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GARAGE: Another Datsun Dealer Sign restored (LED Retrofit)
Recently, I acquired this beautiful Datsun Dealer sign with NEON tube lighting in Germany: First thing was to take it apart and give it a proper cleanup: This sign has been in storage with the previous owners in a dry place for 15 years. So the condition is quite good. But as it happens, it has collected a bit of dirt over the years: One side of the plexiglass sign had some scratches, but the other one is still in remarkable condition. Next was to remove all old electronics. We don’t need those filters and brittle old sockets / starters anymore, and the wiring doesn’t seem very safe and also…
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FRIENDS: Sea-freight from Japan
I’m long out of business when it comes to parts import, but from time to time, I still help some friends get parts from Japan which is sometimes a bit tricky. Today two pallettes arrived, which have been on the Sea for a while: The first one is a brand new NISMO transmission for a very special Z project of my people over at S30.world The second item was a rough, used Fairlady Roadster FRP Hardtop. But despite it’s looks, it’s an ultra-rare Original Nissan Roadster hardtop. Very hard to find and either costs a kidney or are in this condition. A friend of mine will try to restore it,…
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GARAGE: S20 Valve cover / Kobe Mag wheels / Datsun Sign
It’s the time of the year when people clean out their basements – and that means shopping time for me. The first thing I found was a huge Datsun Dealer sign in very good condition. It’s a Double-sided FL-tube sign which the previous owners got in the barn when they bought their house. And it has since then been there, until they decided to sell it, recently. It’s in very good condition but got a bit of dirt inside. Time for a little side-project: Dismantled it all: Cleaned everything without getting rid of the patina: And got rid of the old electronics, which were in a very questionable and unsafe…
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240Z: Bride x Autolook Test fit
Time for another update: After some weeks of waiting, finally the Bride MO seat rails arrived. After studying various solutions, and by wanting to keep it Japanese, I ended up with the bride MO type rails: A first check to see if they fit in the car, showed it all works well: Next step: Fit them to the seats: I used some existing holes, but need to drill a few new ones. So this is all just a quick mockup to see if it all fits: First result looks good. One problem I noticed is that the door handle will touch the seat so it needs to go slightly higher…
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EK9: Optional Mudflaps and documents found
While the car is in hibernation, I’ve collected some stuff for the EK9 again. First, a set of kind-of-rare Civic EK Hatchback mudflaps. They came with all the dirt from the previous owner, but after a bit of brushing it off with warm soap-water, they look quite good (See first photo). What I didn’t think of, though, is the fact that they probably won’t fit with the TypeR’s rear under spoiler? Time to check my Japanese Honda accessories catalogue: The Mudflaps were actually available, even specifically in TypeR colors like NH-0, but only the front ones. Which is also mentioned in the previous photo – That only the front…
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240Z: STE Synchrometer Carb adjustment toolbox
As somebody who used to develop test equipment and test procedures as a profession, I just love special tools and equipment and when they’re for one of my cars, I always collect them. Recently, my mate Florian found a pretty much complete set of an STE “Synchrometer” for Nissan / Datsun SU (Hitachi) Carbs. STE stands for Shleyer Test equiipment and is a german Company who used to make those, in what to appears some kind of Partnership with Datsun / Nissan Germany back in the day. The company still exists, but only seem to sell their Standard product now. The tools come in a nice wooden box with a…
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240Z: Nissan sports option / NISMO intake and various other stuff
I’ve been collecting stuff again. But this time there are some more exclusive items than usual: First, a French “Sport-Auto” magazine. I usually don’t buy random magazines with Z-reports inside. But this one features a quite special car. Not the original Fender Top mounted turn signals. It appears to be a car with quite an interesting mix of parts. and I will definitely have to look at this one closer. Maybe it will also end up in my Knowledge-post about the Development of the European spec cars. It could be one of those rare early prototypes, seen here. Then, I got a Japanese Fairlady Z parts manual, which includes the…
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240Z: Datsun NOS parts hunting in the Snow
Recently, I saw an ad for some Datsun NOS parts for sale. The photos didn’t really reveal a lot, but the lot appeared to have some good stuff included, and the price was fair. It was an 8-hour round-trip away, though. After talking to the seller a bit, I somehow felt the urge for a little road trip to collect that stuff, so we agreed on a date. Unfortunately, we had heavy snowfall in the black forest: After I made it across the snowy hills, the highways weren’t any better either. Luckily, the weather changed after 2 hours and I eventually made it to the owner. A collector of various…
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EK9: Honda advertising & training VHS video cassettes digitized
Recently, I obtained some rarer and cool VHS Video cassettes in Japanese NTSC Format from Japan. Those were both original Honda Video cassettes, which I bought in Japan. Since I don’t have a VHS player anymore, I had the videos digitized by a professional company, which also removed various distortion and other artifacts, which often appear on old cassettes. The first one (left in previous photo) is called “TRY! HONDA RACING SPIRIT CIVIC TYPE R” and is basically an advertising video which was given by HONDA to their Primo dealerships which sold the EK9, to show in their showroom or at the EK9 display. It features JGTCC racing driver Okada…
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EK9: Strut braces restoration & documents from Japan
So. I have been busy in the last few weeks collecting stuff and getting some minor work done, while the car is in hibernation. Let’s start with the stuff I got from Japan. First, I forgot to show you the parts manual “No. 8” which was in the last post, but without any details: It’s the “final version” parts manual for the EK-series, so it covers all hatchback versions including the latest models before the model change Then, I got this: On the left side, there is a Civic EK9 promotional VHS Video, that was supposed to run on displays in the Honda Primo showrooms in Japan, to promote the…
