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I did not only buy plenty of stuff for the project recently, but also spent some time tinkering around on the actual project itself. The first task was to install the S30.World fuel tank together with the recently acquired S30.world fuel tank installation kit. To prevent the shiny tank from scratches, I wrapped everything in plastic. And after finding the right technique to hold up the tank while installing the mounting straps, i finally had it installed. Fitment is just like the original one, and it looks great together with the NISMO / Competition electric fuel pump and bracket: Next on the list was to install the fuel filler neck protection plate in the RH rear fender arch. The fitment of this reproduction item was somehow not right, so I had to bend it a bit, first. After a bit of trial and error and drilling some holes, I'm quite happy with the results (As usual, the used bolts are temporary for mock-up only!): Another test fitment was required for the front under panel / splash guard thing: I have to admit it fits really well. The only problem i discovered is that on the replacement NOS frame rails on the RH side, the threads / holes to install the under panels are missing. Most probably because they came from a later 260Z or something. Overall, I'm happy with the progress and my to-do list gets smaller with every day. Unfortunately, with every bit of work I carry out, I find one or two small problems that need to be corrected. So while my list gets smaller, the body shop list gets bigger. Nothing that can't be fixed, and I think I have a good plan for the next project. Recently, i also bought a collection of original (mostly european) Datsun / Nissan Colour and fabric sample charts. I scanned them all in High-resolution and you can download them all for free, here. they include all random type of Datsun / Nissan cars from the 70ies and 80ies, but also the Z's and ZX's.

In the recent days, I picked up various items again, which I bought recently for my project: The elephant in the room is obviously the all original KM1520-ZC AM / FM Radio. It's a bit rough around the edges. Just perfect for a restoration. In case you don't know. Restoring old audio systems, including Car HIFI, from that era was my profession for many years, so this one will be fun for me to get nostalgic. It's said to be in working condition and complete. Let's see. Then i also got an original June 1972 Datsun Switzerland dealer price list. I had it scanned, and you can download it HERE among many other price-lists from that era. One delivery also included an original NOS 240Z rear drum brake cylinder. I had several from the other side, but this side was somehow always missing. Now I have a complete pair: I also aqcuired a bunch of Japanese "Car graphic" Magazines from the early 70ies, when the Z was new, and those issues include a few nice details of the Fairlady Z and Z432 development. On the right side, you also see a Nismo accessory catalogue and sticker from the 10th anniversary, which I will put next to my 10th anniversary steering wheel and shift knob: And then i got something cool, which is a bunch of photos and two CD's full of Photos from a nice bloke. Some photos will be very cool, and I'll post the story about a certain barn full of S30's from Switzerland in the coming weeks on this blog. If you read the story about Aerotechnik. A Swiss Datsun parts dealer that quickly became one of the countries biggest wholeseller for wheels and exhausts, you might remember this photo. Now i even haven an original of that Schaffhausen-plated (SH) red 300ZX. Read more about that story here I have some more cool deliveries pending, so stay tuned for some nice stories and parts here. and oh, i also had some progress on the Car itself, which i'm going to show you soon! Today I was finally able to close another big gap in my documentation archive. The Nissan L-Drive and R-Drive Parts catalogues: There are various versions of the Parts catalogues, the L-Drive (Publication No. C-0010L) is for the Left-Hand-drive cars and the R-Drive (Publication No. C-0010R) is for RHD cars. Totally, I have no three versions. From what I understand, the dealerships once got the original Binder in the early years and then constantly got updated sheets to add or replace. That's why you can see varying years and models on the back of the binder. The Left one and center one are new, the R-Drive on the right is one I bought from the UK a while ago. I have seen other versions, which are probably even rarer, but for me, this will do. So what is it exactly? Well, it's basically the early print versions of the parts catalogue, which were later also available as Microfiches, in smaller book form, or as digital version on Nissan FAST / E-FAST disks, etc. Today these are all available online. But in my opinion this is still the best readable version due to its size and quality of print, and the most detailed version of them all. The cool thing is that I now have one of the versions with the original seat leather samples on it, which only was in specific versions of the manual, and is something quite cool, if you ask me. So, again another year-long search for something very specific comes to an end, and I'm happy to close that task too. These books will again help me to clarify some details and to do my research on the various topics. Also, the pages are easier to scan to show on different topics here on the website, since the pages can be removed individually from the binder. So sooner or later, all you readers will benefit from this, too :-). Now on to search the even rarer stuff...

