My Swiss 1972 S30 240Z rebuild project

[JDMjunkies.ch]

no That's the problems we have in swtzerland ;) You need Documents from the official import company of a certain brand that gives you documents with the coilovers to get them street legally registered with the car.

and these seem to be the only adjustable coilovers which can be legally registered in switzerland due to the fact Tein one of a few brands with official dealers in switzerland which are allowed to give you the documents. otherwise once police pulls you out with unregistered suspension bits it can get expensive. so that's why i think this solution ist the best i found so far for swiss people :)

[skyblue]

oh wow, they are strict over there. that's the thing with Datsuns, most new parts cost more than the car itself. Just ask the guys doing SR motor swaps on their 510's

[JDMjunkies.ch]

haha yeah they are, but oher countries are even stricter so if you do your research almost everything is possible (with a certain amount of money and time :P)
Haha, yeah that's a general problem with restoring old cars, you get the cars / Shells cheap but every damn part costs a lot. but who cares. this will be something special for me and i don't have a hurry. if i need time to save some money i will take it :)

[72240z]

Well that certainly is strict lol. That being the case I would most likely section the struts and use approved lowering springs. I mean how are they going to know? 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Well they can check the original ride-height of any swiss homologated car in their database, so if they think it's to low, measure and check it with the database they'll see it and you won't get your car registered until you fixed it.

[72240z]

Now I'm confused lol. They will allow coil overs with documentation that effectively will change the ride height but not a simple set of springs?  

How often do you need to get inspected after registration?

[JDMjunkies.ch]

depending on the age of the car every 2-5 years. but as my car won't get any oldtimer-plates with the mods 2 years.

No you got it wrong. any mods (springs, dampers, strut-housings, or combinations of these) are allowed as far as you have the documentations.

Im runny H&R springs on my Daily with stock dampers, and have a full tein flex Adjustable coilovers set with springs on my EK9. both of them legal.

The initial plan on the Z was to use the tokico shocks (i already have them) with lowering springs which look original and hope nobody sees the difference :P But after i stumbled upon the tein custom suspension i feel this might be a way better solution because 1) it's totally legal and 2) it's adjustable 3) i can have it built to my personal wishes. only problem is the price. And the fact i already got my complete suspension stuff powdercoated and bought the Tokico shocks :P

Anyway, im not sure about the tein solution yet and it doesn't hurry, but this might be a good option depending on which quality lever the car will end (and to be  honest, even the steering wheel cost me more than twice than the black car *lol*)

[72240z]

I see I see, thats tough for sure. Its a little surprising to me more brands wont provide the documentation you need to legally use them. I would think more companies would be interested in the expanded market. Especially when it seems so few companies have a piece of it. 

It used to be tough like that stateside but since they started cutting stuff its gotten way easier lol. Now in my state historic cars dont even need to be inspected at all to be registered. No periodic inspections either, the gov has actually never seen my car officially lol. They also did away with safety inspection for all cars, its just emissions now. Such a drastic difference. 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Here we go, another piece of the puzzle arrived: A Koyorad Japan (Koyo) Aluminum Racing radiator. The great thing compared to the OEM Radiator is that this one is a bit thicker and has a crossflow-design which means better cooling efficiency. Also i was impressed about the weight. this thing is about 1/4 the wheight of the OEM Item. Great bang-for-the-Buck deal in my opinion!


typical japanese manufacturing quality:


Also  had to buy a koyo radiator cap because the OEM cap would not fit:


have some other news soon, but it's currently just a bit too cold out in the garage :)

[raven12]

Pretty radiator. I have been wanting to get one for myself. But with a future RB swap in mind, I am a bit hesitant. Would love to see installed pics. 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

thanks mate, it's a pretty cool one and quality is great. you'll have to wait at least a year to see mine installed, but there are pictures on the koyo homepage of one installed in a Z:
http://www.koyoradracing.com/news.asp?id=61

 

but in your case (RB-swap) maybe a different choice might be better, but i don't know that honestly :)
 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

My good friend Stev was kind enough to get me a set of Stickers over at JNC while he ordered some for himself. BIG THANKS, mate, as usual - apprecciate your support man!
Love the JNC gold "Inkan" Emblem and the Okamoto Condoms "OK-Hand" stickers :)

Also expect some new parts arriving during the next weeks. spent a lot of money ordering parts and temperatures are rising again so i hope i get some more recent updates on the car during next weeks again :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

The previous owner of the black z told me he had a few extra parts in a container which were missing. the car was almost complete except the bottom part of one seat and the passenger door panels and taillights. So when he finally told me he'll deliver me those parts i expected only these parts. But then i got a complete transporter filled with tons of small pieces i still have to identify :D Here's what i got:
1) A lot of interieur panels fron the hatch i guess:


2) a set of spare rear side windows, spare clutch, spare starter motor and other pieces:


3) Set of spare gauges and taillights (Second taillight see below)


4) A spare fuel tank :D


5) Boxes full of small electronic pieces, broken junk, spare seatbelts, spare cigarrette lighter, shift knobs, spare careburators, and tons of small things:


In one of the boxes i found this bag of Cat-weed seeds *lol*


6) broken center console, door steps, and a lot of other items


7) More panels, spare-tools bag, steering column cover and another broken center console:


8) Missing passenger side door panel and tons of doorsteps and stuff:


9) Missing bottom part of the passenger seat and a few worn out emblems, steering wheel switches, and more spare gauges:


