craZee

It's been a while since I have visited this post. To follow-up on a few items, my 240Z did sell on Bat for $50,500. Below is a picture of the garage it is headed to in St Louis. I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as we did. Switching the differential in the 620 ended up being a bigger project than I had thought. I originally just swapped the entire pumpkin, but during the first test drive I could hear something rubbing in the back. Turns out that the axles were able to move in and out about 1/2" and the hubs were rubbing on the inside of the dust shields. I ended up using parts from both diffs to make one that works great now. RPM is down by 1,200-1,400 RPM on the freeway. So much better!

As you all know, it's a lot of work to keep it that clean! Odometer has 6,500 miles since swap, so we have used and enjoyed it!

Waiting for Amazon to bring me some gear oil so I can swap my 3rd member. My old tried and true auto parts store closed last year and I can't stand driving around and talking to kids who know nothing at other auto parts stores with half empty shelves. In the meantime, I am putting my 240Z on Bring a Trailer soon. Was up and out early this morning shooting still pictures. Video scheduled for tomorrow. Here's a few fun ones.

Just got back in town after visiting 88-yr old Mom. Hard to watch your parents decline..... Delivery man dropped off my 3:70 differential out of a 720 model today. Looks like an LSD to me. Were all truck diffs LSDs? Looks nice and clean inside, so I don't anticipate any issues with the swap. I should be able to drive on the freeway now!!! 🙂

It was built in 2005 and has been driven 14,000 since. Well cared for!

Off topic here...the beetle in my garage is a friend of mines, that I am helping him to sell. I put it on my lift yesterday to detail the underside and the final product came out awesome. Looks like we found a buyer for it today. So clean!!!!

LOL We went to the Big Bopper for dinner. I'm not sure if it's Michelin star rated 🙂

I had them polished by a professional. You dismount the tires, and he puts the rims on what looks like a tire mounting machine that has an overhead buffing wheel on it. The cost was $60 per rim. One of the few things that actually seemed cheap on this refreshment LOL

Just got home from a fun weekend in Solvang. Got to hang out with friends, that we sadly don't get to see often enough. There were 5 Datsun trucks in attendance. 1-320 (I think), 2- 520's and 2-620's. It was cool to see the same year totally stock green 620 next to mine and compare the differences. The owner did a great job of restoring it. Here are a few pics from the weekend. On the way home one of my friends texted me an Instagram post he had seen of our trailer on the way home LOL As a side note, right before we were leaving to head to Solvang, one of our neighbors brought by his new to him C7 Z06. My wife dd's a C6 so she took it for a spin with the owner in the car. The car has the carbon ceramic brake package and she said that she about threw both of them through the windshield the first time she hit the brakes. Guess what she wants for her birthday now. Thanks neighbor! LOL Oh yea, BTW, the bike in the back was a big draw and promoted lots of fun discussions. Good addition!

The 620 is a short-bed and the bike barely fits straight. Thought I was going to have to let some air out of the tires to get the tail gate to close. 🙂

Put one final shine on the truck, loaded the motorcycle, and in the trailer she goes for tomorrow morning's departure. Guess I need to change the graphics on the back of my trailer lol

So I finished cleaning up the bike for display only this weekend. First picture was yesterday, second picture today! Will look good in the back of the truck 🙂

Ever since I saw the Datsun ad below, I have been fixated on showing my 620 with a period correct Japanese motorcycle in the back. With the connections I have, I thought that I would easily find one to borrow, but all leads went stale. Due to this not working out, I had my upholstery guy order material for the tonneau cover, which was scheduled to be fabricated and installed tomorrow. Low and behold, an exact copy of a bike I owned as a kid popped up on Craigs List last night and I went and bought it this morning. It's a 1973 Yamaha 175. It hasn't run in decades but for my intended purpose, once I clean it up some it will be perfect. So instead of a tonneau cover, my upholstery guy is recovering a motorcycle seat for me tomorrow. I have a whopping 72-hrs to get the bike all cleaned up. Gotta love deadlines! LOL

I have an appointment this Wednesday to have a new tonneau cover made and then it's off to Solvang on Friday morning. Forecast is for mid-70's weather. Perfect!

