Swiss two-become-one 240Z Ground up restauration / JDM mods

[rossman]

Interesting that the wrenches are SAE, weird. 

[grannyknot]

2 hours ago, rossman said:

Interesting that the wrenches are SAE, weird. 

That is very strange, they would be useless on 240z.  The only bolt that might be Imperial is the seat belt anchor bolt. 

Nice kit though.

[jdmjunkies.ch]

I thought the same... not sure how this came. not even sure if they're original parts for the Z, since i got them with a big parts lot.. still have to figure out all the details...

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today i visited a Datsun friend and picked up some parts like these rear window rubbers:

A used Door mirror (mine came without those)

A set of NOS Window insulators:

A NOS transmission boot rubber:

And a bunch of catalogues. The orange one is a 1972 belgian catgalogue and the other one is a french one. But the on on the top right is the really rare one i car about.

It's the very early March 1971 Swiss sales brochure. I have never seen this one (with US-spec car) before. The later one with the red euro spec car is much more common.

Inside you find the usual press photos and information. nothing special.

On the rear the Monte Carlo rallye 1971 is used to promote the sportiness of the Z. Mind the monte carlo rallye was held only about 6 weeks before this brochure was released.

What is also interesting is the paper. It has a texture like the 240Z Vinyl dashboard and has a very exklusive feel. Nice score!

[jdmjunkies.ch]

So a few days ago i was able to pick up the remaining parts from the Big "Barn find lot" The owner  had kept three boxes of various fasteners for the 240Z for himself, since he had to assemble his car first. This is what is left over. All nicely cleaned and with a fresh coat of zinc and yellow passivated:

 

The parts are nicely split up into "random fasteners":

 

Metric bolts and self-cutting screws

 

Nuts and shims:

 

So that "sub-project" is now completed as well. Not sure however if those parts really all belong to the 240Z. Some of them don't seem familier.. but that doesn't matter i'm sure they find their place

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Well thanks to an input from a datsun group i found an Oil pan i've been searching for for a while. Last time i lost the Auction, but this time i was better prepared, and today it finally showed up at my doorstep:
The Promodet L6 Large capacity oil Pan:

The manufacturer, Promodet Japan, is still active today, but is a well-known porsche tuner these days. I've seen those oil pans a few times in Japan, but they seem pretty rare.
I wonder if anybody has mor information on their S30 / 240Z parts lineup they used to have? Old catalogue pages, advertising, etc anyone? would love to see the cars they used to belong to, and what else they offered.

It is made from cast Aluminum and has an additional baffle plate, something that looks like small cooling fins and an additional plug for an Oil temperature sensor.
I think the Blue fitting is not the original one, so i will try to find a plug that suits the whole thing better.

Also the original drain plug seems pretty worn out. Luckily i have a new Nissan magnetic drain plug, which will go there:

Here's a look at the baffle pan on the inside:

It has some wear and tear here and there, but still seems to be in quite good shape:

And for those wondering: here's a size comparison of the original 240Z oil Pan to the Promodet pan:

Thanks to the person who pointed me to the pan!

[jdmjunkies.ch]

A while ago i decided to get myself a complete, original toolkit for the Z, just for completeness sake. In part 1 of the story, i got my first items, but i realized that some of the tools where not from the Z as they where not metric. It's nothing high on my bucket list, but when i see something for sale locally and the price is ok, i try to get it. So this is why i got a few things in front of my door today, all the way from a german 240Z owner. Still have to figure out if all the pieces are really from the 240Z, or maybe one or another item is from another car, but at least it seems to be a step closer to completeness. most of the tools are not in a great optical shape, but that can be handled i guess.. for now i just put them in storage. i have other priorities with the car atm

So what did i get? Well the scissors jack, wheel nut wrench, two of the wrenches and the red handles.

It all needs a bit of cleaning, but i somehow like the original patina and all the original stickers are still there:

Oh and since the seller had this for sale too and it was missing on my car, i asked for the Spare-tire mounting kit too. One piece more in the puzzle

[jdmjunkies.ch]

You may have realized by now that the project is a bit on hold by now. The reason is i took over a management role in my job, and besides i'm also studying management. Good thing is after some first chaos i've settled in my new position and things are getting calmer and then i have my exams soon, so after that i have finally much more free time  (after 2 years of school = home-study in the evenings and school on the weekends). The plan is to  jump right back at where the project stopped aroun april 2022 and go full throttle. i really want to complete this build and i have so many nice parts in stock to go on the car. But from time to time you have to treat yourself with some small gimmicks to keep your brain active on the project.
The first thing i got was a contactor set, which was for sale NOS locally and cheap. How could i say no? It's kind of funny to see the mitsubishi logo on the genuine Nissan part

Also  got this nice german book about the Z. It seems to be a quite well researched book compared to most others (in german).

