hls30.com

Body Kit-Think He means the MSA front and rear bumper/farings and skirts that came out in the 90s?- with a Competition Parts Hood Vent(or copy)-originally made to combat vapor lock-not for racing...you won't find any of those on any of the real documented SCCA Champion race cars from back in the day-Neither Peter Brock nor Bob Sharp had them on their cars... No rear spoiler is pictured, much less "the correct rear spoiler"! That aero bumper kit is not really a body kit...not to mention of the added parts pictured(including the fog lights and the Centerlines), only the hood vent was available "back in the day"-and all of them are available now(the wheels can still be found-but why?)...not so unique as he likes us to think...which means he probably wasn't there, or doesn't actually remember, and hasn't "checked the Records" himself...I won't even get into the automatic, the seats,or the "old School" colors under the hood and on the console....I would want many better(clearer, hi-res pictures-underneath, under the valve cover, and of the carbs. The carbs...Those do look like a set of tripple solex carbs, but I don't remember them having the word Racing on the covers. I know of a set of rebuilt race ready 44mm tripple solexes for around $2k-easily found with google-seems to me this guy lucked into what he has and hopes the potential buyers are not looking around-obviously since he has had them so long they would need a rebuild. Contracts like what he is "requiring" are paper tigers-like threats of law suits-put in there to see if someone is intimidated enough to actually participate in the ruse-if the car moves out of his local area-much less out of state-very few sellers would actually see them through-giving a paper tiger working teeth is pretty expensive-especially to those that are in a position that requires them to sell of their projects to begin with. I think that was more a ploy to add to the perception of value than to enable him to reclaim the carbs after his financial situation is abated.

What you have is a pretty nice replacement! Much closer to the original than any of the generic aftermarket ones!. Even the wood looks close! If I didn't have such a hangup about original parts, I would use one of yours with a reproduction button, and be done with it. For now I would just put some paste wax on the knob-it will bring out the grain more, and actually look finished(wiping it with a damp rag will bring out the grain aswell, but not change its ability to take stain when it dries.) The original finish on the knobs must not have been much more than a wipe with stain-maybe a single coating with an amber or tea stain-I have never found an original with anything left but color-meaning I have never seen one with remnants of worn through finish. Even the NOS one I have feels like bare raw wood-it just looks stained-the new Nissan one obviously has a sealing coating on it to have the shine. The NOS one has the same feel as a clean used one. The new Nissan ones also seem to be a different wood-though it may be a difference in old and new growth. I considered turning new ones-but restoring an original part(when it can be properly restored)-instead of replacing it is one of my hangups-still, yours does look mighty good!

This has been my plan from day1-just as Carl said-cut from one thick piece of Acrylic-just waiting on tiny(I mean seriously small-I believe they are being made specifically for me) router bits to make the corners of the numbers sharp instead of rounded. I want it to look exactly right, not "good enough". If that does not work, I will use my cnc milling machine to mill a mold in some fortal, and cast them. Pocket cutting always gives the inside "corners" of the pockets the radius of the tool used to cut the pocket-instead of a sharp corner-doing the final cuts with a fine diameter tool will lower that radius-hopefully to unnoticeable, but fine milling plastic with such a small bit may not give acceptable results-even with good sized bits plastic likes to melt/burn with high speed tools. In the alternate method I can get as sharp an edge as I want on a corner, while it will still be pocket cutting, the areas that need to be sharp have room for crossing cuts to produce sharp(er) edges. FWIW Will

One of the awards I am going to add is the DIM (Did It Myself) award for interior/exterior/engine for each car with proof the owner did much if not all of the work in at least that one area. Racing has gotten to the point the deepest pockets usually win, and to a great extent car shows too-I think the guy who does his own work should be recognized as well as the guy who can clear a bigger check. I know how hard it is to get the things on my own cars just the way I want them-and I recognize that effort in others. My belief is A passionate person spends Money and serious time on what they are actually passionate about. Chatting with a shop about details and signing a check means you know what you want, not necessarily that you are particularly passionate about it-the same way paying to have the yard taken care of, the house painted, or the daily driver washed. A person who loves cars is different from a person who wants to look like he loves cars. As I said on a thread long ago, a true car guy gets stuff on his hands that has to wear off because he is more passionate about doing something to the car than keeping his hands clean. That "While I am at it" gets more dirt on Car Guys and their clothes...That is not to say there aren't many levels between a car guy and a wanna be or plenty of room for both. I have been amazed by an intake cast by Mr. Cunningham, and several other things in the archives in a good many Z forums-The cars they were made for may, or may not be, show ready, but those owners did what they did for the love of their car. That passion for a Z is what this hobby is all about. Ask Carl Beck about restoring his Rally Z. You will see the smile and the tribulations of that adventure cross his face in sharing it with you. That passion is what the Z hobby is all about. That passion in all cars is what I want celebrated in the car show I will be hosting.

