Finally found a 69 240z, #51 Time to finish a 30 year multiple owner restoration.

[dspillman]

I hope it’s alright to slide this here….

[Namerow]

7 hours ago, dspillman said:

Have plenty of help from 3 of the grandkids!!!

Nice photo.  Boy in the front is making engine noises, right?

[Namerow]

6 hours ago, dspillman said:

 I need to study a bit on the hinges….. I’m thinking the early had smaller coil spring?

There's lots of discussion and photos available on this site concerning the Z's early and late hinge designs.  The early design was a little crude (articulating 'leaves' or 'blades', with a spring that supplied a bit of resistance when closing the door) and lacked any type of provision for stabilizing the door in a partly-open position.  More critically, the leaves could go over-centre if the door was forcefully thrown open by a gust of wind (I believe that the spring would pop out in the process, too).  Once this happens, there's no convenient way to get the leaves to reverse back over centre.    Any attempts at strong-arming the door to get it closed again would bend the leaves.

The later hinge design works pretty well, although lack of maintenance (lubrication) will cause the roller pin to wear out prematurely.  There's a thread here on the site that details the rebuilding process for the later-style hinges.  

[Patcon]

Yes, you found a good thread for that.

I also have seen that if the early hinges get seized at all those little blades just fold up when you try to close the door.

[kats]

Wow!! I really like your green 1969 240Z.

Thanks for sharing a lot of pictures. 
 

A tiny dent caught my eyes, which is on the rear deck floor, near the frame rib. 
The dent was pushed upward from underneath of the floor, that is a good sign of the super early cars. I don’t know why, the later dent was pushed down from above the floor. This is true for all the other dents in the rear deck floor and maybe for the firewall.
I have been talking about this with an enthusiast Chris in Netherlands. He has been doing extensive work for his a lot of 1969 240Z. 
 

This leads me my curiosity about “which model is earlier than others in 1969.”

I am not talking about the Nissan official report of the first 14 cars strats from S30-00001. 
I am talking about cars like made in October, November, December. 
 

HLS30-00051, HS30-00051, PS30-00051, S30-00051. 

I guess they would be like this (starting with the earliest) 

S30-00051, HLS30-00051, PS30-00051,HS30-00051.

We don’t argue about HS30-00051 is a 1970 made. But other three are fun to discuss. (I know most of the people are not interested in talking about S30 and PS30)

Anyway, PS30-00051 was not made in October like S30-00051 and HLS30-00051. I don’t know why, looks like Z432 was taking a rest for a while in October then re- engaged in the assembly line in November or even December.

We can tell it by the dents on the floor. Even PS30-00028 is not made so early. I would say not in October. 

According to the data from NIPPON JIDOUSYA KOGYO KAI, 72cars were made as Z432(including Z432-R) in 1969. 
Most of them would have been made in November or December.

Do you remember Nissan Shatai reduced production of export models (DATSUN 240Z) in December? 
I would guess it could be because of the test reports from the team ‘test ride in US & CANADA’. They reported steering kick back and rear axle vibrations. Nissan Shatai would have decided to make more PS30 cars in December instead of export models. 

Kats

 

 

[dspillman]

I learn something everyday …thanks Kats!!!

[Namerow]

14 minutes ago, kats said:

A tiny dent caught my eyes, which is on the rear deck floor, near the frame rib.

I'm going to speculate that these little 'dents' were used as master positioning markers.  If so, were they created to guide the panel-stamping/forming process?  Or, instead, were they used to guide and/or check the positioning of the stampings in their jig prior to welding?  The latter seems more likely. 

One wonders, then, what prompted the change in orientation of the dent in the rear floor deck stamping after less than 100 units had been assembled. Perhaps the performance of the assembly jig in its original design iteration wasn't delivering adequate results, making this small-but-important change necessary before the production process ramped up to full speed. 

[26th-Z]

26th has two of those dents on the passenger (right) side of the spare tire well.  November car.  I'll post a picture soon when I look at 27th.

[dspillman]

7 hours ago, kats said:

Wow!! I really like your green 1969 240Z.

Thanks for sharing a lot of pictures. 
 

A tiny dent caught my eyes, which is on the rear deck floor, near the frame rib. 
The dent was pushed upward from underneath of the floor, that is a good sign of the super early cars. I don’t know why, the later dent was pushed down from above the floor. This is true for all the other dents in the rear deck floor and maybe for the firewall.
I have been talking about this with an enthusiast Chris in Netherlands. He has been doing extensive work for his a lot of 1969 240Z. 
 

This leads me my curiosity about “which model is earlier than others in 1969.”

I am not talking about the Nissan official report of the first 14 cars strats from S30-00001. 
I am talking about cars like made in October, November, December. 
 

HLS30-00051, HS30-00051, PS30-00051, S30-00051. 

I guess they would be like this (starting with the earliest) 

S30-00051, HLS30-00051, PS30-00051,HS30-00051.

We don’t argue about HS30-00051 is a 1970 made. But other three are fun to discuss. (I know most of the people are not interested in talking about S30 and PS30)

Anyway, PS30-00051 was not made in October like S30-00051 and HLS30-00051. I don’t know why, looks like Z432 was taking a rest for a while in October then re- engaged in the assembly line in November or even December.

We can tell it by the dents on the floor. Even PS30-00028 is not made so early. I would say not in October. 
 

 

Well, I can say that 740 was pressed down.   Change over possibly with no sound deadening tar on cargo floor?

[kats]

49 minutes ago, dspillman said:

Well, I can say that 740 was pressed down.   Change over possibly with no sound deadening tar on cargo floor?

It could be, I am also interested in it. 
Seeing 1969 Z432, for example PS30-00055 has pressed down dents. And the car has December 1969 seat belt tag, ordinary firewall thick pad. 
So I assume some November or December 1969 export models have pressed down dents without tar mat. 

Higher chassis number for the year 1969 like HLS30-00476 doesn’t have tar mat on the rear deck. Application of the tar mat on the rear deck could be later than that of pressed down dents. 
 

Kats

[dspillman]

Surprise…

     Fenders off and removed engine block today, closer examination of radiator ore support area reveals a 73/74 z radiator core support.   Lower support was reused.  
     Quite a few differences from early to late supports.    Most obvious being 3 large holes in early drivers side, versus 4 in later versions…..

Honestly,   I expected more surprises by now,

     The exploration continues….     

[dspillman]

    Reading through several stories, blogs and after texting with a respected z connoisseur earlier this month ….   I heard my “51” called all sorts of names….basket case, train wreck, rusty, good car for parts….   Stoked my curiosity to the point I had to blast at her with the dustless system……   Last year a friend of mine peeled back some layers of paint and bondo, revealing a patchwork of welds and repairs that was somewhat disappointing.  I didn’t notice the wide “hips” on that early car as well……I have a pretty good eye for wide hips…..  on zs.    
       Did the roof, and rear quarters to hopefully not find that same patchwork of repairs…..

not perfect, but it was the first z roof I’ve seen without filler.    I’m happy with what was …. Or wasn’t exposed today!