Mike B

Nice pictures Austen. I like how you captured our arrival. It was good to meet you today. -Mike

Hi Kats. I don't think what you said was wrong, I just assumed that you were referred to the US service manual, so that was a mistake on my part. Those are great pictures. I debated which way was easier to use, with the buckles closer to the hatch or towards the front. I guess it depends on how you store the excess strap material after the buckles have been latched. I like your solution. Japanese style for the Z432 and export style for the 240z. -Mike

Thanks for posting these pictures Kats. I did not have them. What was the May 1970 service bulletin for? Was the rear deck mat on the Japanese model made of a different material than what was used for US cars? -Mike

Hi Kats. #32 has those same wing nuts on its air cleaner. I'm away from my how today, so I'll post a picture of them tomorrow. -Mike

I think I'm going to try to bring #32. It has a pretty big crack in the dash, but I have a couple of uncracked series 1 dashes, so I am thinking I may try to swap it out tonight. My antenna mast cable also broke last weekend, so I am going to try to swap that out too. It could be a long night tonight. -Mike

I think Zeddsaver will probably be at the Canby show this weekend. If so, I'll post some pictures of his work afterwards. I am wondering if he does true electroplating of the plastic though, and not the vacuum metalization process that does not hold up well on exterior parts. -Mike

Here is a picture of the front rubber mats as shown in the 1969 US brochure. Also notice the clock and radio deletes, hand throttle, etc... -Mike

Kats, This is the only page I see in the 1969 Chassis and Body Service Manual with a picture of the luggage straps. The picture looks like the same one from the later editions as well. I think the straps are the same length, just the angle of the photo makes one look slightly longer. You are right, they look to be the standard size, not the longer ones like I have in #32. -Mike

Jon, Those are two sided keys. Unless your locks have been replaced you should have a one sided key for a 1970 (doors, hatch, and glove box) and a seperate one sided key for the ignition. There are two types of two sided keys, one with a groove on the left side and one with a groove on the right. A car could have either the right groove or left groove type depending on what locks it had. -Mike

Hi Kats, I see now that you said service manual not parts manual. I'll check that when I get home. Sorry for the confusion. -Mike

Is this the page you are talking about Kats? I'm not sure what the difference is you are describing. -Mike 1969 Parts Catalog - Pg 82.pdf

Yes Chris, I'm not sure how well it shows up in the pictures, but the first two straps are much rougher than the third, which is made of material very similar to the seatbelts. Yes, all the hardware is silver plated as shown. I was going to use ssnake-oyl.com to restore my seatbelts, but the ones in #32 are like new and I found a set recently that are almost as good for #237. I plan to just transfer the 1969 date tags I have onto that set. -Mike

Here is a page about the Shelby Sixty tires you mentioned Ron, and one of the Supersnake wheels also from the 72 catalog. -Mike

So they must be original to the car then. I'll have to put them back in. Given the history of the car and how original it is I thought it was strange that one of the two prior owners would have replaced these. Thanks Carl! -Mike

Arne, Yeah, I would like to have a set of the 6 slot sidewinders for one of my cars as well. I bought a set of three 6 slot wheels off ebay several months ago. I have tried to track down a forth one, but no luck so far. They don't have any markings to indicate they are Shelby wheels (unlike the Vipers I have), but based on the comment in the catalog I am assuming they are Shelbys. Jon, I am more than 20 yrs older than you and my first car was a 1978 honda civic CVCC. I thought those were some of the earliest Hondas imported to the US, but recently I have found out that they were around long before that. Jay Leno has a 1964 SM600 that was kind of a forerunner of the S2000 that have now (you can check it out on jaylenosgarage.com). Japanese Nastolgic Car magazine had several older Honda models in its first issue a month or two ago. -Mike

I have a couple of old Shelby Wheel, Tire, and Accessories catalogs and I thought some of you might be interested in these, since several of the wheels were popular for the 240Z at the time. There are also a couple of other Z related accessories shown. Note the Sidwinder 6 slot wheels. I think there have been questions as to who made these. This is from a 1972 catalog and they indicate it was an exclusive design for Shelby at that time. Also note the 240Z side stripe kits. A later Wheel Application guide (dated around 1982) shows the AR Libre style wheels spelled Liebre. It is interesting that in the 1972 catalog, the Libre style wheels are called Vipers. I also included the 4-2-73 retail pricing list so you can see what the period pricing was. I also have some application charts if anyone is interested in those. -Mike

Did any other Datsuns even have luggage straps similar to the ones in a 240Z? I was wondering if someone replaced the ones in #32 at some point with longer ones, but I'm not sure what other Datsun they could be from? I threw out a WAG of a 510 wagon since they have a bigger cargo area, but I don't know if they even had luggage straps. -Mike

Hey Mat, yeah let me know what you find. I think 26th is trying to point out that there are some oddities out there, since he found a series 1 seatbelt (which change to the push botton style around 12/70) that has a 2/72 tag on it. I guess that would indicate that this was a replacement belt made in the series 1 style, or maybe someone just put a 1972 date tag on an earlier belt? -Mike

Thanks Will. I never would have figured that one out on my own. How about 1440Z? That is also 2:40 (pm) using a 24hr clock. -Mike

I'm having a hard time decoding your plate Jon. What does it mean? -Mike

Actually Randy I just did a search and found two old threads that discuss the chrome Z's and the solid cast emblems. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11713&highlight=solid+emblems http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28595&highlight=solid+emblems -Mike

Hi Randy, That looks like a metal 240Z deck emblem that has had the white paint removed from the Z area. You can tell by the raised outer edge on the Z. What we are referring to as "chrome Z" emblems have a Z that is filled in so that it is flush with the numbers and the Z is chromed like the numbers are. These were only on the first 1000-1500 or so cars. What I mean by "solid chrome Z" emblems is some of the earliest cars with these emblems were completely solid on the back so that the entire back surface was filled in. I can attach some pictures when I get home. -Mike

Here is a side view after I swapped the stock steel wheels and hubcaps for the Shelby Viper (Libre style) wheels from my 72. I like the look of the D hubcaps, but the ones it came with were like new and I can't drive around on those. I also found a set of the NOS Shelby center caps and I think they really finish off the wheels nicely. -Mike

Hi Carl, yes it has all of its original metal emblems, even the metal hood emblem. The two quarter window emblems are the solid chrome Z's, the rear deck has a hollow chrome 240Z and a solid Datsun emblem. I've never seen a solid rear deck chrome 240Z emblem so maybe they were always hollow? I'll add some more pictures of the car as soon as I get a chance to take some better ones. Maybe Canby? Still debating whether to bring it down this year or not Arne. -Mike

Chris, The top straps are the ones with the buckles and your brochure picture is similar to what I have seen in every other 240Z, short upper buckle straps and longer bottom straps. The straps in #32 had long upper buckle straps in addition to the longer bottom straps. Since I haven't seen any other straps that long in any other early cars or even pictures of them I would guess they were not original to the car. I'm not sure if they are from another car (maybe a 510 wagon or something?) or maybe you could order longer upper straps through the dealer if you have some large items to strap down on a regular basis (your DD example for instance). The material difference is still interesting though. I'd be curious to hear what other people have in their cars. My 5/72 has the smooth material straps. The 6/74 parts catalog only shows one part number (96850-E4100 Assy - Band Parcel) through 7/73. -Mike