Mike B

It's hard to tell from your pictures, since the colors are off, but the vinyl does look too dark and the plastic too light. Here is the butterscotch interior from the 1970 brochure. They don't really show the plastic panels though. -Mike

My #32 is honored to make your list Gary. Here is mine: Kats' silver Z432 Alan's KPGC10 The 1971 East African Safari winner (#11) Bob Sharp's former #33 (HLS30-00006) Brad Frisselle's former IMSA GT/U Championship car BRE Z #03 Ron Carter's BRE Z Carl Beck's BRE Baja Z A pristine maroon Fairlady ZG A stock silver KPGC10 My blue HLS30-00032. Its a keeper. -Mike

I think that $399 is a good price point for a reproduction set, but if I recall correctly, they will be missing the Koito name and maybe some of the other original lettering? Also, there was a slight color change over time. The earliest lights were a darker red and have a number that ends in 152 and the later ones are slightly ligher and have a number that ends in 166. Probably not an issue for most, but someone with a show car might get a deduction for it. I still think it would be a good idea of they could also reproduce just the chromed plastic center trim piece. If your lens aren't cracked, the originals are pretty easy to polish up so they look like new. The plastic chrome center strips can be rechromed, if you can find a good shop that will rechrome plastic for a decent price. I want mine to be as accurate as possible, so I restored my originals. -Mike

I would contact Eiji at Datsun Spirit and let him know the problem. He is a good guy and will most likely work with you to figure something out. I checked the Classic Datsun Motorsport website and it says "Available in black, blue, white and red. Any other colors can be dyed by you or your preferred paint shop". I'm not sure if they are made by the same vendor or not. I would use SEM plastic paint if you can find a close match (or can get a custom match made) if you keep them and go that route. Maybe Les at CDM can give you some insight into what a good color match for butterscotch would be. -Mike

The CDM BRE spook is fiberglass, just like the originals. Made from the BRE molds too. -Mike

Kind of reminds me of sblake01's old truck and supposedly only has 41k miles. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180463539604&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT Less than 4 hrs before auction ends and its at $5,050. -Mike

Actually they are all pictures from an ebay auction I won, but not for a car. It was an auction for a poster of the Brad Frisselle car at Mid-Ohio. I was just too lazy to scan the photos when I could just post the ad pics. I'm thinking of starting a new Nissan/Datsun poster thread, so I will show the poster there. The auction also included two original unused Transcendental Racing stickers. You can see parts of the stickers on the car in the photos I posted. -Mike

Chris, Here are a couple more pictures of the Frisselle car from 1976 I thought you might be interested in. That is John Morton in the gold racing suit running over to swap drivers. -Mike

If you want 100% original pictures you should go back to period Nissan publications, like brochures and the service manual. Here is the engine bay pic from the 1970 brochure. The car shown is actually an early 1969 production car. The stock resistor bracket mounts at the bottom of the coil, not the top, on 240Zs. -Mike

Sorry, but with no engine and a trashed interior, I don't even think this qualifies as much of a parts car. Besides, buying a parts car before you even have a car to restore is backwards in my opinion. How do you even know you will need any parts that might be on this car? Save up and buy a running and complete car for not much more than this. -Mike

MSA sells replacement firewall insulators http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SIC01L/40-2860. The transmission tunnel will probably be fine with just the fatmat if you plan to put the original vinyl on. If you carpet the transmission tunnel it may come with padding attached. -Mike

Hi Larry, If you take a look at the registry data on zhome.com (click on zcar registers on the right hand side, then "The Classic 240 Z Owners Register") you will note that most HLS30 model 240Zs with VINs in the 200s and 300s have build dates in 11/69. However, the dates are not sequential for all VINs. For example, #20 and #26 have 11/69 dates, while #267 and #491 show 10/69 build dates. #48 even has a 2/70 build date. I own #32 (with a 10/69 build date) and #210, #237, and #331 (all with 11/69 build dates). -Mike

That car was also listed on ebay and in our classifieds today (four times!). It looks like it just sold on ebay with the BIN of $6,700. Seems like it is in pretty good shape, but will definitely need a repaint based on the ebay pictures. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150410228142&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT -Mike

Finally, here is a picture of two old dealership flags I have. -Mike

Not really a 'sign', but a bit of Nissan history. I got this banner a few months ago from someone that worked for Nissan Motorsports. It's an original hand-painted vinyl banner that was to have been hung in Nissan's HQ building in Gardena CA. The lettering was hand done w/the pencil marks used to create the lettering still visible. In 1988 the Nissan GTP team won 9 out of 12 races it entered (including 8 in a row) and didn't even enter the Daytona 24-hour & Sebring 12-hour races. In anticipation of winning that IMSA Championship, Nissan had this banner produced. But, while Geoff Brabham won the Drivers' Championship by 46 points (his 1st of 4 consecutive Drivers' Championships), Nissan lost the Manufacturers' Championship to Porsche by a single point (196 vs. 197). Nissan then went on to win the Championship in both 1989 and 1990. -Mike -Mike

This Nissan sign has been on ebay for months, maybe closer to a year now, but its not as interesting or old and you have to have a huge place to put it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSAN-dealership-sign-panel-HUGE-Nismo-Datsun-240Z_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem19b0c537a5QQitemZ110339897253QQptZApparelQ5fMerchandise -Mike

Here's a cool looking dealer sign that was on ebay recently. It got bid up to about $450 or so, but still didn't meet its reserve, which was probably closer to the BIN of $800 I think. -Mike

So, has anyone asked the seller what the engine number is that he claims is original? Comparing that to other early cars won't confirm that it is the original one for the car, but it could show that it is too high to be the original one. -Mike

There was mention of a group buy for these on HybridZ if anyone is interested. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=159139 -Mike

WingZrO, I just got this NOS Datsun dealer sign with a clock built in and thought I would ad it to your old thread. -Mike

I can't read it either, but in the ad he says it is a 11/69 production car, which seems right. One thing I noticed is the engine bay data plate has been removed. If I was interested in the car (which I am not) I would ask about that and find out what the number on the the original engine is and compare that to other early cars to see if it fits in the range. I wonder why the original engine was pulled and replaced with the one currently in the car? The seller also mentions rust spots in the floors, but doesn't show any pics of it. Otherwise, the car looks pretty good from the pictures shown. -Mike

Not sure what the correct offset for a GTO is, but American Racing does sell reproductions of the 200S. They show up to 17" on their website, but it also shows a special order form, so you may be able to contact them and see if they have the size and offset you need. http://www.americanracing.com/browse_vintage.asp -Mike

I came across this ultra rare quad Monza exhaust on an ebay car a couple days ago ROFLROFL. -Mike

I came across these reproduction Amercian Racing Equipment Libre style wheels today. http://www.vtowheels.com/retro4.html Looks like they will be available soon in 14" and 15" versions that will fit the 240z. The 14" x 5.5" say they are expected in Feb 2010. Apparently you have to order through one of the dealers they supply. This one http://www.acmespeedshop.com/catalog_c371275.html lists the 8 spoke (panasport style) for $180 each, so I am guessing pricing for the Libre style would be similar. I wonder if they would consider making reproductions of the ARE LeMans wheels. -Mike

I think it is safe to say they're available now Dave... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-240z-260z-clear-front-turn-signals-1970-1974_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d27b77a83QQitemZ400098294403QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories -Mike