daddz

Chris, Your welcome. I thought 'Her Majesty' would like to see how its brethren are doing... I read in an article concerning the Toyota 2000GT in SportsCar International a few years ago that there happens to be a collector in Florida that owns two of those magnificent cars. I will have to go and dig out that issue tonight.

Recently I had a chance to look at a RHD S130 that is in pretty rough condition and came away with a few questions. So far I know it to be a 2/2 with an L20E and a 5 speed and based on the GS130 prefix it should be carrying a 4.375:1 rear axle ratio. The car has a VIN # present in the lower corner of the driver's side windshield (RHD, so for us left hookers the passenger side) but, it is a small metal (tin) tag embossed with the following: GS130 000973. Would this have been arbitrarily applied as the vehicle was being prepared to be shipped back the U.S. (using info. from the data tag in the engine bay) or at the factory? On one of the windows there appears a blue circular sticker with the number "62" and it appears to mention some sort of technical inspection. My recollection is that the number is the number of years since the new Emperor took power during the 1920's? I am guessing that the year would have been 1987 when the inspection was carried out. There is also present another sticker on the hatch window but, since it was dark it was difficult to make out. I will gather more information and report back on that one. The odometer reads 51,xxx which should equate to approx. 32,xxx miles? Besides the obvious are there any suggestions on things to look for? Thanks in advance for any help with this one.

First, let me give credit to 240Ztt for sending me this link. It is very good with many high quality photos and small soundbite a 2000GT on full chat.... http://homepage3.nifty.com/2000gt/

Rob, Can't wait to see those pics! If you could shrink a Fairlady ZG in GP Maroon and stuff it in your suitcase and sell it to me that would be great :cheeky: .

Alan, Thanks again for the many and varied pictures. I had to chuckle when reading your comments regarding the 432 twins as well as the Z33 with a most unusual body kit. I am constantly receiving words of "advice" regarding body kits that I "should" be installing on my Z33 as well as a host of other modifications. A period correct modification is understandable but there is a fine line where in my opinion it crosses the boundaries of good taste. Thanks again especially for the pics of the GP Maroon ZG's!

Alan, I would also be curious as to how comprehensive a list of parts we could/should be studying with regard to these cars. More importantly would you mind sharing such a list with us?

alordzot, You may want to check with Dave over at Datsun Dynamics as they have alot of parts garnered over the years. At least it's not as far to drive? I'll probably be heading down to Tidewater Z Service in Poquoson,Va. in the next few weeks to check in on the floor/frame rail project on my '78 280Z. They may also be a good source for the parts you're looking for as well. The links are here: http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ&tuid=2555320&ck=1107117275&tab=B2C&tcat=7844597&city=Norfolk&state=VA&uzip=23510&country=us&msa=5720&cs=4&ed=tL1S8a1o2TzdXtqutonoiMQYHxdFgfQQRszzBAOm7fn4&stat=:pos:0:regular:regT:1:fbT:0 and Datsun Dynamics is here: http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ&tuid=2419510&ck=3853797839&tab=B2C&tcat=7844597&city=Waldorf&state=MD&zip=20602&uzip=20602&country=us&msa=8840&cs=5&ed=pTlEua1o2TyRDSD76gGfcFtv6frjEWJMD1lvE0JZmz1h&stat=:pos:0:regular:regT:1:fbT:0

Jared, These rims are prized by some such as myself. If yours are in good condition you could sell them. As far as I know the rims were not a dealer "option" but, may well have been installed at the dealer but, typically Enkei wheels would have been bought through a mail order catalog or a tire shop. Some of my old wheel boxes mention Golden Wheel Corporation which may have held distributorship rights for Enkei wheels. In any case if you have any photos of the wheels it could help in determining a suggestion price. The 14" wheels if in good shape without tires should fetch between $200-350. Are yours painted in the centers (i.e. silver, gold, black or matched to the body color)?

The idea for my screen name came about when I was trying to think of a vanity plate for the Z (which one ???). I was down to three alternatives: DADDZ, DADDSUN, DADS END. I wanted to incorporate something of the company's heritage. 'DATSUN' was too obvious and since my last name is Dadd why not combine 'DADD' with 'SUN', in any case DADDZ won out. Besides which the Hunter 30 was already using 'DADS END' (a Tolkien reference). For Buck the 'SUN-MOON' was also a great idea. Those Datsun racing historians out there will no doubt catch that one.

