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Another interesting titbit from the program is that all the nuts and bolts etc were cad plated.

Attack of the killer B’s!

Yes.... it's a mess. I did use the wrong numbers initially measuring directly from the C point. When I got under the car and meausred it, the only way I could square the circle was to use 465-15+6.5 to get the number between the two rear lower control arm mounts. That worked nicely. That means the front mount is 15mm from C and the rear mount is 456.5mm. Next problem is wether the front strut top distance is correct. My car is about 20mm closer than the 913mm measurement. Is the car bent? Or is the diagram wrong.....? I'd suspect bent car. As an aside, that photo you provided is not a 240z ....perhaps a 260 or 280.....IDK. but very representative of what im working with.

A pair of cylinder heads and other engine parts - including an early type oil pan, painted Nissan engine blue, on a bench at Pierre's. Caption says that "...from now on, all engines and transmissions will be rebuilt at an NMC USA contracted factory in Texas. The proud staff at Pierre'Z were not happy with this decision. It seems they would prefer that everything was left with the car's 'foster parents' (ie in-house) if possible."

A few more: Caption for the above photo says that the guy working on the door is an Armenian, and that Armenians are historically renowned as being skilled metalworkers ("in their DNA").

Hi, I don't think he will respond, but you can get your parts from: Z-Services.eu | Shop for Datsun 240Z, 260Z & 280Z I also have a lot of parts for Z's not specific for the 280z as this was never a euro car.. Oh and yes as my name says i'm from the Netherlands too.

The Japanese caption specifically says powder coat, but that could easily have been a miscommunication (or, heaven help us, an assumption...) between reporter and the people at Pierres. I would think it much more likely that they were in fact painted, as per the original factory finish.

Horror House on Highway Five (1985)

Did they really "powder coat" them? I would think paint would have been more accurate?

Just for fun, I've dug out the JUNE 1997 edition of OLD TIMER Magazine - published in Japan - to scan some photos from the 8 page article in which they covered Vintage Z Program-related activities at Pierre's, Z World and the lobby of NMC USA. The original photos are many, small and scan up with a noticeable Moire pattern, but people still might like to see them. 'Donor' cars sitting in the parking lot behind Pierre's, waiting to start the process. Original caption says that they counted 13 in this row alone and that Pierre's had a total of 25 base cars and 8 cars for parts, so a total of 33 cars 'in stock' at that time. Any lack of ambience is made up for with Ambulance: Caption says this is a stripped bodyshell, waiting to be collected by the bodyshop: Caption says that this lineup of suspension parts have been stress checked and delicate areas taped up prior to collection for blasting and "powder coating": I'll scan and upload some more tomorrow...

I can’t imagine how it ever ran trying to pull fuel at that distance and, Maybe they removed the dampener?

And be sure it's a high pressure pump for EFI. The fuel line going into the fuel filter should be as hard a rock with pump on. Also the hose coming out of the filter will be hard from pressure. The fuel pressure regulator is what brings it down a little, 32psi IIRC. You can get the metal fuel filter for $10 to $20. Good luck!

Dean I don't think that is your car. The Master list has a revision date of Jan 1998, it shows your car as #18 and having been finished. The date in the video of the red car being driven out for test is late April 1998 and the red Vintage Z has silver mag wheels. I think it may be 40904.

Exception here (damn it).........Remember/PAY ATTENTION - the second iteration all had my reproduction door jamb and engine compartment ID tags. I've stated this more than once but given the source it's not taken into consideration. I consider Les a friend, confident and partner- in- crime, we had several long chats about the car(s) he did. I won't repeat any of them here for obvious reasons.

