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Chris, Ron, you guys are handled! I'll put Calendars in the boxes I already am accumulating to send to you. Will

I have a big ol' bunch of the calendars as well. I pulled them for my local club, but had more than we needed, so I will extend MikeBs offer as well. Will

The rattle was coming from the wallowed rivets(silver visible between the rivet and its hole), I drove that car hard...the repaint filled in the ratteling spaces. I am working on reproduction locks and keys for the Interpart louvers, two of our local club members need both... Will

Michael, You didn't start the controversy, your post simply invited comments-a seriously good thing! This type of conversation needs to happen so that the powers that be see what they need to work on. The car owners are the judges for the judging process, and they need to get involved to understand and/or modify it. Lead Judges do hold a judge training class every so often, I drove from Savannah to Clearwater to attend one hosted by Chris Wenzell, at Autoway Nissan. Along the way I got to spend thirteen hours with Carl Beck, Max, and the rest of his family-too cool! The class was attended by around twenty people, and Chris walked us through several cars displayed in the showroom including Zrush, Zwolf, a couple of modified 350s, a Seriously beautiful stock 280ZX(Todds?), a stock driver 300ZX, and a couple of other cars. Chris went right through the judging sheets on each car, and then had everyone do the same. He had everyone work up their own scores for a car and then we discussed them. Chris was stayed at the end to address questions, and pointed out the details on the cars at hand-he was very focused on helping everyone to become a comfortable and capable Z judge. The only let down to the entire thing was I was told Chris would be teaching us all the proper appreciation for hooters girls immediately following the show, and he jetted off to appreciate them by himself...saying something about needing reproduction practice...with a huge smile on his face! We have several Judges that are active on this site, including Senior judges-They have been very responsive to questions in the threads because they don't want the rules to be mysterious, and I know the goal of the judging rules is to remove the latitude that seems to be there, that is why the rules are being refined, and there is a seriously detailed Judging handbook in the works containing a plethora of photographic examples. If we all have the rules ahead of time-as we do now-, and an illustrated guide book to see the points deduction, the scores should be completely understood, and available to all before the formal judging. Will

I shot some video of Carl being interviewed by Mr. Haggarty! I have not moved/editied any of the video yet, but it will be done soon! Meanwhile, here are a few pics of Saturday... Will

If a judge had a car in a class, he could not judge that class, a few judges at Daytona even asked to stay out of a class their friends/nemisis were in. As to having inconsistant judging and favoritism in judging, In Daytona, I judged every S30, S130, and Z32 for myself, and also judged a class for the show. immediatly after the show I spoke with Paul Hollander and asked him to send me the scores of each car with no judge identification. After several reminders to keep the cracks at bay, He sent the scores to me. I went through my personal scores of the cars in question, and found that I was within 1% at the outside on every score. I did this to verify my Judging ability, but I think it works to validate the other judges scores as well. that is Some people may have a hard time being honest with their friends, but I take that as a responsability, not as something to cause problems-and it looks like the other judges I compared did too. When I found dirt, I took off the same point(s) everywhere I found it, and noted where. I did the same thing for worn parts. I don't judge to award a trophy, I judge to allow the owner to learn what to do to improve-and assume he wants to do better and learn from each judging. I use the same deductions on every car, and every model. When our club was getting ready to display cars at the Hilton Head Concours, I reviewed some of the members cars months before the show so that there was a list of opportunities for each interested member-I upset a few members on the spot, but everything I pointed out was an issue, and something I would have taken points for. Will

Don't let Carl kid you, I have seen him dance, Last year on the beach around his Rally car right in front of Mrs Brock! He's Chipendale at heart, and picked up a little extra money "doing the convention"... Will ...post my a$$ on a website will ya-ha!

Carl, I laughed mighty hard when I saw itROFL! What was your completely luck of the draw peoples Choice Number;)? Will

I spent most of Sunday(until I ran out of battery/tape) video taping peoples reaction to Carls car-they ranged from the couple that were very interested until they saw the "Datsun" emblem, to the three elderly ladies who were cackling about the times they had in a Z in their younger years-those memories belonged in an X rated movie-I blushed!! Most people with childeren had the "I used to have one of these" stories to tell that their kids now know....and we have all heard! The Patriarch and 260Z owner of one family from Alabama couldn't believe his eyes in finding a Z on the green at Amelia, he was seriously impressed, flabbergasted, and amazed all at the same time! He went over evey inch of the car with his family, sharing the intimate details of his own car with the examples of Carls! Will PS Carl, Thanks for posting (arguably) my best side! Will

John, to get most people to post you have to step out of the box... I want to see who thinks what relative to using reproduction parts. Will

He is a known entity! Believe in the descriptions! Had a serious collections of low mileage and gold cup contenders, liquidating all of it for a new investment. Will

I watched "Good Morning Vietnam" while getting caught up with email/posts/stuff-I typed the quote from the movie, it ended, "I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seams very negative to me." ...A therapist would have a field day with me...if she was a good looking babe:laugh:! Otherwise, pass! Chris, "well, I never", and yes, that is part of the problemROFL! Will

