Grant's 1970 240z

[grantdavis28]

Hi Guys, Here is my 1970 series 1 Datsun 240z.

Vin#: HLS30-10681

Build Date: 9/70

I will attempt to do a basic rundown timeline of how I ended up with it...

1970 - My grandfather purchased the car from his local dealer in San Diego 'Economy Car Center'

2005ish - The car got parked up under some carpet in his garage as he was too old and sick to get into it

2011 - My granddad passed away

2012 - My grandmother told me the car was mine as long as I got it out of her garage ASAP

         - I had the car picked up from their home in San Diego and all fluids replaced and the engine turned over

         - I flew to San Diego and drove the car 600 miles to SF, left it in a secure warehouse and flew home

2013 - I spent 4 months living in SF working using the on occasion 

         - In December I sent the car to Auckland

2014 - I finally got the car registered in NZ after having to replace a chassis rail from battery acid rust.

Here are some images of the Z in the states, before its rough trip home...

Discussion click here

[grantdavis28]

Woodheads auto in Auckland did amazing work replacing the right hand-side chassis rail, as well as a new clutch. At this time I was working a lot and the car was stored at my parents place up north, So it only really got driven every now and then. Took it for a nice gravel road drive after spending 4 hours cleaning it...

I replaced the door seals and a bunch other seals around the place, was hoping to help with the fumes, it helped a little but still more work to be done...

Cleaned off the stickers on the front bumper, and order a new badge. 

Found some sweet leather driving gloves in a leather market on a recent trip to Italy. Ive never worn them, but they look sweet sitting in the car!

[grantdavis28]

Took the Z to a few car shows with the Z Club around Auckland, was nice showing off the Z. Won a few trophies within the Z club which was cool!

 

Not allowed to open my bonnet because its 50 years of filth under there! When I originally took ownership of this car, I have to admit, I knew very little about it. Its history, the L24 power-plant or any understanding of its relevance in the Japanese sports car world. I was a diehard bimmer fanboy from my early teens, though the more research I've done, Ive fell completely in love with the story and the significance of this car.

[grantdavis28]

I picked up some wheels from Jessie on here, I just couldn't say no! the tyres were the complete wrong size but I rocked them anyway for a few months, 14x7et8 Watanabes. I really liked the small wheels on the Z, just needed some fat meaty tyres for the 70's racecar vibe. Went out for a photoshoot with a good friend of mine, lucky we finished shooting before the fuel pump decided to stop pumping!

The sagging 50 year old rear springs are greatly exaggerated by the small stretched front tyres. The whole car sits very nose up, will need to be sorted. Its a tough balance between wanting to keep the car original, vs wanting to slightly modify and make the car 'mine'

[grantdavis28]

At this point, in mid 2015, life through a huge curve ball at me. I went to live and study in Denmark for two years and needed somewhere to store the car. After asking around it was suggested I look into classic car museums. The car was then sent down to Carterton to live its peace-full life at 'Gasoline Heaven'.

Before I moved over seas I put the original steal wheels with the hubcaps on and sold the Watanabes to a dude in Auckland. I wasn't fully stoked with the sizing and needed the cash to pay for the storage fees at the museum. I threw in the original licence plates and the original receipt for $3,200.00 in 1970.

It was sad leaving the car, but I knew it wouldn't be forever.

[grantdavis28]

Jumping forward to 2017, the car had been shipped back up to my parents garage in Auckland, waiting for my arrival back into the country after a long hiatus. Luckily it had been started and ran while down in Carterton, so it was cruising along pretty nicely.

I brought back a bunch of parts on my return home from Europe (through the US) Vögtland springs, Stagg shocks, new bumper rubbers, pertronix ignition and coil, carb rebuilding kits, and a bunch over other small tune up bits and pieces. Sadly though, not having a space to work on the car would mean all of this would have to just wait...

[grantdavis28]

Made it along to the 2017 OldSchool Drag Day. What a fucking awesome event, I had never dragged race before, and the old 4 speed manual box isnt super direct going from 2nd to 3rd, but I did manage to finally break the 17second mark way later in the day and hit a 16.84 from memory. Was super rad lining up againt @Zeubin's 240z also! Though he smoked me every time...