I'm not sure if those special springs had any markings on it. Either way, the spring part number for Left and Right is the same (see catalogue pages above) and the fronts are much shorter (171,5mm), so it's in my opinion definitive a rear spring, which is shorter than factory specs, for whatever reason. My guess is that they had set the adjustable suspension for a strong compression (low car position) for a long time, for whatever reason, which caused one to become more compressed. I checked the winding-counts and they're the same. I don't know how these springs have been stored over the last years, but either that, or have race use caused that. But I might be wrong.

Quick update on my previous suspension post: The catalogue says the free length of the rear springs is originally 205,5mm. To figure out if they're originals, I measured the length of both rear springs (the fronts are still installed on the struts). Surprisingly, they have different lengths. One is around the original 205 millimeters. The other one however is more like 109 millimeters. I'm now wondering if this is due to mechanical wear? Or if those probably aren't originals? I know for e.g. on my Honda adjustable suspension that it dropped by 1-2cm's in the first years after installation, even without heavy race use. My guess is that you won't feel any huge difference once those springs are installed and compressed, unless an experienced racer uses it on track, so I'm not sure if I should give it a shot as it is, or if they need replacement? Luckily, I still have plenty of time to figure that one out.

Thank you all for your comments regarding the suspension and the carb restoration. I have some good ideas now how to proceed. Vapor or dry-ice blasting seems to be a good solution. For the moment, they will remain in the box until i completed some other projects. So a few days ago, I got this delivery of a Nissan Factory adjustable Competition / Sports option / NISMO suspension set, and I finally found the time to do the research. First some Details, I got the two sets (front and rear) from two different sellers in JP, and it's a lucky coincidence that they actually fit / belong together. The Part numbers are: Front: 54303-E4622 & 54302-E4622 (Atsugi) Rear: 55303-E4622 & 55302-E4622 (AMPCO) On all four strut housings, each of the two platforms / adjustment rings are adjustable in height, and none is fixed, like they are on some other kits. I assume that those sets were made by both Atsugi and AMPCO, that's why they have two different brands stamped on them, as most factory suspension for the Z was available from both suppliers at the same time. The suspension set is listed in the January 1978 US sports option catalogue as "Gas variable type" and you can also see the Spring length of 171,5mm (front) and 205.5mm (rear). The same set is also listed in both Marc and September 1978 Japanese sports option catalogues. It is also mentioned that those parts are approved for Group 3 / closed circuit racing and are harder than the factory suspension setup and allows you to lower the car. The older race and rally preparation manual still lists the predecessor with the end numbers -E4621. Please note that the springs remained the same -E4621, even with the new -E4622 suspension. As the older -E4621 is also listed in the March 1976 Competition parts catalogue, my guess is that this kit was introduced around in 1976 or 1977. According to Alan Thomas, the term "gas filled" refers to a system where the "open design" dampers are oil-filled but gas-charged to help stop the oil from foaming during heavy race use. Unfortunately, the previous owner opened the rear suspension and now that gas is gone. See here for more details on the open / cartridge strut inserts comparison: https://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2017-01-19/240z-the-ultimate-guide-to-factory-suspension-and-options/. According to Alan, there are companies that add a threaded hole to the upper strut section with a valve, so you can add gas again later. But he also mentioned, that the Gas is only really required for heavy race use and it will work without it. Alan was also kind enough to share this photo of the factory gas filling setup / tool. To be honest, i don't really know how it works but it looks nice 🙂 You may have noticed that the front struts came with these additional aluminum spacer disks. According to the above competition manuals (Part no 12), those were used on two-seaters built after 1974 and all four-seater cars, but they were meant to be used on the Rear suspension of the car. It appears that people used them also in the front to gain additional ride height. The competition manual mentions that they are made from aluminum (which mine are) and are 20mm thick. I quickly measured the thickness, and it appears I was lucky to get a free set of probably rare Nissan competition spacers included with my suspension. Remember that mystery adjustable suspension I bought a while ago? I never figured out which car it belongs to. It seems it's not listed in any of the competition / NISMO / Sports option catalogues i found. But now, i finally got to compare them, and it appears that it's definitely not for the 240Z / Fairlady Z. (Left = Mystery, right = 240Z) The length of the strut housing, the length of the thread, the strange upper mounts, and most obviously the brake caliper / brake dust protection shield mounts are completely different. Also, the mystery set got an integrated switch to adjust some settings. Lower = mystery, Upper = 240Z: Since the mystery set is quite incomplete (it only came with one spring, some of the adjustment rings seem not to be original, etc). I think the best I can make out of it is to keep the original adjustment rings from the mystery set as spares for my original set. The smaller, lower adjustment rings have a strange size of 101mm. That shiny one, which seemed to be an aftermarket / homemade item, had a diameter of 100mm, while all original Nissan ones had 101mm. So I'm very happy now to have a complete set, even though from two different manufacturers, but that doesn't really matter, as it's only a small stamp on the strut housing which is different. I will yet have to figure out how I can restore them back to factory, especially the strut inserts might be tricky to find a good solution, but it's definitely doable and definitely worth to bring back this set to former glory. A big hat-tip goes out to Alan for all the Inputs and the nice photos. Your knowledge is of huge value to me, a and I owe you at least a gin-tonic next time we sit at a bar again!

