Namerow

Before Chris bought it from me, the car had sat (stationary) in three different driveways across Ontario: Burlington (3 yrs), Cobourg (3 yrs) and Oshawa (unknown, but probably at least another 3 yrs). Not sure when the mice came on board .

Didn't someone else (not Red Green) use a rented portable cement mixer as a tank tumbler?

Looking at the latest photos posted here (which are quite hi-res), you can see the full weld line. As Chris notes, it's most obvious along the transmission tunnel. It runs to just aft of the aforementioned later-style floor brace, then across to the sill (notice that the floor kick-up behind the floor brace features the Series 1 tie-down tabs for the jack and tools). Going forward, it looks like the join line between the inserted floor and the native structure runs along the bottom of the toeboard. Looks like a pretty sanitary job, actually. I wonder if #60 and #72 were both Alberta cars, or whether they found each other here in Ontario? I would suppose that #60 may have been the victim of crash damage or a fire. Floors this good wouldn't have come out of a rust-bucket.

Well, it appears that the photo was actually taken in Japan and these are cars that are about to be loaded onto the ship rather than having been parked after off-loading. Judging from the six cranes, it looks like the vehicles may have been hoisted onboard rather than driven.

I've never seen this photo before. Port of Vancouver? Yellow, white, and orange seem to be the dominant colours, although it's hard to tell how many other Z's might be parked outside of the frame. Is that actually a pair orange Z's with white interiors parked nose-to-tail in the centre of the frame?

More on the topic of black vs. grey... Here's a different Z that was recently up for sale. In this case, the license plate light housing appears in basic-black, unpainted condition. To my eye, it just doesn't look right.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/67-led-bulb-15-led-forward-firing-cluster-ba15s-retrofit-car/169/#/tab/Overview Note that this vendor's site provides a search-by-vehicle / search-by-application function that returns a faulty result for the license light application (it recommends an 1156 bulb/socket -- that won't match an 89 socket/or bulb).

Answering my own question, I've found that there is an LED bulb that's a direct replacement for the #89 incandescent versions. 'Tower' type, with 210-degree illumination spread, medium-low lumens output. Correct socket size & pins, matching 'bulb' diameter. That's probably the way to go. Regarding colour treatment for the black-plastic housing cover (i.e. should it be left as plain black plastic or painted to match the rear finisher panels?), I'm still perplexed by photo of this apparently-unmolested '70... Looks grey to me.

Now just shy of US$16K with 7 days of bidding still to go. Looks very positive. Given your documented and quality work on the structure, together with a nice paint job and a sanitary, OE interior, I think this should close in the $25K - $30K range. GLWTS.

Great photos, CanTechZ. Couldn't have asked for a better real-world illustration of the (good) possibility that those metal inserts have nothing to do with heat protection and, in fact, create the opposite effect. Auto manufacturers never spend money on parts that don't have a purpose. These insert plates look like they were designed to be installed only in particular situations. Otherwise, the housing looks perfectly happy (very happy, in fact) to have them left off. My theory is that the plates are shades and were only installed for markets where there was some government-enforced limit on the amount of illumination that could be used on the rear of a vehicle above and beyond the left and right 'running lights' (brake and turn signal lights don't count, because they're occasional and short-duration). It will be interesting to see if anyone from Europe (or Japan) reports that their lamp housing does not have these insert plates. At this point, I have one good housing assembly and I don't want to have it warp. I'm thinking about ditching the insert plates and maybe reducing the wattage of the bulbs, too (add something to the circuit to create a voltage drop?). Conversion to LED's would be another way to get rid of the excess-heat issue, but it looks like it could turn into a 'project' (unless, of course, there's an available LED with the right combination of beam pattern, lumens, and bayonet fitting size).

