240z.drago.com.au - Adventures of rebuilding a 1973 Datsun 240Z

It’s high time that I put a little more effort into getting some more things done on the Z. Today, Penny and I did some work to get a few things done here and there.

The main focus was to get the last of the vinyls installed. The last one was the one on the back parcel tray, just behind the seats. We measured up the one that I had and there was a little bit of a gap. We had some spare vinyl and made a patch piece to cover up the small gap. Whilst I was waiting for the glue to dry on the patch, I decided to install the choke lever bracket.

I had bought a bracket to move the choke lever off of the center console plastic. I had spray painted the bracket gloss black earlier in the day and it was dry and ready for installation. It was very easy to install and has made the choke so much easier to use.

With the new bracket in place, Penny and I finished gluing in the last vinyl. It went in nice and smooth and has finished the car off very nicely. I cleaned the black plastic trim that goes across the rear of the back parcel tray and screwed that into place.

A few little things here and there, and it’s starting to look nearly done.

For a little while now, I have noticed that the brakes just aren’t as responsive as they used to be. I had been told that this was because of lack of use. Pumping the brakes for a while didn’t really have that much impact though. Today I decided that it was time to bleed the brakes to see if that would help.

When I looked in the brake fluid reservoirs, I was a more than a little concerned. The fluid level was okay, but the quality of the fluid was shocking. I changed from bleeding the brakes to flushing out the brake fluid. I used a very large syringe to extract as much fluid as I could from the reservoirs and filled them again with fresh fluid. With Penny assisting with pumping the brake pedal, I bleed of the brakes starting with the rear-left and working may way around the car.

Once all of the brakes were done, the pedal had a nice firm feel to it. I took the car for a quick spin and the brakes were working a treat.

Well, it’s getting close to that time of year again where VicRoads will be sending me a registration renewal. I’ve had my car on full registration for the entire time that I have owned the vehicle. This includes when it was in pieces in the garage being restored. Given the huge amount of money that registration costs these days, and having two daily drives, I needed to make a decision about the Z.

So, I’ve decided to take the Z off full registration and put it onto Classic/Historic plates. Given that I only drive the car a few times a year, I don’t think full registration can be justified any longer. Dad found a nice club for us to join and I had the car inspected yesterday. My sister also had her classic car, a 1980 Honda Civic wagon she calls Albert, inspected. We headed off to VicRoads to get our new plates. The best thing, I was only out of pocket by $3 as the refund on my current registration was $66 and I had to pay $69 for the new plates and a 45-day/trip book.

A few months ago, I took the Z for a drive and started to hear a knocking noise coming from the rear passenger side of the car. I feared that it might have been the rear struts coming loose or something, as that’s what it sounded like!
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On Sunday 25th of November, the Toyota Club of Victoria held the second annual Classic Japan. The event was to allow all us pre-1987 Japanese car lovers to show off our labours of love and to help support Beyond Blue. When I heard about the event, I let my Brother and Dad know about it; it was sure to be a great day.

And a great day it was! A huge turn out (I’ve heard over 220 cars) on the day and a great variety as well. It was also great to see a few of the two-wheeled Japan Classics out too. There was a great atmosphere on the day, with no trophies or competitions, just a whole bunch of people sharing their love for Classic Japanese metal.

The guys/gals over at Driven Threads have a post on their blog with some great shots of the cars that were out on display. Here are a couple of my shots.