26th-Z

I can't thank you enough Mike! The FLV player software didn't download properly for me, but I DID get the conversion software to download and install. It converts the FLV file that the U-Tube video is in to whatever file you want; such as, wmv, avi, mpeg, mp3, ipod...etc. It is only shareware and will convert up to one minute of video. In order to convert longer videos, I have to buy the software. Will probably do that today because I have a number of longer videos saved in my U-Tube library. The video of this thread converted to wmv in about a 4 meg file size. It is under one minute. Well! This has opened up a whole new can of worms for me! This is so great! Many thanks for unlocking the U-Tube frustration for me! Chris

I have been buying tires from TireRack for years. UPS ships them to my tire guy. It costs me about $40 to get them mounted and balanced. I wouldn't go to the TIRES-R-US store. Go downtown to a private tire buster and get to know him. Manny and Javier service my tires and we gab about Formula One racing as they are from Columbia where it is a big deal. They were on the TireRack recomendations list. Seriously. This is the way to go. I regularly buy tires from TireRack and have them mounted for half what I would pay at TIRES-R-US.

This has been the subject of a few e-mails floating around for the last couple of days. Does anyone know how to download this so that it can be saved on my computer? Carl Beck was asking. We have never seen this one before. Does anyone know where it came from? Date? Carl supposed it was made during the Vintage Z period - 1997, but I would be surprised. How cool, huh?

Gus, I heard that registration was moving to the track during the days of the events. Yes? No?

I need two of them!!!

I'm almost positive Craig Schwartz http://www.diversifiedpromotions.com/ is doing the Daytona convention. He did all the goodies at the Dallas convention. http://www.onesourcepro.com/osp/Shop/zapparel?dsp=homepage I have purchased a bunch of stuff from him and it is first rate. I have a Nissan umbrella, a Z logo Swiss Army knife and a couple of embroidered shirts. Craig will do custom work if you like things embroidered instead of a sewn on patch. He had Datsun watches.

I will be selling off a lot of my collection at the car show in Daytona. I do not plan to be at the convention for the whole week, but I will be there through Tuesday. I plan to bring copies of my research study on Vintage Zs - a 30 odd page booklet. I also plan to sell copies of my DVD "Birth of a Legend". I have quite a few racing posters and "garage art". Most of that stuff is from the 300ZX racing program and the GTP racing program. Some of the posters are signed by Millen and O'Connell.

I'm glad you guys enjoy this conversation! Hi Kats. Hi Pat. My green hood from 27th is a #1 hood, but it is so rusty! I would like to repair it, but for how much?

Here is one of the official publicity photos of Mr. K and Dale Ishimoto with the banner in the background. Dale Ishimoto played the role of the mystical Mr. K in the "Dream Garage" series of television commercials. This is one of the reasons I think the Vintage Z program was all part of the Dream Garage ad campaign.

No, it is not a Vintage Z. In Summary The Vintage Z portion of the Z-Store promotion conducted by Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. (Nissan U.S.A.) officially spanned between May, 1997 and October, 1998. During those seventeen months, approximately thirty-seven to forty restored early model Datsun 240Zs (1970-1972) were delivered to Z-Store dealers and offered for sale. Initially, the cars were priced at $25,000. They were completely refurbished previously owned vehicles warranted by Nissan for 12 months / 12,000 miles and represented as new. Curiously enough, I have just been told that the banners making up the backdrop to the stage have been aquired by a collector. Here is a crappy photo of Mr. K up on stage during the Vintage Z introduction ceremonies; May3rd, 1997. I have an old VHS film taken by Pierre of the event.

I can tell you with all certainty that the green hood is circa October 1969. But that's what got me going to photograph the two and show that there are far more differences than the holes on either side of the hood latch. In fact, the entire pressing profile of the inner rail is different. My biggest surprise was to see the reinforcement gusset plate in the back corners of the hood.

Greetings. Bring your Skyline to the convention in Daytona this October. Lets have a look.

That's just the perspective playing tricks on your eyes.

A big difference appears on the rear inner rail. The blue hood has a punch-out and the metal pressing around it is different. See how the pressing is raised? The huge difference is a gusset plate in the back corners of the hood. The metal folds are different as well. So the blue hood is very different and not the early style it was purported to be. I'm curious to see what other variations there are. Have a look at your hood and lets collect some pictures!

Along the side rail of the hood; a punch-out on the blue hood and none on the green. Same condition both sides.

The green rusty nasty hood is from 27th. Pretty obvious why I bought another hood, huh? The blue hood is the used one I bought. The punch-outs for the front inner rail are pretty much the same.

