Well no work today, but a bit research

I was reading a bit about different Blocks and heads, because somewhere in my mind i try to put together some plans and dreams for the future of the build. It's far away, but its always good to have a plan, even if you might change it until it's getting real
Well, let's start with the engine now:
i'm a bit curious, but european versions might have had different configuration. refering to this site: http://datsunzgarage.com/heads/ i have a JDM Head from an L20 engine, because it's an E30 Head. but according to the car's history i don't t hink it's a JDM head. maybe anyone know's more about european configurations?


The block is a P30 Block and referring to this site: http://datsunzgarage.com/engine/index.htm it seems to be equal to qhat guys in america got during the 71-73 build years.. we'll see what im able to find out..

Your Swiss market 240Z would have had an 'E88' cylinder head as stock equipment. Just like a lot of the other things on your car, the 'E30' head is a later addition / swap.

Why it was swapped is a different matter. The E30 heads are a good choice as a base for modifcation ( small chambers, and lots of meat to remove in the port shape and size of your choice ) but as a stock-for-stock swap they make no sense. Whenever I've seen them attached to European market Zs, it was usually as a 'Force Majeure' measure ( nothing else being readily available ) or an ill-informed swap from a sedan to replace a warped or otherwise damaged original.

So I wouldn't read too much into it, but - unless it turns out to have been modified - you will probably want to think about replacing it in the future.

I have several E88 heads, and you'd be welcome to have one for free if you paid for the shipping.....

thanks @ all for your help and input. i really apreciate your love and help for my project. you're all great - guys

Yeah it's getting cold here in switzerland. snow started to fall and my water bottle in the garage was frozen today, but that doesn't stop me from working on the lady

1) To complete yesterdays post, i made a shot of the engine block tag and it's definitly a L24 block. regarding HS30-H's comment and what i know from the previous owner the engine definitly has had a rebuild once. s o we'll see whats inside once the engine is out. probably they've done some cool stuff allready
@ HS30-H probably i'll need one of your heads, but that's something i have to decide once the engine is apart - but thanks a lot for your help


2) Back to work
started with removing the sound / heat deadening mats in the storage trays:


Next i removed those fresh air vents. The one from the driver's side is stuck somehow and the valve does only work hard...


then i started to remove the door steps. but the screws where really unusable rusty:


so i took my dremel and cutted a new slot to get them out:


worked really well and they came out fine. as you can see almost no rust underneath:


there where some bubbles under the paint so i thought maybe there was some rust underneath. took a screwdriver and scratched of the paint. but it seams like they just
painted it badly, as under the paint there was another (seemms to be original) layer of standard white paint (no pearl as the car is sprayed now..)


well and then i started to remove the front valances. as you can see the right side is really damaged. if someone has a center piece please let me know.. it's hard to find those somehow..


and that's how the front end looks now:


really happy with today's progress and hope i can continue this "fast"

Well, you may want to consider buying an airdam that would replace your damaged front valence parts, it would be easier than to source the exact original parts.

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1973 euro 240Z

well i was looking for an airdam / Lip like this one, but i wasn't sure yet if it completely replaces the genuine front bumper or if it's just mounted "over" the genuine bumper. can anyone give me advice?


also i think it's hard to get street legal with such an airdam nowadays, so it might be a good thing to have a genuine front end for registration and periodical checks we'll have to do here..

at http://www.classicdatsun.com/ they have fiberglass part to replace the 3 metal pieces of the front valance.

For your rear light, they may have done the modification to fit opel gt rear light.

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1973 euro 240Z

wooohoow first parts arrived here today:

a set of really worn but repairable JDM fender mirrors. and the good thing - they're genuine long type fender mirrors, not those shorter chrome types from the 510's you see often on ebay


and a headlight surrounding that will replace the broken one..


Fits pretty well:


and will look great once mounted, but i'll have to refurbish them first..


now back to work, started with some parts in the engine bay today:
removed the clutch cylinder first:


and then continued with the window washer pump and hoses:


next was the brake master Vac with cylinders and the brakeline distributer thing:


looks pretty empty now


then i jacked up the car to a higher level, to have better access underneath. as you can see i used some high-tech tools


somehow every car looks like a proffessional build when it's jacked up and wheels are removed


contiuned with removing the damaged rear bumper:


and that's how it looks underneath. really sad they broke so much things after they've restored it once. but ok. gives me the opportunity to do it better


that's it for today. not sure when im able to do the next update, as im off this weekend ...

As most people around the world im really busy now getting all the christmas gift and doin' all the christmas stuff, so at the moment i really don't get too much things done. anyway, the postal-guy brought another pre-christmas present to me and it was a used drivers side front lower valance i bought a few days ago. looks good. needs some sanding and repeainting but looks good and even the mounts were with it


There are some other packages on the way to me with more important parts for to continue the build and i have plans to get my other car into another home during winter so i have more space in my garage. it's getting really tight and as it is now i don't think i would have nough space to store all the bodypanels, doors, windows, etc.. of course i have a lot of other stuff to do and hopefully i'll find some time tomorrow. we'll see..

