Namerow

For the pragmatist, there’s not really a reason anymore to wrap a bundle of wires with tape. Just go to your local hardware store and buy some of that split, corrugated plastic sheathing. The ‘woven plastic’ sleeve is another contemporary alternative to tape. Re-taping a wiring harness with tape is for purists only. Decide which camp you belong to and proceed accordingly. Adhesive-backed electrical tape doesn't really belong in the engine compartment of a car. Sure, it'll look good after you've finished. And it will probably continue to look good for a few months afterwards. Over time, though, it's said that the temps under the hood will cause the adhesive to begin to weep out of the seams, after which the harness becomes a grime magnet and a gooey mess (won't be easy to clean either, I expect). In hotter climates, this may even be a problem for the under-dash wiring harness. I recommend that you look into using 'loom tape'. ‘Loom tape’ is just wider-than-normal pvc electrical tape that uses no adhesive. Back ‘in the day’, this is what vehicle manufacturers (including Nissan) used. Loom tape is more expensive than high-end electrical tape, but it’s still relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of ‘things automotive’. I bought mine from a muscle car restoration parts supplier located north of Toronto. You should have no difficulty finding a comparable supplier in your own area. A 100’ roll sells for about US$13.00. Find vendors by searching on, ‘automotive loom tape’. Loom tape is typically 1.25” wide. Other commonly-available widths are ¾” and 1”. The loom tape that Nissan used on the S30 appears to be metric-spec -- on my 70 Z’s Engine Harness, it measures as 30mm wide (1.18”). That’s only 5% narrower than 1.25” tape, so they’re essentially the same. Metric-spec loom tape is available from vendors in the UK, apparently sold only in a maximum width of 25mm. Also offered are 15mm and 9mm widths. Loom tape is typically wrapped with a 50% overlap. To create this, the tape needs to be wrapped at about 30 degrees off perpendicular. Or, at least, that’s a good guide for getting started. After that, you can just adjust on the fly so that you get and maintain the 50% overlap. The S30’s Engine Harness measures about 0.70” in diameter at its fattest part (i.e. about 2.2” in circumference). When I stripped my 70 Z's engine harness (damaged and also covered with paint overspray) , I found that Nissan used the equivalent of 22 wraps per foot over the fat part of the Engine Harness. Long story short, that means that a 100-ft roll of 1-1/4’’-width loom tape will be good for the equivalent of 26 ft. of the fat part of the Engine Harness. Of course, the S30’s Engine Harness only runs at its fattest diameter for about 2 feet. Conclusion: A 50-ft roll should be all you need. A 100-ft roll will leave you with lots left over for other places. For the skinny parts of the harness, I laid a 6-ft length of tape out on my workbench and then slit it down the middle with a razor to create two lengths 5/8" wide. Wrapping with loom tape is a two-handed affair. You cannot wrap the tape around the harness using just one hand! You have to pass the tape roll from one hand to the other on every single wrap, while also maintaining a bit of tension during the transfer (warning: over-tensioning the tape serves no useful purpose and may, in fact, cause problems). No amount of words can explain the actual wrapping process, but it’s not rocket science either and you’ll quickly figure out your own routine. Probably impossible to do with the harness still in the car, though. Tape all of the branches of the harness first. Start about 3" from the 'device end' of the branch, wrapping towards the end. When you get there, turn around and wrap back towards the harness trunk. When you get to the trunk, do a couple of figure 8's, then wrap down the trunk for about 3". Cut off the tape, and use a bit of regular electrical tape to hold down the loose end (you'll be wrapping over top of this when you're doing the main trunk). Do all the branches first. Then finish up by wrapping the main trunk. I recommend starting at the firewall end and working towards the front of the car. Once again, use figure 8's at each of the branch junctions. When you get to the skinny part of trunk that goes across the front of the car, switch over to the 5/8" wide tape. There's a very elegant technique for finishing a wrap. It involves pulling the loose end of the tape back under the end of the wrap. Too complicated to explain here (although I found it easy to perform after a couple of practice attempts). Most people, I think, just tie off the loose end. If you do all of this properly, you should only have one end where you need to tie things off. I think you'll be pleased with the results. Bonus of using loom tape: If you make a mistake, just unwrap the tape and try it again. Good luck!

