Latest on Jay Leno’s Garage is his visit to Nissan earlier this week. He gets to tour the Nissan Zama Warehouse (aka Nissan DNA Garage), drive a Fairlady Z (Japan’s 240z), and even visit their design studios. With Nissan’s 80th Anniversary coming up, Jay asks if there’s a new “240z” in the works. Of course there’s not straight answer from Nissan’s Chief Creative Officer and friend Shiro Nakamura, but we get to see a spread of concepts in the background and watch them talk about the Z.
My favorite part is when Jay details the best part of the Datsun Z to wash, and I HAVE to agree. Best part to wash AND wax. Check it out.
This past Sunday, I get a text from my brother: willow glen classic car show.
To which i responded: i’m there.
Willow Glen’s Cruise for a Cause car show has been about family, fun, a food drive and, of course, classic cars. And I was hearing it has been for over 50 years. This was truly a wonderful spectacle of classic cars ranging from oddities (like the purple Henry J) to the wild (a Jag E-type…w/ NOS). And believe it or not, it was the first car show the 280z has ever been to!
Despite the Z being a spectator, I gotta mention, it got plenty of looks / comments. No sooner than a minute after parking did a friendly guy named John come over w/ his girl and family. “Hey, you’ve gotta park next to me”, he smiles out. See, John rolled over to the car show in his red 240z. :]
I got there around 1, but for the few hours it took to roll around all the cars, we were the only two w/ Z cars. Actually, it might even be safe to say, the only two vintage Japanese cars from what i saw! Not a bad thing – we certainly stood out among the gorgeous Caddies, awesome Ford Duces and the rest of the American muscle that dominated the show. 280z’s first show, but certainly not it’s last! On to some pics!
John just picked up this fantastic lookin 240z after getting t-boned in his 280zx. Lucky he’s unharmed and even luckier he now drives a 240z.
While rockin’ the fender flares and mirrors (a look originally on the Japanese version), the American Racing rims keep it USDM grounded.
Definitely a head turning daily driven, daily datsun!
Additionally it sported Fairlady Z badges and a stacked Monza exhaust.
Amazing rims on this Caddie
Check out the underside! Notice where the rotors are?
Gorgeous Chevy truck interior – simply gorgeous
My favorite car of the show – all business
Check out that jeweled suicide knob! At least you can loose your thumb in style.
This Barracuda was jet black and easily one of the best cars there.
You could squeeze the flyer under here, that’s about it.
I like interior shots, especially this Corvette’s.
I was prepping for this at 79,900 which seemed only a day ago, but somehow the next time I glanced down at the odometer… well, see for yourself. :]
I was coming back from my brother’s on the other side of downtown, and there it stood, ready to click right over. Normally, it would make sense to note the 50k or the often celebrated 100k mile mark. But it’s something about the ’88’ that deserves a post [albeit it’s been nearly a month since the last!].
1) 88,000 IS a lot of miles for any car over 35 years old – horray! he’s made it w/o falling apart!
2) 8’s are lucky in the Chinese culture, so having two of them? yep, double it
3) 88..mph! do i need to explain? (Back to the Future) But even more so, it’s probably the fastest i’d ever taken the 280z… and probably the fastest it’ll ever go (for now!).
Finally found some time to start inserting the 280z body side molding!
Last time I riveted the 280z side molding channels onto the body. Now it’s all about inserting the rubber molding. I ordered the 5/8″ rubber molding from CustomAutoTrim.com, and it came to my door in decent time. The size, perfect. The installation? Prepare to take some time to insert the rubber molding. It took a good 30mins to put on just one rubber molding!
What you’ll need to install:
1) 5/8″ Vinyl / Rubber molding (see previous post about 280z body side molding for sizes)
2) Razor
3) Something thin / plastic like a spatula or a guitar pick
4) Tape measure
First, making sure it’s sized correctly! Last time, I ordered in the incorrect one… This one from CustomAutoTrim – perfect.
“Measure twice, cut once” – no no, measure three times. Whenever my mom was showing us how to cook, she’d always say, ‘you can always add, but you can’t take away’. The methodology is still true here, but reversed – you can always take away, but you can’t add. So measure w/ a little excess, you can always trim the molding later. And since I ordered 16ft of molding, I should have some excess…but only for trimming, not enough to complete another channel if i completely screw up.
