VIN: #656 LOW VIN Build Date: 1/70

1970 Datsun Z-Series 2 DR Additional Info:

VIN is very early model: HLS30-00656. Car was built in 1/70. If you are seriously interested in the car, please read everything below and watch the YouTube videos (links below). I bought this car 4 years ago as a project and have worked on it for 3 years to tear it down and restore it. The engine in the car is not original. The original engine was barely running and I purchased this engine from a salvage yard and it is from a 1982 280ZX 2+2. The salvage yard folks said the engine had 88K miles on it and I tend to believe them after I took the valve cover off to paint it and detail the engine. It is immaculate inside - not one tiny bit of sludge under the valve cover. The mileage on the vehicle is unknown. I do know it had not been driven for many years before the seller I bought it from got it.
I took out the engine, removed fenders, doors, glass, trim, and the interior of the car and started the project. Luckily the only rust I found on the car was a small amount of pitting around the rear fender wells. I cleaned it with a wire wheel and then put a small amount of filler to smooth the pitting. The only other filler in the body is where I filled in the rivet holes from the chrome/rubber side moulding that was installed down the sides of the car. I prefer the look without the moulding so I removed the trim and filled the holes. I sanded the car, and then primed and painted it in blue. The paint is a 10 footer. There are a few spots where I did some touch ups after putting the car back together because of scratches that happened during the reassembly process. I'm not an expert painter so it looks good in these pictures but someone who knows better than I needs to touch it up or respray it. I was building it to be a driver so it looks fine for that, but in no way am I trying to pass this off as a professional paint job.
Almost everything on the car is either new or rebuilt. I removed all the glass for painting and naturally installed new rubber around the windshield and rear hatch glass. All the weatherstripping around the doors, including the fender to door rubber, is new. The upper rear hatch weatherstripping is new but I was able to use the old weatherstripping for the lower hatch because it is in good shape. The brakes were completely redone. Rebuilt calipers, pads, and rubber lines up front, and new brake shoes, hardware, NEW wheel cylinders in rear (not rebuilt), and turned the drums. Brake master cylinder and the brake booster are new as well. Brake booster came from Z Car Depot and is not rebuilt - it is a new aftermarket one that he sells. Clutch master and slave cylinders are new. The clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing are new. New urethane steering bushing, new ball joints, outer tie rods, and sway bar bushings. New KYB struts all the way around.
The car has all new aftermarket wiring. I removed the original wiring and replaced it with an EZ Wire 12 circuit harness. All bulbs for markers, tail and turn lights are new. The original turn signal unit was not working so I removed that and replaced it with a universal turn signal unit. I also removed the original ignition and replaced it with the one that came with the EZ Wire harness and it is mounted under the dash, just to the right of the steering column. The light switch and horn button are in the dash, using existing holes that were there for other switches before the build. You can see this in the videos. Installed new headlights and relays. Converted to a Holley low pressure electric fuel pump and mounted a fuel pressure regulator and gauge under the hood. The alternator is rebuilt and is from a 1992 Maxima so it has 90 amps. I researched that and did the swap and swapped the pulleys with the old alternator it is working like a champ.
The carpet is new and is the kit that includes the carpet covers for the transmission tunnel, wheel wells, and shock towers, so there is no vinyl covers - it's all carpet.
Under the hood, the engine has a Clifford intake with a new Holley 390 CFM 4 barrel carburetor. The distributor is a rebuilt 280Z model with electronic ignition and the coil is new. New dual electric fans with relays installed on the radiator. 14" air cleaner unit that fits without hitting the hood. The gas tank was removed and burned out (not boiled) to get the old lining out and then was coated inside with Red Kote so the fuel system is in great shape. In the engine I put Mobil 1 5W-30 High Mileage oil since it has more zinc in it for the old school engines. Redline gear oil in the rear end and StaLube in the transmission. Everything is working great. It starts fine and runs great.
New wheels and tires. The tires are 205/50/16 with Konig Rewind 16 x 7 wheels. Even though this combination has an almost identical diameter as the original 14 inch wheels, I had to bend the bottom of the front valance in a bit on each side so the tires wouldn't rub. You cannot see this unless you get on your hands and knees and look under the car.
This car could be a daily driver now. I have spent literally hundreds of hours working on it and researching which parts to use, what works best, etc. The hard work has been done and the car is well sorted, but here is what is left to be done:
- Wire the windshield wiper motor. The connector is under the hood but I have not wired it. I live in Phoenix so rain is not a big issue.- The vinyl trim for the interior pillars needs to be installed. I have it - it just needs to be installed.- Install or replace the heater core and blower. I have both of these but my original intention was to install an aftermarket Vintage Air system. The heater and blower will go with the car.- New horn pad on steering wheel. Somehow it got lost during the build.- Needs seat belts. I have the OEM belts but would not reinstall them- New emergency brake cable. The old one is stretched and I could not adjust it in enough- A couple of the plastic panels on the interior in the rear hatch area have cracks or missing pieces. I also have not found the kick plate for the front section under the dash. It's barely noticeable but they are not there.
Other notes:
- The dash has a topper on it. I didn't even know this until I started disassembling the car. It looks really good and nobody yet besides me has noticed.- I have the OEM gauges and they all work except for the clock but I did not reinstall them because my original plan was to put a Speedhut GPS speedo and a quad gauge with the tach. The gauges will come with the car. The car currently has a set of inexpensive gauges that do a good job of monitoring the engine vitals.- Interior is in decent shape. I think the seats are original but are decent. There is one small tear in the left hip area of the passenger seat, and the round thingy on the side of the seats that adjusts the recline of the seats does not work well and needs to be replaced or rebuilt. The door cards are in pretty decent shape as well.
I know I am forgetting some things because there are so many things that were done to the car. Bottom line is that it is a really nice car now - not a show car but a terrific driver and there are only a few things left to do and they do not affect it's roadability. It is ready to go. I'm just old and tired and my old bones don't want to be crawling over and under the car any more. It was a labor of love and now it's time for someone to enjoy her. Here are the links to 4 videos I made to go over the car. This should give you just about everything there is to know about the car. The car has a NM title (clear) because that's where I bought the car. I now live in Phoenix and have not registered the car in AZ because I have had it insured in storage status while working on it and didn't want to pay the transfer and tag fees when the car was just sitting in the garage being restored. Here are the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fjBNJkwXy0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT4cdd86nHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYxj7ZukVk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQEK9n4-wE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ri3lZg5N4 (Video of first test drive a few weeks ago)
Sold with a clean NM title.
Buyer is responsible for shipping. I have done my very best in the narrative and videos to give you an extremely accurate portrayal of the vehicle. If there is something missing it is not intentional and will be extremely minor. When you have worked this long on a car and done so many different things, especially when I moved twice during the restoration, it is impossible to remember everything.