Namerow

You can make yourself crazy by worrying about all of the possible causes for those things that we would all prefer to stay clear of: cancers, alzheimer's, parkinson's, whatever. As a reformed smoker, I'm particularly leery of inhalable stuff: particulates (looking at my blasting cabinet), fumes (looking at my MIG welder), and can't-see-it stuff (looking at the isocyanate-catalyzed paint that I bought but now won't use). All of us car-hobby people get careless from time to time, and we will never be able to be quite sure whether, for example, that time when we blew out a brake caliper with compressed air was the culprit. And then there all of the other unknowns. Like airborne virus transmissions in public building ventilation systems. Or the asymptomatic carrier sitting across the aisle on the bus. Or radon gas in your basement. Or driving in city traffic. Life is dangerous. But all we can do is take reasonable precautions. Otherwise, it gets silly and you spend all your time worrying. Unfortunately, life is unpredictable, too. We all need to remind ourselves to make the most of our time. A little creating-and-restoring-and-improving in the garage or workshop is part of that for most of us here, of course. I hope lots more members reach out to our friend, Mark / NorthernZ, even if it's just with a few words of support. Hang in there, buddy. We're all pulling for you.

Two additional photos of 19769's front carb reveal screws #3 and #4. Although this doesn't prove that your friend's VIN 19270 came with 4-screws, the two cars were built in the same month and quite possibly in the same week...

Nothing like a good detective story. Here's one possible clue. Photo is from the BAT listing for a very nice, original-paint January 1971 Z (VIN 19769) that was listed back in 2006. That car was unrestored and really sanitary (note the fabric-covered rad hose), so I'm 95% confident that it was wearing its original carbs...

The website for Z carb specialist, Z Therapy (Salem, Oregon), has a nice photo guide of the evolution of the Hitachi-SU carbs from MY-1969 to MY-1972. It deals with not just the carb and float body styles, but also those of the linkages, heat shields, throttle shafts, air cleaners, etc. There's also a photo-intensive assembly guide (a lot of the photos in this section have to be clicked on to make them load). ZTherapy 240Z SU Carburetor Spotter's Guide

Certain elements of the 240Z electrical system were somewhat, ah, 'under-designed' by Nissan. The headlight circuit (all of it, including the switchgear and right on out to the headlamp sockets) is the leading culprit. The voltage regulator is a quaint anachronism -- easily replaced with a solid-state alternative if you want. There are numerous threads on these issues -- and their remedies -- here on the site. There are also relay-based upgrade mini-wiring harnesses for the headlight system that are conveniently available and at reasonable cost. For the most part, I see no reason to start replacing the connector shells, although replacing the terminals within them is (arguably) a better solution than the Dremel-cleaning strategy. To replace the terminals, you'll need the proper extractor tools and a good crimping tool (all available from Vintage Connections, who have been, in my experience, a quality vendor). We have a couple of leading electrical system experts here on the CZCC site and, if you're lucky, they may choose to add their 50 cents' worth here.

You're absolutely right, CO. I just put a magnet up against the bush in one of my spare carb bodies and it is, indeed, steel. Who knew? I would never have expected to see a chrome-on-steel friction surface, but there it is. I guess the designers already knew about the high loads and decided that oilites wouldn't hold up. As for misidentifying the shaft material -- I didn't do that. So: Based on my brand-new knowledge, I have no idea whether those steel bushes suffer from much in the way of wear compared to that experienced by the shaft ends. The basic problem of wear-generated air leak-past remains. As a remedy, replacing or re-chroming the shafts doesn't seem to be an option and (based on what I've read) re-bushing is not a trivial task. If I had a jeweller's lathe, I suppose I might consider turning down the shaft ends and adding oversized sleeves that I could then turn down to the correct finished OD. It still seems to me that 240260280's 'fix' -- although as yet unproven -- is worth trying. Cost = 15 cents per carb. Time investment (starting with a stripped-down carb) = 20 minutes. Easy to un-do if it proves ineffective or problematic. It seems it should absolutely work on the end of the shaft that's flush with the outside face carb body. It's the effectiveness of the o-ring on the linkage end that's the unknown. We all know what the other option is... and it starts off at ~ $900.

