Carl Beck

If the turn out at Autoway is any indication - the ZCCA Annual Convention held this year in Daytona should be a huge event. Clearwater is somewhat "out of the way" as it were here in Florida. We're on the Gulf Coast and not a major city. We are not necessarily a center of sports car activity either. Good to get to spend some time with hls30.com (we were up until past 2:00AM the night before) and 26th-Z made it up to Clearwater Saturday as well. I'd guess that in total there were well over 60 cars at the event (not all entered in the show). Amazing amount of really special cars there too. I think the success of this event should be very encouraging to the organizers.. looking forward to Oct. The major surprise for me - a friend from Tampa brought his Orange 72 Datsun S/W (which won a trophy in the People Choice competition). He had just purchased it the week before - and it looks a lot like the one I just a few weeks earlier!! Same color and same year!! I hadn't even seen a 510 on the roads around here in the past five or ten years and all of a sudden there are two!! darn - forgot to take a camera.... FWIW, Carl B.

You should Post the VIN - it might not be yellow any longer...

I'm sure some of the guys have a good address for second hand engines. Actually, you are looking for a junk yard that will take the time, and go to the trouble of pulling an engine from a low mileage car, crating it for shipping, then meeting the shippers schedules for delivery to the Port. Most of the people that run junk yard here, make so much money, so easily, that they don't want to screw with anything that takes more of their time than it's worth to them. Add the risk of International debates over payment - and most simply will not get involved. At least around the Tampa Bay area - most of the junk yards have become "U-Pull-It" type in concept if not in name. A few of the junk yards still disassemble the cars themselves, but when they do they also have major re-builders as customers that buy specific parts by the train car load. Things like A/C compressors, alternators, starters, distributors, brakes etc. To keep the costs at their lowest point - you are better off finding someone on the East Coast of the U.S. - that is located near a shipping Port. Which makes it even harder to find anyone... Better to have your friend simply by new engines from GM in Europe... might be less expensive too. good luck, Carl B.

I hope that for fifteen hundred bucks - you got a heck of a lot more than new brakes!! FWIW, Carl B.

This is most likely a good example of a half-step. Meaning the owner took half steps between building a solid #3 example - and retaining the lower budget of a very nice #4 condition daily driver. Absolutely nothing wrong with doing what he did - preservation of a clean, well cared for 240-Z should be encouraged. He could keep it and enjoy it for years - and years from now it would most likely be worth twice what it is today. However taking half steps - will not yield a real #3 example, that would sell for between $14K and $16K. Metallic Brown is not a very "hot" retail color either, and the car has 100K plus miles..... so I'd expect bids up to $8,500.00 but not much over that on e-bay. Just my opinion... a) he should have done a complete repaint on a car that nice... he should have known that the seat covers were incorrect... c) he leaves some confusion related to the 240-Z Strip - did they paint around it??....da..... e) NO - properly set up - the 240-Z's do not shake at 55 mph... nor any other speed. If the front end is shaking - something is still WRONG. f) if he knows as much about 240-Z's as he says - he should have known that pictures of the exterior floorboards & frame rails, area under the battery, rear threshold etc. - should have been put on e-bay.. g) engine bay is clean, braided hose - but none of the original Cad. plated parts restored to their original look etc. So there is a long way to go there as well. It will be interesting to see what it brings.... E-Bay is always a crap shoot... FWIW, Carl B.

Place a 6 to 8 inch long metal drift in the slot ( a very dull, very dull metal chisel will work) - such that it is driving the gland nut off - and hit the drift with a big heavy hammer.. Once you have it broke loose - you can turn it with either the pipe wrench or the large channel locks. FWIW, Carl B.

Oh darn - wishful thinking on my part, put my glasses on and it does look like a Ford Capri back there. Carl B.

Hi ZSaint: PIR is in this case _ Portland International Raceway ??? A friend of mine that used to live in Washington State - bought a 1969 Production Year 240-Z, because he thought it would qualify for use in whatever historic series racing club events that were held in that area. Then he found out that the rule that said; ... for Sports Cars produced prior to 1970...... really meant that it was for sports cars "raced" prior to 1970. Seems the local historic racing club was formed by Porsche owners - and they didn't realize any 240-Z's had been produced prior to 1970. No problem, they just changed the interpretation of the rule to preclude the 240-Z's - then later changed the written rules as well.... FWIW, Carl B.

Wow.. a Datsun 610 in the background of the fourth picture!! Haven't seen any of them in years! Great car and still had the IRS.. Carl B.

John: Can you give us an example of what a "not real" carbon fiber hood or hatch would be made of? thanks, Carl B.

Hi Sean: Great trip report and great photos - and I'm really glad you made it to the places you did. I've been though that same route several times. I'm somewhat surprised that Crazy Horse isn't far more complete by now... most of his face was done 20 years ago. When you went through Custer State Park - did any of these guys (see below image) stop you to say hello? I had a picture of a buffalo with his face at my drivers side window, lookin in at me - but I can't find it now. I hope you got to see the heard at the park.... sometimes you have to drive right through them when they are on the road... Amazing how BIG they are.. Glad to hear you make it home safely... FWIW, Carl B.

