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Week 17... 4 months, and wow time has flown. I'm actually starting to believe that I own a third car, and not just some rusty mess that keeps getting smaller each week at progressively higher expense. The problem with me is i'm what my mates call a 'nut and bolt guy', which is I think is another name for fanatic. I mean, I could have just lobbed into the local crash repair mob and asked for a $6k re-spray between commodore and camry fender repairs, but I wanted a lot more, and I know i've lucked out with Nat doing the work for me. As far as originality goes, i'm getting pretty excited by the thought of the end product. I can just see the car in my mind (for the first time!). I found two totally fantastic colours last night, and i'm keeping the final choice to myself from here on.. Lets just say, it'll look bloody good finished! (and thanks to you all for your suggestions, all of which have gone into the final decision). Anyway, this week was a good one in that I received my Diamond Vinyl kit from Datsun Spirit that looks absolutely awesome. Having recently removed the OEM wheel arch covers, and comparing to these, there is genuinely no readily observable difference. It is a complete 100% perfect copy (lets hope it fits as good as it looks). Ditto for the seat covers, except the vent holes are mildly different in their manufacture. So now I have the motor, carbs, cam, pistons, shell, f&r bars, steering wheel, seat and diamond vinyl, and almost everything needed to get the project completed. Still need lots of small parts (AND A NEW PASSENGER DOOR!!!! - yes still), but the bulk of the expensive parts appear to be in my possession (with the exception of the Watanabes). Nat's been filling and blocking the car this week and it looks frankly amazing. He does it all by hand (without machines), so I guess this accounts for the quality, and hours!!! He noted that the rear left corner was ~6mm further forward than it should (despite the chassis rails being good), so this appears to be the only area where accident damage created any alignment issues. We're about 80% through shaping, but still need to complete rear arches, and rear light section (to ensure the rear fascia fits perfectly). Nat also mentioned that despite what appeared to be a very straight roof, once blocked, this did show up some undulations. I'm very impressed by the shape that Nat has cut into the car, and excitement now replaces depression as I get to the workshop each weekend. We're getting close to the end (really we are!!!) ... the only steps now include; 1) completion of shaping, 2) spray filler, 3) hand sand, 4) high fill, 5) sand, 6) guide coat, 7) sand, 8. re-prime, 9) sand, 10) paint, 11) wet sand, 12) clear coat, 13) wet sand, 14) polish! Of course, we've got to do the suspension, and install the motor and rebuilt tranny. I got a new camera for Fathers Day .... check out these shots !!! Cheers Adam

Looking very impressive Mike ... congrats on getting the thing home ... I can only wait for the same outcome for the hornet !! Keep us all posted. Cheers Adam

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This is the seat covers from DatsunSpirit ... Not 100% identical, but extremely close. The quality of the vinyl and padding far exceeds the factory stuff too, so it should be pretty nice to sit on as well. Diamond vinyl kit from the same supplier should be here in a week or so, and to ensure a good fit I think i'll have an upholsterer install the lot once painted.

more photos - wish I could put more than 4 on each reply !!

Week 16... The Brown Hornet is moving along nicely, and the work that Nat and the gang have done is frankly amazing. This week they finally got her into a coat of primer, being sure to drill some extra holes in the roof channels and other places to ensure it finds it way into all the nooks and crannies, such that the dreaded worm is a thing of the distant past. Next step obviously is to get the shape into the body, such as the guards, pillars etc etc. Note there are still holes in the spare wheel well, and we only still have one door! Waiting on Warren for these parts still. The drivers side door you see here had a new skin on it this week, and in the event we cannot source a decent passenger door, we'll start to completely rebuild that. On the engine, James had me order the Cam this week from the US (Isky stage 3), with new valve springs, lash caps and retainers. The valves are ordered, as are the custom pistons, both of which are yet to be machined to suit the newly ported head. Kameari parts are on order with BenZed, and once I have the new extractors i'll be taking them to James to have some customisation work done, and then inside & out ceramic coating. We're sticking with the 280Z electronic dizzy, but this will be re-mapped to match the desired output of the motor. As for the block, it did have one spun bearing that very fortunately did not score either the block or crank. Also been conversing with some Japanese people to get the right Watanabe wheel size and offsets, and I received my 'Datsun Spirit' seat covers that look completely awsome. Will be testing a few colours as the body is ready to receive them. I've got a silver'ish colour in mind, and we're going to have a go with some OEM Safari Gold to be sure that a lairy 70's scheme is not the right way to go. More to post soon. Enjoy these pics. Cheers Adam

