Lukas

Hi all, I was able to source the pedal components required for an auto->manual conversion recently, but completely forgot about the return spring required for the clutch pedal. I can see some for sale from the US but the price is... high. I am hoping someone local has a spare, or alternatively knows where to source a generic spring which will get the job done... I know of a local spring manufacturer that can make a replacement, but they have a minimum order number, so still talking $$$. Appreciate any help. Cheers, Luke

Cheers C.A.R, flywheel showed up today in the post, all looks good. Thanks again!

Hey All, I am about to start doing an auto to manual conversion on my 1973 240z. I've managed to source a 280zx gearbox (2 years after I originally intended, no guesses as to why haha) and potentially the pedal. Will find a few other parts locally (clutch cylinders etc) but one thing I'm having trouble finding is a flywheel to suit. Don't suppose anyone has one lying around? Can't seem to find anything on Ebay, gumtree etc. I've read conflicting reports that an RB30 flywheel will work and they do seem to be available, but I wouldn't buy one of these until I could find more concrete evidence it works (Need to do more research). As a last resort I see there are some new L24 flywheels available overseas but they are $$$. Cheers, Luke

I think the back end looks great, the front end not so much. Your grill redesign looks a lot better sexual_sushi! One thing I hate about most modern car designs (and the new Supra is SO BAD with this) is just how much height there is between the top of the wheel and the top of the wheel arch/bonnet. In the case of this Z, take an inch or so out and, in my opinion at least, it looks a lot better - lower, sleeker. In the rendering I attached I also modified the front headlamp so that the intersection point no longer creates the hard break line (another point of contention for me). P.S Do you think the value of S30's will go up or down once these new Z's become available?

Thanks mate, I gave him a quick call. Looks like he'll be able to help me out! Cheers, Luke

Hey Everyone, At the point now where I need to start thinking about sourcing a manual transmission and anything else needed to complete an auto-to-manual conversion. Does anyone know of any available gearboxes, preferably in Sydney/NSW region? Or any shops I should be getting in contact with? A few years ago I was able to find websites with listings for gearboxes but I don't seem to be having much luck now. Cheers, Luke

This is a visual follow-up post to my last. I'll let pictures do most of the talking (Though I'm lax with the picture taking as well!) Cleaned up all the suspension parts. I did all of this with a grinder... went back to bare metal. I used two different products for the final coat, but I forget the names, I think one was Rustoleum somethingorother and the other was Eastwoods... ?? One went on shiny and metallic with a slight bumpiness. The other (my preference) went on matte black with a finer, but still bumpy, texture. It was SUPER sticky for about 24 hours but seems to have dried nice and tough. I really like the finish. In hindsight, I would NOT do this with a grinder again. Sandblasting would have saved me so much time, and probably not cost much more than all the wire brushes I had to buy , not to mention do a better job. I don't have a full set of pictures but we also put new wheel bearings in, new tie rod ends, ball joints etc etc. These cleaned up parts are now packed away awaiting reassembly. Awaiting the Koni yellows and king springs Built the rotisserie from 2 engine stands. Seems to work pretty well! THENNNN..... I got a motorbike and I did a bit of work on it... As I bought it. Was in pretty rough shape. Blinkers were practically invisible in the day, speedo didn't work properly, frame not welded up properly, tank was plasti-dipped, lots of overspray. But overall I liked the style... So I made some cover plates to hide exposed wires, Dad welded the frame up, integrated the brake light better, new blinkers, grips, took the plasti dip off (was an ugly red stripe I had to get rid off underneath...), new quality speedo and tacho, yada yada: Back to the Z. With the car on a rotisserie we were able to continue finishing off the underside. Installed new floorpans and chassis rails. The chassis rails were from rarespares (came with the floor pans), bought about 4 years ago : Before spraying the stone guard I tried a technique suggested to me by a painter friend at work. I made a thread about it here and there were divided opinions but I thought I'd give it a shot. Essentially we sprayed fish oil in all panels, particularly crevices, followed by thicker Tectyl or Fergusons Knock-Out Rust, in the crevices. The plan was to let this harden well and truly before applying the stone guard... Unfortunately, I was off to Malaysia a few days afterwards and, being impatient, I wanted to see it finished. Which meant we had some problems... Namely cracking/splitting, which was to be expected as the fish oil had not hardened much at all in a day or two. I flew off to Malaysia and in a few weeks time Dad went over it again. No cracking this time, but you can still see where previous layers split. Only time will tell if this works or not. The plan is it won't see rainy days anyway, so hopefully a moot point! You can also see I have brought the stoneguard up partially into the engine bay. I saw a 510 coupe with the entire engine bay done in stone guard and didn't mind it. I think these areas can be susceptible to brake fluid leaking and generally rusting due to that? Hopefully this provides a little more protection. I would have liked a more lumpy texture to match the original stuff we decided could stay (no rust or flaking). Hard to work on it being in another country but Dad finds time where he can - he does all the welding anyway! Bonus Story: There was a super-pimped red 280zx 2+2 parked across from a friends place in Malaysia. I tried to talk to the owner but he wasn't home. It had huge wheels/flares, big exhaust, small bullet-style mirrors, paint looked schmick, super dark tint (common over here). A ferrari was parked next to it but all my attention was on the Z Luke

Looks great!

