I recall previous discussions of people finding factory inspection papers hidden in various parts of the car. I just noticed a hand painted marking on my dash frame right where the steering column bolts up. I'm hoping this doesn't say "defective" or something like that. Who has the answer?

I just hope it doesn't say "Manufactured on Friday at 4PM"

EDIT: Hmm, Smilies don't work on this thread.

I think it was akin to the GM note that would sometimes be found in the doors of Corvettes and Cadillacs.

It says something like: "You finally found the squeak you rich S.O.B."

J/K

Enrique

Hi Mike,

This is very interesting and its very heartening to hear these questions from others who are ( like me ) interested in the little graffitoes and 'ken' marks that can be found on our cars.

I can read some Japanese, and this is one of the characters that I have seen before on the underside of the dash. You have got it the correct way up in your photo ( which is not always immediately apparent! ) and I can tell you that the way it is written, this Kanji says "kawa". That's a word that is often interpreted to mean 'skin' or 'hide', and in fact "kawa" is MOST often used in reference to 'leather'.

Now, "kawa" can mean several different things depending on its context ( like most of the 5000-odd Japanese Kanji characters ) but I would guess that in THIS contex it might be best to read it NOT in the 'leather' translation - but in the 'skin' or possibly 'covering' sense.................

Why would it say this? Well - the messages and graffitoes that you see on some parts of the Z are often little inter-departmental

notes, or 'shouts' if you like. They can bring attention to the assembly or sub-assembly workers to watch out for a particular problem or change in spec amongst a batch of cars or parts. I have also seen little messages that can be translated as what you might call Friday-afternoon banter between workers - just meant to raise a smile and while away the hours...........

So what does it actually MEAN? Well, again this is a half-educated guess, but I think it might well signify a fault or problem with the covering of the dash pad that was sent to be rectified or redone. That's the only thing that comes to mind, and the main thing that swings it for me is that Nissan often referred to their embossed-texture vinyl interior pieces as "leather" ( even though it was NOT real leather! ). I think its just a colloquialism really. Therefore, I would guess that a fault might have been spotted that needed to be rectified ( presumably it WAS rectified ). Seeing as there was only ONE finish on our dash pads, I would have a hard time imagining it signified a different finish or material for this dash pad.

Of course I could well be wrong, so please don't take this as gospel. Just my thoughts on the subject after seeing a fair few similar notes and messages on the cars from many markets.

You might like to send a PM to Kats to ask him to look at this thread and give his opinion.

Best regards,

Alan T.

This stamping is quite common. It is an inspection stamp and is called "ken" as Alan wrote.