Week 15 ... Met Mike (blue 260 2 seater) yesterday morning down at Nat's as he wants some small areas tidied up on the 260, as well as getting some mechanical issues sorted. Not a whole lot to report this week, as we're still waiting on a passenger door (#3), new drivers side door skin, spare wheel well, and some brackets for the rear fascia. Having said that, the only welding work to do aside from these items is to fill in a few small holes in the body and then Nat will prime the body and complete alignment etc. We're chosen the colour! Also this week, I ordered a new set of seat covers and diamond vinyl kit from the US. I have placed an order with Ben for the Kameari engine parts. I experimented with new OEM rubber and put one of the qtr windows together. The result was fantastic, with a very neat snug fit. Can definitely recommend the OEM rubber. Have decided to go with watanabe R-Type's, likely with black centres and machined lip. Only question is do I go 15" with OEM style 60 series rubber, or 16" with slightly lower rubber. Expect I'll go for 15's and lower the car an inch or two to fill the wheel well. Hopefully we can get the parts this week so I can have a few more progress photos by next week. Adam.

I think Orange has it !!! I asked my brother in law last night .. he said there are two colours ... 1) orange, 2) silver .. it was orange out of the factory too .....

Week 14 .... well kind of !! Was planning to put something up for my support crew Mike, including colour. The adventure to pick up the door last weekend turned out OK, but the door part of the equation was a real miss... Lets just call it a complete rusted wreck ... back to needing a passenger side door .. Nat's completed all the small areas, such as the top of the radiator mount which was bent, the rear wheel arches, and some other small areas. We're waiting to get a few items from Warren before we can finalise it. Much more (successful) body / panel alignment occurred this week, with Nat moving things about to get a perfect fit. In the process he did discover there is a hump in the drivers door, that means we'll be putting a new skin on it. We need to replace the spare tyre-well, find that passenger door and fix the drivers one, and we'll move to full primer stage, to be followed by filling / smoothing / re-priming / guide-coating, and generally getting very anal about it all at this point! James pulled the L26 apart this week and it was in pretty good condition. Will be using the E88 off that motor (so I also have a spare) and the L24 block. The pistons will be domed (yes Lurch) to get the desired CR, the crank / rods / pins / pistons and much lighter flywheel will be going off to be balanced, block bored (to 2.5), and the Kameari parts will be ordered in the coming week. Will be buying a set of SWR extractors to which James with 'make some minor adjustments' as he called it, including ceramic heat coating inside and out. Also received the OER monster carbs and inlet in the mail this week, which frankly look amazing (and mildly intimidating, in a good way). Still waiting on some communication with Watanabe as to the correct wheel options for the S30, but am almost certain I'll be going 15" R-type wheels, 7.5 front and 8.5 rear, black centres and machined lips. A small part of me wants the 16" ones, but not too sure on tyre sizes for those (maybe 55's?). Ok... so on the colour Mike, its down to two options. One is back to an orange hue, albeit not factory 918, but maybe hugger orange, or the colour of James car (below), OR a metallic colour best described by me to Nat as; "not modern light silver, and not grey, but something in between, ie a darker silver, WITH a touch or green in it"... got you confused ... have a look at these! Any feedback on preference of course would be appreciated! Cheers Adam

Ummmm Lurch ... I'm going to need some cover here ... got cross fire coming at me from all angles! Brabham.. i'm not a carb expert, but the simple answer on carbs is breathability ... higher RPM, bigger cam lobe, bigger values and exhaust all mean more air and fuel is required in the combustion chamber .. the 40mm weber for my application will not suffice, the 45mm weber would, but I'm not paying over $2k for spanish webers that are not like the increasingly very rare italian webers. Doing a little more homework, i found OER's ... bigger and better again. Anyway.. I still have my webers for sale .. any for a BBQ?

Hi all and thanks for taking interest in my webers, cannon inlet man and linkage I am selling. I have attached the photos of the carbs here (as per your various PM's). Just to remind you, they are matching 40mm italian webers, they work, they are 100% complete. Rgds

week 13.5... Just received my triple 45mm O.E.R 'racing carburetors' from the US (via Japan it appears) and inlet manifold. Cannot believe how beautiful this stuff all is (see pics above) and LIGHT !!!! (its all alloy, including carb bodies). Gotta be 5kg less on the manifold than the weber and Cannon setup I have. If anyone wants these, let me know as I found a good source via a mazda rotary site. The only thing that has me ever so slightly wondering is the manifold is shorter at 4.25" versus the Cannon 5.5" one I have with the webers. Have read a bit about these on the Hybridz and other sites, and it appears there is marginal difference between the lengths that appears obvious. Lurch, i'm sure you're salivating to tell me, so please do tell! Will let the credit card cool off, but then will be ordering the; 1) Fully adjustable cam pulley, and 2) twin idler gear from Kameari in the coming weeks. The hornet body should be all but completed this weekend, so will stick up a few shots if I get a chance. Cheers

