26th-Z

Jerry, Start with a web search on chrome plating and read up on the subject. Then contact a few different platers and discuss your project and their services including pricing. Most platers won't quote you over the phone. A leap of faith is probably going to be involved. But read up on the process and the different types of services you can find. Discuss in full the type of work you think you will need and what your expectations are. Then decide who to deal with. There is cheap, thin plating like Nissan provided, and there is thick lucious chrome plating for museum pieces. I found a place in Alabama I will probably use. I know there is a drop dead fantastic place up around Philidelphia, but they were the priciest I found. Most plating shops will strip, weld, fill and grind. (edit) Sorry, I had to loose an eBay auction while I was writing this. :mad: The chrome plating that Nissan used is very thin and the base metals are thin. That is why they rust. Most chrome shops are going to provide a better result. As they say; "It's all in the prep work". And finally, I think it is still cheaper to buy new bumpers than to have them re-chromed. Rubber is getting harder and harder to find. I imagine someone will start making repro rubber soon.

All the time. Don't let them fool you into thinking that everything you can look up is available. What you do is order, give them your credit card number, and they bill you for what they ship you. Quite often they e-mail confirm the order prior to shipping and billing

Alan, You are absolutely right. And, looking back, I noticed I said the same thing. It's the "race-on-Sunday / Sell-on-Monday" American way of looking at things. Like NASCAR fans actually think there are Chevrolets racing out there! It's simply the American way of expression and no harm is meant. To us, the Fairlady is the 350 because that's what we can identify with. Porsche, BMW and Mercedes people have the same problem. Incidently, the NASCAR engineers and designers spend most of their time out of the country talking to European and Japanese teams about the latest technology. Few Americans realize that.

Yes perhaps, Vicky. Check this JGTC link http://www.jgtcusa.net/jgtc_origins.html The California event was more of a demonstration of how much fun they are having over in Japan. The top 25 cars from the series were invited as well as some American entrants. The race was 200km? I think and this car won in the GT 500 class. It is a Type Z33, 3 liter, twin turbo DOHC 24 valve developing 465+ HP at 5600 rpm (ie. "rocket ship"). Toshihiro Kaneishi and Erik Comas drove the car. The Xanavi Fairlady Z won the championship in the GT 500 class. I love that picture with Ron Carter's car; "A pair of champions"!

Yes it does remind me of IMSA, and that's exactly why I like it so much. Rock'm - sock'm - let's race action and spectacle extrodinaire. Money is no object / talent prevails, and may the best effort win. You all check out that link I posted a few threads up and make sure to catch the Umbrella Girls in the photo galleries. It is all part of the show.

Here are a couple of early photographs I have from the archives. The early poilce cars were indeed 432s. Hope this helps. Why deosn't someone build a replica?

Hello Jerry! Sorry to jump in on this thread so late, but I made it!!! Welcome to the club and thanks for posting your car (s). Pretty cool, huh everyone? Her Majesty the 29th is a racer!!! Jerry, there are a few fellows here who are well versed in the competition parts subjects and you will find quite a bit of information in the archives. Mr. W?? You make me smile HLS30-H!!!!

I want to thank Ben for posting his pictures and express my envy. I hope you didn't have too much fun, Ben!!! The JGTC series has been a great success and I have been following it all year. How I wish I could have attended at least one race. Ron Carter's car is absolutely superb and the photos with the 350Z are beyond exclamation. WOW!!! What a great photo! Many thanks to everyone. You have given me a smile.

You can actually use the vise and socket method to press out the U-joint cup by placing the drift for one cup in one side of the jaw and big spacer over the shaft flange on the other jaw. Closing the vise will press out the cup to the spacer side. This avoids the mistakes associated with beating things with a hammer, like bruised fingers and broken flanges.

I saw these the other day. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4512710030&category=34206&sspagename=WDVW

Roadworthy !?!??? Err yea, I guess Princess 27 is more roadwothy...she rolls. Down hill. My avatar is Her Majesty, buck-arse naked, at the dipping spa. I'll be pleased to change avatars when she is without paint and rust. You guys can save the picture to your porn files. Any specific position you prefer? 26 also has what would be a running engine and transmission. They are pretty much finished and ready to bolt back in the car. Princess 27 is resting in a tent in my back yard along with a ton of body parts and spare stuff. It sure is nice to have people on this site with S30 models seriously uncommon to American shores. I admire the G-nose and always look forward to seeing a car so equipped. I know of several beautiful "reproductions" and must say that if I wasn't in the low serial number game, I would either build a G-nose repro or import a real one.

