A to Z

After noticing my temp was a bit higher than optimum via the dash temp gauge, I decided to embark upon installing a shroud in the hopes of dropping the operating temp of my engine. After looking online, I decided on the Shroud being sold by Motorsport Auto "The Z Store" . It is a copy of the factory shroud, but made in fiberglass. It is a nice piece, very smooth and has a nice shine to the gel coat. After much thought, I decided to make it a shroud I could install around the fan setup in the car so I wouldn't have to everything apart to get it on. The shroud came without the mounting holes NOT being drilled. So I cut the shroud into 4 pieces, and began determining where to drill the mounting holes. I ended up "wallowing" out the holes to I could have some movement in getting each of the 2 major side pieces mounted. Mounting screws...I was able to find some nice round head allen bolts and washers in my stash to make it looh good! I then started using plate aluminum I had kept from previous projects to make mounting pieces for the top and bottom pieces to join, and used basic 6/32 hardware to make it happen. The aluminum pieces were treated to a polishing, via my polishing attachemnt in my electric drill and the use of Mother's Mag Wheel Aluminum Polish. I was able to then go about adjusting and marking to get everything attached and when done, it was secure..... but the looks of it from the top were not what I had hoped for. So, I then cut and fabricated an aluminum cover piece for the top. I polished it out like I had the smaller pices and then attached across the top. Once finished I can see the slight marks from the metal shears ont he edges, which I will go back over with my ball peen hammer and a re-polish at a later time....I will of course have to mask it off as I polish it, but as far as being complete, it is done. Driving impressions after install are that it DID in fact lower operating temps. The TEMPO gauge needles used to be at 5 O'Clock, now it is just a hair past straight down, 6 O'clock! In the pics you can see I had to use some wire to hold the top up so as to clear tha fan for the drive tonight to a local car meet. The car attracted attention as it always seems to and many very nice compliemnts were had. I will have to also make a bracket on the top to hold it up so the fan clears the shroud. The pics attached should cover it. All in all, this is something any Z owner can do, if they don't ahve a shroud, and would like to give their engine a bit more cooling. Cheers!

Geez, thanks for saying something....I got the posts crossed! Appreciate the kind words. I don't need water tight, as the car is just a "nice day" toy!

Random pics of the Z today. Some engine pics and the old girl sitting in the parking lot at ACE while I run an errand. Fun car to scoot around town in.

Today I did my headlight cover project. I bought these clear covers from MSA (Motorsport Auto "The Z Store"). Cost was about 100 bucks. Because the rubber that goes around the edges of the covers adds a color I didn't want with the look of my car, I decided to forgo it, and just mout them up with a bit of an air gap around them. If I wanted to later, I could tape off the cover edge and the car edge, run a bead of clear silicone caulk, smooth it with a finger and then remove the tape to have a clean line only wide enough to fill the gap and let it dry....but I will see how this works first. If I want to wash the car and not get water in there, I could also quickly cover the gap with masking tape, wash the car and then remove the tape. They are made so you can use the tape to mount them, and I tried that, but then decided to go ahead and drill holes and I used the supplied chrome head screws they came with. Here are some install pics:

I decided to tackle another little project I had to do today. I bought some chrome decal material a while back, and I decided to finish the innder door panels where the "chrome" stripe is supposed to be. My original stripe's chrome was long gone, and when I had finished the panel I intially wasn't going to try and do the chrome, but having the decal material here, I decided to give it a go. I measured the length and cut it so it was a bit wider than needed, and then got some 3M aerosol adhesive. I then installed and used a sharp razor blade to cut them to the right size, then used the aerosol adhesive on them where additional "stick" was needed. Once done, I carefully used a rag with somne denatured alcohol on it to wipe off any glue residue.

UPDATE: Thanks. S30World has a few new gas tanks for sale on eBay. I just ordered one. it has the extra ports so, ill just weld them closed.....I am going to have the seams welded and possibly powdercoat the tank. Pricy, but this Z is a keeper and I don't want to have to keep dealing with fuel leaks....I'm tired of it! Also got some new rubber pads for the top to go with it.

