xs10shl

So you'd say the date order is this? 1) Auto Sport pictures 2) Pictures above 3) Racing Auto Show pictures Also of note: I can't say if it has to do with the photo resolution, but the left light bucket is remarkably well fitted to the fender. There's definitely a cut line in later photos, so perhaps its a result of an overly generous paint application.

Great job on sleuthing the various battery cable setups, Kats! it might have been simpler to just route the cables across the mid-section of the cowl, to avoid the linkage. and heater hoses. It does work when in it's proper position, but it's a very tight fit. What car is this below? This is different from the others, as if the standoff is longer and positioned lower on the cowl. Or perhaps I'm just imagining things.

Great to see an overhead engine shot of the left fender. I would love to have spent even just 30 minutes with this car.

RE: rust. Yes, this came up later today in a discussion with my mechanic. There could be rust in the tank that has worked its way to the filters, and is restricting high-rpm fuel delivery. I never bothered to check it out prior to filling the tank with gas last week. I'll have to do some fuel flow testing. It's currently running an MSD ignition box which I needed to hastily install due to the last 3rd party CDI system failing just before it was due to be used in an article. I had considered that it may not be working properly, but I can verify the timing appears to be normal, and advance curve works as expected - identically to the KPGC10, which is on a different CDI system. The tach adapter is hopeless, and causes the tach to display too low - this is a fairly common issue with the technology, and I'll have to either tinker with it more, or more likely just discard it and install something else. Comically, right now I have the MSD box Zip-tied to the existing CDI bracket, so whomever is sitting in the passenger seat may get a big red brick landing on their toes if it wiggles loose- ouch! I'll do another run tomorrow and see if things improve. I'd guess that if there is a clog, high-end throttle response might deteriorate as a draw down the full tank of gas.

Doing a little more sorting - car has not really been used since 2010, other than once around the block every now-and-then. I've got an annoying issue with what I think is fuel delivery. A prior owner put Spanish Webers on (my least favorite variant), and the engine basically stops pulling at 3000RPM, so I suspect it's running slightly lean, and is also in need of different jetting. Another potential culprit is the airbox - any experience (anecdotal or otherwise) on what removing the airbox does for higher-end response? I ask, because this engine is carbureted and jetted identically to the KPCG10, right down to the emulsion tubes, but the KPGC10 doesn't suffer from the same lathargy. Compression great on both engines, and same exhaust manifold. The only real difference is that the Z432 has a stock airbox fitted, and the KPGC10 does not. I suppose I can just unbolt it and see what happens.

Apart from the standoff by the throttle linkage (which I've now wrestled sort-of into place), I have 2 clamps just under the cowl, with a possible location for a third by the positive battery terminal, under the inspection lid. But that's the only place where I can see where a third clamp could go. You can just see the bolt hole on one of Alan's photos.Is this correct? My car's clamps were removed years ago, so I quickly fabbed up some temporary replacements, while I wait to get some from my mechanic.

Well, I can't make it as clean as the sample model provided up-top, but it's at least better than it was. There's a myriad of conflicting moving parts right where these wires drop down behind the engine, and I'm just now noticing the bracket which helps hold them away from the cowl was bent out of position by the previous owner, causing me to wonder how to solve the clearance issue. Some more work to be done on that side, including moving the wires to the other side of the choke cable.

Many thanks, Alan. I examined maybe 20 engine bay photos of Z432s, and pretty much every car owner had at one point changed the stock positions to something other than your photo. Many had also swapped around the battery terminals, probably to ease access to the extra power runs for whichever replacement ignition system they were using. My car is no exception. RE electronic ignition: I had a vision this morning of perhaps re-using the existing wiring harness to eliminate a few of the custom wire runs needed by the replacement CDI, by manufacturing a matching connector that mates to the existing harness in some fashion. I cant say for sure there's a way to get a 1:1 correlation of wires, but if I can eliminate some of the extra wires needed to make the system work, it would look a little cleaner under the dash.

Looking at Z432 battery cable routing. Mine has clearly been monkeyed with, so I want to fix it. Based on some stills I can see from your car, Kats, it's different from what a standard S30 RHD is, in that your negative is routed along the top of the cowl (where the positive would be on an S30), and the positive is right below it, and going through the hood release latch mounting. Is this actually how they routed it? or perhaps I'm looking at older pictures of your car? (btw, that how the previous owner routed mine, but the number of zip ties used make me think that its probably not factory.)

Kats, make sure to mount a dash camera with external microphone so you can capture the noise the engine makes with those rods installed, if you go that route.

Thanks for re-posting these, Alan. There were a few pages I hadn't seen. I think about the "option list" decisions a fair amount, especially given the decision to not even offer the US market a 5-speed - essentially the same gearbox they had already been selling in the US for 3 years. The 1600/2000 roadster data should have been enough to demonstrate a hearty appetite for upgrades. It was possible for Nissan to build a 240Z-L (for lack of a better term) with all the features in 1969, and of course sell that car at a markup - and I'd venture to say they would have sold every single one. it's just the road not taken. I can understand that perhaps in 1970, it would have been tricky, given the ramp-up in volumes. but by 1971, it should have been straightforward. So Kats, if it's between a PLS30 and a loaded HLS30, you cant go wrong. A fully optioned 240Z-L, based on factory components, would be a very worthwhile project. Someone was selling the near-correct compressor on Y!.jp a few weeks ago for big $$$.

s20 with Aircon. Why not? there's plenty of room for a compressor, actually. As to the F.I.C.D - probably set the fast-idle to 3000 RPM, LOL!.

