C.A.R.

Considering how expensive the L6 head from them already is (nearly AUD$10k), I can't expect the TC version to be cost effective either.

The original wiring loom for the Z was an utter dogs breakfast: Dirty, extra wires, soldered joints, cut wires, crimped joiners, broken plugs, broken & burnt(!) pins and... SCOTCH LOCKS!!!








Not surprising given the condition of the rest of the vehicle, and obviously there was no way I could fit this to the restored Z...

Fortunately I have a friend who builds wiring looms as a side-hussle, although he prefers to build Millspec MoTeC race looms, I pleaded with him to remake the factory loom for the Z.
He said yes, on the proviso that he able to acquire the correctly coloured wires and that I order two looms (fine by me) and that I NOT hassle him for it.
After some searching, all the correct coloured wires were obtained in the correct gauge, along with new plugs. Mint!
I waited over 18 months, but he did deliver with a new body loom, engine bay loom, headlight fly leads and a checked and refurbished dash loom.
The original Nissan wiring tag was also able to be saved on the dash loom!



Refurbished dash loom:



Cost was eye-watering as it's build by hand, but I can now guarantee that there won't be any electrical issues with this Z when it's finished!

Onto the suspension.

Aug '22:
The front engine cross-member had clearly been damaged in the accident - the kink in it was a give-away.
However I also noticed that it had inner LCA eccentric eye bolts fitted, presumably to get the camber back to somewhere normal - check out how far it's been slotted!

I thought about fixing it, but it wasn't going to be economically viable, so I asked my mate Gavin if he could obtain one for me and he did!
This was media blasted and painted
(The old one went into the scrap bin).







We then moved onto media blasting an de-oxidizing the suspension components.
Then they were given a coat of Stain Black as per factory.







When we were reassembling the brake components, they all looks very new.
I queried Tony (the owner) and he confirmed that the brakes and wheel bearings at all four corners had been recently reco'd. This was good - one less job for us to do.
I did think it was strange considering the state of the rest of the vehicle though...





The heater box, fresh air duct and fan housing was also given the same treatment:

The wiper linkages needed to be rebuilt, so in May '21 these were carefully disassembled but annoyingly one spindle was seized in it's aluminum housing.
I carefully heated it up with my OxyAct and quenched it in water, and I was then able to wind the spindle out. Unfortunately I cracked one of the pot-metal bushes, so I'd have to make a new one.
The parts were all Hydro Jet blasted, and re electroplated (with all the other parts) ready for reassembly.

In September '23, I machined up a new bush in plastic and locktite'd it into position in the alum housing. Then reassembly could begin:









(Completed photo missing - TBC)

When I was disassembling the wiper arms in '21, I then went though the box's of parts to find the wiper motor and bracket. I couldn't find it, so I searched the box's again. Nothing.
I then spoke to the owner in case he had in in Sydney. He looked and reported back that he didn't have it either! Bugger! I'd have to source an early 240Z wiper motor and bracket...

The wiper linkages needed to be rebuilt, so in May '21 these were carefully disassembled but annoyingly one spindle was seized in it's aluminum housing.
I carefully heated it up with my OxyAct and quenched it in water, and I was then able to wind the spindle out. Unfortunately I cracked one of the pot-metal bushes, so I'd have to make a new one.
The parts were all Hydro Jet blasted, and re electroplated (with all the other parts) ready for reassembly.

In September '23, I machined up a new bush in plastic and locktite'd it into position in the alum housing. Then reassembly could begin:









(Completed photo missing - TBC)

When I was disassembling the wiper arms in '21, I then went though the box's of parts to find the wiper motor and bracket. I couldn't find it, so I searched the box's again. Nothing.
I then spoke to the owner in case he had in in Sydney. He looked and reported back that he didn't have it either! Bugger! I'd have to source an early 240Z wiper motor and bracket...

Onto the suspension.

Aug '22:
The front engine cross-member had clearly been damaged in the accident - the kink in it was a give-away.
However I also noticed that it had inner LCA eccentric eye bolts fitted, presumably to get the camber back to somewhere normal - check out how far it's been slotted!

I thought about fixing it, but it wasn't going to be economically viable, so I asked my mate Gavin if he could obtain one for me and he did!
This was media blasted and painted
(The old one went into the scrap bin).