I have been dealing with a somewhat on-going issue with the gas tank in my 72 240Z. the seam where the top and bottom parts of the tank meet has been a source of a leak. I had previously used JB Weld "Steelstick" to seal it, and it worked.....for a bit,... then the leaks came back. So, in reading online about ways to fix it, in car, I found out that POR-15 makes a sealer that comes in a tube that is supossedly a permanenet fix for a fuel leak. it is one tube that you squeeze out, and it costs 30-35 bucks! At any rate, I climbed under the car, and with a hammer and a screwdriver...1-2 wacks and the old JB weld "glob" came off (see pics). I then wiped down the area with some denatured alcohol and a rag, and then laid in the sealeant and then used a finger to smooth it out and then made sure it covered the seam and the edge and iunderneath. As they advised me, I used rubber gloves to do it, as this stuff apparently doesn't like to come off....pretty cool to finish the job, peel the glvoes off and have clean hands and no scrubbing! I have had this gas tank out, and blocked off ports and switched the fuel system over to a basic one overflow hose up and over to a breather at the end, eliminating the fumes tank that used to be in the quarter panel. It's a good tank, clean insdie and all....but the seam right at the front edge was leaking. Crossed fingers this fixes it. See pics!

Today I worked on the glove box door. After wiping it down and masking it off, I sprayed it with the same paint, the SEM interior paint in "Landau Black". I removed the original badge and will reaplce it with a new one I found at JDM-car-parts.com. Once it is here it will be all finished off, but I have a few pics to show the result. I also found out that you have to be careful when cleaning, as I cleaned off the vinyl "carbon fiber" decal portion next to the door with denatured alcohol, and it screwed up the decal, so I had to redo the decal and do a little touch up around it....some decals can handle stuff like denatured alcohol and others obviously can't, so water on these I have! See pics attached.

Stock early "A" cam, early cam towers and Yoes oil spray bar so you are on external cam oiling. Have the head completely ported out. Add boost. No reason not to have nice reliability and driveability for the 90% of the time you are driving around not spooled up. Trust me....in time you are going to get tired of cruising in 2nd gear around town, to keep the turbo spooled. I've been there.

anyone have any ideas for the glove box door?

I have ignored the lower part of my dash basically since I have had my 240Z, and I have one small circle crack, just a bit smaller than a dime, and so in thinking of ways to deal with that, I came up with this. I went online and bought a small roll of carbon fiber looking vinyl on Amazon, I figured I will make 2 panels for each side of the lower dash. I started with a tape off and a couple thin coats of SEM Laundau BLack to get the color back, then I made the patterns by taping the area, drawing out each panel and carefully taking the tape off and then sticking each piece to the vinyl and cutting them out and then installed them. This opens up a wide range of idea for you guys, and you could easily use leather and other fabrics. See pics below:

Hard to believe it is done. If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask.~Joe

Not really Datsun related, but for those who have watched my Z car build, the one car garage I used was never REALLY cleaned up. Today was the day I fixed that. I almost have room all the way around the car!

Walk around vid to go with pics above. As stated she is all done. Garage cleaned up and move forward with life now. click below for video: V1.MOV

Completion pictures taken for insurance. Posting on here as a record. Pic heavy. V2.MOV

END OF THREAD. Z CAR COMPLETED. ANOTHER ONE SAVED AND ON THE ROAD.

Today was completion day! 3 years and 27 days of "restoration". It AGED me. I worked through the winters with little to no heat, bundled up choking on body filler dust, changing out the roof skin to eliminate the sunroof, to replacing interior, to complete custom big bore stroker engine building, swap from auto to manual trans, 4:11 K case rear end, you name it. Wouldn't do it again.....plowed through just so I could have an OLD one, a '72 240Z instead of a 280Z. Whew. this is a walk around in the one car garage I built it in, with one 120V electrical socket. It proves you CAN do it if you just jump in and go! Enjoy! click below to watch video: V1.MOV

07-13-2024 UPDATE PROJECT COMPLETE 16 June 2021 to 13 July 2024, that is 3 years and 27 days. Today was wash and cleanup day. I finished all that was on the punch list. With the flares being FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) I tried, and found out that caranauba wax works even better than Armor All on the flares. Nice and shiny. The big one was the door jambs. As the pics show, it's now good to go. I can't believe she is really done. Took a few pics of the day, but this is it as far as the build. She's done.