I'm guessing that you have new braided stainless steel flexible lines - right? Or did you get new stainless steel replacements for the hard lines? FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Nissanman (everyone) For others following this thread, I'll add "should" is the operative word in: "The hose end should be held captive by a metal clip allowing...." Perhaps due to age, many of the original metal clips have weakened and will not hold the the flexible hose end captive enough to prevent them from twisting. Perhaps too, the original flexible hoses have been replaced by some aftermarket parts - where the metal hose ends have smaller nuts... In those cases, as xray mentions.. you have to use a proper size wrench on them. "good" is the operative word in xray's comment; "a good 10mm flare nut wrench will take off your brakelines, ...." Believe me when I say that there is a huge difference between my Craftsman and Snap-on flare nut wrenches. After rounding off too many flare nuts - I coughed up the silly high price for the Snap-on tool.... and over the years its been worth every penny. It's not so much a case of the hard lines being expensive or cheap - it's a matter of having ones you can re-use when you need them - without trying to order them and getting them days or weeks later. Worse Case: If the flare nut, even with a good flare nut wrench, still won't come loose without the flare nut wrench slipping... I had a older still, cheap-off brand. flare nut wrench. I cut the end off it - then took the end to the grinder, and removed about half the outside metal. On "impossible" flare nuts, I slip the end of the flare nut tool over the flare nut - then squeeze it down tight on the flare nut with vice-grips. I've saved several flare nuts that way... In any case - the best advice is "Plan Ahead" - and if possible have a new set of hard lines on hand before you start. Hummmm ..... come to think of it, I need to add them to my next parts order... FWIW, Carl B.

Pull the door, glove box and deck lid locks out of the car - and take them to a Lock Smith, along with the key that starts/turns-off the ignition. He can re-key the locks to work with your best key. (then make you a new spare). FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris: Yes... I understand that the Bill and Rich will be coming down from Gainesville as well.... Carl B.

Hi Will: That's way to hectic....plan to stay over Saturday night - get some rest and leave Sunday. Far safer trip plan... You'll be too tired to leave right after standing around all day Saturday at the show... Carl B.

Hi Guys: Thanks - I responded via e-mail 2 July 07. dwalklet is going through the all too typical process of dealing with an insurance company's claims adjustor at this point. Usually, it goes something like: - a) the claims adjustor, through companies that offer such services, pulls the State's Sales Tax records for all 70-73 Datsun 240-Z's, to see within the past 12 to 18 months - what sales prices have been reported, such that the proper sales tax can be paid when a new title is requested. Then based on the average sales price reported - he makes an offer to settle the claim. Of course EVERYONE always states the true price they paid to the seller - such that they are allowed to pay the FULL amount of sales tax.. This usually results in values of $750.00 to $1,500.00 being the average "value" of a Datsun 240-Z. So the Claims Adjustor, wanting to please this customer, offers $1,850.00 in cash to total the car out. the owners says - ""wait a minute, I have a clean, low mileage "Classic Car" here - and it's worth $18,000.00 at least."" The Claims Adjustor says; -" OK - prove it Show me some comparable cars that sold for that amount in this market recently." The owner then takes the NADA Value Guide in - and the Claims Adjustor says "we don't take that - it's only a Value Guide, not comparable sales documentation. The next step for the owner is to take all For Sale ad's in to the Claims Adjustor - that support a value of $18K. So he has to find ad.'s for restored or nearly perfect original, 1969 production year 240-Z's - that could be "replacements" for his car.... Or any other Series I cars that sold say on e-bay for $16K to $25K +. One such sale - is listed on another thread (Steve's Orange 71 in Colo that sold for $14K) The problem with e-bay is that if you didn't keep the item number from the auction before it ended, or the URL to begin with - you have a hard time finding sales that have ended in the past. So does anyone have some old URL's or Item Numbers from e-bay that would apply here? Series I cars in #3 or #2 Condition? that sold for something above $14K even? I know many have, but I didn't keep the old listings... remember a #3 car "looks like new" to the average person looking at it... and a #2 car is a real show winner... FWIW, Carl B.

Interesting to have the recreated Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe, a Z Car and a mid-year Corvette at the show. Peter Brock worked at GM on the design of the 1963 Sting Ray, then went to Shelby America and pinned the Daytona Coupe, then opened BRE Racing... with several other designs between. The original design by Peter Brock: <a href=http://www.secondstrike.com/Coupe/Brock.htm>Peter Brock and the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe</a> The way the re-creation happened <a href=http://www.secondstrike.com/Coupe/Price.htm> The Coupe Design </a> Peter Brock's personal car at Sebring... pictured below. Peter and his wife drove this coupe back out to California after the race at Sebring... FWIW, Carl B.

