26th-Z

I received one reply and one set of knobs. Thanks Reed! Ask around some more, OZ. Seek and ye shall find, young man!

Let me add to Zrush's comments - Hi zrush! In Florida, an old plate that matches the year of the car has to be sent in and approved which is usually no big problem as long as the plate is in good shape. For 1970, the Florida plate was green and matches my paint color. Florida plates back then had a two digit and single letter prefix. The digits signified the county of registration (16 for Sarasota County) and the letter was a weight classification (D for the 240Z - lightest) The next four to six digits were numerically sequential and I recall people lining up at the tag office to get a low number. The "collector" plate was issued for $16 rather than the normal $20 tag fee and that is why you used to see "collector" plates on farm trucks and loosermobiles. Florida now issues license plates as though they were bumper sticker statements and although I appreciate "Save the Manatee" and "Remember the Challenger", I'm holding out for "Respect Blue-Hairs". Gone are the days of unified State identity and I, like zrush, support the vanity plate option - 26th-Z.

Brian Long lists #302 Metallic Green and #303 Metallic Green for the 1974 model year. He notes that these colors were domestic and export colors. IZCC lists two colors also. 302 Leaf Green Metallic (from 8/73) and 303 Green Metallic (8/73 - 7/75) 903 is Blue Metallic. Sounds like you have #303, SuDZ.

Nice new avatar, Alan. I like it better than the last one. Many thanks for the pictures!

I need a set of knobs for this Hitachi AM/FM radio.

Here is a link to MSA front air dams as well as spooks. Take a look at the BRE spook they sell. http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=7AD1

Spook

Chin spoiler on a fairlady

Oops - try again Chin spoiler

Guys, Help me out with pictures, please. Chin spoiler

At first I thought that was a flush handle for some Z brand plumbing fixture, but then it ocurred to me to look up Zimmers. Remember Zimmers? The kit car that bolted on to a Camero chassis? Do an Ebay search for Zimmer http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2454592600&category=34209

Tomohawk, I searched for a thread discussing where the word "spook" actually came from and can't find it, but you may run across it. I think it is a word combining spoiler and scoop. Spooks started showing up on cars in the late 60's when designers started thinking about how air flows around cars and how much horse power is devoted to pushing a car through the air. They may been trying to scoop air into the radiator as well. Your question is really asking about differences in terminology and I don't think the word spoiler should be used for aerodynamic devices on the front of the car. Spoiler describes a device that spoils the air flowing off the back of the car. Spooks and air dams are used to control the air flowing underneath the car, although commonly refered to as front spoilers. An air dam is usually considered flat vertical where a spook protrudes forward scooping air and directing it upward. A chin spoiler is simply a shorter version with no real scoop or dam definition and generally acts to direct the air off to the sides. The amount of horsepower used to push a car through the air is determined by frontal area - that which is perpendicular to the air flow. It is important to decrease frontal area as much as possible. Angled surfaces do have frontal area value, but contribute by directed air flow. Air dams may at first seem costly with a lot of frontal area, but they consolidate all the little frontal areas protruding underneath the car as well as directing air flow from underneath, thus creating negative pressure sucking the car to the road. Air dams usually hang pretty low. Spooks are angled, have less frontal area, direct air upwardly, but still allow air underneath. In my opinion, adding a front spoiler to a Zed increases the frontal area and in theory slows the car. Without making modifications to decrease frontal area, you are kind of pissing into the wind, shall we say.

Typical styling of the period. I thought you guys would enjoy this Cobra Daytona drawing. I'm sure it is copyrighted. Notice the ducting through the hood and the rear duck-tail meant to increase the negative pressure behind the car.

The box looks like hell, but the 8-track is brand new. No mounting kit, unfortunately. Anyone know anything about this? I will take some pictures of the AM and e-mail you, Dave. Sorry to hog in on your thread.