I'm in the midst of 'restoring' the license (licence?) plate light assembly for my 70 Z. For those familiar with these units, you'll know that many are heat-damaged so that both the outer shell (black plastic) and the inner base plate (white plastic) sag and no longer seal well, esp. along the top seam and despite the rubber gasket. The illumination is, of course, provided by two #89 bulbs. These apparently generate enough heat during long periods of lights-on driving to cause the plastic pieces to soften and deform. The housing assembly is 98% sealed (there are four small, open drain holes on the bottom surface of the outer shell) to keep out water, with the reverse effect that it seals in the heat. I have a couple of questions for anyone who's tried to remedy the situation: Clipped inside the black outer shell are two zinc-plated, stamped-metal insert plates. They fit over the clear-plastic 'lens' surfaces on the left and right side of the shell, such that they block the center 70% of the lens, leaving only the sides of each lens (and a little centre slit) open to light passage. Some say that these metal inserts are to keep heat away from the clear-plastic lens, but I find this hard to believe. Metal is a pretty good heat conductor and these things sit right on top of the clear-plastic lens surface, so how they act as heat protection is beyond me. My guess is that they're actually installed as 'shades' because -- for some markets - Nissan decide that the fully-open clear-plastic lenses allowed too much illumination onto the license plate. I'm wondering if they're possibly responsible for the excessive heat build-up inside the housing. Anybody know the real reason for these metal inserts being installed? Were they also found in Euro-market or Japan-market Z's? Given the heat build-up issue, the license plate light assy seems like a perfect place for substituting LED's for the OE incandescent bulbs. Has anyone tried this? Is it a plug-and-play solution, or do the bulb sockets and connections need to be modified? Where were the LED's sourced from? There's been debate in the past over the correct colour for the 'black' outer shell. Some say that this piece was painted by the factory so that it has the same 'anthracite' grey colour as the taillight finisher panels. I believe that a photo of a MIB unit was produced to support this idea. Paint overspray on the white base piece was pointed to as proof of the spray-painted final finish treatment. I've checked some pictures of a bone-stock '70 that was recently listed for sale and it, too, shows the license plate light's housing to be the same colour as the taillight finisher panels. There's just one problem. I have three of these light assemblies (one from a '70, two from '72's) and in all cases the outer shell is unpainted and matte black in colour/texture. There's not a trace of paint on the outer shells. They haven't been sanded, because the matte surface texture is molded in. There is paint on the white base plates, but it's flat black, not grey, and it doesn't seem to have been applied with any purpose in mind -- partial surface coverage, and not very good at that (which makes me wonder why the supplier that produced these pieces for Nissan had somebody randomly waving a spray gun at them loaded with flat black paint). So: Were the outer shells painted. Or not? Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on these questions!

DIY results were well documented by Grannyknot (c/w lots of pix) a few months back (use the search function). Additional comments were offered there by Nix240 and Patcon, IIRC. While what you want to to achieve is do-able, I think that the phrase, 'Your results may vary' applies here. A large, angular piece like the radio chassis may offer special challenges because of 'masking' in and around the corners.

The picture shows the driver-side window glass assembly taken from a long-gone 72 Z. If you look at the bottom-right quadrant of the assembly, you'll observe a stamped-metal piece bolted onto the near side of the glass. It looks kind of like a swimming duck (ok, maybe a loon), with the beak pointing to the right. With the glass installed in the door, this piece would be on the outboard side of the glass. Question: What is the purpose of this stamped-metal piece? It doesn't show in the parts fiche drawing and I don't see in the FSM drawings either. In addition, the side glass from the 70 Z that I'm working on doesn't have this piece either. The 72 donor from which I took the window assembly was my daily driver back in the 1970's and I'm 99% positive that this is the glass that was installed at the factory. Is it some kind of brace or reinforcement for this part of the glass? Or is it an anti-'Slim Jim' theft-deterrent piece? Is it a factory piece? (It sure looks like it). If so, when did these start to get fitted to our Z's? I'm trying to decide whether this something that my 70 Z would benefit from receiving as a transplant.

