EScanlon

Wow, excellent post to come back to after a couple of days of working on Beandip's Z. Due to the length and broad range of themes, I'd like to pitch in just blurps. Regarding the numbers of cars based on reported serial numbers. Were these ACTUAL production figures or were they based on the projection of serial numbers to be assigned to that model type / class? As shown at Zhome.com, there are instances where the last "production number" reported exceeds and sometimes overlaps onto the next series of numbers. Conversely, there are instances where the serial numbers seem to far outweigh what has been shown to be the case. N.B.: The "first" 500 Z's were 1969.... but apparently there are no records nor reports of the extremely low serial numbers, which gives #26 and 27 added import. Re U.S. Market and popularity of the Z, and sophistication of the market: In hindsight it is easy to determine and assign what made the Z so popular, or what should or shouldn't have been offered. However, it is important to remember that what was happening during the late 60's and not the mid-70's are the driving factors that helped determine what Mr. K decided would be acceptable to the U.S. market. The North American market (including Canada) up until then had been the primary market of the primary U.S. auto companies. Although there were a few NON-U.S. manufacturers that could supply a limited amount of market share, their implied and perceived threat to the "Big 3" was considered negligible. Product quality, reliability, functionality, and lastly appeal were expected and respected of only a few European companies. The "other" brands were seen as "adequate" for their market, but lacking for the American market. The sellable ones were imported, the esoteric by those with money, and the "practical" or highly desireable by everyone else. Japanese manufacturers, unfortunately, were held in very low regard. There was a very long time when the phrase "Made In Japan" was eschewed as a laughable declaration of an inadequate, cheaply made, poor quality product. Bringing a product to market that exceeds that market's need, desireability, value, and/or a number of other factors, is a sure fire way of going broke. Technology / products exchanged from such a disparity are what can be labeled as "magic", "miraculous", "innovative" or "KITSCH". Trying to introduce a 5 speed gear box to a society that has accepted the automatic transmission as a justified and rightfully deserved luxury, ignores the fact that the vast majority of the buying public was NOT the sports car enthusiast who would have known how to discern the benefit of a 5 speed transmission, but rather Mr Suburban Commuter and Mrs Home Housewife. They wanted it easy, reliable and most importantly...cheap. With Detroit selling 3 speed on the column, and a few 4 on the floor models and lots of automatics, it would have been perceived as unnecessary. The average American would not have placed a strong need on a 5 speed transmission since at that time there was no perception of a need to conserve fuel. Allowing your 2 ton behemoth to run at 4500 rpm when you were cruising the road was what it was built for, after all it's 20 gallon gas tank cost slightly more than a few bucks to fill. Additionally, American vehicles came equipped with lots of big bulky powerful engines that required additional bulky and power robbing accouterments that powered equally monstrous behemoths of steel down the highway at an amazing level of acceleration and speed. Remember, the biggest sellers of that era were still the Ford Galaxie 500's, the Plymouth Fury, the Dodge Charger, the Oldsmobile Cutlass, the Chevrolet Impala. Yes, there was the Mustang, the Corvair and other smaller vehicles (than the aforementioned), but these were the NEW introductions during that era and NOT the "average". If I recall correctly, each one of these vehicles came with a V8 engine as STANDARD equipment. Japanese car manufacturer's were fighting a battle of perception, need, useability and one other item...import tariffs. The only items that could traverse that imposed block to trade were those that could be made with the least cost and the least tariff. Anything that could truly compete against Detroit had been conveniently and effectively barred from market by the simple tariff on imported steel, rubber, and other items as well as the car as a whole. So how do you introduce something and make money at it. Well, that's when OPEC started growing some fangs. That's also about the time that Israel had escalated it's programs and irritated it's neighbors, and as part of the consequences, raised prices of oil to the U.S.. Suddenly the benefits of the smaller car became more apparent. The market then began investigating those items it had previously ignored. Mr K's efforts to bring to the North American market a pleasant vehicle reminiscent of some of the finest European designs, with a strong and spirited engine that handled extremely well and was cheap to operate and most importantly was cheap to buy.....he tapped in on each of the major objections to the product. Could he have added items that would have increased it's utility, sportiness, desireability etc? Undoubtedly. But the tariffs were used as a protection mechanism for Detroit for many years. Giving more than what was originally offered may in fact have boosted sales even more, but when production can't meet the demand for the basic product, ADDING to the product would have been counter-productive, it would have actually reduced production, and would have added a higher level of accountability and hence, more costs. When you're selling an item with a 6 month wait, you can literally produce what you want and the demand will snap it up. Although the desireability of "if they'd only..." type of items is readily perceived in THIS day and age, it is only after we became exposed to other markets...long after much of the relaxation of tariffs, and long after the markets have reached a more equitable trading field. Not only in the level of sophistication of the buyer, but also in the sophistication of the seller to perceive present and future expectations. If you'll recall, the onus of having bought a Japanese car was a very big hurdle for the average Joe in the later 60's, not until the early 70's did you see that begin to disappear. Enrique

