daddz

Arne, Totally off topic but congratulations on your 'new' 240Z! It's a shame that you won't be keeping the other one? One of these days after I get the silver 240Z sorted it would be nice to get a yellow one like yours.

Arne, That is true. The Altima was built in Tennessee. The 350Z was built in Oppama, Japan on Nov. 14,2002 according to Nissan Service Comm. Not very important but I also had most of the PDI skipped on this car and I found a build sheet of sorts for the Altima. I wish I had found such a thing in the 350Z.

Arne, Thanks for that part number. Here's what I found on nissanparts.cc: 40343-P6700 Ornament Rd Whl $28.23 $21.51 $21.51 Subtotal: $21.51 Currently in stock Usually ships in 4-10 business days May be discontinued * USA Ground Shipping - $9.95USA 2nd Day Air - $14.95USA Next day Air - $19.95Alaska/Hawaii/Puerto Rico - $24.95Canadian Shipping - $15.95 Add Another Part * Items too large for standard shipping will be subject to additional shipping charges. **We no longer accept American Express. WA State customers will be charged tax. Enter Promotional Code Enter Promotional Code Code: Email: Discount Information Description: Total Savings: $0.00

Arne, You would be correct. Also keep in mind that the back of the 'OK' sticker was signed by the inspector usually with a first intial followed by a complete last name. An example might be : M. Takahara. Unfortunately these stickers usually disappeared fairly quickly between the dealer, owner, window tint shop, Windex, etc.. Strangely enough my mother's 2005 Altima had a smaller 'OK' sticker which was on a white background but with a green border. I say strange because my 2003 350Z which was test driven by the mechanic but not fully PDI'd (I requested they leave all stickers, markings etc..on the car) had no 'OK' sticker? In any event Mr. McGinnis has told me repeatedly over the years that when the S30's arrived at the dealer the window sticker, hubcaps, owner's manual and such were in a simple brown box in the car and it was the technician's job to install the hubcaps, road test the vehicle (usually a two to three mile loop) before signing off on the PDI checklist. Most importantly the small build sheet was also in the box and was usually thrown away! Imagine that?

Those are great pics! I suspect that I will be doing much the same with what's left of my S30 cars.

Stephen, Good information about those caps. I suspect they won't be available for too much longer unless we start buying bulk quantities and Nissan decides to keep them in production. BTW, Do you happen to have the part number? I wonder if the original part number has been superceded? I have a 01/04 Nissan FAST program but it doesn't seem to operate with Windows XP and I have been told that I need another disc to run the program?

I prefer factory sheetmetal when it is not NLA as seems to be the case with alarming frequency. For the interior I also prefer stock from the factory but this is also becoming a problem. As for things like the shift knob: AMCO wood shift knobs are my favorite and they were featured in the factory accessories brochures. Wheels: I am not a big stickler here as I like my Enkei 92's and the Konig rewinds are quite nice and not as expensive as the Panapsorts. I have a friend with 15x7 Panasports and within two years the clearcoat was pealing? Exhuast: I always go a bit bigger (2.25" or 2.5") but one of the 280Z's will eventually get to wear the NOS Nissan exhaust at some point.

Stephen, You are spot on. I was just remembering an old Road and Track article from 1976 where the 280Z was compared to a Porsche 924 and an Alfa GTV (the V6 hadn't been released yet sop this was a 4 cyl.). In that road test the 280Z is pictured with those alloy wheels! In addition my HLS30-366531 12/76 production shows on its original invoice the 'alloy wheels' for an additional $350 when purchased in 02/77 in Milton, Florida.

Adam, The bad part is this doesn't count the other cars either (280ZX's; 300ZX's etc..)!

Let me add my endorsement here. I have known Mike McGinnis since 1991 and he is one of the most trustworthy individuals I have come across. He is a real credit to not just the old Z car hobby, but the car community in general. It is good to read that others have had good experiences with Banzai Motorworks as well.

