26th-Z

The engine is out! No more rags or fuel leaks! I scored a parts cleaner at Harbor Freight today for $60! The Z is coming apart. As you can see. It has been a long process, but I'm proceeding faster than I thought. I rented this garage a couple of months ago and started the restoration. Most of the chassis is gutted at the moment. I still have to pull the dash and then I will start on the brakes and suspenders. I plan to have the car dipped this winter, and with luck, it will be painted by the start of the summer. This has been a great project. I am not only doing the car, but tooling up in the process. The work bench is Corian I pulled out of the kitchen remodel. I have the fenders hanging on the wall. As soon as I get a chance, I'm going to frame enlargements of a bunch of downloads I got from Alan T as garage art. Wait till you see the Datsun dealer light I'm having framed! The weight bench is just behind the car and the bathroom is down the driveway to the left. The upper cabinets are from the same kitchen remodel and all the lighting is thankyou Home Depot. I also have a folding chair! The place has tunes and a fan because it is still 75 degrees at night here. Oh, I don't sleep, so there is no need for a bedroom!

My car is too noisy for a good sound system. I added another speaker, but they are only 6" size and that doesn't account for much sound! I had a Sony cassette system (for sale, PM me) and I am in the quest for a stock AM radio. I also have an AM/FM radio - PM me. I bought a Hitachi 8 track for that nostalgic approach, but I need something to amplify and the plug is wierd. Anyone who knows what to do with a Hitachi 8track player for Datsun - let me know!

The underside of mine is still grey. I'll get better with auto pictures, I promise! Yes, it has "overspray" down the sides and they must have painted it with the lid shut. The early radio face plate is similarly made - painted grey plastic. It resembles a thermoplastic - yes.

I'm living here, now

Notice the grey? This plastic is a peculiar composition. It resembles "Bakelite" an early plastic from the thirties and forties. Turns out, the only glue that will work is superglue. I used a gel format for my work with this plastic. It doesn't dry so fast and allows time to adjust and clamp the repair.

The early ashtray is on the right. The semigloss paint finish reflects light more than the black plastic. The ashtray on the left is solid black plastic. It has a hollow handle on the lid.

I see a lot of people asking about subtle differences between the early cars and the later versions. The conversations about the other foriegn markets and home market development fascinate me. I am fortunate to have an early car with some peculiar pieces. For instance, ash trays. Very early ashtrays were molded in a dark grey plastic and painted black. The lid handle is solid and has an indent under the lip. My particular ashtray had no chrome screen inside, although a good arguement could be made it was broken off. My lid was also broken. Fortunately, the base has no burns. Through eBay and classifieds, I bought ashtrays and pieces and combined to make these two examples. One is '69 original and the other is later.

Oh yea, The wheel is date stamped 10/69 - original. I took this wheel over to a restoration shop in Wauchula, Florida. They have huge alkaline dipping tanks and they de-rust by electrolysis in alkaline solution. This is what I plan to do with the chassis, so I wanted to see how it worked. It was $60 to dip the wheel and I asked them to paint it “The same color”. Six weeks later, they called me to ask what color I want the wheel painted, it was dipped and ready to paint. Two weeks after that, I went to get it and it was gloss black. Now get this…the tab was $170. Sharp learning curve in this restoration business. Wouldn’t you say? This has been the spare tire from hell. You could hear the rubber cracking when I took the tire off the rim. It soaked in a lawn bag, and every few days, I would get it out, wipe it down, and re-spray it with preservative. Slowly, most of the stains came out. Most of the overspray, too. There are permanent indentations on the backside from the ribs on the bottom of the tire well. If it’s an original, it’s worth it. An original example in pretty decent shape. I still wipe it down and the shine on the wheel is probably from the preservative. It’s flat black and the backside is silver. It is also one of my few restored pieces. I just finished some ashtrays. I will start another thread.

Kats, I spent some time with Photoshop on this picture, but it is pretty good. If you can enlarge the picture, most everything can be read. I have trouble making photographs of auto parts! I changed the brightness and contrast - also took some stains out! This tire is my only one - the spare, and I have been unsure of originality. I know I never used it since 1984, however, it shows signs of use. And abuse! It was rust stained and the wheel was rusted before I restored them. The air pressure in the tire is by inner tube. I soaked the tire in rubber preservative in a big bag for two months. It had some paint overspray in spots below the holes in the cover board and most of it came off. It is not suitable to drive. I am told this tire is no longer made. Anyone want to help me out on this? Also, opinions of originality?