Don't forget that it may not be just the shafts that wear. The bushes may get 'ovaled' because of the suction load (enormous ) put on on the throttle plates when the engine is operating at closed-to-part-throttle. I suspect that Z-Therapy decided on using roller bearing replacements not just because of the lower friction, but also because it allows them to re-use the old throttle shafts without having to worry about the worn-out friction surfaces. I'm not optimistic about your chances of finding NOS replacements. I suspect that whatever was out there was scooped up by racers and carb rebuilders long ago. For that reason, you may be forced to re-use your old throttle shafts. If you do, I don't think you need to worry about excessive friction caused by the worn-off chrome plating on the shaft ends (although they're going to wear even faster now that the hard chrome surface is gone). The real problem is going to be air leakage into the carb body because of the excessive clearances between the shaft ends and the bushings. Years ago, CZCC member, @240260280 (aka Mr. Hoover) wrote an interesting article on the old AtlanticZ website about his attempts to solve the air leak problem by sealing off the exposed ends of throttle shafts on the outside of the carb body. He glued a small plastic cap over bushing boss on the 'flat' side. On the other side, where the shaft extends out of the carb body, he installed an O-ring that was pushed up against the side of the bushing boss (and where -- theoretically -- the suction from inside the carb would pull the O-ring up tight against the surface of the carb body to create a good seal). Maybe Phil will offer some comments here about how that worked out. From what I can see, capping the flat end is easy and should be 100% effective at sealing off that end. The effectiveness of the O-ring on the other side is debatable, and there's also the possibility of binding. Nevertheless, the overall approach seems cheap and painless to implement and it could reduce the air leakage problem by ~ 75%.

There are lots of good suppliers for metric fasteners. I've used Bel-metric (located in Massachusetts) and was happy with product, service and prices. They can also supply the braided hose that you may want for your cooling and emissions systems and your fuel tank hoses. www.belmetric.com https://www.belmetric.com/metric-screws-c-10/?zenid=hoahf6ge7erqkui8k2t7udijt3 Not sure that you'll be able to get everything you want for your carbs, though. I wonder if it would be a good idea for you to also pick up a set of old Hitachi-SU's that you can rob parts from. I seem to recall running across someone who sells throttle shafts separately. Might be Z-Therapy.

Thanks, Carl. I was aware of Gorham's story (maybe by way of David Halberstam's book) but never though to search out his book. Thanks for the info. Earlier in my career, I had the good fortune to be able to spend a lot of time in South Korea during the 1980's -- a time when their auto industry (and the country in general for that matter) was just beginning to take real shape. There was energy in the air everywhere (along with a lot of garlic ). I expect there were a lot of parallels between Korea then and what the Japanese auto industry looked and felt like during the 1950's and early 1960's. The young Korean engineers I met were super-eager but a bit shy and hesitant when dealing with visiting tech specialists like me. I remember one of them telling me that he hoped that his company (I won't say which one, but they were largely known for trucks and buses at the time) would become the Porsche of the Far East. That didn't quite happen and the company went through some major hardships, but the brand has eventually emerged as a success and is marketed worldwide.

I went through the same trawling exercise and agree that the photos, while excellent throughout, don't actually cover the process of separating the T/C rear bracket (bucket?) from the rail. However, GK's comments in Post #3 make sense and confirmed what I had expected. Just don't get carried away with the grinder. You may want to check out the lower rail repro that's now available c/o KlassicFab Vintage JDM... https://kfvintagejdm.com/product-category/datsun/?swoof=1&paged=1&really_curr_tax=37-product_cat If you haven't seen the KF Vintage catalog, It's well worth a look. Prices are reasonable, payment is straightforward, and shipping was prompt (at least in my experience, anyway). The pieces I received look really good. I haven't done a trial-install yet, so I can't offer any first-person comments about the quality of fit. All I can say is that I have yet to see any complaints surface from other customers. Another excellent reference thread for Z structural repairs (although the work performed is at a pretty high level) is that by member Disepyon over on the HybridZ.com site... https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/103797-2-4-0-z-l-s-1/#comments I'm enjoying your thread. Nice production quality in your videos. I'm impressed. This will probably become a go-to reference for others contemplating a full re-build of a Z.

