Clear glass vs tinted glass

[Mike B]

When did 240z's switch from clear glass to tinted glass? #237 and #331 both have all clear glass all around (doors, quarter windows, and hatch - with no defrost in hatch). Neither have the original windshield, so I don't know about that. My parts car, #882, is a 1/70 production car and it has tinted glass in the windshield, drivers door, both quarter windows, and the hatch - with the vert defrost lines. However, the passenger door glass is clear. The quarter windows and windshield didn't appear to have been replaced. That is they look to have the original seals, etc. The only info I found when searching was that the defrosters were supposed to have been introduced with car #1456, but #882 looks to have the original wiring in the harness for the defroster (dated 1/70), so I am not sure if hatch with defroster glass was switched out by the dealer at some point.

-Mike

[d240zx2]

#721 , 01/70 build, has light tinted glass all around. Rear de-fogger hatch glass and original windshield.

Carl Beck may be able to answer your questions more specifically.

Frank

[Duffman]

#1399 has the clear hatch glass, no vertical defrost lines, no tint anywhere.

[zedhead_240]

70 240 HS30 00501 has tinted with vertical dimister but thats down under perth W.Australia

[Mike B]

Does anyone else with a low VIN car have clear glass on the door windows and quarter windows? The clear glass is labeled M-214 and the later tinted glass is labeled M-224.

-Mike

[mally002]

Hey Mike,

Don't know if this helps or if you can even tell but here's a picture of #797 that I took at our Z car show, it looks tinted to me but can't be sure.

Randy

[Mike B]

Hey Mike,

Don't know if this helps or if you can even tell but here's a picture of #797 that I took at our Z car show, it looks tinted to me but can't be sure.

Randy

Thanks Randy. It is hard to tell from the pictures. Even if they were dead on from the side the tint isn't very dark, so it isn't real noticable unless you compare the two side by side. I'll take a picture of the tinted and untinted door glass and post for comparison. I think the best way to tell is comparing the numbers etched in the glass (M-214 or M-224).

-Mike

[Carl Beck]

70 240 HS30 00501 has tinted with vertical dimister but thats down under perth W.Australia

HS30 00501 would be the first 1971 RHD Datsun 240-Z according to the factory.

Should have the fresh air exhaust vents in the quarter panels.

I think Kats or Chris posted this before...image below.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[HS30-H]

I think Kats or Chris posted this before...image below.

You're quite sure about that........?

With regard to tinted glass and early North American market HLS30-U models and their sub-variants:

I think there's an interesting story still to be told about this. It seems that the first few hundred ( ? ) cars that were sent to USA/Canada had ( cheaper to produce ) clear glass and ( cheaper to produce ) non-heated rear windows, and it would be easy to see this as part of the cost-cutting measures / market sector 'tuning' that was first applied to the HLS30-U and its sub-variants.

Tinted glass and heated rear windows were available in the Japanese home market right from the beginning of production in the 'S30' Fairlady Z-L and 'PS30' Fairlady Z432 models, with clear / unheated glass on the budget 'S30-S' Fairlady Z model ( but an extra-cost option should the buyer choose to specify it ). The super-lightweight 'PS30-SB' got heat-formed acrylic windows all round, apart from the windscreen - which was untinted. There was no last-minute introduction or spec switch. Tinted / heated glass was on the S30-series Z spec sheet from the design stage.

We often see people approaching this subject of clear / unheated glass on the early USA/Canada cars as though tinted / heated glass simply did not exist for the S30-series Z range until it was introduced later. Of course this is incorrect, because it clearly did exist and the decision was chosen not to fit it to those first few hundred ( ? ) USA/Canada models. Somebody made that decision for a reason........

I think these little sub-plots give us a glimpse of the goings-on behind closed doors in the early days of planning and production. I'd certainly be interested to hear who made the decisions to first fit clear / unheated, and then who made the decision to fit tinted / heated, and why. I think I can make an educated guess as to why each decision could have been made ( it's not rocket science ) but it would be nice to see it confirmed.

Alan T.