1 hour ago, SpeedRoo said:

In Nissan's 240Z Restoration Program Quality Control Checklist they specifically call out "Cad plating", it was commonly used in California to recondition automobile parts and fasteners at the time. It's banned there now but available in other states. I use it for replating all my parts on Aston Martin restorations. They also mention "Zinc Chromate Tank Slushing" for the fuel tank, so they obviously knew the difference between Cad and Zinc processes.

Additionally Nissan mention "Paint semi-gloss black" for suspension components. If you look closely at the photos of the Vintage Z that have been on BAT it is easy to discern between Cad and Zinc, Paint and powder coat.

But what has that got to do with the plating materials used when the cars were originally manufactured? That's what is being discussed here. Are you citing the 'Cad' plating used on the VZ Program as proof of what was used when the cars were originally manufactured? Will you also use the paint used on the bodies of the VZ Program cars to cite the paint that Nissan Shatai used when the cars came off the factory production line? Hopefully not.

I simply don't see any mention of Cadmium in Nissan's technical specifications - according to Nissan Engineering Standard - which they quote for the fasteners on the S30-series Z range. However they specifically mention Zinc ( ' 亜鉛 ' ). It's as simple as that.

If anyone can come up with an official, period, Nissan document which specifically shows that Cadmium was used for plating the fasteners and fixings on these cars when they were made then I'd like to see it. Otherwise we will just go around in circles.

I'm all ears and eyes and every day is a school day with these cars, but I'd like to see a document which contradicts THIS:

1 hour ago, SpeedRoo said:

If you look closely at the photos of the Vintage Z that have been on BAT it is easy to discern between Cad and Zinc...

I'm sorry - and this is a straight question, no spin - what exactly are you seeing on a VZ Program car that tells us the difference between Cadmium and Zinc plating?

You've pointed out that the VZ Program documentation cites 'Cad' plating, so it follows that we would be seeing 'Cad' plating in the photos of a VZ car on BAT.

I don't see the significance. What's in dispute is what was used when the cars were originally made.

21 minutes ago, HS30-H said:

But what has that got to do with the plating materials used when the cars were originally manufactured? That's what is being discussed here. Are you citing the 'Cad' plating used on the VZ Program as proof of what was used when the cars were originally manufactured? Will you also use the paint used on the bodies of the VZ Program cars to cite the paint that Nissan Shatai used when the cars came off the factory production line? Hopefully not.

RAE you're barking up the wrong tree yet again, I've made no mention in this thread about the original production cars, this is about the Vintage Z restoration program...plain and simple. To quote my previous post: "Another interesting titbit from the program is that all the nuts and bolts etc were cad plated." Are you always argumentative just for the sake of being so?

It does seem odd that a document produced by Nissan Motor Corporation, used for the purpose of "restoration" would add something to the program that was not original to the cars. Although, of course, powder coating was probably not used in the early 70's on the 240Z's. And it's not clear who produced the checklist docuemnt. Could have been a salesperson who did not know what "Cad" really was.

Still undefined. The absence of evidence does not prove anything.

p.s. the "Cad" discussion is more related to Carl Beck's story of taking some early fasteners to his friends at Honeywell and having them analyzed (why did he do that?). Maybe his friends are still around? Carl Beck's claim appears to be based on science. The other claim seems based on the banning of cadmium's use, in a form undefined, in 1969. Could be that cadmium-plating process was banned but not the use of out-sourced cadmium-plated products.

Cadmium is still used in Ni-Cd batteries. Some made in Japan. https://corp.furukawadenchi.co.jp/en/products/indust/column.html

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Zed Head
the usual misspelling, and punctuation.

I'm on HS30-H side here when it comes to Factory Nissan JAPAN Plating.
The official Nissan documentation clearly shows Zinc plating plus Cadmium plating was banned in Japan by that time, so why would anyone believe it was anything else than Zinc plating (or yellow / blue passivating, as it's called here)

On the other hand, the Z-restoration program was executed by selected workshops with support from NMC USA!
According to the Z-head document in the previous post, it appears that those were indeed replated with Cadmium in the USA by some private shops. At least according to that checklist.

Which is kind of interesting that the restored cars are different from the factory cars. Which is also a bit strange. Because there is a bit of difference in appearance between cad and zinc, so why would they choose something different - especially much more poisonous?? Maybe missing knowledge? Or was it cost saving?

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by JDMjunkies.ch

9 minutes ago, JDMjunkies.ch said:

I'm on HS30-H side here when it comes to Factory Nissan JAPAN Plating.
The official Nissan documentation clearly shows Zinc plating plus Cadmium plating was banned in Japan by that time, so why would anyone believe it was anything else than Zinc plating (or yellow / blue passivating, as it's called here)

On the other hand, the Z-restoration program was executed by selected workshops with support from NMC USA!
According to the Z-head document in the previous post, it appears that those were indeed replated with Cadmium in the USA by some private shops. At least according to that checklist.