I think I have a better "pig" that will cost much more to restore. Actually, Princess 27 is very beautiful and descends from royalty, but the guy who writes that article doesn't recognize sentimental value.

Lets welcome JLPurcell to the club. Start a new post, JL, and tell us about your cars.

Hey! There you are, JL. My avatar photo was taken about a month ago - October 2004. As you can see, 26 is a stripped body shell. So the story goes that "Her Majesty the 26th" decsendent from the House of Dat, is taking spa for the winter at the royal and celebrity famous dipping spa "Revivations" in Wauchula, Florida. She will emerge some time in March completely 100% rust free and her restoration will begin from there. I hope to have her green again by the end of the summer - about one year behind the original schedule.

I think seat belts are required by federal law everywhere in America now. Helmets are required for bicycles in Florida. (I have been hit - no injuries other than a strawberry on my shoulder) But what really gets me is that the helmet law for motorcycles was retracted in Florida.

I could use a couple of the plastic reservoirs if anybody has some. They were original to the series one.

In my opinion, the 2000GT project was for a "sports car", not a "240Z". When you look at the time line of development with respect to each of the cars (2000GT, A550X, and 240Z) you can see a progression and of course similarities, but I view the development of the 240Z as an independent effort. My understanding is that Matsuo san began work with his team on a fairly vague set of criteria and that the initial proposal was a convertible. It might best be said that there is a correlation between the cars; each developed by a different design team. Essentially, Nissan was having some luck with the roadster and the corporation was growing to a size that was able to discuss the idea of marketing a world class sports car. Several teams of designers and engineers were involved over a number of years in what became a number of different cars. In other words, each of the three cars I sited responded to different design criteria and a different decision making process in their development. I credit Yoshihiko Matsuo as the chief designer of a team that developed the 240Z. Brian Long supports credit to Goertz for the A550X, but I see more of his influence in the Silvia. Actually, I give credit to Goertz for instigating full scale clay modelling at Nissan and little more. When we talk about these cars, it must be remembered that these are only the cars that made to the public. Many clays, mock-ups and design studies were made in addition to the cars we finally see. Brian Long suggests there was influence from the Prince R380 and the Nissan A680X, but Matsuo denies it. The writings of Fumio Yoshida discuss three different design teams (studios)responding to the vague "sports car" criteria in the early stages of what became the 240Z. Matsuo doesn't subscribe to it and indeed Yoshida's description shows the Matsuo team as the predominant team throughout the design process. I see about 9 separate prototypes of the 240Z over a period of about 4 years. I credit Yoshihiko Matsuo, Fumio Yoshida and Utsuki Chiba as the princple designers of the 240Z although I have seen the names Shitara and Kurisaki mentioned. I also have seen some information from Teiichi Hara about the various design development teams operating at the time. Matsuo tells a humorous story about how shocked he was to see the Maserati Ghibli - so similar to his latest development clay. Many writers use this comparison to express the European influence in the 240Z design. I say; "bunk". So my point is that there is no clearly defined lineage in my opinion. All these cars are related and very much part of the 240Z story, but one cannot simply apply one to another. It is my opinion that the S30 project was an independent design and resulted from a design criteria (or program) that matured from studies begining in late 1966.

Hi RichieP, Perhaps Nissan used paint effectively depending on how you look at it. If you clean your parts back down to bare metal, powder coating seems to be the prefered finish for ease of cleaning and durability. I personally do not like POR types of encapsulate products. I'm not planning for a daily driver and expect to paint all my components - simple, easy, cheap.

ChrisA, I don't ever intend to be rude to anyone, but your post is completely uncalled for. Read the last page of the Midwest thread yourself, dude. If you don't intend to hijack this thread, then don't.

Yes. The pictures only show the bottom of the engine (which is filthy, dude) and if the leak was from a hose, tube, or head gasket, the top of the engine would be wet.

Jared, Welcome to rust-world!! How much it is going to cost is a matter of what kind of result you are looking for. For an old man and collector like me, cost doesn't matter as I am looking for show perfection, bragging rights, and a bunch of other nonsense attributed to a pair of garage queens. I'll bet your lovely is a daily driver that you keep very clean and are very proud of. I wouldn't fret over the rust hole if that is the case. I would patch it, protect the rest of the area from further rust, and drive on. Enjoy your ride!

I was going to say freeze plug, but Carl offers more insight.

Your best bet is probably going to be Zbarn because of the shipping costs. Shipping a hatch is going to cost you the better part of $100. I have found Greyhound bus to be reasonable. http://zbarn.com/