I presume that you will not be driving the car in the rain, if so, then you won't need the metal that held that trim on. Remove that metal. I've removed a few of these Rain Gutter Trim Finisher in order to do bodywork and painting, believe me they can be extremely sharp as is (meaning painted), let alone after any kind or sanding or grinding. They are the sheared edge of a thin piece of metal with a bend in it. Other automobiles have a ROLLED edge which doesn't have the raw sharp edge of a cut edge of sheet metal. You can try to roll the edge, but I don't think there's enough metal there to do a nice roll that would still channel the water away, so removing that edge should be a priority. (Whether the single layer of metal was the reason for adding the Gutter Finisher, or the single edge was to allow the Finisher to fit would be an interesting question.) If you choose to not remove that edge of metal, you should realize that you've now removed the item that was protecting you from that edge. So if you won't remove that metal, SHEATH that blade. In my opinion, by removing the edge trim you've turned it from a chance of a hazard, to a blade waiting for a "slice". If you roll your car over now, and any part of your body should find itself between the ground and that edge, you'll discover you created a SHEAR. I know that the thought of being impaled is abhorrent to say the least, but unless the ITS has issued a specific all cars must remove this item type of rule or regulation, or the incident you mention you heard about specifically involved a Z and that specific trim piece, then you'd be better off with the gutter trim piece in place. That metal is way too soft to present a true hazard. More often than not the problem is they bend too darn easy and people are removing them because they're scratched, or they mangle them trying to install or remove. Not trying to be offensive, just suggesting should finish the job to truly render it safe. 2¢ Enrique

I think we're seeing those "collectors" (read=investors) who bought one of those Nissan Restorations for the speculative value, getting their $ out of it. That's fine, they'll get out, probably losing a bit (just like Nissan), but they'll help elevate prices for those of us who are just getting into the hobby. (Meaning less than 5-8 years of ownership.) There has been a lot of sales since the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers picked up on the "collectability" of the Z (and other cars). Remember, one of the primary criteria for the WSJ's report was it's present and projected FUTURE value having "investment" value. I.e. buy it now, it'll be worth more later when you sell. Those of us who are doing the actual work of finding parts, repairing others, repairing prior bad fixes etc. are the ones who will...sadly...gain the least. The ones who'll gain the most are those that hang onto their vehicles to get past having had a return on their investment (in pleasure, learning or ....) and then still recoup a sizeable part of their investment when they sell the car. Those that buy a vehicle that has already had at least a medium restoration will see the most increase in their investment, as long as the car isn't allowed to deteriorate. Full restorations, such as those effected by the people Nissan hired, are more expensive, and their need for future restoration is the least of all. That's why they're selling expensively now, and will sell even more expensively in the future. As we've said before, you don't buy a car for the investment opportunities, unless you are buying an already acknowledged museum piece, and will be maintaining it in a museum AND interest is maintained or increases. If you plan on driving and enjoying it, what you are hoping is that the wear and tear you introduce is minimized in order to maximize the vehicle's eventual value...as a well-maintained "classic". Since the second is what I'm planning on, when I finally let mine go, it will be worth more to the next buyer. Hopefully I might break even on my $ investment, or loose only a little and benefit hugely on my PLEASURE regardless of it's sale price. 2¢ Enrique

