EScanlon

And if it weren't for the fact that my owner would promptly have me neutered AND do a flush Bobbit Trim causing me to have to change the gender of my clothes I would buy at least half a dozen more Z's. You know, Save the Z, collect the entire set! So I empathize, and although it may have sounded harsh, it wasn't meant to be offensive. Good Luck Enrique

You won the lottery or got a super paying job that would allow you to BOTH restore the 280 and buy the 240 for driving pleasure. I understand the NEED to drive the car. But I also understand that your finances may be stretched to the limit. I'll be blunt, it sounds as though you've decided to buy the car on an impulse and are hoping some of us here talk some sense into you. The bottom line is this, if YOU feel that there is reason to doubt, then go with your instincts. Asking us to help isn't a solution as later you will blame us either because it turned out to be the ONLY Z Mr. K personally helped build and you didn't buy it, OR it becomes not only a money pit, but you swear it has a shop vac attached to it. 2¢

Not Technically. See, we're all waiting to see when 2ManyZ's actually comes out of the closet and admits that he really actually has a Z in EACH state. When that happens, then we'll know that it's ok to have the 50 Anniversary. Otherwise, we have to wait to see what Nissan does in the year 2020 or 2019 or.......Now that you mention it.........ALAN?????!

If you were restoring the car for an investment.....well, I have a line on some waterfront property in Arizona..... What you are asking is, would you get more out of the 240 or the 280. Sadly, unless you find a very willing and RICH buyer, neither. Unless you are willing to wait another 5-15 years for your investment to "mature" and the market to improve. Here's the bottom line: Yes, you have a lot going into the 280. But you also opted to have all that work done at a body shop...excellent idea, but EXPENSIVE. Let me rephrase that......EEEEEEEEEKKKKK! spensive. But then again, you should get good quality work out of it. Then you have to get other parts, fixes, etc etc. Sad to say, but the best you could hope for....is to enjoy it for a long time. The other car: You don't mention the condition nor requirements of the other car. Rust? Paint? Interior? All those will mean that you will basically be starting OVER, but this time $5k in the hole. ($2k for the 240, plus the $3k you've already sunk into the 280.) You're hoping that the return on the 240 will be better than the 280. It probably will, but it will also require as deep of an investment. So which one to go with? Sorry, I'll leave that to others. But I hope I helped clear the air a bit. 2¢

Contact the tow company and specify that you need a flat bed tow. They have special trucks with flat beds on them, then they winch you up (you DO still have the tow hook on the front of the car don't you?) and as long as you can keep the front wheel straight you can get on to the bed of the truck. Then once at the shop, worst case they can sling a jack under the bad wheel and fix it. 2¢

I leave the power tuning to the mechanics, but here's what I've heard about Porting and Polishing the intake and exhaust portion of the head. By smoothing out the ports, you avoid the subtle but annoying air turbulence within the "pipe". This turbulence can slow down the intake / exhaust such that the engine is actually losing efficiency. That is, it isn't going to run faster / better / smoother so much as that it will be able to fully utilize what it has. The other point about it is that with the rough walls, it is possible for the incoming air / fuel mixture to "wet" the surface. This wetness is fuel. When it builds up enough it sloughs off and enters the chamber as a drop and not atomized. This sudden "squirt" of fuel causes that detonation cycle to be uneven in relation to the others. Just like if it "burps". This in turn is undesireable. This is what I was told years back by someone who purportedly knew what he was doing. (Another Air Force member who was porting and polishing the heads on a Firebird engine.) If it is in error, please let me know so I can correct the memory bank. 2¢

Victor: Don't fight it. Get some of the special masking tape used for very precise masking and mask off on both sides of the grid. Then you can apply the conductive paint and later just peel off the masking. That's how you paint stripes on a car when you don't have or can't do the fine hand painted stripes. 2¢

Looks real cute. The wheel thing can easily be explained in that it's an optical illusion. Many times when you come up to a car the wheels do appear to be going backward. Same with propellers. As a suggestion, the driver of the car should grab a handful of bun just as he drives past, then as the car speeds off, the wind should blow her skirt way up high, giving us a treat!!! Just a suggestion. And before anyone complains about it being non PC......get over it. Men are naturally plumbed that way, if you want to hang around a bunch of people who aren't interested in what a woman is wearing under her clothes.....go hang out with women.

