26th-Z

I found this place in Texas to restore belts. http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/ They do not have replacement parts for Datsuns, but they will restore everything for around $250.

These belts are non-retractable type with black buckles and a Z logo button which is pushed to release. And they are later series one - probably 1971. I believe retractable type belts arrived with the 1972 model year.

The earliest cars had non-retractable lap belts and shoulder strap with a solid black buckle. The top of the buckle lifts to release - like airline buckles. This is a set of them. Take notice of all the hardware. It is different from later types.

Oops! Here's the picture

I have never seen a belt with a red Z on the buckle, but here are some pictures for you. Belts in the USA have Federal ID tags sewn on every separate belt.

And this Hitachi AM / FM with the antenna toggle switch above appeared with the '72 model year cars.

This is an early radio and face plate. Hitachi AM with touch tuning. The antenna rocker switch goes on the side. This was probably standard up to mid '70? Or early '71?

Yes sir! Faux finishing the firewall to look like stone for that "I'm dealing with the heat" look! ROFL I simply gave up finding braided radiator hoses. Please forgive me, guys. I am going to electroplate all my clamps to look brand new, though.

Many thanks for all the compliments and encouragement. Carl Beck has some very valid points for originality because of the low serial number and I plan to adhere to most of it. I took a lot of photographs of the car coming apart and have had several discussions with people about putting the car back together as it was originally. "Kats" has been a great inspiration. He has detail on his car that makes me smile. And most everything will be a parts swap situation. I could always return the car to "original" by swapping the parts back. I'm going to put headlight covers on a separate set of headlight buckets and I bought this way cool mahogony Momo steering wheel some time ago.

Cool enough, Carl. The mismatched set is not one of his best offerings, but keep watching as he has some great connection directly to Mt. Watanabe and sells wheels frequently. Again, one of the nicest guys I have met in all my parts dealings. I hope to meet him in person some day. Yea, I bought a set of Wats, Ben. I'm half in and half out on all this restoration stuff. Carl Beck is to blame. He says I am foolish to modify the car, yet I really can't stand a stock American Z. As you see in my gallery, I had the car on slots with shaved bumpers. A long time ago, the rest of the body was shaved. But I put all the emblems and markers back on in 1990 for the sake of originality. So the plan is to restore the car ground up to dead original as best I can, take splendid pictures of it, and then replace parts to make the car the way I want it. I will replace bumpers, headlight buckets, wheels, and steering wheel - mostly. I want to lower it, but I dare not. But it does give the opportunity to show the car stock and modified - interesting. I particularly like the domestic ZL model styling and I think the Watanabes will help that flavor. At least that's the direction I'm headed. I'm going to do the interior ala ZL with the foot rest and carpet. Most all of the mods will be with genuine Nissan parts, thanks to Chloe and Alan T. for some serious help. I have had the worst wheel hunting nightmare story, but I ended up with something far more than my original expectations. I passed on two sets of Watanabes - by this seller - before I took the ones I got. It has been a real learning experience and I feel I have gained the appropriate appreciation for them. I think the car will look great. Meanwhile, the engine is at the machine shop and the chassis is waiting to be dipped. This is going to take a long time. Here is the set of Watanabe lug nuts.

Now. If you are interested in the real deal. This set of Kobe Seiko wheels is on Yahoo Japan right now. I can't give you the link, because I found them through a translation site www.rinkya.com and the URL clip takes you to the translation home page. This set may be in need of repair and they are magnesium. I damn near wet my pants when I saw them. If you go to Rinkya, click the automotive search bar before you flip over to the translation page. Once there, type a search for 240Z, S30 HS30 PS30 HLS30, or Kobe Seiko. There are three pages of listings just under the 240Z search, but different listings appear with the S30 HS30 PS30 HLS30 search. Let me advise you to simply leave your wallet at home. Don't even bother mentioning shipping costs. In most cases the seller won't ship internationally anyway.

Carl, I just had dealings with the seller you mentioned (orestus_of_argos?) and found him to be the most communicative, pleasant, helpful seller. He is friends with a lot of us here, and I give him the Good Carkeeping Seal of Approval - 4A double plus. He helped me find brand new lug nuts and center caps for this set of Watanabes. They were exactly as described in his add and his packaging was superb. I highly recommend dealing with him. I made a new Z friend and his Zcar is drop dead gorgeous. You are correct that the latest set on eBay is mixed aluminum and magnesium. Do pay mind to the different colors of metal between the two.

Drain the gas out of it!

Sie verstehen nicht Deutsche, Guus. I don't think there will be many American bidders. I am curious about the hsitory of the car and why there is a model of it. What is the history and why is this model so rare?