The filler neck goes through the metal cup, then through and above the rubber flap, then the cap mounting ring. This gives the flap a flat surface to be pressed against with a flat ring (the filler neck), the cap mounting ring provides pressure all around the filler neck ring and the flap evenly. Granted that if properly tightened, the possibility of a leak through this area may seem small, but all it takes is a bit of the rubber flap to be twisted or tweaked as it's forced into the mounting ring if it's mounted above the filler neck ring. I've also seen filler neck rings mounted with only two screws, or with one loose. You know that can't be right, when there are 3 screws to mount it. Most gas caps aren't designed to hold a bunch of pressure. I'm not sure of the pressure rating, but one thing is to contain a "splash" of gas and another is to act as the stopper when the tank is upside down. Even in a sustained left curve the pressure against the gas cap couldn't possibly be more than a pound or two...over 6 square inches (roughly 2" cap * Pi). Even if you were to up the pressure to 5 pounds the total pressure on the cap is less than a pound per square inch. Now turn the tank upside down and ONLY put in ONE gallon of gas and you're now talking 6-7 pounds on the cap which is now greater than one pound per square inch. In my experience, most people report an "empty" tank when they have three to five gallons still left in the tank. That's a lot more pressure. Go with half a tank (7.5 Gallons) and now you're talking approximately 50 pounds of pressure. Even your radiator cap wouldn't hold that. All this is conjecture as I don't have actual measurements nor weights, but the basic principle applies, the gas shouldn't be able to slosh out of the cap. If it does, it's not making the basic - slosh proof- function it's required to do. I replaced my gas cap with a locking gas cap. That arrived with a nice thick rubber gasket that gets compressed when you put the cap on such that both tangs engage the neck ring. The ONLY time I've noticed the tell tale "oily smudge" was when I over-filled (I could see the gas in the filler neck, putting the gas about 2" below the cap) and I didn't put the cap on properly (one tang of the cap wasn't engaged fully). I'll check the new Z I haven't yet disassembled and post whether the standard original cap had a rubber washer in it or not. As far as tightening the existing cap, first check to make sure that the neck ring isn't itself worn down. Tightening the ears on the cap would make it fit tighter, but only to a small degree. I'd be willing to bet that most of those "sloshing" problems were caused by crushed rubber gaskets, or simply, missing gaskets. What about other members? Would you check your gas cap and see if there's a rubber gasket there? I wasn't implying that YOU had a car like that, I was simply stating that I would immediately question any signs of gas spillage and not simply attribute it to a common occurrence. Enrique

First get that link fixed, then see what is still out. Hard to even hazard a guess as to what may have fried or ...? Doing fuse checks is one way, but remember, you don't have ANY juice going to the car at all without that link. If you do, then you have more things to check and correct as that shouldn't be happening. One good thing to check right now is that all the fuses in the fuse box are making contact. Remove each one and do a continuity check to it REMOVED from the fuse box. Many times people report that the fuse LOOKED ok, but in fact failed a simple continuity check. As a suggestion, don't get frustrated trying to "fix" it while waiting for the part. Performing other "fixes" when you can't tell if in fact you are FIXING, may exacerbate the problem further. Just 2¢ Enrique

Carl: Sorry to jump on this one. If you have gas sloshing out of the gas tank: Get a new Gas Cap or at least check out the washer and whether the neck ring is mounted properly. While I can see fumes escaping due to filling up on a cold day and then the car's warming up caused the gas to expand, venting via the cap, having it "slosh" tells me that the cap is only acting as a slower-downer and not as a cap. Or, the filler neck has been mounted wrong such that the gas is actually venting below the filler neck cap latch ring. Or there is one or more screws missing from it. Sorry, but that's a "if you can't cap it, don't leave a wick" boo-boo award. Enrique

Glad you got updated. As Carl said, DON'T use the INTERIOR Rain-X. DO use the Exterior Rain-X. Not only will it make the NEED for wiping the rain off the windshield rare, it also helps in keeping the dirt and oil gunk off. Additionally, your wipers (when you HAVE to use them) will glide over the windshield easier, faster and wipe better. 2¢ Enrique

