mother240

The centre console is finally back in. With the old man being a retired engineer he tends to like doing things properly and "over engineer" things. Some would say slowly.... but in the end I guess its best to do it once and do it right. With the manual conversion the gearstick sits further forward in the tunnel opening than the standard auto. As mentioned previously we cut the tunnel slightly to allow room for the stick to move freely. The stick was also bent to bring it back to a more comfortable position and move it away from the heater controls. I purchased a standard 240z rubber boot but as we had extended the opening it was not going to sit properly / cover the entire opening. The other issue was that with the gear throw further forward than standard the boot was having to stretch further than it comfortably wanted too. So dad made a fibreglass infill piece to close up the hole. The fibreglass piece is held in place utilising the original mounts for the auto plate. Not content with gluing the boot to the fibreglass, he proceeded to fibreglass nuts in place on the underside so the boot could be bolted down. A ring of stainless was cut to ensure the boot is pulled down evenly when bolted in place and will allow easy removal if required (hoping not!). A shame to cover all his hard work but its not a race car so the centre console was installed. I purchased a leather gear boot a while back. Unfortunately it is a tiny bit small to fill the void in the console where the auto plate was, but I made it work. Those with a keen eye will notice something a little wrong (or backwards) but with the boot this way it fits. So with it all back together gave the interior a quick clean and happy with the end result. If only it wasn't cracked at the choke knob! Mark

Hi Guys Is this still on the cards? Have not had the chance to drive a z on the roads out and around Wiseman's but get out there plenty on the bike. Im getting close to having the last couple of little jobs sorted to be ready to go for rego and keen to make this drive. FYI, It looks like the Syd Datsun Club are doing an Observation Run on the 21st of Feb which some members may be attending??? Mark

Congrats. Looks like a nice ride. Great to see another Z joining the Sydney community. Hope to see it out on the road one day. Mark

any idea how much you paid for it? im not selling but this one was bought back in '81 for $4.60 which is pretty expensive for the time i imagine. must have been the fancy colour pics!!!!!!!!

Thanks Gareth Yeah white on back does look pretty good. My brother wants to hit the gold wats with some black but we'll see. Bit of a surprise in the garage tonight, another fan of the Z Yes its real. No its not my pet.

cheers lurch pm'd

Hi All Im missing the two stainless corner trims for the top of the front windscreen and hoping someone possibly has a couple of spares they are willing to part with. Not sure if they differ across the models but chasing for a '73 240. Thanks Mark

Hey All I found a copy of a magazine the old man must have bought back in the day. Was in a pile of my old Fast 4's and Rotor mags from many moons ago, not even sure how it got there but pretty cool all the same. Datsun Z Car Consumer Guide dated July 1981. Its mostly black and white but took some pics of the colour pages. Can scan if anyone wants some light reading. Mark

Hi Mossy Found a few more old pics of your car. Enjoy. I must say it looks a thousand times better nowadays. Nice job. Mark

Courier delivered some shiny metal yesterday. Bought the bar on ebay through Muscle Car Parts Australia. The quality of the chrome and fit is good. Another thing crossed off the 'to do' list. The rear wheel cylinders have been leaking a little so Santa was kind enough to swing by Stew Wilkins and grab some new seals for xmas. Whilst the car was up on the stands we painted the original wheels with black plastic paint and raised the suspension. Old school vibe.

The standard heat shield no longer fits with the Fujitsubo headers. We were going to try and mod the standard shield to fit but it wasn't really going to work without looking a bit s#&t so we decided to make up a custom heat shield. Purchased some heat shield material and decided to give it a go, time will tell if it works. The old man bent up some support brackets that attach to the old mounts as well as another bracket underneath to pick up the springs. The material is only thin so is easy to work with and was cut to shape. Doesn't look too bad with the freshly painted filter back in place. The engine bay is nearly finished.... Mark