Todays project was replacing the gas pedal. The original build included a gas pedal that was meant for floor mounting but it was mounted on the fire wall. This meant that the pedal was actually tilted towards the driver and was completely uncomfortable. I first tried modifying this set-up but to get the proper slope away from the driver I only ended up with about 30% of throttle travel. I had a top speed of 42 mph LOL I ended up buying a really nice Lokar unit from Speedway that is infinitely adjustable as the pivot shaft has fine splines that allow you to choose any angle you need. I was able to reuse the stock hole in the firewall for the cable routing. Need to figure out a pedal stop inside tomorrow. Check out the gas welding on the old pedal mount. Old school stuff...........

Fun project today. Through the buffing, and in some cases color sanding process, I lost parts of my pinstriping. I found a great local guy who has been striping since the 70's. Being a former Datsun truck owner, he instantly fell in love with the truck and was easily able to color match the existing striping and touch it up, while still leaving some patina. It really makes the truck pop! Awesome job Rob. You're the man!

Got my car err, truck to the muffler shop today. Out goes the 50-year-old 1.5" pipe that was hitting on the cross brace and a muffler with a loose baffle inside that sounded like a spray paint can. In went new 2" pipe with a 24" long Thrush glass pack. LOVE the new sound and especially the lack of rattles and knocks. Forgot to take a final picture before the truck hit the ground but will do so next time it is on my lift.

A local cool car hangout the Garage Collective held a 70's flower power cars and coffee this morning. The 620 was well received!

I don't remember them even asking on this one. I only insure my collector cars with them, so I usually tell them 2,500/yr/vehicle. Mine also are always garaged, which may be a requirement as well. It's not a fit for all applications for sure. They insure race cars as well, which are covered everywhere except on the physical racetrack. My homeowners insurance will not cover any vehicle that has had a vin number so if my house burns down there is no coverage on any vehicles. They even have a special program where if you pay a little more each year (very little) if one of your cars gets totaled you get the totaled value paid out AND you get to keep the car!

Hagerty Insurance rocks! I have been a happy customer for over 10-years, and they continue to surprise me with their customer service. When I first bought this truck I insured it for $10,000 with a whopping annual premium of $28/yr. I called yesterday to increase that to $15,000. The agent (always friendly people that I can understand!) said that $15,000 exceed their current "valuation tool", but that she would look on-line for recent sales. While I was on the phone with her, she found some comps from BaT, Mecum etc. that supported a $15,000 valuation and higher. Based on those findings, she was able to approve the increase and it cost me another $9 for the remainder of my annual policy. Kudos to Hagerty for giving their agents authority to look outside the box and keep customers happy! I wish we had more companies like that!

OK 620 brain trust. What is the best source for replacement ring and pinion gears for these differentials? Took my truck to a car show last night and the 3-mile leg on the freeway was unbearable. I have no idea how this truck got 108,000 miles on it with 4:88 gears in the back!

Just changed out my rear shocks, as the seal had failed on one and it had leaked all the oil out. After letting the truck back down I realized that I only had about 1" of travel before hitting the bump stops. I could easily bottom it out by pushing down on the bed. I cut about an inch off of each stop and if I remember my trigonometry correctly, this doubles my travel! 🙂 It's hard now to press it down enough to hit the stops. Easy to cut more off if I need it. Hard to stick it back on.....

So I took Yenpit's advice and dropped my door lock cylinder off at a local locksmith. One day and $45 later and I have door keys! Looks like the guy I bought the ones that didn't fit from is going to issue me a full refund. Very much appreciate that! Took the truck on the freeway for the first time today. The story board says that it has a 4:88 R/P in it. I was hoping that was wrong, but based on 4,300 rpm at 55 mph sadly it seems right. Ugh Ordered some new rear shocks that arrived today and should go on tomorrow. Despite having a header, this truck is too quiet. The header is restricted down to a 1.5" exhaust so I will probably tear that all out and go 2" with a glass pack. It has to at least sound fast! LOL

Today's simple project was going to be to change the outside door locks. I didn't get any door keys when I bought the truck, and the ignition has been changed so it doesn't match. On a positive note, what I found under the door cards once again blows me away. SUPER clean! On a negative note, the locks I bought from a guy on FB aren't the same and aren't going to work. Thought I might take the old lock to a locksmith tomorrow and see what it would cost to have a key made. Nothing seems simple anymore....