Dear forum members,

Some of you know me and also know that I became somewhat obsessed with the idea of building first-year cars to the same level as when they left the factory.

Throughout my search for cars, parts, and information, I traveled to the USA many times and learned so much and met so many amazing people. I then traveled Japan numerous times to continue my search for the roots of the Z car. In the end this car became a very important part of my live and it has given me so many friends all over the world!

Next week, our Datsun 240Z will finally go live. At first, we had a problem with the registration certificate, which had gone missing but was eventually found again. Adam Eisenhaure, from Garage 44 in Pennsylvania, took his time to create the most beautiful presentation he has ever made and spent  again a few days at our museum in Buren, the Netherlands, last week. I am really very happy with the way he approach things. He used to own a 240Z himself and his father worked at a Datsun dealer in the early 1970s. Among other things, by the way he is a specialist in flat top Hitachis. We are working on a 1973 model year 240Z with 26,000 miles, for which we still have the original flat tops and for which we want to use his knowledge.

Several weeks ago there was a discussion here about the 100% factory correct description used by a journalist. Also some of you reached out to me and helped with sugestions, which I really appreciate. For sure 100% is not possible. But our team, Gustav and I, have given all the love we had and spared no time, money, or effort to achieve this result. A result that would not have been possible without the help of many friends from all over the world. So a big thank you to everybody who contributed!

For me I only can see that all I do whit those cars is passion! Nevertheless, you will certainly encounter various things where we still have missed the mark. But please also look at the details that we have done very well. Ultimately, our goal is to raise the popularity and appreciation of S30s to a higher level, and besides of getting back our investment we hope this auction will help us to achieve that. I myself will not comment on the auction till Adam asks me to do so,

Enjoy the auction!

Chris Visscher
PS Please if you see something and want to help please reach out to ap.eisenhauer@gm.com (Adam from Garage44) or at chris@s30.world

Now live:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-353/

Great to see the S30.world 240Z up on BAT. Hundreds of photos to pore over and examine. Best thing is Chris @christoffel is willing to listen and improve things where possible. Lessons learned on this car will help him get closer to a 100% correct restoration in the future. So many little details to get right but at last there's people out there with the passion that want to do it correctly.

Edited February 23Feb 23 by SpeedRoo

Maybe I need some educating but isnt the lower front splash shield considered "factory correct"?

Bill Reagan thought so...

Edited February 24Feb 24 by 240 in OZ

Hello 240Z in OZ

i thought the same, because the holes for the splash pan are present. So @Carl Beck and others assured me it was not the case for a 1970 production car. The EU cars had it from the beginning (without holes) like I suppose the JDM cars. From my experience I have seen them only on 1973 cars with the bigger bumpers. Maybe someone here can tell when they (with holes) became standard. And please correct me when I’m wrong!

Hi Chris

Interesting point; I had assumed if it was needed that you would have sourced one and fitted it. I am in Australia and have a 09/1971 HS30 240-Z Australian market car (originally sold in Tasmania) (dated with the aid of Carl using his USA database as we got different ID plates fitted from the factory here) and it has a no holes lower splash pan fitted and I have no reason to believe that it is not original to the car (granted I am not the original owner). I have seen them fitted on other cars here, but cant think of a series 1 1970 off the top of my head that had one fitted. When time permits I will go through some original literature I have which shows HS30-00004 which was the first reported car into our country and see if I am able to see a splash shield fitted to it in the original road tests/press releases.

Edit already...I forgot to add it is an amazing car.

Edited February 24Feb 24 by 240 in OZ

I find the restoration on the car to be stunning. And so much metal work went into this one, and for a CA car at that. A few details that I am most impressed by is: the color of the plating of the engine parts... the plating on the car I restored and many restored cars is not the right shade. And the texture of the sound insulation pads on the fire wall - the early cars have a less than smooth texture of the asphalt based black surface of the pads. Also, the carpets look bespoke to me. I looked long and hard for a heal mat that looked like the factory one and could find nothing. And the carpet type (loop) of the carpets in this car is different than anything I have been able to find. Lastly, the "undercoating" which is sprayed to the bottom of the car is very similar to the original. It is not quite as black as the original, but looks to have a very similar texture/finish. The overspray of the paint on that "undercoat" is very much like the factory.