At the end of the day it all comes down to this, did you plan/build your Z for you or for recognition from others? Those of us who built/planned it for our enjoyment are happy with what our Z brings us without a show win-the Z is enough and everything else is great tasting cake-an unexpected surprise! Those who planned/built or bought a Z for recognition, have to get it from others...nothing wrong with either one, just different kinds of people. Getting bent out of shape, or putting too much value in other peoples opinions means your own opinion is not as important to you as it should be-after all, as long as what you are doing is not illegal, immoral, or unethical, the only one who really cares about it and has to be happy with it is you. Back to Car shows: I have been thinking about car shows quite a bit in the last several months-in getting ready to host another one for the local/regional area, and here is what I am currently planning to appeal to/satisfy the greatest number of participants-in order to grow the participation year after year. 1) All Judging procedures will be made available at least a month before the show-and support materials will be fully documented inside-Questions will be addressed openly and answers made public and readily available. Essentially, Cleanliness, Uniformity of Fit, and Uniformity of Finish will rule and rated with easily prepared testing supplies. 2) Every model in attendance within each Marque in attendance will be awarded. Best 240Z, best 260Z, Best 300ZX, Best Best 510, Best S2000, best Edsel, Best Pantera, Best Isodera, etc... 3) One member of Every Marque in attendance will be awarded with a Best Paint, Cleanest Interior, Cleanest Engine Bay, and ultimately Best of Show(Meaning there will Best paint on a Nissan, Best paint on a Toyota, best paint on a F.O. R. D. ) 4) Other awards will be given, but not specifically advertised-best starting point, most promise, best improvement (in the second year) best evidence of great work..... 5) We will use Judges from the local clubs, but they will not judge their own marques, to keep temptation at a minimum, and let them see the best of what other marques have. My thought is it is easier for most people to judge Cleanliness, Uniformity of Fit, and Uniformity of Finish-in what they are not overly familiar with-not the marque specific stuff they are used to seeing-it is too easy for many people to see what they want instead of what is when they look at something they see with great regularity. I also believe more, and meaningful awards mean more satisfaction to the entrants at the show, and the point is to further the hobby as a whole and not the collection of a trophy whore.

Look at the car show you are considering. Who are the organizers, and are they active participants in more than one Marque/nationality...that will tell you a lot about the results of a show before you enter it. Many larger communities have Car Club Consortiums that bring the leaders-if not the members-of the local car clubs together for a meeting once a month, and allow the clubs to share a common calendar, and pool resources for major events-I set that up for COastal Z Club several years ago and it allows members of clubs that might not actually interact to have that opportunity on neutral ground, Leading up to the Zcon 2011, I exchanged several emails with the President of a local Ferrari Cub, and attended their concours as his guest, subsequently he asked me to help him find a 240Z, and he bought one. He came to our convention as well, and was seriously impressed with the entries in our car show-Both Ferrari and Porsche had their show on the Grass in the heat! I saw similar things with Carl Becks Rally Z, #300, at the Amelia Island Concours, and at the Hilton Head Concours-some people openly embrace Zs, and some don't. As to winning a car show... In most that do not have an available judging guide Bling in King-and will hide lost of wizz poor details. If there is a judging guide get it and use it for all it is worth. I had one local Z owner tell me a car show "isn't about the little stuff it is about the big picture, make it eye-catching, and different-the details will get lost in the gloss" This guy has a 240Z that is exactly that-He would not bring it to Zcon, and after four years of inviting him to the local club meetings, I know he knows his opinion would not be true there. But at every open show he enters, he wins-more often than not multiple awards. His car is a beautiful color, his car is as mechanically perfect as it can be, he has lots of gloss, and chrome and polish, but he also has many body and paint flaws, overspray under the hood, and fit and finish issues scattered throughout the car...but as he knows, in the bright sunshine, details get lost in the gloss! I'll add some pictures of his car in the next couple of days.