Well, it looks as though my post of May last year is still valid.

The wiring for the light in the picture is correct. The upper two bulbs are both BRAKE and PARKING, hence they get 3 filaments each bulb. Black is ground for all the light bulbs, then the Green/Yellow and Green/White. G/W should be the Tail Lamp, the G/Y is the Brake Light. BOTH these bulbs are wired the same in order to provide Tail and Brake. Typically, when wiring in a set of "European" lenses or simply put, Amber Turn Signal lenses, you will use the standard wires coming from the wire harness for the TURN signals, and wire a single new wire for the Brake lamps.. The White Red and White Black on your wiring harness are for BOTH turn signal and brake lamp. Once you disconnect the joint between brake and turn signal, you will have the independent wiring for each turn signal you need. This is the modification that you must do to your car. You must disconnect the join between the turn signal and the brake light circuit in order to have the turn signal operate independently of the brake. This MUST be done up by the steering column / hazard switch area as that is where the two circuits are joined. In fact, it's the turn signal switch that determines if both brake lamps or only one lights. After clipping the wire for the brake circuit, run a single wire for the brake light all the way to BOTH tail lamps. The wire you want, goes to the turn signal combination switch. It is the GREEN / YELLOW that provides power to the Brake Lamps. You can disconnect this at either just before it enters the switch, or at the shroud. Just be sure to put some insulation tape on the cut end going INTO the combination switchfor safety's sake, even though this part of the circuit will be dead. Connect a wire to the lead you disconnected from the combination switch, insulate it and then route that wire to the back end of the car. This is your new Brake Light connection and should be connected to the G/Y wire at the tail lights on BOTH tail lamps. The Reverse Light is the Red / Black. Hope this helps.

Victor: To answer your questions. When I redid the complete interior of my car, I disconnected and reconnected the harness various times. Often this is all that is required to revive the connections therein. The main problem between connectors is when they are allowed to stay connected and never moved or reconnected. It is then that corrosion can creep in under the contact point and increase resistance / or break the connection. That is, of course, if you are getting a good grip by all the spade connectors. Simply, disconnect, and reconnect them. This is usually enough to break the corrosion between the two, and by reconnecting you usually generate a new contact surface by friction. If you want to go a step further, or the connect / reconnect doesn't seem to work, you can use a sanding stick. These are commonly available at hobby shops, and look like a spring loaded band sander stick. One end will have a very thin point, and there will be a band of sanding paper going around it. Use this to reach into the connector and scuff up the surfaces of the male connectors therein. The Female connectors are a bit trickier as they are smaller and require a THIN object. I used an emery stick (fingernail file) that I bought at the local drug store. I then cut it with a pair of sheet metal snips or dykes for the width required. Insert it into the female connector once or twice and that will be enough to "sand" the contact surfaces clean. Unfortunately, the paper on the emery board isn't very strong, so you'll go through several of these pieces. You could use the file on a pair of nail clippers, or get a metal emery board. Just don't get too aggressive. All you want is to shave off the film of corrosion inside. As far as your second post, the "Low Output" that you are describing as coming from the Alternator, according to the FSM points to two possible problem areas. I am presuming that you have an alternator and not a generator. If I recall correctly, only the very early 240's had generators. The first is that the alternator brushes may be a) dirty, worn, c) worn/tired springs, d) loose fan belt. Remember, the alternator doesn't begin to output voltage until it gets to a given RPM. Up to then it is the battery that provides the electricity. The second is that your Voltage Regulator may be starting to go. The FSM does provide a testing and adjusting procedure, but it might be easiest to simply replace it. Lastly, it might be necessary to adjust the idle speed of the engine. But I'll leave that to other people who are more knowledgeable on that than I am. I know that everyone wants an engine that idles at the lowest possible RPM, but sometimes, it is NECESARY to keep it slightly higher. The FSM recommends 750 rpm at idle. Hope this helps.