Kats, I will travel to the National Convention in June and plan to go with the judges to see and hear what they look for. I think judges only evaluate what they can see and would not make a car owner take a lens off to look at the bulbs. You have what I call "bragging rights" for how much effort you have made for "original". My compliments the same as Marty! Your car is a reference for all of us.

Hi kats, I report the same as Marty. Headlights can be found if you look hard enough, but other light bulbs by KOITO are impossible to find.

I would like to place a nomination for this year's Pack and Ship Awards. I think this deserves a trophy for Best Postage or Most Creative Postage. What do you think?

For the early cars, AMCO was a leading aftermarket supplier of parts like bumper over rider bars. Here is a picture of an AMCO add in a 1970 magazine.

RobertH, Dog-gonnit! We gotta get together and get you into the loop! Saturday at Jim's in Tampa from noon on. Z PARTY!!!!! I'll snap off an e-mail to you and discuss directions.

No brainer. No, that is not a 1969.

As much as I read about Auction Magic, I can't seem to figure out what it does more that "My Ebay" does. The bid is still a proxy. Sniping still works best if you really want something regardless of price. And even then, your'e really guessing at the end of the auction. I have seen auctions end with three or four snipes within the last twenty seconds. The one feature I find interesting is the ability to track "the going rate" of similar items which is especially good for difficult parts. If you could get the thing to chart prices over a period of time, you could get an idea of what is happening to the overall market, but I think we would all agree that it is generally inflating. A year ago, valve covers were commonly $25 and ash trays were under $50. Take a look at this bid war. I wonder if the software was involved. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=42606&item=2469198883&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT With respect to placing a bid early, I might suggest bidding early to let everyone else in our community know you would like the part. Sort of an "I found it first", you might avoid some bad feelings later on. I generally shy away from things if I see one of you bidding. But not always!:devious:

The wheels appear to be a pair of 6.5 and a pair or 7.0? I just priced a set of new silver lug nuts at around $100 and center caps are available for Watanabes as well. This is the polished rim look I prefer with the spokes inside the rim as opposed to over the rim lip.

Hey there! This is a subject I know a little about. Probably just enough to be dangerous! Read up on the subject by doing a web search for "electrolytic rust removal". Try other searches "metal restoration", rust removal", and "acid rust removal". We have discussed the pros and cons of dipping versus blasting as well as acid treatments. All in the name of rust removal. I am in favor of the electrolytic rust removal process because my major rust issues come from inside the chassis - inside the rockers and frame rails, and wheel housings. Those areas were not protected from the begining. They are "sealed" and not meant to get wet. But humidity over 30 years has taken it's toll and it is the very part of the chassis you can't get to that is my major concern. Keep in mind that those areas were never coated to begin with. To the best of my knowledge, 240Zs were not primer dipped or paint dipped. They were sprayed. Complete submersion techniques will take everything off the metal. Electrolytic rust removal involves drawing the rust off the metal in a "rust reversal" process. I understand that lead, well applied bondo, and plastic is not affected by the electrolytic process except where rust is underneath. The place I found uses an alkaline solution and the metal dries with a white (baking soda) powder all over it. The powder is to keep the metal from flash rusting and lasts about two weeks. There are phosphate solutions that can be used to protect metal from surface rusting, and zinc phosphate would be fine if you can find a place to do that. Phosphoric acids are commonly used to clean metal as well as seal it. Something like "Naval Jelly" is about 35% phosphoric acid and should be cleaned off after treatment. There are Phosphoric acids solutions like "OSPHO" (less than 10%) that can be allowed to dry and painted over. Unprotected metal with OSPHO on it lasts about three months. A zinc phosphate coating would last much longer. My plan of attack is to spray primer inside the boxed sections with wands made from copper or plastic tubing. It will be sloppy, but so what. It may not get everything, but so what. As I go around sealing little rust holes, the welding on the inside will not get protected - the same as the car was originally built. The section will get sealed up and I suspect it will last another 30 years. I am using "Revivations" in Wauchula, Florida. They charge around $1200 to dip the chassis. Doors, fenders, suspensions are extra and they have a long waiting line. I would like to know the name of the place you are considering.

Mark, I think the 240Z kats bought last night was a hatch emblem. The picture looked like it needed to be re-chromed. The quarter emblems have the round disc field behind the 240Z. If you think about it, a new plastic hatch 240 is $53, the price kats paid was reasonable. But back to the issue....I bid against you guys all the time as well as buy from you. I keep my eBay identity low profile just so I don't get hate e-mails

Outrageous! How do you download / save the video and how do you order / buy the DVD? The whole thing is in Japanese!