gav240z

Guys just bumping this up to say I've enrolled today. There is a few spots left for anyone else looking to join.

@George - I was reading Wick Humble's book on restoring your Z last night and found that he mentioned Motorsport Auto was reproducing the Center Consoles for various years. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/40-2401 It's just the bare console (no ash tray, coin holder, or choke / trim etc..) but I spent about $100 on materials fixing mine up (granted I have lots of left over stuff also). I guess if mine packs it in, I have this is as a back up? They also have the earlier style shift boot. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic08e04/40-2502 I'm gonna ask good old mum if she can sew a new 1 for me with materials from spot light lol... $70 is a little high..

Whilst on the subject of broken bolts, is there a recommend tap and die set for working with the Z and it's bolt sizes?

Lurch what about a propane torch to heat it up? Is there any reason you use a TIG welder? A youtube video demonstrating might help me visualise what you mean exactly? I've tried removing a broken bolt with a screw extractor set, it didn't work out so well....

Oh by the way talking to Mossy (Mark) - he mentioned his sunroof was patched also but it took 20 hours of work to get the roof right. Between welding, hammering, welding, hammering, etc.. Sounded like a new roof was going to be easier. But let me consult the experts at this course (not that you guys are not experts by the way ). PS: Yes it was about the sunroof hole, there is actually hardly any visible rust in or around the top of the roof. But never know what I'll find .

Thanks for the advice guys, I just enrolled in the Tafe Course this morning so perhaps I shall wait for now? I'm really looking forward to it, unfortunately I'll miss 1 of the classes due to work trip to the US but such is life.

Hi guys, I'm eye balling this and thinking about weather or not it's possible to get a good 2 seater roof from the US http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161116613186 But I am wondering how to go about shipping it and what it would cost? What do 2 seater roof's cost over here these days? Is it even worth it? PS: I'll be in the US end of Feb for work, not sure if that would help though as it will be San Fran and this is in Washington?

I didn't think the AU market got the 2400cc valve cover. Looks like we did. Unfortunately those tai lights are probably not fixable. What is in the middle of the rear licence plate light? Never seen that bolt? Looks after market. I wonder if that 69 stamped on the back of the koito licence plate is a reference to year of manufacture? Looks like Safari Gold it is . I think your console can be fixed. Mine had cracked in same area. A bit of fibreglass on the backside of it and it should give it strength. I thought the SU screw thing was in reference to the dome top screws not the manifold itself. They could be the originals. Maybe our market didn't get them? That air con could have been an original option. Don't worry about how those carbs and valve cover looks. Polishing alloy is not too hard and will make them like new. Cadmium plate the SU throttle parts to fix those. I'm looking into DIY kits since so many z parts were plated.

Good idea, funny how they are always stated as 'no rust' or 'all rust repaired' and you get there and find that's not the case...

Send me the photos of it mate so I can see how bad it is perhaps? Have you asked how much Dashboard Restorations would charge?

If you can go and see Ando-San of TA-Auto. http://www.speedhunters.com/2010/09/event_gt_gt_ta_auto_sodegaura/ I love his 432-R tribute car. But I don't know how far he is from Rocky Auto.

Hi Alan thanks for the reply and insight into how these were produced. 1 thing I haven't done with the console and I read on a dash restoration thread is that once the paint has dried for 24 hours you can knock down the surface a bit using a scotch bright pad and then wax and degrease before giving a quick paint with a satin black paint. The duplicolor paint has a bit of a rough feel like bitumen I guess and that final step may soften the feel but leave the textured look. If you can't find duplicolor over your side of the world apparently SEM do a textured paint. I'm sure other textured paints could also work to be honest. I have another question though does Nissan still sell these early consoles or trim parts? I need these parts and so far nothing on eBay or Yahoo auctions. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,13869.0.html

and 1 other update I won some 240z 1/4 panel badges (the metal ones). http://www.ebay.com/itm/Datsun-240Z-side-pillar-emblems-/301076044479 So restoring those should be fun. $26 is a score I reakon.

And... perhaps this machine will come to our rescue... I'm going to ask around at Google if we have 1 of these machines somewhere, I'm heading to San Francisco end of Feb so maybe I can try and get access to 1 there? I think we had 1 in the Dublin Google office, at the time I didn't know what to use it for... now I know exactly what to use it for but I've already moved office *damn it*.

Hope it helps George, I figured it was a good start on my project. Something small and manageable and now my confidence has increased to dive in and give other things a go. I highly recommend it as a small project you can chip away at.