Hi dave, I have one. I also have the later AM/FM, a Sony cassette deck / FM, AND a brand new Hitachi 8-track player which will need an accompaning radio to work. I have yet to find the correct radio. Any help from you guys would really be appreciated. Here is a picture of the 8-track. It should be noted that the original AM radio face plate is integral to the radio as the clear station tuner is part of the plastic face plate. I tried to contact Htachi about service and parts. They wrote me back and said that Hiatchi does not service automotive products in the U.S. but if I was in an appropriate country to let them know. WTF?

All great advice and the only other source for blue engine block paint I may mention would be Tower Paint (towerpaint.com) for rattle cans of PPG and Dupont products. This formula comes from IZCC: Find a Dupont Dealer and ask them to mix up a quart (5 or more engines) [or spit it in half for a pint] of Dupont "Chroma 1" paint. Be sure and buy the "Chroma 1" catalyst and reducer also. Tinting guide mix size 806J HS BLACK 177.2 801J HS WHITE 290.0 828J HS FAST BLUE 373.8 830J HS FAST GREEN 444.4 702OG BINDER 844.0 7030G BALANCER 960.4 The color of the engine mount bracket from the sub-supplier was semi-gloss black. It may have been a lacquer or an enamel paint depending on who made the bracket and when. When the engine was built, the mount bracket was bolted on to the side of the block before the block was sprayed. Depending on the mood of the engine builder, the brackets were either sprayed completely blue, oversprayed blue with black showing, or all black and bolted on after the engine was sprayed. None of this was quality controled nice looking. It was all done economically in a minimal amount of time. Every time I look at an engine with nice cleanly painted parts and shiny aluminum head, I think of the expression "over restored". Of course it looks much better, but it does not replicate how the cars were constructed 30 odd years ago. Blue overspray is on the heater hoses, timing cover, head, water pump, and other major parts.

Go check out his gig, Mike. If you like what you see, go for it. You might consider paying for his supplies as he requests them or paying him weekly for work completed as an alternative to investing up front. Asking for money down is common, but reputation needs to back up the trust involved with someone who is going to do this "after hours". I agree with 2ManyZs in that $4 - $5 grand usually covers overhead expenses like insurance, equipment, and taxes involved in a business. However, many businesses are started at home and if the guy is good, you will become his next reference. Good luck!

I forgot to mention kats' website. Lots of real good pictures and info http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz903/

I agree and have budgeted between $20,000 and $30,000 for my project. This will be a complete frame up restoration. To rid Her Majesty of the rust problems, I found a place to dip the chassis. That place also restores cars to museum quality and I think Carl's $50,000 is a little low for that kind of service. My strategy is to play "general contractor" and outsource the restoration of many components while doing most of the grunt work myself. I am also seeing higher resale values lately. Now, my project will go on for a couple of years, say three. If you look at monthly payments for a $25,000 investment over three years, the cost of restoration is not so bad. I took the strategy of buying parts first and it has paid off with the increasing parts costs over the last two years. I'm not doing this for resale investment purposes. Perhaps "Enjoy the Ride" is the best way to put it.

You might consider Auto Carpet Direct, automotivecarpet.com They have insulation products as well. Lebaron Bonney has jute.

I have been reading along with you guys and want to comment. Carl brings up several valid points, the first of which cannot be overstated. These cars are assembly line cheap and the construction is by no means considered a crafted art. They were built quickly and economically. All sorts of things vary from one chassis to another. The seam between the roof and the quarter is lead filled and as such should not ever require any other filler. Lead IS the filler. I am doing a thorough job of "carcheology" as best I can as I take Her Majesty the 26th apart. I have a real original car, very unmolested (until now). What do you guys want pictures of? I have tons of pictures. Every time I get into one of these discussions, I learn something so shoot. I have a great example to talk about.

