Dash cap installatoin

[Alvin]

I love wooden wheels as well on cars that were meant to have them. I have the OEM wheel in my Z after I refinished it. It is beautiful. But I also know the 68 did not come with a wooden wheel, it was a beautiful textured black with metal and stitching on the vinyl. IT was a nice detailed piece. I think the thing you touch in the car should be a pleasure to your sense of touch and vision. I want it more original looking. I love the craftsmanship of a Nardi wheel, and hey I am Italian, so if I can throw some money back to the mother land why not!

Seriously, a Nardi is such a wonderful addition. The one I picked was the closest to the OEM wheel they had. I wish it were 1 inch bigger, but I am taking out a 365mm wheel for another 365mm wheel. I think it will look amazing against the new dash. Unfortunately it will take 4-5 weeks for it to arrive from the land of wine and pasta.

IMHO I think the new Nardi wheel is the best modern take on the stock unit I've seen! Especially the larger, bumper car center/horn section. The wood Nardi wheel is also nice to look at but I never liked the feel while driving.

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

I could not agree more. It is like a modern take on an old design. I cannot wait to see it on the car. I think more roadsters will be seen with this wheel soon if I am honest.

[andyroo]

The 68-70 wheels are pretty ugly IMO. The low windshield cars did have a nice wheel which I think you're referring to.

I like your new and old wheels. I have a wood Mono Indy which I think looks great, but I'm also tempted to pick up a Momo prototipo because like you I think would match the interior better. Eventually I'll be swapping to a flat dash so I'll wait until then.

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

I had no idea you could back date the dash.. VERY cool project!

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

did not get much work done to the roadster. I just cleaned some nuts and bolts and scrubbed some of those bakelite knobs to get them clean again. They really do come out nice with some elbow grease. Want to get a day were I can work on her even more. When my carpet gets in I will probably take a few days off to try to get her presentable again. I miss driving her and the days are getting warmer... so fixing that heater is going to be great.....yeah...

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

GREAT news...
I got my carpet kit in from datsunparts.com.

I need to get them cleaned off and vacuumed as they are, um, hairy. But I have to say they seem to be a bit inferior to the ones that are coming out. The carpets coming out have vinyl bound edges, and these have surged edges. They do feel more fragile and I can see they will be more prone to shred, but the color is nice and consistent and will make an noticeable improvement especially on my transmission tunnel which is badly faded. The Jute padding is nice and cut very close to perfect. I think the overall fit and finish will be very close and I will do comparison to what I am taking out. I have no idea if what I am puling out is OEM or not. I doubt it as it looks too good to be 48 years old.

[fj20spl311]

I am certain that vinyl edging is not "stock".....common method for an upholstery shop to finish the edging of carpet.

[spl310]

Vinyl edging was stock on the 1500s. Later cars were serge bound

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

WHAHOO.. great news.

The roadster got accepted into the Keel and Wheels car show in Houston next month! They do not even have a category for Japaense cars, as the Bugattis and Ferraris are everywhere. However, I emailed them a pic of my car and asked if I could show it and my Z and BOTH cars were accepted as display. I am beyond happy. But I sort of have to finish the roadster now... I have 6 weeks.

[spl310]

Woo Hoo!! Go represent!!

[notoptoy]

Congratulations, nothing like a forced deadline to make things happen!

[bakerjf]

Congrats!

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

I think I am exhausted enough for today.. I replaced the vinyl on the passenger side, and put in the new kick plate. Cleaned everything up and then finally got around to putting sound deadener in the passenger side.



At this point I had to cut off the bolt that holds the heater core in place. It was rusted solid and would separate from the nut. Logic would seem either I cut the bolt or the new carpet to get it in. Well needless to say out came the hack saw. Now I have a dilemma I have solve pretty quickly as the heater core will need to go in pretty quickly. In fact after I run a few hoses and drain the coolant, it will be next up. I am thinking that the heater core is usually done with the engine transmission out as I see no way to get my arms past the transmission to get that bolt into place. So other methods will have to be found. If I could weld a nut plate on that would be sweet, but again access.

Moving on. Everything else today went very well actually. I put as much sound deadener on the transmission tunnel as I dared, and then began to proceed with the carpet install. The PO did not put jute back over the tunnel, so I will have to figure out if the added thickness will be an issue. I was happy that I got a whole new set of snaps for the carpet in the kit. I also went head and replaced the ones for the emergency lever boot cover.



I laid out the new transmission tunnel carpet and compared it to the old...



Used the old one to get my markings fairly close before I installed it. Probably saved a bunch of time.

This is prior to attaching the rear section by the parcel tray.



This is the complete old carpet kit I now have in a box, which has been requested by another member... it will be shipped quickly.
This older kit has a nice vinyl section next to the drivers foot. That is a nice touch. My current kit does not have that.



And the finished part... LOVE how this looks.




Not sure why this kit 'glistens' the way it does. Perhaps too much flash, but anyway, next up is putting the heater core in and connecting all the hoses to it.

By the way, where does the clear tube that runs from to the windshield squirters go inside the cabin. I found the tube, which is hard and I will replace, but where does it run?

[bakerjf]

Great progress! I found the jute thickness on the tunnel can make getting the radio console back in a little bit of a pain.

[Zedyone_Kenobi]

Do you recommend putting the dash in before the heater core or after