@HS30-H Thanks for your feedback, Alan! I just checked the Numbers on the strut housings, and it seems they are a later version of yours with the last digit being one number higher. Fronts are: 54303-E4622 & 54302-E4622 (Atsugi) Rears are: 55303-E4622 & 55302-E4622 (AMPCO) On all four strut housings, each of the two platforms / adjustment rings are adjustable in height and none is fixed. So i guess i was really lucky to find a complete set of factory adjustable suspension that "belongs together". Even though they are from different manufacturers and i bought them from two different sources 🙂 The guy with the orange ones also sold a front set but the description led me think that it was an aftermarket selfmade adjustable suspension system. The fronts have an additional (Aluminum?) spacer on top, which i have to find out yet if it's a factory option or not My guess is that the these "open design" original strut inserts, which came in a separate box among with loads of other parts, belong to those orange rears. Not sure if they are still usable after somebody opened them and let that Gas, you mentioned, out? My guess is that you still can replace them with some standard japan market spec strut inserts, or are those different in length / rates from the standard struts? As far as I know these "open design" inserts were only ever installed as original factory supplied struts and all Nissan replacement parts were the closed "cartridge type" strut inserts? This is from the installation guide that came with a set of NOS 260Z 2+2 European standard spec cartridge inserts, which I have: Last but not least, the whole delivery came with a box of four additional springs and shock inserts, which i didn't remember buying, so they must have been included in one of the two sets i bought. they don't seem to belong to any of the adjustable kits though. the Dampers are all aftermarket (KYB) and springs seem too long for the adjustable strut inserts, which have much shorter springs. at least at first glance. The colour markings on the springs are also from the previous owner (L + R) and no factory markings. The small tags that you see have some numbers written on it, so i guess they are spring rates. @kats I thought at least you or Alan must also own such a set of microfilms. They are so cool! I still need to scan the other slides. It seems that yours are in better condition than mine. I only checked film 1 so far, and it's not in a plastic bag like the ones you showed. The photos (even in the original dia) have a heavy red-pitch. I hope i can fix that in photoshop, but it will be hard to bring the original colours back nicely. especially since i'm not a specialist 🙂 @RIP260Z Wow, those turned out really nice. I guess you had all the yellow parts cleaned and re-plated? May i ask you how you cleaned the cast housing parts? Any special technicue or fluid? Blasting or Ultrasonic cleaner? I have a set which seems to have been blasted at some point and you can clearly see that it created rough surfaces in some areas. I have a "rattling" machine with some soft abrasives. so that might be an idea to give it a try. The state of yours look pretty similar than mine.

Today I was able to pick up the long-awaited sea-freight shipment from Japan with some parts I bought as long ago as June last year. I almost forgot what I bought back then, so I was excited to see what i got. The shipment originally included parts which were not for myself, so when the shipment was ready to be loaded on the boat, and then these items popped up for a good price, i just bought them blindly to use the opportunity of almost free shipping. This set is what i think an original Nissan factory adjustable suspension. I still have to check the numbers and all the details. But ut looks like it could be an original nissan set. The other (rear suspension) set looks like a reworked original strut. It has some Nissan stamps on it and obviously got repainted at some point, but it was quite cheap and looked close to factory (not like these modern designs), and it came with multiple boxes of what appears to be original Nissan suspension parts, so I added it to my delivery. The third item was a real win. a set of genuine Mikuni JP PHH44 Carbs. The price was very low, because it looks really rough. But if you studied the details thoroughly, you would see the inside is in pretty damn good shape. All the original parts are included, and the plating is still nice on most parts. And it came with an old school heat shield (not sure if original Nissan) plus a set of two modern style heat shields. Both still unused. The price was a real bargain for what you pay for those these days. And it seems to my untrained eye, that all it needs is cleanup and set of fresh gaskets. but we'll see.. Not from Japan but also delivered today was this used DiaFilm scanner which I bought online recently. So I gave it a try to scan those first original Nissan Maintenance training slides, which I bought recently I still need to figure out that colour correction and other stuff, but the first results are promising. and those slides are really, really cool! My goal is to digitalize them all.