They even got the Goertz story right, i ncluding a print of the letter that nissan sent to him about the design:

And then got myself a RAL colour chart. Why you might ask? well I'll show you that in a coming update. and NO, the car won't be painted in any of those colors

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Keen readers might remember i was collecting parts to puzzle together an original, complete tool kit. With my first orders i got some wrong parts and some were still missing. Thanks to a tip from my Datsun-Mate Dan. i recently found this kit with the exact missing parts for sale in UK. Naturally i had to get it. So this is what arrived today:

An original Nissan branded pliers, along with a double-headed screwdriver

And s et of wrenches. This time metric ones and not inch-based sizes. I still have to check all the details. But i guess with my previous purchases the kit is complete now.

More parts are somewhere on a container outside japan now. so expect more updates soon (might still take a few weeks until they're here)

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Some weeks ago i got in contact again with Kris, the guy who bought a few parts from me,  including my first, white S30 Chassis.
He's currently building a crazy Blow-through turbo S30 (more on that when it gets closer to completion) with all tricks and gimmics and a lot of custom fabrication, which includes a custom cast Turbo surge tank. For that reason he once bought some surge tanks from Japan to use as inspiration for his own design. Luckily he doesn't need them anymore, so they were up for sale. And even though i don't need them at all, who am i to turn down an offer on such cool and rare vintage tuning parts? So i went to their garage yesterday and picked up all of this. What a score:

The lot includes a set of 80'ies blow-through surge tanks:

The first one is more commonly know. the SK compe turbo aka Sanyo-kiki Turbo surge tank:

This surge-tank acts as an intake manifold champer to the careburretors with an turbo attached to it. Yes, these where the very first and early turbo kit designs:

Ther second one, which i've never seen before is from the same era, but it's a JKC - Japan King charger surge tank, which was used together with a supercharger.
 

The design is very similar to other brands like HKS, but has those unique fins on it. The basic working principle is slighty different to. the one above uses a kind of "baffle plate" inside, while this one has a cast chamber inside.

Oh and he also had a huge bunch of Carboy and other vintage tuning magazines on hand, which he lend to me. There is a lot of advertizing and information on these turbo and supercharger kits in there. So i will try to complete my post about the different intake manifolds and turbo / supercharger surge tanks for the L6 engine with the latest informatino i got now. Thanks Kris for the Hospitality, and see you soon!

[jdmjunkies.ch]

I've been crazy busy at work and education, and i'm also working a bit on the big garage / Workshop update and a little refreshing work for the Honda. But more on that soon on this site.
I still managed to get some small things done for the Datsun here and there. Like (finally) ordering those Datsun Mikuni / PHH44 Carb insulators, which showed up a few days ago:

They came from Nissan USA, with a little help from a local chap. Thanks again!

They were once offered under a different partnumber in the option catalogues and i'm not entirely shure they're exactly the same, but they fit perfectly and are OEM nissan items, so i'm perfectly fine with those.

[jdmjunkies.ch]

I recently collected a few different Carb insulator setups. mainly  just because i first got the wrong ones, and then some more


Left to right. Original Datsun PHH44, but for the U-series (Fairlady) Engine, PHH44 L-series replica, PHH40 (L-series) Replica:

 

The main difference between the U and L-shaped items are a slight offset in the stud position (see left)

 

What also came in one of those deliveries was a set of NOS rocker arms. Not sure if i will need them, but as you know i can't resist whenever NOS parts get offered:

 

So my "fun" Motor intake side setup is nearing completion. I meanwhile have enough parts to build one standard and one "sport" motor.

Also just got a call today that a pallette of parts on the way from japan will arrive next week in the Port of Rotterdam, before being delivered to switzerland (Just as the Datsun parts and cars, back in the days)...
So i'm quite excited

[jdmjunkies.ch]

The big Sea-freight shipment from Japan, which arrived last week and constisted mainly Honda Parts, also included something nice for the Datsun Project. A set of Seats:

Seats? Why more seats? Longtime readers might know i spent quite some time and money on finding "vintage" japanese seats - and i ended up buying Bride histrix seats.
I really like them, but they never really looked that oldschool. They're new seats with a vintage touch.
So when i found a set of genuine japanese Autolook type A Seats for sale recently i had to get them. And personally i think they fit the car perfect, At least for my "Japanese street tuner" Style setup.
Here shown withot seat rails, so final position will be slightly higher.

