Carl Beck

Hi Bob: We had some discussion on the Z Car List about using Vaseline Petroleum Jelly on the dash. The idea was to rub the dash down, let it set for some period of time to soak in - - then wipe it dry. The people that use it say it leaves the dash looking like new. Others said they used it to store the dash, and keep it from drying out. It seems to me that vinyls once they are chemically stable (after being molded/formed) would be unlikely to actually absorb anything, but they are porous enough to retain a top coating of some type. Kind of like putting wax on a painted surface... So there might be some preservative value there, in terms of retaining the plastizes within the vinyl - I don' know... FWIW, Carl B.

Ah...yes... I believe I said with the snow tires changed and emblems added.... I was just trying to account for mounting white walls for the original photo. Yes that is the most likely the Red Car...... but is it the one in the 69 Brochure as well? I think that is the original question. Are you saying that it is also the car on the R&T cover? Carl B.

What do you suppose this line in the ad. means? Another 610 that was raced, or a parade lap -????? "Some people have even come back the next day with old photo's, one person gave me a copy of the 1975 runoffs video, featuring the 610 on pole with Bob Sharp driving." Carl B.

Is this a Automatic Transmission? Carl B.

Hello John: Great pictures - thanks for sharing them with us. If you see the 240Z's again - get the VIN numbers - it would be interesting to see what cars went to France. For What Its Worth (FWIW) Carl B.

Hi Chris: According to Mr. Speckman, **** Roberts told him, his car was the car used for the R&T cover on the Dec. issue. It is possible that one or all three were shipped without the D hubcaps - only to have them put on after arrival here. #6 and #7 seem to have been built in Sept. and #8 the first of Oct. It is also possible that some of the very early photo's were of #4 and #5 used in the North American Road Tests by Nissan. They didn't have any identifying trim during the road tests - but that could also have been put on after the fact for the photo shoots. Have you found any other pictures of a Z with white-wall's? I was thinking that perhaps they replaced the snow tires on one of the test cars and added the Datsun Emblems and D Hubcaps for the photo shoot.... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: I wouldn't have a clue as to its current market value. Something like this is so unusual.... The following for the Datsun 610's was about 10% of what it had been for the 510's. Nissan USA ended their sponsorship of factory backed teams by 1974, so the 610's never got the publicity that the earlier 510's did. The Trans/Am series was huge - but the B Sedan races were far less covered by the automotive press... I drove a 75 Datsun 610 for about four months as a Dealer Demo - I grew to like it a lot. It never had the "personality" of the 510, but it had a lot to like about it. The BSR 610 for sale seem to have good documentation and a well known history. You most likely could not duplicate it for less than $75K+ today. It just may not reach the right buyer on e-bay. The owner needs to take it to the Monterey Historic and put it in an auction there... He would most likely find a group of potential buyers that would appreciate the car. If it was an original BSR 510 - it would be easily over $100K.... a 610... I just don't know. I should think that anything under $60K would be a bargain in todays dollars... just for the fun of owning it. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi peng155 As zhead240 said - UV is very damaging to the vinyl, so is ozone. Dashes crack because the as the vinyl looses its plastizers, it drys out. Add a little UV damage and you will see the previous black vinyl turn a light gray. That light gray area isn't faded - its damaged and nothing will "restore" it. Once the vinyl is dried/UV damaged - its ability to expand/contact with thermo cycles is greatly reduced. Subject it to direct sun, let it heat the dash up rapidly - and the foam under the vinyl cover expands at a greater rate than the vinyl can - - - cracks develop. (ie. the gap in the coefficient of expansion between the two types of materials is too large at that point) All the above is accelerated when some one installs a new radio, or when they have to remove and re-install the dash. In both cases improperly tightening down the dash can put it in a very slight bind.. that introduces additional stress. Some morons hit the dash when they lose their tempers... Some Z's have been kept by their previous owners for decades - mostly idle in their garage. Some new owner comes along and the first thing he does is clean/detail/polish/wax the car, He applies brand X protectant (fill in any name) to the dash during that process. He get it running properly - then starts to drive the car on a daily basis. At this point the dash is being subjected to wide thermo cycles. The interior of the car is now 130+ degrees F. during the day, and it cools to 70 degrees F. at night. Driving also subjects the dash to a lot of typical road induced shock and vibration... About three or four months later what was a "perfect dash" (his words) CRACKS! Then he get on the Internet - and tells every one that brand-X protectant caused his 30+ year old vinyl covered dash to crack. Just my perspective - but IMHO that new owner is a moron at best, or just a poor fool stumbling through life like the rest of us. He only noticed the fact that he put something on the dash - and is blissfully unaware of all the chemistry, environmental damage and stresses involved; not mention that he thought any vinyl product over 30 years old - would last forever. Personally - - I bought my 72 240-Z when it was new. I've used Armor-All on it since then and to this day. The dash is crack free. I have a second 72 that I bought from its original owner - he too used Armor-All from the day the car was new, and I continue too. That dash is also free of any cracking.. I will say that it is more than likely that in the past 36 years - newer technology vinyl protectants have most likely been developed... Most now have some type of UV shields, some claim anti-static characteristics. Most of them when used on new vinyl products from the beginning have a high probability of greatly "extending the useful life" of the items treated. As I said above - that graying area you see is indicative of UV damage. That area will be more brittle than the area surrounding it. That doesn't mean that the dash will crack - If you take care to avoid the extreme thermo cycles, keep the dash covered and the interior of the car as cool as possible when parted in the sun - - Covering the dash not only shields it from farther UV damage - but it more importantly helps keep the dash cool and allows more time for the vinyl to keep pace with the expanding foam under it. As mentioned above - SEM Vinyl Die is a good product to use,to restore the dash to a uniform color. good luck... FWIW, Carl B.