Products Used. 1. Duplicolor Truck Bed Armour. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Duplicolor-Bed-Armor-Aerosol.aspx?pid=343534#Cross 2. Fiberglass Repair Kit http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Septone-Fibreglass-Repair-Kit.aspx?pid=1638#Cross 3. Various Grits of sandpaper, 80 - 180 grit should be all you need, get a few sheets they are like $1 each.. 4. Epoxy / Plastic Weld http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Permatex-Permapoxy-5-Minute-Plastic-Weld-25mL.aspx?pid=129945#Cross 5. Wax and Grease remover. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Septone-Wax-Grease-Remover-1-Litre.aspx?pid=1418#Cross So for around $100 (give or take depending on what tools you have) you can repair a console like this. If you're attempting this yourself my final tips are: 1. Use the fiberglass matting on the underside of the early consoles, it seems to take to that side better (make sure you sand the surface and wax / grease remover before laying it down). Don't place it on the top side of the console, it doesn't adhere to the plastic so well... 2. I would try a body filler to fill those cracks / gaps. Even though I used the epoxy you can still see a couple of faint cracks under the surface of the paint. It's very hard to see, but I know they are there. I think using this kind of 'filler' would be likely to resolve that and give a better overall finish. Just don't bog it up the wazoo, thin layer is the key! 3. When painting keep the can vertical at all times and lay it on slowly in light coats, get the areas you miss on follow up coats. It comes out thick, but don't worry if you see small puddles of paint on the surface they tend to dry and go away and is the nature of the paint. 4. Use Zip / Cable ties as donor plastic and work outdoors to avoid fumes given off from the plastic. I wore a mask and worked outdoors and made sure the fumes were not coming toward me. 5. Just give it a go, I experimented with some different things that didn't work and had to sand down and start again. It was annoying but I guess I was working from a pretty badly cracked console. I looked around on eBay and Yahoo! Auctions and found a couple of viable consoles but they still had the hairline cracks in them. Then you have to factor in shipping (and potential damage) and currency conversion, broker fee's (if dealing with Yahoo! auctions) etc.. I did see a console on eBay US that looked to be restored using a similar technique, guy wanted $500+ US for it, similar 1 from Dashboard doctor in Melbourne is around $300-$400 on eBay but it's missing some trim items, like coin holder, ashtray / fuse cover, choke and throttle piece etc.. The console cost me nothing as it came with my project car, so it was really just materials. If it only lasts a few years like this, then no big deal I'll explore other options. Who knows maybe 3d printing a whole console will be a reality in 5 years time? http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Print-replacement-car-parts/ If you give it a go, please post your results!

The paint was called Duplicolor truck bed armour. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,4300.msg146155.html#msg146155 I just posted up a full recap of what I did in that sticky thread.