The drain hose in the pictures, at that point in time, is very long. I wasn't sure how long I wanted to make it until I had the fenders put on. Once the fenders went back on the car, I cut the hose such that the hole faces mostly down, but also back, AWAY from the wheel. This was to avoid having it act as a scoop into the air stream below the car. I suppose I could have cut it even with the bottom edge of the fender, but I didn't want it to start "whistling". If you look inside the wheel wells now, you can just see it behind the inner splash panel, but it isn't visible from the side of the car. If you haven't had a chance to read Wick Humble's book; "How to Restore your Datsun Z", see if either you can get a copy or borrow one. (If I recall right, both Victoria British and Motorsport sell it.) Although there are some items that I would like to discuss with him, for the most part it is one of the BEST books to have, right there next to the Factory Shop Manual. Between those two books, HTRDZ and FSM, you have just about everything covered. (Ok, I would also add the very early Clymer's Manual.) Wick reference's using this closed cell foam tape everywhere you have contact between the fender and the inner splash guard as well as those "flat spots" you referenced. Granted all you need are small sections for those flat spots, but don't know that you can find someone to sell you just ONE FOOT of the stuff. I wouldn't use Dum Dum instead of that foam tape as the intent is to allow the fender to be removed and not have to be unglued. The Dum Dum which Wick refers to is simple Strip Caulk. 2¢

Rick: Now that others have chimed in on how to REWIRE the car for higher wattage headlights, I'll chime in on how to use the EXISTING wiring. I wired both Fog Lamps and Replacement Headlamps using the existing wiring. The key to doing this is to NOT exceed the wire ratings of the original wire. That means that the bulbs you will be using will have the same wattage rating as the sealed beam bulbs you currently have. Now, if you plan on continuing to use the sealed beam bulbs you should be aware that these are usually dimmer than the newer hallogen, zenon, or other variety of bulbs out there. Regardless of which one you use, you will want to clean out the contacts at the bulb connection point, and at the point where the headlight connects to the harness, which is located right behind the horns, in front of the radiator. The other two points you will want to address, is to clean out the contact points for the Light Switch on the steering column and the Fuse Block Contacts. Please note, if you decide to step up the wattage of the bulbs to get a brighter light, you WILL need to upgrade the wiring. The Fog Lamps ALSO connect at the wiring harness in front of the radiator. Usually the Fog Lamp Connector will be taped to the harness. Remove the tape, connect your fog lamp and by grounding the other lead to your fog lamp you will have established a circuit via the existing wiring harness. All you will have to do is attach a switch to the connector with a Red and a Red / Green wire which should be comming out of the wiring harness by the Fuse Panel. You COULD attach an inline fuse if you want, but the circuitry is already covered by the parking lamp fuse. That's how I wired my car, and you can look at the pictures of it in my gallery. Hope this helps.

If you look at the cross section of the weather strip, it actually looks more like a "tadpole" or a comma. It has a bulbous edge that tapers off to a thin edge. One side is flat, the other has the curve like an 'S'. The curved side of the gasket faces the wheel well. The purpose of this gasket is to prevent the splash and overspray from the wheel from going up and over the front frame member into the engine bay. You could probably replace it with something generic, although by the time you went and tried different items etc, the $27 for the pair would be cheaper. (IMO) The "flat" spots you mention, are part of the fender support system. Rather than replace them with double stick foam tape, get some CLOSED CELL FOAM tape that is used to pad Pick-Up Tops to the beds. You can usually find this at either RV shops or Auto Shop places. Remember, it is CLOSED CELL. You may have to put two thicknesses together to provide the proper thickness so that it actually supports the fender. While you're at it, get the 5/8" wide Closed Cell Foam tape as well. You'll want to use this on the Inner Fender Splash guard. That's the one that goes up and down directly behind the wheel. If you go to my gallery you will also note that I added a piece of tubing for the Cowl Drain tube to take the drain all the way to the bottom of that area to avoid future dirt / leaves / needles from collecting back there and forming a moisture trap. As far as I know, the emblem holes for the 260, 280 were different than the Datsun emblem holes. 2¢