I use to use NGKs and paint them with silicone paint-you can mix any color you want, even black! Before I found the paint I would cover them with split silicone tubing-using RTV(silicone adhesive) to keep the covers on. NGKs are inexpensive and work well-very tought to beat for a stock or close Z. Currently use Red Magnacores but I paint them black. Given the same set of NGK plugs, the Magnecore wires allow more to go through the drive train, in a modified car even more so, but they are expensive-though they do not degrade, and you will never need to replace them-unless you take the car to a shop for a tune up and they don't know any better.

Hold on~! Just because I live in Georgia and I have many pictures of a Red '73 with black interior does not mean I am automatically a Georgia Fan. I know far more about these shift knobs than I do about Georgia Football-I know more about UGA the bulldog than I know about Georgia Football-though I do know the Jekyll Island Club is hosting a dinner with Vince Dooley this weekend-you see Ga/FL weekend interferes with celebrating my wedding anniversary in the way that I would like!

OJ, ..."Almost identical"...is that really the way you see these: Two knobs, one is an OEM early S30 5speed knob that is in a bit better shape than the one the OP pictured, and the other is the aftermarket one in the ebay ad...These really look almost identical to you? Admittedly the ebay ad is described as a walnut, but can you make out any of the grain in that seriously painted up dark shiny black knob? Even in the OPs picture you can clearly see the grain of the wood. Then lets look at the underside engraved black and white painted OEM emblem vs the Enameled Black, black red and chrome one on the ebay ad...Really, almost Identical... I gotta say I don't consider them even close! I would never have considered an oem wood and embossed plastic clear, black, and white knob to be almost identical to that shiny "walnut" knob-devoid of any hint of grain with a metal chrome-plated knob highlighted with Black, Red. From many detailed things you have posted, I am very surprised that you would call these "almost identical". I would call them both 5 shift knobs with an 8mm threaded insert, but to my eye they are about as far apart as MG V8 and an LS1;), You don't see those as identical do you? I see them as I see these shift knobs, similar but no where close to almost identical. BTW if a buyer didn't know it wasn't an original shift knob and they received a good looking new shift knob would they wait until they discovered that the Shift knob was not original to a Z to leave feedback? Good feedback does not necessarily mean a seller is honest, only that the buyer may not know better.

And, Most Importantly, NOT an ORIGINAL Z PART! Not in my Z ever! That ad is a great example of an one written to confuse the uninformed by a seller with has a long and documented history of changing his business/ebay name and playing with descriptions to make them ambiguous so as to muddy the truth they hold. That may well be a "NEW NOS" Datsun Shift knob, but it is not one that Nissan ever put in a Z!

I would put in a wet bay with a water heater, a dissolved solids filter, a full curtain and dedicated drainage, and seriously consider a downdraft solvent station.

Heat up the Shift lever, not the Knob!

I believe Your quickest answer will be to visit Auto Recycling of Wilmington Open Monday - Friday: 8am - 5pm and Saturday: 8am - 3pm Phone: (310) 834.7583 418 E. Anaheim st. Wilmington, CA 90744 According to Car-parts .com they have a complete Rear Suspension for a 260Z-which shares all of your needed fasteners. One stop shopping for OEM Parts with a refresher on what goes where! Take A bucket(with a top) with some sand, gravel, and Mineral Spirits in it to drop the fasteners in and the most of crud will be worked off from action of the drive home... I wouldn't even take inventory for what the yard will likely charge you for a bucket of bolts...Get them all and pick the best of what you had/ have at reassembly time. Will

I knew there were some bad knockoffs out there-wait-is that a 260Z Radio...

I am not sure of what knob you want a picture of. The picture I posted above show the oem 280Z 4 and five speed knobs with metal emblems-the actual knobs are cast plastic with a metal threaded insert, the 240Z Knobs are wood-I have never explored the genus or species- but the wood and turning is the same between the four and the five speed. The Four speed does have a bolder font/pattern than the five speed variety. Here is a picture of all of them-the picture is dark, From the side they are much lighter in color-almost a honey color(more tan than yellow) when new. There is one of the new Nissan replacement parts in the picture-the large diameter knob with the unscathed 4 speed emblem.

