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I actually have one of these original ones on my other tool wall (See top left), But I realized there are various different versions for different engines The two missing ones have each a different part number. There was one included in the set (not shown in the picture) but that again was not an original Kent-Moore tool, but a 3rd party product (Hazet or so). Not bad, but I'm trying to fill my wall with the original stuff :-)

You might remember that recently, I picked up another vintage Datsun tool Board, to the one I already had. Soon after that, a friend wrote me that he found some more. So naturally, I negotiated and was able to pick them up last week. This time, luckily, including some tools: First, I had to clean everything and sort through the boxes of tools: It included quite a funky set of homegrown tools. I wonder what purpose they were made for: Then I also spent a bit of time to remove rust and put some protective clear coat primer on the walls, to ensure they don't corrode any longer. Thanks to @Mymechanics for your support and inputs! So totally i have now 5 tool walls. That one from Germany, which is already completed and hanging in my garage, plus these four. Two Datsun ones: And two more modern ones with a Nissan branding: As you can see in the photos, many tools are there, but also many are missing. So the next step is to make an inventory of what I have and what is missing. And what the tools are for, which do not belong to these specific tool boards. Luckily, I have a lot of original Datsun / Nissan / Kent-Moore / SPX documentation about those tools, and what cars / Engines / transmissions they are intended for. And my latest acquisition also included a more modern Nissan / SPX / Kent-Moore booklet, which is nice for the Nissan branded boards: I was lucky to already find some of the missing tools. But that's only a fraction. Some of the tools will be tricky to find and might take me a few months / years to come accross. Overall, I'm quite happy. I have to find a nice place for the Datsun branded walls, and with the Nissan ones I yet have to decide if I keep them as decoration or if I sell them, if the right person comes along. Either way, it was a great find, but still some homework ahead to figure out what all these tools are used for, which car models they fit and what is missing.

I'm working on a knowledge post about the S30's automatic transmissions, and for that, I tried to update my document collection. Since I don't have any Auto transmission and don't plant to install one ever, it was obviously never a priority. So recently a few things arrived again from all over the world. Some of them are pretty cool and rare: First, a set of original Nissan Japan 3N71B Auto transmission service manuals from 1971 and 1973. They're not specific to this car, but they have some good general information about that specific transmission. I also got the English version of the earlier 3N71A transmission manual. This time specific for the 240Z. Nothing crazy inside, but good for some reference data if you're a nerd like me. Speaking of Automatic transmissions. I got this cool troubleshooting guide slider, which was issued for both the A and B transmissions by Nissan USA in 1972: The delivery also included some Mikuni triple carb-setup parts: And i also came across this Mikuni PH level gauge for 2 bucks, so I had to get it: It even came with a nice little operation manual leaflet and padded pouch: Then I also got this nice booklet called "Z-car" by driver magazine JP. It's basically a collection of all their S30-related publications from their monthly magazine. I still have to read through all of it, but so far it has some very nice stories, including the original designers of the car. The only downside so far is the overload of praise for Mr. K as the sole man behind the Z, which is of course nonsense. But as said, i only read two pages so far. Speaking of documents. I made a copy of that original Nissalco 240Z special service toolbox manual, as it was falling apart. And I have to say it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at something like this. I picked up a load of tool-related things yesterday and have a lot of pending orders. so stay tuned for another update soon.

Recently, I was able to obtain something rare, which I've been searching for five years, or so now. But let's start in the beginning. In 1937, Nissan registered a daughter-company called "Nissan Auto Sales Co. Ltd." as a sales division spin-off. In 1957, the same company registered the "NISSALCO" trademark, with the aim to develop and produce service tools for Nissan factories and workshops. They produced all kind of mechanical and electronic testers but also accessory parts for Nissan Car owners. Here is a picture from the Nissan Cherry assembly line, with a NISSALCO sign above every test bench: Today, the company is still existing, but under the "ALTIA" Name. In the early 70ies, they developed a Special service tool box for the Datsun 240Z sports. ST0929-0000. And yesterday, I finally got one, after many years of searching for it. The toolbox comes with a selection of Special tools for the 240Z. And this box came with a lot of extra tools inside. You can lift out the upper case, and then you have access to the lower level. Mine included also the Booklet that comes with it. So first, I had to get all the parts out and go through them. Luckily, i collected some of the Datsun / Nissan / Kent-Moore Special tools books over the years. And the box (even though without any part number or information) and some of the tools are also listed in the US-service manual: Sadly, I quickly realized that my purchase came with a lot of additional tools which do not exactly belong to the S30, but random Datsun's, and some original tools from the box are missing. It seems that the previous owner also recreated some missing tools. Overall, it's still a good starting point. After cleaning the box out, hammering the metal straight and fixing the locks. it started to look good. I wanted to keep the patina, but still clean up all the parts. so i gave them a quick wash in the parts cleaner: And then put the original parts back in: Assembled (some tools are not correct): And closed: The set also included this nice Nissan wooden tool box, with the lovely lock: I still have to figure out yet what this is used for, but i just love the looks of it: I'm also working on to restore the original manual that came with it: But it appears that the last few pages are missing and the back cover. But still better than nothing. It also has a very strange format, where each page is only printed on one side and then folded to have a print on both sides, which is a bit weird. That's it for now. I will try to keep finding the missing tools and pages. If you know something, I'm happy to hear from you. Expect some more tools related stuff in the coming days, but i also hope to work on the car itself again, in the next days. Stay tuned!