Time Out! The Mercury Capri had 3 incarnations, series or evolutions in the U.S.. The first series was the Capri, which was imported from France and Germany. It was a Coupe and had a V6 2800 with a 4 speed although an automatic was available later. This was imported from 71-72(?) to 74. In 1975 none were imported. 1976 saw the introduction of the Capri II, which got the slogan "The Sexy European". This again had the V6-2800cc engine with a 4 speed. This car was a Hatchback, and looked very similar to the earlier Coupe, except, of course, for the back. The Capri II was built on it's own chassis and had nothing to do with Fordd's Mustang II, other than the II designation. Where the Mustang II had an actual frame, the Capri was Unibody. Then in 1979, Mercury decided to remake the car on the Mustang Chassis, AFTER the Mustang II was put to rest. This car was plastic and rubber moulding over a common body and frame. Both the Mustang and the Capri were so similar as to confuse people who OWNED them. Not sure how long this car was produced. This is the car that I think, Zvoiture is referring to, as in my opinion and others who owned one, it WAS a crappy car in either of it's incarnations. In the late 80's (I may be wrong) to early 90's (pretty sure on this) they once again began importing the Capri. This time it was a cute little 2 seater convertible. Not sure where it was imported from. This car sparked some interest, but sadly did not take off as they would have liked. Enough, TIME IN.

I owned a 1976 Capri II. It was a hatchback with 2+2 seating that was remarkably comfortable in the rear seats. V6 2800 cc engine, with a 4 speed, I left a few V8's behind in my dust with that car. Wouldn't mind finding one for sale, I would love to have both the Z and the Capri II. Mr. C; would you post the Capri site you spoke about? And with that, I ask this: Capri or Capri II. In the U.S. (here we go again.), this car was imported from France and Germany. The Capri was the Coupe, while the Capri II was the hatchback. Anyone out there care to answer, or should I retreat quietly with my tail tucked betwixt my legs?

I paid 54.99 for the lights and 15.00 shipping U.S.. I don't know how much he would charge for international shipping. If the ones that are shown on the Hella USA cite are true to their ad, and the "Halo" or Angel Eye portion are in fact LED's, I think they would be better than what I got. The ones I received use a bayonet mount turn signal bulb. Which arrive blue in color, but you can change to what you want. Since in the state of Washington, U.S.A., blue lights in front of the windshield pillar are prohibited on passenger vehicles (information courtesy of my neighbor- a Patrol Supervisor for Clark County), I swapped mine to the Amber Colored bulbs. Which in the case of MY car color worked out great. However, if the Hella Angel Eye's are true LED's they'd be brighter and more distinctive. Granted I would still have to get a different color to stay legal. As far as modifications, other than adding the wire from the headlight cup to the parking light wire (I wired into the parking light and not the turn signal), and having to do a slight modification to the bulb housing themselves to ensure they fit down into the mounting ring properly, that was it. I've gotten tons of compliments on them, and they never fail to catch people's eyes. FWIW Enrique Scanlon

Victoria British does not show that part separately. Neither does Motorsports. You ~might~ be able to find it at a boneyard, but it might be easier to get the whole steering wheel and cannibalize it. Usually, when you get the steering wheel they include the horn switch with it. Hope this helps.

=====Interjected Comment I hope that everyone understands that I'm not trying to put down ANY model of the Z. I like them all, and wish I had the money, garage space and TIME to own one of each variant and year. Sadly, I must be satisfied with the one I own, and hopefully my owner someday will loosen the pursestrings and allow me to own a second one. As far as RHD and LHD, I think that they are BOTH important. I too would like to investigate and document all the subtle little differences amongst the different production models, whether for export or not. If by stirring up the "fire" I've caused sparks to fly, it isn't because I hope to burn down anyone else's opinion or emphasize mine. If anything, look at the scope of this post and see if we haven't made some very interesting reading. That Zhome has the wrong information, and I inadvertently propagated it, is my mistake in propagating. Unfortunately, with so much disinformation out there, it is next to impossible to discern what is factual, apocryphial or opinion. This lack of definitive information can only be blamed on Nissan. But then again, like any other major corporation, it can't. Trying to document which specific VIN number got the last or the first of a specific accessory, which one was for export, which one was for home market, which one was ..... Would make any Database Manager insane. It is this specific type of discussion that can help weed out those bits of disinformation that are out there. Sadly, there are few instances of this being discussed intelligently without it descending into a shouting match over perceived slights. So, my apologies for quoting inaccurate data. Sadly, I had no way of knowing that it was inaccurate. Unfortunately, in order to catalog, document, and correct all the incorrect information that IS out there would be a task for a lifetime. So, I join threads such as this one in hopes of bettering my understanding and knowledge. Enrique Scanlon =====Back to the thread