This deserves repeating. Too many times people go off and "fix" several other items that had nothing to do with THIS basic problem. However, that you get ANY click at all from the solenoids, says that the fusible link is at least getting SOME power through, if that's possible. If the fusible link has blown, there is NO connection between the car circuitry and the Battery other than the Negative Ground. Without the fusible link, the car is simply.....dead in the water. You won't have ANY electrical activity at all anywhere...except for any added circuitry that connects directly through to the battery. This is part of the reason you need to be real careful when adding "circuits" to your electrical system. Plug into the car's wiring incorrectly and you might find your lights go on when you start your car, or your wipers only work when you have the brake lights on or some other nightmare. I'm more concerned in that you mention you can't find the fusible link. Never replace a fusible link with a plain piece of wire. A fusible link is ... A FUSE. It's designed to blow before you incur damage. Replacing it with a wire is like coming up from a deep sea scuba dive while holding your breath! 2¢ Enrique

Not to sermonize, nor give you a hard time, but a friend of mine once said to me: "There are Bold Fools, and Old Fools, but you rarely see a Old Bold Fool." What he meant is that those who take chances are more prone to accidents. Unfortunately, you sometimes find out that you took too bold of a chance....afterwards. If you are serious about getting your fix for speed, while having a blast, and staying relatively safe...try indoor go-karting. I will guarantee you that you will have an absolute blast, feel exhilirated, and get all the fix you want. All in a relatively safe environment, with enough acceleration (which face it is what you can feel, not speed) and g-forces and skids and donut and 180° thunks into the rubber to chill you out for at least.....a few weeks. Also, TONS cheaper. If you go to a local rink, they may have cars for rent either by the lap or by time. As far as getting on a track, I doubt any track in the U.S. would allow you to race on their track without a waiver of responsibility. What form that takes is between you and the track. However, the tracks that I've heard of, give access only to established GROUPS. Unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge of any group that races that doesn't require some form of acceptance. Again, since I've not investigated it, I can't tell you what to expect. As far as racing on the streets, I agree with you. I'm all for you getting your thrills out of life. When you decide to involve ME, you had better have discussed it with me and I had better have agreed, or you run the risk of MY taking the thrill out of YOUR life. Personally, activities such as sky-diving, racing, deep snorkle diving, bungee jumping are thrilling because of many reasons. Not the least of which is the risk involved. Without addressing whether they should or shouldn't be done, my thought is that all of those activities are those that, in my opinion, require proper training and supervision. To attempt any one of those without them is a very boldly foolish way to die. So good luck in finding a venue to get a racing fix. Enrique

Kats: Could you post the picture of the Rubber Firewall Grommet you are looking for? Also the one about the screws for the latches. For some reason I'm unable to see any of the pictures on your link site. Enrique

Not sure on this, but if I recall the Hatch Rubber Plugs that hide the holes in the metal that were originally used for the vent drain holes, are a good size, maybe big enough to fit that hole. 2¢ Enrique

Mark As far as racing, I would say that I'm a potential race-aholic who knows NOT to see how tolerant he can be. I love racing, enjoy going to them, watching them and have often fantasized about being in the car, either driving or as a passenger (rally navigator). Unfortunately, I know that I would be seriously, no let me rephrase... $eriou$ly addicted to the sport. If I could afford it, and had a vehicle that I wouldn't mind getting a couple of dings knocks etc into, then I'd be ears-deep into it. But, I can't afford it, and I'm a body-man and painter hobbyist and I don't relish the thought of scraping one of my paint jobs on another car or wall. So, racing is out for me. I know that PIR (Portland International Raceway) has days available to clubs, and sometimes to certified individuals, but you have to pass a safety inspection and have the proper insurance and insurance waivers. That's about all I know. As far as the rust / newbie issue. I don't think that anyone is coming down hard on YOU. I do think that everyone would rather you investigated and made sure, rather than suppose that it's ok. Far, far too many new guys have posted "Rust-Free Z" and have followed it up within some short period of time with "Oops...found some rust!" and sometimes gone onto "Can you believe that the floors were still holding together?". As a member of this site and others, believe me, even if some users were read about twice, there are still a vast majority of members who've found rust, rather than NOT finding rust. So, since you are at that stage of your project that a little bit more time and expense NOW will literally save you HUNDREDS down the road, you can see why we came down "hard". Almost without exception, the tar mat may indeed be good where you've gotten it to bust off, but sometimes it hides rust in the seam between floorpan and firewall, underneath the seats, by the rocker panels and almost always by the drain holes. When you remove all the tarpaper you may be indeed shocked and pleased that you found it before it got worse, as opposed to discovering it by installing Flintstone Brakes. (Where you can put your foot through the floor.) So, welcome to the club. Use the search function and you will literally be inundated with ideas, tips, procedures and all sorts of troubleshooting. Enrique

