EScanlon

1GENZED: Since the car is now painted and ready for reassembly, all you can do is adjust the components for best fit. Any work to deepen the seating flange for the gas door should have been done at the time the panel was put in. Same for the door edge (presuming that it is that edge that is wrong and not that the door is misaligned.). Try seating the gas door hinge into the cup deeper. Don't go too far as the door may not close properly if set in too far. Play with this until you get the best fit. As far as the gap at the back of the door / front of the rear fender, this measurement will vary, from 3/16" to 3/8". The key isn't to find a measurement, but rather to mount the doors onto the car in such a way that the spacing ALL AROUND the door, front, back, bottom is even. Then you start playing with it to get it to function properly. MARK: The area that LOOKS like it has been repaired before is below the bumper. That's where you can see a "seam" on the paint. If that's just the edge of a protective coating for rock chips, then probably no prior repair. But, you CAN see other bubbles of rust about to pop through and what appears to be a patch of lifted Bondo. 2¢ Enrique

Hard to tell without pictures. But if it IS rusted, with holes going through the metal, that would be one way to get rid of the bumps and the rust. If on the other hand, you're considering replacement just because of the bumps, take it to a body shop. You'd be surprised at what a qualified metal man can do. If the Frame Rails are crushed, replacing them is the only option as far as I know. All this supposes that they didn't damage the rocker panels. If they did, you should check with a frame alignment shop. They'll check the car to make sure that it is straight before you invest a lot of time and money repairing the floor. Enrique Scanlon

Yes the car appears to have a Hand Throttle. It has a Heater Control Knob on it. If you look in the passenger foot area, you'll also see the Series I Ash Tray / Fuse Cover. It's condition is hard to ascertain as it's glared out in that photo. New Heater Control Panels have been offered on e-Bay starting at $135 by newdatsunparts if I recall. That's about the ONLY way you will find one with no cracks, breaks and the chrome in the condition you want. Combination Switches can also be found on e-Bay, just remember that you want the one without the intermittent wiper control (that's a 73+). You can also buy them new from some of the vendors. You might check with Chloe. Good Luck. Enrique Scanlon

You can replace both floors and both frame rails without having to remove the engine / tranny. This of course, is dependent on just how much damage you have. If the tranny tunnel is rusted more than an inch or so above the floor panel, then you may have to remove the tranny. If you pre-fit the panels and frame rails to the car after cutting out the bad metal, then all you are shopping for is a good welder. Find the welder first though and ask him what he wants done, and what he would do as part of the job. Sorry can't help you with prices. Enrique Scanlon

Your "gas spill" may be in fact a leaky or broken Filler Neck Tube. They're not hard to replace without removing the tank, but you will be undoing the inside of the hatch area to get to it. (The back plastic and the RH plastic.) Since you will be into it that deep, take a few minutes and check / replace the hoses going to the fuel vapor canister. Replacing those now will eliminate any fumes in the passenger cabin later on when the gas filler tube is no longer venting. They aren't cheap (about $90) and although you could probably find one at a boneyard, DON'T. For my money at least, buying one from a boneyard, where it may be 30 years old for 10 bucks and having to replace it again in a short while, and once again having to dismantle the whole thing just isn't worth the savings. Unfortunately, to replace the vent hoses, you will have to drop the gas tank. Doing so isn't hard and it will allow you to inspect and repair any other problems you might run into. While you are there, take a look at the condition of your tail-light rubber seals as well as the license plate light wire grommet. Those need to seal as well. Good Luck and keep us posted. If you have questions post them and, having done the same job myself, I'll answer as best as I can. By the way, you CAN spend some mighty bucks on getting OEM fuel vent hoses or you can go to your local NAPA and get the replacement FUEL type hose. Sport Z magazine had a perfect article on doing this in their first issue. Sadly, that issue is no longer available even from the editors. Maybe someone can ask them if we could post the article here. 2¢ Enrique P.S. Alfa wants to know what kind of pantyhose you took with you, and if you like the feel of them......