Mr. 240260280 also did a complete article several years ago on refurbishing the Series 1 vent flaps. If you haven't seen that, do a search and take a look. It may give you some additional ideas.

Take the rubber flaps off and flip them over so that the curl now works in your favour. Alternatively, find some flat rubber or vinyl sheet stock of about the right thickness and cut new flaps.

Another possibility: Princess Auto (aka Canada's Harbor Freight) has a relatively inexpensive hydraulic collision repair kit. The challenge, I suppose, would be to rig a beam underneath the roof structure that would take the reaction force without creating a matching boo-boo in the roof. Or maybe you could make a big, temporary hoop structure that encircles the floor, so that the reaction force is taken by the underside of the floor sills.

With apologies to 'Crocodile Dundee': "That's not a torque wrench. THIS is a torque wrench!"

That's a nice result for your floorboard, considering how badly caved it was. Amazing what you can accomplish with a BFH and a piece of 2 x 4. I wonder what the garage guys had to say to the car's owner when they returned it to him after 'service'.

This topic came up here a few years ago. At the time, CZCC member, 'Fastwoman' offered what I thought was a really interesting solution... " I think a great way to create a defeat mechanism would be to wire a number of critical circuits (e.g. starter wire, fuel pump, ignition, EFI if you have it) via black wires (so there are no useful color codes) to a molex connector under the dash or perhaps in the ashtray compartment. You would then have a mating connector you would plug in to correctly connect those various critical wires. Carry it with you when you leave the car. You could also add a couple of ground wires in the car's connector -- and perhaps the horn wire for grins, so any attempt to hot-wire the connector would likely result in blown fuses. "

Thanks for the vendor and pricing research and the excellent documentation. I'm dealing with the same question, so your efforts here have provided a great reference piece. Don't forget the option of having your harmonic balancer rebuilt. Dale Manufacturing (Salem, Oregon -- same town as as ZTherapy) offer a rebuild service at $115 (plus 2-way shipping) based on you supplying your core for them to refurbish. There's also Damper Doctor in Redmond, CA (not sure about their pricing, but they'll send you a quote if you ask).

Very pretty. Compared to the many photos I've seen in various L engine rebuild threads, the ones shown here seem to capture 'Nissan Engine Blue' the best. It's more of an 'industrial' blue than an 'automotive' blue. Also: Those may be the first photos I've ever seen (anywhere) that document the installation of the crankcase vent screen inside the block casting.

I did the same with the seats from my 5/70. The original foam was not bad, but I needed to fill out the new seat covers. I used various combinations of 1/2" and 1/4" foam, plus 1" batting (fabric stores have this -- it works well for filling in 'holes'). Where appropriate, make your cuts in the foam at an angle rather than as a straight (90-degrees to surface) cut. If you cut it straight, the edge of the foam will show through the seat cover as a ridge. A BIG pair of scissors helps. Also, an ultra-sharp kitchen knife. One other caution: By adding foam in this way, you will be 'over-stuffing' the seat. Done right, this adds a little extra 'bucket' to the bucket seat. However, it can lead to puckering if you pull the buried tensioning flaps too tight.

A search of the Toronto Star newspaper's archives will be needed to verify this but, having lived in/around these parts all my life, I find it very hard to believe that there was any kind of major auto show happening in Toronto in the spring or early summer. There have traditionally been only two times of the year for auto shows in Toronto: the big show, held in mid-winter (say, Jan-Feb), and the secondary show, held at the end of the summer (Canadian National Exhibition - two weeks leading up to Labour Day). The 510 purportedly being air-shipped from Vancouver to Toronto in May 1970 could just as easily have been on its way to a dealer or media launch event (as opposed to an auto show, c/w roof-collapsing show models).

Not duct tape. That is 'Racing Tape', aka '200mph Tape'.

Psychedelic body painting of auto show models (sorry, 'hostesses'). That's something you don't see anymore!

I suggest you look at the trim panels sold by Mike at Banzai Motorsports. They're very close to the originals in appearance (not the case for the panels offered by many of the other vendors) and they include the embossed chrome trim strip. Price is very competitive at $275 for a pair and Mike is a good guy to deal with... http://www.zzxdatsun.com/catSoftTrim.php (see Item #ST-12)

Nice post. Not much space allocated (or required) for three Japanese brands that would shortly become huge sellers. Notice that the display area signage says 'Datsun' rather than 'Nissan'. I wonder whether the overhead sign placed on the ceiling said the same thing? The cars sits quite high on its wheels, doesn't it?