The only thing I can find thus far that seems off from factory is the "black out" paint used in areas like the radiator support, the seat mounts, and the body just behind the quarter windows is gloss black on this car when it was flat black from the factory.

Seriously impressive.

Edited February 24Feb 24 by inline6

Thanks for your compliments and feedback!

The heal mat we had especially produced as we have also the clips to fit the mats in factory style to the fire wall insulation. Adam will post a picture of that soon.

You are right the black out paint is glossy and that is not correct. We changed that that 3 months ago thanks to feedback from @SpeedRoo

Edited February 24Feb 24 by christoffel
Grammer

12 hours ago, inline6 said:

Lastly, the "undercoating" which is sprayed to the bottom of the car is very similar to the original. It is not quite as black as the original, but looks to have a very similar texture/finish. The overspray of the paint on that "undercoat" is very much like the factory.

The only thing I can find thus far that seems off from factory is the "black out" paint used in areas like the radiator support, the seat mounts, and the body just behind the quarter windows is gloss black on this car when it was flat black from the factory.

I believe what you are referring to is the "chipseal" that the factory applied to the underside of the chassis. "Undercoating" was applied by the dealers in the USA to add extra rust protection and add to their profit margin! As you say, the original factory applied "chipseal" was blacker in colour and applied very unevenly with lots of runs and build up. If anything S30.world got it a little bit too perfect!

Edited February 24Feb 24 by SpeedRoo

19 hours ago, 240 in OZ said:

Hi Chris

Interesting point; I had assumed if it was needed that you would have sourced one and fitted it. I am in Australia and have a 09/1971 HS30 240-Z Australian market car (originally sold in Tasmania) (dated with the aid of Carl using his USA database as we got different ID plates fitted from the factory here) and it has a no holes lower splash pan fitted and I have no reason to believe that it is not original to the car (granted I am not the original owner). I have seen them fitted on other cars here, but cant think of a series 1 1970 off the top of my head that had one fitted. When time permits I will go through some original literature I have which shows HS30-00004 which was the first reported car into our country and see if I am able to see a splash shield fitted to it in the original road tests/press releases.

Edit already...I forgot to add it is an amazing car.

I'm by far an expert on Australian cars, but I think that should be corect for your Australian 09/1971 car. As far as my knowledge goes, HLS30-00004 should not have a lower splash pan fitted. If I remember well, it had a splash pan with holes mounted on it. It is very difficult to be on par with all WW markets/years in terms of exact specs.

19 hours ago, 240 in OZ said:

Hi Chris

Interesting point; I had assumed if it was needed that you would have sourced one and fitted it. I am in Australia and have a 09/1971 HS30 240-Z Australian market car (originally sold in Tasmania) (dated with the aid of Carl using his USA database as we got different ID plates fitted from the factory here) and it has a no holes lower splash pan fitted and I have no reason to believe that it is not original to the car (granted I am not the original owner). I have seen them fitted on other cars here, but cant think of a series 1 1970 off the top of my head that had one fitted. When time permits I will go through some original literature I have which shows HS30-00004 which was the first reported car into our country and see if I am able to see a splash shield fitted to it in the original road tests/press releases.

Edit already...I forgot to add it is an amazing car.

Where are you located in Australia? Currently having some appointment in Australia.

5 hours ago, SpeedRoo said:

I believe what you are referring to is the "chipseal" that the factory applied to the underside of the chassis. "Undercoating" was applied by the dealers in the USA to add extra rust protection and add to their profit margin! As you say, the original factory applied "chipseal" was blacker in colour and applied very unevenly with lots of runs and build up. If anything S30.world got it a little bit too perfect!

Yes, that. I use the term undercoat generically and mean just that it is a coating (from the factory) under the car :)