Please define "Won't Start!": You turn the key in the ignition lock you hear the click of the accessory relay on the passenger kick panel, you turn the key further and you hear a louder click coming from the engine bay area and you can hear the starter engaging and the engine turns over slowly normally and then does / does not kick over, not at all or sometimes. However, since you mention that all the lights on the dash went out, I'm going to presume that you were driving in daylight and as such did not notice if your lights went out, or didn't have them on to notice, that the car ran on but seemed different and that now it won't start....check the fusible link between the battery and the starter. If that fusible link goes out, the car simply has no connection to the battery. The engine, if it was running, will continue to run, just as if you had used a starter trigger. I've not verified the second, but according to the schematic that's what should happen. Enrique

I don't think you can use the first sentence and a Z in the same breath, let alone claim it. The main problem with the tar paper is that Datsun originally put it directly on top of unpainted sheet metal. Then they painted the car. Now maybe by the time the 280's came around they were painting first. Unfortunately the 280's I worked on only needed cosmetic body-work and I left the tar alone so I can't confirm nor deny whether it is there or not. You have to decide. Just be aware that the initial body style Z (Series I and II) is notoriously prone to rust even in storage. The phrase Rust-Free Z is a dead give-away that you ain't checked her out yet. As far as the second sentence, if you had cancer would you opt to NOT do anything because you didn't want a scar? Enrique

Just a couple of thoughts regarding speaker installations: If you are not opposed to loosing the tool box covers, then you can just replace the lids with speaker panels. You'll get two benefits, one a deeper resonance cavity, and the ability to return the car to stock when you replace the tool box lids. If a small degree of modification is acceptable, you could mount on the front of the tool box area. This will involve cutting some sheet metal. One disadvantage is that the speakers will literally be aimed at your butt, not bad for listening to Thus Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey), but subtle jazz or light pop would suffer due to the muffling of the seat and the carpet below. A mix of the two above would involve placing a pair of 6x9 in speakers on the front of the tool box area wired to the lower frequencies of the cross-over, and then a pair of 5¼" mid-range and another pair of 2" tweeters mounted on a speaker panel in lieu of the tool box lids. Insulate the interior of the tool box area with fluffy fibreglass after putting down some tar-mat to the metal and a Port Duct for the Air Reflex of 5 speakers and you would have a small component speaker system. If additional crispness is desired, a pair of 5¼" Mid/Tweet combination speakers could be mounted in the stock locations. The final item would be to locate a pair of 3" or 5" round dual speakers on the underside of the dash (you'd fashion a plate that would attach to the dash and firewall) right by where the fresh air vent controls are. Personally, I feel that adding a ton of base to music requires the volume of air to enjoy it in. The amount of base these kids are pumping serves only to resonate the complete car and not to make it sound better inside. Yes, it may appear to be better, but to a true audiophile it is more muffled and less dynamic than a good home system. However, there will be some that will insist on adding subwoofers. Why not check the amount of space available under the seats? I wouldn't be surprised to find that you could put a 9" or biggger directly under the seat. You could shield the seat bottom and direct the sub-woofer downward to change the directness of the sound. All of this requires a high wattage amplifier, which in turn requires a high wattage alternator and battery. Plan accordingly and effect upgrades as necessary to meet and give a safety margin. Then rock-on down the highway. 2¢ Enrique

