Z production dates

[Rick]

I am trying to ascertain when my Z was manufactured.

It was first registered in Australia in Oct 71 but has a chassis no of HS30 01224 which would indicate it was built well before this date as Datsun first produced the 240Z in Oct 69.

Does anyone know what 240 Z chassis no's were built in 69. 70. 71?

[sjcurtis]

Rick , as with most thing Z the production dates for these cars is not easy to chase down, as we did not get VIN plates in the door well like the USA build version. You can only realy guess at your production date. My 71 has a 12/71 ADR plate delivered and first registered in Brisbane 01/72 and production was around mid/late Oct 71 by the seat belt theory. The seat belt theory is that if you have original seat belts fitted the manufacture tag on them will date your car,as this is one of the last trim items fitted. The tag that carries the date is at the bottom attach position in the rear floor pan. In some cases sun bleaching has removed the information. As far as general production run info goes someone else should be able to help.

Hope this helps you.

Steve:classic:

[Bambikiller240]

Check the link below for information on build dates as supplied by owners registering their cars on the site. Should be able to get a good estimate of when your car made it off the line.

www.ZHome.com

[HS30-H]

Hi Rick,

That's good information from Steve, and its certainly the best place to look.

There are other places on the car where you can also find the production dates of the components ( note: they date the manufacture of the component - which can sometimes be as much as a few weeks or even in some cases months before the car was put together )....................

As Steve said, the seat belt labels are a good place to look as they are quite accessible and the date is written in "English".

The other locations can be a bit obscure, and may be in the form of an ink or paint stamp on the reverse of the part itself. Have a look on the back of the ashtray or on other easily-removable parts. You can also see them on light housings / bulb holders etc.

What you are looking for are usually circular and blue-coloured marks with a date on them. HOWEVER - the dates are not immediately recognisable, as they use the Japanese system for years in relation to the incumbent Emperor of the time. To cut a long story short - you will usually see numbers in the late Forties for a car made in the early Seventies period. If your car was made in 1971, you can expect to see the date marks with a number "46" on the end.

This is because they were made in the 46th year of the Emperor Showa's reign ( We know Emperor Showa by the name Hirohito, and the Japanese do not use this - they use the more respectful title of "Showa" ). He came to the throne in 1925, so you can get the Twentieth Century year date by adding 25 to the "Showa" number. Got that?

Seeing as we are talking about early S30 models here we do not have to go into the pre or post Showa eras ( we are now in the reign of Emperor "Heisei" - who we know as Emperor Akihito, who is Hirohito's son ).

So, you might see a little mark that has the numbers "12.25.45" on it - which means that part was made on Christmas Day in 1970 ( quite possible, as the Japanese do not take holidays for the Christian festival of Christmas............... ).

Take a look around the car and try to cross-reference the numbers that you find. You can usually come to a conclusion that is near as dammit from these.

Pinning down the precise production dates of "HS30" prefixed VIN numbers is quite a lot more difficult than for the "HLS30" prefixed VINs. The factory has never released precise information to the public or any enquiring journalists on the Export RHD cars, and one of the reasons for this is that they made a giant leap in VIN numbers when the Japanese "Home" market finally got the option of the "HS30" L24-engined models in October 1971. They still don't really have a proper explanation or data to cover this, and don't really like to be reminded of it either..............

Looking at your VIN number I think it would probably be a '71 car rather than a '70. That's quite a nice low number that you have ( for an HS30 ). Low number "HS30" prefixed VINs are a darn sight rarer than early "HLS30" VINs.

Please remember that the "HS30" VIN numbers don't have any relation to the "HLS30" VIN numbers, or indeed the "S30" and "PS30" VIN numbers. All of these had their own number series - so you cannot get information on one set of VIN numbers by cross-referencing with another different model type. I've posted about this point before - so you might be able to find it if you have a look around using the "search" function.

Hope this is interesting / useful to you.

All the best,

Alan T.

[Victor Laury]

I'm glad you posted this info, Alan. When I was disassembling my 72, I found 2 paper slips, 1 small one, sandwiched under the pedal box and a much larger one, nestled above the right rear fender well.

They are both tables, printed with Japanese characters with the round blue date stamps that you describe.

I guessed that they were assembly instructions for a HLS30 U.S. market car.

I've been intending to scan them to share them with you all.

[damian vd berg]

I have the same problem my car is hls30 03091 build in april 1970 and I can't find out how many carnumbers are used between oktober 1969 and april 1970

[HS30-H]

Damian,

With respect to your particular car, the situation is slightly easier than the one Rick is facing.

