Many places around the world are shutting down because of the COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus. Though the virus has nothing to do with vintage Toyotas, this is an excellent time to get some work done on your JNC project if your workplace has shut down or your area is under home isolation advisement. Those circumstances may cause some people to go stir crazy, but luckily we are Car Enthusiasts. Social isolation? That sounds like wonderful hours of uninterrupted time in the garage, whether its swapping in a new transmission, claying your paint job, or redecorating the ol’ shed. Hell, since no one else is on the roads, it’s a great time to go for a drive.
What’s your JNC project until this whole coronavirus thing blows over?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which JNC model deserves its own museum?”
There were several museum suggestions that we would actually pay good money to see among last week’s answers. An entire gallery full of Toyota taxis, as Negishi no Keibajo proposed? Where do we buy tickets? Similar collections of kei cars, the Toyota HiLux, Toyota Crown, and Mazda rotary, as submitted by エーイダン, robin, teddy, and both Brett and Daniel are all places we’d make special trips to see, but in the end there can be only one winner. This week, it was Dirty_S30, who made the best argument for a Z museum:
I personally think that the Nissan Z cars should have their own museum. It would include every Z car from the 240 up through the ZX’s and into the present era of 350, 370 and even the mysterious whispers of the 400Z. Now, I know what you might say. Oh that’s the boring answer. The obvious answer. And you might be right. But that doesn’t make it the wrong answer. Sometimes the right answer is the obvious answer.
This museum would have every model of Z car, with every trim level, turbo versions, and even all the goofy add-ons American dealerships put on the 240-280’s the jack up the dirt cheep prices. It would also have Z cars from different race teams, like the Paul Newman cars and such, and if the museum couldn’t find a 240Z 432 or a 432R, they could just make some. Slap some carbon fiber on and a double stack exhaust. Ya know slap in a twin cam out of a hakosuka, no biggie, right? The museum should also have some examples of cars built by individuals. The availability and accessibility of the Z platform has given so many more people people the opportunity to build an amazing Japanese car (that has since become a classic). People have built them following so many different styles and philosophies, and they all (usually) look amazing.
The museum should have designs and drawings of all the different Z’s, original advertisements and marketing campaigns, theater sections were people can view all the commercials. People should leave the museum WANTING to buy buy a Z.
And why should they want to buy a Z? Because the Datsun (and Nissan) Z family is the family that put irresponsible automitive fun into the hands of everybody. It made irresponsible idiocy a thing for the masses. 6 cylinder shenanigans for the budget conscious. European performance at the price of a few transatlantic flights. What’s not to love. Let’s get us a museum going.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I live in Poland, Central Europe. The Covid19 is just hiiting my country. I work in school, but government closed all educational insitusions for 2 weeks (for now, but i’m sure this quarantine will be prolonged at least till Easter). So i have a lot of spare time. But i sadly can’t work on my old Daihatsu or on any of my daily’s, ’cause i don’t have space for it. I live in a flat, and my garage is a fairly remote location. Besides it’s tight, cluttered with parts, materials & tools. I can hardly walk around my Grey Dai, so doing any kind of work on it is currenlty impossible…
I wish i could live in a small house with big, two-car garage equipped with liftjack and good lightning…
A 1/24 Nissan Leopard 280 TR-X.
Maybe I can finally get my garage organized. I moved into my current house about a year ago and the garage turned into a dumping place for everything that didn’t go in the house. Slowly, but surely I’m making progress.
At least my Z31 is in there now, albeit with very little space to work currently.
If anyone needs furniture, vinyl records,VHS tapes, or DVDs let me know. I have tons.
I’m in the same boat. One year in a new house, garage still full of crap.
I feel like the more space I have, the more crap I seem to collect somehow.
In my case the crap isn’t all mine (but I have plenty of crap as it is).
i got the J part but not the NC part. im planning on waxing my ‘09 impreza so it doesn’t look matte anymore lol
I’m continuing to preserve HONDA history, like I do everyday……..
Supply shortages abound. If you can’t find rubbing alcohol, buy some cheap Vodka. What you don’t splash on you can later mix with Orange Juice and have some screwdrivers.
No! not Phillips screwdrivers, Milk of Magnesia and Vodka.
Trying not to burn “Craigslist”, “Cars & Trucks”, “Owner”, “Vintage” on my retina.
Just pulled apart my 240Z for a fresh coat of 919 yellow.
Going to drop the L28 off at the machine shop soon.
The last thing I did before dropping it off was to grind out the top of the strut towers for coilover camber adjustment. Need to make the order yet, but I’m going with the BC kit.
I’ve already got a set of 15″ swastikas stripped, going to powdercoat them this weekend, and polish the lips. Got a set of RE-71Rs ready to go on (205/50R15). For more mundane driving, I’m refinishing the Enkei 92s, which are already shod in Dunlop Direzza DZ102s, as soon as I get the swastikas finished and rolling around.
It’s a lot of juggling, but I’m confident it will come out well.
I bought a super original extremely nice 1969 eggshell white 2 door 4 speed Datsun 510 on 4/4 last year the same day I started my new job in Berkeley. I had just had my 3rd child a month prior. The car needed a carb rebuild and I was planning on using it as my daily driver…..
Job with new commute and 3 kids kept me from working on it. Rather than rebuild the carb I decided it needed dual sidedrafts so I picked up a set of Weber 40s…….then header…….then libras……..then coilovers…….the list goes on and on lol. No time to work on it. Then a couple months ago bought a complete radiator to driveshaft deal from a friend with a built LZ20 with dual mikuni 44s and KA 5 speed.
About two months ago I managed to swap the engine into the bay but stopped short of cutting the new hole in the trans tunnel. My office just shut down and I’m now working from home until 4/7 at the earliest so the plan is to drive this car on my 1-year anniversary of purchase. Wish me luck!!!!
bolt on the new veilside wheels I bought for my Corolla
Building a roll cage for a friends Honda Z600. Not really a normal Z600 though (like there are any “normal” Z600’s). This one is chopped 6 inches and sitting on a custom frame. It will be powered by a Vintage GMC inline 6. It will be running in the Competition Coupe class and should be good for ~200mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Funny enough, this isn’t the first Z600 to get the land speed treatment. There is another one built by Autopower that has been creeping up on 300 mph for the last few years!
Since I work in healthcare (cardiac sonographer/cath lab tech) I am required to work. Since hospitals have reduced non essential patient stays, we’ve reduced our hours, but still working 3-4 days a week.
I do admit, I love the downtime though. I’ve had soo many small projects piling up.. it’s just good to work on things. I started to post them on f31club.com blog, “COVID19-Projects”.
Until things can lighten up, The Project Car magazine M30 progress slowed tremendously. While I still order parts, SR20store has reduced hours and right at the shelter in place was started, was when the M30 was suppose to be transported to AZ for repaint.
The interior was also suppose to get done, but the shop that was suppose to get it going also slowed down until shelter in place is lightened.
Retro car, so I decided to go with a retro build with some old school stuff such as Razo pedals and car mate cup holders… I’m looking for AC Technic and STR items to put in the car.
But I also made a retro style website. Still gotta update it as I gotten more stuff for the car. (and links.. I need to put old school links like overboost and 935draggers, apt107)
http://www.f31club.com/geocities/motorcity/yokohama/0211/
tribute to the 2000s era free websites with decent template designs (no flash website stuff for me).