If unlike 26th Z, you were not lucky enough to have meet Mr. Matso in person so as to have him relate the story to you personally ... Then the story of how the problem of producing the headlight buckets was overcome - is outlined nicely in the book "Project X Challengers - 240-Z" by Akira Yokoyama and available from Amazon.com for around $11.00. See cover and pages below.. Chris - don't you have a drawing from your meeting with Matsuo? For general discussion - yes. If the discussion turns more to the technical side - then it would be better to use more specific terms. FRP - Fiber Reinforced Plastic - - - but the fiber could be stranded or chopped glass fibers, carbon fibers, woven fiberglass mats or woven carbon fiber etc etc I believe the steering wheels used actual wood fibers in the FRP... Fiberglass - a little more limited term - in that it specifies glass fiber. The headlight buckets were most likely chopped fiber glass in an epoxy base. Blow Molded and vacuum bagged. Once the molds are produced, it is a pretty inexpensive way to mass produce complex shapes. The problem passing the MVSS 215 Bumper Standard tests wasn't with the "fiberglass" itself. Fiberglass, pound for pound absorbs and dissipates impact energy better than steel. The Z had a steel front bumper directly in front of the fiberglass headlight bucket - the headlight bucket was supported only by the thin sheet metal of the front fender horn. When that metal fender horn was bent on impact, it took out the headlight. Bolting the steel "U" channel at the top of the steel headlight bucket, to the fender horns - strengthened them and prevented them from bending toward the headlight. For 1973 the Corvette's steel front bumper was eliminated altogether so it could not be pushed back into the headlights. For 1973 being all plastic with reinforcing behind it - it absorbed more of the impact energy, without transferring that energy to the headlight. FWIW, Carl B.

Everything is a trade-off isn't it. If you shoot 35mm film with a good camera, you have the original negative to store. That negative will have a resolution of about 20 million pixels, at 36 to 42 bit depth. 20 years from now, you will still be able to pull the negative out of storage and have super high resolution prints made, or you will be able to scan the negative to recreate a super high resolution digital copy. On the other hand, if you shoot the picture with todays digital camera's - even the medium priced ones in the $5K to $10K range - you will have an image with 10 to 12 million pixels at 14 bit depth. Once you have that lower resolution digital image - you will have to always bring it along, constantly re-saving it in the newer formats and on the newer hardware. In 20 years, you won't have a CD drive, nor a DVD drive...anyone have an 8" floppy drive at this point? - how about 4" floppy drive? Wish I could get my Jaz Drive hooked up, and then get the software drivers updated to run on todays PC's... I had some really neat digital images from 1996.... just neglected to constantly read them into and then re-save them in the current formats, on the current hardware using the new software... If you want or require a long term archive - better stick with film. If you have digital images, don't leave them on older storage technology... Drum Memory Anyone? FWIW, Carl B.

What was "wrong" with the fiberglass headlight buckets, was that they would not meet the US Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (MVSS) related to frontal impact at 10 mph for the 1973 Model Year here in the US. While the MVSS required that the front bumper had to remain in serviceable condition after a 5mph frontal impact, the headlights had to remain in working order after a 10mph impact. So to add impact strength to the front fender horns, the headlight buckets were produced in steel. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Alan: You must have some specific cars and sales figures in mind. Could you report some actual sales figures (gross range will fine) - for the cars your talking about. It would be interesting know what a 69 production year S30 would sell for in Japan. Also, among the car produced later in 1970 what is the top dollar paid for a Z - what Z was it? I'll be back Thursday... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Wayne: If you haven't already done so - I would highly recommend that you bolt a good drivers seat in the old 240-Z before that trip. Ship the stock seat back to Tenn. With a good seat providing the needed support 12 hours behind the wheel at a time becomes a pleasure again. Oh and take your iPod with both talking books and music... Above all stay alert! FWIW, Carl B.

Oh yea gad... it never ends. This entire thread has been about the 240-Z's offered for sale here in North America.... I see no reason for you to attempt to hijack the thread - yet again - to turn the subject of discussion to the few Z's sold in Japan. Nor do I see any reason that within the context nor subject of this discussion thread - I should have to make all manor of disclaimers, exceptions, nor references to, any other vehicles outside the context of the current discussion. If you would like to discuss the resale market and cars in Japan - please start another thread related to that subject. FWIW, Carl B.

Spokane Washington across the top of the US... to the Chicago, then down around the great lakes to Columbus, Ohio. Five days in Columbus, then off to Daytona Beach for a couple days. Daytona Beach to Denver for a couple days, then back to Spokane from Denver. Make that loop in 1970 and again in 71 and 72. Spokane to Columbus in 36 hours. Columbus to Daytona in 14 hours. Did the loop in my 70 240-Z for 1970 and 1971 - then in my 72 240-Z for 1972. Didn't record the exact mileage... but I did put 69K miles on my 70 Z in 18 months. Got married in 72 - We drove from Spokane to Portland, then down the West Cost to L.A. Stayed there a couple days, then went to - the Grand Cannon, Vegas, Bryce Canyon National Park, Salt Lake, and Zion National Parks as well as Yellowstone - then back to Spokane.. Ah.. to be in my 20's again - - Carl B.