S20 - wow that would be a great project- but certainly manageable. A long time ago I *briefly* considered converting a clapped out KPGC10 from RHD to LHD, but I quickly came to my senses. An S30 conversion would be much more straightforward. Assuming you had all the prerequisite pieces- engine, mount, bellhousing, etc - there is not too much to fabricate. Custom Manifold, probably. Maybe a little electrical redesign. What else? (edit: I'm just talking making an HLS30 with an S20 powerplant, of course. If the goal was an LHD Z432-spec, then there are a few more things to do)

8D-420: This is only the second picture I've ever seen of this specific car, so I know very little about it. Visually and appointment-wise, it shares much with the other 1971 Monte Carlo cars, including the center console switchgear layout. That said, it's missing a few components as well that were installed on the cars that actually rallied. Just based on my limited knowledge, I'd venture to say that I think the same as you: that this was a 1970 test mule the Works team used to try things out, and it probably never actually competed. Perhaps Alan knows a bit more about it. I wonder what happened to 8D-420. I can also only dream as you do, that it was saved from the crusher, and ended up safely tucked away in a warehouse somewhere.

Is that Rally Car 8D-420? There's a glare just over the number. (edit: somehow miraculously worked my way through the on-line screens of the SAN EI publisher, and bought an online version. Great books! BTW, yes: 8D-420, which is the car featured in 1/71 Auto Sport. They've made a few changes to it after the photo shoot, prior to this show.)

Fun to speculate what would sentimentally be worth more: A prototype Z with a roof dent, but otherwise unmolested; or the same car having led a successful racing career. For the prospective new owner, the question becomes: "To which state do I restore it?" Without all the original parts that came off of it included in the sale, I imagine it will most likely remain a race car. I would additionally suspect those with deep-enough pockets to buy it are more likely to care about its eligibility for vintage events, with the roof dent incident simply being an added "bonus story" to tell during cocktail hour.

If that's the worst of the damage over it's racing career (which is probably unlikely, but I couldn't tell you), I'd venture to say that only adds to the provenance: "Model dents roof at show debut, and it's later given to a privateer for racing". IMHO, that is actually a better story than if it hadn't happened at all, but perhaps that was your point.

I can't speak to what the car is worth, seeing that can't afford it myself. This car ticks pretty much all the boxes for a collectable - First US car; great provenance; great condition; eligible for everything. I'd imagine those who have $1 million to spend on a solitary Japanese icon and want something that no one else has, this is a decent option. And it appears to actually be available, which is typically the biggest challenge with cars of this caliber.

Kats, It's always interesting to speculate what happened to all those Z432 air boxes. So many cars I've seen have them removed, so they must be sitting on garage shelves somewhere. Or more likely thrown away 30 years ago during spring cleaning, along with the even-less-often-seen "Guide Assy air Intake" 62590-E4201 that Nissan made in order to route fresh cabin air around them. (edit: apparently, you're not allowed to write "a-s-s-'-y", as it gets auto translated to "arse" by the message board. )

Z432-R tribute? Well, we can probably all agree it has to first shed 500 pounds in the process. The front end treatment is markedly better than the other two prototypes - I personally really like it.

Demand is healthy, but It goes without saying that scarcity is a key component to price appreciation. With one to two listings a week on BaT alone, the data makes it pretty clear that decent-quality 240z's are pretty easy to come by. It also appears that buyers are becoming more selective, seeing how there's always another example waiting to be listed, just around the corner. I'd venture to say that top cars will still bring eye-popping outlier results for the foreseeable future.

I'm not sure they were all the same, but this example appears to be a Fiamm MCHI Serie 2000 compressor. Horns are indeterminate.

Some factory rally s30s utilized air horns in place of (or on addition to?) stock horns, so there is a teeny-tiny precedent. Probably unlikely that the owner installed them for that reason, but the next owner has that "out" to leave them on. 😄

Agreed on all points! It was IMHO a very nice example, well presented by it's owner, which probably needed another $20K in parts and work to bring it up a level. Simple things, such as installing the correct hose clamps during a proper engine concours prep, would go a long way towards a better presentation. The buyer who pays in the $70k+ range is probably not going to care that an aftermarket AC was installed and removed, but will likely care that there are now several holes in the center console as a result. Leaving it for the next guy to repair is fine (and was properly disclosed), but leaving it as-is will affect current value. Getting money back on a full concours restoration on a car worth less than $500,000 typically only has a chance to work if you do most of the work yourself, you value your own time at $0/hour or less, and ignore the cost-of-money calculations. I've lost many $$ this way restoring cars too inexpensive to recoup the costs, but I can attest to the fact that it feels good to openly say otherwise, and lie about the financials. I keep telling my friends the same BS stories about how "I broke even" or "made a few bucks" - it makes me feel better about spending money, like a fool! :^)

Perfect, thank you!