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HLS30-41924, build date 8/71. This Z has been a race car since 1989, I bought it in 1989. Originally red, the car had been painted many times. I stripped it to the bare shell, bare metal, removed the bolt in roll bar and built a full cage. Refinished in 1985 Corvette red, and Mercedes grey. It has done well, running ICSCC and SCCA meets in the Pacific Northwet, and Thunderhill twice. I was Conference Production E champion in 1997. The car is currently awaiting a fresh engine.

Hi Alan, I show this before you do . From a サービス周報(Service bulletin) 昭和44年11月 ( November 1969 ) page 27, ステアリング　ホイール　木製 (Steering wheel. Wood ) シフト　レバー　ノブ　　木製 (Shift lever knob. Wood ) page 130, 握り部分を木製にし、スポーティムードを出しました。 (The grip is wood , to show sportier mood ) Kats

If you haven't already done so, download the FSM. It is available for free from this site. In the ET section, it shows you what you are looking for on page ET-11.

Nicely manicured toenails.

From the 1970 Nissan S30-series Fairlady Z model range brochure. 'INSTRUMENT PANEL' double page picture and dash layout explanation. Item No.18: Written in Katakana: 'WOOD RIM STEERING WHEEL'.

Some more photos from my 'autopsy'. This time from the outer surface of the rim where 50+ years of use has worn through the outer layer and revealed a naturally-grained surface below it:

In the video it looks like the plate is there, but the part with the timing marks (0 to 10 degrees) is missing, possibly broken off. I would turn the engine by hand to get the #1 cylinder at TDC on the compression stroke, then see where the mark on the crank pulley is. There has been several different types of pointer plates over the evolution of the L series engine. See if the FSM has a diagram or picture that shows the timing marks and the plate.

My '72 has an arrow mounted on the front cover I think. The degree marks are on my pulley as in nothes. The largest being 0, or tdc.

Definitely keep the engine. You want to also keep the half shafts and drive shaft. I put an "83ZX drive train in a '71 240Z and it was great fun to drive.

HLS30-56539, build date 11/71, engine L24-069273, automatic transmission, 114 brown metallic. Interior was originally tan (more like orange) but was changed to all black by the previous owner. Original paint, 77,000 original miles. It came with the original wheels and hubcaps. I’ve owned this car since 1992.

Datsun 510 guys sometimes use the front ZX struts as a cheap upgrade

Yes Kats, you beat me to it. The Z-1 Service Shuho was my next card... Instead I'll show another Japanese market sales brochure, this time the late 1971 large format booklet that introduced the L24-engined HS30, HS30-S and HS30-H models alongside the already available L20A-engined S30 and S30-S models and the S20-engined PS30 and PS30-SB models, giving a seven model lineup at that time. Again, a light-coloured rim (better for photos?) and described (No.16) as 'WOOD RIM STEERING WHEEL'.

Now drive it and let Haltech do some tuning!

My pleasure SpeedRoo ! I remember the article “ simulated wood “ . Now one thing came up in my mind , this 蟹カマ ( simulated crab meat ) . This is so popular food in Japan . It has been continuously better and better, very tasty and I am so surprised it’s quality. But I can’t say this is crab meat because it is made from minced cod . No crab meat at all. I can’t say our steering wheel is simulated wood . I see there is wood . I call our steering wood . Kats

@katsthanks for showing those. I wonder why Datsun didn't describe it as a wood steering wheel in the English language brochures and handbooks/parts books. You would think it would be a selling point. Even R&T 1970's test refers to it as simulated wood but with real wood for the gearknob. Car Magazine in 1972 refer to it as imitation wood as well.

From my best treasure of all . 1970 PRESS INTRODUCTION “ FOR RELEASE PM’s WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1969” . Kats

1970 Datsun 240Z brochure.

No need for details in that context. I think pretty much everybody is familiar with bentwood furniture and the general concept of materials such as MDF. Part of my job involves sourcing and exporting vintage 20th Century modernist furniture, so I'm up to speed with the processes and materials that 26th-Z was referencing. I don't think I need to explain any tongue-in-cheek banter between myself and 26th-Z to you either. I agree with you about the art (or perhaps craft...) but if the final product really does seem like plastic to you, then I can't help you. I think it is bizarre for somebody to look closely at one of these wheels, look at the photos on this thread, and still talk about 'plastic'.

Good stuff Ian, thank you. Looking more closely at the CSP311's wheel, it does indeed look very similar to the rim type used on the S30s. I saved this photo from the Silvia that sold in Australia last year, and which shows some partial de-lamination (sun damage?) of the wheel rim which is quite revealing I think:

Ha ha! I'm always hopeful, but not so sure. I think we will see people talking about "plastic" steering wheels for many years yet. I still see Goertz getting credit for something he never touched (including the MF10 Toyota 2000GT). Excellent! And the president had such a great classical name too, almost like from a Taiga drama. So we can see where the 'Izumi' name came from. Thank you! One of my key motivations with this thread is to somehow give due credit to Izumi for their fine work. And yes, I do think it is fine work. When I think about it, I don't know how they managed to make these steering wheels for Nissan at an acceptable cost. There's a lot of processing in there. Many of the parts suppliers for our cars were independent companies who specialised in their particular fields, often to an almost artisanal level. I have seen this many times in Japan. Such companies still exist, but their craftsmen have been retiring and/or dying out whilst bigger companies gobble them up. It would be sad to think that companies like Izumi came and went without people like us - who literally lay hands on their work when we interact with our cars - even knowing their name.

I didn't hold my hands out, so I got my left and right mixed up. Your observation is correct. It should be on the right.

VIN: S30-67902 '72 as of this posting: Undergoing restoration in Seattle, WA (USA)

Would you guys be interested if I added these fields to your user profile? I'm looking at migrating our old garage system soon as well for those of you with multiple cars.

From the window sticker: "Drive a Datsun- then Decide" Dealer; Peek Oldsmobile, Cadillac. Decatur, Alabama Model 296 Color 918 Serial No. HLS30-69972 Engine No. L24-087864 Port of Entry 52 MSRP $4,106.00 plus Dealer Prep $75.00, total $4,181.00 Build Date 02/72