It will be interesting, then, to see how the use of adhesives finds its way into the auto hobbyists' world of restoration, where welded-in patch panels have been the traditional standard. Would a pro body shop tasked with the job of installing a set of Zedd Finder's floor panels use adhesive, for example?

That's an interesting note re use of adhesive to bond in the dogleg-area repair (vs. the traditional weld-in approach). Care to comment further? Does the shop have experience to support the long-term effectiveness of an adhesive join for this type of repair? I assume that it's all about getting a perfectly clean and straight joint area that assures a not-too-thick adhesive layer. p.s. I'm not sure that flooding an adhesive-repaired area with an oil-based preservative like Rust Check is a good idea. Once again, does the shop have anyexperience with the long-term results of doing this?

FWIW, here's a bit more info on cyanoacrylate (CA) glue (c/o Wiki): "When added to baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), cyanoacrylate glue forms a hard, lightweight adhesive filler (baking soda is first used to fill a gap then the adhesive is dropped onto the baking soda). This works well with porous materials that the glue does not work well with alone. This method is sometimes used by aircraft modelers to assemble or repair polystyrene foam parts. It is also used to repair small nicks in the leading edge of composite propeller blades on light aircraft. The reaction between cyanoacrylate and baking soda is very exothermic (heat-producing) and also produces noxious vapors." " CA glue is also used in combination with sawdust (from a saw or sanding) to fill voids and cracks. These repair methods are used on piano soundboards, wood instruments, and wood furniture." And a big caution: " Applying cyanoacrylate to some natural materials such as cotton, leather or wool (cotton swabs, cotton balls, and certain yarns or fabrics) results in a powerful, rapid exothermic reaction. The heat released may cause serious burns,[23] ignite the cotton product, or release irritating white smoke. Material Safety Data Sheets for cyanoacrylate instruct users not to wear cotton or wool clothing, especially cotton gloves, when applying or handling cyanoacrylates.[24] " Fortunately, it appears that this caution doesn't apply to the natural fibres (if there are any) in our Z's door cards!

Chris: Just to be clear, what did you use to fix the areas around the clip holes: cyanoacrylate glue, f/g resin, or both?

Glad to see that this had a happy ending, Chris.

There are two different types of repairs required here: For the clip hole areas, why not approach this the same way that you would with a rust repair. That is, cut out the bad part and 'weld in' (glue) new material , cut to shape. Although it would definitely be easy, I'm not sure that a fibreglass repair is going to give the clip the right kind of surface to 'do its thing'. My idea would be to start with new, 1/8" masonite panel stock. Create a hole of the correct diameter (hole saw?), then use a small file to add the 'notch'. Now cut out the patch panel, complete with hole, and lay it over the door card so that the hole locations line up. Trace the outline onto the door card, then cut out that area. Now bond the patch panel into the cut-out area, using a fibreglass overlay on the 'back' surface. While I have not tried this myself (yet), I think it could work nicely. For the big tear, I agree that an f/g cloth-and-resin overlay will probably be the way to go. Here's an additional idea, though -- To temporarily bond the torn edges prior to applying the fibreglass, my notes include a comment from another CZCC member to the effect that a 'thin' cyanoacrylate glue used by model airplane hobbyists works well with the door card material. He referenced a brand called, 'Great Planes PRO CA' (packaged in the usual 1-oz eyedropper-style bottle). I'm not really sure how they manage to make this stuff thinner than plain old Crazy Glue, but it's promoted as having 'superior wicking action'. The label on the bottle says, 'Great for tight-fitting parts, tacking and CA hinges'. The Z owner in question said that he used it successfully to firm up 'mushy fibreboard around the holes' and reported that it resulted in an area that was 'super-hard and strong'. So: If you can figure out a way to press your torn edges together and flat, this glue might just do the trick. If you've got a spare piece of door card, maybe use that to experiment with first. Alternatively, try cracking a piece of masonite sheet and the use the glue to try to re-set the crack. Let me know if it works .

