1 hour ago, HS30-H said:

But we are only looking at the S30-series Z range here, so - as far as I am aware from looking at period documentation - no Cadmium was used when 'our' cars were made.

I was looking for a before and after within Nissan Motor company or the Japanese auto industry as a whole. If Nissan never used cadmium then it seems illogical that they would start in 1969. The S30 is just another car of course. The same fasteners were certainly used across the model range. If they used cadmium in 1965 on a different model, you'd expect them to keep using it on the S30 unless they had a reason to change. When was the shift?

And, on your final point there - still no evidence that supports your statement, besides a Nissan document that identifies an alternative plating material. If you had a document that showed cadmium from earlier years next to your document that shows zinc, that would have some weight. Evidence that Nissan removed the word cadmium from their documents would be telling.

So far, there have been many many words written on sparse evidence. 1970 was so long ago. All of that paper and ink. How did they get anything done?

On 8/20/2025 at 2:18 AM, Zed Head said:

I was looking for a before and after within Nissan Motor company or the Japanese auto industry as a whole. If Nissan never used cadmium then it seems illogical that they would start in 1969. The S30 is just another car of course. The same fasteners were certainly used across the model range. If they used cadmium in 1965 on a different model, you'd expect them to keep using it on the S30 unless they had a reason to change. When was the shift?

I have taken the time to research this on the Japanese side, trawling through numerous Japanese market factory parts manuals for Nissan models made during the 1960s and early 70s period. I found some pointers. Dates quoted are the dates for the publication of the parts manual concerned:

*Model 31 Nissan Cedric - 1963 - Both Zinc and Cadmium protective coatings applied to fasteners/components.
*Model 310 Nissan Cedric - 1964 - Both Zinc and Cadmium protective coatings applied.
*Model 410 Bluebird - 1964 - Both Zinc and Cadmium applied.

Then,
*B10 Sunny - 1966 - Zinc.
*510 Bluebird - 1967 - Zinc.
*T44 Nissan Miler (ex-Prince) - 1968 - Zinc.
*T65 Nissan Clipper (ex Prince) - 1968 - Zinc.
*Model 60 Nissan Patrol - 1968 - Zinc.
*521 Pickup - 1968 - Zinc.
*C30 Nissan Laurel - 1968 - Zinc.
*A30 Nissan Gloria (ex Prince) - 1968 - Zinc.
*SR311 Fairlady - 1968 - Zinc.
*130 Nissan Cedric - 1969 - Zinc.
*C10 Skyline - 1969 - Zinc.
*C20 Vanette - 1970 - Zinc.
*GC10 Skyline - 1971 - Zinc.
*A-321 Cabstar - 1971 - Zinc.

...so, judging from the above, it seems likely that Nissan's use of Cadmium for protective coatings was discontinued around 1965. I also searched factory parts manuals of Prince Motor Co products (Prince were forcibly merged with Nissan in 1966) but they carry no data on protective coatings for their parts.

On 8/20/2025 at 2:18 AM, Zed Head said:

And, on your final point there - still no evidence that supports your statement, besides a Nissan document that identifies an alternative plating material. If you had a document that showed cadmium from earlier years next to your document that shows zinc, that would have some weight. Evidence that Nissan removed the word cadmium from their documents would be telling.

Your move.

Good information. Thanks for the followup.

1 hour ago, HS30-H said:

On 8/19/2025 at 6:18 PM, Zed Head said:

And, on your final point there - still no evidence

There was none, now there is some. Well done.