daddz

If anyone has been sitting on the fence wating for a '77 280Z ZAP then this would be it: http://www.zcar.com/classifieds/index.php?method=showdetails&list=advertisement&rollid=32059&fromfromlist=classifiedscategory&fromfrommethod=showhtmllist&fromfromid=29&

Judging by the two recalls that have captured my Z33 you wouldn't be missing much!? The latest is a gas tank filler hose prone to cracking which involves dropping the entire rear suspension, driveshaft, and exhaust from the catalytic converter. Then there's the mainshaft noise coming from the transmission which began at 8k miles. I like the car but damn between the tire recall and this latest gas tank fiasco not to mention the noisy transmission I think there are better made cars on the market.

Beautiful pictures!

This is a complicated question for someone like myself. I'll start with my current harem: 2003 350Z--I have owned it since 3 January 2003; I am the original owner having ordered it in September 2002. Currently it has 24.9k miles. 1986 300ZX (01/86)-- I have owned this ZX since December 2001. I bought it with 167k and it now has 208k. 1986 300ZX (02/86)--I just bought this one last month and drove it across country from Sherman Oaks, Ca. to Port Saint Lucie, Fl. It had 231k on it when I picked it up and now it has 234k. 1982 280ZX (11/81)--Another recent acquisition. I drove this car from Huntington Beach,Ca. across country to Florida as well. It had 208k on it when I picked it up and now it has 211k on it. 1981 280ZX (04/81)--I have owned this car since April 2004. It had 136k on it when I bought it and now it has 146k on it. 1978 280Z (11/77)-- I have owned this one since September 2001. Purchased from the original owner at 139k and it now has 153k. 1978 280Z (02/78)--This one I have had the longest and driven the least (about 120 miles). This one was bought right out of a junkyard in December 1998 and it still has not been 'finished' yet. 1978 280Z (04/78)--This one was purchased from Datsun Dynamics in October 2003 and has covered about 4k miles since its engine transplant. 1977 280Z (12/76)--This was bought in December 2003 and was found parked on the side of the road for sale. I have since only driven it about 4k miles. 1971 240Z (08/70)--This was acquired from Datsun Dynamics for zero dollars and initially only cost a tow job to get it home. It has been driven zero miles since I got it in June 2005. 1978 280Z (03/78)--This one just got home last week and is slated to become a parts car so it has been 'driven' about a tenth of a mile in the driveway.

kats, I would have to agree with your assertion that the tool kits were assembled on a day-to-day basis. It would be interesting to find another date coded part that would have been placed in the car after the jack and toolkit.

Thanks to 'kats' for discovering another way to date code your S30. I thought this deserved a new thread. If your Z still has its original jack and tool kit you might be lucky enough to have a checklist enclosed by the factory which can aid in date coding your Z. The date will usually be stamped in black ink with a date in the Showa period format. In the case of my 240Z (08/70 HLS30-08323) the date was 45.8.15 or August 15,1970 which corresponds to the doorjamb tag of 08/70. Just as an experiment I checked another toolkit I had from a 1978 280Z. In that case the paper was much smaller and the date was 53.5.25 or May 25,1978. Attached is a photo of the inventory list:

Carl, I checked today the characters stamped into the sidewall and they read as follows: K7002 V-I DOT R20N I hope that this helps? Also kats was able to decode another Showa date found on the itemized list in the toolkit which reads: 45.8.15 which is decoded as August 15, 1970. This date coincides with the doorjamb tag of 08/70. Now if we could decode that sidewall we would be getting somehwere. As a sidebar 'kats' was also kind enough to let me know the historical significance of this day in history. It is the day that Emperor Hirohito is broadcast to the people of Japan ending World War II. Image of toolkit list:

Thanks Carl for the explanation of the month code. This further helps to date the car. In my case the spare is dated with a K and the doorjamb tag is stamped '08/70'. According to the original owner it was purchased in September 1970 in Honolulu, Hawaii by her father and shipped to San Francisco, Ca. arriving in early October 1970 as a college graduation present! I have attached a couple of photos taken of the spare tire found in HLS30-08323 (08/70): (the tire and wheel have since been given a thorough cleaning)