The Horn Switch mounts on the steering wheel center and uses the steering wheel center as part of the circuit. The Horn Pad clips onto the Horn Switch Contact Ring. You could actuate the Horn by pressing on the Contact Ring until it makes contact with the Steering Wheel Center WITHOUT the Horn Pad, but some people might feel a small shock. 2¢

Alan wrote: Two things, one, the ad brochure I quoted from is a Datsun publication with a Form number and all. It isn't a local dealer's ad copy as I bought this from another car collector, and since then I've seen other Z enthusiasts with the SAME brochure. So, it WAS something that Datsun was using, appealing to the ethnocentric feelings which any country finds appealing. Two, you may not believe that someone would be taken or fooled by some of the advertising or marketing hype. Alan, the old expression, "If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you." arises just from the fact that people DO tend to believe the most outlandish things. Do you recall the story of the Arizona millionaire who bought the "London Bridge"? He did in fact, buy the LONDON bridge. But in his mind he was convinced he had purchased the TOWER bridge. He bought the bridge, sight unseen, had it disassembled, shipped and reassembled someplace in Arizona if I recall right. Once it was finished, he was appaled to discover that the LONDON bridge he had bought, wasn't the London Bridge in all those postcards from London. This is a true story, and the bridge is open to the public. Then there were countless number of individuals both in the U.S. and abroad that bought "Watefront property" in Florida. Only to discover that their property was in the Everglades. I could cite other examples, but it gets away from the point I want to make. The Z car was built at a time when some Japanese companies were having difficult times. Although the car may have been built with the Japanese market as it's ORIGINAL sales venue, there are many items that point to the fact that Nissan intended to promote it's products outside of Japan. That in considering the export market, the U.S. market was seen as a prime market is a natural consequence of the fact that American's have shown a predilection for being enamoured of their cars. There has been a lot written about that. The famous "penis-envy" articles, the Status Symbol of the import / sports car, the "Muscle Car" tales, all point to the fact that American's do in fact...LOVE their cars. That Mr. K saw the U.S. market as a rainstorm of soup and all he needed was a bucket is a tribute to his intelligence. Let's face it, American's, as compared to many other sectors of the world, have more DISPOSABLE income per capita than many other countries. Now hang on. Before you pull out your flame thrower and start blasting, I'm not making a qualitative, nor quantitative assessment of the rest of the world. I'm stating simple economic data. While Germany, France, England, and Japan may have more millionaires, as countries, the vast numbers of their populations do NOT have the EXCESS income that an average American has. And this was VERY noticeable in the Late 60's and early 70's. For that reason, selling in the U.S. would have and DID bias a lot of the production of the Z towards the LHD market. This doesn't mean that that was it's PRIMARY market, just it's largest. It doesn't say that the RHD vehicles either abroad or in Japan are inconsequential, it says that the number of vehicles created are in fact, LHD Z's. Now, looking at the production figures cited at www.zhome.com, (http://zhome.com/History/Zproduction.html) and presuming that their quote saying that they are from a Nissan publication is true, we can say the following things: The first 500 Z cars EXPORTED went to the U.S. This doesn't say that the first 500 manufactured went to the U.S. althouth the VIN numbers seem to point that way. VIN enumeration has been discussed, and Alan is much more knowledgeable about this than I am, but it appears that the first 500 VIN's did go to the U.S.. Alan please correct me if I'm wrong. 92.6% of the TOTAL export figures through 1977 went to the U.S. I excluded 1978 since it doesn't show figures for the other countries. By the end of 1971 the U.S. alone had imported over 50,000 vehicles. The other countries including Canada totaled a little over 6,000. Sadly, I'm not aware where we could find Japan home market figures so that we can readily compare TOTAL PRODUCTION figures and percentages. Again, the RHD car is an important part of the Z history. But, like Left handed people in the human population, it is in the minority. So, having stirred this up a bit again, I'll await for everyone's replies.

