v12horse

Lets not potty mouth ourselves. The car is becoming more refined with age. As we all are. Who wants a new emblem when they can say that this emblem is original to the car??? Probably a lot of people, but some of us are those sticklers. Eventually I would like a really nice paint job, original color of course, but leaving the pitted, pimpled, chipped, dull, OG, and refined emblems on my car. It gives it character Alan. Are many people familiar with the ZG in England? I would be refreshing to see it in a magazine article in one of the British Classic Car mags so all us non-Japanese residents can get an informative story on a very Japapnese car. This is a bit off topic, but I was watching a show on "Eleanor" the Shelby GT500 the other night on TLC and the narrator said that a bone stock 1967 289 fastback Mustang had a top speed of 110mph. I thought that was interesting considering a stock 240z was claimed at going 125mph. Correct me if I am wrong, but the ZG topped out at 130mph. These Z's are truely revolutionary and if they took down a Mustang of the era that was packing a v8, all the better. Ben

Every now and then I see these emblems go for sale on ebay. Are the Fairlady Z hood emblems metal or plastic? Ben

This is a set of very nice wheels. I always see the guys with AE86's buy Watanabe's on ebay. Why doesn't someone with an old school Z buy them. They are beautiful. Ben p.s. Alfa, this is dish. Yours are more. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7911812694&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

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Whoa, it is a new site. Thanks again Mike, I bet that was dreadfully long and tiresome to do. Thanks again. Hello everyone. I have been checking the site every day almost. I missed you guys. Ben

That is a cool site. There are a lot of nice cars in the galleries. Did anyone see the beautiful white Cosmo? Here is a link to a car that I am also a big fan of. The AE86, also known as a Hachi Roku, a Trueno, or just, 86. This one is special, it is the panda 86. After watching Inital D, and reading all the Manga's, I have fallen in love with this little car. I get excited whenever I see one. There is a really nice stock one at my school. It is a GTS as well. http://www.katysnest.com/garelly-R/R-2004/D1GP-2004/part2/DSCF0055a.jpg Ben

It's great that there are people like you on the roads. :classic: I hope everyone would do the same in a situation like that. It is very good that no one was hurt.

My 260 made 24.7mpg on the trip to Longbeach. However, with highway and city driving here in Stockton, it gets about 18mpg. That is with AC too. As long as it stays around 18mpg, I am happy. I did get 14mpg one time though. Errr.

Eric, it would be great to have one of these TC24 heads indeed, but besides being very expensive, they are extremely hard to come by from what I have heard. If it were to cost 20K to get this setup, I would some day love to have one. I have a lot more to learn first as well as a lot of money. errr. However, I have a feeling that 20K would be too little for one of these heads and engine sets. From what I read, everything is changed- the head (duh), the pistons, crankshaft. etc. Correct me if I am wrong. In a different thread about these engines I believe Alan says that the people that do have these are not going to give them up. Why should they? The TC24 is a beautiful machine and it is a museum peice indeed. By the way Eric, if you are able to contact OS-Giken on this matter, I am sure that we would all be interested to hear what they have to say, even if they crush our hopes and dreams of one day owning a DOHC L-series powered Zed. As far as the LY goes, there is no such thing as bang for your buck. It will be crazy expensive, but well worth it in my opinion if one has the cash. Mr. Akamatsu told me that he payed 60K in USD in 1979 for 2 LY engines. I have heard that there was an LY on Yahoo Japan auctions that was being bid on for 60K USD, but I am not sure when this was. One of my friends that is not a member told me this. Gav, I would take a LY over a P90 any day. I am sure you would too. hehehe. I am not sure on bhp on these heads, but the engine that was in Mr. Akamatsu's car had a grip load of power. It was no 5hp increase. I do not want to make guesses about its power, but let me tell you- if felt faster than being in my friends Corvette (C5), and he was flooring it. Mr. Akamatsu was not stepping on the gas. Ben:classic:

Hi Andrew, I really don't know about the silver 30K 240. I really shouldn't be talking about these deals, but yeah, it didn't seem like Kats was interested. I agree with you on these unrestored gems. It is a like a going back in time, but some of these restored cars are the same way. I am debating whether or not to put my old faded seat covers in my car in place of the super white ones from too intense restorations. What do you think? Hehehe, it wouldn't be for a while that I would put them in if I did decide to make the change. My Dad thinks it would be a horrible idea. Take care, Ben

This car is georgous. Everything down to the engine bay is original. At the convention, there was a man from florida that was hanging out with Chris, and he was trying to trade Kats for a silver 72' that had 14,XXX original miles on it. The car was still in Florida though. Someday, I would love to find a car like this. Ben

I don't mean to make it out like the judges were anti- Fairlady Z, because a few of them owned or did own Fairlady Z's. It may be some National Convention rule that the car must have been imported here, which I think if it is a rule that it should definately be one to be broken. They were really nice people. I only met one judge that seemed closed minded towards the JDM cars, he was still a nice guy though. I hope I didn't sound misleading in my prevous post. However, they did make the claim that Fairlady Z's were really not part of the classes. The more I think about this, the more I think they do break the rule because Tetsu, the president of the UZCC of Japan won first with his modified FAIRLADY Z in the super modified 280ZX class. Hmm, now I have totally contradicted myself. Being a judge had its ups and downs. I hate docking points for stuff. It is really not my type of thing. I am glad I learned more about the interior of 240z's, but I don't think I would do it again. I cann't be mean, but I had to a few times just to be fair. That part was not cool. -Ben

I agree with you Remy. Save this car from the crusher. If you want to see beautiful examples of 2/2's, take a look in Brian Long's book, " Fairlady to 280." Maybe some of you will change your tune. They are going to be come extinct, or very rare if we keep this mentality of 2/2's being the lesser car. OMO, Ben

