What did you do to your Z this week?

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Rob I think the name has thrown you. It's definitely a mig.

Mark, it's a 160amp mig so perfect for thin sheet metal like the datsun. As it's only a 160amp mig you'll be fine plugging it into a normal household socket. There should be a spool of wire inside and you'll definitely need gas and protective gear as arc burn is not good for you.

This link will probably get you started and give you the info you need.
https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/support

Thanks for confirming, that's great news. Thank you for the sound advice and link. I've certainly got some reading to do. I finally bumped into my neighbour in person today who gave it to me and he is going to help me test it out with his gas to find out if its any good before taking it any further. He's also found me a regulator for it in the meantime.

I'm sure you won't cheap out on anything Mark but get good PPE. I've found the difference in visibility and adjustability between a cheap helmet and a medium priced one is significant and it makes things a lot easier. I don't think you need to spend a lot - I have a Parweld helmet that was around 50 GBP and it's great for me so far.

Also, with thin gauge metal you'll want 0.6 wire so just check what's in the machine.

Re: Gas. Probably not the cheapest option but I have a Hobby account with BOC and I pick the bottles up myself from Slough as that's the closest to me for pickup. I use their Argoshield Light for MIG and I think their Y size bottle is approx. 60-70 GBP per year for rental and 40-50 for a refill. Somewhere in that region anyway but I don't pay too much attention to the costs :) . Obviously you'll need a regulator and I also use the argon flow meters from rtech (https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/argon-flow-meter/) although that's not at all essential.

Mark - you are more than welcome to come around to mine to have a go on some different gauge metals and get a feel for what my setup is like. You can have a look at my new TIG setup while you're here :) .

Jon, as ever you're a total gent!

We're well over due a catch up anyway, I'll drop you a message and arrange a visit as I'd absolutely love to see your setup. Also gives me yet another excuse to get the bike out too ;)

The main thing you'll want to assess with that welder is if its fully operational and working smoothly. Before I forked out and bought a brand new R-Tech Mig-180, I had a couple of older used ones (a Clarke and a Cebora/Snap-on) and both were useless to learn on as getting controllable power delivery and consistent performance was pretty much impossible. The R-Tech in comparison is a beautiful thing. Very forgiving and easy to get a feel for due to its consistency. I used 0.6mm wire when I was doing stuff like the arch cutting and welding and bulkhead modifications, but for the heavier duty welding of floors and chassis rail, etc., I switched to 0.8mm and didn't switch back. Technique and feel for the settings and gun movement becomes a factor, and you can get away with running higher settings than advised for the thickness of the material once you get a feel for when to "get out of there" so to speak.

Thanks Richie, duly noted. Funnily enough as above, that's my first port of call. Once I've established whether it's any good or not, then I'm sure it'll be a case of practice makes perfect as much as just having a go and learning on the fly.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Just helped out a chap on the side of the road whose fuel pump had stopped working in his Fiat 1300!! One of 6 in the country.

It turns out he also has an orange ‘72 RHD converted, ex-California 240z! Apparently the PO restored it and couldn’t drive it so sold it on 10 years ago.

His name is Cliff and he lives in East Grinstead. Anyone know the car or owner? Really nice chap.
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
Just got my wheels back from being refurbished. Shame the weather is bad this weekend, I'd of liked to go to beaulieu this Sunday.
 

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MCBladeRun

Club Member
Very nice! Mine need a refurb too, but I was wondering about giving it a go myself.

If you are thinking of selling your center caps then I would be very interested :)
Alright, I'll keep you in mind. They're pitted in areas and are plastic, so was hoping replacements were easy to find.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
I moved the Z over to my mate’s mums as she has an empty double garage where it will stay until I’ve fixed the release bearing on the 944’s clutch … not a nice job to have to do. It got over there okay - seven or so miles, but was kangarooing a bit at about 1500-2000rpm. Then it refused to turn over once it was there, I think the battery is flat somehow, maybe the alternator wasn’t charging it on the way over?

XGXVQJcV.jpg
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
I moved the Z over to my mate’s mums as she has an empty double garage where it will stay until I’ve fixed the release bearing on the 944’s clutch … not a nice job to have to do. It got over there okay - seven or so miles, but was kangarooing a bit at about 1500-2000rpm. Then it refused to turn over once it was there, I think the battery is flat somehow, maybe the alternator wasn’t charging it on the way over?

XGXVQJcV.jpg
If the battery has been run flat a few times it kills them and it won't charge. Might not be the alternator?
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
After your alternator it's worth checking all your main power and earth leads. Do the headlights and wipers work - if so and the leads are ok it may be the starter.
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
Changed the bushing on the gearstick and replaced the rubbers. It's a 5 speed from a later model S30, so the solid bushing kit from thezstore wouldn't work with S14 boxes I think.

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Comparison of new and old (yikes)

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Pin, c-clip, bushings removed as well as lever.

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New brass bushings, pin and c-clip inserted.

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Rubber parts put back together

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New leather gaitor (I can't get it right and no idea how to do the strings up)

Word to the wise, the plastic cup bushing that goes on the end of the lever was a bastard to take off and put on without a vice.

Also, the brass bushings didn't want to squeeze between the two sides where the pin goes through against the gearbox.

The rest is straight forward.

I will probably change the gearbox in the future though - I bought the kit for the learning experience since I thought it was cheap and enhances the feel of the gear lever.
 

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Mr Ex Jnr

Club Member
Went down to Essex to go and collect a L28 and a Fairlady grill off Terry really nice day out Saturday great bloke
 

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