Recently, I went Datsun NOS parts hunting again. Well Sort of. I found a bit of a cryptic Ad online about a guy who was trying to sell a complete Lot of old Datsun spare parts inventory from the 70ies and 80ies. After finally getting in touch with the seller, I realized it's quite a bit of a ride for me to get there, so I asked my Man Cagedude (who is always looking for such kind of lot's to buy) to pay a visit, as he lives much closer. Fast-forward a few days and here we are, with a complete bus full of NOS parts in his possession. Naturally, I had to check out the parts and see if there was anything useful for me (Luckily, Z-parts are pre-reserved for me). But yeah, it will take some time until we (he) have checked out all the part numbers and figured out which cars they belong to. Nevertheless, if we are lucky, some parts might be very valuable. Like these (possibly) brass synchro gears: So far the findings were limited, but i didn't go home without anything. He had a Z clutch cylinder waiting for me since a while I also got this Choro-Q toy car as a gift from his last trip to Japan. These usually are installed on top of the BOSS brand coffee cans, so i had to put it back there to the can i have in my workshop. Perfect 🙂 And then there was this early European Service manual with the early 5-speed A-type FS5C71A transmission: Another reason i wanted to visit him is to check out his collection of amazing cars: First, his original Swiss four door Hakosuka C10 Skyline 2000 GT Then his Portugal spec four-door Yonmary C110 Skyline 2400K-GT Then, there is another European spec 2000GT four-door Customer Hakosuka in the workshop. And last but not least his S14 Silvia, which is buing built up from ground, after the original car got completely drowned in the garage during a flood. This is only a small fraction. There were customer cars being converted to partial tube-frame chassis, his RX-7 FC drift machine, and another S14 chassis waiting to be converted to a shop show car in some future. Thanks for the Hospitality, mate and thanks for checking out the parts. I hope to see you soon again!

Today i got something very special, which i found in the USA: A box with "Maintenance of the Datsun 240Z Sports" Service slide films. Let me explain: The Box contains 7 small, numbered plastic cans. Each can has a dia film of colour photos (aka "Slides"). The booklet was Printed in November 1969. So it is from the very beginning of the 240Z. Additionally, there is a booklet which is called "Slide narration" the booklet contains the text to each slide. My understanding is that this was used to train workshop employees. Whoever trained them got a bunch of coloured slides which show how to maintain the 240Z in a workshop, and a book which shows what to mention for each slide. The purpose of the whole kit is also mentioned in the foreword on the first page of the booklet: I have never seen such a box before and think it's quite cool. It's basically a Service manual in colour photos. Some photos appear to be actually the same as in the black-and-white printed Factory Service manual. There are some awesome photos of Nissan works employees working on the cars. I still have to read it all and look through the photos. There are also many graphics and drawings shown, which I have never seen before, and most probably were made specifically for training purposes. I'm already looking for a dia scanner to digitalize them all and if I find time, I will share some of them with you. More updates in the coming days. I have planned some work and there is a sea-freight crate from Japan waiting for me to be picked up.

So, Over the last few days i got a few nice parts again. First a set of Nissan 50th anniversary badges in black: I always had a red and blue one but the black one was missing. now my set is complete and i got a few black ones for spare too 🙂 Then i got some Parts from S30.world. The first item is the Handbrake cable including all installation hadware. Just look at all the details. it's as close as it can get to the OEM part. including all the little hardware details! The Second set was the fuel tank installation hardware straps including the rubber insulation pieces. the rubber blocks for the fuel tank and the installation hardware. Again excellent quality parts down to the smallest detail. This should allow me to install the S30.world reproduction fuel tank on my test-assembly soon. Thanks again Chris for those awesome parts. Make sure to check out their ever-growing lineup of parts on the S30.world shop:

Recently i acquired two pieces of Nissan sports option aka Datsun Competition aka the Triple Mikuni carb heat shields from Japan. One was in a good, used condition. the other one seemed to be restored on the first sight. But after i received it and inspected it closer, i quickly realized that they just sprayed it with some silver paint that came off upon touching it. After looking at it again, i also saw that it was not straight and had a few cheap weld repairs. Here is the "good" side, which only needed a bit of flattening with the hammer (probably from wiggling it off the previous installation): And here is the bad side from the inside You can see the corners and the holes have some weld leftovers and do not look nice: And this is the outside (after i already started to work on it). You can see some rough remaints of the welds: And this is how it all looked after an hour of filing and straightening everything with my recently bought bodyshop hammer and file set: Now it's Much better than before. Everything is straight and the surface even, and the curvatures / holes are round again. After i took the picture i sprayed it with some rust primer, but i will have to have the whole thing resprayed once it's going to be installed. I also finally managed to get the car back on the lift again and hope i find some time during the christmas holidays to get some stuff from my to-do list checked off!

