? I remember a few years ago coming across a list of Zs that had been parted out. I can't recall the site and haven't seen it again. After each VIN it had RIP. It could have been an auto recycle yard. Anyone else remember this?

As long as it's done well, with all areas originally painted being redone with the new color. No, the door tag does not contain color information. Paperwork from the dealer and such if you have it will state the original color though.

Auction ended, it sold for $41.81. That's more than the Datsun Saves gas can went for I think. Here's the link and the pic for the archives. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160203301328&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D160203301328%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

I pointed out and submitted this info to zhome.com. when I originally bought the car. It hasn't been updated. I have HLS30 011730 10/70 Sold/Titled as a 1970. That would have made it the highest known VIN # sold/titled as a 1970 model year car. But, this is only DMV issued information that has been known to be less than a consistant indicator. Different States used different criteria when filling out the paper work. It seems the DMV in many States were flexible, meeting the needs of the applicants for a variety of reasons.

The running shoes that were the must haves when I was a kid were Red Ball, Keds & P.F. Flyers. But Ma always tried to sell us on the cheap no name brands at the department store. I remember running shoes as being one of the first import products to reach us in a big way, undercutting the price of our mainstream products. I'm sure there were lots of others but not that us kids were aware of. There was an advertising blitz on for years with a healthy rivalry. Watching some of the old commercials is hillarious today. Yeah, they had to be high tops...wouldn't be caught dead with anything else.:eek:

Dan, after you order your parts, I would like to know which you were successful in obtaining and which are NLA. I will be doing the same soon. Mike, you pointed out that in your Nov 1969 Factory Parts Catalog, PN 55417-E4100 was marked with an asterisk in the S column and that the part was not superceded at that point. This is suggesting to me that the Special D Washers were being welded on already. This is all pure speculation but it all fits the scenario where the washers were loose in the pre-production stage and welded on for assembly convenience before the production run got underway. It would take verification from cars that could be considered pre-production to know for sure. Not that it really matters, but interesting nontheless.

I don't know what I was thinking about the hex nuts. There are none. The hex bolts thread into the captured nuts in the rear frame. Here is a pic showing two of the Special D Washers. Mike, I guess only one bolt has to be removed to see if a Special D Washer is spotwelded to the assembly or not. If my theory is correct, who knows how early on they started welding them on.

Thing is Mike, you can't check that out unless the rear is dismantled. Mine is dismantled so it was easy to find. The part is in a bin waiting for me to media blast. I'll see if I can get a pic and post it here, showing the Special D Washers.