Speaking of parts - from the beginning getting all the needed parts was a real challenge. E-Mail from June 12, 1997

I don't know how you've made the jump to "...the parts were inspected by employees of AER."? Isn't that (careful now...!) an assumption on your part? I think you're not allowing for a little chaos. We've already heard anecdotal evidence from people actually involved (rather than Armchair Enthusiasts TM) that not all of the engines/engine components were processed at AER. Whatever the number - however small - it has to be included as part of the story. The incomplete engine and two cylinder heads pictured in the Japanese magazine articles (NOT at AER) suggest that we should tread carefully around what actually happened with AER's early involvement. And yes, I stick by my "Clearly - and fairly obviously - the engines were rebuilt and warrantied", unless you honestly believe otherwise? Are you again suggesting that some of the VZ Program cars didn't get engine rebuilds? If so I'd like to see any supporting evidence you might have.

I'm an advocate for the likelihood of ****-up over conspiracy. And educated guesses based on cross-referenced evidence are for sure better than assumptions. I make an effirt to go with the former wherever possible, but conversing with you is sometimes like herding cats. On the contrary, I have an ever growing capacity to believe and accept - if not expect - that our beloved Nissan of today can make a mess of anything it gets itself involved in, especially so when considering the caliber of some of its current feted international 'personalities' and representatives. But I've not been citing any Nissan-sourced "images for marketing purposes" in our recent exchanges, so you can park that one in the next available space. There go those pesky cats again. I was referring to the parts/components photographed on location by independent photographers working for two different Japanese magazines. Seeing as the articles were specifically about the VZ Program process it seems to me a fairly high probability (shoot me if you think it's an assumption too far...) that the parts would end up on VZ Program cars. Clear enough? Hope so.

@Carl Beck thank you for the clarification. In an effort to determine the shop that worked on my car I emailed Les. He told me: "The cars I did were in the 23000 serial number range." It seems my car was done at Pierre's. I'm still thinking my car may likely be the 3rd one in this YouTube Video. If you have a copy of this speadsheet with Pierre's list, can you post it?

Forgot to say - don't neglect putting the return line end in the can if you try to use a portable can to see if it runs.

Good Point - - Yes, I have had that list for a long time. There are 59 Z's listed there and looks like 14 didn't have their original engines. Although at first glance, the original engine serial number are listed for a few, perhaps taken from the data tags? It will take a while to see if any of them are way out of line, with what would be expected... Also might account for the other 9 not getting their original engines.. I'll have to cross check Edit... I wanted to add, that list is of the Z's Pierre received, 2 Z's went to Les Canaday directly from Nissan. A couple others appear to have gone to Datsun Alley directly from Nissan as well. So two or three of the VZ's are not on that list.

Have a look at the Larry Chen's Vintage Z video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_TjHwA1xgE at the 27:24 mark you can see the Master list. There is a column that lists Matching# and M for yes, N/M for no. There are 14 N/M listed. There is also a column for engine#.

Of the 11 I'm aware of, 2 got different engines by the choice of the owners. One now has a Rebello 3.0L and the engine for Mr. Crain's Z was custom built with performance enhancements (not an AER engine). Don’t know if the 1 with the Rebello had its original engine or not…it wasn’t recorded/reported by the owner. Pretty sure other than that 2 the other did get AER rebuilt engines. Need more data to be certain.. I spent a couple hours with Mr. Crain at the Amelia Island Concourse, where he was regularly one of the Judging Staff (along with Peter Brock etc). We spent some time talking about Mr. K, Nissan and Mr. Crain's Vintage Z. I hadn’t tried to track where the original engine out of his Z went… I’ll go back an look in my files/notes.. As far as I know - The original engine serial number were left on the engine bay tag. Owners that reported a different engine in the car - knew it did not match the original listed on the tag.

The images from the Japanese magazines suggest that every part was inspected as shown in the pictures. The reality seems to be that the parts were inspected by employees of AER. Then a Shop Rep signed off on the work. And apparently, re the metal particles, much of the work had to be reworked or cleaned up. That seems to be the reality based on the weight of the evidence presented so far. It's just the way it it. More than "fairly obvious". Disappointing to some, interesting to others.

Back to normal programming. This 240Z auction is ending today but it's already up to $23,000. Kind of surprising considering its unusual appearance. It does look clean though. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-240z-293/

Yes - quite possible, even likely as they ran out of NOS parts.