I'm selling a matching set of three italian 40mm DCOE Webers (not Spanish items). Reason for sale is I've bought some others and these are surplus to requirements. Have had lots of enquiry and two offers. If you are genuine PM me or i'll go the flea-bay route. Rgds

Mossy I'll be running a hot L24, but I still think 2 1/4 " might be the go. Did you go with Steel or stainless steel? Can you possibly take any photos of it, to see the style and location of the mufflers? You got one muffler and one resonator right? Is a resonator like a 'hot-dog'? What does the resonator do? How about the noise? I don't want a boy racer setup, just an efficient 'sports' exhaust system. Nat's steering me in the direction of the SS system for longevity and sound.. What sort of price did you pay? Cheers Adam

Does anybody have a set of the black plastic seat adjustment knobs that sit on the outside of each of the seats? (the ones you twist to get the early 240Z seats to recline or incline) Mine are a little suspect, and are missing the caps that hide the bolt. I have added a photo of the parts I need, bottom left side of this photo. Cheers

Thanks Lurch .. Yes, that was actually chopped off and re-made. That will be properly ground down and finished in the coming days. The body is not finalised (as evidenced by that photo) but the rust is all gone.

Forgot to mention. Received my parcel of rubber seals this week from the US. Bought absolutely everything new OEM Nissan including front / rear /side window seals etc etc. Did not buy the two piece OEM door seals, but will instead go for one piece pinch weld stuff that appears to work better and is a neater fit than the two part OEM items. Nat will now begin the task of trial fitting all the panels to get alignment 100%. Suspect this will be somewhat tricky, however given the car has not got evidence of a major bingle, it should be achievable. Next step is to choose the colour, and then completely renovate the suspension including blasting and paint.

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Week 13... Was a big day for me and the hornet today. Went and had a look at the car early, and Nat's been flat out and is 95% done on rust removal and is now finalising a few bits and pieces, including front radiator mount and spare wheel well (which we are replacing with a 2nd hand one). Now we'll be priming absolutely everywhere, and once painted will be applying clear fishoil to keep the rot out for good. Took the L26 over to James for him to determine what we can use for the L24 project, and then got in the car to drive half way to Canberra to pick up a passenger door, front overriders, and complete rear bumper from Brenton. Not much more to report other than to say I think I've just sold the webers. The person in one of the shots is Nat. Cheers.

Ok... Just received my answer to "what r-type 8 spoke Watanabe can fit on a standard bodied S30?" Here is the answer word for word, FWIW, its the same answer as that given by Alan-T (the Oracle!). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your inquiry RS-WATANABE wheel. I usually recommend for 240Z with stock body with following size of wheel. R-type - 16x8 all around with tire size 205/55 for front 225/50 for rear. the price is starting from $650- depend on finish. The car required for fitting with this size of wheels lowered the car, adjust comber, with strached tires. if you want 15inc just same offset 15x8 0 offset. just use tire205/60 or 55 I guess the car which you sent me (the orange car on this thread with silver Wats), has 16x8 0 offset for front and rear looking like 16x8.5 -6 offset. seams like the back wheel has little longer lip than front one. But we can not know what the car done, so if they work something for rear end then makes different offset we have no idea if with this size with your car. for safe size 16x8 0 offset all round, if you can work little bit for body you can do 16x8 0 offset and 16x8.5 -6 offset for rear, if you take 15x8 and 15x8.5 you might use with stracked tires then fit with easier than 16 inch wheels. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In summary, there are several options, however if you go large, you might need to alter your body work, especially at the front valance and qtr panels to ensure the tyres do not scrub. Alan suggested he has seen many cars in Japan with rolled or altered fronts in some fashion to ensure these larger wheels fit. For what its worth, I think the best bet is 15*8 at front and 15*8.5 at rear, OR *7.5 and *8 F/R respectively. At the end of the day, you can get some very sticky tyres for the narrower ones that ensure no rubbing.. Anyway, nuff from me on this one ! Cheers

I saw the work that 'my S30' had done to his console and dash, and frankly they look as new. Has anyone had their dash / console repaired (restored) in NSW and can recommend a shop that can do a top quality job. My dash has been shoddily repaired before and the console has a few small repairs necessary. If not in NSW, any other shops on the Eastern coast that do top work in this area. Cheers.

Warm L26 still for sale. See earlier for full specs, and PM me if you have interest. The engine will be sold. Cheers

Hi Brenton I just sent you a PM re the door. Cheers

Hey, that looks like a great day out .. one day i'll be able to bring the hornet out !! What colour is BIR 59G? looks very nice. Cheers

Hi There, not sure if you saw my post, but I have a complete L26 for sale, with E88 head. its got; P30 + E88, cam, triple webers, 280ZX elec dizzy, and genie extractors. Let me know if you're interested as I don't want to separate at this stage. Rgds