26th-Z

You all probably know of Shin Yoshikawa from his impecable cut-away drawings of the Z car to name but one. Shin is also a prolific writer. We have discussed his superb book about the Toyota 2000GT, however Shin writes regularly for Nostalgic Hero magazine and was a contributing factor behind the Del Prado die-cast model racing series. Shin lives in California and operates an automotive workshop and fabrication studio. Check out Shin at http://studiotimecapsule.com/home Some time ago, Shin and his associates built an aluminum body for a Toyota 2000GT. That was a body-on-frame design and now Shin plans to build six aluminum uni-body chassis of the S30. I talked with him this morning and he tells me that four have been committed to contract. One is to be placed as a sculptural piece in the Datsun Heritage Museum. Another is going to the Nissan museum / storage facility in Zama, I believe. Two more will be built with the idea of completing them as running cars. He tells me one in Japan will receive S20 / Z432 running gear. Check out the web site which is a fun cruise if you have never been there. He is asking $60,000 in three payments of $20,000 for the aluminum body shells. Several people have commented to me about the structural integrity of such a construction, but if you read what Shin says about it, it sounds like he has taken these things into consideration.

I have not seen any of the shows, but I'ld like to comment from personal experience. I'm finding the price for just the paint job hard to swallow. I realize what the paint alone costs but the labor rate can't be $37.50 if the paint job alone is going to cost 3 times the preparation. Either we're not comparing oranges to oranges or somebody is getting ripped off. Having said that, it seems like the 80 hours for metal work and prep is low. However! I'm right there with ya on your comment about how many people we know have spent months with a body shop, Carl!

I agree. Seal the tanks. The POR product is excellent for this.

This is a really good thread that will answer a lot of points that have been mentioned. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20792&highlight=5-speed+transmissions

Sure looks like an F4W71a to me. How do you know it's a 5-speed? It's not an FS5C71a or b. I suggest a search through the archives will turn up some interesting info.

It IS rather discouraging, isn't it? When I pick up a copy of something like "Classic Motorsports" and see all the ads for MG, Triumph, Jaguar and such.

I'll be there.

Some time ago, I bought HLS30-00403 for parts. The instrument finisher, although trashed, is definitely black compared to the finisher from 26th. Same molding, just black over the chrome. Note that the actual plastic under the chrome plating is cream white (yellowed from sunlight). A long time ago when Chloe was around, I found and bought this Hitachi radio brand new in the box. The face plate is black plastic and the raised label highlights are all painted silver. Coupled with the ash trays from 26th, 27th, and 403rd - all gray plastic painted black - I am / was assuming that all the interior finishes were black. Searching through the parts books, I find instrument finisher 68830-E4100, E4101, E4600 and 68831-E4100 all applying to the year and model in our discussion. Resting my case now...

I'm having trouble getting a good picture for comparison purposes, but I have both gray instrument face plates and black ones. And I have both black and gray radio face plates also. Here is a real good shot of the instrument face plate from 26th. Obviously gray. Notice the heater switch is different from the typical fan symbol on the switch. Then, a picture from 27th with the more typical heater switch knob. Obviously gray as well. I realize that the radio has been changed in 27th, but notice that the volume control label on the face plate was painted silver whereas Jim's face plate shows no sign of the silver highlighting. I'll have to admit that at first I just attributed the gray to fading but now that you are making me take a hard look at all of this I'm inclined to agree.

These are the two map light face plates I have. The gray one at the top is out of 26th and the black one at the bottom came from a friend-of-the-Z. 27th didn't come with a map light. You will notice black paint covering the back side of the gray one. There's evidence for my case. Please notice this occurance of a gray plastic circumcized map light face plate as well as a black plastic circumcized map light face plate. In real lighting, the gray is the color of the console face from #16. The other face plate is real black. Back tomorrow after I photograph the instument finisher in 27th.

Many thanks for you reflective comments, Carl. The non-metallic paint location comment is a typical automotive manufacturing technique. You probably noticed that the 901 silver cars are that way. Part of the problem I have here is that I have achieved a college education and "we may never know" is not necessarily in my vocabulary. As I have previously indicated, through research, they were NOT repainted in California. I still have a couple of other sources to confirm and I'll let you know if that conclusion changes.

In the safe-deposit box.

