Carl Beck

Is the Seller advertising or offering this Z - as a Vintage Z? Is this the car the OP was asking about?

Looks like an exceptionally clean 240Z - always far more fun to work on well cared for Z's. Somewhat odd to see the bolts for the tie downs sheared off - far more common on the lower bolts on the front fenders.. Bummer any way you look at it.. Amazing how much work could be saved - if people would only use a good penetrating oil on 20+ year old nuts/bolts/screws - before they start twisting on them. This is especially true on 40+ year old cars. Kroil is one of the best "tools" in my garage.

Standing to the Right of Mr. Katayama's Secretary is Mr. Shiro Tsuchiya - responsible for Complete Vehicle Testing. There is some confusion related to the colors of #7 and #8 - which may be my fault. The Red 240Z at Daytona is #8. It is pictured in the B&W Photo on Jan. 1970 R&T Cover.

If Motoman7 will forgive another off-topic followup. Interesting - some addition notes. Nissan's TSB TS72-29 lists HLS30 62001 as the beginning of the Horizontal Defroster Lines (also the seat belt holders were added to the center console per TS72-69). TS72-29 also notes that there were no Defroster Lines in 240Z's before HLS30 01456, and provides guidance as to how to install them at the Dealership. Didn't the Series II console fuse box cover - have a hole for the Cig.Lighter? Anyway - the early Series III (1972 Model Year) had a black space - where the coming Seat Belt Warning Light was planned to go. The structure of the seats had to be changed - to hold the seat belt sensors. The early 72's still had the Pirelli rubber like webbing supporting the foam - the newer seats have steel springs supporting the foam & the seat belt sensors. The early 72's had no "pocket" in the floor behind the seats - for the seat belt retractors - and thus no self retracting seat belts. A little later the Pockets starting showing up - but still with no retractors.. So it seems that 09/71 through most of 1/71 the transition to the newer safety requirements were "in process". AIR.. the standards had to be in place by March of 72. So any thing produced after that date had to fully comply. ( I'm the original owner on an early 72 - and the second owner on a later 72). As mentioned earlier - the 72 Center Console was redesigned to accommodate the newer Type B 4spd. at which point Nissan also moved the differential rearward to reduce the low frequency harmonics transmitted into the cabin.

Did Alan sell the car to Dave? When?

Some questions - how long have you owned the car? How do you know it is sagging in the rear - vs sitting higher in the front? From the bottom of the rocker panel - front and rear - how high is it off the ground? Springs don't usually wear out nor weaken in 60K miles. Installing modern high pressure gas shocks can raise the ride height of a 240Z .5 to .75 inches. http://zhome.com/240ZSprings/240ZSpringsUS.htm FWIW, Carl B.

The 2400cc Valve Covers came on all North American 240Z from Oct. 69 to about Mid 1970. Around July -The change over to the NISSAN OHC's started with the introduction of the A/T equipped models. Not sure when the change over was complete but less than 10,000 had the 2400cc Valve covers. So most likely correct on 240Z's with VIN's below HLS30 10000 - without the A/T.

Hi Guys - Sorry for the delay in getting back to this Thread. As far as I knew - Mr. Motomura sent the entire text and images of the book. Just last week however, he sent an additional 13 images that for some reason were not included in the original file set. He didn’t notice they were missing as we iterated several drafts of the English edition. They are nothing new to anyone - pictures of the S20 & L24 engine, pictures of the Front and Rear suspension, Datsun 240Z engine compartment and Battery Access lid. Rear end crash test on 280ZX 2+2. I will be adding them to the next Revision - and I’ll put them on line for everyone to see or download and print. I don’t expect that they will significantly impact the page count, nor the actual information content. I added US Measurements to all the Metric Measures, only because I felt it made reading comprehension better for US readers. (they wouldn’t have to break their train of thought - stop reading and do the mental measurment conversions) So any conversion errors are on me. I have to believe that the difference in page count is do to the different format size.The English Edition was printed in 8.5 x 11 format in Black & White because that was the least expensive and still conveyed the technical information. Mr Umera / Mr. Motomura wanted to make it available & affordable to everyone interested. Alan: The Title evolved from exchanges between Mr. Motomura and myself. Publishers told me that one of the key elements to book sales - was Title Selection. They view it as the most important meta-data - that drives on-line search engines. So “Fairlady Z Development Record” for the Japanese market - became "DATSUN 240Z Engineering Development” for the US and English Speaking markets. Yes entirely market driven to reach the most English speaking people, as that was the goal of publishing it in English. Secondly - - As several books about the Z car had previously been published in English - specifying "Engineering Development" was intended to more clearly indicate that the book was about the “Engineering” aspects as opposed to the “Styling”, “Modeling" and “Marketing” aspects - that were already covered in most other English Language Z Books. The Cover design was for the same reason. Thanks everyone for buying and help in promoting the book. As Chris said, I think you will find a lot of answers to many questions about what, how and why many of the Design and Production Engineering alternatives and decisions were arrived at.

