v12horse

Dave, congradulations on your purchase. We want to see pictures of your beauty. There are two of these magnificent cars in the club now, no? It is possible to drive a Z quite a lot and keep it prestine. I.e. Kats car. He said he drove it 12000 miles in the last 4 years. I think. Correct me if I am wrong Kats. Take care, Ben

Hi Alan, Is the Z that you have pictured the one that has been in all the British Classic car mags? It is a beautiful car. The Minilites look just right, and If I remember correctly, it had the nice rear spoiler too. I have been watching this thread and I agree with you Alan. People are not taking this as serious as they should. Vicky said that her car and others were part of the "Nissan Vintage Z Pre-Owned Vehicle" program, and this is what we should refer to them as. It is easy to use the term "Factory restored" just because it is short and sweet, but it is a falacy that should not continue because people may get the wrong idea later on; they did and still do about the Goertz myth. Stop arguing and stop the "Factory" saying. Lets keep the Zcar history straight because there is enough people saying bull about Z history that is untrue. BTW, I think the "Nissan Vintage Z Pre-Owned Vehicle" program vehicles are great cars. I have seen one in person before and it was gorgeous. I am not dogging the cars at all, nor do I think this changes their value. Just as Vicky said, hers has gone up in value immensly since the date of purchase. These cars are a stepping stone in Z history, but lets describe them as Nissan would because word of mouth can turn into facts to some. p.s. This is my opinion, and a very strong one. I hope many of you agree. Ben

Hahaha, you british guys. Z's are supposedly common out here in the states and especially in Cali, but I hardly ever see one. If I am in my Z I am bound not to see one. When I get compliments about the car, it is always from the older crowd. Nothing wrong with that, I just hope it brings back good memories. My friends Dads' love the car. They remember from their college days about Z's. One of my friends is Japanese and his Dad had a yellow 240 and he loved it, but his wife forced him to sell it. Most youngsters don't even bother to look.

You said it Marc. My gf thinks it is hoopty and old. My friends think that if I have an old Z that I must lust for a new one. That is not the case as all of you know, but my friends can't get over it. This forum is a support group. The other car enthusiasts that disregard s30's don't know what they are missing; including my GF. I have to keep all the z talk on the dl when I am with her. She can talk about shopping, but I cannot talk about z's. I have gotten used to it and I am fine with it. Shopping talk doesn't bother me, but...... you guys get the picture. Ben

Oh yes Andrew, it is a rally clock. I found it on ebay for 135USD over a year ago. It is a little different than the earlier rally clocks as it does not have an osscilating box, but it has the date, but no timer. There are more detailed pictures of it in my gallery if you are interested. I have seen rally clocks, but the only calender clock tht I have seen was in a 74' Fairlady Z 2/2. Take care, Ben

You are not hijacking Bill. I got them from MSA. They are just there to protect the original carpet. Take care, Ben

Hello and welcome to the forum! I have an early 260z as well. What is the vin # on your car? I have seen very early 260z's that had the 240z style wood shift knob and matching steering wheel. Very early for a 260z build date would be around July-September of 1973. I searched around for an original knob for my 260z and it is the same for a 75' 280z. I am not sure about 1976 and up though. Here is a pic of the interior of my car with an original gear knob. It is black rubber with a green metal plate that has the 4-speed shift pattern on it. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=6301&sort=1&cat=3117&page=1 Ben

That is funny about the type R planter. There are eight little slots where someone could plant different herbs. Hehehehe. That is sick. hahaha. I love it. This reminds me of a few conversations that I had with Kats at the Z convention. He was looking over my car and he was saying how much he loved the mags. Later that day him and I were looking at my friend, Ted's 1800sss Bluebird and I told Kats that I loved the Watanabe's. He said he always sees those wheels. It is wierd how that works on both sides eh? You always want what you can't have I guess. It was funny to me because many of the guys from the UZCC of Japan brought over US market Z's(240z to 350z) and here we (many) are wanting Fairlady Z's. I simply love it. Another interesting note is that the emblems on Mr. Akamatsu's car were all Datsun emblems, even the dash emblem. It was a Datsun 280z one. hehehe. This is great too. Anyways, I am very off topic now. Take care, Ben

Many Americans should and do know about Bristol because the AC Ace was the basis of one of the most famous American car of the 60's (Shelby Cobra). Us Americans had to rip the straight six out and add some Detroit iron. :stupid: That was a nice transplant IMHO. Ben

the type B's are almost all slightly lighter than the type A's besides a few. Could this be the paint or something?

