After a long time i got some parts for my Z-project again.
The first item is a book about Yutaka “Mr. K Katayama”. Some people think that his role with the Z is a bit overrated by the average media. But since the book is written originally by Japanese Takashi Ashikawa  in japanese and has been translated since. i guess there might be more truth behind it than the average glorifying of Mr. K.
I haven’t read a single word so i have to dive into it first befor i can say anything more..

It might sound repetitive but the coolest things i tend to find when i don’t look for them. I have seen the “competition” steering wheel for sale in the usual Z-specialist shops but i never planned to buy one. Unti recently one popped up new for a good price in a local secondhand website.

It even came with the Japanese “fairlady Z” Horn button. A bit of research before purchase revealed that this is most probably one of the pretty good JDM-car-parts replica items based on an original Mold (o a mold from an original competition steering wheel). Anyhow the quality is outstanding and it’s nice to have!

And here some siza comparison shots take next to the original “fake wood” steering wheel
of my 1972 Z’s:

Those “competition” steering wheels were introduced (to my knowledge) years after the original S30 was released (back then a different steering wheel was optionally available) but has sine been a popular mod on the 240Z and or Fairlady Z with prices for original ones skyrocketing. As far as i know t his has also been sold for the “Hakosuka” skyline but with different horn buttons. I’m not 100% sure but i believe to remember that there was even a second version of this steering wheel which was deeper. but i might be wrong.
Here’s a shot from the 1979 Nissan sports option catalogue:

After all it’s a really nice piece to have so i’m happy with my purchase 🙂

Good news. My bodyshop guy is back at work with my car. First he welded back the sandblasted rea bumper mounting brackets:

Then the inside of the trunk floor got sanded and painted with rust protection:

Before the rear lower valance got fitted and welded back in blacke. Finally i got a rear end again. Wow <3 Next week the spare tire wheel well should go back in, before work on the left rear quarter starts 🙂 This should go faster compared to the left side, since i have a complete NOS quarter panel and it doesn’t have a fuel filler neck 😉

Finally, a lifesign from the bodyshop. Nothing big. But the little update came along a promise that he will contune work on the car again soon. Which makes me quite a bit happy. Today he got the brackets for the rear bumper sandblasted, so i assume the plan is to get the rear valance welded back on the car soon:

Yeah it has been way too long since a last project update. The garage is still far from done, but it’s slowly getting there (more on that in an other post). Last week i got the EK9 in it’s new home. Finally:

So i think it’s time to carefully crank up the “Fairlady Z” project again…
What better way to re-start a project than buying new tools? exactly 🙂 Got myself some air tools like a rattle gun and tire filler tool with Manometer.

And a little extension  hose drum too 🙂

In order to make some space in the new garage, i decided to put the ole L24 on the motorstand instead of having it on that old wheel on the little dolly which is quite unpractical.

To do so i had to take of the clutch. thanks to the new rattle gun, this was a piece of cake:

So i had her lifted on the engine stand:

Tadaa… looks much more professional and is way more practical too 🙂

And while at it anyway i decided to remove the old fan clutch and fan blades too:

Here we go…

Hoping for more news again soon. still a lot of other work in the house / workshop / garage, but i see some light at the end of the tunnel 🙂

Well my bodyshop is an excellent guy, but he surely takes his time to get all the details right. I love that, but i want my car back before i retire. That’s why i always search for the best possible solution to make life as easy as possible for  him. Lately i often saw those yellow panels from UK popping up on various sites. One of the “problematic” areas is stil the Rear lower valance. I got one from MSA so far and it’s ok for most of the “american” restaurations i guess, but not for me… The main problem beeing that the Curvature from the original lower valance is missing. I thought i’d give it a try and got it today:

I’m surprised about how different it is and how great it looks. Also got confirmed that it’s the original sheet metal thickness as the cars came with. You can clearly see the “curvature” in this picture.

The main difference aside from that is the “lip” at the bottom end (see first picture) and the more accurate shape at the exhaust area.

Here’s panel from MSA, see the differences? All a bout the details..

I really can recommand the yellow one above. They don’t have a website but i often see these (and many other 240Z parts from them) pop up on ebay and various facebook pages. Price is also nice if you ask me 🙂