The VIN numbers for the "HLS30" prefixed cars are much easier to date than the "HS30" prefixes ( although the "S30" and "PS30" prefixes are also difficult, they are a lot more easy to make sense of than the "HS30" ). Most of the "HLS30" cars went to the USA / North American market, and this was subject to a lot more documentation on the receiving side. You can bet that your car was made pretty much around the month that is marked on the extra door jamb VIN plate that most of the "HS30" series cars did NOT get ( if its still attached ). As to your question about how many numbers were used between October 1969 and April 1970 - then the answer is fairly easy; it was almost exactly 3091st of the "HLS30" prefixed cars. The very first "HLS30" prefixed cars probably did not make it to the USA, so your car would probably have been at least something like the three thousand and eighty something-th car to hit the beach in the USA. Just remember that having a VIN of "3091" does not make the car the 3091st S30-series Z car off the production line................ you have to count the "S30", "PS30" and "HS30" prefixed VIN numbers that ran in parallel with the "HLS30" numbers. That would be an almost impossible figure to ascertain.

I presume from your gallery pictures that you bought a USA market "HLS30" and privately imported it to Holland? In that case, you are in a fairly good position to find out more about its true age.

Victor, your discoveries sound like a nice bit of carchaeological evidence! If you can post pictures before 28th Dec. ( GMT ) then I might be able to help you read the Japanese on them. I will be off to Japan on 28th and returning on 8th Jan.

Did you discover any other writing anywhere? You can sometimes find Factory internal build info. on places like the steering column support bracket and the underside of the glovebox floor.

There are sometimes other little messages and graffitoes on the hidden parts of the cars, which the Factory workers scribbled to entertain themselves on the line. I asked a Nissan production line worker who was present on the SP/SR lines and also the S30 Z line about these. I showed him a photo of a scribble on the underside of my dashboard panel ( which read "warau" in Japanese ). He told me that it just meant "Ha Ha!" - and would have been a little joke between the workers on the line, intended to make the working day go just that little bit faster. I thought it was rather heart-warming.............

All the best,

Alan T.

[That Ozzy Guy]

Now I'm a bit confused

My VIN is HS30 100243 and by the looks of it it has an extra number in it compared to Ricks. Build date is 11/72 so am I then to conclude that so many of these cars were built that they had to add an extra number in their VIN's?

Also, mine started it's life as an automatic. I presume the VIN doesn't tell you this. I haven't had a look but does the comp plate contain this information?

Thanks

[HS30-H]

Like I said on my first post above, Nissan made a big jump on chassis numbering on the "HS30" prefixed cars around late 1971. This is why your HS30 100243 VIN number does NOT mean it was the 100234th HS30 built.................

They made the big jump BEFORE it was actually needed ( i.e. they did not roll around to "HS30-09999" ). I have never been able to ascertain exactly when the big jump was made ( i.e. after which number ) - but I have a fairly good idea.

You also will not find any info. on particular specs. from the VIN number ( such as whether is was Auto or Manual trans ). Only the basic model type can be gained from the VIN, and the final specs. would only be identifiable by looking at the car itself.

For the Export market, Nissan tended to stick to one basic spec. for each particular country. This is why most of the "HLS30" and "HS30" cars in each particular market all tended to be pretty much the same - just the paint / interior colour and trans. choice to decide on. Contrast this to the Home market, where a much bigger choice of body / engine / trans / trim was available. On the Japanese paperwork for each car, the spec. is quite clearly stated. Most Export markets never got this.

Alan T.

[That Ozzy Guy]

Thanks Alan:classic:

Sorry this is off topic but...

Would I be right to assume that an auto model would be much rarer than the common manual variation therefore more valuable to collectors?

Also, this is a big ask and I don't expect an answer but would anyone know how many autos out of the 3000 total entered Australia? An educated guess maybe?

/Looks at Alan :cheeky:

[Rick]

Thanks Guys you have been most helpful with the dating process.

Next time I need to find a good looking chick I will post an enquiry as you are a wealth of information, or is this only on Z's?

And I was wondering whether Alan was a professor of Japanese history because he lost me somewhere between the emporers.

[HS30-H]

Sorry T.O.G. - can't help with any numbers or proportion of Auto to Manual trannies on the Australian HS30's.

You can bet that they were a very small proportion compared to the manuals though. I'd take a stab at something like 1 in 50 or less being Auto.

Sorry to say that this does NOT tend to make them more sought after or more expensive than the manual trans versions. I think you can guess that the majority of people searching for a Z to buy are going to be looking for a manual version. The Auto's are rarer ( and nice to see them around ) but it just doesn't make them more valuable monetarily.

Rick, don't ask me about girls. I'm looking for tips myself...........

Sorry to have waxed lyrical about those Japanese dates and lost you a bit. I think all you ever need to remember is to "Add 25" years to Japanese date marks that appear on an S30 series Z car. Most of them are going to be in the mid Showa '40's and '50's - which means the 1969 to 1979 period roughly.

Regards,

Alan T.