The vinyl / rubber molding is a tight fit, and getting in that channel can take some time. Here i’m using a guitar pick to help feed the vinyl / rubber molding into the 280z body side molding channel.
Another technique i found to work really well in getting the molding on was to bend the molding like the picture below. This actually allowed me to use the molding itself to help press fit it into the channel.
At the end, i was only left w/ a 1/4″ excess. A razor helped create a clean edge to butt up against the molding darts ends. Don’t mind the dirty car… after giving a nice wash and wax last sunday, i parked it in lot that ended up getting “cleaned”… meaning leaf blowers. ugh.
280z side molding completed! It’s a super clean installation that takes some time / effort, but really completes the period look.
How does a Datsun 240z and a laptop have anything to do with each other? Maybe if you’re Mitsubishi, who made both computers way back when* and cars, you’d be in the running. No no, there isn’t going to be any Nissan computers, but there is a link between the 240z and the Ampere WS-1 “knee-top” computer: Kumeo Tamura.
Kumeo Tamura is one of the industrial designers who penned the Datsun 240z… and apparently a laptop. To have such an iconic car under your belt is amazing enough, but then have the breath to stretch into tech space, well that’s pretty awesome. Read the original post here (thanks Oscar!): read more
*I remember my dad brought home a Mitsubishi computer a long long time ago in the 80’s.
I remember first meeting my brother’s 4-door Datsun 510. 5-colors, a little bit of rust, heater on all the time, no power steering, had to start it in 2nd and it had the smell of musty foam with a thin veil of gasoline. A far cry from our Integra, all i could ask was, ‘why?’. I didn’t even want to take it around the block.
Shortly there after came understanding, then hours of work on the car, then appreciation, more hours of work on the car, and then finally realization that this was a fantastic car for so many reasons – independent suspension, great feeling of the road, period style, simple to work on, operate and maintain. And for many reasons, turned heads. :]
Then there’s this little documentary that threw it over the top. Titled Against All Odds, it accounts the Datsun 510’s Trans-Am race against it’s classmates from Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat, Volvo and other similar cars at the time. Driver John Morton and Peter Brock’s engineering team battle it out in an “attempt to make the transition from show room to victory lane in a single season… against all odds“. It’s great. And it’s on YouTube. Enjoy!
Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) are having their Annual Car Show at the Brisbane Marina on July 28th, 2012!
Wow, that first sentence just sums it all up. There’ll be plenty of 240Z, 260Z, 280Z, 350Z and 370Z cars you can shake a stick at, with a special section just for the older cars. Of course plenty of 510’s, Datsun Roadsters, G35 coupes and GT-Rs will also be there in full force. I won’t be entering in 280Z just yet (plus i don’t want to spend 5 hrs there), but I’ll certainly be there to check it out. Should be a blast to see what everyone’s done with their Z cars up close and personal.
My last post was about putting on the aluminum side molding channels with rivets, so now it’s time to pop in the rubber molding. However… it looks like the molding I purchased is NOT the right one.
Unfortunately, I ordered the incorrect rubber molding from BlackDragonAuto.com. I must have missed that the ‘Body Side Molding’ section was for a 280zx (1979-83), and just looked at the description for part# 97-650 “Adhesive Molding-Black, 16ft roll, cut to fit 280”. Oh well, we’ll try to get that returned if possible.
So I did a little research this morning, and found the CORRECT rubber molding is actually hard to find (neither MSA nor BlackDragonAuto sell it). The proper rubber molding for the 280z can be found at CustomAutoTrim.com.
[Update, 9/12/24: CustomAutoTrim no longer sells this type of rubber moulding (hence the broken link), but have updated their stock to a slightly different shaped (round) albeit more flexible vinyl insert] updated link
This is the correct version because it locks into the side molding “stick” or channel, rather than be affixed by adhesive. CustomAutoTrim also sells the ends of the side molding channels, however the “bullet” and “chisel” ends used on the 280z seem to be discontinued at the time of this post.