Only the very earliest 240's had AM only. That would be 69 and early 70. By the second half of 70 and up they had AM and FM. Still only one speaker, but there was an indicator to let you know the station was a stereo one. The two right most selector push-buttons would change the band to FM and select the selected FM station. Enrique

Tomohawk's idea of some silicone to hold the base plate is probably the best idea. Unfortunately, installing mirrors is a 3 handed operation. One to hold the mirror in place, and the other two to get the plate and the nut onto the screws. The last couple of times that I installed the mirrors, I held the nut between my pinky and ring finger and used thumb, index and middle to get everything aligned then very carefully, while holding the plate with my middle finger, switched the nut to my thumb and index and then got it started. That's the tricky part, once you get the nut on you can tighten finger tight and then insert your socket wrench. The only time that this gets easier is when the window is OUT of the door and you don't have to keep raising and lowering the window. Enrique

I've got a 71 and a 72, but I don't think that's the Hazard Flasher. I may be wrong, but it looks more like the KD Solenoid for the KD switch on an Automatic car. But now that I think back, you might check directly behind the radio on the driver's side. There should be two flasher's there. The Turn Signal one is right by the Steering Column and the Hazard one is closer to the center console. But they both look like standard flashers. Check that out, I'm still betting on it being your flasher that's out. Enrique

Love it! Just think, then we can make our own headlight covers!!! E

My comment regarding bashing each other was, in retrospect, harsher than I intended. I was responding to what, it seemed to me, to be a defensive stance taken by spudea. That I personally wouldn't change my tail-lights to clear, because of my opinion on the look, doesn't mean that properly done it wouldn't look good. The pictures he posted of a 300 and 280 back end show that it has been done and may be acceptable to others. It may be that with some discussion we might find a scheme that would be a "futuristic" (meaning more modern) alternative to the standard taillights. Especially for the newer Z owners who, whether by choice, or being forced to find cheaper alternatives than OEM parts, are looking for ways of making their vehicle their own. If you've seen the new mini catalog by MSA, you'll see the clear turn signal lenses. If you like the look of the side marker like on a SAAB or a VW or some of the other vehicles that have mid-body markers, then that look may be for you. As far as the requirement for a color lens on the back, IIRC, the requirement is for the REFLECTOR to show red from behind, and to be ILLUMINATED red when the brakes are applied. That allows you to have a clear lens, but a red bulb with a red reflector someplace on the unit. As a thought, what about a smaller red lens inside the clear exterior lens? So, sorry if I jumped up and down louder than I intended. Enrique

This silly argument in all it's diverse presentations boils down to one basic tenet we all have: The modification to YOUR vehicle by YOU, only needs to satisfy YOU. That to those of us of an older persuasion (I'm not saying age), the "clear" lenses are more reminiscent of those sun bleached and faded lenses found on really older cars. Whenever you saw an older car with bleached out lenses you knew that it had been "ridden hard". To those of a younger persuasion, the "clear" lens is NOT a distasteful change, hence it's popularity amongst a typically "young" audience or at least those who are willing to embrace new concepts instead of tried and tested methods. So think of the clear lenses like a see-through blouse on a person. On some people it is so desireable that we would deem it mandatory, think Christie Brinkley, Cher, Britney Spears, and Fabio (for those of the opposing persuasion). On other people we would consider it to be an unfathomable breach of the visual senses (and ignoring all the "moral" BS.), there think of your plumber; your local mouth-breathing, beer swilling, never had a bath, naval scratching flea bag acquaintance (and no, I don't want to know) or Phyllis Diller or RuPaul. Where some people are not opposed to the thought, others reject the thought just on the basis of it's concept. You will not get the two to agree, except maybe to agree to disagree. So let's not BASH each other for not caring to do what some people suggest, and then again, don't expect everyone to like your idea if you choose to post it. If we can get past denigrating each other, we might find that we can DISCUSS the concept. 2¢ Enrique P.S.: Personally, I've seen vehicles with the clear lens COVERS and the internal small red lens, and others where the whole tail-light was clear with red BULBS. Some looked sharp, others didn't, in EITHER / BOTH of those categories. Same thing goes for changing out the tail-lights completely.

