Kathy & Rick

Don't know how we missed out on this one!-- Maybe next year in Columbus. All Z Best,.................Kathy & Rick

I'm a little surprised that Nissan NA hasn't gotten involved in the project; in fact, I should think they would want to actually take over the "ownership" and management of the DHM. Unless "Nissan" is divorcing itself from "Datsun," which to me would be a big mistake since the 510 and the 240Z are the cars which really got the ball rolling for the corporation in the US and Canada. All Z Best,.......................Kathy & Rick

One thought I didn't see mentioned was to simply pop the hood open into the half-latch position. This will greatly improve airflow while underway, resulting not only in the removal of heat, but also in lessening the pressure of air rushing in through the grille by giving the air a much easier place to exit. I would think that by lessening "wind resistance" or "drag," you would also realize a small increase in fuel economy. Also, by increasing the flow of air the entire engine bay should be cooler, mainly while underway, but even at a standstill the rising hot air would have a larger escape route. Possibly the best of all, it doesn't cost one cent to do it (and probably saves money in fuel economy). As an added benefit, you can maintain the stock appearance of the car simply by closing the hood. No risk of the hood lifting and flying off like a glider into oncoming traffic; since it opens at the cowl, any air flowing over it will help keep it down even if the half-latch chooses not to. FWIW,~Rick~

You didn't mention a total price, but that's okay, it's none of my business anyway. But if you got TWO decent 1971 240Z's and $9000 in partZ all in ONE deal, you oughta be arrested for stealing at ANY price! (Color me envious!) Would you please share the respective VIN numbers and dates of manufacture, as some of us like (and even make an archive of) that type of information? Thanks, God bless, and All Z Best!.........Kathy & Rick

Hi, Bill; Hi, everyone. While scrolling down I again happened upon this thread, and noticed a few things I hadn't noticed earlier. Specifically, I paid closer attention to the documentation and observed the original base price (MSRP) of $3526, which is exactly that of our #06289. But I was astonished to note that tinted glass and rear window defroster were listed as optional at extra cost. That's the first time I had ever seen or heard of that, and is yet another evidence of how certain dealers were being slick at jacking up the cost (and their profit margin) back when the Z was a rare commodity. Next, FWIW, although either brown (tan/butterscotch) or black were each available "from the beginning," the former always seemed by far to be the predominant interior color. I was a little disappointed when we bought our #00171 since it, too, has a black interior; my preference w/BRG would have been the tan. But being the original, and not wanting to go to the effort and expense, it has remained black. I have "consoled" myself with the knowledge that it is the "rare" combination! All Z Best,.......................Rick (and Kathy, of course)

Referring both to Dave's quote and to Julio's right below it: Vaseline and mineral (baby?) oil both seem reasonable and logical. HOWEVER: Would these not be somewhat sticky, making dust, hair, and debris adhere to them? Is their chemical compound such that it would NOT cause an ad- verse chemical reaction with the vinyl?-- I believe that vinyl is a petroleum-based product......... What do American and European manufacturers use in their vinyl that was not used in the 240Z vinyl? I haven't heard of any major cracking problems on any other car...... Forgive the ignorance; I'm a Bus. Admin. guy, not a chemist! All Z Best,..................Rick (and Kathy, of course)

Yeah, as others have said, he was there in person. We were hoping to get to talk to him other than just to say "hi," but it seemed that he was pressed for time. We saw him do what seemed to be an extensive interview with Mark Lambert, the owner of the red 4000-mile '72 240-Z. All Z Best,.....................Kathy & Rick

One point that no one has made so far, is: Most racing cars get "baled" at one time or another, and are brought back to the shop to get straightened out for the next race. BTW I'm with E, I can't find the supposed bondo on the rad support either. And I'm an A/B repair graduate. Since the core support is a structural member (not just cosmetic), it's hard for me to conceive that ANYONE would try to camouflage core support damage with filler of ANY kind. FWIW,.................All Z Best,.....................Kathy & Rick

We have to remember that Barrett-Jackson is consistently not very Japanese-car-friendly......... We watch the auctions quite frequently on Speed Channel; B-J seems to focus mostly on muscle cars, but with a few antiques, hot rods, and high end Europeans thrown in for good measure....

Most times when a headlight is dim it is because of a bad ground. ~Rick~

I believe Mike is like Kathy and me, in that every time he bought a 240Z, it was older (lower VIN#) than the previous ones. I conclude that even though the can of white paint came in the early (11/69) 240Z when Mike bought the car, it must have been an "aftermarket purchase" left there by the seller. I had never seen a CAN of paint come WITH the purchase of a car, despite having been in sales, then running parts dept, for Bob Sharp back in the '70s. The only paint I remember us carrying was touchup paint in little square bottles about the size of your thumb, (like a nail polish bottle) which was definitely an aftermarket purchase thru the PartZ Dept. If I knew how to use a digital camera to transport some images over to this posting, I would show you a few. All Z Best,.................................Kathy & Rick

Glad you got your car back, even though some SOB's (Silly Old Boys) did a pretty good number on it. Hope you were insured by some top name classic car insurance company such as Hagerty, and that your declared value was high enough to cover the restoration. In the case of Hagerty, they even have a worldwide network to help track down hard-to-find partZ. All Z Best,.............................Kathy & Rick

