kats

Hi Nils, you are the only one who got the films except me, I too digitized them all, I can spend all day just watching them. So interesting. You can see some tiny tiny details which we have never seen before. Enjoy! Kats

Hi, I think that car HS30-00004 is now needing to be determined 69 or 70 for the auction. It is very difficult to nail down “at or before December 31st 1969” or “at or later January 1st 1970.” Usually we don’t care about cars made December or January, or February etc. However the car in question needs to be determined “when” because of reflecting sales price. People don’t think 69 and 70 are in the same price range. Here in Japan we don’t really care about year. We care about Fairlady Z or ZL, Z432-R or Z432, Fairlady 240Z or 240ZL, Fairlady 240ZG. Two things make it difficult, #1 The car doesn’t have manufacturer date plaque like US & Canada S30. So the car need to show exact date. The date stamped on the parts. And the latest stamp among them has to be found. #2 How can we tell parts in the car are original? If you take it sincerely, you will deeply look at them and realize it’s not easy to tell. Here is a very good example (it is not a 69 car though ), a slip which came with the owners manual & the warranty book. I used to own this car, 12/71 orange automatic which is now resides in Chris’s museum in Netherlands. You see “平〜本“ , “date 12-9” on the slip. This means, the car delivered from 平塚工場 Hiratsuka plant to 本牧埠頭　Honmoku pier on December 9th. Not every car has this slip but if your car has this slip, it clearly indicates that your car delivered at the date described from the Nissan Shatai Hiratsuka plant. Of course the date when the car crossed the finish line might be different in some cases from the date of delivery but, we think naturally that they must have not wanted their complete cars stuck in the facility. So I guess cars were delivered almost the same date. And this car has the stamp on the steering horn contact plate which indicates 46. 12. *. It is obvious that the contact plate was stamped on December 1971, not sure for date but we can see there could be maximum 9 days between the slip and the plate. That is why I have been advocating the method of the stamp on the contact plate is useful to imagine “when”. It would tell us very close date when cars delivered from Nissan Shatai. I am curious to see if the green monster BAT 240Z has the date stamp on the contact plate. Because the car still has the slip “date 5-27”. Kats

Thank you Alan, your explanation gives me more understandings. I can picture when they were pressing the sheet metal. Yes I remember when we had chat with Miyazaki san. It was like we were two students listening to Miyazaki san’s class. We can’t miss every little words coming from his mouth! Kats

This is so beautiful!! I put some thoughts here, Thank you dspillman, your car keeps me interested in the early production cars. The dents on the rear floor pushed upward from underneath of the floor, that is the good signature of an early car. Kats

Hi, this old thread still needs update! Thank you dspillman, your beautiful HLS30-00051 showing some interesting facts. I have been talking about dents on the floor with Chris in Netherlands(S30WORLD), he has tremendous experiences of early cars. He taught me the difference. Really early cars have dents upward! I see the dents on the rear floor of HLS30-00051 were pushed upward from underneath of the floor. On the other hand, PS30-00028, 00047 have the dents pushed downward like later cars. I came to conclusion that Z432 was not many in October 1969. Total 72 Z432 including some Z432R were made in 1969. Most of them must have been made in November and December 1969. Remember the volume of production for export 240Z in December significantly lower than previous month. Probably the test reports from the US&Canada might have affected it. When the line workers suddenly became had nothing to do, they might have found ‘it’s time to make domestic S30 cars!’ So now I am clear why PS30-00028 has the bracket for the master vac hose unlike other really low chassis number cars. I guess it like this, S30-00028 & HLS30-00028 must have been made in October 1969.(can’t tell which one is earlier though) PS30-00028 must have been made in November or December 1969. HS30-00028 must have been made in middle of 1970. This is so interesting to me! I am still thrilled finding and learning new things here, thank you everyone! Kats PS, Mr.Miyazaki (engineer of development team of S30) said that difference seen on the dents might have been related that transition of the huge metal press machine occurred in Nissan. Mr.Miyazaki said ‘First, Nissan pressed the steel panels for S30 cars, soon they let Nissan Shatai pressed the steel panels. The press machine of Nissan was a lot huge than the one in Nissan Shatai. I can’t remember when but the transition was made in really early days’

This is the jack of 1969 Z432, PS30-00055. Kats

Looks like O A A, 1969 January 1st? Or O I A, 1969 August 1st? We talked about it here,

This picture reminds me that my Z432 has interesting spot welding. The welder might have been ‘on the job training’ I am sure! PS30-00087 (mine is 00088) has perfect welding for both strut towers, I checked it before. Moreover, my Z432’s left strut tower has perfect welding. Quality control must have been a top issue always, workers at Nissan Shatai became getting better and better then finally reached 6000 S30 cars per month of production in late 1971. Enigines too, according to Nissan 40th Anniversary book (published by Nissan) it says after 1972 assembly line for engine head was fully automated to achieve more accuracy and efficiency. L-series was mass production model of course. Kats