The B/Y wire referred to is part of the starter interlock system that prevents starting the car when in gear (Automatic Trans.). In a Manual transmission, it hooks directly to the ignition circuit to complete the circuit to the solenoid. The starter receives BOTH Positive and Negative terminals of the battery directly to it in order to allow for the massive cranking amps required. The other wire to the solenoid (, connects via a quick connect to the Fusible link. This Fusible link on the 70 and 71 Z's is the MAIN and ONLY connection for the rest of the car's circuitry. If this is broken or disconnected there simply is NO electricity anywhere else. When you had posted that you had a "click" I also assumed that you were actuating the solenoid and therefore had electricity flowing. Since you did not post that you did not have electricity flowing to anything else I didn't post about your fusible link. The battery gauge you refer to is an Ammeter and it registers whether you have a Positive Current (Charging) or Negative Current (Discharging). When NO power is flowing, it will rest at the "O" mark, or dead center. That's what fooled you into thinking you had a good charge and fooled the rest of us into thinking you did have the fusible link connected. Glad it's running. Keep us posted on your Car Show. Enrique Scanlon

Why do you think that ONLY a 2+2 Z roof will do? Think outside the box. What you are looking for is a piece of sheet metal with the same side to side and front to rear curvature that matches your car's. The reason most (if not all) body shops require the part to be from an identical model vehicle is to avoid problems in getting it to fit. In fact, if you check, these folks go so far as to measure where the hole would be in the donor roof and then cutting that piece of metal. The main reason behind this is that they don't have the time, nor the resources to go pick and choose amongst cars to find a match. And they are right, it is the easiest, cheapest and most logical way of getting a donor piece. However, your situation is different. You are searching for a RARE car AND an even RARER model. So now you have to get creative. That is, if you are willing to expend a bit of thought energy and physical work in order to achieve your goal (a hardtop look) and at the same time save yourself some money. Using some stiff construction paper, or some cardboard make some templates that match the side to side curve and the front to rear curve as well. If necessary, make a side to side template of the roof just in front of the opening. Then another one just behind. Matching these with a pair of each of the front to back templates on either side of the hole and you can now assemble a curve finder. If you take care you can cut corresponding slits in the pieces and slide them together just like the cardboard used to separate bottles in a box. Now, go to a local boneyard. and using your cardboard template, lay it on the roofs of potential donors. You're now looking for vehicles whose roofline MATCHES your template and NOT the same car / model. Although this may seem time consuming, you may be surprised to find that there are many cars out there whose curvature is actually the same as yours. Remember auto designers use curves that appeal to the human mind. Those curves are surprisingly similar. Doubt it? Take a look at the mind-numbing similarity of cars lately. Another alternative for that is to contact a CUSTOM body shop who can in fact FABRICATE curves out of flat sheet metal. These shops typically will have an English Wheel Press on the premises. They'll have the experience to measure and match the curve you need and fabricate it with relative ease. You might even ask them how much it would be for them to fix it. The key here is to not impose restrictions on your repairing the car. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

You have the money for an electric sunroof with a metal panel to be installed but don't have the money to repair the roof to it's original status? Doesn't add up. The sunroof will still set you back possibly a hundred or two from a boneyard. Then you have to get someone to adapt it to a roof line that it wasn't made for. Lastly, you need to wire it into an electrical system that is sensitive to additional currents being applied to it. All of this calls for an experienced body man, which means several hundred dollars. Now you've allocated 500+ dollars to the job. Surely you can get someone to weld in a roof for less than that. OR Maybe you have the experience, but if you do, why not just weld a patch back into the sunroof hole. Enrique

What do you mean by the rear sight shield? Enrique

Darn, the original post did not accept the picture and I didn't get an error message. Here it is again.

One other note, as far as I recall it didn't operate the SIDE marker lights at all, just the extra bulb in the front and rear parking lights. Enrique

