Euro/Aussie front spoiler photo's?

[Ricklandia]

I was out Saturday with my better half running errands, which found me standing in a Borders at the newsstand. On the shelf was a Classic Car magazine which had an article on 240Z's (collector status/resto/whatnot). It's a British magazine I believe. One of the things it mentioned was the fact that ALL Euro/Asian 240/260's shipped with a front valance spoiler that was not offered in the USA. Unfortunately, the photospread in the magazine was somewhat lacking, and I was wondering if anyone here could point me to some detailed pictures of this spoiler? They did give a British resto house that offered reproductions for sale (http://www.fourways-engineering.co.uk) but the site does not have a photo of them. If I'm not mistaken, the Euro model 240/260's had from turn indicator lights bolted to the bumper as opposed to the USA style lights, correct? I am curious to know if this Euro spec spoiler would work on a US 240. I wouldn't want to butcher either piece to make it work, but I'm thinking it might be nice to have something a little different than the average "look" here in America. Can some of our Euro/Aussie members help me out on this?

[WarrenZ]

Hi

The Aussie 240/260's did not come standard with any front spoiler. There was a factory option of a small black spoiler that bolted to the standard front valance panel.Bit like a chin spoiler. I have been searching for a pic as some of the club guys down here have them. I have not found a clear pic yet.

As far as the lights go in Australia. The 70-72 240 just had the white parking light in the valance panel that doubled as the turn indicator. The 73 240 had the orange turn indicator lights bolted to the bumper bar as the laws changed in 73. The white parking light under the bumper bar was still there as standard. The 74 onwards 260 had a dual orange turn signal light and a white parking light in the valance panel.

There is no difference to the front valance panel on any of the aussie cars. So you should not end up butchering the front of the car.

You could look around our web site www.viczcar.com

Cheers

Warren

[26th-Z]

Rick,

The spoiler you are talking about did not appear on US imports. If you look in Brian Long's; "Fairlady to 280Z", page 89, there is a color photograph that shows it pretty well. Actually, the captions for the photos on pages 89 and 90 are reversed, but you can see the configuration. You are correct that the turn signals are mounted above the bumper. For the spoiler installation, the entire lower valance is different from the US spec. Here are some pictures of the actual spoiler. It is flexible - vinyl / plastic / urethane / rubber covered foam. Same material as the early rubber floor and deck mats, only thicker. I think the real ZG bumper is made of the same material. You will notice the embeded bolt tabs. They bolt to holes along the lower edge of the valance with welded captive nuts. As you can see from Long's picture, the spoiler bolts to the turn signal wings as well as the middle valance.

I have never purchased anything from Fourways, but I see their advertisements all the time in English magazines and I have heard several success stories from friends. PM me if you want this center valance.

Chris

[HS30-H]

As addition to the good information posted above, here is a scan from Nissan's "R-DRIVE" parts lists.

The illustration shows what they call the "European Air Spoiler" - numbered 28.

*98300-E8100 ASSY-FRONT AIR SPOILER ( EUROPE ).

These were indeed made from Urethane foam with a hard skin on the outside ( hence they were still slightly flexible ). However they hardened up with age, cracked and also deformed in bright sunlight over the years. The steel brackets that were moulded into the Urethane also went rusty after getting wet over the years, and tended to swell up - with the brackets eventually failing......

Good condition original spoilers are like gold dust in the UK these days. I have not seen an NOS one like 26th-Z's pictured item for many years now. The last couple of half-decent used ones I had were sold to Japan.

I could be wrong, but as far as I know the Fourways Engineering item is not actually a replica of the original UK market "European" spoiler - but I can look into that and post an answer later today.

UPDATE EDIT:

OK - I looked into this a little further. The Fourways Engineering item is not actually a replica of the 'European' spoiler on its own. They sell a single-piece fibreglass moulding that replaces the front centre valance and two corner pieces, and which has the shape of the 'European' spoiler moulded onto it. When it is all fitted, and with some paint detailing ( satin black on the spoiler part ) it looks very similar to how the UK-market cars looked.

Rick, if the UK-market car featured in that car magazine you found is yellow, then it will be the car restored for Nissan UK to use in advertising and promotional duties a couple of years ago. As far as I am aware, that particular car is NOT wearing the UK-market 'European' front spoiler ( a good condition item could not be found for it ) and is wearing a one-piece moulding similar to that supplied by Fourways Engineering. It fools a lot of people.

Do be aware that the Fourways Engineering part is "made to order" too.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[Ricklandia]

Ask, and Ye Shall Recieve! You guys are amazing! Thanks for all the input, I almost feel guilty now for asking, I didn't intend for anyone to put in so much effort! :knockedou

As I sit in my garage, contemplating the potential future of my car (gotta christen her with a name soon) I can't help but draw on a "60's Euro" theme. Perhaps it's the wire wheels, but I can't get the Ferrari Daytona comparison out of my head. I've been strongly leaning toward Black as my color of choice, with all that chrome, that swept back look...

**BTW, how hard is it to get an old authentic Aussie or UK license plate? I saw the ones on the VicZCar site, white on black, and thought that might look rather sweet. I've got a stack of old Florida plates if anyone want's to trade.

[26th-Z]

No serious effort at all, Rick. I was on to one of those some time ago until I realized what Alan pointed out. Fourways has what I think is a reasonable aftermarket approach. Furthermore the center valance with the captive nuts does not fit in 26th's chassis. This was the project that allerted me to the differences in chassis and valances. Go figure. Early cars are different from later cars. The mounting tabs are spaced differently.

[HS30-H]

**BTW, how hard is it to get an old authentic Aussie or UK license plate? I saw the ones on the VicZCar site, white on black, and thought that might look rather sweet. I've got a stack of old Florida plates if anyone want's to trade.

Rick,

Its still possible to get UK-style plates made up if you want. The mid to late-Sixties silver-on-black style is in my opinion the best looking.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that the typical UK plate sizes for both front and rear of the car were much bigger than the USA ( and Japanese ) plate sizes. They don't actually fit the S30-series Z all that well.........

[Mr Camouflage]

Licence plate in Australia (well WA at least) have to be handed back to the licenceing department if the registration for the vehicle they are on expires.

As for the euro spoiler, Somenone over here in WA had a 260Z 2+2 that had a factory one fitted (the valance had the captive nuts welded in, so it wasnt after market).

Had an L28 with a P90 head too. Car was sold, dont know what happened to it, it was a non runner.

I have some decent photos of cars with these spoilers, I'll dig them out....

[Mr Camouflage]

Photos as promised

Heres a Euro model 240Z.

Notice the absence of the usual indicators (turn signals), instead they have the bumper mounted indicators, presumably because of design regulations in the UK/euro market.

And theres a euro spoiler. (probably an reproduction one).

[Ricklandia]

Awesome, many thanks. Love the look of that spoiler, subtle. I'll have to put some thought into this.

[HS30-H]

....And theres a euro spoiler. (probably an reproduction one).

Hi Mr C,

That's exactly the car I was talking about above; restored on behalf of Nissan UK for them to use in press and promotional activities.

It is indeed an aftermarket front spoiler - in fact, it is the one-piece FRP item that replaces the spoiler, front valance and both corner panels. If you look closely you can see that there is no join between the nearside corner panel and the front valance......

Cheers,

Alan T.

[Ricklandia]

...in fact, it is the one-piece FRP item that replaces the spoiler, front valance and both corner panels. If you look closely you can see that there is no join between the nearside corner panel and the front valance...

Excuse my ignorance; "FRP"? Is the manufacturer of the piece?