Mike B

I took a few more picture of #32 today as I was putting the new carpet in it. The whole car is amazingly rust free. Here are a couple of pictures of the floor, the rear deck, and the original spare tire. The brown colored areas on the drivers floor is dried glue for the vinyl and velcro strips. -Mike

I was putting my new carpet in #32 today and after I got it all back together it seemed like I had a lot of extra length left over on the luggage straps. I looked at my other cars and noticed the top part of the strap with the buckles was much longer in #32 than the other straps I have. I have some extras from parts cars, so I switched them out with a smaller pair. I also noticed that there seem to be two different types of material used on the strap sets I have. On some sets the material is rougher and has more of a square weave to it, and on other sets the material is much smoother and has more of a diagonal weave to it. The smoother set seems like it is made out a similar material to the seat belts. I think the rougher sets may be from earlier cars. The longer straps in #32 were the rougher material. Here are some pictures of the straps showing how much longer the straps are and close ups of the different material. The rougher material is on the top two (first two close ups) and the smoother material is on the bottom one (last close up). The last two pics are how they looked mounted in the car. -Mike

Julio, Do you mean the plastic chromed strip on the taillights? True electoplating of plastic is difficult and not many people seem to be able to do it. Have you already found someone able to do the work, and if so, what was the cost per piece? Have you seen examples of any other chromed plastic work they have done? -Mike

Hi Jordan, How exactly does the voting work then? Do only the people who pre-register get to vote, or are the cars judged by a specific group of people? Thanks. -Mike

Ok, I guess I misread Gary's post then. It reads to me like he was saying that you could still be entered in the show even if you missed the registration cutoff, they just wouldn't be to create another category for you after the deadline. Just trying to clarify. -Mike

Gary, are you sure you can just show up the day of and enter the show (albeit grouped with whatever like cars they have registered)? The DatsunsNW site says this "If you didn't register in time, drive your Datsun or Nissan anyway. There is a special parking place for non-registered Datsuns and Nissans. You still won't be entered in the show but you'll at least get to park inside the show grounds and among friends for only $5." That leads me to believe that if you missed the registration you are out of luck. Maybe it is different this year than in prior years. It doesn't matter for me, as I didn't want to be in the show anyway, but just curious what the policy is. -Mike

And here is the forecast for next 10 days.... So much for global warming Jun 5 Showers 51° 46° Jun 6 Rain 51° 46° Jun 7 Showers 58° 45° Jun 8 Few Showers 57° 46° Jun 9 Few Showers 60° 47° Jun 10 Partly Cloudy 60° 50° Jun 11 Few Showers 61° 47° Jun 12 Partly Cloudy 62° 48° Jun 13 Showers 61° 48° Jun 14 Showers 65° 48°

Will, you need to ad this one for me. It's been so long since we had a perfect day to drive my Z I can't remember. It is low 50's and raining again here in Seattle. It seems like we had about two nice days since last September. I hope we are not standing around in the rain at Canby again this year. -Mike

If you are not interested, why do you want to try it? It is not finished yet, but the intent is to sell them to make money to support the club. -Mike

Alan, Yes, your information has been both helpful and informative. Many of us enjoy finding out more about the bigger picture of the S-30 in all markets. The Japanense front seat mount brackets are interesting. I had always wondered why the rear seat brackets have two holes, and now I know why. -Mike

Thanks for posting the information and the pictures Alan. It helps to get an international perspective on something like this. I assume the two small slots at the bottom of the mats are for the metal tabs (that we find on US model cars) to secure them in place. What are the two larger slots for? Also, it looks like the mats are mirror images of each other except for the notches cut in the top of the drivers mat. Is that correct? -Mike

If anyone needs a set of rear bumper guards for a 73 I have a NOS set with rubber strips mounted. I didn't realize until after I got them that they are a larger size, as Arne noted. -Mike

Thanks Carl (and thanks to Jim for posting the picture). I guess it is not surprising that many of the front rubber mats would have been removed by either the dealer or owners since they clip into the same snaps on the firewall. I wonder if the front mats used in the Japanese market say Nissan instead of Datsun, or where they blank? -Mike

So Carl, Fred, Chris, or anyone else with a low vin Z, did your cars come with the rubber mats? Anyone have a drivers side they can post a picture of? I think I have seen a 510 with similar mats. Did they have them as well? -Mike

Randy, Your car looks great! You are making me want to try to keep #331 and restore it back to its original green/tan. Did you get one of the Maaco advertised paint packages like Supreme or Signature? Was your price part of the grand opening special? There is a new Macco in the south Seattle area, but it looks like they only advertise a special on a lower level paint job (the Presidential). -Mike

Dan, your car must be a series 1 then with the plastic storage bins instead of the ones built into the rear deck? I agree with the reasoning you layed out regarding the change to cover the bottom of the luggage riser since it would be visable now with the series two storage bins. Interesting that they didn't make the change for several months (until around July-Sept 71) after the series 2 features were introduced beginning in Jan 71. -Mike

My June 1974 USA & Canada parts book shows part #74965-E4100 up to 8/71 and then part #74965-E8200 from 9/71 to 7/73, but it seems that is not always correct regarding dates of part changes. -Mike

It looks like there are two types of luggage riser trim pieces for 240Zs. One is longer on the side that faces the luggage area and the other has sides that are both about the same length. #32 has the one with the longer side and that made sense to me because the carpet in series one cars goes up the luggage riser and is covered by the trim piece. However, the trim pieces I have from #237, #331, #882, and 10/70 and 3/71 parts cars all have the trim piece with equal length sides. My 5/72 has the trim piece with the longer side, so I am not sure which is correct for which years. It looks like the only ones still available are the ones with the longer side (the ones sold be Eiji at Datsun Spirit). Does anyone know for sure what is correct for which years? -Mike

Me too. I'll be there Sunday, but even if I do bring a Z, no point in doing a dyno run with a stock car. -Mike

Here is another "Z-Hawk" for sale on the Seattle CL. http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/car/698279643.html I don't think it is the same one that was the subject of this thread and listed on ebay 2 yrs ago, but I could be wrong. This one seems to be in better shape and a lot less money at least. -Mike

NO!!! Those are original hubcaps that look to be in excellent condition. If they were put away in 1976 they should be near mint and you can get several hundred dollars for them. Those hubcaps were the same ones used on 72 and 73 240Zs. If you want to make a clock by an old junk hubcap for a couple of bucks and repaint it. -Mike

I think you may have it backwards. Maybe this is actually Datsun Heaven, similar to the recent Subaru Heaven commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE2Vcaprfbs -Mike

I really do hate to rip on other people's cars, but this seller seems to have tried to do a quick respray and then sell it for a lot more than it is worth. Here is a line from his ad "the car had been repainted at some point but not excellent, it would be considered fine from 10 feet away". If he just bought it last August and it was blue then and it is white now, he obviously had the car painted or did it himself, so why say it had "been repainted at some point". The rear hatch vents are a joke. Why bother even putting something like that on? It isn't funtional or cosmetically appealing. Just leave them off or spend the $40 for a new set. With things like that going on it makes you question everything else. -Mike

Not exactly, but it was well below the $9950 he is asking for it now. I am thinking $3-5K or something like that. There was a thread about it last time, but no pictures or results http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27644&highlight=383 -Mike

More pics from last August when it was blue. -Mike