I decided to take an evening off from all that christmas-things and work on the lady a littlebit..
started with some rubber-stuff that was used as some damping material for the tool-trays behind the seats:


Then i started to remove the wiper arms:


and the wiper motor cover:


Next i removed the Exhaust mainfold:


Looks pretty empty around the block now


Then i contiued with the rest of the exhaust system. was quite easy because the whole exhaust is only mounted with two mounts at the rear muffler and three screws at the header


i contiued with some miscanellous pieces in the engine bay and some wiring stuff in the front end, as well as the horn:


next will hopefully be the fuel tank as well as some other small parts. as soon as i have my other car out from the garage and more space i can start with the body panels, Doors, windows, etc..

just a short update, as the postal guy just came in with another package from Japan.

this one included a new set of taillight gaskets i will use as a template to drill and cut holes for going back to OEM taillights


and a genuine japanese kameari catalogue.. maybe i'll find some nice parts for the build

very nice progress! how was the pricing on the OEM tail light gasket?

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'71 S30 - '90 S13x2 - '01 Grocery Getter AKA IS300 - '02 954RR

the set was about 50$ plus shipping

As days come and go, parts roll in

these are the last parts from my orders i made recently so now i can continue with a lot of stuff:

1) Front turn signal gaskets (new)


2) Taillight panels (used, and with some dents who need to be straightened..)



that's it for today, hopefully i'll get some work done tomorrow...

Keep up the good work!
Posting for updates from Australia so I'm sweating while you are freezing!
I liked the comment about the frozen water bottle.

Hooks

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@ 31gun: love your build too and greetings to australia

okok, i found some time for the project again, so let's see what i've done today:

1) Started with drilling the original holes from the taillights again, but after one hole on each side i decided to continue with other things..


2) so i continued with the plan to remove the fuel tank, but wasn't too successfull, as i wasn't able to remove the two small hoses (/"&&"%/!£è:£àèà!!!!) so i let that be for a while too...


3) and went back to the taillights. checked the fit of the "new" panels i got and it seems like the guys who did work previously on this car cutted the top panel. but i already found those as repair panels,
seems i will need one of these too...


4) Then after about 30minutes and some huge pain i got out the rear wire harness.. was really horrible, because they wrapped the whole harness in several layers of
electrical tape that got stuck every few mm's.. argh! but finally it's out and without cutting it


5) then i checked some rust in the front co-driver wheel housing. and seems like the previously done repair really is bad. because as you can see big pieces of painted bondo
came off quite easy and underneath there seems to bee some surface rust, in some points it even might be some bigger rust. hope it's not rusted too far. but we'll see.. i've seen alot of
projects in here whith a lot more rust. but as i can't repair rust myself i'll have to pay someone for that job so every little piece of rust hurts


hopefully i'll be able to continue work tomorrow. we'll see..

First: Got this new datsun Z-car restoration book, seems to be a pretty cool thing, but have to read it first


not too much work done today, but i decided to spend some 30 minutes with the car today and complete the fuel tank..
I hate every line / Hose who is connected to the fuel tank because they just won't come off. after i managed to gett of the two fuel lines i removed the tank and realized i forgot to take off the venturi hose.. argh!


somehow i got it of too and the tank finally was out - yipeey


not sure how it looks inside yet, but it seems like it needs some rework..


and that's how the rear end looks underneath now. looking good i think


now next big issue is definitly to get my other car out of the garage so i have enough space to remove all the bodypanels and things and maybe get some storage system to keep the parts off the floor
we'll see..

great progress, good to see you can get some time to keep working on.

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you may be interested by this link about custom taillight to get an idea what your car looked like with the round lenses:
http://www.zparts.com/showcase/taillight_showcase/index.html

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1973 euro 240Z

looking at the pic under the car, the good thing about the white paint is you can see where there is surface rust staining the paint.

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viewtopic.php?t=5211

@ mitx: thanks.. those mods seem to be very popular, but i still think the OEM look is nicest

@ GTS-Retro:
haha, yeah you're right, but the paint has really been done bady, so you can peel it of with a screwdriver almost everywhere :S

little update:
When i bought the car i asked the previous owner about the documents but he sadly didn't have any documents at all, but he told me to ask at the national car registration center for some information about the car.
Well and after about two months of waiting today i have the documents including the approval-stamp from the registration-center in my hands. lucky me

It says the car has been registrated in switzerland first time on 10. May 1972 Here in switzerland. Even the name of the name and adress of the first owner is included, maybe i'll try to contact him if he's still alive
also it tells me that the car has changed ownership at 4. March 1985. I think the car then wen't to the guy who restored it and kept it in the warehouse before the previous owner got it, stored it a few years under a roof outsied and then sold it to me.. but not sure.. and i think it's not too important as i tear down the whole car anyway and hopefully will be able to find all the weak points

EDIT: The document also tells me the car was originally painted white - great

Enough talking now. here you get the documents:


and a detailed shot on the first registration information:


that's it for today. hope i will be able to get some work done soon again..