26th-Z

I never collected owner's names and locations like Carl did. I just collected pictures. Carl's list on Zhome probably has the best answer to where they all reside. I did look through my collection of cars the other day and noted that three cars were unaccounted for. No pictures, no information on three recorded cars. I wonder if they were crashed? I missed most of the bantering, however I did post my objection to the VR name that everyone started using to describe the Vintage Z / Z Store / Dream Garage program from Nissan USA. To make that clear again; Vintage Zs were the result of a Nissan USA ad campaign and independent of any "factory" involvement. The proper (educated) description is Vintage Z, or VZ for short.

To the best of my knowledge, it sold with the stock wheels and hubcaps. $105k represents an upward tick from a VZ that sold 6 months ago for $101k. Wow. To think that ten years ago, these cars were in the $20k - $25k range. There was a mention in the BAT discussion about a certain collector who has a number of these VZs. They bantered around six cars, eight cars, or perhaps eleven cars in the collection. I remember when that shuffle from one collector to another happened, about ten years ago.

Banzai Motor Works has this particular bolt for sale if memory serves me correctly.

My apologies for the confusion. I was writing in reference to the emblem. The 1969 builds and probably less than the first 500 HLS30s had emblems with chromed Zs and solid metal castings. By April of 1970 and a serial number in the upper 2000s, I would suspect the emblem was the hollow casting white painted Z which prevailed until the cabin vent was relocated and the emblem was changed. Your car, RetSarge, would be considered an "early car", indeed.

Go no further than Beck's site. He has a write-up on the Black Pearl. I looked at this auction with passing interest. Didn't like the side moldings and the hub caps. Didn't notice that it also didn't have the 5-speed option! In that case; "well sold"! Nice looking car.

It originally had 240Z emblems on the wings. Probably white Zs with a build date that late and that high of a serial number. No vents, of course, as the hatch is vented. The emblems would have been metal.

Yes - H clips! I bought these LED fixtures that surface mount on the ceiling. They are 48"x12", four strip behind a diffuser, 4000K that put out 8000 lumens. I originally thought about a similar fixture that was 3000K / 5000 lumens, but I needed more fixtures ( 10 instead of 8 ) to cover the lighting. These might be a little bright. We'll see. I'm supposed to have overhead doors in two weeks and I'm still waiting on windows.

The foam insulation went in Monday and much to my delight drywall today.

Those fans: Bart, the metal fan is indeed painted "whale tusk white" and it is not plated. They were not properly balanced from the factory and at the higher revolutions offered by the engine, in a sports car, had a tendency to cause undue wear to the water pump bearings. By the way they are constructed, they had a tendency to throw a blade causing significant damage. That's why they were replaced with the nylon fans. The nylon fans flexed and self balanced and they didn't throw blades. If you plan to use the metal fan system, I highly recommend that you have it balanced and inspected for metal fatigue at the rivet joints. When you have your example balanced, you will be able to determine if the one blade you refer to is sanded for that purpose or not. If it is, then don't let anybody give you any crap for it!

At one point in my Z career I was a ZCCA chief judge. I orchestrated two significant shows, including the ZCCA ZCON 40th anniversary in Nashville 2010. I think I can offer some insight with my opinion on this matter. I think the valve covers came with some sort of aluminized paint finish that comes off with acetone. I think that a bead blasted valve cover leaves a textured finish and that some judge dinked you for "over-restoration" if not an improper texture of the finish. I think the the natural valve cover should have a uniform aluminum color with a cast aluminum finish "sheen" and very smooth. I also think that judging a car is a significantly subjective endeavor. Car show judges in most car shows are all volunteers with widely varying experience and the comments can easily vary between "sharp eye" and "are you outa your f'ing mind?" In that respect, I don't put a lot of stock in the perceived value of an award. It's sort of like racing; some days you're lucky and some days you're not.

Notice the Datsun Alley name. Datsun Alley was one of the four Vintage Z restoration shops.

I'm certain you will find something in your size, Zed. You'll look so cute!

Familiarity is all in your head, Zed. The Corvette is a polar opposite and quite more refined than these sketches. Sure is a pretty silhouette, though. Captures the concept behind the Z perfectly. Notice how the design leaps? Like a cheetah.

She's just trying to get into your pants.

This question has come up before and I recall jokingly recommending a clock hand puller. Much to my surprised delight, they are a Google search away.

That's a great picture, Rob.

I actually worked on someone's Z the other night. I did it for free. I only work on my cars for the most part and sub out various tasks like the metal body work, paint body work, engine machining, etc. I sent my carburetors out and I sent out all my plating work. The deal of the century minimum would be around $35 - $40 per hour for simple mechanical work. Shops are easily twice that and some fancy restoration shop would be north of $100 per hour. I always try to negotiate "projects" at a fixed price for a well described scope of work but even that is approximate. You know, things change.

It's just the photograph. There is a consistent gap between the plywood sheets.

Thanks! The roof deck is 5/8" plywood on trusses at 24" on center. The gable ends have a 12" overhang but I have 30" overhangs over the doors. The plywood deck is nailed with 10d nails at 4" on center and the clips are mid span. The clips are 16ga steel stamped into an H shape with the wide flange pointed down (if you lay the plywood out from fascia up to the ridge). The clips also space the long edges of the plywood so that they won't bow over time. They are not fasteners; they just block the plywood edges. This is going to have a galvanized metal roof and I didn't need to use 5/8" plywood. My design wind speed is 160 mph and even though I don't have any uplift greater than 1000 pounds, I opted for the thicker plywood, nail spacing, and truss straps that wrap over the top of the truss. My insurance will be lower, and, as you say, the cars will be safer. I also opted for impact rated windows and doors for the same reason.

Update

The very last thing I would do is try to install the vinyl with rivets. Seriously bad idea. Rivets certainly will not relieve your concerns about the adhesive, "Glue and other adhesives can deteriorate due to heat and moisture", if you use the correct adhesive. The vinyl is fully adhered / direct glue-down.

Poured the bond beam today. Roof trusses start tomorrow. First pic looking out the south wall. Second pic is looking east along the north wall. I built a little wing wall between the house and the garage to define the landscaping between the two buildings. The garage is 22' x 30 with two 9' overhead doors. The walls are 8'-8" tall with sloped ceiling trusses to a height of 10'-6" in the middle. I should be able to get a lift in. The slab is thickened and reinforced for a lift. Foam insulated attic with a drywall finish ceiling. I'll paint the block walls. I paid special attention to a completely flat, dead level slab. It is really nice. It will be finished in epoxy.

First recommendation is search the archives. There is a big lot of information here. Second, look at Nissan photographs. Third, search the archives for build finishes and markings. There is a lot of information, mostly yellow paint dabs and kanji markings, but you will find oddities like proper engine color overspray such as that tube running around the back of the engine. Blue engine paint on my cars.

I want to comment that PPG was the paint supplier for the Vintage Z program. They have the proper color. Check with the PPG paint supplier in your area.

They just locked down Florida. Just our luck with prices of gas so low, except you can't go anywhere!