07-06-2024 UPDATE. More flare fitting. I ended up having to trim the front lower valence on the ends.....taking them in 3/8 to 1/2 inches, and then cleanup to make them look nice. I also had one rear tire that was dragging really good on it's flare that I had to work on. Success is finishing it, with no rubbing going on, and everything looking good. I also interior painted a spot that was in need of it. The list of to do's is getting very short now. PICS.

06-29-2024 UPDATE: Today I finished getting the wheels on, with the center caps installed.....I had to drill a small hole in the front wheels , tap the holes, and use 8/32 screws to ensure the covers don't come off of the front wheels. Then I armor alled and dressed them up and went for a drive, and heard a lot of grinding, so there will be further adjustments made on the flares. Becasue my driver's side door stop on the hinge broke, I added door stops. These are leather ones with chrome brackets I found online which are made for a 1936 chevy pickup! see attached pics, they work well! This post is pic heavy. But, pics are attached.

6-23-2024 UPDATE. Wheels are still in the process of final fitment and center caps aren't on, but wanted to take a few pics of the wheels.

06-22-2024 UPDATE. Long and Busy day! This morning I took my wheels down to Big O Tires, on Austin Bluffs here in colorado springs, and got the tires mounted and balanced, I then got them home and the very long and tedious process of getting the wheels swapped out, to include ride height adjustments and some flare modifications so that the car doesn't look like it is sitting on top of the wheels, but that the wheels are tucked in looking proper. I managed to get all the wheels on, however, there will be a tad bit of work on the front flares in a spot where the tire wants to rub on turning, but otherwise it is complete! The center caps had no way of sticking to hte centers, So I used good 3M VHB tape and got them installed. I noticed that upon closer inspection the center cap paltess are held on by an actual BBS device! In the pictures you can see the roughly 2 inch higher profile the new 17" wheels have, so yep....every side had to be raised and then adjusted backand forth to get it right. Along with flare modifications to let the car sit down on the wheels. TIRED! See attachment pics!

Well, my 17" wheels arrived today. (2) 17X8.5, (2) 17x9; -36 offset. Tires are Riken 225/245 45ZR17. Center caps are about 1/8" thick, like a poker chip with the "Z" etched in and painted. As I have mentioned before, I bought these from a company in China, had them custom made....these are Forged. Can't beat the price, quality is VERY good.

06-14-2024 UPDATE: Hood pins are done. I wet sanded the touch up areas with 2000 grit sandpaper and got them to where they are smooth and decent, then polished it by hand with Meguires 205 and then a coat of Mcguires Gold paste wax (pure caranauba wax) I took several pictuers to show that the hood pins are not obtrusive at all and blend in nicely with the whole thing. See attached pics. Cheers!

06-08-2024 UPDATE: Well, i finished up my hood pins. The reason I did this, was becasue the Tri-Bar setup from Techno Toy Tuning was making it impossible for the hood to latch, every option possible to loosen things up to get it to latch, then tighten, etc. wasn't working.....then the thing I never wanted to happen occurred, the hood release cable broke. I was able to get the hood open, and it was then that I decided to remove that horror from ever happening again, so here we are. I bought the kit on Amazon for under 10 bucks, but instead of using the large diameter scuff paltes, I used Stainless Steel Washers. I then bonded them on to the hood, and then after painting underneath, used some silicone adhesive and smoothed it out with my finger, and once dry looks great! So anyway, after finishing that, there are a lot of chips in my paint....My el-cheapo paint job seems to be very susceptible to chips. So I had to go over and over each chip several times to fill the chips in and then get it higher than the surface.....once dry and hard, I can wet sand with 1500 grit wet sandpaper smooth and then hand buff out and they will be all gone. I then pulled the Z out and cleaned and re-organized the mess formerly known as the single car garage...being a rental, no money is spent on the garage, save a few bucks today to have a spot to plug in my Mom's old stereo and I then also moved everything over to that wall and did a bit of cleanup of the area. Then took a few pics of the Z in it's cleaned up abode. Took it for a ride, about 20 or so miles, everything is still getting better and better as everything continues to seat in together. Pics attached. Cheers!