Carl Beck

Thanks... updated the record...

The last time it was reported as 6/74.. Did you just look at it or are you going from memory? thanks, Carl B.

Hi Chris/Alan: I understand your perspectives and arguments to support them. I simply disagree. As we have now gotten pretty far afield of the original questions that started this thread - I'll stop now and go watch the Games in Canada... FWIW, Carl B.

Chris: The relevance comes from your earlier statement quoted above. "In this case, "factory" means Datsun not Nissan Ltd." The muddled thinking is that somehow Nissan Motor Co. in Japan is a different company than Nissan Motor Co. in USA. That is what seems to have lead you to state that Nissan Motor Co. located in the US - had the ability or authority to offer their own non-factory Datsun "warranties" I simply pointed out the fact that Nissan states that "Nissan Motor Co. Ltd / Nissan Motor Co. Japan and Nissan Motor Co. in U.S.A. are interchangeable - ie one and the same - and thus can be shorted to simply "Nissan". It was in fact Nissan that made the point quite clear that the entire Nissan Corporation stood behind the Limited Warranty - not as you stated "Datsun USA" An interesting point that could easily have been interjected without the incorrect "misnomer" diversion. The URL that I listed is clearly marked "Factory Authorized Accessories For The 1972 DATSUN 240-Z" and the subsection is clearly titled "Accessories For The DATSUN 240Z" - both of which were relevant to the original questions Tony ask. No attempt was made to make it "coincide" with any other data. It is there simply to share with anyone interested or with anyone that had not see the original brochures from 1972. No - I don't find it strange at all. In fact it was quite common practice for imported cars in the 60's and 70's. The economies of mass production of a specific model were applied commonly to export models in the 60's and 70's being imported into the U.S. Building one model, one way, with a specific set of "standard" equipment yielded the highest production numbers with the lowest unit cost. Common practice by VW in the 50's and 60's - followed by Nissan years later. Do you think that Nissan Shatai Koki produced the foot rest, the radio, the fog lights, the side strips, the vinyl roof cover etc etc.? They were all produced by different OEM's supplying Nissan in Japan. No different than an OEM suppler here in the US supplying Nissan. As I understood it from and earlier conversation with Kats and others - the accessories not standard on a specific model were installed as customer options - at the Nissan Dealer in Japan. In Japan or here in the US - the accessories were supplied by companies outside of Corporate Nissan {known as OEM's}. In Japan and here in the U.S. the accessories were installed by the Nissan/Datsun Dealers. Nothing strange about that - it was just common practice. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi DeMoore: Before the 1972 "Model Year" - the various State Laws covered how automobile titles would be issued and part of the information on the Title was Make, Model and Year. So a Datsun Dealer "could" request a title for a Series I car based on its Date of Manufacture, or based on what he believed the Model was in terms of Model Year. The bottom line is that we wound up having Series I cars Sold and Titled as 1969, 1970 and 1971 Models, because that single model meet all U.S. Safety and Emissions Standards for the three years. As well as the fact that many imported models made their model change over in Jan of the Model Year. By the 1972 Model Year - the U.S. Federal Safety and Emissions laws more or less took the designation of "Model Year" out of the hand of the Dealers and States. These regulations were implemented by a specified Date Of Manufacture, and they changed again for 1973, again for 1974 again for 1975... Where Nissan made the model change over from 1970 to the Late Model 1971 in Jan. of 1971, they pulled the model change over in a few months for 1972 Model Year into 09/71. Since that time - With the exception of the 1975 Model Year {when the F.I. engine had not been certified in time for sale in the US} - - Nissan has made their Model change overs during 09/xx. So your car is most likely a 1978 Model. I say "most likely" because there always seems to be some over-lap during the Model change-overs... FWIW, Carl B.

Oops.. yes - should be 01/71. thanks, Carl B.

Hi Ron: Yes - New In Box {aka NIB} is the "gold" for Collectors. As AMCO most likely sold a lot more Datsun Accessories over the years, the NIB Datsun Boxs would command higher prices today. I've always thought about finding every accessory in the Datsun Accessory Catalog and putting them on my White 72 just for display. I had a "Car Top Pop-up Tent" that went on the 240Z as well. Made the mistake of loaning to a friend - and never got it back.... It was pretty neat too.. FWIW, Carl B.

As I understood it - Nissan signed a non-exclusive OEM supplier agreement with AMCO to supply several of their accessory items that applied to the Nissan/Datsun line of vehicles. Under that agreement AMCO was free to continue to sell their products in the "after-market". These AMCO manufactured products, under the OEM agreement were packaged in Nissan/Datsun branded containers by AMCO and delivered to the Nissan National Parts Department. In turn distributed to the Authorized Datsun Dealers. The Dealers then installed them on cars and/or sold them over the Dealership Parts Counters. I'd be interested to know what "Nissan Ltd. options" AMCO manufactured {copied?} beside the Passenger Side Foot Rest {passenger side being for the Right side here in the US}. It was somewhat the same, but not identical to product sold in Japan. I have: The Front Guard, Rear Guard Rail, 240Z Shade Kit, 240Z Side Strip Kit {black}, 240Z Floor Mats, Luggage Rack, Parcel Bar, Vinyl Shift Knob, Dual Racing Mirrors, Arm Rest and A/C.{not an AMCO accessory however}. I am still missing the Air Foil and the Ski Rack Adapter that fit to the Luggage Rack. I do have a different after-market Ski Rack for the 240Z made by BarreCrafters. Not shown the 72 Datsun Accessory Catalog - I also have the Passenger Foot Rest and the Door Panel Scuff Guards. I think the Foot Rest was in a Nissan/Datsun box - - I'll have to dig it out and look. There was also a scuff plate that went on the transmission tunnel next to the accelerator pedal. FWIW, Carl B.