[grantdavis28]

Finally managed to hunt down the exact set of wheels I was searching for! I always dreamed of the 15x8et0 RS Watanabes, but from doing alot of reading on line, some people discussed needed to slightly fold the inner lip when running an 8 inch wide wheel. I really didn't want to touch the body at all, so I went on the hunt for a set of König rewinds in 15x7et0. Combined with the fact that I didn't want to run anything wider than a 205 tyre with stock power and no power steering. 

I managed to find a guy on here, who had a NOS set of the rewinds, Gold with a polished lip. after a bunch of sanding, etch primer, sanding, primer, top coat in metallic charcoal and then many coats of satin clear I transformed the wheels into the set of wheels I had been lusting after for ages. The Rewinds, much like the original Wats, appear much smaller than they actually are, they almost have a stepped lip. To me its what makes the Rota equivalent wheels just not look right. 

I wrapped them in a set of 205/55r15 Potenza RE003's. Absolutely loving these tyres, the are super grippy, and really nice and quiet.

 

 

[grantdavis28]

Still not having a garage meant the car was still stored at my parents place, while I was living across town. The box of parts sat on the shelf gather dust, for that one day when I would be able to work on the car and have the space. I would make an effort at least once I month to get out for a weekend spin in the 240z.

Also managed to get too Leadfoot in 2018 which was super rad. its nice turning up and get special treatment to park in the field closest to the entrance ahahah. A few photos I grabbed from the day:

[grantdavis28]

During 2018 and in to 2019 I took up a new, and massively ambitious hobby, training for an Ironman. This took most of my hours during every week so nothing changed on the Z in that time. Though I did managed to get one project done in my recovery days. Ive always been into customising bikes, been doing it since high school, always found it cheaper and easier than customising cars! I managed to rebuild my training bike and paint it the same colour as the Z! ahahah. 

I completed the 2019 NZ Ironman in 10 hours and 31mins. Was super stoked! It was a hell of a day, but the feeling of finishing was unreal! Anyway... back to more on the Z...

[grantdavis28]

Moving forward to March 2020. I am now working and living in Christchurch as an Architectural Photographer. The Z is still in my parents garage in Auckland, feeling left out and pretty sorry for itself. No wof, No rego, tonnes of worries. I flew up early march (in the before times, when travel was allowed) to photograph a friends wedding. While I was up here I managed to get the car started, clean up the small puddle of oil on my parents garage floor, and she actually passed a wof!! Woohoo!! it was running pretty poorly but she drove and stopped! two happy days of late summer driving! 

Fast forward the clocks a few weeks and during another work trip I got stuck in Auckland for the Level 4 lockdown, living with my parents for the 4 weeks. 4 weeks, of not being able to work... with none of my triathlon training gear. It was the universe telling me to pull apart the Z! So with my lack of mechanical knowledge I just started... knowing I had enough time to put the puzzle back together before the lockdown ended. 

This has been the Zs home for the better part of the last 6 years... Im amazed my parents still talk to me...

Under the bonnet is where most of the embarrassment lies... nothing under here has really been touched in 50 years. Being a California car its has a bunch of pipes and valves and smog emissions gear. I actually managed to source a JDM carb balance tube on facebook market place a year or so ago, so the plan was to strip back the engine, completely clean up the engine bay, re build the carbs, removing all the smog emissions parts and put it all back together.

Amazingly this little light still works!!! 

50 years of sludge build up.

The head is meant to be silver... the block is apparently blue!?

Before the lockdown set in, I had ran to repco to buy everything I thought I would need...

[grantdavis28]

This was going to need some attention... I had purchased some wrinkle black at repco for the lockdown, however I was unsure What todo...

I found little notes marked above each cylinder, assuming at some point in its 50 years someone had done a compression test... pretty cool pieces of history to find.

This shit became my new best friend, this and a small propane torch, without them I would still be in the garage with bleeding knuckles, not writing these posts.

Pulled the airbox off first to get a closer look at what my plan was, in order to do the level of cleaning I wanted too though, Id have to go further...

Carbs came off next, this gave a clear view of the 'exhaust galley' the small air pipes that go into each runner of the exhaust manifold. From what I had read online, after 50 years there is slim to no chance that these would ever come out. Most people cut and weld them up. I however do not know how to weld... soo...

A combination of heat and penetrant and few good taps with a hammer and each one broke loose, I was like a kid in a candy store! such a satisfying feeling.