Will: The switch you are referring to, as far as I know, was only available in JDM cars. Additionally, only the Series I as we label them in the US had the opening in the center console to accept the switch. Additionally, the wiring does not support the switch, as that extra light had it's own wiring for both the front and back as well as the sides. The attached picture shows you what the switch looks like. I was able to find one from Japan, and they are somewhat rare there also. The tail-lights do have the extra hole for the light. It is normally plugged with a rubber plug that goes between the two bulbs in the upper half. I was not able to find the bulb holder that goes in there, but have been told that the multiple compressible prong type or rubber base would work. I did find a replacement side marker light from an early GM vehicle COULD be made to fit by notching the hole in the light housing. The front parking lamp housing doesn't have the hole, or at least my car didn't. It is possible that true blue early Series I front parking lamp housings DID have the hole also plugged with a rubber cap. There is a flat spot, however, where one could be drilled and installed. I've been told that these bulbs were only 5W bulbs, and were powered independently of the ignition circuit, with only one side being activated at any one time. The purpose of these lights was a requirement by Japanese Law that required the traffic side of a vehicle to be illuminated at night. Interestingly enough, in Washington State that law still applies on roadways without street lights, although whether it is enforced or not is questionable. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Good Luck on the project. Sounds like a lot of work, but if it turns out sharp it was worth it. 2¢ Enrique

Remove the ignition lock assembly from the car and take it to a locksmith. Sometimes they can work miracles and get you fixed. However, there is no guarantee prior to going in. From what you posted, it seems as though you may be having difficulty in removing the lock assembly from the steering column. Look on the left hand side, you should see 4 "rivet" looking things if they haven't been removed previously. Those are breakaway security screws. You can try drilling them out, or use a screw ez-out, although some people have reported success by using a Dremel tool to cut a notch in the head and then using a regular flat head screwdriver. The key point is they ARE screws, and can be removed accordingly. Once you are ready to replace them, you can buy replacement breakaways but most people find them to be a PITA and just use regular screws. 2¢ Enrique

Those are reflections of light from the original picture. Look at these pictures of That Ozzy Guy's Featured Car and you'll see a similar reflection: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=9353&password=&sort=7&thecat=500 http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4160&password=&sort=7&thecat=500 As far as I know, there isn't any kind of light available off the shelf to do what you are referring to. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

A Factory Shop Manual along with the Microfiche CD that you can get from this site and you have the bulk of information on how to disassemble, what parts are involved and tons of diagrams to do it with. Many questions that have been asked and answered here are found in the FSM. The Microfiche covers the bulk of many others. Only when we get to Datsun-Fever's post of whether Kibbles 'N Bits or Purina is the best food to put in your tail pipe do we get stumped. 2¢ Enrique

Now Stephen, don't be mean! Enrique

Something that causes a lot of problems and can be overlooked until many other things have been tried is the Vacuum Advance Mechanism in the distributor. Take the cap off the rotor, and using the hose that connects to the vacuum solenoid pot, suck on it to create a vacuum. You should see the insides of the distributor rotate a few degrees. When you release the vacuum, it should return to where it was before. Both of these travels should be SMOOTH and not jerky. Below the point plate there is a plastic plate that houses a few ball bearings. These are notorious for drying up and cracking, releasing the ball bearings and causing the vacuum advance mechanism to not work properly. 2¢ Enrique

If you are referring to the RED car at the top left, then the headlights are the standard all 72-78 Z headlights. The Side Markers are also standard for the same years. The "turn" signals you see below and on the bumper I think are actually a pair of AMBER FOG lamps. The bumper makes it hard to detect if the standard turn/park lights are below the headlight buckets. The White Car (behind the chicks, and your power of concentration is amazing) has the same style of headlights and side marker lights. You CAN see the turn / park lights below the bumper and the headlight bucket. Whether the car has fog lamps or not is not noticeable. The car DOES have the Bumper Overriders or Bumperettes mounted both front and rear whereas the Red car does not. If you are talking about the Ladies that are superimposed over the white car, and assuming that by "Headlights" you mean the same thing as I do, then find your local girlfriend and she should have a set you can play with. If that is not an option and you must absolutely have a pair, if I recall you can get a pair of your very own for about $3-4,000 depending on size. :cheeky: If on the other hand, you are referring to a completely different set of headlights, could you explain? Enrique

If you are going to use the primer as a "stop-rust" item, be aware that primer is in fact, porous. If that is your intent, then get some paint with it as well. The key thing in choosing the primer is being aware of what you will be topcoating it with later. If as I stated above, it is only a temporary coat, any primer will do, just be sure to apply a paint of the same brand/type as the primer. Then when you go to apply the final paint job, then have the whole car sanded and primed with the appropriate primer for the paint to be used. This is to avoid problems with the paint either immediately after painting or later down the road when the paint completely cures. 2¢ Enrique