SpeedRoo

Even worse cleaning the wheels on my V8 Vantage, at least they were dark green and didn't show the dirt as much!

Had the Epsilons on my "JPS" World Championship Edition Lotus Esprit, bugger to keep clean! I ended up putting the original Speedlines back on.

Wow you have been busy, you did all this in one day!

Great to see another "Z" getting your treatment. Can't wait to discover what you have planned for this one.

Impressive Mike, Chat GPT even got the influence of the E-Type correct!😁

And from Peter Lyon writing for Forbes: "Critics argued it borrowed styling hints from the E-Type, 911 and Daytona" To quote Peter's bio: " I am former co-chairman of the World Car Awards and a juror for the Japan Car of the Year and International Engine of the Year."

From Supercar Nostalgia: https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/nissan-s30-fairlady-z-datsun-240z "Styling-wise, the Z was unapologetically inspired by the Jaguar E-type, a car that Enzo Ferrari had famously described as the most beautiful in the world." Obviously there are more people with eye problems than I thought!

From the April 1970 issue of Road and Track magazine: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10273163/first-drive-datsun-240z/ I quote: "Since the styling of the 240Z is the first thing you see (and probably the most important factor in what we think will be a tremendous penetration into the GT market), we’ll begin with the body lines. There are several obvious influences on the 240Z, among them the Jaguar E-Type coupe, the Toyota 2000 GT, the Porsche 911 series and even the Ferrari 275 GTB. In a Nissan-produced movie that we saw recently on the development of the 240Z, the exterior forms and seating packages of all the contemporary GT cars were carefully evaluated and compared to the forms that Nissan was considering (using R&T’s own Road Test data panel drawings, we were pleased to note). The Jaguar was the one getting the most attention from the Nissan stylists and engineers; this is not surprising, because the E-Type opened up a market all its own nine years ago and the 240Z could do worse than be a $3500 equivalent with the proportionately higher sales potential. Regardless of its influences, the 240Z is a very good design: clean, crisp and contemporary if perhaps sitting a bit high on its wheels."

Back to your usual practice of insulting someone that doesn't agree with your point of view. You really are a very special person!

I always enjoy Jay's videos, he's a passionate car loving entertainer that knows his market. I enjoyed the video and he did a good job of targeting it to his main market, the USA. Glad to see he has recovered from the fuel burns to his face. I look forward to catching up with him at Monterey for the historic races each August, he's invariably good for an entertaining chat. I always thought the 240Z had an "E-Type" like front end and the rear haunches styling of an "Aston Martin". All good designers looked at the trends of the day and responded accordingly, as did the Japanese when they created the "Z".

Have the block soaking in Evaporust for a few days, dissolving any rust left inside the water jacket after pressure washing. Stripped the block of any old paint so back to bare cast iron. Have all the pieces ready for the rebuild including Nissan/Made in Japan bearings, NOS Japanese made gasket set. All the nuts and bolts off the engine have been cleaned/derusted/wire brushed and replated ready for refitting. Just need to soda blast the alloy front cover, cylinder head and cam cover. The 4 screw carbs have been stripped and put through the ultrasonic cleaner ready for reassembly with replated fittings. Can't wait to see what it looks like reassembled. Meanwhile the gearbox is getting new seals and a good cleaning.

Engine build coming along nicely, painting the block this week in Nissan blue. Managed to pick up a couple of early 240z radiators to be recored. Also found a original steering wheel. Should have the engine in by Spring ready for a shakedown.

Also the pigments used in the paint back then are no longer available and the chemical composition of the paint has also changed from solvent to water based. Only way you will get close is to mix paint to match the underside of the tool box lid and use a single stage process without clear coat. Another problem with be matching the size of the metallic used in the original paint.

Give these guys a try, if they don't have it in stock they can make it. http://www.nostalgic-grains.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=20&product_id=133

@hiyabrad have put you in the database for 1 set of 1969 and 1 set of 1970.

Just an update on the reproduction Yazaki plug leads, Thanks to Mike @zspert and @CanTechZexcellent drawings, along with a set of NOS 1971 Yazaki coil leads from Kuwait of all places, I have finished up the CAD drawings and produced some rubber pieces for testing of fit and function. In the meantime I'm sourcing the correct 7mm carbon core leads. I'll be trialing a set on my 1970 240Z this week before I screen print the original markings onto the leads in yellow as originally done. The plan is to offer a limited run of 1969 and 1970 sets initially, both those years used the same rubber connector boots and yellow markings. Once I've sourced one of the angled boots for #6 lead on the 1971, 1972 and 1973 240Z I'll offer those as well which have the white markings. Apologies for taking so long to get this sorted but sourcing original parts to replicate was the main stumbling block. Initial cost estimate is around USD$250 for a set of reproduction leads. They will be made here in the USA not outsourced to China! Interested owners so far include @hiyabrad @Zup @VaCat33 @26th-Z @240dkw @inline6 Feel free to add any comments.

Thanks @inline6 black it is.

White ChriZmas here in Oregon for all Z big and small. Enjoy the season!

Picked up a load of bits off a smashed up 1970 240Z. Complete steering column and early steering wheel with horn button. Early ashtray, had a broken main body but good lid. Combined it with one I had that had a good body but damaged lid so I have a complete unbroken one. Fitted the light switch, indicator switch and steering wheel today. The horn button had a crack in the plastic locating ring, but fixed it easily using some amazing JB Weld blue light activated instant glue (amazing stuff). Also got an early radio antenna with the pointy tip. Slowly returning the 240Z to original spec.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294547413490?hash=item449464d9f2:g:GZQAAOSwNzVhkMkD

@inline6 there's a chap over in Kuwait selling off a load of NOS keys and locks. Would it make sense to get an original and reset your wafers on your locks to match the keys. Here's a picture of some of the stuff they have.

Good engineering practice to put a paint mark on any nut/bolt that has been torqued to spec. Indicates the task has been completed. Also provides a visual aid to show if the nut/bolt has backed off or been tampered with. Takes time to do and as they made more Z cars in greater quantities, they used the practice less and less and just did it in a few locations.

@kats I think I have worked out the date codes for the glass. If you look carefully the small dots "." are placed differently for the date. On "01606", a Jan 1970 that was on BAT there are three dots, one after Temperlite, just in front of ASAHI, under the "I" in ASAHI. They signify Dec 1969. On the 1973 Green 240Z currently on BAT you can see the dots are in a different position to "01606"

Thanks @CanTechZ, I had looked at the thread carefully. My question was when did they stop the practice as the 1973 car doesn't have them and neither does the 2,500 mile 280Z 2+2.

After the auction of the BAT 01606 Jan 1970 240Z lots of questions were left unanswered on what is original and what's not on our cars. @zed2made the suggestion of setting up a panel of experts to answer questions and give feedback on originality. I wanted to get the ball rolling. One of the things I noticed is that the Green $310k 04684 May 1970 still had inspection marks on the nuts and bolts, even after 21k miles of use. The 14,000 mile 1973 240Z 160805 now on BAT doesn't have any yellow inspection marks. Question for the eZsperts is when did Nissan stop the practice of using the bright yellow paint inspection marks?