There has been a conversation going around my e-mail about early hoods (bonnets) and the differences between them. A couple of friends are pouring money into their restorations and the rest of the low VIN club guys are watching with delight. The conversation got on to hoods one day and I rushed home to have a look at what I have. Of course, you all know that Princess 27th of the rust brothels in Dover, Delaware is pretty trashed. I bought a hood from a guy who swore it was a very early '70 style. 27th's hood is trashed, but like most of her, its original. So I lined the two up and compared. The major question being; "Is there a difference between the hoods of the early model years" and "Can a replacement hood be made to look like an original early (1969 build) because a 69 hood is unobtanium. Read on to see what I came up with. Please feel free to add photos of your hoods along with model year. How many different hoods are there?

Its been so long, I had a nice stroll down memory lane looking at the pictures. A '67 BGT would be a nice car to have. 67 was the last year before smog devices and the rockers should be cast instead of pressed steel. I believe this was the most powerful version of the engine. The car may or may not come with a 5th speed which was actuated electronically. '67 is the year to have IMO. A BGT is a nice car. A Z is much nicer. And faster. I think the photos in the ad are a little too cropped and I am suspicious of the condition. At 29,000 miles, there should be no reason for new paint. I can't tell. The interior looks good, but I wish I could see more. I think ten grand is a little high. Even though an MGB GT is a nice car (I have owned one), it really isn't that desireable. The auction has had an offer declined, so far. I'll be anxious to see how this one goes.

Ok, I reported my deceased parts car

This is the only picture I have of a silver car with headlight covers. I took it because it shows that defined line of the front edge of the car. Such period Japanes styling! I'm a real fan of the headlight covers and have the chrome ring sets. I think they would look great on a silver car. Couple of comments about some of the posts on this thread: A set of oem ZG headlight covers sold on eBay last week for $750. No auction, just a straight sale. Reproductions were made and sold out last year. I have a set and the picture of V12 horse's is another set. You can't tell the difference. I would be willing to bet that the guy who made them will make another batch. They came from Japan. There IS a rubber gasket between the headlight can and the back of the bodywork "sugar scoop" headlight fender extension. The oem gasket is super rare brand new.

I just registered. Don't miss the deadline!

Nissan USA does support the national convention of the ZCCA and $25,000 is the rumored amount. This money is controled by the ZCCA and funneled to the local convention team. The exact details of Daytona, I do not know as I am not involved. However, in past years, NISMO has given support in addition to Nissan USA. To the best of my knowledge local Nissan dealer support is directly related to the efforts of the local convention team. Great full page ad in Nissan Sport, BTW. My thanks for supporting the Daytona convention. I belong to the BMW Car Club of America and the Porsche Club of America as well as the 356 registry. All three organizations give me a magazine subscription with my membership and I get a newsletter from my local chapters - one is an e-mail newsletter. The magazines are absolutely top notch. It wasn't until I joined the 350Z Club of Florida that I got a magazine with my membership. Their membership dues are only $5 more than the other club I belong to which provides nothing. Both club's annual dues are very close to the dues I pay for BMW and Porsche as well as what you guys have quoted in the previous posts. I think it is a right of membership to get a club publication and I am very pleased to see Nissan Sport fill that void. ZCCA, are you listening?

Art, Mine just arrived in the noon mail and I thought of this thread. Please DO take the negative comments with a large dose of salt. From my perspective, I think the magazine is quite nice and entertaining. I like some of the things you have featured this issue and I can't be any more complimentary about your club coverage. The poster featured on the last page and contributed by Dan Banks was a delight to see. Dan and I have been discussing posters for some time. I have some things I could contribute for that feature if you desire. I also took great delight from the archives page featuring the 1958 Datsun 210 "Fuji". The AWD 350Z project was interesting. From the listing of clubs and partner web sites I was reminded to send a link to a friend who just purchased a Z32. I'm glad to see your good efforts and I wish you all the best in the future. Never mind that you feature that Infidel G37 on the cover! Chris

Yep! It's that easy to cross up all these VIN numbers and stuff. Sorry. I'm not looking for your car Bob.

Perhaps I should add to my post above - explanation. I have a Nissan document (an accounting document) from the program that shows part purchases for the VZ cars by VIN. It is dated May 23, 1997 and lists 25 cars. Of those 25, 15 are on Evanow's list. Of the 10 remaining, the VINs I listed show significant part purchases; enough to make me believe that these cars were restored. May 97 was early in the program and to be on the list that early would indicate that they were not parted out. The other 3 do not have purchase quantities and data entry. This accounting document is 18 pages long and lists over 800 different part by number. There is a lot to glean from the information. First is the idea that the Vintage Z restoration program was a part replacement restoration process. Thus we can accept the idea of incorrect part application to model year. Another is the vast number of replacement parts that went into the restoration - and the resulting cost.