Ok so to conclude and follow up on what I've done for the centre console. Last time I had issues with the fibreglass setting, well when I came home it had set hard near the screw hole repair and under the side of the console (where those severe cracks were). However around the gear gaitor / boot it didn't quite take to the console properly and I ended up sanding it off and peeling the fiberglass matting away from the visible side (where the gear stick comes out of) and I left the fibreglass on the other side of the gear stick surround since it seemed to set hard on this side and provide some stability where the crack was. Since plastic welding seemed to work quite well on the top of the console along the side with all those bad cracks. I decided I'd do a combination of plastic weld / fiberglass on the underside of the gear boot. Since this area won't be obvious once it's back together I was less concerned with making it perfect. Instead of using the donor parts of the old speaker cover (seen in pics above) this time I used some cable / zip ties as plastic fodder. Simply heat the cable tie up with a soldering iron (1 you don't mind junking as a soldering iron) and as it melts gradually try to shape it and fill the gap your working with. I found that heating a small bit of plastic up, putting it into place and letting it set a little then melting it again was a good way of getting it to where I wanted it. Just gradually build it up. For the next stage I tried a variety of two part epoxy's and plastic weld products. The aim was to try and fill the hairline cracks in the console like these. Although I tried this after I had sanded, so the above photo is before any sanding took place. Once the epoxy set I sanded the surface down. The epoxy was good for making sure the plastic weld bonded to the rest of the console and it did go some way to filling the cracks. Although not as well as I'd like it to have. I would recommend that you use a small brush / tooth brush and push the epoxy glue into the cracks - I tried using an old plastic card from my wallet to spread it like butter over the cracks, but that didn't always work well... If I had my time again I'd probably try using a very thin layer of plastic bondo (bog or body filler) to fill in the gaps / cracks and smooth over the surface 100%. I'm not sure how well this would work or if it will crack in the sun, but I'll look into this again should my console need it in future. Once you're satisfied you've repaired any major cracks and gaps in your console and you're ready to move on, the next step is to sand down the console. I used 80 grit sand paper to start with to really roughen up the surface of the entire console. Then I moved on to 180 grit and went over the entire thing once again. When I was done sanding and happy I had a smooth surface (but still rough for the paint to take hold of) I rinsed down the console with a water hose to remove the excess sand / dust. Then I used a heat gun to speed up dry time. Or you could use air compressor or just leave it in the sun to dry for a while. Now using a rag and a wax and grease remover wipe down the console all over - apply with 1 rag the wax / degreaser, then with a second rag go over the area again to pick up any remaining containments. I wore some disposable rubber gloves to stop myself from getting oil from my hands on the console. Next was painting, and at first I messed up a little with the paint. I was using Duplicolor truck bed armour paint. It says on the can to spray from about 30 cm away to get that rough textured finish. It comes out quite thick and I put too much on in the first coat which caused it to run.... It is hard to see but down the side you can see some paint runs. So I left it in the sun to dry for a while, then came back with 180grit sand paper and removed the runs out of the surface, then I used wax / grease remover again and waited for it to try a bit. Once it was dry it was time to go for a second coat, being more used to the way the paint came out I took my time and slowly covered the console from a distance. It's important when painting with this stuff that the can stays upright, don't tilt it or put it on an angle it won't come out with consistency. So putting it on a box or something that allows you access to all sides is essential. The can says to paint 3 coats with 20 mins breaks between each. So that was what I did, apart from the first coat mishap with paint runs etc.. And the end result after final painting is... Next I'll list products used.

Keep us posted and don't get too emotionally involved when you go to see it. I would even say you'll go home and have a good think about it - that way you don't get caught up in the excitement of the situation and you can reflect on the deal / project / car and make sure it's a good choice.

Yeah I love the Matrix, the original film really raised some interesting concepts and ideas.

So finally an update where I've done something! I have to say I'm quite pleased with the end result (it's drying after the 3rd coat in the garage right now) but although it's not perfect and it's not concourse perfect, I think you can agree it's better than what I started with.. As a reminder here was the worst of it. There were lots of little hairline cracks along the rear of it and sides etc.. Under the gear boot area it was cracked, so a bit of plastic weld and fiberglass reinforcement seems to have worked. And now the final product. The photos hide some of the minor imperfections, and I went too heavy on the first coat which caused some runs, which I had to sand out and start again with (grrrr) but I'll try and document what I did and what I advise to do differently in the center console renovation thread I posted to the link to above. Rather than go into it here. I'm now thinking of tackling the dashboard with this paint, it looks great.

@Nick no problem glad to help as always, by the way are you the same Nick who build the RB30 Turbo Blue 240z in the 90s, same car as featured in Street Machine? That car was a big influence on me as a 18 year old kid. @Brabham - the hand throttle is a primitive form of cruise control. It's really a lethal device to be honest. You pull it out and it cranks the SU carb throttle open so you can cruise along the highway at a constant speed. But you don't have any electronics to keep you at a constant speed or disable it when you hit the brake. Sounds fun huh? @Adam - thanks for the photo, that is another Choke knob design - not sure what year Z that is from? I feel like it's a 260z 1, but open to correction. Unfortunately it's not the 'droid I'm looking for'. *Edit George replied while I was typing.

They look legit to me mate. I'd be happy with them! .

Dimitri that would be awesome. I should just ask you before posting on the forums lol..

Nick how is this? HS30 01024 this photo is from. - Thanks to Lindsay from Zshop for sharing it with me. Note: Both switches are blanked off it would seem on AU market cars. @Brabham you can see the hand throttle knob is different to the choke 1 also Also notice how even though the interior has been so well looked after that the console still has those hairline cracks in it. :'( This photo is from 'Kats' Fairlady Z 432 http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz903/ (I love his cars and attention to detail). Note: The gear boot is the same as the 1 in my 240z, but I'm missing the plastic washer piece that sits above the boot and below the gear knob. Not the best photo but a photo of Len Brennan's first 240z. Finally another reference photo (again a Fairlady Z 432) Note: No laces on the gear boot (like later Z's). I also came across this gem, while looking all of that stuff up. (what a car!)