Hi, Carl!-- If you can find a second set, I would be interested unless the price is, for example, $1000. I don't remember why I removed the clear frameless covers from our '70, but now I can't find them. The mounting tabs are still there, but not the covers. :stupid: All Z Best,............................Kathy & Rick

Well, actually, Bryan, I had been trying to, since back around 1970-71. Every time I saw a Z I tried to record the VIN and location, and if possible, the build date. I did recognize the futility of it due to geographic consider- ations, but it was a fun thing to do: a "sub-hobby" if you will. I did this while also trying to determine the various cut-off dates of production for: Latest VIN without rear window defroster Earliest VIN with vertical rear window defroster Latest VIN with vertical rear window defroster Earliest VIN with horizontal rear window defroster Earliest VIN with automatic transmission Latest VIN with flow-thru air outlets on hatch (Series 1) Earliest VIN with flow-thru air outlets on "C" pillars (Series 2) etc., etc. As attrition set in by about 1980, all the Z Clubs I knew of disbanded. It became quite a rare event to see an S30 Z Car of any type on the roads. At my age, I never had an interest in computers, nor did I see any need for one. So when, 1-1/2 years ago we got "rediscovered," I was introduced to the computer so I could see how great was the resurgence in interest in Z Cars, at which time we resumed Z Car activity. And with that, the "sub-hobby" also resumed, but this time with the assistance of the computer! All Z Best,..........................Kathy & Rick

Johnny, thank you for giving all of us the "heads-up". The last few times I went to the spreadsheet was several months ago. Even though I had entered our data, I found on succeeding visits that some kind soul had altered our information; and as I scrolled down, I also found a great many errors of varying types. So I not only didn't visit it any more; I had forgotten that it had existed. It looks very neat and orderly now. Someone must have gone to a great deal of effort to sort out the turmoil that had evolved; and if that person reads this post, I want to compliment him publicly for some nice work. All Z Best,.............................Kathy & Rick

Alan, you're absolutely right; my bad.:stupid: I keep forgetting that there are other chassis/model designations which are prefixes for the actual VIN serial numbers. I'm also guilty of forgetting that Z lovers from other nations might be reading the posts, such as yourself. Please forgive, as I meant no offense. Correction: no OFFENCE. BTW I omitted the HLS30 from the signature below since we are limited to a certain number of characters. When I tried to add it in, it was rejected by reason of too many characters, so I had to go back to where I was. Sorry about that, too; I tried. All Z Best,..........................Kathy & Rick

Hi, Ken, now we get to converse on the website as well as in person! I'll be seeing you at the shop since Vinnie is my main man; and as the finances permit, I'll help to keep both of you in a job. I'll be up to see you and Vinnie when I can get out of the snowdrifts! All Z Best,............................Kathy & Rick

I agree, Arne; that does seem to be a big span with only a few numbers accounted for. I don't know of any good reason for it, such as a run of Z Cars that all rusted out prematurely, or something along those lines. I could offer half a dozen cars from this website, and a few more from ZHome, but that's about it. I guess that some people just don't want to enter their information in the grid for some reason. I can see quite a few vacancies of people whose cars I know quite well, but I don't feel at liberty to fill in the information for them. Two or three cars from a club I belonged to years ago have similar VIN numbers to your car, but I don't even know whether the same owners still own those cars now! Probably not, that was over 30 years ago. All Z Best,..........................Kathy & Rick

Early, we got a few for ya. #01366, 1/70, #920 gold, owned by "Johnny O" of Hudson WI. #01397, 1/70, L24-3387, owned by "Not a 280" (Stealth Z). #01399, 1/70, now L28/5spd, owned by "Duffman" of Scottsdale AZ. ~Rick~

Okay, Kyropa, we got one for ya. Only 45 off. #16177, 12/70, also owned by ArnieTX down in the San Antonio area. ~Rick~

Here's #17685, 11/70, owned by "Katcarl1" in Havertown PA. ~Rick~

Arnie in South TX has #16914, that's even closer to #16831 (only 83 higher). In my records I show "Adrian" in Holland has #07996 and #07998, which is second only to Chris' (26th Z) #00026 and #00027. ~Rick~

Not unbelieveable to me! I know of a couple of million-mile Volvo owners; and I cut out an article from the paper, a couple of years ago, of a 2-million Volvo down on Long Island. Pictures and everything. The guy drives it from Long Island NY to Washington DC frequently and regularly. A friend who moved from Manchester CT to Tucson AZ brought his original owner persimmon '72 Z with him. It had 250,000 on it, last I knew............ FWIW,.............All Z Best,.................Kathy & Rick

That's a great idea, since Jimbo is a very successful insurance guy himself, in addition to knowing every nut and bolt of the early Z Cars. One piece that I found missing is the fact that the other guy's insurance company is the one which ultimately will be paying the bill for their client's negligence. So I'm finding it hard to understand why your company would keep on busting your coglioni instead of going to bat for you, against the other guy's company. I believe they call it "subrogation." All Z Best,............................Rick (and Kathy, of course)