I'm not aware of any of the usual Z parts vendors (MSA, Rock Auto, etc.) offering an aftermarket harmonic balancer. Who's your source?

I'm in the middle of performing the same fix on my regulators, too. The match of the outside dimensions (outside diameter, thickness) between the PA tarp grommets and the Nissan 'cone washers' is remarkable. Whoever spotted these as a replacement deserves a medal for 'thinking outside the box'. It will be interesting to see how well this works. The Nissan 'cone washer' is made from a flexible plastic and has a fairly thin cross-section, meaning that it's pretty compliant as it slides along the regulator arm's and can compensate for a degree of wobble in the roller (of course, this also means that it tears and then falls off). It looks like it was intended to act like a really soft thrust washer -- creates a little bit of pre-load and takes up the slop in what needs to be a fairly high-clearance assembly. The PA tarp washer is made from hard plastic, so it has no 'give'. It will be able to wobble on the pin shaft, but only because it's a sloppy fit. It will serve to fill the clearance gap, but it won't act like an axial spring. I'm not too worried about it jamming or sticking, but I expect that the action may feel a bit different. Won't know until everything's installed in the car.

Some recommend laying down 1"-wide masking tape around all edges of a panel before applying the stripper. This keeps the stripper from finding its way into any edge seams. Afterwards, they remove the tape and use mechanical means to remove the paint along the panel edges. Hadn't heard the tip about using paint thinner to neutralize/remove residue. There was a good review and how-to of paint stripping that appeared in a British resto-mag a couple of years back. Key points made: They found a noticeable variation in effectiveness across the 7 or 8 brands tested. The best worked in a single application and in a matter of a hour or so. The lest effective had to be left overnight and required a second application. Effectiveness was improved by scoring the paint with a dull razor blade before applying the stripper. Cross-hatch, one-inch spacings. Try not to score the underlying metal. Effectiveness was also improved by laying a sheet of poly over the panel after the stripper had been applied. They also noted that, in Britain (maybe the US too), environmental issues had forced a change in stripper formulations ~ 10 years ago, so they're not as aggressive as in days gone by.

Nice job. Do you think that the plastic material used for your 3D printer is going to make your repro choke and throttle-lever knobs more (or less) robust than the breakage-prone originals? Can you post a close-up of those two pieces?

I have it and it's an interesting read. Done in comic book style, complete with caption 'bubbles' when the characters speak. The artwork is quite good. Sometimes overlaid with b&w photos. I think it provides a nice treatment of the human element in both the Z's creation and development program, as well as the entry of Nissan (under the 'Datsun' brand) into the North American marketplace. The book really brings a lot of the Japan-based Z design/development teams' names into the foreground (whereas we in North America traditionally tend to hear mostly about Mr. K's USA-based exploits). The graphics may make you think that it's a kind of childish treatment of the history, but it's not. Lots of interesting parts of the 'backstory' emerge. As a Canadian, I particularly enjoyed the coverage of the cold-weather development work that was done with a set of pre-production Z's out of the Brasso Datsun (sorry, 'Nissan') dealership in Calgary, Alberta. Bonus: If you buy it, this will probably become the only book in your library that reads from back to front.

We all know that a lot of the rubber* parts on our 40-year-old cars have hardened with age. Sometimes this leads to cracking, but it seems to depend on the application. (* Caveat: For many of these parts, I'm not really sure that they are made of rubber... as opposed to something man-made). Then there's the issue of exposure oil. Also potentially not good for rubber. Turning to the flexible core of the L-series engine's harmonic balancer, it would certainly be a candidate for age-related problems, and -- for an engine with 'a history' -- it might even have been exposed for years to a caked-on layer of engine oil and dirt. So here's my question: Ignoring racing applications, has anyone ever heard of a an L-series harmonic balancer causing problems? Or failing, for that matter? Or is that flexible core made from a synthetic material that resists aging and chemicals? Bottom line: Is this a part that's a candidate for preventative-maintenance replacement, or can it be safely ignored for street-only duty?