Mileage on the car? Owner History Known or not? Original color still in place? Dash cracked or not? Clutch is good for 60K miles at least - depends on type of driving - city/highway? It is very large for the size of the engine. 72 4spd - good for 120K to 150K mies easy -if driven correctly. Rebuild costs around $550.00 most area's of the country - if you have the tranny out. Shifter busings go out-usually with age. Easy fix if the shifter feels sloppy Original Factory paint on firewall and front shocktowers will peel - due to galvin. sheet metal used there. Pictures???? FWIW, Carl B.

Mr. Matsuo tells us that indeed the 411 design was done by Pininfarina - - he (Matsuo) was given the responsibility of making it more appealing to the youth market in Japan, after he was critical of Pininfarina's design.. thus the Matsuo SSS Model... and thus his promotion to the head of sports car styling studio... BTW - Pininfarina also did design work for Prince as well FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris: It could be - but I'm not certain of that. The Red car used in the 69 Sales Sheet - might be the same one, only with the DATSUN emblems now on the front fenders and "D" hubcaps now added. Its possible. Here is another 1970 Advertisement (see below image) - that shows the same red car as the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure, taken at the same photo shoot, only this time used for a Magazine Ad instead of for the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure. It was also used to produce a huge Billboard on the LA Freeway. Kats mentioned the wing nuts - and the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure (SSB) shows a picture of the engine. So I thought that was the one he was referring too. #006, 007 and 008 were expedited from Japan for the Introduction in New York, as well as the rest of the International Auto Show circuit. Also for photo op's. and Ad. Copy etc. On this day they took the red Z for the photo shoot. BSR got the Green car in the SSB #6 after it was damaged, and the silver car in the SSB, #8 went to Bob Speckman when it came off the show circuit. The last known owner of #7 was Ron Cook. FWIW, Carl B.

My answer was related to this one.... Carl B.

Hi Stephen: I started selling cars in 1962 - and we called them VIN's then. If anything the Federal Requirement to standardize the information and the order in which it is presented - might be called a Federal VIN. Prior to the Federal Standard - the Vehicle Identification Number on our Z's consisted of two parts. The first part defines the Model and the second Part is the chassis serial number. FWIW, Carl B.

What manual What is the complete VIN on the car?

Hi Kats: The Red car is HLS30 00007. The photographer that took some of the original pictures of the cars in early Oct. 1969 contacted me some time ago and I now have some of his original negatives and photo's. (he kept the one's that Nissan did not purchase for publication at the time). FWIW, Carl B.

HI Kats: No - I noticed yours because 5 or 6 of the 69 production year cars I've seen still have one or both. AIR #20 had one, and one regular bolt (not even a wing head) in the air cleaner. There are actually two slightly different types with the nut wrapped by the wing... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Ron: Great video - and the roadster sounded wonderful. Do you suppose you could have pulled a little higher gearing on that track? regards, Carl B.