Alan, I too wonder what Matsuo was thinking when I asked the questions that I did? He was very talkative and he was telling me, and others, about the details of the S30 that many people would disregard. The hinges, the emblems, the non-belted radials, Kobe Sieko as an outside company, etc. I guess I will never know what he thought when asked so many questions on the design of the S30, but that is why this forum is great. I am so intrigued by the history of the Z, and I think many of us see the gaps in the history of the Zcar, and want to be able to learn and share what may be forgotten. There are no books about this kind of stuff, and the information that gets passed from one person to another on this forum about these things would make an outstanding book. I wish Matsuo san could read and reply to some of the discussions that go on here. I am sure he would be most intrigued. This is a little off topic, but sort of the same. I was a judge at the convention, not knowing until the day before. It is a long story. I stated in the application that I had a little experience with judgeing from the MSA show (ballet) and another show (ballet). So they made me a judge. I was first going to have to judge S130's, and I said I am really not familliar so it would not be fair. They put me on the 240z daily driver class and I was judging with an "expert." He judged the exterior while I judged the interior. It was a lot of fun by the way. Anyways, now I will tell you all my story. I was in a conference room and there were all these other judges around. They were talking about different hoses, clamps, belts, batteries, etc. and if the cars didn't have them, mark points down. I was pretty overwhelmed. I thought that someday I would like to restore a Z back to oem specifications, and the extent they were talking about was a concours standard. I much rather find a non-abused S30 still in its stock form. Moreover, all I was hearing was 240, 260, 280, 300, 350. Never once did I hear Fairlady Z. Thanks to my smart arse mouth, thanks so much to the members of 240z.org, I brought up the question. "What about the Fairlady Z? Are they put in with the US market cars?" They said that since Fairlady Z's were not in the dealerships here, that the Fairlady Z was basically in the modified class. I was shocked, no offended is a better word. Right off the bat they thought I had one, I replied with a, " NO no no, I am just an enthusiast of them." I was now an alien, but that is okay. I really wonder if there was a Fairlady Z as nice and bonified stock as other cars there, would they not judge it in the stock class? would it be docked or put in the modified class? One day, I hope some one challenges the convention with that, if not, I will. Give me 10 years. Alan is right, there are huge gaps in the knowledge of these cars, but with this forum and the people on it, there is a potential to shorten those gaps, and in some ways the thinking that we do from participating in these "philosophical Z" threads is a great start to finding new knowledge. It is out there. I will try not to be so passive, and through out my opinion on the table. Ben

Lachlan, I apologize for my assumptions. I shouldn't have let it all hang out like that. I was not trying to offend you or anyone for that matter. I totally agree with you and Alan on the people trying to say that the S30 was totally for the US market as being a hurtful and incorrect statement. Alan, your thoughts and facts on the S30 initially starting and hinting at being a RHD car first, I agree with. I am going to leave it at that for now. However, I would love to hear more about the possibilities of what the S30 could have been. Is there any really good pictures of the convertible (targa) Z out there? I can picture it, but I would really be curious to see exactly what Matsuo envisioned for the S30 cab. Why did it not become a reality? A V12 Z??? Darn, my sn could have been correct for an s30. -Ben

This is another philosophical topic that I take the blame for starting. What ever anyone says- we should agree (huge opinion. I am inpsired by the pictures in Brain Long's book, if you know what I mean.) that the 240z, 260 (early or late, 2+2 or 2 seater), 280z(2+2 or 2 seater), Fairlady Z( base, ZL, 2 seater, and 2/2), Fairlady 240z ( including the long and short nose), Fairlady Z432, and Fairlady Z432-R are all great cars. Some are different due to being for export or for the home market, but they are all great cars. Let's not try to say which one(s) is superior to the others, but enjoy the cars we have and look at them all as S30's (which they all are, except for S31, but still the same car for the most part). I don't know how or what I am trying to say, but, hmm we have different cars from diferent places around the world and like Matsuo said, the S30 was meant to be a worldly car. The US got the cars they got because of legalities and of what the North American's would love, and they loved and still love the 240, 260, and 280. Australia, Uk, and every other country besides the home market got the 240 and 260. Guess what, they love them too. Home market? You guessed it, they have big car clubs for these beauties just like many other countries. Lachlan, I don't want you to think that I am mocking your words, because I am not. I am just trying to voice my opinion and what the function of me asking Matsuo the question that started this thread was. Matsuo told me that the S30 was to be a car accepted world wide, and like Alan said, each place got a different varient to conform to the needs of that area. Here is another question. Why were the 240zg and the Z432 only for the home market? (I only mention this because if there are 2 z's that are the most sought after, I would think it would be these two, but this is only an opinion by many- not all.) I would assume that it was for homologation purposes, just as there is a long nose Fairlady Z (Z33) offered for the home market currently. Why? Homologation for racing. These are just a few Ideas I have had, and I am not going to say that all S30's are equal. We all have our opinions, and I definately have mine. I hope this clears things up a little, but I can see it fogging things up even more as well. I don't want to make generalizations or inaccuracies, so please correct me. Voice your opinion(s) too. Errr, I don't know what more to say. I really think studying is getting to me. *stepping off soap box* Ben

Yeah I would like to find a set of those works rally wheels too. I am afraid of the price, so I won't look too hard. I can lust though. I would be very happy with the same size and offset Watanabe. Ben:classic:

Thanks Kats for the correction on Mr. Akamatsu's LY. I will change my post. That is a nice picture of Mr. Akamatsu, my father, and I. I just wish I was standing up straight. I really need to correct my posture. Ben p.s. My Dad is a little eccentric as you can probably tell. He is a great guy and I am glad we went on the trip together.