kats

Thanks Patcon! I am enjoying to see your restoration of your 240Z, keep good work! Kats PS Nissan blue is still available from local dealership or some internet vendors. You can order with the parts number 10128-90026. Or in Japan only?

Painting the block, masking is always fun to do. I couldn’t stop my self to paint the bolt fixing the engine mount bracket. If I had extra genuine marked ‘7’ bolts I would have re-plated it. The outcome is so so, I sprayed fluorescence green over metallic yellow. Finally I put just a little bit of metallic purple. Please see the engine mount bracket, it has over spray of blue, is is original? And the date shown on the center muffler and the rear muffler ‘72 07’ they make the car so proud as a survivor. In Japan so many people wanted to replace it with a dual exhaust pipes. I think it looks odd to see some very bright parts in the non restored engine bay. Kats

Hi, I have been doing some work for my 240ZG. I felt I should take care for my ZG because it looked dirty and old. I don’t have money to do full restoration for it so I decided to do easy job by myself like painting and cleaning. Also I have my parts re-plated by a professional shop. Did you know here in Japan most of plating shops don’t do gold zinc plate for the local environmental regulations. I found one very far from my town, they do great but very very expensive compare to a several years ago. I couldn’t separate each of the exhaust components because they are all rusted and melted each other. So it seemed to me the only choice was taking off the exhaust manifold with all the components together. I tried to take the front pipe from the manifold apart, I snapped off the stud bolts. The rusted bolts annoyed me a lot. Please see the original unique nut for fixing the exhaust front pipe. I want to use it again. I saw orange paint brushedat the left front of the block, is it a factory marking? I see ‘ 2-6 ‘ on the bonnet catch and the door lock mechanism as my ZG seemed left the factory on June or July 1972. As well as matching date shown on the heater box decal, the seat belt tag and the coding on the glass. Kats

I’m feeling the same Alan. I have been curious about the same thing happened to other parts like the choke and throttle cables, export emblems ‘chrome solid back side Z’ etc. I can’t remember exactly but even some parts started at E4101 or 4601 from the beginning of the production. Apparently those things were well before the test ride in US & Canada from October to December 1969. Body styling had finished in 1968, but development chassis and all the other things would have still been in progress in Japan? Kats

Hi, we will have some new point of view about the seam for the C-pillar joint. Mr.Miyazaki told me about interesting story about the issue of cracking around the C-pillar. It is a new thing for me, I have never heard of it. I will report it soon. Kats

Hi Alan, the wrong side Z432 mount is what we have been waiting for! You posted a picture for a several years ago, a ‘Fairlady 260Z-E’. It has a mirror image Z432 air filter box next to the left side of the head light. I am so excited about seeing this front center rail, this proves Nissan was about to sell Fairlady 260Z-E not just making a prototype but preparing for full production for the coming new model for 1974. And also I have seen a Z432 wrong side air box on Yahoo Japan auction some years ago. I just didn’t get it what it is. But yes it existed! Kats

Hi Gavin, I probably know the owner. We had a good conversation at ZCON last year. He seems to have some good friends in Japan. I am interested in seeing the car gets back on the road. Kats

If our decoding method works, the engine block was casted on 9th of January 1975. “5109I” 5=1975, 1=January, 09=9th, I=alphabet /ai/. Does it make sense to the number L28-005521? Kats

It could be, I am also interested in it. Seeing 1969 Z432, for example PS30-00055 has pressed down dents. And the car has December 1969 seat belt tag, ordinary firewall thick pad. So I assume some November or December 1969 export models have pressed down dents without tar mat. Higher chassis number for the year 1969 like HLS30-00476 doesn’t have tar mat on the rear deck. Application of the tar mat on the rear deck could be later than that of pressed down dents. Kats

