Mike B

I recently bought #32 and it has this yellow writting on the transmission case. It is a very original car with only 2 owners and 79,000 miles, so I would think this was put on at the factory. Also, I think my 1972 has a yellow paint mark on the cover instead of the red one that Arne and others described. -Mike

The 46.7.20 date is July 20, 1971. I agree that the only part I see in my 240z parts catalogs beginning with 86700 are the center console assemblies. The part number for the center console used from 2/71 to 7/71 is 86700-E4155. Since the part number on the tag is hand written maybe it was written incorrectly as 86700-E4635? -Mike

A few more custom carpet pictures. -Mike

Here is the custom carpet set that came in #32 when I bought it. It is very high quality. Much better than any other reproduction set I have seen, and almost as nice as the original. Unfortunately I don't think the company is in business any more. I called the phone number shown on the tag and got another company instead. I blurred out the number on the close-ups to try to keep others from calling and bothering the other company. I also did an internet search for the company name shown and didn't come up with anything. -Mike

Yeah, you are right. I thought about that after I posted. I am still used to the 1972 series 3 carpet with the loops and the split in the deck carpet for the storage compartments. The 3/71 set from my parts car is like yours with the pile that looks more like cut pile. -Mike

They are loop, which should actually be more correct, since they are the series 2 and 3 style with the front split on the deck. I wasn't as interested in the carpet when I looked at the car, because I knew it wasn't correct (but I was very happy that the rubber mats were underneath!). Here are a couple of pics that show some of the detail I referred to. -Mike

Here is one for sale on ebay now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220222173321&rd=1 However, this seller normally sets a pretty high reserve, so they may be asking a lot for it. -Mike

Sounds messy, but whatever works I guess.LOLLOL -Mike

Dan, I agree with you completely. Until last year I had only owned 1972 240z's and I assumed all carpet was like what they have. When I first saw the earlier carpets from 1970 and 1971 cars I thought they must not be original because they looked more like cut pile with the clear backing. However, now I think that the material and backing just changed somewhere between 3/71 and 5/72. I don't think that the cars had different carpet on the East or West coast or that they just used what they had, except perhaps the early cars. Arne, I am picking up #32 this Saturday, and it has a custom made aftermarket carpet set on top of the original rubber mats. The rear deck is the series 2 and 3 style with a split at the front for the in-deck storage bins (obviously not correct for a series one car). The carpet looked like it was pretty faithful to the orginal pattern with notches for the rear straps, and a notch in the front mat for the brake petal stop (or whatever that is called). The mats have a name address and contact information for the maker on them, which I didn't think to write down when I looked at the car. Anyway, I'll take some pictures and pass on the contact info once I get the car back home this weekend. -Mike

Thanks Jim and Ron. Yep, a rollercoaster ride for sure, but I think knowing it would be going to a good home helped me wind up with it, even though the seller probably could have gone back to the other people that were interested and gotten more for it. Another potential buyer had someone fly up from LA to inspect it yesterday and alluded that his client was a movie or tv personality, and a certain collector from the south was also interested, so I feel very fortunate to have wound up with it. -Mike

Yes, the original owner had it painted silver in the time he owned it and the guy I bought it from had it repainted the original 903 blue in the eighties. There is some over spray in the engine compartment, but I think it will clean up ok. -Mike

And a few more. -Mike

More pics of #32. -Mike

Well, after two weeks of ups and downs, wondering if I was going to be able to get #32 or not, we finally worked out a deal! I went out to Spokane and looked at the car on Saturday. It is in overall excellent shape for such an early car. It has 79,000 miles and has had two owners. The seller has owned it for the last 30 years and it has been stored much of that time. Last tuned at PierreZ a few years ago, and it still runs great. Pierre commented that he wished he had such a rust free example when doing the Nissan program cars. It has almost all of the 69 specific parts, and I have spares of the ones it is missing. And the best part is it is 903 blue!!!! There are a couple of minor paint issues to deal with, and the dash has a crack, but I have a couple of uncracked series one dashes and I should have all of the other parts needed to make it totally stock again. Can't wait to get it home and in the garage! -Mike

Dan, VOSS and WASO keys are the early single sided ignition keys. WASO keys were not used for US Z cars. It sounds like you have a two sided ignition key, so yours is not the earlier one sided VOSS type. It is interesting that you have separate keys for the ignition and doors/etc. I thought that when the two sided keys came out in series II cars they operated both the ignition and everything else. I have a 3/71 parts car and it has a two sided key that works all the locks. -Mike

We have about 3-4" of snow here in Sammamish, so I won't be heading down there. -Mike

I wonder if he can get it back, or is it gone for good now... -Mike

It looks like a nice car and a great deal if it is legit. I do like this line in the ad though... "Car has the era specific Japenese new car smell." -Mike

I just tried visiting the site and it looks like it has been converted to some kind of real estate site? -Mike

Banzai Motorworks lists these for $110 (BO-56 under the Bits and Pieces section) http://www.zzxdatsun.com/ -Mike

On 240z's it is on a foil sticker on the radiator support. -Mike

There are 6 or 8 metal clips that hold the shift boot to the bottom of the console. You have to remove the console to mount the shift boot properly. The bottom of the boot folds over the edges of the shifter opening on the console and is held in place with the metal clips. -Mike

Never mind. My brain is not working for conversions for today. -Mike

Right, so 10,000 dollars would be 6,623 euros and 15,000 euros would be 22,650 dollars. As mousez noted, a big difference. -Mike