No worries. You know me - I always like a good background story :-) I researched a bit. Ernst Seiler seemed to be a very illustrious person with a long Porsche racing history. I wasn't able to connect the dots between the two names, but it's very well possible. First I thought it was Heiko (Seiler) from Datsun.ch 's parents former Garage. But he confirmed that they only started in the late 70ies and the name was Garage Seiler in BE. The one mentioned in the booklet is from the AG Canton and the booklet is from the late 60ies or early 70ies, so it's possible that you are right. Interesting nevertheless. In Switzerland, during that period, there were many small, independent garages, but also some big names who quickly started to build large holdings based on small garages, gas stations, etc, and then became big names.

I don't really want to chime in here into this discussion, but I have seen the S30.world cars in real life, and talked a lot to the people behind it and all I can say is: - Those are the best restored Z's I have aver seen. And I have seen plenty of them over the years. - They make their own parts, where new ones are not available anymore, and those parts are the best reproduction parts I have seen, with real attention to details. - The team behind it is OBSESSED with small details and correctness. Down to things like the correct color and position of the bolt-marking dots. Everybody is free to have your own opinion, but I really recommend to check out the cars in real life and talk to the people behind it, and then only you can understand how many extra-miles these guys went to build some of the best restored 240Z's out there.

Before I hand my Chassis for final (re-)work and alignment to the bodyshop again, I want to make sure that I didn't miss details. Over the years, many shops and people have worked on the car, and installed replacement panels from various sources. So the risk is high that some small things are not correct. For that reason, I try to test-fit as much as possible to figure out problematic areas, so that I can discuss with the bodyshop how to fix it, before it's too late, when the paint is on. It also forces me to take some decisions in which direction to go with certain areas, and gives me the opportunity to go through my stockpile of parts and see what's missing for the final assembly, and order some stuff here and there. One of those areas where I identified a small issue was on the rear lower body. The EU-spec cars have an additional number-plate light in the rear bumper, and therefore there is a hole in the rear panel. Obviously, all the replacement panels are based on the US-market models and therefore that hole is missing. Luckily, my man Heiko was kind enough to measure the position and diameter on his unrestored EU-spec 240Z. Here are the measurements, in case you need it: And here we go, the hole is in: I realized the Tank needs to go out (again) to have the hole cleaned from the inside: But that also gave me the opportunity to replace the rusty J-hook bolts with the replated ones, which I got recently. I have ordered New ones already, as these are definitely not the nicest ones, but still better than the rusty ones which were installed before. After that, I was able to install the rear bumper: And the rear number plate lighting. Please note, it's still all just a quick mock-up to identify problems. Most parts are only temporary and will be replaced by nicer ones later. So with this, I think my test-fit of the rear-end area is completed. Luckily, that area doesn't have any issues anymore, Unfortunately there are still some areas here and there, which need to be addressed. But from my point of view, I'm nearing completion of what I can do myself, and I feel confident to deliver the car as-is to the bodyshop to fix the remaining things and have it painted, soon. Oh, and I also got this early Swiss Datsun dealer list, recently. I love how it appears to be a copy from a type-writer or something. Unfortunately, there is no date on the list, but I assume from the looks of it that it's from the late 60ies or early 70ies. I got a palette with some exciting stuff yesterday, too - which I will show you soon, so stay tuned for another update in the coming days.

