kats

Hi Ian , you are very accurate about the detail of the foot rest , yes the one in Yahoo auction is the correct for the Fairlady Z from the beginning (Oct 1969 ) to 1973 or later . scotta , also a good observation about the reinforcement for the foot rest , early Fairlady Z series ( unknown time period) doesn’t have the patch on the floor. Please see my silver 01/1970 Z432 , there is no reinforcement on the floor (I put a big washer to prevent the floor from being bent , that is not original) . My 06/1972 Fairlady 240ZG has reinforcement patches . Kats

hiyabrad , thanks for asking me about the seats .Yes the seats are reproduction , but the vinyl material is the one which originally was delivered for the seat manufacture IKEDA BUSSAN . The best seat craftsman for our cars Mr. Sudo has the vinyl in his shop , he asked the painter to die it in blue from the brown vinyl to match my aged blue interior ( so it does not match to the NOS blue ) . So unfortunately the upholstery kit is not available anywhere else . It is one -off made . Just one tip for the seats , correct original seat has no gap between the seat back and the seat bottom, this is important as well as the shape of the seat back . This morning, I found my ZG ‘s rear window defroster is working all of the 20 lines , perfect. One of the line was not working before , I didn’t do anything, so naturally back on normal ! Kats

Let’s have a break , before I am going to post about chassis number . How about my seats ? Looks good as re-upholstery seats. Later slim type used palm sheet in the seat back and bottom. Kats

Hi christoffel , beautiful car , almost identical to my orange car . The carpets still has an inspector’s name stamp , mine is “ Hoshino 星野“ what is yours? When you do detailing of your car , I think you are going to follow the instructions of installing the tools . Does your stowage instructions show the same of my orange ? Or three - step instructions? Kats

Hi Blue , I am glad to hear that .Everyone admits what Katayama-san had been dedicated for . Of course Alan does too . Alan wants to spread correct information to the people outside of Japan , I wanted people in Japan to know more about export model , because their family “ Datsun 240Z ( for US and Canada ) was sold in the biggest market for Nissan . The difference between Fairlady Z series and Datsun 240Z ( all export model ) would make people in Japan fun to look at . So , this time this green fantastic car did a great job for people in Japan too , because so many people watched this car and they became to know what a beautiful color combination it is , and they realized there might be still some cars like this existing in the US , what a great country it is ! Blue , when you come to see me , this nut 01211-00021 will be your souvenir from me . I have dozens of them , my goal is inviting overseas friends until this nut runs out . “ L “ means this needs to be turned opposite direction for the steering side rod Left . My little collection of bolts and nuts for suspensions. Kats

Here is the stripe what I have , it is in a box , and gold ! I have a book of “ Datsun approved accessories “ , it shows a stripe but it is later type . Kats

Hi Blue , L24 vs S20 , both are wonderful engine. We need to be specific about what we are going to compare with them . Generally speaking ? Or racing cars ? L24 Europe vs US and Canada , etc etc . We can’t say like this , “ S20 has less torque so Z432 is inferior car in S30 family “ . Nissan works race car used a racing L24 , but we can’t say like this, “ showroom L24 engined car is superior than Z432 “ . We can’t say “ our US and Canada Datsun 240Z is superior than Z432 “ only relying a comment of the racer and a fact that Nissan works team took L24 rather than S20 . Racing history , results , came from a lot of complicated back ground. It is not that simple . You may say S20 in a works Z432-R had a terrible transmission vibration, yes some racers mentioned it . But that doesn’t mean S20 is a bad engine , Z432 is a bad car . Keeping the rev not below 6000 rpm , and sometimes using 10000rpm quite often in racing S20 Z432-R , it is obvious that transmission could have the trouble more likely than L24 racing car . L24 , thanks to the torque, it didn’t need that much rev . And , L24 is easy to maintain , S20 needs much more hands to set the valve adjustment accurately. L24 is easy drive too , so rally cars have L24 for its endurance, various kinds of road conditions. If we want to know what was going on , we need to hear , talk with many people who were involved Nissan , engineers , designers, racers , mechanics, in Japan like Alan has been doing . Time is running out, they are all became old . I can sympathize with you about trying to look down S20 and Z432 because I was doing same thing 20 years ago. Just one experience changed whole my idea , my understanding . Mr. Yoshida’s Z432 opened my eyes wider than the past days . We can’t hate it without driving it , owning it . Kats

Hi Roo , thank you so much !! I was wrong , looks like Fairlady Z series is in the same situation as other market cars , maybe from January or February 1970 the rear deck got the tar mat . Kats

Yes Alan , we set an iPad and nice burgers for the show . I had a lot of fan , thank a lot !! Kats

Many of my friends in Japan we’re amazed by this green car . So many people were watching at the auction, I am sure the winner must be very happy obtaining the incredible car . Here are some pictures of A/C of Fairlady Z . The 110 Red car is the one which I showed before , totally original , untouched , beautifully maintained like the green BAT car . Kats

Hi Blue , you need to come to Japan and see me and my Z432 before it’s gone . I am talking about stock vs stock like Alan do . You will see what Z432 is like ? Kats