This is the smog pump, designed to pump fresh air into the exhaust manifold, satisfying pulling things out of the engine bay knowing they aren't going back in

[grantdavis28]

I pulled the valve cover and went to town with some scotch bright and steel wool. I decided against going wrinkle black, wanted to keep it more original. This photos are after many hours of degreaser, scrubbing and water blasting. The inside of the front guards were covered in a thick layer of 50 year old dust and crap.

Amazingly the head is silver!!!! and some of the block is blue... One day I will pull the engine and re build it, for now though, limited skills, fuck all tools, by myself in a garage, this was as far as I was going to go.

Its amazing what elbow grease can do at removing grease. I may have destroyed my parents driveway however...

I wish I had a wire brush on a drill... however I did not. I did however have 4 weeks in lockdown...

[grantdavis28]

In my box of spare parts was a new water temp sensor. Was looking forward to finally knowing how hot the car was getting... had been just playing it blind for years.

Unfortunately at this point my documentation of the process left much to be desired. I spend around 7 days covered in grease polishing things and didnt really pick up the camera, so now we skip to the after images. I painted the fuel rail the runs around the valve cover black with some paint I found in the garage, I cleaned and rebuilt the carbs, new plugs, new plug wires, new cap and rotor...

The new JDM balance tube sitting centre stage, no more smog valves and shit covering everything...

Im happy for now at how the engine bay came out, Im not embarrassed to open the bonnet anymore. It looks right, it still looks 50 years old, but tidy for 50 years old.

The paint on the air-box was surprisingly in really good condition... just needed some TLC

Since these photos I installed the pertronix ignitor and a new coil. I actually relocated the coil down into the engine bay, to tidy up the upper engine bay. Really happy with it.

[grantdavis28]

Phase 2...

Its always driven me nuts, how the 240z sits nose up. After looking through and reading hundreds of threads about spring options for the Z I settled on a set of Vögtland springs. There is a seller on ebay who sells them in the US combined with staag shocks. I couldnt find much info about the shocks, however at the time I purchased them back in 2017 I was trying to ball on a budget. I will most likely look at some adjustable replacements in the future, but for now they will hopefully sort my visual problems!

Added to the list : Clean up and paint the calipers, new rotors new pads... for the next time

Still super happy with this choice. Even though I know there are lots of keyboard warriors upset with them not being original Watanabes

I have no way to bleed the brakes, so the entire process had to be done without removing the brake hoses. DO NOT RECOMMEND. It sucked. but I got there slowly...

Serious Lakers vibes going on.... out with the old.. in with the new.

After doing all four corners, and then doing one again because I forgot the bump stop This was the final result!

Im super stoked with it, I know its not low enough for most peoples liking, but to me I wanted this car to remain looking pretty original and stock. I think this spring set up achieves that perfectly... Plus it sits level! the biggest sigh of relief.

[grantdavis28]

The chrome had definitely seen better days... I really wanted to get everything straightened and re chromed before I installed the new rubber I had. however I had come this far so I decided to see if I could restore some life into them.

Lots of grime and service rust... a few hours with some #0000 steel wool and hey presto!

Looking pretty damn nice. good enough for now, thats forsure!

When I did the suspension I also installed new outter tie rod ends, after doing my best to match them up the original measurements, I quickly found out my new ones were longer. There is only one adjustment on the Z, front toe. I had worked at tyre plus through high school, so wheel alignments is kind the only thing I know about. However that was over a decade ago and I had only ever done it in the shop! quick jump on youtube revealed the 'two axle stands and string method' Worked a goddam treat!! I put the front tyres on the some thin plastic, made it super easy to adjust without having huge tension in the steering rack

 

[grantdavis28]

Decided after tuning the carbs to the best I could, and spending a day cleaning it, that an essential drive to the super market was needed. I may have stopped to take some photos too!

Doug out the contents of the glove box... hopefully what Ive done in the last few weeks hasn't void my warranty!

I decided to remove the bumper over riders, so so happy I did. transformed the front and rear of the car. Also sanded cleaned and painted the front grill and the horns that sit in behind the lower valance. Also painted the tow eyelet. Alot of things had crappy over spray on them, I believe the car was resprayed in the 80s or 90s...

Next on the list is todo something about that exhaust! Have been talking to Z Story, so things will come but probably not till later this year

Need a very fine paint brush... Will add it to the list!

So yea! thats where I got too in 3 weeks of lockdown. There are a bunch of little things I didnt document but the big stuff is there. I have put the car back into the garage and am hoping to get back home to Chch as soon as Level 4 lifts. Untill next time!