Thanks for the comments gents. Its starting to come together but there are still plenty of little things to sort out before we can get it back on the road. Thanks dat240z. In two minds about keeping or ditching. As GongZ mentioned the bumper lights were standard on the '73 model, although they were on top of the bar, not hanging as they are currently installed. The new chrome bumper only has holes on the underside and I couldn't bring myself to drill holes in the new chrome as we will likely get rid of them eventually. There's a bit of stuffing around to move the indicator bulbs into the lower valance so its a project for down the track. Im planning on moving them back under the bar a little so that should look a bit better for now (not sure how far under they can go before they are not legal??) Cheers EJ101. Agree they do look the part. They are a quality bit of kit. Have been wanting to get some in car footage but haven't finished installing the shifter boot / centre console so the road noise coming through the hole sort of ruins it. Should have this sorted shortly so will be sure to post another clip. And yep, reverse lights not currently hooked up. Another small job on the 'to do' list. I'm sure its mentioned elsewhere on the forum but I must say the Fujitsubo system does hang lower than the standard exhaust due to the twin pipes not being designed to fit up into the recess adjacent the diff. Something to keep in mind for anyone thinking of running one on a low car........ speedbumps will not be your friend!! Mark.

Quick update of late. Finished painting the front air dam and installed the new chrome front bumper. Couple of blurry photos (must remember to clean the lense next time).

That's for sure Gav. Shaun bought these a while back and we where going to save them for when we respray the car.......... but that's probably not going to happen for a while so why not throw them on now for a bit of bling! Thanks GongZ. They look super nice and lifetime warranty on not rusting is a good incentive ....... but a bit too pricey, as you say "ouch" indeed. Thanks Retro Z. I didn't see any on their website but I will suss them out. Bought some floor pans from these guys previously. Great to deal with.

Thanks d3c0y Doesn't look like they have any rear's at the moment but will keep an eye out. Couple of pics of what's been happening of late. Bought a nice little wooden shift knob. Installed the front bar for a test fit. As most of you would know the centre portion of these bars are really flimsy as there is no support, so the old man fabricated a couple of supports out of some alloy flat bar. Fibre-glassed them to the back of the bar and they will fix back to the chassis under the radiator. Coat of primer and ready for some paint........... when the weather cools down!!!!! Installed a new set of badges all round.

No worries PB. Your beast must be getting close!!!! Thanks

Hi Peter Did you investigate this any further? I previously emailed Syd Datsun Club but did not get a response. Keen to know any more info anyone has. Thanks Mark

So last week we finished off the manual conversion, fit up the exhaust and took the car for a quick spin (quick as in short..... not the car ). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT9dGmVsycY&feature=youtu.be Really happy with the sound of the exhaust, not too loud but not too quiet either. Its hangs up nice and tight under the car but is lower than the old system so we may need to play around with the ride height before we throw the wats on. Next to do is tidy up the centre console and fit the front bar.

Thanks PB Yeah very happy with it. Can't wait to take it for a spin. Here's a quick vid for some inspiration. https://youtu.be/kfVIsH0sTLU

It's alive!!!! Yesterday was a big day as we got the motor fired up. After getting the motor in last weekend we have spent the last couple of days cleaning the carbs etc and hooking everything back up. All in all it has gone relatively smoothly, except we did run in to a small fitment issue with the headers clashing with the thermostat housing. It was only just fowling so a couple of millimetres were shaved off the end of the mounting plate. Next up is to install the exhaust and finish off the manual conversion so we can get the thing moving.

Hi GongZ Plate is stamped 9/73.

Hi GongZ Yeah I think so, I'm sure its bringing back some good memories. Certainly spending a fair bit of time working on it of late. Below are a couple of pics of him in action, the first is from over 30 years ago!!!!

Hi All Good progress over the weekend. Engine is back in!!!! Before we picked up the hoist spent some time cleaning up the intake manifold. The coolant passages were near completely clogged up but after a bit of time cleaning all the gunk out and a quick sandblast and wash they are looking like new. The time had come to lift the engine back into the bay. The old man's rig did the job nicely and we got the engine and gearbox in place without any drama's. Its coming along nicely and hopefully will have the engine turning over in the next week or so.

Hi GongZ Thought I had added details a little while back when you first mentioned it, anyway I have re-done so should see on there next time the register is updated. Mark

Hi All, Thought I would post a quick update of the progress of late. The engine has been put back together and is looking the business (fingers crossed its starts once it’s back in the car). Plan is to lift it back into the car this weekend. Whilst the engine was out we decided to take the opportunity to tidy up the engine bay with a thorough clean and a fresh lick of paint. Slightly cleaner than before we started!!! We also pulled the steering rack apart for a refurb with some fresh grease and new paint. Luckily all the components were in good nick showing minimal signs of any significant wear. Hopefully will have some pics shortly of the engine back where it belongs.