My thoughts would be to go with making an impression for the new filler material. Try a modelling clay or a urethane compound to cast a mold. The wrinkle black paint is also a good idea to get a consistent color and finish when all the patches have been made. Do a web search for people in the business of refinishing interiors and find out what they do. I have two consoles in such a state and this very project ahead of me. I figured I would repair both, select the one I want and sell the other. I plan to cast repair blocks in a urethane compund that cures to a rubbery latex material and is used like a stamp on the filler material. I suspect I will paint the consoles as well. I also plan to cast molds for replacement rubber and plastic pieces. At one point, I was planning to cast radio face plates and console control face plates with this nifty urethane stuff I found. As far as trying to find a complete clean console; just keep looking for what you want and "cheap" is going to be the price of the console at the time you want to buy it. Believe me, a similar console I bought a year ago for $75 is now for sale on eBay for $150 with the rest of the day to go. There are also people around making replacement consoles and I think Dashboard Restorations will cover a console for you.

Carl, If you are talking about my "mild" comment, I shouldn't have been misleading. Apologies. I wrote some more about expectations in my thread about the dash cap I have for sale. I suspect "expectations" are everything concerning restoration work and I have no fault with Dashboard Restorations at all. I think it is appropriate to say that if I do another DR dash, I will send the frame with it "expecting" that it might save me some time and skill to have someone better than me fit the dash pad back on the frame. We all sent our pads without the frames because we mistakenly thought it would save shipping costs. Shipping for a dash is a matter of size, not weight. Size matters! Because I am in Florida, shipping cost me over $250. Generally speaking, I am a satisfied customer and will consider doing my other series one dash as they are getting harder and harder to find and more valuable. The DR recovering is a very economical and thorough solution to the cracked and degraded dash problem. I'm still fitting the pad to the dash as I have high expectations and it is taking a lot of time to get it to my liking because I have never done this before. That's my only bitch

I have two dashes and just sent one to Austrailia to have it resurfaced by Dashboard Restorations. I looked at two other companies before I chose DR, and to make a long story short, sent the pad without the frame attached. There are a couple of threads in the archive - including my input messages - that document DR coming to this club. A number of members here have gone through this process recently. It seems to me that now that I have done two types of dashboard repairs, I know what to do to repair a dashboard and what should be considered for an expected outcome. It really comes down to price. A replacement Datsun series one dash will cost somewhere in the $1500 range. A surface replacement like DR's thorough replacement is half that. A dash cap like like the one I'm selling is less than 5%. I drove around with the dash cap for years and hardly anyone commented or even realized I had a half cap on the dash. It took me a full afternoon to fit and glue the cap on with silicone seal, block it into place with weights, and 24 hours to let it dry. If I do the DR replacement again, and I may - I have another dash, I would not take the pad off the frame and I would ask DR to fit the covering to the frame as it was originally attached. It is going to take me many hours to fit everything back together, working with a heat gun and contact cement. The glove box area is quite complex. Even if I were not so picky, reassembly of the dash; pad and frame, instruments, wiring, and installation represents a hell of a lot more time the car is "down" as we say. A replacement Datsun dash may actually be faster! The dash cap is a textured ABS plastic cover and does not look the same as the original dash. If you don't block it into place correctly, it's going to look wavy. The restoration is a textured plastic molded over new foam and it does not look the same as the original dash. The plastic material is thicker than the original material and it doesn't mold as well as the thin cheap stuff that we are trying to fix. I have yet to find anyone with the same texture. A 34 year old replacement Datsun dash is going to look 34 years old and not like the original dash. After 34 years, the thin cheap stuff looks as fragile as it is. Nothing is going to look like the original dash. It's a matter of what comes closest. The ABS dash cap has a really nice texture and the DR restoration is a really good alternative at a really good price. Espescially if you have problems with the foam or cracks inside the instrument clusters. So my opinion is adjust your expectations accordingly and respect the age of our cars. We are very lucky to have repair alternatives to the very complex original dash design and construction. Thank you and Good Day - Oh! - buy my dash cap!