We then moved onto media blasting an de-oxidizing the suspension components.
Then they were given a coat of Stain Black as per factory.







When we were reassembling the brake components, they all looks very new.
I queried Tony (the owner) and he confirmed that the brakes and wheel bearings at all four corners had been recently reco'd. This was good - one less job for us to do.
I did think it was strange considering the state of the rest of the vehicle though...





The heater box, fresh air duct and fan housing was also given the same treatment:

The original wiring loom for the Z was an utter dogs breakfast: Dirty, extra wires, soldered joints, cut wires, crimped joiners, broken plugs, broken & burnt(!) pins and... SCOTCH LOCKS!!!








Not surprising given the condition of the rest of the vehicle, and obviously there was no way I could fit this to the restored Z...

Fortunately I have a friend who builds wiring looms as a side-hussle, although he prefers to build Millspec MoTeC race looms, I pleaded with him to remake the factory loom for the Z.
He said yes, on the proviso that he able to acquire the correctly coloured wires and that I order two looms (fine by me) and that I NOT hassle him for it.
After some searching, all the correct coloured wires were obtained in the correct gauge, along with new plugs. Mint!
I waited over 18 months, but he did deliver with a new body loom, engine bay loom, headlight fly leads and a checked and refurbished dash loom.
The original Nissan wiring tag was also able to be saved on the dash loom!



Refurbished dash loom:



Cost was eye-watering as it's build by hand, but I can now guarantee that there won't be any electrical issues with this Z when it's finished!

The original wiring loom for the Z was an utter dogs breakfast: Dirty, extra wires, soldered joints, cut wires, crimped joiners, broken plugs, broken & burnt(!) pins and... SCOTCH LOCKS!!!








Not surprising given the condition of the rest of the vehicle, and obviously there was no way I could fit this to the restored Z...

Fortunately I have a friend who builds wiring looms as a side-hussle, although he prefers to build Millspec MoTeC race looms, I pleaded with him to remake the factory loom for the Z.
He said yes, on the proviso that he able to acquire the correctly coloured wires and that I order two looms (fine by me) and that I NOT hassle him for it.
After some searching, all the correct coloured wires were obtained in the correct gauge, along with new plugs. Mint!
I waited over 18 months, but he did deliver with a new body loom, engine bay loom, headlight fly leads and a checked and refurbished dash loom.
The original Nissan wiring tag was also able to be saved on the dash loom!



Refurbished dash loom:



Cost was eye-watering as it's build by hand, but I can now guarantee that there won't be any electrical issues with this Z when it's finished!

The original wiring loom for the Z was an utter dogs breakfast: Dirty, extra wires, soldered joints, cut wires, crimped joiners, broken plugs, broken & burnt(!) pins and... SCOTCH LOCKS!!!








Not surprising given the condition of the rest of the vehicle, and obviously there was no way I could fit this to the restored Z...

Fortunately I have a friend who builds wiring looms as a side-hussle, although he prefers to build Millspec MoTeC race looms, I pleaded with him to remake the factory loom for the Z.
He said yes, on the proviso that he able to acquire the correctly coloured wires and that I order two looms (fine by me) and that I NOT hassle him for it.
After some searching, all the correct coloured wires were obtained in the correct gauge, along with new plugs. Mint!
I waited over 18 months, but he did deliver with a new body loom, engine bay loom, headlight fly leads and a checked and refurbished dash loom.
The original Nissan wiring tag was also able to be saved on the dash loom!



Refurbished dash loom:



Cost was eye-watering as it's build by hand, but I can now guarantee that there won't be any electrical issues with this Z when it's finished!

The original wiring loom for the Z was an utter dogs breakfast: Dirty, extra wires, soldered joints, cut wires, crimped joiners, broken plugs, broken & burnt(!) pins and... SCOTCH LOCKS!!!








Not surprising given the condition of the rest of the vehicle, and obviously there was no way I could fit this to the restored Z...