Which is kind of interesting that the restored cars are different from the factory cars. Which is also a bit strange. Because there is a bit of difference in appearance between cad and zinc, so why would they choose something different - especially much more poisonous?? Maybe missing knowledge? Or was it cost saving?

Cad plating has much better corrosion resistance than zinc, hence it's use. The Vintage Z program was never about originality but restoring selected 240Z to as new condition with a warranty using parts and processes available in California in 1996-98.

On 8/14/2025 at 3:19 PM, Carl Beck said:

About 35 years ago, I was in the process of restoring a 240Z, as well as parting out another for spares. I took an assorted group of 10 or 15 nuts, bolts, washers and couple small parts off the Z's to our Materials Lab. "Our" being Honeywell Space and Strategic Systems Lab. A Materials Lab with men and equipment that supported putting men on the moon and probes on other planets. 

I ask the guys to tell me what was used for plating and corrosion protection, as I intended to have them re-plated.

After testing them, they told me they were Cad. plated and given a yellow chromate conversion bath- and to be sure to wear a mask if I used a wire wheel ((bench grinder)  to clean them up. Cadmium is very toxic and you don't want to breath any in.

Carl's comment really doesn't have anything to do with the Restoration program. It's just an interesting aside that suggests that Nissan used Cadmium-plated fasteners on the early cars. His comment stands alone and could be a completely separate thread.

So far, all of the comments refuting what Carl has described are based on supposition and interpretation of various documents. "Cadmium was banned", "why would Nissan do that", etc. Those statements are interesting but only describe what Nissan intended or what people think Nissan intended.

Having worked for large corporations it's easy for me to imagine years worth of cadmium-plated inventory being used up before the switch to new process inventory. Without a document explicitly stating that cadmium-plated parts were banned from use, immediately, or with a set date, the question remains open. Maybe it's in the Japanese langauge documents.

2 hours ago, SpeedRoo said:

RAE you're barking up the wrong tree yet again, I've made no mention in this thread about the original production cars, this is about the Vintage Z restoration program...plain and simple. To quote my previous post: "Another interesting titbit from the program is that all the nuts and bolts etc were cad plated." Are you always argumentative just for the sake of being so?

I'm seeking the truth. If it ruffles feathers like yours, then so be it. This forum has for much of its existence been a productive host for those of us who seek the truth about the S30-series Z cars, the circumstances that produced them and the people behind them. That has involved a few myths being busted, the occasional sacred cow being put out to pasture and people - including me - learning truths that were hitherto unknown. We didn't get there by accepting the status quo and we should not be happy to live in an echo chamber. As I said before up-thread, many of the facts and data that YOU - a relative newcomer to this scene - take for granted were uncovered and/or revealed right here.

Your 'RAE' jibe is not the barb you think it is. We are all Armchair Experts here. For me, proudly so. Perhaps you see yourself as an exception?

2 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Carl's comment really doesn't have anything to do with the Restoration program. It's just an interesting aside that suggests that Nissan used Cadmium-plated fasteners on the early cars. His comment stands alone and could be a completely separate thread.

That's what this whole back-and-forth has been about. He has - for many years - repeated the claim that the original plating on the cars [from the factory] was 'Cad'. I say the period Nissan documents specifically tell us that it was Zinc. Why would they do that if it was in reality Cadmium?

2 hours ago, Zed Head said:

So far, all of the comments refuting what Carl has described are based on supposition and interpretation of various documents.

You seem to be far more ready to accept Carl's anecdote as proof than you are of an official technical description - published by Nissan Japan themselves, in their native language, as part of the component part numbering and identification for the S30-series Z cars, from 1969 onwards - which tells us differently. I have posted an example - with a literal translation - and yet you discount it due to "interpretation"?

Same thing happened with the so-called 'Build Sheet' up-thread. Written clear as day, but inexplicably ignored.

I've spent some time (too much, it feels like) searching for evidence of when cadmium was banned in Japan and most of what I'm finding suggests that it wasn't banned until after at soonest early 1971. Lawsuits were happening but no statements about an outright ban of any form have been found.

Here's one example. Article published March 1971. Cadmium still in use in more than 1,000 plants.

"Prime Minister Sato has ordered health checks on all workers in the more than 1,000 Japanese plants that use cadmium—a crucial step, since only a handful of those plants take adequate safety precautions. Last week health officials reported that cadmium has tainted much of the country’s rice."

https://time.com/archive/6838618/environment-and-now-cadmium/

Environment: And Now, Cadmium

3 minute read

TIME

March 8, 1971 12:00 AM EST

Edited 53 minutes ago53 min by Zed Head
Precision/accuracy