dmoralesbello Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Super clean and detailed !! I bet you get non stop thumbs up and compliments whenever you drive it. Purists can kiss butt !! LOL! That puts a smile on my face! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) Engine is purring like a kitten. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oadiq7RXv6A Edited June 26, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 3, 2016 Author Share Posted July 3, 2016 Drained the coolant, flushed the radiator and changed my old hoses for silicone replacements. Also installed the trim plate around the heater hoses at the firewall. Still have a bunch of more fasteners and brackets to refinish but I'll do that a bit at a time so I can continue to drive and enjoy the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 Changed the front turn signal lenses to a set of "light smoked" set and put in the LED "switchback" bulbs. These bulbs provide dual functions: a very bright white driving light AND amber turn signals/ hazard lights when activated. There is a momentary (0.25 seconds) pause in between functions which is normal for these bulbs. I really like the look of the white driving lights in the stock turn signal location. Together with the LED headlights it gives the front of the car an updated appearance, increased visibility and more lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 Changed the front turn signal lenses to a set of "light smoked" ones from Klearz and put in the LED "switchback" bulbs. These bulbs provide dual functions: a very bright white driving light AND amber turn signals/ hazard lights when activated. There is a momentary (0.25 seconds) pause in between functions which is normal for these bulbs. I really like the look of the white driving lights in the stock turn signal location. Together with the LED headlights it gives the front of the car an updated appearance, increased visibility and more lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 (edited) Took my center instrument cluster out once again. Wanted to put in my recently acquired calendar clock and decided (while I was at it ) to do something else I've been wanting to do for a while: paint the needles fluorescent orange to match the second hand on the calendar clock. Here are the pictures although I couldn't get rid of the reflection coming off the buffed lenses. I'll have them back in the dash by the end of the weekend along with the LED conversion for the map light. Edited July 14, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two40zjunky Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Very cool read on your project. It looks awesome and fun as hell to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 (edited) Very cool read on your project. It looks awesome and fun as hell to drive. Thanks! Lots of work but definitely rewarding. Edited July 8, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Instruments (with orange needles and calendar clock) are back in and working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Simple but cool: LED conversion for the map light from http://datsun-240z-upgrades.net/ Edited November 12, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotham22 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I have to say I love all the work you did. You can tell a lot of thought went into this and then came all the hard work. It is truly a great car and I enjoyed reading your posts. If you have some time could you please post some more info regarding the led turn signals and tailights? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 I have to say I love all the work you did. You can tell a lot of thought went into this and then came all the hard work. It is truly a great car and I enjoyed reading your posts. If you have some time could you please post some more info regarding the led turn signals and tailights? Thanks Thanks Gotham. There's been lots written in this and other Z forums regarding the LED conversions. As soon as I get a chance I'll pm you with some details. It's pretty simple and gives the car a whole new look but keeps the retro coolness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 So I wasn't very happy with the unfinished look of the front air dam vent inlets (brake cooling ports) although I very much like the overall shape of the air dam. I decided to make a couple of grill plates that would tidy up those vents and perhaps keep a few pebbles away from my discs. Bought some black powder coated aluminum grill plate in a diamond pattern (0.5 inch) and cut them to shape using a couple of templates taken from inside the air dam. Surprise: they are not very symmetrical! Wrapped the edges with vulcanizing rubber electrical tape, heated with a heat gun to seal the edges of the tape, and glued them onto the back of the air dam. Really simple and now I'm really satisfied with the way those vents look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) I had gotten a set of JDM tail lights from a Classic Z Car forum member a couple of months ago and finally got around to installing them. Unfortunately when I closely inspected them I noticed several rusted studs that I couldn't change out. My OEM tail lights, in contrast, were in perfect shape so I took the jump and decided to remove the amber lens from the JDM set, remove the lower red lens from my stock set and swap them. Used the oven method, heating to 150 degrees F for 10 minutes which liquifys the glue and allows the careful removal of the lens. Sounds and is simple but scary nonetheless! To re-install you heat the glue again and set in the new lens. To restore the brilliance of the lenses I buffed them with a red Scotch wool and then applied 2 coats of clear. Cleaned up all the wiring as well. Edited October 28, 2018 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 JDM tail lights installed and working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 (edited) Finally decided to pull the speedo and tach for a refresh (polish lenses again and paint the needles fluo orange) to match the work I had previously done on the center cluster instruments. Usually pulling these instruments is pretty easy but in my case (since I have the Power Z steering kit installed) I had to drop the steering column and power steering motor to be able to access the bolts that hold the tach and speedo from beneath. A bit more work but it went quite well once the electric power steering motor was out of the way. Should have them back in the car tomorrow. Edited November 12, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 Since I have the dash apart to work on the instruments, I decided to change the simple LED bulb in the HVAC control panel for a strip of LEDs. The single bulb gave me very little illumination compared to that in the rest of the instruments so something had to be done . I used a couple of 3" LED strips and adapted the correct base so it's just plug 'n play. I used aluminum tape to cover the sides of the inside of the case to increase reflection and disperse light a little more so as to avoid hot spots of light. I really like the results and it should look great with the rest of the instrumentation. I'll put it back in the car tomorrow along with the speedo and tach and post finished pics. Here are pics of the process: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeko Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Very nice attention to detail. I wish I had the time to do what you are doing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 Freshened tach and speedo are back in as well as the hvac control panel. Tough to get a proper picture of the latter but you can get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoralesbello Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 (edited) Took the Z out to it's first meet post restoration at Cars and Coffee in Palm Beach today. It was a perfect 150 mile ride with great weather, excellent music, my 14 year old son and lots of great cars. The reaction to the car was fantastic and got to meet a couple of the guys from the South Florida Z Car Group. Doesn't get much better than that. Edited August 8, 2016 by dmoralesbello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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