 

Luckily i still fit into them, allthough i shouldn't gain a lot of weight Here's a comparison between the bride and the Autolook. I think the bride's look way to modern with the glossy Carbon fiber bucket shell on the back. Also it won't be suitable for racing harnesses and has no headrests, so not exactly safe.
And the shoulder "wings" also make the fitment in the Z a bit tight, even tho they DO fit. Personally i just think the Autolook is more authentic and the shape just fits better in my opinion.


Now for a little history: In the early 80ies a Japanese Company named Autolok started to build these seats, called type A. It was one of the first Japan made racing seats. Here's an advertizment in the 1983 carboy magazine:


And here another one from the same area:
 
 

The Autolook brand is now owned by the japanese company Latirips, which still makes racing gloves etc under that name. Amon Classic cars used to make the Autolook type A Replica seats (with black instead of yellow buckets) under licence of Latirips, but while still shown on their website, they're sold out since many years.
But since i got the originals one i don't want the replicas anyway. As you've seen they're a bit worn, to say the least, so they'll also need a bit of reupholstry. but in my opinion these seats are just the perfect ones for my build. And don't worry i still have my original Z-seats if i ever want to switch back to original.

[rossman]

Nice find!  Those definitely look at home in the s30. Are they comfortable?

Edited December 21, 2021 by rossman

[jdmjunkies.ch]

14 hours ago, rossman said:

Nice find!  Those definitely look at home in the s30. Are they comfortable?

In my opinion rally comfortable. i mean they're a tight fit. but an 1,80m tall, 80kgs person fits perfectly and the holes for the racing harnesses are just above the shoulders. so that fits too.
 

Recently i ran into a NOS lot for sale again. Turns out a still active Nissan dealership in germany is cleaning out his parts warehouse and wanted to get rid of all the old parts without any stock movement. Well, i signed up for the whole package and got the deal.
It were not exactly many parts, but some really nice scores and some parts are not very common to find NOS.

I checked the partnumbers beforehand and all of them are definitely S30 parts. but not all might be correct for my 240Z. Nevertheless, i got a good package deal, so i took all of them.
The first one is an exchaust front pipe. It has a few scratches from storage, bot otherwise completely NOS with the factory sticker still there:

Then an original L-series Oil pan. in excellent shape (Except it needs a bit of dedusting)


Front lower control arm. I think the Partno. was listed for the 260Z, but i couldn't see any difference on the first glimpse. i'll have to re-check:

These are pretty cool: NOS rear bumper mounting brackets:
 

A set of genuine Akebono rear drum brake shoes:


And a set of genuine rear strut inserts (replacement units):

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today i had my Datsun-Mate Dan over for a visit and as usual we exchanged a few documents and things that we've collected for each other over the last few months. today i got some nice things from him:

First of all a few early swiss Datsun pricelists, including the ones which were missing in my collection. Like one of the very first ones from 1968! Now i'm finally ble to put the complete series of pricelists from 1968 to 1979 online!

Then i've got a bit of a curiosity: a Datsun branded Padlock. I first thought it was a random engraved lock like you can buy it at many places, but Dan said he had a second set which looks exactly the same, and what is also interesting is that the "Datsun" name is not only engraved in the Lock itself (easy to make), but also cast into the keys, which makes it more likely something either officially sold by Nissan / Datsun or something from a local marketing campaingn or at least something from a big 3rd party supplier. Nice to have anyway

Last but not least he once ordered a set of Air intake box repro-stickers and was kind enough to order a set for me too. The biggest sticker doesn't belong to our european 240Z's, so i'll only need the other ones. still good to have, as my original ones are looking bad.

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Today i got an odd little NOS piece set in my mailbox. I found these turn signals a while ago in Germany. 

When i checked the part numbers, i realized the European Microfiches say it's a "West germany" Spec part.

1x Left side 26165-N3600 and 1x right side 26160-N3600. This made me even more curious, so i got them.

I'm not sure why they're different. Must probably have been some local law or regulation (Similar to the french taillights), which required different blinkers.
Here is a comparison of three different types.
Left: West germany".  It has a tilted rubber piece, for a more angled turn signal, and a long tail connecting cable.
Center: Original ones that came on my 1972 swiss (european spec) cars, with straight rubber. Unfortunately the cable was cut, so i have no reference here.
Right: Some asian Turn signal reproductions with a short tail cable and different connector and "straight" rubber.
 