The set Arne posted appear to be Interpart, and they do have a hinge at the top. I had them for years on my 2+2, they rattled a bit over bumps as they got old, the anodizing faded, and the grip of the rivets loosened. I painted them black, and that took car of the noise, and the fading! Kept the deck carpet perfect, and the contents of the hatch out of sight! Will

The Interpart Brand are attatched by sliding and glueing tabs between the hatch glass and the weatherstrip. They are locked by a cross shaped key that articulates a slide locking or unlockeing the louver. Most use a deadbolt type lock, and use sheet metal screws to mount to the hatch. Will

What do you think about reproduction parts that are indistinguishable from originals. Are they an invaluable aid to enabling the proper and complete restoration of a Z, or a form of infection, oozing the worst of humanity, and a scourge on the hobby? What reproduction parts are acceptable to use, and what makes them so? What makes other reproduction parts unacceptable to use? Will

A few early cars came to the states with the hand throttle, purely by accident. The USA DOT required that they be removed by the dealers before the cars were sold-a few squeeked through the system. In addition the parts inventory was made up of the hand throttle parts as the parts were not immediately removed from inventory, and on occasion, the choke assembly was replaced with the original assy that had the throttle knob on it. This information came from one of my closest friends, a Datsun Trained Dealer Mechanic from 1967-1979, and is supported by TSBs, and parts books. To this day, in the USA, it is illegal to have a working hand throttle assembly in a 240Z originally delivered to and still registered in the USA. Fortunately most enforcement officers have no idea of the law, the parts, and other than the original issue to Nissan from being caught and fined for non-compliance, nobody really cares. Will Will

I welded in an aluminum patch, the ground and polished the altered area into invisibility. but in a pinch the right sized bolt will work. Will

1) Eastwood Glass polishing kit: http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=2010&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=glass%2Cpolishing Will

In the USA the 260Z was a transition car, the model that moved Z technology and DOT/Emmissions/performance standards from those of the '73 240Z to those of the '75 280Z-that one year saw all of the changes required by or resulting from the DOT mandated safety standards made. Some of the changes were more an attempt to recover the performance lost in the conforming to the more strict emissions standards. The rght hand drive world did not get a 280Z, so in the most strict of standards, in the USA version 260z is the rarest model of the Left hand drive S30, the RLS30. FYI, The red headed step child of the Z cars is actually the Z31... Will

If Savannah, GA isn't too far away for you. Asian Automotive could easily handle the mechanicals, and there is a Concourse bodyshop that does first in first out here that will tone down their results to a smaller budget-better results than I have seen coming from anywhere else. WIll

For those of you wanting to get together at AMelia I am heading to Little Talbot State park in a moment. It is seriously foggy. If the weather at the park is not suitable for a good meet, We will hook up at Clarkes Fish camp at 12-12:30 for lunch, afterwards, and figure out where to go from there. We are staying at the BeachSide Motel in Fernandina-right across the street from the Surf Restaurant mentioned above. Will PS I will leave word of changes at the park gate. WIll

If the weather is Crazy, we will just meet for lunch at Clarkes Fish Camp in Mandarin Fl. at 12:30 Will

Mike, I agree the data plates make the car, but the data plates are increasingly easy to get as we have had sellers in the past offer to remove and ship portions of the firewall, the plates, and the title...'corse if you have them... I have not come to a suitable answer on the question at hand, but I do agree that it is a problem, and that it should be addressed. Arne, Absolutely not:finger:, you shouldn't be allowed to buy or install anything else:finger:-your car is too nice as it is;)! Ron, I must admit, I am setting my '72 up to be partially dressed as a low vin or as the "72 it is with a console change(until I get my low vin). For my own use an indistinguishable reproduction part is preferable-I have two little boys who I would like to teach to enjoy 240Zs-because I would not spend a second thought over a broken reproduction Aperture Mask where as I would be highly irregular if the original was broken. In my own reproductions, I will not offer them until they are visually indistinguishable from the original part. I heard a quote the other day that makes sense here(in terms of its parallel) Guns kill people exactly like a spoon made Rosie O'donnell fat. High quality reproduction parts availability makes a fraudulent car the same way. Having said that, it does bother me that nice things can be used by the NGAJr.s of the world for nefarious purposes. My conclusion is some people will speed given roads and posted speed limits, and some people will not-the honesty of the individual is the guide, and that does not mean we should not have roads. I will make the parts as close to perfect copies and technologically possible, make them as available as possible, and the NGAJr.s of the world will do what they are going to do-regardless. Will

In making plans to furnish reproduction parts, I worried about similar things, Making it too easy for an unscrupulous Datsun Seller to dress a later car as a low vin, and present it as such. Zedd Findings requires a copy of your title to sell data plates and they come pre-punched. I considered similar measures to limit the availablity of the early parts to those who actually have early cars. Not to keep the parts rare, but to keep them from being used for the wrong purpose. Will