I've been hunting for Datsun parts again recently and found some cool stuff that ended up with me. Yesterday i visited a nice guy. He was one of the two founders of the East switzerland Datsun Z-Club back in the days. I originally went there to pick up this beautiful two-sided Datsun sign: He told me he picked it up from a dealership in Vienna (Austria). It needs a bit of TLC. but it's definitely one of the coolest Datsun signs i have seen, with the multicoloured 3D shape, nice mounting bracket and so on. While there anyway, i bought myself a few other items that he had up for sale. This one is an original FIA approved "Datsun" Racing suit, which was previously owned and used by Guus van der Bol, a dutch racing driver. Through my contacts in NL, it was confirmed by himself, that this was indeed his old suit! How cool is that?! Here is a Photo of him at the 2008 Eifel Rallye (Germany) with his Safari Rallye Tribute Car. From what i undestand the Suit was sold together with the Car, and the Team who bought the car, then sold off the suit. The owner also had a few NOS panels and an Euro spec front bumper in mint shape, so i had to bring it home, As my original front bumpers are either heavily bent or have rusty brackets, So this one will come in handy. And after talking a bit about his past, the Club and the Z-scene in switzerland, he gifted me some stickers from the old (now defunct) Datsun east-switzerland Fairlady-Z club, and a medal, which they had made for attendees of a Z-meeting which they organized in (i think) 1986. Quite cool, and goes well with my collection of other vintage swiss z-club stickers and memorabilia: Then there is this guy who always offers me a bit of a "mixed bag" of small parts. There is usually a lot of crap with it, but then you can never have too many small bits and pieces. At some point it's always handy to have this "scrap box" full of random parts. Not all the items are usually from the S30 generation Z (he used to brake down and refurbish all kind of early Z-cars), so you have to be careful to not misunderstand the parts. But then these lots usually come with a few very hard-to-find items which have saved a "quick job" more than once and usually the lots also includes a few NOS parts, which make up for the price. The Majority of the items are NOS or near-new / excellent refurbished (replated) condition. Some are in less-good shape, tbh. But it's also good to have a reference or trial-piece on hand. After all it's always fun to puzzle around with these bits and pieces and figure out where they belong too. I don't know all of them, but meanwhile i'd say i can tell pretty quickly which part goes on which area of the car. Then i got this fuel pump bracket (more on that soon). Which i had to test-fit on the car directly. Not bolts are only temporary for testing (ie not correct ones). But i have to say - it looks damn good!. Expect a lenghty Tech-post about electric fuel pumps on this website soon. That's it for now. By the end of the month, a nice pallette full of goodies should arrive here from Japan and i hope during christmas-holidays i find some time to work on the car again.

I'm doing a full "nut and Bolt" / "Bare shell" restauration, so why not "improve" a few points here and there? I'm not sure how useful it is at the end but it will be nice and fun nontheless 🙂

No, not really, why?

Recently i started researching a bit into the 240Z / fairlady Z fuel system topic and decided to write a knowledge post about some details. For that i found this "240Z / 260Z Fuel system "Modificaiton plus" book very useful. I know it's widely available online in digital form, but i found a cheap printed copy, so i decided to get it for my archives: The book is about a special "V-3 modification" programme that was executed in the US of A in the mid 70ies. Along with this i also ordered some NOS parts from nissan (mechanical fuel pump block-off plate / gasket / bolts) for a little project which you've going to see more about here very soon.

Damn, you have good eyes 🙂 Haha, yeah i didn't have any high expectations either. But the fact that it was officially Nissan approved made me have some hope that it's maybe better than some of the other books. Nevertheless. it will end up in my "junk" section of Z-books (which is the Majority of those books, tbh). Funny enough Flo asked the guys at Nissan germany for some press info regarding the Z and got some clearly wrongly-labelled photos from their archives). I guess this book was proof read (or not) by Nissan USA and hot any historian at NMC in JP. I keep buying and reading these books for fun's sake, but always take them with a big pinch of salt.

