Wow Frank! I'm getting very excited to welcome this "new" car to our ranks in person. I think you should name it "The Phoenix" in that it is a car rising from the ashes to be re-born. Looks really great. Ross

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

"Ashes" is a pretty close description. The car was destined for the crusher when I let it go back in the 80's.

I've felt guilty ever since ~ like abandoning a child I couldn't feed, or something. I think I know now how mothers must feel when they give their kids up for adoption because they can't care for them at low points in their lives. I was blessed to be able to have a SECOND CHANCE with this car, and the car has had a SECOND CHANCE at life, so I think my license should be 2dCHANCE.

Rear suspension has been removed, beadblasted, and primered. It will get the Rhino treatment just like the front got. All new bushings, bearings and shocks ~ springs are OK and brakes are new.

I am looking forward to when it's your turn to do the 'Restoration' presentation at a future meeting.

Are you still unable to attend the meeting tomorrow in Middletown? It won't be the same without you...

_________________
Keith Hultmark
2009 370Z Touring - Sold (5 years owned)
1993 300ZX - Sold (5 years owned)
1976 Porsche 912E. #163 of 2200 - SOLD (3 years owned)
2018 BMW 330i GT xdrive daily driver
2004 BMW Z4 3.0i ….it is a Z

Sorry Keith ~ it's Graduation night. Family first (altho you guys are like family to me). This will be the first meeting I've ever missed, and you can bet I'll be thinking about y'all at 7PM.

Frank

I know the feeling Frank....so who's the appointed pizza picture model?

We'll miss you..

Phil

A few new progress shots on HLS30-02807.

The rear suspension has been dropped, blasted clean, undercoated and 'Lined. Now it's back on the car. There were a lot of mistakes found in the rear geometry, including a few cross-threaded bolts, a few bolts the wrong siZe, and an absolutely UNSAFE wheelhub. The shocks were at the end of their life and were replaced. All bearings, brakes, bushings and Widgets have been replaced.

Had I simply driven this car in the condition I received it, Bad Things might have happened.

As anxious as I am to resume driving my car again, I have to continue to exerciZe self discipline and ensure that every system is as safe as I can afford to make it before trusting it on the roadways. And altho I appreciate each of your encouraging comments, let's face it ~ I'm going to be driving my Z on the same roads your families use, so you really want my car as safe as I can make it before the wheels turn in your neighborhood.

This poor car has been thru a LOT during the past 39 years. Altho it was pristine and new when I bought it in the 70s, it was headed for the crusher when I let it go nearly 25 yrs ago. Thru the good graces of a complete stranger, the car began restoration and upgrading. His health caused him to stop work mid-stream, and the car sat for many years, resulting in deterioration of some of his work.

My baby's back home again, and I owe it the most-thorough resto work I can afford to provide. I plan to drive this car for the remainder of my life, so anything I put into it now is an investment in safety.

Frank

The completed rear suspension is back on the car. Half shafts and driveline are next. Underside of the car has been pressure washed and coated. Brake drums were not bad, but are being refinished anyway.

How's it look to you so far?

Frank

Frank, looks great!! What type of suspension bushings are you using? They appear to be polyurethane.

Phil

Yessir ~ you have a good eye.

What do you think about that HUB?!!
Can you imagine me driving cross-country on that, and having it fail mid-way across Nebraska in the 104* heat?

Sounds like a great opportunity to build character!

During my cross country (motorcycle) ride last year I pitched my bike into a roadside sand dune and broke the throttle position sensor. All on the first day between Pendleton and Flagstaff AZ.

_________________


-Chris

Got to see the Z today ~ BOY! AM I HAPPY OR WHAT?

Carbs came back from total rebuild ystrdy, went on the car today. Radiator's in, most everything's hooked back up and it's beginning to look like my car again. Forgot to order one PCV hose, and now it's the only 'old' thing left on a totally new engine. Will replace asap. Still discussing air cleaners and the Petronix ignition is being finished as you read this. It will go back into the car tmrw. Then refill the radiator and put Mobil-1 in the crankcase and start it. The suspension is completely reinstalled and looks grand!

