Assembly tag

[Victor Laury]

I've uploaded photos of one of the assembly tags I found while parting out an early 72 (manufactured 9/71).

I can't remember if I found this sandwiched between the pedal box and body or tucked inside the right fender well. This was a U.S. Market HLS30.

Can anyone translate?

Assembly tag

reverse side

[HS30-H]

Hi Victor,

You've found one of the Inspection Tickets for a component on your car. On S30-series Z cars, these were usually left attached to the complete dash assemblies, but found their way around the car and rested wherever they fancied once the string broke..........

The big writing on the outside says ( and forgive my romanised Japanese ) "Go Kaku Hyo" - roughly meaning 'Inspected', or "Passed".

One the other side are a series of sections leaving spaces for information to be filled in either in handwriting or with a "Hanko" stamp:

The top line is for the date, starting with the reign of the incumbent Emperor ( in this case Emperor "Showa" - who we knew as Hirohito ) and then the month and day.

Just as a side-bar to this, the reign of Emperor Showa started in 1925 - so the date mark will signify the year of the reign. To get the year date that we use in the Gregorian calendar just add 25.

On the right of that date section is a section for "Lot" or "Quantity".

In the middle, on the left, is a space for the description of the vehicle model type, and to the right of that in two boxes, the part number and part description.

Finally on the bottom left is a further box for description of the part function or other notes, and on the bottom right a place for the "Inspector" to mark his name or stamp his "Hanko" to sign it off.

For completeness sake, the very small print at the bottom of the ticket identifies the printing company that made it ( in this case "Daiwa Press Ltd. Co." ) and the Form No. - followed by the date ( for this ticket, the 5th month of "Showa" 46 - so May 1971. See? Just add 25............. ).

I can't see that its been filled in at all ( unless the writing has faded ) so somebody wasn't doing their job!.................

These types of Inspection tags were usually attached to components and sub-assemblies that were supplied or put together by contractors, and then signed off by Nissan inspectors.

If you dig around on old Japanese cars there are lots of things that can act as clues in identifying just when and where the components were made. I think its good fun to add all the evidence up and see the way that supply was being handled back at the Factory in the early Seventies, don't you?

Hope that helped.

All the best,

Alan T.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Victor Laury

... an early 72 (manufactured 9/71).

Out of curiousity, what's the VIN on this car? Mine was also manufactured in 9/71 and is HLS30-47431.

[Victor Laury]

Mike,

It was HLS30 48255. I bought it 2/26/01 as my first Z. I bought it without studing what to look for and it turned out to be alright looking but a rust basket case. Just a year later, I was searching for a better car. Now, all the best parts of that car live on in my present 72. The rest is stored under the house. The body is tuna cans by now.

RIP HLS30 48255

She looked good polished up but rotten to the core

Engine Compartment

[Smokey]

Victor, she looks nice. Must have been rusted in out of the way places that made it not worth repairing. From the pics, it looks flawless.

[HS30-H]

Victor,

Was my effort not appreciated - or did you not notice it?

Alan T.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by HS30-H

Was my effort not appreciated - or did you not notice it?

I certainly appreciated your effort. It makes me want to go and pull off some interior panels.

I apologize if my question to Victor got him off track ...

[Victor Laury]

Originally posted by HS30-H

Victor, Was my effort not appreciated - or did you not notice it?

Absolutly Alan! Thank you again for your valued input.

these were usually left attached to the complete dash assemblies,

I believe this was the tag found under the dash trapped by the pedal box. It looks like I may have lost the other sheet found tucked into the body.

I can't see that its been filled in at all ( unless the writing has faded ) so somebody wasn't doing their job!

I could see no evidence of any handwritting in the fields as well. If it faded, it left no impression on the paper.