The last time I flew to Europe it was $750 round trip per person from New York to Dusseldorf and that was a big discount. I rented an Opel for two weeks - $500 and put over 2000 miles on it. We drove from Dusseldorf down to Mainz and then to Trier, Reims, Rouen, Caen, Carentan and then back through Chartres, Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, and Mainz. We stayed in a hotel in Reims but camped everywhere else in a tent. I spent a fortune on gas. Hotel rooms ran around $70 per night for something an American would find quaint and camp sites for a tent were $5. Camping in Europe is completely different from America, usually on the property of some 16th century chateau (beautiful), however we did manage to find some "seedy" sites along the coast of Normandy. We usually stopped at a grocery store toward the end of the day for some wine and cheese and bread before setting up our tent. Set the bottle in a stream to chill and enjoy the late evening talking with other travelers - mostly Brits. Most camp sites have full bathrooms and showers, laundromats, etc. all within walking distance of some little village with bars and cafe's. I cannot emphasize how much fun it was meeting people and living the Euro life even though we were rich Americans on vacation. I spent a bunch of money, but I will never forget all the adventures and how much I learned about how the rest of the world lives. We are pretty lucky - Americans. You have a great idea, Caen Fred. How much do you think it would be to ship my car over for a couple of weeks?

"Made for USA Only" with inflation rating. See the "Made in Japan". Do you think this is original?

Tire size

Kats, I made these photos last night just to show you what I think is original tire - my spare. This is a Bridgestone 175 SR14 made in Japan for USA.

Truely an indecent proposal for someone like myself who loves Europe. DON"T TEMPT ME!!!! Your idea could be too much fun! I need to pour money into my restoration at the moment, but the next time I make plans to visit, I will look you up. Perhaps LeMans 2004? We'll see. For all of you who have never been to Europe or might have hesitations about going; this is the way to do it. With a friend who speaks the language - knows the ropes - and knows how to make arrangements. France is beautiful, the food is superb, wine, history. Who could ask for more? The Euro is about 1 to 1, so money is easy to understand. Great Idea!

Check out my gallery "Cad drawing", I made in AutoCad. The drawing dimensions well but it is 2d. The info you probably want is in the Nissan Service manuals. Pm me if you want my .dwg file

I will contact you the next time I travel. Bring parts to you and go home with wine!

Guten abend, Rolf! Wie gehts? I have friends in Mainz and visit frequently. I may come visit next summer. Perhaps we could meet. I have never seen a Z in Deutschland! Ich habe ein Strasse sehr gut am Schwangau gefahren. Did I say that right? The alp roads are beautiful with great vistas of deep valleys and snow capped mountian peaks above the thick forest. Just a total pleasure to drive and hard to concentrate on driving! I thought the roads were in fine condition, but traffic can be heavy in places. I will say one thing about driving in Europe. Slower traffic moves to the right - by God!

The hub adaptor is Momo part SC 7. Sorry, I don't have the box for the wheel any more

I was going to stop at the dealer in Saraota and take some pictures of the SMART, but you guys beat me to it! The roadster is as small as a Lotus and screams around like one. Little stop light leaper. The SMART sedans are hard to imagine cruising on the Autobahn at 100 mph, but they do! If you get to check out the Deutches Museum in Munich, do it. They have an Auto Union Grand Prix car, a Mercedes Grand Prix and the first jet aircraft.

The car has no side marker lights or the cutouts for them. I enlarged the wheel and in so doing, was able to look across to see the cutouts for the shark vents.

Are these the same cars, kats?

Take a look at Z tek http://www.z-tekmfg.com/cat1.html for the shift knob. The original walnut knob would do best with the wood wheel IMHO (although the Momo looks like mahogany). I haven't seen this particular wheel in a while. Just do a Momo search and all kinds of sites come up. I know the hub adaptor is available. I'll have to check the PN and get back to you.

Oops!

Is this what you are looking for?

I believe you will find American Racing Libras on the early BRE 240's. They were silver. If black is what you are looking for, I would definately suggest a Watanabe wheel.