Hey Gav, Only just saw your reply, sorry for slow response. Work is slow and not-quite-so-steady. When I look back at these posts though I see a fair bit of work has been done since. Actually, yikes, that was 2 whole years ago!?!?! At least there is progress . No pictures at the moment. Virtually all parts off car, now suspended in a custom built rotisserie based on 2x engine stands purchased on ebay. Seems to do the job! Purchased most things needed for suspension overhaul. Koni yellows and king springs (low, of course). Poly bushings, all new wheel bearings, etc. I was about to purchase a big brake kit from america when our dollar plummeted... Think I'll get some 15x8 Rota RK-R's. Would love genuine wats but can't justify the price difference for what this car is. Also cleaned up all the suspension parts, engine mounts etc and painted. Purchased a full bolt kit for the car from ebay (I was a little disappointed in this actually, as it doesn't come with any of the "unique" bolts, just the regular ones, if that makes sense). Rebuilt forward most parts of chassis rails + welded in rare spares chassis rails (the ones that came with the floor pans). Other bits of rust work here and there, haven't actually finished the hatch slam panel yet, it's sitting in wattyl etch primer for now. Final plans for this car are up in the air at the moment. I really just want to get the damn thing on the road at the moment haha. I'm thinking it will be a mostly stock car but I'm not aiming for perfect or concourse condition. The 300zx will be the performance car . I am in the middle of holidays at the moment and have put 3 solid days of work in on it. I will try to take some pictures. Cheers, Luke

Hey all, I was recently talking to an ex-panel beater, now yacht painter, regarding my 240z and painting/rust-proofing the underside. Keeping in mind my limitations are far as spraying goes (in a garage, no good extraction, so acrlyic based), he suggested that I do the following for the underside of the car: Etch Prime -> Prime -> Top Coat (Black in my case) -> fish oil -> stoneguard (Not specific on type, I was planning on using U-POL Raptor). His reasoning was that the fish oil will actually spread into any cracks and crevices, sealing better than the paint would, but will still set hard enough for the stone guard to adhere properly for a prolonged period of time. He does brilliant work from what I've seen, and working on yachts he should know rust proofing well, so I don't have much reason to doubt him aside from never having heard anyone else mention this workflow in the past. Anyone have any advice or thoughts? Cheers, Luke

Definitely better looking than anything Nissan has put out in the last few years but still misses the mark in my opinion. I appreciate that whoever did the rendering didn't want to spend too long on it, but I don't see a great degree of Z DNA in it aside from the roofline, which has problems itself... A big thing, for me personally, that makes the Z look so good is the silhouette of the roofline from every angle. The second they start adding indents into the roofline it detracts from this 360 degree silhouette (as seen in the images in the article). Other things I don't like: Side mirrors coming off door panel (Absolutely hate this, looks cheap on cars that do it - needs to come off the fwd triangle of the window.) Door handles (Miles better than the 370z mind you) Bonnet details (Again, I know this is straight from the Fiat but still...) I should really put my money where my mouth is and do my own rendering, but it's much easier to be an internet commentator

Completely agree with everything you've said Sirpent. While Mazda is going from strength to strength in the styling department, Nissan is losing the plot. The "GripZ" concept was appalling and an insult to the Z's heritage. The "Teatro for Dayz" concept is pandering to an audience that doesn't exist (Not to mention plain horrible regardless). Why they can't just take what is arguably one of the most timeless designs in automotive history, the 240z, and modernize it is beyond me. They'd rather be designing more Jukes and Murano Cross-Cabriolets obviously... I could rant on this for days... I'm "this close" to sending Nissan a sincere email letting them know I will take charge of their design department if they wish . You only have to look at the picture below to see how similarly proportioned the 240z is in comparison to one of the most beautiful contemporary automotive designs..! If Mazda (or any other manufacturer for that matter) can release a sports car that looks as good as the new Rx concept for a reasonable price, they'll be getting my money, brand loyalty be damned. I just wish it was Nissan with a new 240z... Lukas

Just the closing credits? I happened to turn the TV on *just* as Dimitri's car was on, but it seemed like a semi-full feature to me? Had some good shots, he talked about the car a bit, mentioned the ZG nose and other info on how Z's are so awesome haha. It was good! It sort of acted as a lead-in to talking about the 370z.

I won't make this one, but if you ever have a meet towards the northern side of Sydney I'll come. Its still a 2.5-3 hour drive to northern Sydney from where I live, the meeting location and driving route would make this about an 8+ hour round trip for me haha, not to mention the fuel! Have a good one!

I've used a friends 3D printer in the past to make a part for a car. A very small part mind you, just a clip that secured the blinker lense to the fender. It used the FFF (fused filament fabrication) technique, I think the material was ABS but it could have been PLA. I don't think hobby-level 3D printing hardware will be good enough to handle things like fender mirrors for awhile... Could certainly be done, but the layering effect that is present would still require a lot of time and effort to sand, fill and paint, and at the end of the day you'd have an inferior product. Still pretty handy for little things that don't necessarily need to look pretty. Care to link me to the $5000 printer that does metal, Retro Z??? That sounds like it could be pretty awesome.