Fortunately I have a friend who builds wiring looms as a side-hussle, although he prefers to build Millspec MoTeC race looms, I pleaded with him to remake the factory loom for the Z.
He said yes, on the proviso that he able to acquire the correctly coloured wires and that I order two looms (fine by me) and that I NOT hassle him for it.
After some searching, all the correct coloured wires were obtained in the correct gauge, along with new plugs. Mint!
I waited over 18 months, but he did deliver with a new body loom, engine bay loom, headlight fly leads and a checked and refurbished dash loom.
The original Nissan wiring tag was also able to be saved on the dash loom!



Refurbished dash loom:



Cost was eye-watering as it's build by hand, but I can now guarantee that there won't be any electrical issues with this Z when it's finished!

Onto the suspension.

Aug '22:
The front engine cross-member had clearly been damaged in the accident - the kink in it was a give-away.
However I also noticed that it had inner LCA eccentric eye bolts fitted, presumably to get the camber back to somewhere normal - check out how far it's been slotted!

I thought about fixing it, but it wasn't going to be economically viable, so I asked my mate Gavin if he could obtain one for me and he did!
This was media blasted and painted
(The old one went into the scrap bin).







We then moved onto media blasting an de-oxidizing the suspension components.
Then they were given a coat of Stain Black as per factory.







When we were reassembling the brake components, they all looks very new.
I queried Tony (the owner) and he confirmed that the brakes and wheel bearings at all four corners had been recently reco'd. This was good - one less job for us to do.
I did think it was strange considering the state of the rest of the vehicle though...





The heater box, fresh air duct and fan housing was also given the same treatment:

Have had very recent experience making a claim with Shannons. Mixed bag......
They have agreed to a full payout, I get to keep the wreck (I had salvage rights written into the policy) and they have agreed to having it towed from Albury to Newcastle at their expense and delivered to me. IOnly complaint is that its taken nearly 5 weeks to be assessed, although possibly because its was a little out of the ordinary - I had it towed from the towing yard to a very generous fellow Datsun owner's shed for storage out of the weather, and it was assessed from photos rather than in person. All correspondence after logging the claim seemed to be with the parent company rather than Shannons specific people, who tried to follow the script and tick the boxes for assessing a modern car (No, it doesn't have a proper VIN, just a 9 digit chassis number, etc)
Ohh, and after many phone calls chasing up what was happening, they always seem to be "experiencing a higher than normal call volume" because despite ringing early in the day, lunchtime, afternoon, after hours, I think the quickest a call has been answered is 50 minutes, most times well over an hour and the record was 80 minutes..... I asked about when the money may be in my account and was told "we're currently experiencing a higher than noormal claim volume and it may take up to a month".... 
All up, not too bad, just very slow (and looks like I won't be fully paid out till at least 2 months after the accident)
The tow car (insured with a different insurance company) was assessed, written off and money in my account a cople of weeks ago. But they were generally unhelpful and made me jump thru hoops over every little thing. Dunno which was worse. 

I've texted you.

You can't avoid GST on larger shipments.

However Import Duty IS NOT payable on NEW parts for vehicles 30+ years old.
When you get the invoice from DHL(?), an email  back to them stating this have have them correct it.
AUS>USA FTA is also in place.

Hopefully this helps next time you order from the USA...

Its been a while gents. I hope you're all well and been driving those cars of yours. Not much posting going on across the site I've noticed. Everyone feeling the bite of those interest rates? 
Speaking to the panel shop they are looking at Q3 to get the car in, I need to get my arse in gear and start sorting the bits they'll eventually need to fit up panels, hood/hatch/door hinges, bolts for fenders etc and not to mention the few panels I haven't already bought. 
So I pulled the trigger and bought the KFVJDM rear quarters, it hurt a lot to see the total price shipped, i also got slugged with import duties, however its the first time i have been stung and I've brought in thousands of dollars worth of parts so my number had to come up eventually. arrived all safe with no visible damage besides some scratches to that funky green paint. I have to say they don't use much foam or bubble wrap to protect the panels if at all. 
 

If you remember my rear hatch is pretty beat up so I thought Id get their lower rear hatch panel as well, at first glance it looks a bit off in places but hopefully it works well.

When the 240Z was first delivered to me I noticed the gear-stick hole had been cut out (badly) further forward and a later model - Bluebird or 280ZX - gearbox was in the cabin.
As we are returning the 240Z to original specification, I needed to find a 71A box and tailshift - no easy feat as most have been scrapped.