Over the past weeks i collected a bunch of S30 related books again which were missing in my collection. Let's ahve a look at them from top left to bottom right. 1. The japanese "gods of Fairlady Z" magazine, which covers all kind of special Japanese Fairlady Z cars. My favourite part was the LY engine details. 2. Japanese "Racing on" Mook (Magazine book) edition 504, which covers the Nissan Z cars in race and rallye sports back in the day and shows the car and some of the details. there's also an interview with racing legends like Pete brock among others. 3. the Datsun USA Collision estimating book. It's not Z-specific but covers many Datsun models, including the S30 and S130 chassis. It's basically a price list of parts that had to be commonly replaced after a collision / Damage and given to workshop and insurrances, so they can calculate the cost of repair. 4. Umm yeah. the next is the Nissan 50th anniversary Nissan Z book.Probably one of the later books about the Z. Obviously it covers all versions from the beginning. Iti ncludes a foreword by Hitoshi Uemura, and is nicely designed. I still have to read it in-depth. but so far it doesn't look like you find a lot of relevant history in there, but just an overview of all models, special versions and some background info. That doesn't mean it's any bad either. 5. A similar book is this one from Japan. An official Nissan licensed 50th anniversary Fairlady Z book, by Yutaka katamyama and Yoshihiko Matsuo. I still have to go through it but i looks very nice. This one is also available in a non limited edition. The one i got comes with a printed Signature Card by Mr. K and a hand signed card by Matsuo. Also it comes in a nice hardcover and cardboard box sleeve. it's limited to 300 pieces so i'm happy i found one at a reasonable price. Also thanks to my buddy Stefan who sent me a picture of this from Japan! 6) Speaking of nice japanese cardboard-covered books. I alrady had the fairlady I and fairlady II books, but part three (the ZX sensation) was always missing. Since they're not S30 related i never wanted to spend a lot of money on it. But somehow i always had the feeling i should complete the three-book set. So when i recently stumbled across one of those for a good price, i had to get it. 7. Oh and then i got some nice Kameari catalogues (sorry, all are gone already) from Japan: 8. And i found another vintage Datsun switzerland sticker, which i had to get for my collection 🙂 That's it. I hope for some work on the car again soon.

Hey Alan, it was definitely great to see you again too! Thanks for your offer. I'm currently in touch with a local guy who might have a NOS Panel, but if not i'm happily coming back to you. Thanks a lot!

During my recent work at the front fender areas, i realized that the corner where the headlight buckets go on the driver side must have had a hit at some point and the panel was slightly bent backwards: I started to enjoy bearing metal panels with a hammer recently, so i got myself a proper hammer and dolly and started to hammer it straight. Worked out pretty well and i'm happy i didn't have to pay a bodyshop for another 30minutes of work. While doing bodywork anyway, i thought it's time to test-fit the rear bumper. I didn't want to mess up my NOS bumper mounts (i'll save them for the final assembly). I realized that my old ones were pretty messed up. A bit of hammering and bending and things started to look usable Then i recut the threads because the bolts wouldn't fit with the thic coat of primer that ended up in the holes: And last but not least i put some rust-converter on the straightened brackets and installed them on the rear. But i forgot to take photos of that. Then i got a bunch of panels in questionable condition from germany. What is special about those front lower valances you ask? Three of them are specific for European spec cars, with the additional mounting points for the euro-spec front spoiler: Here you can see them with my (very wobbly) front lip: I once had a NOS one, but it seems i sold it a while ago (back then i thought i'd go for the xenon front bumper anyway). and now i hate myself for it. Luckily one of the corner valances seemed to be half-NOS. It still had the original protective black primer and sticker on it, but it also had a bit of rust and remaints of a front bumper that was once attached to it. BTW: those EU-spec corner valances have a closed hole for the turn signals (we got the ones mounted on top of the front bumper) and again holes at the bottom for the front lip: Well. it took me a few minutes to get those rusty old bolts out, but now i have again a complete (albait the center part is not very fresh) set of EU-spec lower valances. Oh and a sea-freight pallette with some nice parts left the Port in Japan last week. so i hope in a few weeks i can show you some nice parts... And then, recently i iwas at a very nice S30 related event in the netherlands (more about that very soon). And there i got some nice gifts. Read more about it here: https://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2024-10-26/240z-some-gifts-from-the-netherlands/