Hi Gregg: Great story - you were born about the same time as the Z. Might as well go right for the 3.1L again... Good luck with your project. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Ron: Thanks - should be a 5 page article on the BRE Baja Z in the upcoming issue of Classic Motorsports (Sept. issue I believe). Chip Fouse is a real talent... would be great to talk to him about Design. Good thing he's still relatively young - we've lost a lot of the old guard in the past few years. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Brandon: Great idea. But which is it? "Yellow Zinc" or "Cad. Plated with yellow chromate treatment?(quite a difference in price and performance). Are you talking about finding/buying Japanese Metric (JIS) sizes? Would the exact shape and type of the bolt heads be identical to OEM used in each case? Exactly how many individual bolts and or nuts are you talking about ? If they were exact matches to the originals - I'd think you could sell hundreds of sets over time. If they are not exact matches to the originals - the market might be somewhat smaller. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Gang: Yes - we have "cruise-in's" here in the Tampa Bay area as well - have had for decades. They are in the evenings and held on the same days almost every week. The Cars & Coffee gatherings early Saturday mornings are held only once a month - and they seem to draw an almost completely different crowd of people. Morning People perhaps? Car Enthusiasts rather than Street Rod'ers, Drag Racers, Drifters etc. Just thought it was a slightly different concept to hold Saturday AM meets - and one that could be supported by businesses and/of sponsored by clubs - other than drive in restaurants. They are all fun... FWIW, Carl

It would be very interesting to get a wide-band A/F meter/recorder on that engine - then dyno tune it... Would be interesting to see if the SM's are too rich.... I've seen several reports that they are - but it would be good to see a direct comparison with supporting dyno runs..(on the same engine, same day, same dyno etc). Everything sure looks great... FWIW, Carl B.

This is a real heart-breaker ... Scott lived just South of us in Palmetto, Florida. I had the pleasure of meeting his Father Connie in the early 60's when he ran at West Salem's Dragway 42. Of course the speeds were lower then.. but the danger is always there..The entire family is top shelf... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Rick: Cars & Coffee - is a "non-club", "non-marque specific" event - that encourages a very diverse gathering of cars. Many people simply do not have the time, nor desire to belong to a club, and this gives them an opportunity to share their car and automotive enthusiasm with others, when they have the time to do so. Most of the local car clubs hold monthly meets of course. FWIW, Carl B.

Hello Everyone: While it seems that the Z Car Community has broken itself into generation specific sub-cultures; only to come together once or twice a year at the major Z Car events; there is a movement afoot to bring "Car Enthusiasts" together in local areas at least once a month. This is an interesting concept and one I believe we should all support and encourage. It's originator calls it "Cars and Coffee". It's held the third Saturday of each month hosted by the "duPont Registry" in their corporate offices parking lot. It starts at 7:00AM and is over by 9:00AM, leaving the rest of the weekend free. The idea is simply to get Car Nuts in the local area together for a couple hours once each month, to meet one another and talk "cars", have a cup of coffee if you like and appreciate the diversity of automotive interests in your local area. Today, we had about 15 Ferrari's, 1 Audi R8, 1 1968 Camero RS/SS Convert, 1 Lambo, 1 1958 Chevy Station Wagon Full Custom, 1 Continuation Cheetah.... well you get the picture... about 150+ really neat vehicles... Why 7:00AM?.... No traffic on the roads at that time Saturday morning, so it's relatively safe to bring your pride and joy out. Plus it's cool in the morning in the parking lot. Ending at 9:00AM leaves everyone free to do all the things needed on the weekend... Yes it takes a little effort, but believe me it is well worth it... especially if you enjoy meeting and networking with fellow "Car Nuts" in your local area. Local Z Car Clubs could start this - working with their local Nissan Dealers, or local shopping Malls etc. Local automotive related business could also start this - it may take a year before word spreads by word of mouth... but you'll be amazed at the number of cars that show up each time. Coffee - supplied by a mobile Starbucks vendor - the Host business or organization has people there to greet the arrivals, walk them around and introduce them their fellow Car Nuts as necessary... just as good Hosts would do anywhere... Attached is a note from the Publisher of the duPont Registry - Mr. duPont is the originator of the "Cars and Coffee" get-together and wants to see the idea spread... Just takes a very little effort and a lot of sticking too it... I especially like this months Publisher's Letter.. http://www.dupontregistry.com/ FWIW, Carl B. Carl Beck Clearwater, FL http://Zhome.com