Just a quick update: After returning from holidays, i spent some hours to finally sand down the remaining areas with old layers of paint, filler and primer: And finally: Done. Still needs a bit of love here and there, especially around the edges, but I'll leave that to the body shop. I Also made a little stress-test with my crack-repair and it seems pretty solid. So finally I got it installed back on the trunk at all original 6 mounting studs, like intended from the factory. It took me quite some hours to get that wing back into shape, but I think it was well worth it, and I'm more than happy i was able to save another OEM part which belongs to this car. Then I got some stuff in my mailbox: First. A spacer for the trunk / hatch damper, as mine are all toast. And more importantly at the moment: A bunch of fastener / retaining clips for the front fender side markers: Which allowed me to finally also test-fit the other side. Note protective foil on the lamp is just there to not damage it during trial fitments: And then I got a nice book from Autoliv in Sweden. They were the manufacturer of many of the aftermarket seat belts installed by European Import companies (along Britax). I asked them for a bit of Background information about the company and the specific seatbelts. They were not really able to help me with the 240Z seatbelts, since they're now a global company, but instead they sent me this very cool Company history book, which they released last year for internal use only, with some very cool information. I will prepare a post about those specific seat belts in the coming months. As for now, I wait for a few parts and information here and there, to proceed with the next steps on the car, but that should be possible in the next few days. I'll keep you updated.

Yesterday, I made a 4-hour "tour de Suisse" to collect various parts which I've purchased and visit some friends. My first stop was at my good friend Stefan from Cagedude. Aside from always finding crazy builds in his workshop, I'm always full of joy to see his collection of C10 and C110 Skylines in various states of Restauration. The red one in front is a genuine Swiss-Market 2000GT Shortly after I got my tool-wall, another original Datsun workshop tool wall popped up for sale. Since I already had one, I told hem he should get it, which he did. The wall stayed in his possession for a while, but then he called me and told me he has no time to complete it, so I should get it instead. So I picked it up yesterday. So it means the hunt for all the missing tools starts again. Luckily, I already was able to complete an empty wall once, so I hope I'll manage that again. Oh, and I also picked up this 280ZX T-top Nissan Press poster for another friend of mine. The second stop was at my mate Heiko, who has a nice collection of Z's and roadsters, among some other cars. The reason was to pick up a complete euro-spec rear bumper center section, which is increasingly hard to find. The EU-version has additional holes for the lower number plate lighting. I have several, but all have messed up mounting brackets. This one needs some love too, but at least the brackets are good, so I can use it for test-fitment of everything. And then i got another "Mystery package" from a long-standing parts dealer partner, which included various interior and battery parts. Plus a rear bumper side section, ashtray, etc. And some random NOS parts, plus a lot of replated parts. It's always a bit of a mixed bag from this vendor. Some parts are really useful, NOS or good quality, Some appear to be from different generation Z's or even other cars, or are not in the best condition. Usually, the good parts make up for the bad ones. This-time the J-bolts for the tank straps came in very handy, and it's always good to have a variety of parts on site. Even the "bad" ones usually get used for trial-fitments, etc. I hope with all this new parts and information from yesterday, i will be able to spend another few hours in the workshop with hopefully some progress on the car. Stay tuned.

Time for another update: I spent the last couple of days in the Workshop and installed all the hood alignment parts, so the body shop can properly align the hood. I also put back all bolts to the body panels, since they were missing after I had to remove a lot of things for alignment and rework. Not much to see, but all panels are now secured for transport. Slowly, but steady, t starts to look like a complete car again. Well - there is still a lot of work. Next, i decided to test fit the side markers, just to be sure the holes are still correct. I assembled to mock-ups from various used and NOS parts which I had. And installed: (Note plastic wrap on the NOS lens, to protect it) Now the big project. The rear spoiler. As you can see, the inner bolts are missing (compare holes with the missing bolt, left): I thought it had probably rotted away in the past, so they just removed it. That made me want to drill back a hole to install a new one, but it seems the previous owner just cut off the previous bolts and the metal part was still inside the spoiler mounting position. Luckily, I was able to drill out the remains of the old studs by starting with a very thin drill and then working the size up until the original 4mm: I made myself some new bolts from some M4 screws: While sanding off the area to glue back in the new bolts, I found a crack underneath the various layers of bondo, primer and paint, which the spoiler has collected over the years: Now also that glue-remains on the inside made sense:, which chipped off like nothing, once hammered: I was able to clean the whole area And then glue both the crack and the bolts back in with some two-component epoxy glue: The result is not bad, if you ask me. It appears to be quite strong, too: Next, I wanted to get back the holes for the original emblems. After sanding the areas, I finally found some black dots, which is probably black filler, which they used to fill the original holes: While trying to tap-mark the holes for drilling, the black filler bits just popped out. So I only used the drill to clean the holes to correct size. Lucky me :-) And the Emblems can go back again, as intended from the factory: Last but not least, I spent quite some hours today to sand off those dozens (!!) of layers of filler, primer and paint from all the years. You might wonder why? Because in some areas the paint and filler is so thick, that the spoiler almost has a different shape. I'm almost done, but still need to spend a few hours. But it appears I was able to save another Original part for the car, and I hope I can install it back soon...