Hi Roo , it is a nice early Fairlady ZL , for me it is surprising to see it outside of Japan . About the sound deadening , ( I am talking about at the rear deck ) at least up to summer of 1973 , Fairlady Z series don’t have the sound deadening on the rear deck .On the other hand , looking at my 03/70 US 240Z , there is already the sound deadening on the rear deck . Talking about US and Canada 240Z , I believe only 1969 and some January 1970 cars don’t have the sound deadening at the rear deck , after that it applied for all the US and Canada 240Z ... How about other market S30 cars ? Z432 -R is a Spartan model , Z432 is a gorgeous model but it’s got a lot of performances features . Alan ‘s explanation is perfect , we can’t compare cars only looking at engines . Z432 has a complete sports package , and orchestra sound from the bonnet ! I am sure everyone will be pleased once they drove . I think only rival “ in stock configuration “ will be an Europe model , harder suspension set up , five speed , spoilers and magnesium wheels are standard but no LSD . Toleration of water temperature when racing in a track , S20 will do much better than L - series engine because of the design of water flow of the S20 ‘s . Also the cross -flow configuration will bring a better heat treatment for avoiding percolation , Z432 (Z432-R) will have an advantage for doing some laps , For a Long range journey, I will take Fairlady 240ZG . Lets say more than 200 -500 miles trip , you can move from A to B without fatigue, with minimum time . I did so many of this , G-nose effects is superior which of Z432 will do .Europe model will do close to the G-nose because of their spoilers . From the test report , G-nose gives maximum effect when the car has a rear spoiler , this is important. Kats

Yes thanks you inline6 ! I hope everyone will be interested in their own tools , and gather more information, we will see some new facts . And some day these tools will turn to be a mandatory item for such a premium auction car , or a car into a judged car show . Kats

Hi inline6 , thanks for asking me ! I was waiting for someone asked me about that . Here is a good thread for you , we gathered our own observations what we have , thanks Mike B , Zup , Terrapin Z and others , we are confident about this de-coding . I still don’t know why “ P “ means 1970 , in this method “ A” means 1955 . We just know 1969 car has O , 1970 car has P , 1971 has Q , and then ... What does 1955 mean for Nissan motor company ? And the answer for your question, after 26th , it is shown like this , 27th AA , 28th BB , 29th CC .... Kats

Thanks christoffel , I was so happy that you liked my Z432 even in a crazy hot , humid summer in Japan . Everything was boiled, no A/C , sorry about that . At that time the seats were originals from Jan 1970 , but now they are in my storage to maintain their condition .Instead of that , a pair of newly re-upholstery seats done by Mr. Sudo are in my Z432 . Kats

Hi Alan , yes you are absolutely correct ! My explanations was not made properly. What I want to say is , the early seat reclining mechanism up to January 1971 folds only just a little bit to forward, it shits almost in up light position . Not fold fully forward like the later reclining mechanism. Later one’s seat back supports need travel more forward, so the mechanism cover has to have more wide opening. That is why I say the early mechanism cover has wider tab , smaller opening. Thanks Alan !! Kats

Hi , I did some work recently. Checking the inside of the passing light switch of my Z432 and 240ZG , they both keeps good condition. And I did an amateur job for the seat reclining mechanism cover which belongs to my elder Captain Shigekura, they were so badly missing tabs . Don’t look closely, I regret I didn’t took much more time for perfection, but Mr. Shigekura said it is OK about the results. His 240ZG has been kept clean , original condition. He just replaced the seat upholstery and carpet which were done by the master , Mr. Sudo . With using the original materials Mr. Sudo customized them to give a little more stiffness ordered by Mr. Shigekura. Kats

Blue , the top red LY is owned by Mr. Akamatsu , me and him were a member of the group which were invited to the ZCON 2000 Las Vegas and 2004 Long Beach LA with our own Zs . Only very few people were realizing that is a special engine . Also I have told the Mikuni 50s were pulled from the works rally car in Safari. Kats

Hi Alan , I missed the one last year . BH auction “ Mr. Watanabe memorial “ sold six S20 magnesium valve covers .There were some serious fanatics more then I expected. Kats

The wire has to be inducted from the hole which is inside of the tail light trim panel . The one which the black big harness coming from is for the drain . Hope this helps Kats

Nice Blue , here are some for you just in case . The earliest seat , fat seat back . christoffel , I am bit disappointed ( just kidding ) that you were thinking my Z432 has 1972 seats because of the reclining mechanism when you got in my car ! As a side note , 1969-1970 Fairlady Z L and Z432 has the mechanism but , it doesn’t flip forward. Only for backward. So the mechanism cover is slightly different in the length of the top tab . Kats

Hi Blue , I think at the Nissan Shatai factory. Kats https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/23900-datsun-240z-vs-fairlady-z432/?do=findComment&comment=488251

Hi Alan , I totally agree with you, it is like if I want to know more about myself, I must look into my family , and relatives. Without this point of view , I will never understand what I should be . Looking at some variants sometimes gives enlightenment to me why the parts should look like . And it also gives me an idea how to get parts from , etc etc . Kats

Hi christoffel , that is the second from the beginning , most 1969 cars have that tab . The first one is very simple, no -tab on the edge . Some of them just have a rubber at that location.Some of them have nothing. The third one is around December 1969 to January or February 1970 , a metal tab is welded to the lid . The fourth one is from February or March 1970 , a metal tab is molded in ONE PIECE . The fifth one , same as the fourth , in ONE PIECE made but got the metal clip .This would be started somewhere around mid 1970 . Kats

Hi motorman7 , thank you so much for the good pictures , your car has very good condition a pair of early original seats , the driver’s seat has been kept so nice . Still to my eyes , the BAT car’s driver’s seat looked different from the passenger seat which is keeping an early original “ fat “ seat back . As a side note , Mr. Yoshida ‘s silver Z432 has original seats . Kats