Recently i found that a seller in Japan was selling three of the Sports option / Competition / NISMO heat shields for the Mikuni triple carbs. which is there to prevent heat from the exhaust manifold going to the carbs / intake. The price was super fair and they seemed to be without corrosion, so i bought two of them just to be on the safe side: The thing with blind online-buy's is you never really know what you get. In this case they looked good. the silver one had been welded previously, but nothing that can't be cleaned. The strange thing was however as soon as i touched it, i had silver paint on my fingers. It seems it was just a rattle-can fix done previously. Nevertheless, they're still both in very usable shape and nothing a bit of cleaning and plating / painting can't fix. I currently have a set of triple Mikuni 40PHH's in stock for th eproject, but i have also a set of 44's in Japan waiting to be shipped with some other parts. so even though it all needs some work, at least i have a complete set now in very restorable condition and that all for a really fair price despite what things are going for today. Here's an exceprt from the japanese sports option catalogue showing the heat shield and the two part numbrs. Not sure what the cover is though. prably just some kind of insulating pad that went on the shield? after looking closer to mine, it seems like they have a cracked additional pad layer on it. Will need to figure this out in detail.

Found another hour to work on my car. and one thing on the to-do list was the rubber mud flaps that are installed inside the fender in below the metal mud guards. Another little detail that is missing on many cars, as they have been simply removed and not replaced on many cars over the year: Here we go: On the LH fender (Similar to the RH one). some previous owner "cleaned" the Fender emblem holes. which was a common practice back then. On the RH side i tried to drill the holes based on some measures i had previously made, but it proved to be not 100% perfect. so this time i decided to use the color stencil method by getting the approximate position marked on the fender by measures. And thenn getting the 100% correct spacing by adding oil color paint to the pins and then pressing it to the fender, like a stencil. here's the result (ignore the old marking i have made previously, they were quite wrong). After that i got my holes drilled. The 4th hole, which is slightly lower than the three mounting holes, is there from factory, and i believe it's to drain moisture that is cought behind the emblem that's why it's at the lowest point of the emblem. Also rust protection primer added. And here we go. I haven't pushed the emblem in completely, because i'd remove it again immediately. Also i will probably use the european "Datsun" instead of the "Fairlady Z" emblems. Good thing is they use the exactly same holes. Then installed the LH fender back on. the front end work is progressing slowly but steadily: Maybe it's just me, but i think the Z looks so much cooler with the original long stalk Fender mirrors: So overall i was able to tick another few tasks from my bodywork to-do list. still plenty of work, but getting there and it's fun to see some progress.

Yeah. i got a bunch of books again, from vairous sources. The top left (lower one in the next photo) is a french book generally about "heroic" japanese cars from 1960 to 1975 and has it's own chapter about the Z-variants. Nothing new, but nicely written with plenty of photos. My french is quite limited so i don't understand everything, but anyway. i found it for two bucks online, so i had to have it. Same for the upper one in the following picture. A german book about japanese cars from 1912 to 1992, it is less a book about certain cars, but more about Automotive Companies, and the industrial history in general in Japan. and also has a broad section of facts and figures about many, many cars. I still have to read it, but it makes a pretty good impression on the first glimpse. The bottom right is the October 1974 Service bulletin issue 216 "hints in servicing the Nissan Air conditionier. which i will use to update some details in the big S30 Aircon Knowledge post soon, which i released recently. And then i got the Japanese Z-4 Service Bulletin from October 1971, which introduces the HS30 Models and mentions changes of the S30 and PS30 models. Obviously it has some details about the HS30 cars including the G-Nose HS30-H models, but also some other details which are useful for upcoming knowledge posts which i'm working on.

So over the recent days i found some minutes here and there to get some work done. First i had to remove the Fenders To install the Splash guards: (Rubber pieces still need to be installed: At that point i also realized that the bodyshop was nice enough to remove the factory brackets / Spacers between the air channel and fender. They thought since they were missing on the "original" (= not so original) chassis, it needs to be removed. At least they were nice enough to give it to me, so it's easy to weld them back. Next up was the hood locking mechanism: And upper one: Then it was about time to install the fender mirrors. I used the JDM Fairlady Z symetric template from JDM-Car-Parts Drilled the holes Did a super-shady primer job (just temporary rust protection for the new-cut holes: And here we go: A set of NOS JDM Fairlady Z Long stalk fender mirrors installed. At this point i also realized that the area where the headlight bucket is installed on the RH side has a strange bend. probably from a previous hit? Anyway, i'll sort that out next time. I still need to do some details on the fenders before they go back on temporarly, but another few to-do's can now be checked off from my list. What else? Oh i always loved this and finally managed to find a reasonably priced "Datsun Saves" Can, plus an original 80ies Advertizement from a Playboy magazine 🙂 Then got this lovely Motorhead Coffee table book collection it's mainly about 90ies skylines and the tuners like HKS and so on, but covers their story very well back to their beginning I mainly bought it because it also covers the history of Japans oldest Alloy wheel maker (besides RS Watanabe), which is Enkei, who made the OEM wheels on my EK9, and Bride Jp, but also the story behind the OS-Giken TC24B1 and TC16 engines, with some beautiful fotos and History from the factory. Did you know that OS-giken raced the TC24B1 in the USA with Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima (of later Suzuki pikes peak hillclimb fame) at the wheel? I wasn't aware of that and i think that's pretty damn cool. Oh and i'm currently working on a huge knowledge Post about the Z's audio system / radios, so i got an original Hitachi factory operation and service Manual for the AM/FM radio via some friends of mine from back in the days when i repaired those things. Expect an in-depth analysis of the circuit design and loads of details about the Z-specific radios in the coming months. I'm still collecting and researching all the details and i need some time to figure out all those options and details.