Post # 19 this thread

Well that would be my first question; if they were repainted, what color were they when the came off the boat? Then there is the liability issue of selling a new car that has been repainted. Can you imagine what it would take to repaint the engine bay, for instance? The shipment repair I'm talking about would be for minor scratches / damages incurred during shipping.

Mike, My old thread was about ash trays, not the console. I agree with the pictures you posted but keep in mind that the finish on top of the chrome is old. Of course it would look gray compared to new. I'll have to go dig mine out of the box. And I agree that the map light (circumcized) and radio face plate were molded of gray plastic, but I do not agree that they were mismatched with the rest of the black interior. Hmmm...may be throwing me a loop. 26th came with the hand throttle and 27th's was either removed or never installed. All the mechanism is gone and it has been obviuosly molested.

Yes, the optional wheels do not appear to be part of the appearance / decor package. I wrote to a couple of sources that would know about the respray issue and one has replied that the S211 and SP213 Fairladys were repainted as required because of the color combination of interior / exterior. So far, to the best of my knowledge, only shipment repair painting was made in California for this conversation.

I would bet that Kats added the stickers. Both of my '69ers do not have stickers or any trace that they were once there.

I don't have an answer about the emission control standards, but British imports in 1970 had smog pump / air injection. Carl is correct - all S30 US imports (not the Canadian cars evidently) had smog pumps. Only the California imports had fuel vapor systems.

Hello all! Comment about the gray plastic interior / console pieces. They were molded in gray plastic and painted black. There is no such thing as a gray interior. If you see gray, the black finish has rubbed off.

Check out this tread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31271&page=3&highlight=240Z+sale+values

I'll be there.

I'm not here to knock the rules but rather tip my hat to the people who put in the hard work to write them in the first place. I first judged a ZCCA natonal convention in Long Beach five or so years ago and have judged or chaired the judging every year since. I have judged three major regional events - chairing one of them - and conducted three judging schools. In my yonger days, I was a nationally licensed SCCA scrutineer. I am now part of the ZCCA car show committee as co-chair with Fred Buoni of the stock classes. Some months ago, our committee chair Paul Hollander asked to review the rules in an effort to clear up the definitions of the various categories - stock, street modified, Nissan modifed, ultra modified, and daily driver. He also asked to add the 370Z model. So, I found the original WORD file and started editing. I hope to make a presentation at the Board meeting in San Antonio and ask for adoption of the revisions. That's the reasoning behind my quieries as well as my direction. All this conversation for that one paragraph! Here's where I'm at; "The guidelines by which an object is evaluated validate the significance of the award and I would like to see the ZCCA awards ranked amongst the highest of automotive recognition". How's that?

He was emphasizing the three Zs in Zzzap, or ZZZap depending on how you pronounce it, so that I wouldn't mis-speel the term. And I don't want to go overboard on the seriousness of this topic. It seems the cars are peculiar to the North American market - fine. I'm just going to have to buckle down and search through the archives more to see what I can gleem. Here is what the ZCCA judging rules say; "* Special Note: In 1975-1978, Nissan took 280Z cars from the U.S, port of entry, repainted them and added specialty wheels at a factory in Long Beach, California. While being offered to dealers as special, they are considered STOCK. These were also offered by Nissan in nationwide advertising. The most common paint was black with special red striping." I want to clarify that ruling statement and I want to decide what to write as I am in a position to do so. That's my motivation for all this conversation. Thanks for the tip on the literature. The place I'm referring to is Lindbergh Co. Ltd. I'll look your suggestion up, Alan.

Oh, I'm so glad to see you. Carl is in Georgia for the weekend. We can talk freely! Can you shed any light on my questions? My appologies if this subject has been kicked to death previously. I don't seem to find what I'm looking for and what I find isn't accuarate - or at least I'm not convinced. BTW, I stumbled across a source in Tokyo to buy Japanese motoring literature. Pricey! Just ordered "Great Cars Memory - Fairlady Z".

Nice car. Thanks, Mike! I'm prodding the tender spot for a couple of reasons; the first being the ZCCA judging rules. I judged a 638, '78 280Z in the last couple of conventions. I also judged a Black Pearl or two. Wouldn't you imagine that the 'Special Decor Appearance Package' was applied / installed AFTER it arrived on American shores? Were the 411 and 638 colors available anywhere else in the world? And what about something I heard several years ago that the cars were actually painted in the US? In other words, how did they leave 'the factory'? Were these "promotional cars' available anywhere else in the world?