10) And another rear bumper (i already got two with the white car *lol*)


Good thing is i have a lot of spare parts to choose from now. bad thing is i believe a few parts belong to the 260Z the previous owner also had, and a few parts are useless for me. I think i might be able to sell a few parts, but most of them or really worn out or broken so let's see. they need quite a lot of space in my garage and i think i'll sort out all the broken parts soon and throw them away. Anyway i'm happy i got a bit of a "treasure" here and at least a few of the parts might be pretty useful at one point maybe, so i'll keep all of them until i'm done with the car :D

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Finally i found some time for the Z again and fortunatly i had some nice progress:
After working a few times on the carbs without being able to get them off i finally got rid of them today:


and out they are :)


started to remove the horns also and found this weird wiring at the front end...?!?




and off they are:


hope to have more progress soon, a nice and big package should arrive here soon :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Everytime i'm able to spend a bit of money to add another big piece of the puzzle makes me smile. So today when the FedEx lady rung the bell on my door with a huge package, which continued this:


1) A Complete set of Fiberglass ZG-Style Overfenders:


2) A Xenon Urethane front Air dam:


3) And last but not least a set of aftermarket steering rack boots (I went for the aftermarkets because the cost 1/20 of the original items and i can't see any benefits of using old NOS parts compared to fresh aftermarket items):

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Finally - An Update!!! :)
Haha, yeah we had the damnest longest winter since weather measurement (no joke!) and therefore we  had snow and freezy temperatures until late march. anyway good news today:
A Package from Japan arrived with a ultra-rare unicorn piece of Japanese racing history:
A genuine forged Aluminum Kakimoto racing "valve cover" which i've been looking for almost a year now and when i almost gave up it popped up on Yahoo auctions so i just had to get it. don't ask me what i paid for it, hahaha:


The previous owner painted it in a wrong colour sos i'll have to redo that and also hilight the letters again but who cares :) Also got this battery kill switches from Wing takeo for my EK9 project but ordered a second one for my Z so i can switch of the battery when stored away :)


Last but not least i got the exhaust system removed, cleaned up the mess in the garage and removed a lot of wires and hoses from the engine.


Also should get back my engine-hoist which i loaned out to a few friends and never got back so i should be able to get the engine and tranny out soon - yikes :D PROGRESS :)

[72240z]

damn after the coil over chat I didnt think this was a super baller project lol. That valve cover is bank I dont even need to ask. Going to spend a G on some nos aus marker dual clear turn signals too? ;-)

I would just sand/polish the high parts of the lettering and call it a day, the paint job looks like it was done well. 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

damn after the coil over chat I didnt think this was a super baller project lol. That valve cover is bank I dont even need to ask. Going to spend a G on some nos aus marker dual clear turn signals too? ;-)

 

I would just sand/polish the high parts of the lettering and call it a day, the paint job looks like it was done well. 

Thanks mate :D Yeah the project is just getting bigger and bigger :)

No i think im going for some USDM / JDM Amber turn signals because they'll contrast better with the planned white paint :)

No im definitly gonna redo the whole valve cover. the genuine kakimoto valve cover is painted in some wrinkle-paint and t henn the letters and stripes sanded back, that's what i'll doo too. looks way better than this cheap-ass rattle-can paintjob it has now :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Here we go, got some industrial paint stripper (most harmfull stuff i've ever worked with, i believe :D) and started to strip the kakimoto valve cover:
1) Before:


2) While applying:


3) After cleaning with water and dishwashing-brush:


As you can see i need a second attempt to clear some small spots. Also got some Aluminum primer but still need to find the original dark blue wrinkle-paint which also should be able to clear the heat coming from the engine :) anyway, i'm happy with my progress so far :)

[Eagle_Adam]

progress is progress man!!, i love this thread!!! Ur pics always tell a good story 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

thanks mate, comments like yours keep me motivated :) :thumbup:

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Well after the never-ending winter with shit weather i somehow lost my motivation to get stuff done one the car, but this seems gone right now so i took two days off to get some things done (mostly gardening, but also some work on the cars :D) while we have some great weather :D
1) I was a bit worried how my first chassis would look after a seriously wet and snowy winter (where they throw a lot of salts on streets right in front of the car...) so i uncovered it:


and moved her in a better position, here you can see both of my fairladies:


2) then i got some stuff done on chassis number two: removed the last wires and hoses from the engine so hopefully i'll be able to get the engine and transmission out soon. (Should get my engine hoist back on the weekend :D)


3) Completed the paint stripping on the kakimoto valve cover. it's still wet from cleaning in the picture but looks great. ready for another clean and primer soon :)


4) Also made a few phone calls to figure out about the missing documents and i found out the car was last registered in an area about 1 hour from here (St. Gallen) and well i have some good news regarding the documents tomorrow. be sure to check this blog tomorrow again. im pretty happy with my progress today and hopefully the motivation keeps lasting for all my car projects. need a serious push to get things done :D

[Eagle_Adam]

damn man, i did a little research on that valve cover..........

 

 

 

You sir must love your car! 

[72240z]

damn man, i did a little research on that valve cover..........

 

 

 

You sir must love your car! 

What, its only a grand lol. Now if you REALLY want an expensive valve cover here is this one... ;-)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Bob-Sharp-Racing-Valve-Cover-/281092568899?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41726c3743&vxp=mtr

[Eagle_Adam]

you Z guys are nuts........