Over the last few weeks, various envelopes with small stuff arrived from all over the World. Time for a little update: First i got this cool Nissan "Automatic transmission" flyer, which explains the new NissanMatic transmission for different cars, including the S30. Then i got a nice Z-3 Service bulletin, which was missing so far. My man Jerome sent me a few documents. Which included a Swiss market 240Z brochure. But also a "Nissan Autographic" magazine (I believe this was either a customer, or internal Employee / dealership magazine) with News about the company from around the world. And then this useless but interesting sheet from "Asbest Technik", the then Swiss importer for Akebono brake parts. Which lists the official spare parts for various Datsun Models, including the 240Z: As shown in the previous post, my man Florian sent me some nice goodies. One is a spare (NOS?) rear number plate piece A broken (but still good for trial-fitting) upper number plate light, And some cool die casts of a sunny Pickup and new CTR. And today a small delivery from Japan. Aside from some number-plate bolts for my EK9, It also included this Rally collector's set of ChoroQ cars. I'm not really a collector, but these went for a superb price and I liked them so much, I had to get them. I also got a Japanese Nissan Shizuoka dealership price list from 1975, which includes the S30. Not really useful, but good to put them next to my JDM Fairlady Z brochures. And last but not least, another Service bulletin book. The Z-6. I soon have the full set, I think. Only a few issues are missing. That's it for now. I hope later today and tomorrow i get some work done on the car again...

The first versions were (as far as i know) never sold officially, but only delivered for testing as prototypes. Some ended up in private ownership. but i guess those were very few. The upgraded suspension, front and rear spoilers, 5-speed transmission and the different front turn signals, etc were standard equipment on all european cars. Even though the parts catalogue lists things as optional, as far as i know, most (all?) european Datsun importers didn't sell any dealership options and most cars were sold as standard european final spec cars. Aside from Portugal, of course, which had their own specifications.

I'm on HS30-H side here when it comes to Factory Nissan JAPAN Plating. The official Nissan documentation clearly shows Zinc plating plus Cadmium plating was banned in Japan by that time, so why would anyone believe it was anything else than Zinc plating (or yellow / blue passivating, as it's called here) On the other hand, the Z-restoration program was executed by selected workshops with support from NMC USA! According to the Z-head document in the previous post, it appears that those were indeed replated with Cadmium in the USA by some private shops. At least according to that checklist. Which is kind of interesting that the restored cars are different from the factory cars. Which is also a bit strange. Because there is a bit of difference in appearance between cad and zinc, so why would they choose something different - especially much more poisonous?? Maybe missing knowledge? Or was it cost saving?

Over the last few days, I was busy in my workshop, getting some small tasks completed on my Z project. Time for a little update. After installing the partial gearbox to test fit the brackets and stuff, I realized that the gear lever is too much in the front of the hole: A quick look into the manual made it clear: I had mounted the lever the wrong way. So, gear box rear-end out, gear lever corrected: And back in, this time, correctly: Then I spent a lot of time at the rear end of the car. I had to clean the holes for the three taillight panels, so that the plastic rivets would lock properly. After that i re-installed the taillights, and ensured the sealing rubbers were set correctly, using my "string-trick": Next i have to finish the slightly worn chrome / metal trim around the taillight panels and get them back on: While working at the rear, i decided to install all those fasteners, stoppers, alignment pieces, guides, etc. Like those rubber spacers: And trunk dampers. I have a NOS set of everything, so the installed ones are only temporary, to not mess up the new ones: And the last bit at the rear end was to align the trunk / hatch. The body shop had installed some spacers to get it straight, but after all the parts got installed, I had to remove them again and massage a few areas lightly to have it all aligned: Next? Seat rails. I had those Bride seat rails from my Histrix lying around for a while and wanted to test-fit them. I'm most probably going to use something different setup in the end, but I wanted to ensure that the distance and position of the seat mounting brackets was right after all the bodywork. I thought the best way was to use the original seat rail mounting studs and spacers. Since I had several highly-damaged OEM seats, I hammered out the fasteners and used the plastic spacers after grinding away the factory spot-welds on the bolts. This worked unexpectedly well, so now I can do some trials with different seats, rails and setups - to figure out what will go into the car in the end. Next: I realized that I didn't have any upper rear number plate light in my part collection. Luckily, Florian from Datsun-Autowerk was kind enough to send me one of his broken ones including some other parts (more on that in a following post), for trials. After puzzling and glueing all the parts together... I could mock it up all together and drill the required holes. Fun-fact: I always thought that slight "dent" in the gray metal piece was a production fault of the reproduction panel, but it's actually there to make space for the number plate lighting bolt. After the holes were done and cleaned, I got the upper plastic part installed. And then the whole thing with the lens. Note all bolts and the light itself are temporary units for the mock-up only, final parts will be correct and fresh. Looks good if you ask me! Special thanks to the person who gave me the hint with the holes (I wasn't able to find the mail anymore, but you know who you are!) And then? Spoiler-Alert. Again. After i realized that the currently installed spoiler is beyond repair, I remembered that I had another one lying around. But it was bent in all directions and super wobbly: But all the brackets were still in good shape, so I gave them a little wire wheel brush and corrosion protection: I placed them on our terrace, which tends to get quite hot now in summer And let it take the heat every day. My thought was that the Polyurethane gets weak and goes either back in its natural shape by itself, or can be massaged. At the end, some areas turned out to be pretty stiff, even with heat and required some proper bending over my special bending bench :-) It didn't really work out. It's way better than in the beginning, but still super wobbly. I thought if i'd install it on the car, it might straighten itself a bit. Let's see. I have my doubts. The good thing is, there seems to be another spoiler on the horizon :-) I've seen worse ones, but yeah. Not good enough for me: I also went through my plated fasteners and sorted them a bit. I got various boxes over the years from various collectors and Z-specialists, so it was about time to ensure I find what I'm looking for :-) The to-do list gets smaller by the week. And there's not much left from my side, but some tricky bits. I guess I've earned my favorite Japanese "Hitachino Nest" beer for today.