Hi Gang: I am very happy to tell everyone that you can now order an English Language Edition of Mr. Uemura’s book. Titled; “DATSUN 240Z Engineering Development”, by Hitoshi Uemura. It is available to you only on Lulu.com (linked below). Many thanks to Mr. Uemura and his friend Mr. Yuichiro Motomura for making this available to us. Mr. Motomura provided the English language translation along with digital copies of all pictures, figures and charts making the publication possible. I hope you will all order several copies, for yourself and to share with your fellow Z Car Enthusiast. We need to make this a "Best Seller" with the hope that more will follow. https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=Datsun+240Z&type= FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike - maybe I mis-understood. Are you saying that there were only 1 Post to this thread - before May 2015? I was thinking the thread started way before that, when motorman7 first got the Z. Carl B.

Did we ever get the full thread reloaded to the site? Is all that information lost? Carl B,

Hi Terje: Looks like a great road trip to enjoy with your friends. Is the Feria Chocolate Factory on that Road? That's the road I want to be on. Carl B.

Could be something as simple as the server is down.. Maybe try it later.

Hello Everyone: Mr. Shigeru Nagata (retired Nissan employee) wanted to provide a little more information related to Nissan’s use of full size clay models, in the Design Development Department starting in 1961. Mr. Nagata was assigned to assist Mr. Goertz as a translator, during Mr. Goertz time at Nissan. He was also responsible for the Design Development Departments implementation of the US FMVSS related to Interior Design. Mr. Nagata wrote a 9 page article, in English that he wanted to share with the American Z Car Enthusiasts. Toward that end I have added it to the Z Car Home Page, along with more introductory information about Mr. Nagata. I think everyone will find it very interesting. See: http://zhome.com/History/ShigeruNagata/SNagata.htm FWIW, Carl B.

"Does your Dog Bit?"

Mr. Brock has "re-designed" the rear spoiler. He wanted to make it fit clear across the top of the rear quarter - so the outside edges of the rear spoiler lines up with the body line {or in the case of the BRE Livery - with the paint line}. The original was just a little short of reaching the body line on each side. Some people found out about the new redesigned one's before they were even publicly announced.. and they sold out. So if you want the new one - it may take a while to get an order filled. You can see more about it on the BRE2 Facebook site. Nissan did offer the rear spoiler in Japan...Because of BRE's Contract with Nissan, BRE was allowed to sell any of the performance options direct to the public. BRE also supplied most of them to the Authorized DATSUN Dealers her in North America because they cost less to produce locally, than to produce and ship them from Japan. At the Dealership I worked at - it was pretty much a Customer Choice related to paint or not. So we bolted them on Black.. but if the Customer wanted we'd paint them for a bit extra money. On a few 240's for the Showroom Floor - they were painted body color. Those 240Z's usually got full optional equipment - in order to display everything on the car. {spoilers, mag's, body side molding, Racing Strips, etc}. FWIW, Carl B.

In case you haven't already seen it - Motorman's beautiful 240Z is featured in a story on the Hagerty Web Site. https://www.hagerty.com/yourstories/2015/11/29/all-in-the-family-unrestored-240z20151129112335

Thin sheet metal does not equal “weak”. It equals “lightweight” if anything. The 240Z body doesn’t flex because of thin metal. Uni-body flex is more a matter of the exact design of the structural components, the specific grade of steel used and how well it is all welded together. There is a good reason Race Cars are “seam welded” for example. Agreed that rust damage to structural components can weaken the uni-body.

