1970 240Z Owners Manuals

[Mike B]

How many different versions of the 1970 240Z Owners Manual are there (for North America)? I have two. One has an issued date (on the back cover) of 15 January 1970 and one has 15 November 1970. I saw in an old post that indicated there were two versions of the 1970 manuals with a issued date of 20 December 1969 (they have slightly different covers). Does anyone have any others?

There are lots of differences in the two versions I have. Here is a summary of the ones I noted:

*15 January has pictures and text referencing the throttle contol lever. However, almost all throttle references have revised pictures/text that have been cut out and pasted over the originals.

*15 January reference the "red mark" on the rearview mirror for day driving while the 15 November references the sun symbol.

*AM radio operating instructions note a red power indicator lamp for 15 January and a green indicator lamp for 15 November

*15 November has a picture and instructions to change the light bulbs in the rear tail lights by removing the access panels in the rear plastic trim piece.

*Seat belt instruction pages are different.

*15 January has pictures for operating the heating/ventilating system in the wrong order. 15 November has the pictures under the correct labels.

*15 November has drawings of what looks to be an incorrect ignition key for series I cars. It is two sided and has a squarish head similar to the door/hatch/glove box key.

*15 November has references to the automatic transmission.

*15 January has 4 additional pages of consumer information regarding stoping distances, tire load, acceleration and passing ability etc.

*15 November has a map of the globe showing Nissan Overseas Distributors on the inside back cover, while the 15 January cover is blank

*15 January has rounded corners on the side that opens

*15 November has a small black star on the front cover under the words Owner's Manual Model S30 Series

*The ink used in the 15 January manual is a darker green, almost black.

[26th-Z]

Confirmed from me. Issue date 20 December 1969 with different pictures of the 240Z on the covers.

[Mike B]

Chris,

Do your December 1969 manuals have the same cut and paste treatment to remove references to the throttle switch? Does the 1969 manual have information about the rear window defroster, even though the cars didn't come with them yet? Are there any differences you note in the December 1969 manual compared to the January 1970, other than the different angle of the car on the front cover?

-Mike

[26th-Z]

Mike,

The top manual in my picture is the original that came with 26th. I know that car the best and can vouch for originality of period. It was imported into Jacksonville and delivered in May of 1970. At one time, I heard that 26th was actually bought from an Arizona dealer to satisfy the order for the car in Sarasota, but that doesn't make any sense because I have the import papers.

The two manuals are identical for the full 40 pages and the bottom pictured manual has four extra consumer information pages glued into the back of the manual. They are not part of the original binding. No, neither manual has the hand throttle paragraph masked. The drawings are pretty remarkable to the oddities of the early cars. The mirror is referenced to the red dot. There is no reference to a rear hatch demister. The console drawing shows the blank plates for the switch.

The 1970 owner's manual was reproduced for the Vintage Z program in 1996. I would like to have one. I have a reprint 1971 to trade.

[Mike B]

Unfortunately #237 didn't come with an owners manual. I got the two copies I have on ebay. I'm attaching a couple of pictures of the cut and paste used method used to remove the throttle lever references. The first two pictures show the section that was pasted over and the original underneath in the January 1970 version. The last shows the revised section in the November 1970 version.

I would also like to have a reprint of the 1970 manual from the vintage Z program. I have a reprint of the 1972 manual. A year or two ago they were on ebay fairly regularly, but the only one I have seen recently was for a 1972 I think.

[a7dz]

Here are images of the orginal manual from 6160 build date 6/70. Notice the issue date is 30 May 70.

[CanTechZ]

My orginal owners manual from 6521 build date 7/70 has the same front & back cover as "a7dZ" but the issue date is 20 March 70. Later S/N & build date but an earlier manual issue date.

Mike

[240260280]

I just scored one on Ebay that I'll pick up when in Texas.  Thanks @Hardway

 

Looks like a 15 Jan 1970.

 

 

[240260280]

This one came with VIN 187

[240260280]

The early ones seem to have cropped corners.

[esmit208]

On Sunday, July 08, 2007 at 0:52 PM, a7dz said:

Here are images of the orginal manual from 6160 build date 6/70. Notice the issue date is 30 May 70.

Here is #6333. Build date 6/70. Unfortunately no owners manual came with it. It was bought from a Z repair shop in Redondo Beach California in 1994. The original manuals do make for good reading. My my wife wil, get one for me for XMAS. 

[240260280]

Where is 27?