Oh Chris - here you are argueing about the "F" word yet again.:stupid: I wrote "Factory" Then you Quoted "Factory" and then wrote "factory" I'm not sure which case you are writting about being a misnomer. Nonetheless: The term "Factory Authorized" in my statement - thus means Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and if you look at the Owners Manual and Warranty Booklet that accompanied each Datsun 240Z when sold new here in the U.S. - you will see that they are issued by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and/or Nissan Motor Company of Tokyo, Japan {see image of back covers below} If by "Datsun USA" you are really referring to "Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A." it was nothing more than a legal structure offering the full protections of U.S. Corporate Law to Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and their employees - as they conducted Nissan's business in the US. The concept that "Datsun USA" {actually "Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A."} was somehow a different company and therefore not included as "the Factory" is muddled thinking at best. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. considers both "Nissan Motor Co. Ltd." and "Nissan Motor Corp In USA" to be interchangeable terms and shortens them to simply "Nissan" in the Warranty Booklet. In fact the warranty for accessories was a "Factory Warranty" issued by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd - and "serviced" by their U.S. operations and Authorized Dealers here in the U.S.. If you moved to another Country - the Full Factory Warranty would be honored/serviced by any Nissan Authorized Distributor and/or Dealer. Please feel free to read the Nissan New Vehicle Warranty - image copied below. FWIW, Carl B.

Actually long after 1972 AMCO was selling them though various dealers and distributors. FWIW, Carl B.

Actually the Front Bar did offer some protection to the point on the nose of the hood. You could feel something hit the bar, and it did let you know that you were about to "ding" the front of the hood if you didn't stop. That point on the front of the hood is an area that is very hard to properly fix once it's dented. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Tony: See Page 3 at http://zhome.com/History/72AccBroch.htm These were "Factory Authorized Accessories" - meaning that if they were purchased and installed by your Datsun Dealer - they carried the full 12/12,000 Factory warranty. They were mostly installed by the Dealers before the 240Z was offered for sale. They were pretty common FWIW, Carl B.

I have 18147 as an 01/70 build date.... FWIW, Carl B.

Sold - for $5650.00... relatively cheap - someone got a good deal... nice looking truck.. FWIW Carl B.

If your L24 is in good shape to begin with - You won't hurt it a bit... but your gas milage won't be anything to write home about.. FWIW, Carl B.

I agree with Mike - it's almost silly to reproduce the entire tail light assembly when only the center plastic/chrome trim is bad on most of them. FWIW, Carl B.

Anyone know? Does Paltech replace the throttle shaft bushings, and throttle shafts when rebuilding the S.U.'s? Anyone know what needle seats are used? thanks, Carl B.

Hi Guy: You are coming to the Mitty - Right? Be there for the Thursday night dinner - it will be a hoot... Carl B.

Rolf - check your e-mail... hope this helps.. Carl B.

You might try typing his name in the GOOGLE.COM search. It may show up somewhere on the Web or in a White Pages Listing {"White Pages" - used to be the standard listing in hard copy phone books} The problem is - you may find 100 or more people with the same name. In which case you have to pin down the City/State or know something more about him in the first place. good luck, Carl

Chris: You know about 73667. It was in the Nissan warehouse and both Nissan and Pete E. "thought" it was a VZ. When Nissan moved, and finally dug the cars out of the warehouse they found it was NOT a VZ. Nonetheless, that was after Pete's book had gone to publication. FWIW, Carl B.

Good luck with that!! This is the ONLY 58 Fury, a Golden Commando - that I have seen at any shows in the last 20 years. Personally - I love the 56 Fury the best.. but that's just me. FWIW, Carl B.

The 72 Field Service Manual lists the weight of the North American 240Z's as 2350 lbs and 2400 lbs for the A/T. The 72 Field Service Manuals give you the "normal weight" placed on each of the four independent struts. Left Front = 562 lbs. and Right Front = 604 lbs. Rear = 635 lbs each Front = 1166 lbs Rear = 1270 lbs total = 2436 As a guess the I'd say that the difference of 86 lbs. - between the weight of the car {2350lbs} and the weights given as "normal load" for the suspension {2436lbs}, would be the car plus normal fluids as sitting at the curb. {oil, water and half a tank of gasoline}. The owners manual shows that the max. load is 420 lbs. I can find no factory documents that specifically lists a maximum load on each axle, nor a maximum weight of the car. FWIW, Carl B.

If you have the VIN correct - it would have a Manufacture Date of 02/72. I have HLS30 71162 listed as being in Seinajoki, Finland. FWIW, Carl B.

Looks like a great Project Car, and at a very low price. Also marks you as "seriously hooked":-) The seats alone are almost worth the price of the car. Enjoy the process... Carl B.