1970 240Z on eBay with Low VIN?

[Mike B]

I believe that the had throttle was standard on the early models.

I have four sub 500 vin cars and all left the factory with the hand throtltle but all were removed either at the port or dealer. I have heard some people claim a few could have somehow slipped through and have been left intact. Possibly on a very early car but I find that very hard to believe on a May 1970 production car. Much more likely a prior owner added it.

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[JLPurcell]

22 minutes ago, Mike B said:

 

I have four sub 500 vin cars and all left the factory with the hand throtltle but all were removed either at the port or dealer. I have heard some people claim a few could have somehow slipped through and have been left intact. Possibly on a very early car but I find that very hard to believe on a May 1970 production car. Much more likely a prior owner added it.

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Mike, I will check with the owner, that is very interesting. If you noticed in the photos, the plastic protection wrap is still on the interior dog legs and I have the dealer inventory sticker that was never put in the window. 

 

[Mike B]

Mike, I will check with the owner, that is very interesting. If you noticed in the photos, the plastic protection wrap is still on the interior dog legs and I have the dealer inventory sticker that was never put in the window. 
 

Not to say it couldn't have happened Jerry, but just seems like 8 months into production the factory wouldn't still be adding parts that were required to be removed by the port or selling dealer. If nothing else the cost of wasted parts and effort required by the dealers to remove and replace the choke/ hand throttle would have stopped them being installed pretty quickly I would think. As for the plastic wrap being left on the interior dog leg trim I have seen that on several cars. My #480 car still has them on it too but no hand throttle. My 5/72 still had the shredded and dirty plastic wrap on the front door panels and the seatbelt shoulder straps were stiil wrap in original plastic bags when i got ghe car. Clearly the PDI was hit or miss at some dealerships. It will be interesting to hear what the original owner says.

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[26th-Z]

Jerry,

The honest truth about hand throttles is that very, very few cars ever made it into the hands of consumers equipped from Japan with the hand throttle.  Most, if not all of the hand throttles we see were added at a later date.  My cars have hand throttles but they are not original.  What was original was the dual lever housing with the lever and cable removed.

None-the-less, it's a great feature.

[Warty]

Do you think these people who were retro installing the hand throttle were actually hooking it up? Or just putting it there for looks?


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[JLPurcell]

5 hours ago, 26th-Z said:

Jerry,

The honest truth about hand throttles is that very, very few cars ever made it into the hands of consumers equipped from Japan with the hand throttle.  Most, if not all of the hand throttles we see were added at a later date.  My cars have hand throttles but they are not original.  What was original was the dual lever housing with the lever and cable removed.

None-the-less, it's a great feature.

Chris, thanks for your information. I talked to the owner today and he said that to his knowledge it came with the hand throttle. He does not recall adding it to the car. I did move it back and forth today and it does not seem to actuate anything, but I do not know how they worked. The choke cables do engage the choke mechanism.  I can only rely on the original owner for information on this car. 

[JLPurcell]

20 hours ago, Warty said:

Thanks. My trim pieces are all black, so I don't have anything to match against for the paint. Aside from the dogleg and I think the "rear trim" piece, I think I can still get blue trim pieces online. Dogleg probably needs a professional upholstery shop I would guess. My rear trim piece isn't from a 1970 240Z anyway, so if I find one, I think that's one I'll have to paint. 

 

 

The plastic seems to age and discolor a different rates. I have attached a couple of photos of the rear plastic interior tail light cover and the rear hatch interior trim. Both front and back. The difference is very apparent. The vinyl seems to have an almost ice or metallic look but the back side of the plastic panels are just blue.  

[JLPurcell]

I will start another post on 4575, this one has run it's course. I did get the rear brake drums free tonight, or I cut them off with a grinder and sawzall. Glad I have another complete early rear suspension I will need it.

[Terrapin Z]

3 minutes ago, JLPurcell said:

Chris, thanks for your information. I talked to the owner today and he said that to his knowledge it came with the hand throttle. He does not recall adding it to the car. I did move it back and forth today and it does not seem to actuate anything, but I do not know how they worked. The choke cables do engage the choke mechanism.  I can only rely on the original owner for information on this car. 

The cable hooks to a small metal tab at the very top of the throttle pedal assy. It is a flexible cable not a ridged one like the chokes. 

They were supposed to be removed at the point on entry (dock yard) or at the dealership "pre" sale. Perhaps the dealer just cut or removed the cable. 

[JLPurcell]

2 minutes ago, Terrapin Z said:

The cable hooks to a small metal tab at the very top of the throttle pedal assy. It is a flexible cable not a ridged one like the chokes. 

They were supposed to be removed at the point on entry (dock yard) or at the dealership "pre" sale. Perhaps the dealer just cut or removed the cable. 

I will take a look under the dash when I get a chance and see how it was disabled. Thanks!

 

[Warty]

The faded blue: you might trying retrobriting it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright

I don't know what these panels are made of, so I can't say whether that would work or not, but I suspect it would. But read about retrobriting before doing it, and maybe test on a small sliver first. If it worked, it would completely change the color of those panels, back to the bright blue you see on the back. 

 

[JLPurcell]

Just now, Warty said:

The faded blue: you might trying retrobriting it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright

I don't know what these panels are made of, so I can't say whether that would work or not, but I suspect it would. But read about retrobriting before doing it, and maybe test on a small sliver first. If it worked, it would completely change the color of those panels, back to the bright blue you see on the back. 

 

I have used this process on parts such as the windshield bottle and the lens on the trouble light with good results.  The process for re-dying these panels is fairly simple and would give you a consistent color and finish. You just have to clean them really well, spray on a adhesion promoter and then the custom mixed vinyl paint.