That is odd.

thats the one kyteler. see ya guys. I too only know what is off the site. I wonder about the older wheels? take care guys

Well, here is the RS-Wat link, but I cannot just send a link of one page. The site is setup so that there is only one link. it is the top third bar from the right. Just go to Aluminum 10-14in 8-spoke. It is all there. I am not sure whether you can get an array of offsets for a specific size/type. You would think that you could, but I have read from other posts on this site that Watanabe used the type A, B, R, and F designations so that there would be only one offset for that particular type depending on the width and diam. I would like to learn more about this as well. I wonder if the offset of your rear wheel is different from the newer ones since yours is possibly older. How old do you think it is? I would love to know. I always wonder what car these wheels were on at one time. Your wheels may have been fitted on some crazzzzy s30 or skyline Alfa. *sigh* Take care, Ben (it is 11:30 at night and I am going to bed.) http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/index2.htm

It says on the RS-Watanabe site that the 14 by 7.5j type A wheels have a -3mm offset and the 14 by 7.5j type B wheels have a +1.5mm offset. Mine are type B. The fronts (14 by 7j) are type B as well and they have a +8mm offset. The type A wheels in the same size have a +3mm offset. I always thought the type A's were a little more positive than the B's, but in this case it is the exact opposite. I am excited. They should be here in two days. Ben

That is the car with the SR motor?

Thanks Gav, I took it out of a Old Timer magazine. He owns a beautiful 920 gold 432. He is the original owner! That quote says it all. Victor, you are going to excite the daylights out of every 86 enthusiast and owner when they see your car with those wheels. I like the odd color Gav. I only think the red/pink would look good on a car of a neutral color like grey, silver, white, or black. Take care, Ben p.s. Take a look at this site and you will see what I mean about the pink centered wheels and a beautiful white Z. BTW, the wheels are Sakura cherry blossoms (I am pretty sure that is what they are called). http://datsun30.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

Victor, those are beautiful!!! I love the dish. Very nice. Do you have rolled rear fender lips?

Here is a set on ebay. Not quite the right offsets, but they sure are pretty. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7915744230&category=43955

Does the runon occur even more when it is hot out or does it not matter? I had runon before and it was because of an exhaust leak. During the heat of the day it would runon a lot more than in the mornings. Ben

I agree with you Enrique. LS1240, I flamed when I really shouldn't have. I should have kept my opinion to myself. We are all different as you said and we all have different ideas of what the perfect Z is. There is no such thing as a wrong one, just a different one. Yes this car is a time capsule, but there are more out there (I hope). I really sound like a hipocrite now. There are two things that I would like to point out as regards to this thread and my view on it: 1. You should not have come to this site on a dare, but you did and you got a mouthfull from many of us here. You should have expected it because many of the HybridZ members did. 2. It is your car and if you build it the way you say, then it will be a great custom car. Yes, it will not go with the style that many of us like, but many (all) can respect fine craftsmanship. However, it doesnt matter what I think because it is your car and you should be able to do what ever you want to it. I hope you feel welcome when you come to this site because we still share a love for these great cars as you said. Ben

Max, you should go with all gun metal Pans. You also might be better off with the 15 by 7j ones because you could have a bigger side wall and a better ride. Take care, Ben

That is awesome Victor. Old school JDM rims are the best. I think you are going to love them. Are the centers pink? I think the pink wheels look great with the polished lip. Have you seen the Sakura cherry blossom wheels? A lot of them have the pink and silver finish. They look great like the MKII's wheels. Take some pics for us. Congratulations again on the wheels.

Very nice S30ZT. Are the Wats that you have the ones with the +15 offset? Those are nice wheels.