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That's some beautiful jewelry!!! Really impressive work there. 👍👍

Nope....good explanation. How much caster are you shooting for, if you don't mind me asking? I'm guessing that remaking your steering rack adapters is a lot easier than making custom steering knuckles, as long as you can maintain clearance between the rack adapters and engine peripherals? One thing I found when adding adjustable steering arms/knuckles and adjustable tie rod ends...using offset bump-steer spacers gave me extra clearance between the tie rod ends and the rims. Kind of like thick wheel spacers, without all the negative impacts of using thick wheel spacers. Without the offset, I would have had significant interference between the tie rod ends and my rims (15" diameter), like you described in your option #3 above. T3's new "evolved" design even has multiple mounting positions to tailor the amount of offset to one's specific needs. I think I've got some spare 3/4" bumpsteer spacers (plain straight/non-offset) lying around -- you're welcome to them for the cost of shipping. LMK. Thanks for the additional info!

Bummer, Clark…sorry to hear all that. You do one thing, and it affects ten other things. And the more custom you make it, the worse it gets! ☹️ At your convenience, would you mind elaborating a little on the control arm and steering geometry being “wrong”? (Causes, planned fixes, etc?) Good luck with all the sorting!

Wow, that is some really impressive custom work! Well done, Sir (and thank you for sharing!!). If cost-effective, I could easily see you filling a niche market need, as Clark suggested.

Off topic, but I'd be interested to see some more pics of that sway bar setup. Can't say I've ever seen that setup on the rear of a Z car. Strange chassis buckling for sure, from your pictures; but fixable. Bring it to a chassis shop for measuring and straightening (if necessary).

You might have more success if you post this in the "Parts Wanted" section: https://forums.hybridz.org/forum/73-parts-wanted/ If no one here has any available, they are available all over FB Marketplace and eBay. You can also purchase them new/refurbed from several vendors (ZCarDepot, etc). T3 even offers some slick bolt-in CV axles that are remove and replace for the original half-shafts: https://technotoytuning.com/nissan/260z/long-nose-r180r200-cv-axles-240260280z

Cary/Randall- I think that was likely my fault. My apologies; but many thanks for fixing it. Cheers, John

Oh man….that’s a huge bummer, Ben. Glad you’re ok, and the underlying structure’s ok — but it’s still a bummer to see. How long are you expecting repairs to take? Curious what kind of dyno was used? Glad to hear you’re happy with the new motor. Don’t hesitate to ask if you’re needing bits & pieces for the rework.

Got it. Something for your consideration…IMO, that style thick-spoke wheel often “appears” to have less offset (ie, shallower dish) than many other wheels designs of the same offset. Unless you’re set on keeping those Rotas, you could consider a different wheel of zero offset and achieve that look you’re striving for. Food for thought… Another option to help with the fender clearance issue — more negative camber on all four corners.

Sorry, I may be misunderstanding what you’re trying to achieve. Do you want a look that has a deeper dish or a shallower dish? Positive offset gives you a shallower dish, which is what I thought you were hoping to achieve. My bad if I misunderstood. Sounds like you don’t want to go the route of fender flares, since you’re talking about rolling the fenders even more? Regarding handling…offset (by itself) doesn’t really factor, unless it makes a difference in vehicle track width. A wider track will generally improve a car’s stability and overall handling (assuming all other factors equal). Negative offset can give you more room on the inside for bigger brakes. Many of the OTS big brake kits on the market today advertise possible interference with 15” wheels and smaller. Hope this helps.

If your 15x8, et0 wheels are almost rubbing on the outer fender sheet metal, then 15x9, -13 will definitely have major interference issues….negative offset will create a deeper “dish”. Sounds like you may want to look at wheels with some positive offset, but be careful that they don’t have interference with the strut tubes on the inside (assuming that you’re running stock-diameter strut springs). There are dozens of threads here on this exact topic; have you already reviewed them and not found a suitable solution?

Are you looking for something like this? https://www.silverminemotors.com/products/wilwood-120-12069-wilwood-120-12070-caliper-cable-emergency-brake If you prefer to piece together your own system, several vendors offer separate hardware components (e.g. cables, brackets, etc) and the owner (i.e. you) has to source calipers separately. Finally, one of the members here is selling these: Hope this helps.

Good to see you’re still going strong! Enjoyed seeing you run on “Street Outlaws”…I think it was a couple years ago?

That’s kind of an open-ended question. If you’re just looking for 15x8 wheels with 4x114 lug pattern, they’re readily available from dozens of vendors. You’ll need to know what offset you want. And do you have a specific budget? New wheels can range in price from $100 to thousands of dollars per wheel. You’ll need to be more specific in your post if you’re looking for a specific wheel brand, wheel style, wheel material, etc, etc. Are you only interested in Mini Lites??

Kind of hard to understand the situation without the actual wiring diagram you’re using…but I’ll give it a shot. Is your “constsntly live wire” supposed to be connected to unswitched 12V? If so, your windshield wiper washer motor is not a good source— that’s a switched circuit, as Bradman pointed out. (However, it should still be providing 12V to the relay once the car is running, so I don’t know if that’s really the root of your problem.). I suspect your problem may be the relay. How many pins does it have, and was it provided as part of the fan kit? Finally, have you tested the fan by connecting directly to 12V just to ensure that it’s operating properly?

There are actually quite a few threads threads here on this exact topic; this is just one example, but a quick search will yield several results. https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/67531-ac-delcogm-alternator-swap-part-2-cs144-installation/ There are also several discussions, same topic, on ClassicZCars.com if you're unable to find a solution that you like here.

And to tag on to what @AydinZ71 said...you really don't need to replicate the exact shape of the original sheetmetal for that area. Any repair that enables you to maintain the original mounting point for the seat belt assembly will be fine. However, please pay particular attention to that mounting point! Ensure that its strength and integrity has not been compromised by the rust, or by whatever repairs you implement.

That's the "pocket" for the floor mounting of the seat belt system. I can't say that I've seen any suppliers for a replacement panel of that particular piece. You may want to search for owners parting out their car, and pay them to cut that piece out for you....very common practice. Or you could just fab your own replacement piece, as you mentioned. IIRC, it's a thicker gauge sheetmetal there than the surrounding areas. Good luck with it!

@73 datsun 1600, you might have more luck if you post your question in a forum that is oriented towards the Datsun Roadster (or any forum geared towards 4 banger Datsuns.) This is a Z car forum.

Following! Thx, Bart.

@Ben280, Pm’ed you. Thx.

Excellent…good luck with your resto!!

Will these work for you? https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978 Also, if you need the FSM....they can be downloaded free for all years at: http://www.xenonzcar.com/s30/fsm.html

Cool stuff! Thx for putting the effort in to produce these. Wouldn’t be surprised if vendors like MSA and ZCarDepot wanted to carry these as stock items. (And at the risk of stating the obvious, don’t forget to advertise them on the Datsun FB pages! 😜).

Yes. If you have the stock 240 strut isolators in the rear, you can swap them out for the taller 280-style rear isolators (which were approx 1-1.5” taller than the shorter 240-style rear isolators, IIRC). Looking at your pictures, I’m wondering if your exhaust can be tucked up higher yogi e you more ground clearance. What’s the ride height of your rocker sections?