kats

Hi Alan , I am now dreaming about to own a VZ , then install a S20 . I am wondering how I can draw attention from people in the US . ( not in Japan . People always give higher Regards to RHD Z s ) . When I get old soon , I will have to let my cars go to someone. Finally I will have one car , and A VZ with a S20 would be a single fireworks ball for my graduation of Z life ? Chris , I have a question. A VZ is never eligible to attend the ZCCA judged car show , is it true ? If it is true , Where would I set off a fireworks? On BAT ? I see recent results on BAT is telling that provenance and / or clearness bring a huge demand of enthusiasts. Not so important about originals details. So If I put a S20 on a VZ doesn’t hurt the value of the car , does it ? ( of course all the components which came with the car are included for the buyer ) . I am just drea?ming about . I have a particular VZ car in my mind. Kats

Hi Chris, I am so sorry that I missed your question, I am trying to answer . What is said about the lines with the arrows? Those are 'signature' lines for the S30 I need to read it again the original letter when I home . I am in Chicago now , stay tuned. Kats

Hi , dutchzcarguy reminds me this thread . I would like to explain the story behind the rear deck glass which Mr. Tamura struggled to make its style better . ( Sorry If I did it already before ) Mr . Tamura was thinking seriously about the curve of the glass which was nature when the glass was baked . The design team made clay model but usually they didn’t care about the curve of the glass . In the clay model , the glass area was put films and the area was cone , if you look from side , it looked flat . Mr. Tamura knew the glass is not flat but he could not be able to have actual glass , nor test it when he was designing the rear deck . He was afraid the design line of the roof and the rear end of the deck were not meet the curved glass . So he used his imagination fully, think again and again , he assumed curve rate which glasses normally have . He finally lifted up the end of the roof 10mm , also lifted up 5 mm at the rear deck panel where the bottom of the glass meets . He was happy his decision after seeing the car . A lot bolder , sharper , this rear and side view tensioned the styling a lot more beautiful. Mr.Tamura also said “ Mr. Matsuo was asking me what are you doing ? You need to be quick “ But after seeing his work , Mr.Matsuo said nothing about it . ” I felt Mr.Matsuo liked the re-finish of my work which made the roof line and side view much better than before , compared to the clay model which was used for the presentation for the executives “ Please see the drawings which was made by Mr. Tamura . Kats

Thank you so much , unfortunately I don’t know about the color code for your hub cap , it is beautiful blue . You have the vertical defroster glasses at your shop ! What a wonderful place it is . By the way , if you are interested in a rear deck glass story behind , please visit Kats

Hi , in Japan this shop is selling some of S30 body parts , they are made in Taiwan ? https://www.restore-parts.com/category/item/fairladyz/ I have heard the skin thickness is 1 mm , and the quality is not meet for the serious buyers . But the shop is trying to make it better , they are now having a contact with some well known restoration shop in Japan to learn what they need to do . 236000 JPY ( 2000 USD ) for a set of doors . I guess why they set the price like that is , normally we see the NOS doors on Yahoo auction or privately selling are asking it’s price like that , or little higher than that of price . The rear vertical defroster glass also will be the same price range , but I just don’t know what is the right price because we don’t see the NOS or mint vertical defroster glass in Japan for more than 15 years. Maybe the last NOS one in Japan is the one which I have got for 50000 JPY (450 USD ) in 2003 . However I have got another one from the well known restoration shop in the US this year ,I think the price was right for the current market would seem to ask for the die hard enthusiast . Kats