JIDECO A picture in another thread posted today shows an electrical relay (rear window defroster, I think) with the manufacturer's name ('JIDECO') stamped on the side of the cover. I didn't recognize that company, but figured that the 'J' maybe stood for 'Japan' and the 'ECO' for 'Electric Company'. The 'I' and the 'D' were a puzzle, though, so I did a bit of on-line searching. The answer lay in the corporate website of another Japanese manufacturer, 'Mitsuba' (wiper motors) that came up in some of the hits I got using, 'Japan + company + JIDECO' as my search string. Hiding in the 'History' page on Mitsuba's site was this entry: 2007: The Jidosha Denki Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Jideco) merged with Mitsuba. A bit more poking around revealed that Jidosha Denki's old website was www.jideco.co.jp. However, that site now just shows a message saying that Mitsuba and Jidosha Denki have 'merged' and providing links to the Mitsuba website. An old Bloomberg listing for Jidosha Denki said that they manufactured wipers, power windows and power lock systems and provided a single address: 1760 Higashi-Matanocho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 245-8510 Japan. So they were probably located not too far from the Nissan assembly plant in Yokohama. Entering that address into Google Maps shows that it's now listed as, 'Mitsuba Corporation Yokohama R&D Centre'. Street view shows us what the former Jidosha Denki h/q looks like today: Hard to tell whether there's any manufacturing facilities at the back of the property. The front part looks like strictly admin and engineering. The back part may just be lab space. Digging back into Jidosha Denki's history, I found this not-happy story from 1998 in a business trade newspaper: "Jidosha Denki Kogyo has unveiled plans to restructure its operations and those of its subsidiaries, a move which will result in the company's workforce being reduced by 30% to 700 staff by 2000. The company plans to close down three subsidiaries, with production being switched to overseas bases in India, China and Indonesia. The restructuring will leave the company to provide wiper systems, control devices and motors in Japan... Jidosha Denki Kogyo will move all of its mass production of motors for power windows and windscreen wipers to subsidiaries in the Philippines and China for its products to be more cost-competitive to its main client, Nissan Motor. Jidosha Denki Kogyo's two Japanese plants will stop production of these products by March 2002, and will specialise instead in making prototypes and some spare parts, and in assembling complete wiper units." Then in 2002: "Jidosha Denki Kogyo (JIDECO) will have a 35.8% stake acquired by fellow electric motors and wiper systems maker, Mitsuba, affiliate of Honda. JIDECO will issue 15 mil third-party shares on 07 January 2003 as part of the deal. The companies hope that the deal will enable them to improve their cost competitiveness by working together on purchasing, product development and manufacturing. The deal will result in Nissan and Hitachi reducing their stakes in JIDECO to 14.6% and 13.8% respectively." And in 2004: "Jidosha Denki Kogyo, automobile control parts maker, will invest around Y500 mil to restart production at its plant in Tomioka in Japan's Gunma Prefecture. It stopped production at the plant in 2002, but has now decided to use the plant as a major site to improve production technology. It has installed a new assembly line for seat-use operations, which is already in operation; and will transfer another such line from its plant in Kikugawa by September 2004. By March 2005, it will transfer a line for motors used in power windows from Kikugawa to Tomioka." And, finally, this, from the Mitsuba 2006 Annual Report: "The Company has decided to merge with its wholly owned subsidiary Jidosha Denki Kogyo Co., Ltd., effective April 1, 2007. The Company and Jidosha Denki Kogyo, having been closely working, have agreed on the merger to enhance their synergy as an integrated group and seek greater management efficiency. The Company will be the "surviving entity" under the provisions of Japanese Corporate Law following the absorption and merger of Jidosha Denki Kogyo Co., Ltd. and its subsequent dissolution." And that was the end of JIDECO.