Wow!! I really like your green 1969 240Z. Thanks for sharing a lot of pictures. A tiny dent caught my eyes, which is on the rear deck floor, near the frame rib. The dent was pushed upward from underneath of the floor, that is a good sign of the super early cars. I don’t know why, the later dent was pushed down from above the floor. This is true for all the other dents in the rear deck floor and maybe for the firewall. I have been talking about this with an enthusiast Chris in Netherlands. He has been doing extensive work for his a lot of 1969 240Z. This leads me my curiosity about “which model is earlier than others in 1969.” I am not talking about the Nissan official report of the first 14 cars strats from S30-00001. I am talking about cars like made in October, November, December. HLS30-00051, HS30-00051, PS30-00051, S30-00051. I guess they would be like this (starting with the earliest) S30-00051, HLS30-00051, PS30-00051,HS30-00051. We don’t argue about HS30-00051 is a 1970 made. But other three are fun to discuss. (I know most of the people are not interested in talking about S30 and PS30) Anyway, PS30-00051 was not made in October like S30-00051 and HLS30-00051. I don’t know why, looks like Z432 was taking a rest for a while in October then re- engaged in the assembly line in November or even December. We can tell it by the dents on the floor. Even PS30-00028 is not made so early. I would say not in October. According to the data from NIPPON JIDOUSYA KOGYO KAI, 72cars were made as Z432(including Z432-R) in 1969. Most of them would have been made in November or December. Do you remember Nissan Shatai reduced production of export models (DATSUN 240Z) in December? I would guess it could be because of the test reports from the team ‘test ride in US & CANADA’. They reported steering kick back and rear axle vibrations. Nissan Shatai would have decided to make more PS30 cars in December instead of export models. Kats

Hi, I didn’t know there is a tab! It is interesting. I want to check it if some proper early cars are in the middle of restoration in progress, but it is very hard to see those super early cars in person. So we get together here, I will wait someone shows up and posts pictures of the tab in question. Kats

Japanese People don’t care about cars which were sold outside of Japan. My US 240Z has never been invented to Nostalgic Hero magazine. I know some people still think it is a fake of S30. The average sales price is backing up what I am saying. A Fairlady-Z 2/2 is now pricing double or triple of an US 240Z. Am I sad looking at those things? Maybe. But anyway I have my beautiful US 240Z which makes me so proud. People living in overseas don’t care about Japanese Fairlady Z cars. I have seen a lot of people don’t like G-nose because simply it looks ugly to them. Also people don’t like 2- liters cars, Z432 is not an exception. People don’t need information because they don’t use it for their cars. That is why I am here, and my friends here. I want people to know whole range of our cars. I believe looking into various types of our cars make us fun to enjoy better. Kats

Hi, I would like to share this, Alan made a great post in another thread. I have always wanted people to know why our cars had been going to have a six-cylinder engine at some point in the development process. That was because of S20, Prince oriented way advanced technology for the time. One more thing. Uemura san includes a quote of some paragraphs from Teiichi Hara's own book (recommended, BTW). Hara san was manager of the First Design Department at Nissan and Uemura san quotes Hara san because he relates a KEY stage in Nissan's Go/No Go stage of the Maru Z project. Without passing this stage, Nissan's senior management simply would not have given clearance for the engineering and styling work to proceed. What was the deciding factor? The deciding factor was the inclusion of the road-going version of the Prince GR8 twin cam engine (the Nissan S20 two litre 24v twin cam six) as an option in the engineering and styling of the Maru Z project. Hara san described this as "A complete victory". Without it, they would not have got the go-ahead for the whole family of variants. It is a very revealing anecdote, the kind that automotive journalists and marque/model scholars set great store by. Thanks Alan! Kats

I want to explain what Uemura san is saying about our cars but I can’t do it in English. Motomura san did great job and he is the perfect interpreter for the book but no one can tell better than Uemura san does. With my poor English skills, but I can see some words need to have deeper additional explanation for English speakers to understand as much as what Uemura san originally intended. Kats

Hi Alan, I read it just like you read. Japanese people write it like that and read it like that. Kats

Hi, I am always enjoying reading this thread, thank you so much. Today I have a question about an air intake system of those works rally cars. Maybe for Safari cars, not for your car. An old interview with Mr. Namba and Mr. Wakabayashi they said “Our rally cars are designed sucking air from the cabin. It prevents engines from sucking heavy sand dust or water”. Did that mean works rally cars had ducting system on the firewall acting as a corridor between the cabin and the engine room? Was the engine room sealed enough for isolating it from the outside? And they said “when cars need to across the river, mostly a few seconds, cars have to have ability to go through”. It makes me think the huge duralumin under cover would help the cars float a few seconds over the water, wouldn’t it? Kats

I can’t tell “how” with my poor English skill but I am sure we can tell the difference if we have both in hand. I see the difference on the surface of the rubber, it looks different and feels different in touch. But some reproductions are useable without serious problems I think. Kats

Congratulations on your hunt! Me too bought the complete set. I wanted to have the series of magazines and the DVD, they are so interesting and rewarding, highly recommended. I am not interested in the model car so I still let all the pieces un opened, properly never will be assembled. Because I have 1/1 cars to play. Kats

