Zeubin

Howdy, 

Went to the Kumeu show on Saturday for the first proper road test and she drives suuuuper smooth. Sits at 60-65mph no problem, quiet as with nice temp and oil pressure.

Suspension and steering are awesome but gearbox is a bit heavy and crunches going to first or reverse sometimes. 

Picked up Evan on the way and tried to beat the heat. Met up with the other oldschoolers, managed a park a couple of cars away.

Because nobody likes a picture-less update:

Photo cred to Karljsw from the Z club.

Got heaps of different folks oogling even at a more V8/American/Muzz event (more than I expected anyway).

My folks also got a new pup so I thought I'd get the token "bitches love datsuns" photo:

Also got time off and signed up for nats so SEE YOUS THERE AYE

LEGALITY!

Today I booked the z in for a vin at Nostalgia Motors in Hamilton expecting to come back and find two or three non-compliances

(not that I could find any, but they can be super picky)

I got a call at half past three saying she's all good to go and she "flew through" the vin! 

I buzzed her over to VINZ to get rego and plates confirmed and we're legit.

$140 odd for a year's rego sounds alright to me.

Looking at carjam, the last time she had rego was August 1990! 

Obligatory sticker photo:

That's 8 months from buy to fly. Only two months over schedule but the critical deadline was the Kumeu show so no problemo.

Special thanks to OS'ers Cressy (Nick), Evan (Evan), 64valiant (Greg) and Miniman76 (Hayden) for their input.

Pumped!

Howdy Pard'ner

A few more bits and pieces of progress:

Powder Coated goodness. It's a nice feeling looking underneath and not thinking damn son, you nasty.

Also replaced the front wheel bearings because yuck

Had the front rotors skimmed. Looked like the pads have worn down at some point, I wonder what song they would play on an old record player.

Also found an old WOF in the sun visor. Might be good proof for the plates?

And the ones I know you're probably here for... 

All complete and ready for re-reg just waiting to hear from LTSA about the plates.

Hasta la Vista, BABY

Hoping to be ready to potentially take her to Nats if time off is approved

Part 2: the mangling.

Right, so the spindle pins go in the control arm, through the strut base and back out the control arm. What happens when the pins decide to stay home?

We get physical. Then we get angry. then we say "nah stuff it just buy new ones"

The trusty Hack saw has been pulled out too many times...

Sad face. It took a ten ton press to get that bastard pin out.

BUT while the rear was out, we could have some hypothetical fun... tee hee

Yeah these are the wheels I am going with. I got some centre-cap stickers too and likey-a-lot

BREAK for refreshments...

Ordered some seat covers from the states and got Greg (64 Valiant) to fit and trim them to the seats.

Before in not too bad condition considering. Vinyl was really brittle and hard.

After! The lighting isn't great but you get the idea.

Make-shift solutions are often the most comfortable... okay maybe not this one.

I'm really happy with the colour match.

Big ups to Greggles for his work. 

Managed to the the old girl out to the Hamilton monthly meet last Thursday.

Unsurprisingly the car handled much better with air in the tyres

Also replaced the windscreen rubber in the weekend.

I have also removed the bumpers to take them to Onehunga Electroplaters to get a few dings out and add some sparkle.

It's ALIVE! 

After sending the Z to Speedwell in Hamilton to get the carbs looked at, she's purring like a kitten.

The old boy said all the needles were gunked up from stale fuel and the slides were stuck.

Looking all snazzy in the fresh air.

Also gave the radiator a proper flush and got a nice tray of gunk out.

Might have been helpful to jack her up to get the tray under a bit more...

Tinkle time! I really like this photo haha a little accident.

To do list:

-Shocks

-Windscreen rubber

-Exhaust and muffler

-High stop light?

-Sort out slow voltage discharge

Oh, I forgot to show y'all something else:

I wanted to replace the super hard original water squirty tubes that run from the washer bottle to the jets to clean the windscreen, so looked around and found an old IV line my dad brought home from work. It actually fit perfectly haha

I also had a nosey in the back and found the original jack and toolkit (may not be original tools but look old enough) in their super secret drug smuggling hatches behind the seats:

Greets Amigos,

Since last update, The gearbox is back in with new clutch assembly, frost plug and crank seal. After that, we looked into the brakes which were bled for maybe 45 mins before all the air was out (hopefully).

The rusty old pressure plate

Shiny new clutch plate

Also installed this weekend are four new heater hoses and a pertronix electronic ignition system which was suspiciously easy to install...

one of the hoses ripped to bits as I took it off so probably worth the time it took to replace them.

Heater hoses are my new pet hate! Awkward little suckers to get to but worth replacing since they are the 40yr old originals.

Also installed were a new inner and outer shifter boot I got from the states.

Now she's going to Speedwells in Hamilton to sort out the carbs and get her running properly. Currently only one carb is working so 3 cylinders are firing. Really need the compression to build up so we can see if the brake booster brings the spongy brake pedal up to a good spot. After that's done, it's just shocks and a windscreen rubber to put in and we can go for a vin check.

Cheers,

Reubin

Gearbox time!!

Everyone's favourite time!

With significant help from my good friend Nick (Cressy) the gearbox has been removed as well as the driveshaft and half shafts.

The universals in the drive and half shafts are super notchy and have been sent away for refurb. I figure I don't want to be going in there again for as long as possible.

Now the clutch assembly... not so pretty as you can see from photos!

The main frost plug has been weeping coolant into the clutch assembly so the flywheel, clutch plate and pressure plate have been sitting in about 25mm of water for the last god knows how long. Needless to say the clutch and pressure plates were fused together hence the lack of gear-change-ness. I had anticipated this so already have a replacement clutch kit ready to go. I also got the flywheel skimmed by the good fellas at Waikato Clutch and Brake who previously serviced all the brakes.

Now to take the scrubbing brush and degreaser to the rear of the block to make it nicer and put everything back together after I have the shafts back. I also got a new rear crank seal for safety.

Things are coming together slowly, just ticking things off the list. Super excited to illegaly drive her for the first time soon haha!

Churp

Moment of victory!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW gooey rusty muck

Righto, so things are moving on and the work has begun.

I have replaced the rubber fuel lines in the engine bay, replaced the voltage regulator, had the alternator reconditioned, had the rear wheel cylinders and front calipers refurbished. Now on to finding some shocks to replace the leaky old ones which won't be passing inspection any time soon. Here are some snaps:

Bits of bits of bits

Polish takes 20 mins per wheel but looking nice.