It would probably help to add some force from underneath while you're prying up from the top side (forked trim removal tool). Maybe you could make up a levering tool and insert it through the hole shown to the right in your photo. Say, from a length of 1/4" steel bar stock with a bend in it. With the bend positioned right at the point where the bar exits the hole, the sheet metal would act as a fulcrum. 3/16" steel rod with a flattened tip would be another option. Either way, you'd be able to generate at least some upward pushing force that would help to reduce what would otherwise be 100% reliance on putting tension into the plastic tit. A bit of spray lube won't hurt, either.

After living with Datsuns and Hondas and Yamahas and Suzukis over the past 50 years, this is a topic that is brand new to me. Who knew?

JCW was a stalwart for my 'everyday' hot-rod heroes from the 1950's. I didn't realize they were even still around.

'L-bracket'. I like that. So much more elegant than, 'cheap-and-dirty fix-up with a piece of hardware store angle iron'.

You have completely dated yourself by the use of the word, 'contraption' (which I personally use a lot)

Not the optimum picture of a Riv, IMO, but point taken and agreed with. GM Design (styling) was on a major roll in the years from 1963-1965. Everybody has their favourite, but it has to be said that The General rarely put a foot wrong during those 3 model years. Examples: 1963 Corvette Sting Ray (arguably improved in 1965, although the split rear window was a styling tour de force and should have been retained) 1963 Pontiac Bonneville 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 1965 Chevrolet Corvair 1963 Buick Riviera Things started to go a bit sideways starting in 1966, but there remained a couple of additional exceptional designs , the original Oldsmobile Toronado being the leading example (a great riff on 'big car' styling). I personally loved the 2nd-generation Riviera. Styling is a great topic because there is no 'wrong answer'. Even the AMC Pacer had some exceptional elements. And who can argue with the brilliance of the original Ford Mustang fastback coupe? And the 1963 Studebaker Avanti? I can't think of any Chrysler examples, though (maybe the original Dodge Charger).

Would you be willing to share with us the cost of having the car media-blasted? Pricing info for these types of large-scale procedures (blasting, chemical dipping, etc) helps others to develop a plan and budget for their restorations.

Thanks for the update. That's going to be a great little car. I am in deep envy of your rotisserie set-up. It just makes things so much easier. I'd forgotten all about this vendor. I wish they'd clean up their website by eliminating all of their, 'No Longer Available' listings. It may have made sense ten years ago, but now it's just annoying. 'I don't care about what you used to have in stock. Just tell me what you have to sell now.'

Look at the company being kept by Z #000029 on this R&T classified page! Bizzarrini GT Strada De Thomaso Mangusta BMW 507 Cord 812 Cobra 427 (the real one) It would have been easy to skip over the two Datsun listings back in the day. And $4995 wasn't small change back in 1971 (esp. in comparison with the MSRP for a brand-new 1972 Z with all the 2nd-generation upgrades). And just exactly what does 'Positraction' mean here? Was that a Datsun Competition Parts offering?

(sigh) I long for winters of my youth, when snow on the ground and natural ice rinks were the norm. All I get in January 2021 is relentless overcast and brown grass.

Looking forward to your report on these after you take delivery. A few photos would be great, too. Available in black only?

C&H have a new Facebook page (dated 2019) which announces that the operation has moved from California to El Paso, Texas. Jim is still mentioned as one of the contact people.

Those would be complicated pieces to offer new (made even more challenging because of the need to make and stock LHS and RHS versions). At best, someone like 240ZRubberParts.com might be interested in making the plastic (nylon) piece. However, I'm not sure whether most owners care enough about wear on these to warrant making a re-pop. If you're willing to attempt driving out the pins, it looks like the plastic wedge piece would be easy to fabricate from nylon bar stock.

It already looks pretty clean. A far cry from the usual undercoated mess.