It has been a serious while since I was able to put some actual work in the car. I had some urgent projects on the house to complete, and then I managed to injure my hands, but now I'm back at it again. First, I had to re-install my tank. Since I sold my new fuel tank including rubbers and straps at the Japanclassic, to help somebody get is car running again quickly, I had to wait for a new one to arrive from S30.world. Unfortunately, new straps are currently not available anymore, so i had to go through my set of existing straps to get the best ones for temporary usage: First i had the rubber insulator blocks installed on the tank: And then had it all wrapped to avoid scratches on my brand new tank: And then everything installed. Thanks to my new transmission hoist, this was a lot easier than last time. And last but not least, i had the drain plug installed, which comes with the tank: Next? Front end work. Ever since I had my wobbly bent EU spec front spoiler installed, I was wondering myself which route to go. EU-spec corner valances with the mounting holes for the spoiler, but no holes for the Lower turn signals or other way? After thinking about it for a while, i decided to take the best of both worlds. Some might call it sacrilegious, but I decided to go what appeals the most to my eyes. US spec lower turn signals, but EU-spec front spoiler (which also helps stabilize the car and is not just for the looks). My original thinking was that the US-spec corner valances need to be modified with that "loose-nut" mounting brackets for the lip, but when checking my EU-spec valances, i realized that on the corner valances (unlike the center valance) there is only a simple hole. So the modification of US-spec valances to fit the EU-spec spoiler is simply to drill a 5mm hole in the right place. To get the right place, i made a nice little template from tape. Transferred it from the EU- to the US-valances, and drilled / cleaned it. Unfortunately, I found that on the LH-side somebody had previously drilled holes in the wrong places, for whatever reason. Probably they had some different spoiler installed? I'll leave that to the bodyshop. So everything set to install the spoiler completely? Almost. As you can see, the brackets on my worn out spoilers are quite bent. Some were even completely missing or "fixed" with a bit of backyard-engineering: After I bent all the existing brackets in a more-or-less correct position and installed it back on the car, i have to admit it looks quite good, even though it's still just a completely temporary mock up. I also had my replica US-spec turn signals installed (I will look for some good OEM-ones, as these lack the mandatory E-stamps on it). Which made the iconic, but also a bit ugly, EU-spec turn signals obsolete. Even though I don't think the look is too bad, I always have the feeling that they were just slapped on the car in a hurry, and are held on the bumper with only one nut, so they always look a bit off in their position and are hard to get it right (see previous photo). So I had them removed. The US / Japan spec turn signals always looked much sleeker to me, fully integrated under the bumper. Like intended from their designers. So for the moment, I'll stick to this setup. But I might change back to full EU-spec, if required. During this work, I was also able to fix two previous issues with the front bumper alignment, which is great too. From my point of view, the front-end (everything in front of the radiator support) is completed now. Next I'll focus on some other points. My 2-do list is getting smaller, and I'm happy with every task I can check off. I expect DHL ringing on my door with some nice stuff from Japan every moment, and i have some more things on the way here, so expect another update soon.