If you’re looking for side molding for your 280z you’ll need (at least) the following lengths:
front fender: 23″ per side door: 32 3/8″ per side rear fender: 37 1/2″ per side
Total: 185.75″ = 15.48 ft = 16ft (since they sell by the foot) @ $2.25/ft = $36
(Lengths serve as a guide only. Measure your Z for rubber moulding lengths)
[update, 9/12/24: prices haven’t changed that much! Price above was back in 2012. As of this writing it’s available in 7.5ft sections for $24 ($3.20/ft). Not bad!]
Since re-assembling the 280z prior to the wedding, there’s still remains a few items to be added to the car – yesterday morning, I tackled the side molding (or if you’d like to call them, door bumpers).
These come in 6 trim pieces, each piece having 4 parts: two ends (one pointed, one squared), the side molding rail, and the rubber molding itself. They’re held on to the 280z’s body panels by simple rivets; unfortunately, putting them on initially wasn’t as simple as I had thought!
The information out there on rivet specs for attaching the side molding is scarce. But hopefully with this post, it’ll be a lot easier for someone else to tackle the easy-once-you-have-the-right-info task. Let’s take a look:
Here’s what I used: Arrow RL100 rivet gun – pick up at Home Depot or Amazon 1/8″ – 1/2″ (3mm-12mm) rivets – you can get an assortment of rivets on Amazon cheap, or you can make life easier and just purchase the rivet tool and rivets in one kit! A little nut or spark-plug screw head – this will be used to help distance the rivet tool from the rivet head Painter’s tape – if you don’t have a spare hand to help you, Amazon #0 and #0000 Steel wool – to clean up the aluminum molding, Amazon
Since the side molding is all metal (save the rubber part), the chromed steel ends and aluminum rail can easily cleaned up with #0 and #0000 steel wool. The ends can be pulled off for further cleaning (there can be lots of dirt underneath). Additionally, Mother’s Aluminum and Mag polish can be used to restore them to a clean shine.
Steel wool does the job very well!
If you don’t have a spare hand, painter’s tape works well holding up the side molding as you put in the rivets. That way it doesn’t swing on you, and you don’t scratch up that Z car’s paint!
Through some trial / error, I figured out that you need to use the right rivets in order to have a tight hold:
Type – Use the aluminum ones. Since the steel ones are NOT stainless, nor galvanized, they’ll eventually rust on you. Use the aluminum ones.
Ends – Diameter: 1/8″ (3mm), Grip: 1/4″ (6mm) or 1/2″ (12mm)
Middles – Diamter 1/8″ (3mm), Grip: 1/8″ (3mm) or 1/4″ (6mm)
Note that for the Ends because they’re thicker, you have to use either the 1/4″ (6mm) or the 1/2″ (12mm). Because the middle portions are thinner, you can use 1/8″ (3mm) or 1/4″ (6mm).
Because the rivet tool head is too large to fit into the channel of the Z’s side molding rail, you need to use a spacer (something to extend the rivet tool head without losing the grip on the rivet stem). I used the head off a spark plug, and it worked great. You can probably also use a small nut. Find something that has a hole large enough to fit the stem, but not too large that the rivet head pulls through. Be careful not to use a spacer too tall, otherwise the tool won’t be able to grab the rivet stem. This trick will allow you to get that rivet head flush against the side molding channel, and set it snug ‘n tight!
Side molding up on the 280z.
Tomorrow, i’ll cut the side molding rubber to length and pop them in.
Ever experience getting a new car, and thinking, ‘wow, there just aren’t that many around’, then shortly after driving it off the lot, sure enough you’re seeing that car everywhere?
It’s always true that once you’ve begun to pay attention to a car, they seem to pop up. Of course if it’s a car you don’t mind looking at, that’s not quite a bad thing. Heading down the street, outta the corner of my eye, I managed to spot something about 200ft away:
See it? :] Here’s a close up:
haha! A white 260z 2+2!
Since then I’ve driven by a few times and noticed it hasn’t moved at all, so though it seems to have a decent exterior, it’s probably just parked there to stay. Maybe if i have time, i’ll inquire what it’s deal is.
the DAILY DATSUN 
