26th-Z

I was watching those. That is clearly a pissed off buyer who needs tail lights and wasn't going to let anyone get in his way no matter how much they cost. "Blax" usually has good junk and I'm not surprised they were expensive, but considering new tail lights are pretty much unobtainium, the price for nice used ones is going to be high. Die preise ziemlich hoch! CW-

Hi Zrush! Having the car supported equally on jack stands and jacking it up on one side are two different things. It is not such a great idea to open the door on the jacked side during the operation. It's not a big deal, but yea, the car is stressed unequally and keeping the dorr closed helps. Try it. You'll notice the door doesn't open or close as well. CW-

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You can probably find the measurements you are looking for in the Sevice Manual if they exist. The tunnel is constructed the way it is - as well as the shifter cutout location - because the car is bias to right-hand drive. It's not really offset in the way we might think. There are subtle differences between the left and right side of the tunnel. Some are due to the location of the hand brake and the shape of the transmission. It IS, however, bias to the right side and as much as I hate the arguement, I'm convinced it is because the car was designed RHD. For fitting new floors, I did my rough cuts first, holding the new floor in place and scribing the metal to fit. I bolted the transmission mount in place to keep the tunnel dimension stable and measured to the mounting points for alignment. Chris - the weld-grinder

I fully endorse Dashboard Restorations. They did a great job for me.

You talking about me, Will? PM me with your mailing address and I'll send you the draft.

Guys, http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8103&highlight=dashboard+restorations http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7215&highlight=dashboard+restorations

Yep! Red oxide primer. I see it on 26th and 27th. You know how the seat brackets are painted black? Same black on the front of the radiator support behind the grill? I was noticing at the ZCCA convention car show - on the original '70 with 23,000 miles - the black is brush painted.

Nissan sells a full line of apparel. The earliest catalog I have is 1997. Carl Beck and Pete Brock tell me that my jacket is an Interpart item. It closely resembles the picture in the 1973 catalog, but it has a 240Z emblem below the Datsun patch rather than a BRE patch on the right sleeve. I don't have the liner for the jacket either. MSA is selling a real nice short-sleeved shirt that replicates the original BRE crew shirts. Some of the patches and pins I see regularly on eBay are real nice reproductions. A couple of years ago, I was all hopped up on the Nissan Group C racing cars and sewed a Nissan patch and March Cars patch on a Lands End golf shirt. A lot of you have seen me in my 26th-Z embroidered golf shirts. Then there is the golf shirt with HLS30-00026. Yea! Show your support! Wear your colors! Dress yourself in Datsun clothing.

Women love Datsun 240Z jackets.

Good color change.

We going to see you in these parts, Bob? Please bring some cooler weather with you!

If anyone buys these and want to sell me parts....I'm looking for a metal Datsun hatch emblem and early, non-folding seats.

Stricktly aftermarket, whether a dealership installed it or not.

This guy is selling two cars. One is RHD Fairlady. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-Z-Series-240Z-Datsun-240Z-1970_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6187QQitemZ4578833730QQrdZ1

You're right, Carl. My info came from the Fourth Overall Parts Catalog, December 1973. One of things I like so much about this sport is that when you think you know what's going on, someone shows up with an exception to the rule. Yes, the H signifies the 2.8 liter engine also - sorry all you 280Z guys out there. Yes, Sean, HS30-H is the designation code for the Fairlady 240ZG introduced October 1971 and discontinued September 1973 according to Brian Long; "Datsun Z, Fairlady to 280Z". Chris

Gary, There are a couple of uncracked dashes on eBay right now and $1,000 to $1,500 is about the going price. For that kind of money, make sure you buy the correct one for your car. There IS a difference. I shipped my dash to Australia for Dashboard Restorations and it was about a grand door to door from Florida. Nice workmanship. I would recommend them. One word of advise, for the size of the box you will need to ship the dash, weight is not a factor in the shipping cost. Let them fit your gauges and vents. A nice console that you will need to restore is about $120. The ash tray is about $150. Fuse box cover is $25. Door panels as you describe are $200 each if you can find them - good luck. Arm rests are around $50 each and window cranks are pretty easy to find. A new grab handle is around $50 Steering wheels with the holes in the spokes are a dime a dozen for unrestored.

H signifies the 2.4 liter engine. It has nothing to do with which side the steering wheel was on. HLS30-120001 began in July 1972 regardless of what 'model year' it was given. Sean, do a search through these archives and you will find discussions about manufacturung dates on various parts in your car. Currently, someone is talking about a date stamp they found on their gas tank. Comparing these part number dates with the door tag date will give you an excellent idea of exactly when your car was built. Chris

Most definitely later model choke knob. It is condidered "square" because the corner edges are sharp compared to the more "rounded" edges of the earlier ones. The one Z Babe is showing is not offset and has the word choke printed on it. The two versions pictured here are the earliest and show only the symbol - rounded and squared.

Mike pretty much describes it. Like my term, riff-raff? It's all in fun - Enjoy the Ride, eh? I would look at the car before I considered buying it, too bad the photos are so lousy, but $4500 isn't a bad price for an early Fairlady IMO. It all depends on what blows your dress up - I guess. I would like to have an early Fairlady. Ben, I didn't realize the bumper rubbers were distinctive between the S30 and the S30S. I have these great pictures in an expensive Fairlady-I book and they both show solid chrome bumpers with no rubbers!?! We were having a banter about this subject at a Z picnic extravaganza yesterday. Remember one of the guys with me at the convention last year - Rick? He has a silver 260Z and he has been converting bumpers. He bought a new front and new rubbers, but the bumper is not drilled for the rubbers. Makes me wonder if the new bumpers available these days are really NOS leftovers - the only ones remaining - or new manufacture. The rally clock is listed as an option in the 1970 sales catalog. I thought they all came with the basic clock. Is there a difference between the heater console face plates of the S30 and the HLS30? Do the Fairlady consoles have fan switch (hi - low) indicators molded in the plastic? Chris

Hey there, Sean! I had the same question some time ago and have been told that serial numbers were duplicated across different model types. In other words, yes. There should be an HS30-04944. There probably is an S30-04944.

I had the oldest Z for the longest time and then I met someone with an older one. What gives it away as a ZL, Ben? I must say that for an early Z, it certainly is cobbled up with aftermarket and replacement riff-raff.

New ones are plastic - old ones are metal. I'm looking for a metal 'Datsun' for the hatch lid.

Loved the video, Guus. Just great!

To the best of my knowledge, the build date does not necessarily correspond to successive VINs. The car is supposedly given a VIN at the very begining of production and a build date later, after production. That was Alan's explanation. I concur. HLS30-00026 shows a November 1969 build date and HLS30-00027 shows an October build date. And just for kickers, the engine number in 26th is higher than the engine number in 27th. Following the production volume figures that Kats provided some time ago, both 26th and 27th were built in October, but that isn't what the door tag says. I wouldn't put a lot of emphasis on the dead accuracy of the build date. I'll also comment again that the "titled" date - the date the car was registered - has nothing to do with the construction date of the car. I consider both of my cars 1969s, but 26th wasn't titled until May of 1970.