Fortunately after speaking to Les at Les Collins Racing in Oct '22 about this issue, he went on the hunt for an 71A gearbox & TS on the understanding that he would get the job of rebuilding it.
Needless to say he came though!

New Nissan Bulk Rings
New bearings.
New Nissan gaskets & seals
Re-machined and improved shifter mechanism
Hydro-Jet blasted cases
Re-plated fasteners

Rebuilt Tailshaft

And before anyone asks: Yes, it all cost the GDP of a small African nation. But what a piece of jewellery it is!

 

When the 240Z was first delivered to me I noticed the gear-stick hole had been cut out (badly) further forward and a later model - Bluebird or 280ZX - gearbox was in the cabin.
As we are returning the 240Z to original specification, I needed to find a 71A box and tailshift - no easy feat as most have been scrapped.

Fortunately after speaking to Les at Les Collins Racing in Oct '22 about this issue, he went on the hunt for an 71A gearbox & TS on the understanding that he would get the job of rebuilding it.
Needless to say he came though!

New Nissan Bulk Rings
New bearings.
New Nissan gaskets & seals
Re-machined and improved shifter mechanism
Hydro-Jet blasted cases
Re-plated fasteners

Rebuilt Tailshaft

And before anyone asks: Yes, it all cost the GDP of a small African nation. But what a piece of jewellery it is!

 

Also in '21 we stripped down all the parts that required electroplating including ALL the bolts that are used.
This was all given to my Hydro-Jet blaster to take them back to raw steel again before being sent off for re-plating in silver or gold as required.





And back from the electroplaters a few months later - Shiny!




 

This was all done so we could fit ALL the panels back onto the body shell and turn a MASSIVE corner with the project:

Next the old paint and dried rust converter was removed from the bonnet, before it was also given a coat of Epoxy along with the doors, guards and headlight buckets:






 

With all the prep work done, we commenced welding the topside of rear quarter panels back on with a mixture of Mig plug welds and spot welds.
With the quarter panel welds around the tail light panel linished smooth, we then set about prepping and welding into place the rear tail light panel.





Unfortunately the manufacturer of the tail light panel got the hatch lock receiver mount AND the slam panel welded in the wrong spot, so we had to unpick it and weld it back on in
the correct position - 12mm to the left! - so the hatch lock could engage...
Annoying but straight forward enough.





The roof skin was then screwed into place, the windscreen & seal were installed and checked for fitment, then the removed so we could weld the skin into place:



Next, the body shell was returned to the rotisserie so the underside of the rear quarters could be welded into position:







The previously fabricated A-post drip rail extensions were then welded into place:





RHS:



Then the underfloor rails were adjusted, prepped, welded into place and the welds linished smooth. After which the underside of the bodyshell was scuffed with 240g and given a coat of PPG finest Epoxy:



Along with the rear quarters, tail light panel and roof once they were taken back to bare metal:




 

Ex Datsun mechanic, This was a problem from new for some datsuns, providing lubrication and cable is ok, the solution was to grind 3 to 4 mm off the speedo end of the cable. 

When the 240Z was first delivered to me I noticed the gear-stick hole had been cut out (badly) further forward and a later model - Bluebird or 280ZX - gearbox was in the cabin.
As we are returning the 240Z to original specification, I needed to find a 71A box and tailshift - no easy feat as most have been scrapped.

Fortunately after speaking to Les at Les Collins Racing in Oct '22 about this issue, he went on the hunt for an 71A gearbox & TS on the understanding that he would get the job of rebuilding it.
Needless to say he came though!

New Nissan Bulk Rings
New bearings.
New Nissan gaskets & seals
Re-machined and improved shifter mechanism
Hydro-Jet blasted cases
Re-plated fasteners

Rebuilt Tailshaft

And before anyone asks: Yes, it all cost the GDP of a small African nation. But what a piece of jewellery it is!

 

I forgot to mention that LCR finished the Twin 4 Screw Hitachi's a few months ago:

Also in '21 we stripped down all the parts that required electroplating including ALL the bolts that are used.
This was all given to my Hydro-Jet blaster to take them back to raw steel again before being sent off for re-plating in silver or gold as required.





And back from the electroplaters a few months later - Shiny!