This body shell is Fairlady 240ZG which belongs to Mr. Tasaka . He is going to paint it soon , now he is doing a final check of how the genuine over fenders fit well to the body . As quite some people are saying a story in Japan , original ZG over fenders are not symmetry, especially in rear fenders . Left rear over Fender is slightly positioned upward than the Right rear . Mr . Tasaka and I confirmed our ZGs are the same , both cars have same unsymmetrical rear over fenders. I used to have two sets of NOS ZG over fenders, but I sold them last month. I realized how beautiful and well- crafted the old over fenders which originally came with the car are . The NOS ones have fresh paint but , the edges are dull and the thickness is not the same to the originals .The NOS ones are more flexible . Maybe the NOS ones were made in 90s or later , that is why I decided to stick with my original over fenders . You can tell what I am talking about in Mr. Tasaka ‘s ZG over fenders. We agreed “Z is so beautiful even it doesn’t have tires nor body panels “ . Kats

Hi , good news here in Japan . Yokohama Tire has just released a new model , a revival of classic “ GT Special “ series. I am happy that there is a 175/80 14 which is suitable for our S30 cars . I need to see the price , how much it is going to be . Kats

Hi , today I picked up my orange 240Z from the museum. I immediately noticed it’s air conditioning system didn’t work , so I dropped at an auto electronic shop which has always been helpful for me . Once a year I have to charge the gas , how does everyone do about keeping air cooled in the cabin ? I am really looking for a set of good hoses which is hard to leak . My car’s system has plain hoses with simple cramps all way around, that must be the reason of leaking gas . I have to find a good fabricator of hoses . Oh , and I sent seat bottoms of this orange 240Z to Mr .Sudo for a repair that I made a reservation last year . The one has a split in the middle of the cushion , and the other is going to be split soon . Kats

This is very beautiful and clear to see . Kats

Thanks Blue , it is another good example of the second version of the hood , is not it ? Kats

Now this is on Yahoo Japan auction, two days to go , still 1 yen ! https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m341679067 The seller said this cassette was pulled from a 1977 Fairlady Z ( possibly ZL ) 2/2 . At that time this cassette was for deluxe trim , 8 track stereo was for STD trim . I think this could be fit for Zs from 1969-1973 with minor modifications but you would have a trouble with opening the fuse lid as the cassette located much toward to the shift lever . Kats

Hi scotta , thanks for the picture , yes they are same mounting, so they are interchangeable. But the with of the unit is different each other .Due to the difference comes from internal mechanism? Maybe . I think the one on top could be the KM-1520ZC which is for AM / FM radio , not a Cassette . The opening below the frequency band window is for selecting buttons. I have KM-1520ZC for my 12/71 automatic 240Z . Kats

Hi Patcon , if it is cheap, I would buy it . But currently 3.5 million JPY ( 32000 USD ) is the price .I can’t afford it. Kats

Hi , I forgot to report this , I found this car for sale in June 2017 in Japan . 09/1970 on the door jam tag . This car has an early bonnet which looks to be origin to this car but , the edge of the bonnet doesn’t have a small tab which can be seen in the one from 69- 1970 early. So , this could be the second bonnet , no holes / no reinforcements , no tabs . I enjoyed discovering this car’s condition, many original parts still there . It was a fun to look at various type of “ date” markings are corresponding. The seat belt 8 /1970 , the tool’s contents paper “ 45 . 9. 10 “ September 10th 1970 ) , even the wiring harness showing 70. 9. (September 1970 ) and , I see the jack has corresponding date “ P H Y “ ( 1970 August 25th ) . Someone has to rescue this car , still sitting outside of the shop . Sorry I wrote to many things , just I wanted to give some information of the date to see when this betweenness was applied from and up to . Kats

Hi Gavin , what a miracle it is ! How much was that on winning bid ? I am scared to hear that. That is for the first time I have ever seen in that condition, simply amazing. Hi scotta , you have the face plate and yours is much much better looking than mine , you did touched it up very well . Here is a tip of CST-2000ZD , this model was applied from mid 1973 but this could be interchangeable with an earlier model. This 2000ZD has just a little different mounting bracket on the each sides which can be modified or removed easily. You can fit your 2000Z face plate right on to the 2000ZD without any modification. So you have good chances to find nice one if you look and extend the search widely up to 1978 in Fairlady Z series . I am now feeling I need to do it again for better result . Kats