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2600&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500 I posted the information to 240Z and I'll have to look for it, but it is part of last year's e-mail. I do recall that I bought them on e-Bay. The e-mail address I have for the individual who sold them to me is: AUNOMI79@aol.com Send him a message, you may use my name if you want, but don't know that it will help him. The title of the item on e-bay was: HALO* HEADLIGHT 72-78 DATSUN 240Z 260Z 280Z Hope this helps.

Alfadog: You are correct, in my review of the picture, I confused the tag for a key fob. So I win a bonehead award. However, as I was looking through my hard drive for the picture, I came across another picture that Alan had sent me last June. There I note that Alan USED to have a Datsun Horn Pad, as well as that orange tag and that OEM style MAP LIGHT in the cigar lighter (That's how I KNOW it was Alan that sent me the picture). So, Alan what gives? It seems as though your horn button has "morphed" into a "Z", or was this part of the fruit of your Japan trip recently. (Just pulling your leg, if it comes off, we'll have to beat you with it.) But on a completely different note: One of the recurring theme's I've noted is that people are bothered / upset / peeved---whatever you want to call it, regarding so many references to the Z being an American Car, or that it was designed for the American Market, or that web-site's refer to American only features as global. Let's pause here, and consider something which is critical to perceptions on the internet. 20 years ago, the "World Wide Web" did NOT exist. Heck, 20 years ago you could have bought stock in a tiny little company that had just BARELY started, and be a multi-millionaire today....Microsoft. In fact, Windows as an operating system in 1983 wasn't fully conceived, and the first versions of it were so unwieldy that most people continued to use DOS until about 1988 or so. Then with Windows 2.11 or so, did people start accepting computers as something other than another BUSINESS tool. In 1984 or so Tandy began selling the TRS-80, (aka the TRASH 80) while others were using the Commodore, followed by the Commodore 64 and later the 128. All of these early systems used 5-1/4" Floppies for both their boot programs and data (except for the TRS which used 8"). Hard disks weren't made available until the clone PC's were made and even then they were an item for the rich, those famous "geeks", or for business. When IBM introduced their PC, the public suddenly became interested in a true STAND ALONE computer. Up to then, most computers were TERMINALS of a main-frame. In fact, this is what allowed Microsoft to become the company it is today. What Gates did is to encapsulate machine language code into a simple to use language that allowed the user to work the PC. This product was called PC-DOS; for Personal Computer - Disk Operating System. The genius of what he did is that he LICENSED the IBM version of the code back to them. He retained ownership of it. When the famous "CLONE PC's" began appearing; he in turn contacted these companies and gave them access to a slightly different version of the PC-DOS language, MS-DOS, since IBM refused to allow anyone else to license PC-DOS. The licensing agreement with the clone makers basically stipulated a fee for each computer that they manufactured to be paid to Microsoft. It was the "Clones" which made it affordable for the average buyer to buy a computer. Most of the early programs were simple games. Modems were expensive, communicated at 300 baud, and were notorious for bad initialization strings. Heck, I'll bet that few of you have ever examined an ATA script. Once Modems became common place, as well as Hard disks, then the first thing to pop up were BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS, or BBS. These catered to individual groups. There were game sites, document sites, porn sites, and initially all these things were TEXT BASED. Images didn't begin to proliferate UNTIL the advent of the RGB color monitor, some would say that not until the VGA. It was these BBS' that began the "online clubs", AND since they were ONLY accessible by telephone calls, their reach was strictly a LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD audience. Calling long distance to access a BBS was considered "hard-core", calling internationally would have been an obsession. As a result, many of the "writings" that have been put to electronic storage have had a very limited audience scope. Hence their viewpoint will not have the global reaching scope that the net offers us today. Are they intentionally ethnocentric to the point of excluding other countries? Probably. Again, I'll remind you that MOST people in ANY given country don't do much traveling outside of their own neighborhood. I'll agree upfront to locales such as Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland et al, but the vast majority of the world harbors home bodies. They simply aren't interested in what goes on in the other half of the world, because they've never been exposed to it. Years later other programs became available until finally someone adapted a program to use the text messaging ability in the UUNET. THEN we suddenly have the first uses of the beginnings of the internet. (Thank you Al Gore) NOW we begin to have people become aware of what's going on accross the ocean. Suddenly, we note that the people in Europe aren't deprived of computers as we all thought. Although there certainly was a time when, just as in the U.S., it was a small percentage of the population that was "into" computers. All of this occurred in the mid to late 80's. So, in 20 years we've gone from NO Internet, to the global reaching net that it is today. During that time, there were a number of years where the internet, could be said to have been a U.S. only arena. It wasn't till about 7-10 years ago that it REALLY became the WORLD WIDE net. So, without the input from people such as Alan, and Cuong, and Kats and Alfadog, and .......... it becomes impossible to be aware of all the hundreds of differences amongst our cultures, let alone, the differences in the manner in which, for our "selfish" motives, the Z car was distributed by Japan. So, was it wrong for someone at Zhome to write about an "American Car built in Japan"? Looking back now, probably. At the time it was written? Probably not, as it may very well have been written for, what was perceived to be, an American only audience. But then again, Datsun didn't help the idea that the car had been built with the U.S. in mind. In their 1970 240Z sales brochure, the one with the 240Z Roof Pillar emblem on a silver background, blurred as if moving. Open it up, there will be a Red 70 Z, and read the text, I'll snip and quote: "Inside you relax in deluxe, comfort-contoured bucket seats, lavish 'GT' appointments and full size American space. Emphasis mine. No doubt, Datsun printed those brochures for an American Only audience and didn't use the same literature in England, or Australia, or ......... Could it be that other country's literature may display the same ethnocentrism that we accuse the U.S. of having? Let's face it, that's common marketing. What appeals to an Argentinian buyer, is NOT necessarily what would appeal to a British, or an American. As far as differences between the model, model years, options, accessories etc. That's normal. Heck the 1970 Chevrolet Nova was sold in Chile as the 1974 Chevrolet (no model name). So, while I agree that the importance of the model's ability to be either RHD or LHD needs to be documented and shared. I don't think it's productive to be centering on "americanism's" which aren't intended to be ethnocentric as much as they were / are part of the history of the internet, BBS's etc. Should they be corrected? Ah, now we're talking revisionism, and that's a different post..... 2¢