In your most recent photos, one (or perhaps both) of your set of frame repair sections has stitch welds running full length along the inside of the long folds. Why? Did you fit a doubler piece inside for extra strength? BTW, I admire your efforts in constructing these repair pieces from scratch and without the benefit of having a sheet-metal brake in your shop. That's a pretty nice result achieved from forming your bends over the jaws of a mechanic's vise!

That's what he recommended (complete with an explanation), so no need to ask him again. Now it's your decision whether you want to follow that recommendation or not.

You need to get out of the workshop for a while. Your friendly local Princess Auto outlet (heated) has a killer sale on right now for most of its steel stock -- tube, bar, channel, and sheet, all at about 40% off list. Lots of other stuff at attractive pricing -- including the TIG welder and plasma cutter that I know your shop needs to be complete .

Looks like the G-knot workshop is a little frosty these days! Have any elves shown up to help out?

Just research the kits that the big Z parts suppliers are already offering. Obviously, you'll need to offer some kind of compelling advantage (price comes to mind), as these suppliers are already well known and (for the most part) well trusted by the Z owners community. You might score yourself a niche if you're able to offer the Phillips-type hex-head bolts as a kit that lines up with the typical restorer's whole-vehicle needs. Maybe one of our members is OCD enough to tally that up and give you the sizes and numbers required (they're not obvious from the parts fiche -- you need to know the car from first-hand experience... or a lot of really good, detail-level photos of a bone-stock Z). Note that most of the Z's requirement for this type of special bolt was not of the captive-washer variety. In addition, they were only used in low-load applications, so bolt grade isn't going to be a big deal. It's all about the appearance of the bolt head.

The cross-reference table (Toyota PN vs. fastener spec) in your 'Research' page is a nice feature. If you move into Nissan country with your offerings, I'm sure that owners would enjoy a similar table for our cars. I'm curious about how/why you're able to offer cad plating (vs. yellow zinc plating). I thought that real cad plating had been banned just about everywhere because of environmental risks to groundwater. There's one fastener style that you (and other suppliers) are not offering. That is the hex-head bolt style that features a cross-type (aka Phillips) screwdriver indent in the head. This was a visually special feature of many of the Z's fasteners and something that some of us would like to preserve during our restorations. If you can find a source for these (typically M6 and M8, IIRC), you may enjoy some buyer traffic that would otherwise pass you by.

I don't think so. Topography and shrubbery looks wrong. The collection in your photo must belong to the other nephew of Patcon's hoarder. The guy north of SLC had a yard that looked like your traditional wrecker's lot, with a front yard for parking, a building or two, and a larger, fenced-off rear year I visited briefly on my way through the area. George Koslowski (past prez of Ontario Z Owners Association) paid the guy a more extensive visit while traveling through the area and did a write-up in the club newsletter, c/w several b&w pix. Years ago, there was also a guy in the southern fringes of San Diego who ran an all-Z recycling yard. That was a pretty cool set-up. Well organized, knowledgeable and helpful owner. Probably long gone by now.

Thanks, Careless. Now I remember reading the write-up you did on this in your own thread (maybe that's where I got the idea). So are you saying leave out media blasting altogether and use vapor blast + shot burnishing instead? Or are you saying to change the order of steps so that it's: vapor blast, then media blast, then shot burnishing? Also: Those are great tips for the valve cover. Now let's talk about the carbs... I can easily see similar materials and strategies being use to seal off the bells and the float chambers. Did you do this? I'm not so sure about the carb bodies. Did you use blank-off plates sealed with RTV across the air inlet, air outlet, and top (bell) opening?

I got the idea from our friends at Z-Therapy, who say: "After the bodies are machined, the carbs get polished. All ZTherapy carbs are machine polished with a unique high pressure (22 G's of force) machine polish technique. This is not a wheel polish. These carbs shine better than when they came out of the molds. By polishing in this way, we close the pores of the metal. They shed dirt better, and look great!" Maybe they really are using a shot-peening process?

In the 1990's there used to be a guy, just north of Salt Lake City IIRC, with a big yard full of Z's. Fifty or more. Same story. He would let the odd person in to have a look, but he believed that he was sitting on a gold mine and refused to consider realistic offers. Maybe this is his nephew!