The ABSORBER - the local WallMart carries them as well. Soft Bath Towels I believe that the key to avoiding the micro scratches you see in the surface - is to be consistent in keeping the surface clear of the micro fine particles of dust/grim that get attached to, or stuck in, the waxes and polishes that are used to coat/protect the paint. Most of the drying methods mentioned won’t actually scratch your paint. The micro scratches you usually see, are actually scratches in the surface built up wax/polish left on the car. They are the result of grim/grit that is still trapped in that remaining wax/polish even after you wash the car. Most people rinse the car off with just water if the car has a good wax shine, or they use very mild soaps so as not to remove the wax. So the remaining wax gets contaminated with micro fine particles. These micro fine particles can be dragged or moved across the surface - by contact with almost anything used to dry the car. If you are getting micro fine scratches showing up in your surface - it is past time to Clay Bar the car. Wash and dry your car - then run your finger tips over the dry surface. Clay Bar that area - and run your finger tips over it again. You will quickly see that what you thought was a “clean” surface - really had a lot of grim trapped. That grim you just removed with the Clay Bar - is what puts the micro scratches in the finish, if it is dragged around by anything coming in contact with it. FWIW,Carl B.

The Pictures Posted at #1 and #17 aren't loading? Any reason? Carl B.

Yes - $4106.00..your window sticker is more legible.. Dealer installed accessories were included on the New Car Sale Order. Many times the Dealers put a secondary Price Sheet in the windows of the cars, beside the required Manufacturers Window Sticker. On that secondary Price Sheet they listed the costs of the additional accessories. A/C and spoilers would have been on the Sales Order for sure.. FWIW, Carl B.

Really happy to see this 240Z in the hands of someone that can appreciate it. It is a rare beauty and the type of 240Z most Collectors and Enthusiasts dream of finding. I'll be watching this as the progress takes place. A word about the finish - CAUTION. Wash, Clay Bar, and very lightly polish that 40 year old enamel... you don't want to cut through the shiny skin coat - once it is gone, so is the shine! Enjoy the process... Carl B.

Yes, in that context I'd agree. For decades the 240Z's have been very low priced relative to the value they represent. It is a Supply/Demand situation. For decades the 60's Camero's and Mustangs were very inexpensive. You could pick up a well used 63-67 Vette for $3000.00 at one point. Sooner or later Suppy/Demand change. Now at 40+ years old - I think we are finally seeing the supply of good 240Z's becoming more limited - and demand is finally starting to increase again after the financial melt down of 2007/8. One problem, if that could be called a problem - is that too many people kept and cared for their 240Z's.. Amazing how many are still being driven after 40+ years. FWIW, Carl B.

Maybe MSRP $4156 for 1972? But that didn't include A/C {$499.00}, Dealer Prep, Transportation to the Dealership... Of course he could have got a "Deal" - but that wasn't very common in 72. Every one we sold had several Dealer Accessories added before the sale. Mag.'s, body side molding, front/rear bumper guards, custom pin stripping, vinyl roofs.. Out the door closer to $4800 with tax/tags.. I also looked at new Vette in 1970 - it was around $5200.00 then. But I really didn't like the Vette compared to the Z. It felt too cramped.. no luggage space etc. Plus the Chevy Dealer was less than impressive.. FWIW, Carl B.

I understand you point - but have to add a comment. I hear people all the time saying the 240Z sold because it was inexpensive.. I bought a 240Z in 1970 - trust me - it was not inexpensive and anything but "low cost". Sports Cars were a luxury to begin with - and the 240Z cost as much or more than any of its competition at the time. Lower cost Sports Cars like the like the Fiat 850 Spider, MG Midget and Austin Healey Sprite were closer to $2000.00.. No the 240Z was not a econo box..it was loaded with features that screamed Luxury {in a Sports Car}. Nor did many people actually buy a 240Z for less than a $1000.00 more than the MSRP.. when other cars could usually be bought for slightly less than their MSRP. MSRP’s on some 1970 Models: BelAir $2988.00Pontiac Catalina $3249.00 Fiat 850 Sport Spider $2168.00MG Midget $2279.00Austin Healey Sprite $2050.00 Toyota Corolla at $1856.00Datsun 1200 $1695.00Datsun 510 $1935.00 FWIW,Carl B.