"Fascinating" = Spock; Star Trek "Vewy Intewesting" = Henny Youngman, Laugh-In Well, Zedrally gets the bonehead of the day award. (All in fun, no offense intended.) From his post in reply to my query as to the ignition switch and the combination switch on a RHD vehicle: From that I gathered that the ignition key would be on the RH side of the steering column and that the lights / indicator assembly would be the SAME as a LHD car. Which as Alan mentioned would be a major PITA to work with, especially in areas / cities that require all turns / changes in lane to be accompanied with the appropriate turn signal. Alan's pictures on the other hand, clearly show the ignition on the LEFT of the column and the combination switch and indicator stalks CLEARLY REVERSED. As would be proper for a RHD vehicle. I can't make out the writing, but I will suppose that the writing on the light switch is correct and not upside down. OR..... Could the Australian RHD vehicles have come out with LHD combination switches and ignition shrouds? This could become a very interesting thread even more than it already is! So, maybe Zedrally doesn't deserve a bonehead award. But it does bring up more questions than it answers. Alan wrote: Actually, I don't think that at all. Is it unusual for me? Yes, but then again, I've ALWAYS lived and driven in LHD countries. Is it wrong? No, can't say that either. As far as being un-ergonomic, I guess I don't see why. You'd be using your right arm to hold the wheel, that's your stronger arm, and to do a simple gear change your right. Heck, if anything it's the LHD that's un-ergonomic. That there are many countries out there who drive on the "wrong side of the road" would depend on the viewpoint of whomever is making the statement. Surely the British think Americans are on the wrong side, and vice versa. It isn't wrong when you are used to it. Think of it this way, (analogy time) A Scot or Irish or Englishman who don's his best colors for a wedding or other event that requires Traditional Formal Dress would wear a ...KILT! Try that in New York City and you'll have a lot of buffoons making fun of you. In Mexico, men hugging men is simply a sign of intense friendship and camaraderie. Again in New York City, those same buffoons would be having a hey-day. It all depends on what you've grown up with, gotten used to, and willing to accept. On a completely different point now. The throttle linkage for the RHD is extremely interesting. I note that there is an angled shaft that has TWO pivot points behind the brake and clutch pedal BEFORE it travels upward to then pull the throttle rod. Then on the engine side of the firewall, it again has another long shaft. I was hoping to see that the RHD had either eliminated or dimninished the angle of the rods so that it might not have the inherent "throttle jerk" because of the angle imposed. I guess that the RHD cars also suffer from it. I also note that the Heater Control Panel Levers all go to the left. Just a point that clarifies some of the points I'd made earlier. This has been extremely informative. Thanks Alan. On a final note, I note that your Horn Button has a Z instead of Datsun. Yet the year of the console and similars imply that it's a 72-73 240. Care to comment? Anyhow, thanks for the reply. Would like to see where else we head with this.

