I will be picking up my first 1973 240Z a week from Saturday. When I get it I would like to get details on it through the vin number. Is there a decoder somewhere. I did a search on line and got all kinds of crap about buying this or that and where to find this and that but nothing that just decodes the VIN. I put the details of my acquisition in the introduction forum.

First, welcome aboard! Second, this question gets asked a lot by new people. Here is a link to a similiar thread that should answer your question http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16323

This site contains a lot of good information and the search function works well.

-Mike

Hi Mike:

That link and the four pages of discussion - contain a lot of incorrect information - that one really doesn't need to sort though again.

Scott:

The VIN's on the Datsun 240-Z's for North America are really simple - and therefore provide only basic information. VIN's post 1980 were configured to a Federal Standard, and contain more information.

If your looking at a 1973 Model Year 240-Z here - then the VIN will be something like

HLS30 12xxxx. All 1973 Model Year 240-Z's for North America have VIN's starting at HLS30 120001

H = L24 engine

L= Left Hand Drive

S30= 2dr. sport coupe body

120001 is the chassis serial number

That's all it will tell you...

What you want to check is that the VIN on the Dash, matches the VIN on the Firewall, matches the VIN on the Engine Data Tag and Drivers Door Jamb. You also want to check that the original engine serial number on the Engine Data Tag matches the serial number on the engine block.

FWIW,

Carl B.