Shall we add this as #5 type, metal clip seen from 05/1970. Kats

Thank you Gavin! I appreciate your help! Kats

Hi Gavin, I posted this some time ago, a Z432 has plastic tabs for its lids. This car has April 1970 seat belt tag. On the other hand, the green BAT 310000 USD 240Z has metal crips was manufactured date 05/70. So we can say there is a border line between them. BTW, I also posted this, 4 steps evolution of inspection lids. Kats

Hi Ian, you made it! You will be so satisfied with the color when you paint your block. Kats

Thank you Captain!! You show how we can go through the challenges. I remember you did some amazing work when I was wondering about the Works wheel nuts. Kats

I like it!! Now I don’t have to worry about if I lost all my Zs. I have this red 180 SX.. Kats

Great!! Using a tap and a screw, and apply some heat. Those methods would never come up in my mind. Thank you Captain! I have learned new things today, it will be helpful for my future restoration work. Kats

Thanks inline6, eBay selling the cap! But it is expensive for me. Japanese currency is now way low compared dollars, I can’t enjoy shopping from USA anymore. So I have got a set of the cap at a local car workshop. They were a half of money which I would pay for the one on eBay. Kats

Hi Captain! I was thinking about you! If I were you, I was able to take it off easily and put a perfect piece for the vacuum. You have skills and professional tools! Do you mean the remaining piece can be pulled out by using some tools like an ultra micro sliding hammer (I don’t even know such a tool exists)? or drilled (scraped) out by a drill bit? About the cylinder, yes my current cylinder is made by NABCO but I want TOKIKO lock type cap which looks period correct for my June 1972 car. Kats

Finally I put a parts number decal on the metal radiator shroud. The decal is my laptop reproduction. Kats

I snapped off the tiny tiny vacuum pipe on the front carburetor when I was trying to take the carburetor off from the manifold. Like this, I sometimes add more task which I never wished. I decided not to try talking off the carburetors because I didn’t want to brake them any further nor pay for a shop to do it instead of me. That is why you see the linkage parts between the two carbs are not plated but painted. I tried to paint them by using four colors of spray can for ‘fake gold zinc’ and it turned out so so for me. The throttle long arm across from the right side of the firewall to the pivot on the left side, and the throttle short arm on the balance tube are also my paint. Fuel pipe along the valve cover too. And a tall tower bracket for the spark plug wires is also painted. Don’t look them closely!! I had to drill a small hole on the remaining pipe on the carburetor to insert a small piece to hold the one which was snapped off. I finally managed to put it back together, and seemed the vacuum advance working properly. One of the thing which I had been wishing for was unique wire clamps for the brake and clutch master cylinders. I bought them for cheap and put them into the place where they need to be. Also please note the foot ball shape cap for the clutch master cylinder. The cap for the brake master cylinder maybe incorrect, I will change it to periodic correct one. Kats

I have finished my ZG engine bay cosmetic refresh project. I am quite happy with the results, even though it looked very un professional outcome. Please enjoy pictures! Kats

Hi Gavin, Yes that is another correct way to have right Nissan blue I think. I did it like you before! Kats

Hi, Yours is for the later ‘U shaped’ lower cross members which can be seen on 280Z and Fairlady Z(S31 model). Just FYI, I recently refurbished my pan for my Z which is the earliest style, no-hole version (late 1969 to late 1972 in Japan). Kats

Sorry for my poor English skill, I was trying to say the same like you. The only thing I would like to tell you is there is no difference between Japanese S30 and all the other export S30 in terms of the opening of the tunnel. I don’t know what kind of 5 speed Patcon is going to install, so all I can say for now is if it is a FS5C71A then he doesn’t need to cut the tunnel. FS5C71B or FS5W71B, he needs to cut the tunnel like you said. Kats

Hi Patcon, Are you going to put the automatic transmission back to the car? If so, you just don’t need the metal ring. Just bolt the base plate for the automatic shifter on to the opening of the tunnel. The opening shape and size, and location is just the same as the opening for F4W71A/FS5C71A. This is also true for the late 1971 model and later. Even when Z got the new center console for F4W71B/FS5C71B the opening for the automatic transmission remains the same as F4W71A/FS5C71A. I think Nissan was cleaver to utilize and minimize the cost and labor at the production line. Or if you are going to put an F4W71B or an FS5C71B, you need the ring to bolt on the tunnel. Great work, a lot of progress! Kats

Hi Bart, I thought about it before. But I don’t know how to ship the spray can to overseas! Kats