The 240Z / S30 Center console is in many cases broken or has been "modified" over the years, but until now there was no good replacement. At least not to my knowledge. JDM-Car-Parts had a limited run of hand made items, but they never reproduced them again. Since all of mine had a certain damage, i was always looking for a good replacement. After having being really happy with the Resurrected Classics front grille, i recently saw they now also released a Center console that fits my 1972 car, so i got myself one. The overall shape and fitment seems very good. i found some smal, hardly noticeable imperfections, but then realized you'll also find those on the OEM center consoles. On the inside they're stlightly different, mainly because the fastening points are made from reinforced, milled plastic bits, rather than small fastener-points, which often brake: They claim that the material and pattern is like OEM, but it's somewhat different. the rear one is the Resurrected Classics one and the front two are OEM. First of all the OEM are full had plastic, while the RC one seems to be some plastic, covered in some kind of vinyl. It feels soft, almost like a modern, slightly padded center console. And as you can see it's pretty glossy, got some kind of blue-ish coloue touch and feels different. The fact that it's probably the only reproduction at the moment, makes it ovciously the best one, but i'm almost sure that soon another manufacturer will come up with a reproduction closer to OEM. However overall i'm pretty happy and it will do for the time being, unless i find an OEM on ein good condition... Oh, and i got some more of those stickers. And the seller added those to the package, which are nice:

I've been shopping again recently and today a lot of packages arrived. First, i found some original "Datsun Genuine Spare parts" stickers in switzerland. I always wanted those, but i never came across them. These seem to be original vintage stickers. as they have some wear marks and the material feels old. also the color is slightly faded on one sticker. Recently i also came across a set of original Datsun color sample charts. Even though not 240Z related, i like to collect those, because they're rare and don't pop up often. I already own some (see here), but these will add to my collection. So new in are charts for the 100A / 120A, 160J / 140J, 260C / 200C, 180B / 160B. Recently i also found a nice set of Nissan "Sports option catalogues" in Japan. I already own a few of those, but the whole lot was a nice find, so i made sure i get them. The Z432-R is specially rare and some of the others were missing. I think my collection is pretty complete now... For those who don't know. These are basically the pre-NISMO era Option / Competition parts offerings from the Factory, back in the day. Some deals take a bit longer, and i've been working to get this lot for quite a few months, but thanks to my man Rob, i finally got the parts today. It's a NOS parts lot, including many rare rubber and plastic parts in good shape. All the small things you don't find very often and are good to have! The lot included: A set of front and rear bumper rubbers: A upper and lower hood lock set, and a set of rear quarter window rubbers Various dust boots, O-rings, a Fuel tank rubber insulator and a Handbrake rod: A set of rear bumper mounts (which i need right now) and the rear strut top covers: And a slightly used but very good condition OEM water pump, which i got for my friend, since he was looking for one: Overall not the largest lot of NOS parts i ever bought, but definitely a quality one! The seller also showed me some photos of a magazine which he recenty acquired. Road Rat no 17. Issue. It's a beautiful coffe table book with stories road trips etc around japanese (car) culture. Nothing Z-related really, but genererally about some japanese collectors cars, great photos and definitely worth a look for those who like high quality images and something to read on a rainy day! It was sold out on the publishers website, but luckily a swiss company still sells them (worldwide) I also got a bunch of excess Datsun 240Z Steering wheel mounts (see here for details😞 And this TechnoVersions diff mount. I don't think i will use it, but a friend ordered some and i made sure i get one just-in-case 🙂 I still have two deliveries pending and one sea-freight pallette in Japan in preparation, so there will be more to show soon. Overall im pretty happy and excited that the parts allow me to work on a few things that were on hold.