If I can get it back this week, that will give me a week to put the interior back into it and drive it to the Rochester Z meet on the weekend of 17July. I have a list of local Club members whose homes I intend to buZZ during my shake-down week. I intend to drive the car to Washington State to meet our member Dan Linquist this summer, with stops in Chicago to meet member Tengu, then on to Wisconsin to see an old Marine Corps buddy, then to Mount Rushmore, Sundance Wyoming, Little Rock Arkansas to see new member Chris Parent, then to Kingsport TN (another Corps buddy), and eastern North Carolina to see family and my old OIC there. If I have time, I would love to visit MCRD Parris Island SC during the hottest August day and practice standing at attention in the direct sun, while 100 sand fleas bite me. My old Senior DI still lives right outside the main gate, and I'm sure he would love to eyeball me to make sure I don't slap any. Gee, I miss the Corps.

On my way back up the East Coast, I will stop in Quantico to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and MD to show the car to the previous owner. He saved it ~ he deserves to drive it around and enjoy it a bit.

Hope the car is up to a 6,000 mile trip.
Hope I am, too!

Frank

Vinny surpriZed me last night with a phone call. He started my car and let me hear my new MSA header and Twice Pipes over the phone. I was screeching to a halt outside his shop less than 30 minutes later!

My original intent, when I brought him the car, was to have a new MSA header and a set of Twice Pipes installed. He looked the car over and made some suggestions and FOUR MONTHS LATER, the car is ready to come back home.

EVERYTHING has been renewed or upgraded on this car now. I couldn't be happier.

As you might recall, I wanted to buy and install an old ANSA twin exhaust system for the car, like I had back in the 1970s. But they are not to be had today, so I decided on the closest copy I could find ~ the Twice Pipes by MSA. The old ANSAs were 1.5" Inside Diameter, and the Twice Pipes are only 1.7" ID, so the sound is indistinguishable from the original!! Both systems use straight-thru glasspacks, and I had an Exhaust Wizzard twist the TPs into the over-under configuration the old ANSAs used. That was a complicated assignment, but it came out perfectly.

When we fired it up at Vinny's last night, my knees nearly buckled! Back again is the exact same snarling exhaust note I listened to for 12+ years! My car is back, and its voice is back. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

We're finishing off little stuff on the car now, like replacing an aging vapor hose btwn the top of the fuel tank and the filler neck, and then the car comes home this weekend. I have a week to re-install the ENTIRE interior, then it's off to the Rochester Z Car Club show, where #02807 will be reunited with two other 1970 240Zs; They all sat together on the same Honolulu Datsun showroom floor in the summer of 1970. This will be the first time they have been together in 39 years!
Three Z cars, all sold from the same showroom in the same summer, traveling 7,000 miles to reside randomly within 400 miles of eachother 39 years later! Think of the chances of THAT happening again!

HLS30-02807 has certainly undergone some amaZing experiences in its lifetime!
I hope the best are yet to come!
Z ya soon ~
Frank

I'm sure there will be many more great experiences to follow Frank!! Imagine how lil miss 2807 feels being reunited with you. Can't wait to meet her in person. I feel like I know her already!

When's the unveiling??

Congratulations!!

Phil

Funny, I've never actually thought of #02807 as a "she". It always demonstrated masculine traits and I thought of it as a 'he'. (If we spoke German, I would call it "Der Auto 02807", rather than "Die Auto" or "Das Auto").

Vinny actually got to drive it around today! He wanted to make sure everything worked before he gave it back to me. (MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF THAT, SPORTS FANS. THAT'S THE TYPE OF SERVICE VINNY GIVES HIS CUSTØMERS).

He was very straightforward about his impressions of it, and held me on the phone for many minutes describing each system. He said he found a minute leak (a drip, actually) in the clutch master and the right rear brake cylinder, so he refuses to release the car today as hoped. He will work on it tonight and I can call him tmrw to see if it meets HIS approval for release! He wants to put a mile or two on the new brakes to seat them correctly, and to make sure it drives and stops straight.
I really like this guy. Wish all mechanics were this thorough and upright.

I took some pictures when I was there last night, but had trouble transferring them into this Forum (used the wrong camera again). WebWizzard Jim Hagani volunteered to try to attach them to this Post, and I wish him luck. The car was running when I snapped the shots ~ wish you could have heard it (and ME!)
If any of the pix are blurred, it's because I was dancing around the car like Snoopy!

Life is SO good!!!
Frank