In looking at the VIN# thread I picked up my list of cars and thought this might be kind of fun. I figured I would list the S30's that I have owned so far (in the order they were owned): HLS30-455430 04/78 : Originally brown but painted pear white before I bought it. HLS30-426919 09/77 : Silver; ended up being parted out; lots of rust. HLS30-453661 03/78 : Orange; bought as a parts car but ran very strong. HLS30-427175 09/77 : Yellow; also ended up being parted out but not before a lot of time and parts were hung on the car. HLS30-431775 10/77 : Orange; very nice when I bought it and it also ended up becoming a parts car. HLS30-305523 ?/? : Originally dark brown metallic but was black when I got it. HLS30-374001 01/77 : Sky Blue Metallic; this became my father's car and also ended up being parted out. HLS30-448652 02/78 : Wine Red Metallic; still have this car although it is for sale currently. HLS30-375108 02/77 : Wine Red Metallic; this is my father's current Z. HLS30-299394 ?/? : Brown; sold this to a friend who in turn sold it; last I saw of it it was heading to South Carolina where it and the owner were going to retire. HLS30-437667 11/77 : Wine Red Metallic; just sold this one after six years of ownership back in July. HLS30-456240 04/78 : Wine Red Metallic; still have this one. Thankfully. HLS30-366531 12/76 : Wine Red Metallic; still have this one. Ditto. HLS30-469662 06/78 : Originally silver but painted burgundy when I bought it. Sold it and last I heard it was living in New York. HLS30-08323 08/70 : Silver; second paint job but in original color. Needs restoration. HLS30-453361 03/78 : Wine Red Metallic; just sold this one last month. Imagine having all of those under one roof? You would need Jay Leno's money to restore/recondition and maintian them all?

Mark, That's a beautiful 240Z you have there. Your production is near and dear to my heart as it is the same month I was born. Unfortunately it is also the same month that Jimi Hendrix passed away. Oh well. In any case that blue is really neat. By my rough math it seems as though my 8323 and your 9603 are 1280 apart.

Allan, I always like to see your 08/70 #8215 as mine is real close to yours at 8323 08/70. Only 108 units apart. It's good to see that these Z's are still alive even if, as in my case, they don't run under their own power as of yet.

Your 11/70 is real close to 'Dtsnlvrs' 11/70 with chassis # 14392. That's only 75 units apart! His was originally shipped to the Seattle, Wa. area. How about yours?

Adam, I would probably err on the side of safety and use the factory Nissan acorn lug nuts. They are a bit pricey at between $3 and $4 each (if you go with the closed acorn and not the open) but hold up for a much longer period of time. Believe me with the various Enkei 92's that I have used over the years and experimenting with Nissan and aftermarket the Nissan ones awlays seem to win. Look forward to seeing those wheels on your 240Z. That look might be nice on one of my maroon Z's as well or even the silver 240Z if it ever gets running again.

Adam, The 225/50/15 that Robert is using will look very nice on those Panasports and help to fill out the wheelwells as well. On "240ztt's" 240Z after he had the coil overs installed by 'Dtsnlvrs' we installed the 16x7 and 16x8 Epsilons and those 245/45/16's in the rear fit just fine and the 225/50/16's in the front did nicely as well, although they wouldn't work on a non-coil over equipped car.

Judi, Here is the thread that I started to sort of 'announce' the sale of the car: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23393 It has links to the photos at Yahoo as well. Good luck in your search for a good 280Z.

I deleted the first ad and submitted a new one since the pictures didn't upload properly. Sorry for any confusion. Here's the new link: http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=1479 The yahoo photo album is here: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/daddsun/album/576460762318196022#page1 I will take some new photos towards the weekend which will show the wheelwells and interior.

Stephen, Even the skinny bumpered 260Z will accept the 280Z dash. I have a dash that was removed from an early 260Z with skinny bumpers and it is sitting next to my '78 280Z dashboard and they are the same. Even the skeletal frame is the same. The guages and such are not so be sure to swap them.

I have decided to sell another one of my 280Z's in order to devote more time and resources to the other Z cars in the fleet. I have owned this one the longest of all the cars in the fleet (December 1998) and have driven it the least: about 200 miles! In case anyone's counting this is the thrid S30 I have put up for sale since the summer. This one is: HLS30-448652 02/78 The ad is here if anybody cares: http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=1478&cat=all Hopefully someone from this community will end up giving her a good home. I also need the parking space! BTW, the price is negotiable. :disappoin

Or..the Konig Rewind wheels seem to look just fine and might be a bit easier on the wallet?

Mark, In that case you might want to look at a p215/60/15 tire size as it will 'fill up' the wheel well a bit more.

Mark, I would recommend the P225/50/15 for a tire size and this would look great with a set of Tokico 1" lowering springs. To compare tire sizes this calculator is helpful: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Judi, That is great that you avoided buying the incorrect car. I might have the Z for you? It is a maroon 1978 Datsun 280Z. If you check my link in the signature line it is : HLS30-448652 02/78. I also have photos of the car here under my name: "daddz". I plan on listing the car in a few weeks and I hope it will find a good home.

Victor, Those were some great pictures! I hope by this time next year to be attending the show and with any luck making a move to So. Cal.! I couldn't help but wonder what the show field will look like in ten or twenty years!