Super fascinating Alan!! I wish I could have either type of roll-bar, it is a long way to achieve it. Thanks for the pictures JDMjunkies.ch and Alan, I am (I am sure we! ) looking forward to seeing the both car when complete. Kats

I didn’t know that Mizukami Auto produced such a nice roll-bar! I would like to see it in person if I like to have it in my car. A set of flat plates which is going to be welded on the rear floor as for securing the bottom brackets isn’t not shown, is that included? I attached a picture of genuine roll-bar which was sold on Yahoo auction, I still regret that I didn’t make a bid. Recently I became to know that the seller of the roll-bar was my GTR friend! This original set was also missing a set of flat plates. Maybe it was very difficult to take off the plates from the rear floor. Kats

Hi Keith, I am thinking like Patcon. The story of the tailor made carpets might apply to the very early cars like up to January or February 1970. My March 1970 240Z and the BAT ultra mint green April 1970 240Z have the same jute and carpets, especially the jute look just like Japanese S30 cars. I would like to have more examples of them to see how they look like. One thing I am suspicious about is the carpets for cars up to middle of 1970 (or late 1970 or early 1971). The carpets for the US cars looks slightly different in the loop pile material than the ones for the Japanese cars. Now we see the US 1969 cars have different type of loop pile material due to the local shop made them for the early cars. But my 03/1970 and the BAT green 04/1970 both have the same carpets which look like the ones for the US 1969 cars. And also the carpets look different than the ones for the Japanese cars. So could they be the US made in those days? Not even a 1969 car could have the US local made carpets? About the jute pads, I am coming to conclusion that the jute for the US 03/1970 and 04/1970 are the same ones with all the other territories. Kats

Hi Patcon, was your car made in November or December 1970? If so, this jute is what your car would have. The picture was taken from a December 1970 Z432 owned by Mr. Watanabe. The car still has a set of jute and carpet seemed came with the car from the factory. Now we can say at least on December 1970, the pattern of jute had already changed to the later one which can be seen on 1972 cars. The difference between the two, the early one has cut outs for the drain plugs and the foot rest, and the seat mount brackets. The later one doesn’t have cut outs for the drain plugs. Kats

Hi Patcon, I can say I am convinced about the jute for cars up to January or February 1971. Our cars have only one jute for both sides of front floor, for any cars Japanese and all the other destinations. That is why there are cut outs for the seat mounts forward brackets to be utilized for all the destinations. And the shape is the one shown here from the Green BAT 240Z (04/1970). My car HLS30-02146 (03/1970) still has the one on the right side. I can make a template for you Patcon (including rear floor and luggage floor) I will send you papers which I draw. Easy homework for me! Kats

Hi Bart, Chris 26th-Z answered to your question, I didn’t know that story when I heard of it here classic Zcar club. And carpeting is always one of my big interest. How did they look like? It is very difficult to find true original, difficult to see good condition originals in person. What I am not clear about is the earliest carpets which were added at the port of entry (dealership ?) in the U.S. Were the carpets made in U.S? Were they exactly the same to the ones which were applied later such as January or February? E4601 is the first number for the carpets for export model (LHD territory), was this number “E4601” for the carpets which was added at the port of entry in the U.S? Or if Nissan would have started to apply new carpets for the export model around January or February etc, were they exactly the same ones for the ones applied to Japanese Fairlady Z series? And were they the ones which got the number E4601 for the first time? I confirmed my 12/1971 North American 240Z and 06/1972 Fairlady 240ZG have the same carpets which were made of the same materials. But I still don’t get it, they have different parts number for each of them for the rear deck carpet which doesn’t seem to be any different. Very confused. Kats

Thanks Roo, I don’t see there is a data for the Europe configuration, I mean the data seems didn’t use Europe 240Z (HS30 and HLS30Q etc). Probably the test team used a S30 which has normal suspension set up (basic coil spring rate and length, and normal hight at the front and the rear). And even the engine could have been L20, I will ask these questions to Mr. Miyazaki. Mr. Miyazaki told me that the test team once tried to reduced Cd as possible as they could. Didn’t need to think about production model, just they tried whatever they could. Finally they achieved Cd 0.30 for a basic body configurations. With two people on board, plugged all the holes around the radiator core support, covered the radiator with card boards as much as it was functional, put an air conditioning condenser, fitted much much stiffer coil springs, lowered front end 15mm etc etc. They did many things to the car to keep the car sits lower. From the words of Mr. Miyazaki in mind, I re-check the side profile view of the Salt Flats Racer. The car sits lower than normal, it must be a lot better in Cd than normal Fairlady 240ZG. Kats