I wish i could find out the reason behind this. An odd and probably rare piece. Nice to have in my collection.

[jdmjunkies.ch]

When i got my "west germany" Spec turn signals last week, i went through my own parts to compare them, and realized i have everything ready to assemble a nice pair of restored ones. A perfect task for a saturday morning. so i got everything ready and started the project:

From the three complete sets i have, i realize only one of the amber lenses was still without cracks:

What a difference a little cleanup in warm soap water makes:

Then i cleaned the rubberpieces and chrome trim with a bit of warm water too and had the rubber seals greased up with a bit of petroleum grease (Vaseline) and the chrome trim cleaned and polished with my secret weapon called "Metarex"


And here we go, everything cleaned uo and assembled. looks like almost new. I will probably take one of the lenses from the "west germany" spec signals, as they're exactly the same. but until then, i just keep them as they are. Oh andi need new bulbs, the old ones are both quite corroded and i want some nice ones

[jdmjunkies.ch]

Good news. The Z project is back! Well it was never gone and i've been continuously working on it, but due to an management education i had on the weekend for the past two years, a big step forward in my job and many other things in life, the project was progressing much slower than i wished. But i'm a guy to make long-term plans and i've always had the plan to get things done when life allows me to. So here we are. My school is completed. Well i still have my exams in mid april so i'm working hard on that, but until then that and my job will still occupy most of my free time. The advantage of my new job position is that i earn some more money and in the meantime i've saved some especially to complete this project. I've also really longing to get back into the garge and get my hands greasy. Over the past weeks i've been looking for a bodyshop to complete the work. The old one was OK, but there was a bit of a difficulty when it came to communication and it was always a side-project for the bodyshop, which was earning money with small repairs, insurrance cases and fixer-upper projects of US-cars. He had a strong history in japanese cars, but i had the feeling he lost a bit of interest in my project. The other thing is - he was a talented panel-beater, but didn't have the tools himself, so whenever he had to bend some sheetmetal, he had to go to his friends shop. this was time consuming and i had the feeling i paid for much of it. So i decided instead to go to a more upperclass Oldtimer specialist, which usually deals with cars in a different price range. I was asking around and got some good tips. Finally i have a nice bloke coming over to check out the car and details in the coming days. we'll see how that turns out. so far i have a very good feeling. But i also started to collect all the panels required to complete the project

Yes, puzzle time Only the box section on the LH side is missing, but i hope the panelbuilder can make this himself.

Labor is expensive in switzerland, so i decided to get these ready-made patch panels from the US, to delete the US-spec turn signal holes on the US spec rear quarter panel, which i got. Why pay a dude an hour of work to measre and create such a panel, i can buy a ptch piece for 20 bucks?

Additionally a collected a few NOS items from some nice guys.- like an original hood hinge:

And a complete choke cable assembly (ok, this one isused, but in almost mint condition!):

and some more parts. Engine gasket kit, Starter solenoid, Rectifier diode, SU carb gasket kit and a wheel bearing:

I also (again) bought a nice set of vintage swiss Datsun stickers. You may have seen them before, but the special one in this set is the white one:

Its from the early 70ies and the slogan "Datsun bringt neue Werte" (Datsun brings new values) was used on many of the original Swiss Datsun (240Z) Documentation:

I also found this nice swiss Datsun keychain from the early eighties. it was cheap, so i had to have it

From the same era is this 1984 Datsun / Nissan brochure, which i will use for my Datsun switzerland chronicles story which i'm working on. The swiss Prince / PMC Mikado pricelist from 1966 has already been added to the "Prince" part of the story

For the coming "commercial vehicle" chapter, i obtained a few nice and rarer brochures of commercial vehicles, like this datsun Homer, King-cab, Urvan, and Vanette brochures:

That's it for today. I have some more documents for the story on the way currently, and also a nice JDM-only piece for the Z is on the way from Japan. so stay tuned for more news soon...

[jdmjunkies.ch]

KFVintageJDM has been pushing out new panels almost weekly. i saw they now even released a whole damn reproduction rear quarter panel! Something many people have been looking for for a long time!

One of the lately released parts are the inner rocker seatbelt mount's. I'm  not even sure if i need those, but since they were available, i added them to the package.

I got myself a partial firewall. I only need the lower section, which is quite messed up in my car, but thought it might be easier to have something to work with than make it from scratch:

As you can see on the left the part that is inside the fender is pretty messed up with various welds, rust, bondo and whatnot, so it's definitely good to have a replacement.

More news tomorrow and next week again...