You do know that pattern was not offered on the Z as it was sold? Several sellers/vendors "conglomerate facts" to fit their parts-Using Nissan replacement parts that happen to fit, but were never actually used on the Z-and include verbage to make you think they were-usually they also include the model that the part actually came on and lump it with Z models to distort the actual truth of the ad, but add an element of truth as an out if called on the entire statement as a bold faced fabrication: It may well be true a particulate shift knob was original to a Nissan Sunny, but it is equally true that same knob was never original to a Z car. Several Ebay sellers/Vendors also play games using NOS and OEM. While a part may be both NOS and OEM, they may be neither relative to a Z. Despite the background in one of the linked vendor-offered ebay shift knobs, the part pictured was never a Z part though it might well be NOS and OEM to something other than a Z. Another ebay seller specializing in Z parts offers a NOS OEM Gas cap from a BMW as "a Must for your restoration" knowing his cap is NOT a Nissan/Datsun, let alone a Z part! Let an original Parts Catalog/microfiche be your guide-not a seller/vendor with more to gain from your buying in to their blurb. Sometimes a seller accepts verbage from a questionable vendor as fact and unknowingly perpetuated the misinformation. Vendors who really want to sell the right parts will always be either a Nissan Dealer, or list the complete, correct, and verifiable part number for what they are selling-but don't make the mistake of thinking just because they posted a part number-or partial part number it is the right one for the part they are selling. The patterns I pictured plus a 5 speed version with concentric circles are the only ones original to the 240Z 260Z and 280Z-though the concentric circle versions were also available in reverse painted plastic as well-the painted plastic variety are the ones I am working on.

Carl, I agree with you about the emblems and the preference of 5 speed emblem, I am working on both as original to the 240Z. On getting the the metal shift emblems made-I have some samples I could photograph/measure/loan if needed. The following is just a quick reference photo for what I have in metal. Ps I didn't comment on the links to the ebay fodder because every Z deserves better than any of those...

Still waiting on my tooling, but getting excited about the plan! When I get everything sorted out, I'll post pics side by side with the new Nissan version and my original versions. Personally I would rather have restored original parts than new parts that may fit but have lost much in the consolidation of part numbers the resultant loss of manufacturing to original specs. If any of you have knobs with good wood(the condition of plastic pieces do not matter at all), I need several to test with and photograph...we can work something out, PM me.

Several companies re-silver, the most economical way is to send several sets of glass in at a time-otherwise the minimum charge skews the price dramatically. The last sets I had done were around $35/ea resilvered, coated, and the edges sealed. If I can't keep it below $40, I will start doing it myself. a few companies actually restore the entire mirror in leu of simply re-silvering the glass-$200 plus. The PDF here is not the final version I made, I will will hunt it down in the next couple of days and post it, or make a new one-I have been saving up red dots to restore, and I have several later mirrors that could benefit as well. Dealing with a worn socket is not a serious task...I will add that to the next PDF.

I'm in this too-from an entirely different angle. With any luck the last of my tooling will be be here next week, with samples to show against originals the following week.

It was the Jay Leno channeling GoertZ that got me..." if it comes out looking anything like this I should be getting a royalty check, right?"

After doing all of the typical things in other Zs and having rust in that area come back, I drilled the spot welds to remove the tray, replaced the underlying metal and welded it back in-not difficult, no real muss or fuss, and more importantly I touched it once and was through. I did use POR15 products to seal the replaced/repairied metal. There are only a few spotwelds...after I figured that out it just didn't make sense to "try" to take care of it-so I actually took care of it.

Most "component" Tweeters will fit-I tried that location(behind the vent so the tweeters were not visible) a couple of times with parts cut from Coaxial sets way back when, and actually had better sound strap-mounting them to the front of the seat mount aimed up at the dash-the eyeball location is not conducive to good dispersion left to right-meaning the left you can hear but the right you really can't. Putting a tweeter in each lower corner of the windshield(a few inches out-aimed into the glass works very well too-many tweeters come with beezel for above panel mountng-and running tab under the windshield garnish keeps them in place through high speed manouvers...That was the best sounding answer I came up with...for tweeters. a few quick passes over the beezel and screen with SEM Landau Black goes a long way to make the additions less noticeable.

The molds are easy-they are no problem-The resins they use all(even the water clear chalks up, it gradually grays but did not yellow in my testing) suffer badly from UV damage. Between yellowing and chalking up with prolonged exterior use. I tried all of the readily available resins from 11 manufacturers(not re-marketers)-not one made it through one Savannah summer unscathed-for a trailer queen that sees sunlight only on rare occasion, or for parts that are swapped in for shows and swapped out afterward those are good answers, for a driver their long term stability leaves much to be desired. There is a reason most current replacement headlight covers can be had for $50 a pair or so-they are considered disposable because of their materials, three years and they are having undeniable issues and that is with the high grade stuff Manufacturers use-the stuff available to us is not nearly as good. My though in not producing them was that people would expect a longer life from an expensive new set of lights-I know I would. Will

Misunderstood your answer to my post...I deleted what I said as you got the picture I thought your were ignoring...my apologies.