There is a big difference in the temperatures involved. I don't have my Chem book handy, but LIQUID Nitrogen is (if memory serves) MUCH colder than SOLID Carbon Dioxide. That is because Carbon Dioxide (CO2) does not pass through a liquid state at normal pressures. You have to have an ungodly amount of pressure to keep C02 liquid. It sublimates from a solid to a gas while gaining thermal energy and taking it away from the metal it comes in contact with. Yes it hardens the metal but you'd have to strike it just right at the exact spot that the metal has begun to crystalize (and that takes time) for it to crack it. I'm not saying it can NOT happen, just that it takes very special conditions for the famous shatter the metal with a hammer strike experiment. Enrique

The percentages on the right apply to the number of votes for THAT option to the TOTAL number of options SELECTED. In this voting scenario the percentage doesn't weigh any one option with relation to another, it's simply saying that that option was SELECTED X TIMES out of ALL boxes selected. Since voters could select from ONE to FIFTEEN boxes for their 1 VOTE, each vote WEIGHS differently in the percentage on the right. At the time I pulled the numbers, 72 people had voted, of which 37 had selected Wheels/ Tires and only 3 said NONE, Perfect. The %'s were from the TOTAL number of boxes checked, which was 342. 37 divided by 342 yields 0.10818 which matches the 10.82% listed, so does the 3 at 0.88%. The problem is that the poll does not sum up the number of Total Checked Boxes. Enrique

>emphasis mineTo answer this question: From your first post that says: Since no one had posed the subject of multiple votes at that time, nor had anyone posted that they could or couldn't vote more than once. It is very possible that while you were aware of being able to vote more than once, others did NOT know so, nor think so, therefore that's why you got those responses. Then again, maybe you didn't know about multiple votes and had just tried it and it didn't work, or you hadn't yet tried it and was just presuming that you would not be allowed to. Confused? Yeah, so are the rest of us when you start asking rapid-fire questions that seem to pick up on a thread that no one but YOU is thinking of and then getting upset when the answers don't fit your train of thought. So let's get back to the thread. Enrique

Good Poll. I can see how that other poll regarding Factory or Dealer installed parts or superseded parts was so important. My car has had many repairs that were done with original Datsun parts, but in some instances were considered upgrades to what was done with the car originally. The seats on a 71 do not offer a true reclining mechanism. They are the original tilt the backrest style of reclining (i.e. turn a knob and adjust the angle of the backrest, but not adjust the position of the backrest with relation to the seat). You could not tilt the seat back forward either (to get to the hatch area). The 72 cars had a true reclining mechanism, and you could tilt the back forward. Many original owners effected this change when possible. (I'm not including the Stock Concours Purists) Those were changes that people did to "correct" items they felt were inadvertently "forgotten", "overlooked" or "unfinished" in the original car. Courtesy Lights in the foot area or on the door to illuminate when open are another "upgrade" that uses the stock wiring. All you have to do is add the lights. The door switches will light them and so will the Dome light switch, so this was a "change" without being a modification, but in the pure essence of this poll was made "different". The Heater Control Panel Faceplate is notoriously dark on all the 240's except for the 73 model. That one offered back-light bulbs to illuminate the levers and knob. That also is a change, but again many owners took advantage of it. Custom wheels were such a "standard" part of the dealer package that there are many individuals that are "shocked" to discover how plain the original "D" Hubcaps were, or the subsequent "Z" ones. How many times have you seen ads for the OEM Mag Wheels on a Z? The famous 5 spoke oval hole aluminum wheels with a cap or a spinner were so prevalent that most people just assume the car arrived with them and not that they were one of those "automatic" upgrades by the dealer. In other posts and other sites we've heard of guys that worked at the dealer and were literally chucking brand new hubcaps in the junk because the new owner didn't want them (when he actually did NOT know the car came with different wheels). A friend of mine was told that Datsun expected the car to be sold with the Mag's but had them installed in the US to save $, and that's why dealers did that automatically. Truth or Sales Hype? I wanted to vote, but unfortunately, I'd have to pick each option including the last one. Enrique