Alan T. wrote: Using an analogy: The human population has both left and right hands, yet the vast majority are right handed. There must be a reason for this. Or is there? Although a bit on the sardonic side, it applies. There may be that there isn't a SPECIFIC reason or even an intentional decision by the designers / engineers / production / inventory folks, but rather one of .....no one questioned it until too many things had been designed, built and delivered designed with the handle on the right hand side. That console on the car you saw, may well have been one of the few prototypes created to demonstrate that in fact it could be done for the Left hand side. As I think about it, with the vast preponderance of the world's population being Right handed, it may be that whomever was tasked with getting the brake handle done just felt that it would be easier to use on the right hand of the tunnel. With all due respect Alan, it may be that you are looking for an answer to a question that was never posed. Alan: I don't know where this quote comes from. Maybe I've read it and have not really paid that much attention to it. I think it may be necessary to consider both the author's nationality and the intended sales market for his book. Alan: Undoubtedly their major sales focus would have been the U.S.. Back in the late 60's with the U.S. economy running a high war-induced fever, the prospect of being able to sell something - ANYTHING - in the U.S. would have been a very tempting lure. However, let's recall a few items that would have been part of the mix back when Datsun was considering expanding it's presence in the U.S.. WWII had ended 20 years before but sales of Japanese products in the U.S. were still not viewed in the best of lights. Heck, it used to be a big joke to have "Made in Japan" stamped on an item, and the comedians and pundits all played on it. If the item was kitsch then no doubt someone would point out that it was Japanese in origin. As a result, when Honda and Yamaha first began to export their motorcycles to the U.S. there was much speculation as to whether or not they would establish a foothold. When Honda took an additional step and introduced the first model of the Civic in the very late 60's, and Datsun had already been shipping the original 1600 and later the 2000 Roadster to the U.S. at first they didn't have sales to make the home office really excited. Yet as time went on, things DID improve. The Civic went on to become one of the leading automobile models, and it is still in production 30+ years later. Yamaha's motorcycles are legendary, so are the Honda's, and although Yamaha's venture into automobile's may have come about a bit too late for it to really blossom like the Honda or Datsun, it is nonetheless there. The key point I'm trying to establish here is that in the late 60's Japan needed to not only prove to the U.S. consumer that it's products were not a cheap knock-off that would fall apart at first use, but that their products were in fact what U.S. consumers wanted. How do you do this? By providing items that THAT market demands. If as you market it you label it as being for that market, well I would like to call that a bit of artistic license with regards to the marketing. Let's not forget that Datsun brought to the Sports Car market the first car priced where the average buyer could fulfill their fantasy of owning a "Foreign 2 seater Sports Car". 2¢