Just wait for the big money to show up at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale at the end of January 2005. Last year a couple of bidders became "hooked" when bidding on a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr that had been restored to period correct with period "hot rod" items and the ending price was almost $430,000.00! Then there was the Corvette enthusiast that bought all of Reeves Calloway's Corvette prototypes for a bit over 1 million dollars. This is just another phenomona that comes around with every generation. Right now we have baby-boomers who have done well during their "working years" and now have the cash to buy a car that they coveted in their youth. How many Model T's do you see being bid up to 200k these days? Which is more rare? The value is in the eye of the collector. Who remembers the late '80's when Jaguar XKE's were getting obscene with prices over 100k for early flat floor roadsters? This may be scary to think about but, someday an early Z might command those prices since the factory is not making anymore the supply is finite. Unless there comes a time when the car is thought so much of that someone is willing to build a replica in the same vein as Superformance Cobra's our Z cars should be treated as well as possible. I would like to see a well done replica E type which could be used as a daily driver since the originals are fussy and expensive to own and operate so the replica comment is not offensive to me either. This might be a short lived bubble for muscle cars but who knows?

Carl, Why would they actively go looking for old cars other than to simply get them off the road? Stephen, I wouldn't necessarily want to save it but, maybe someone in Ca. would like to take it on. It seems a shame that the government is actively pursuing the purchase of the older cars in order to scrap them. I noticed that some of the license plate numbers might also be the old "blue" plate issued once upon a time. Not too long ago I remember seeing a "KHL..." prefix on the list (this was before the 810 coupe came along). How did you find out that it has had trouble passing the smog check? Is there a way to search by VIN#? The reason I ask is that I used to own HLS30469662 (06/78)and once upon a time it was tagged in Ca. (San Diego) before I foolishly bought it off of ebay. Has anyone ever been to one these auctions? BTW, Here is a link of Rule 1610: http://www.aqmd.gov/rules/reg/reg16/r1610.pdf It assumes that there is such a large population of old vehicles that need to be scrapped in order to cleanse the environment.

Apparently the Sate of California has instituted this program to help "clean the air" by buying back old cars and scrapping them in order to keep receiving Federal dollars. If you peruse this list notice some of the older Toyotas which like Nissan will indicate which model the car was by the VIN#. Someone help save the 280Z on this list: AT ADAMS STEEL 3200 E. FRONTERA ST. ANAHEIM 8:00 a.m. to NOON ON 11/20/2004 YR MAKE MODEL LIC. PLATE # VIN # 73 VOLKS COUPE 3BVN979 1332561862 77 CHEVY IMPALA 649SLI 1L47L7C144314 75 DODGE VAN 4BWT720 B35BFSX099659 73 DODGE SEDAN 504VAE WH41G3G159922 71 INTERNATIONAL P/U 5HFA777 113108H323258 72 INTERNATIONAL P/U 86315L B13208H315064 73 MERCEDES SEDAN 77HGA 11511012305906 70 VOLKS WAGON 3XKV974 2202021725 72 CHEVY VAN 5G31896 CGE252U141073 72 DODGE VAN 18387T B11AE2U578057 75 DATSUN COUPE 1BEY485 HLS30212109 73 OLDSMOBILE COUPE 223JDC 3B17D3L114255 76 DODGE VAN 3KAZ894 B21BE6X114529 76 FORD VAN 3W86691 E14HHC90926 69 VOLKS COUPE LBSRB 119864523 81 OLDSMOBILE OMEGA 1BDK961 1G3AB3755BW119003 74 VOLKS SEDAN 685LKX 1342529938 72 VOLKS BUS 5HPV772 2222203278 65 CHEVY P/U 4L62794 C1545Z136819 72 DODGE WAGON 3DOB573 B22AE2U529922 69 MERCURY MONTEGO 5HIY590 8H11J545775 73 VOLKS SEDAN 260KAO 1332811936 62 CHEVY COUPE 4KJJ847 20967W304742 73 PLYMOUTH SEDAN 5JYR864 VL29C3B579704 The website link is here: http://www.aqmd.gov/trans/reg16.html

Mark, I have my classic cars insured with Parish Heacock at 1-800-678-5173 and the website is: http://www.parishheacock.com The rates are very good and the service is similar to USAA.

Thanks for the link Stephen; I know Joe has put this on his list and it would be a much better source than the Haynes manual that was listed as well. Hope to get that manual conversion done soon.

I was just looking through my many books on Datsuns last night and I found a real gem: The 1979 Datsun Book. This was a book used by the dealer to educate salesmen on what exterior colors, interior colors, and different trim options each model could be equipped with. In the back it also has little write-ups on each model for the various years they were offered. In any case the 810 section was of particular interest and the picture of the 2 door hardtop shows the optional alloy wheels and the colors were equally interesting. Apparently Nissan referred to the one that Joe and I bought as a Royal Blue. At some point I will try to scan some of the pages in.