Hi Gavin , you have ZA and ZB ! You can tell us the difference between the two of them especially inside of its mechanism. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your ZB , it is really fun to see . We love old mechanics . Kats

My DIY repair of the face plate , not perfect but I think it is OK for me . I really love Cray putty which is very easy to create shapes when I need . Kats

Hi Chris, thanks for the pictures , you have the 2000Z which was STD for Fairlady 240Z series ( 240Z / 240ZL / 240ZG ) and Z432 from Oct 1971 . Please note 2000Z has a green light and DX button while 113ZA ( early model for Fairlady ZL and Z432 ) has a red light but no - DX button . And 2000Z has a rubber cap for the auto antenna switch which is very tiny toggle knob while 113ZA has a solid plastic switch knob which can be seen in KM-1520ZC for 1972 or later US 240Z . ( but the switch itself is different , 113ZA ‘s switch box is much smaller than the one on 1520ZC .) I am thinking the reason why 2000Z has a tiny knob and plastic cap is , the early solid plastic knob for 113ZA has tendency to scratch the face plate if the face plate is loosen to the downward even the amount is just a little bit . The gap between the knob and the opening of the face plate for the switch is very limited. You must be for sure the face plate is installed correctly so that the solid plastic knob can be moved freely to the both sides . Not only the face plate, you need to install the instrument finisher panel “ just right “ . 2000Z ‘s tiny knob doesn’t have such a problem at all . But the solid plastic knob was re- used from late 1971 for the US 240Z , that is my home work now ! My orange 12/1971 240Z has KM-1520ZC so I will see if there is something improvement for the installation of the radio and / or other related stuff. Kats

Here is my 03/1970 blue 240Z radio operation movie . You can see the auto antenna switch is something weak . I need to clean the metal where it contacts. My radio is TM-1081ZA , the operation pilot lamp is red , while 1081ZB is green . What else is different? The operation guide is blue for 1081ZA but I don’t have the one , so I bought a red one for 1081ZB from Motorsport Auto . Maybe some internal mechanism and /or parts could be different . Kats

Thank you so much for providing the depth of information of repairs, how did you get the manual dated 1970 ! It is amazing! Kats

Hi Chris, your glass was $ 30.88 in late 1969 or early 1970 . And labor time was 2.0 hours . it is interesting to see the glass tinted but no defroster was the most expensive. Kats

Thanks Blue , I just looked at this , the term REPAIR would apply to fuel tanks / radiators / heater cores etc . But we don’t have a choice today , so we did it . Kats

During the trip to my mother’s home , I dropped at Mr. Kawashima ‘s factory to help his work for another ZG which has been purchased recently by my colleague , senior 787 captain. His ZG is almost identical to my ZG , he also loves stock . So as much as possible, he want his car to be original. I helped the restoration of its 8 track system and , auto antenna . The antenna mast was broken like most of the car . Mr.Kawashima did a great job . He snapped of the tip then drilled a hole to be re- connected to the top rod . Also he drilled out the old remaining plastic from the top mast end , then he connected the plastic wire with the end by JB weld and punched it. Please see the video , I hope this can help someone who has a broken antenna mast . Kats

Today I arrived home from 1800km round trip in four days . I took my ZG for this journey, I must say “ ZG is the best partner for grand touring . If you have a properly tuned L24 with G-Nose , you would not want to have one more camshaft , nor one more carburetor. ? A fuel consumption is way better than Z432 . This time my ZG scored 13km per litter (30 mile per gallon ) when doing 100km/h (60m/h ) Highway driving . Quiet , stable , and powerful. My non-restored ZG still can go anytime anywhere . Hub caps stick to the wheels always ! Kats PS : I have a question , is this cigarette lighter cooperated with an illumination also equipped for export models after Sep 1971 ? Fairlady 240ZL / 240ZG and Z432 have the illuminated lighter .

Chris , you got the one ! ! I am so impressed with it . And front too ? Front clear glass is a mandatory item for Z432-R . Kats