daddz

Alan, My question still stands with regard to that LHD 'works' car: the handbrake appears on the driver's side of the tunnel in the LHD 'works' car, was that performed at the factory or at some point later after it left Nissan's manufacturing plant? Thanks for any insight into this.

texasz, Thanks for putting all of that Z stuff on the web! I haven't had a chance to look through all of it as of yet. I did have a question about your 240Z though, was it titled as a '71 or a '70? The reason I ask is I am attempting to convince the owner of an 08/70 240Z that is in her best interest to sell her 240Z. The car in question is an 08/70 and I do not have the chassis number as of yet. Her Z has been off the road since late '78 or early '79 as best I can tell and the engine is seized but, the body is in solid shape and the structural members are sound. She took it to a shop to get an estimate of what it would take to bring the car back to life and I think she is in sticker shock. Thanks for any info.

I have been found out! Actually, Bob has a new car which is off limits (lots of hand slapping) and it is a Z32 silhouette with another L28 which has titanium valves installed along with alot of other equally expensive bits. I was poking and prodding on Bob's old car which is now in a couple of pieces. I would really like to pilot that beast. Since it hadn't been started in a couple of months Bryan let us put some racing fuel in it and warm it up on Saturday! I highly recommend stopping by after hours or on a weekend as it really is a treat to play with until it finds a new home. The 510's are pretty serious as well. There is one in the shop at the moment which is receiving a newly fabricated rocker panel to get it ready for this season. There is also a bare RB20 block sitting upstairs in the storgae area that would like to find a new home as well. The RB20 block looks to be very strong with the ribbing and I would imagine that it would stand up to much more abuse than a simple old VG block.

Thanks to everyone for another history lesson. Alan, Thanks for the detailed pictures of the works rally cars. I noticed that the left hand drive works car had the e-brake re-located to the left side of the transmission tunnel? I can't imagine the sterring linkage and such to have been re-located as that would have been vastly more work? I would have to agree with a statement made by Guus earlier regarding the 120db of a competition prepared engine. After having experienced just such an animal this past weekend you would never get a road car confused with a track car. Even the racing 510's at Datsun Dynamics are almost obscene in the way they invade your eardums. Even the dedicated Z car publications often have trouble getting their facts straight, so why should we be surprised? In some of the recent Z car books I have noticed grammatical errors that surely should/would have been cought by the editor(s) before going to print. Much like what happens in the business world these days it seems to be a case of LCD (least common denominator). If a job can be completed more cheaply it often happens that way.

Why waste a great engine on a 350Z? (I feel justified in saying that as I own a 350Z :classic: ). The RB series (not just the RB26DETT, etc...) deserve to be installed in a light weight application like the S30,S13 to reach their full "raping" potential. The Z31's had RB engines installed in them back in the eighties and it is somewhat like putting silk stockings on a pig (I own a Z31 also..:classic: ); the engines didn't really make the Z31 more desirable some 15 years on and I think a 350Z would look about the same to us in 15 years. As a brief aside I got to listen to and poke and prod an L28 racing engine this past weekend at Datsun Dynamics and it was absolutely spine tingling to hear a fully race prepped (300hp N/A w/ triple Mikuni 44's) reaching for its rev limiter. Just a small nudge against the throttle linkage and in less than two seconds the tach is reading 5000+ rpm's! The headers were custom made by Stahl and they snake out form the engine in an almost horizontal fashion. The transmission is really sweet as it's sequential 5 speed unit. If only I had the 20k for the engine/transmission combo.! It would "rape" alot of unsuspecting street cars.:stupid: (I'll be posting pics of that engine soon)

Gregg, This might help in your quest to find some Z owners in your area: http://www.whiterosezclub.com/ In May of every year alot of Z cars gather in Carlisle, Pa. for the import and kit car festival. The weather can be hit or miss and the event has gotten a bit better since the "ricers" have their own show scheduled on a different weekend.

Tomohawk, I couldn't agree more with that sentiment! I would extend it to 1983 however.

Stephen, Amen to that! Anytime you can't buy the sheet music be suspicious.

sblake01, All the kids are doin' it? (sarcasm) As far as drinking alcohol in general (not in the car as that has become too expensive and too dangerous) I don't mind a good whiskey sour or cold beer but, that's a personal decision. I realize the car isn't listening to the music; I just choose to listen to different types of music no matter the car's production date. In order to assimilate what was happening at the time your Z (fill in your year here) was produced can be interesting in terms of getting a perspective. It is sort of like looking at a scrapbook and trying to make sense of what came before. For example, if one happens to be sitting in a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette and you wanted to imagine what might have been emanating from the car's radio at that time you may choose to listen to something by the Beach Boys or Dave Brubek (if that happens to be your thing). Unfortunately, most of the time we here in Washington, D.C. have to subject ourselves to the bland homogenized corporate crap radio stations that seem to cover the country nowadays. At least there's NPR and the local jazz station that plays good Blues on Saturdays. Oh and I forgot to mention the "Repo Man" soundtrack and Warren Zevon's "Send Lawyers Guns and Money".

I have to break the "period" songs by which Z I happen to be sitting in: '78 280Z- Blue Oyster Cult--Godzilla Electric Light Orchestra--Do ya? The Who--Who are you? (the car will see 100mph if this is playing and no cops around) The Talking Heads--Take me to the river Aerosmith--Sweet emotion The Rolling Stones--She's so cold Eric Clapton--Cocaine (live version) The Cars--almost anything from Candy-O The Doors--L.A. Woman (damn car went 100mph again) or Peace frog AC/DC--pretty much anything from the catalog but, Long Way to the top if you want to rock n roll (never thought bagpipes could sound so good?) Traffic--Mr. fantasy Steely Dan--Deacon blues (make sure your six pack of Budweiser in cans is behind the seat) Mountain--Mississippi Queen Blackfoot--Train (goodbye bread mama..get yourself a money man) Gerry Rafferty--Baker street '82 280ZX- By now Bon was dead so anything from Back in Black The Vapors--Turning Japanese Devo--why not Whip it good Led Zeppelin--Carouselambra (In Through the Out Door) Billy Squire--anything off of Don't Say No (The Stroke) Missing Persons--Destination unknown (she really did look good in that see through plastic dress) The Rolling Stones--Start me up or anything from that release Yes--anything from 90125 (a year early but, who's counting) INXS--Shabooh Shabah in its entirety '86 300ZX- The Cult--pretty much the whole damned catalog--She sells sanctuary Child's Play--It's my bottle L.A. Guns--The ballad of Jane The Alarm--again, the whole catalog esp. Devolution working man's blues INXS--Kick in its entirety Simple Minds--again the catalog is good The Kings--Switchin' to Glide ("nothing matters but the weekend") Slaughter--Up all night Enuff Z Nuff--Fly high Michelle The Bullet Boys--Smooth up in ya (a lot of imagination here) '03 350Z- all of the above for ludicrous speed No Doubt--Underneath it all (who wouldn't want to get underneath Gwen Stefani?) :D

TeranfirbT Be careful as the Fox body Mustangs use a 4 on 4.25" (4x110mm)bolt pattern and the Z uses 4 on 4.5" (4 on 114.3mm) bolt pattern. If you want to try a FWD style wheel the following website contact may be helpful: http://www.wheeladapter.com/ As for finding wheels (both used and new) I usually search on google with something like: "enkei 92 for sale" I currently run the following on my Z's: '78 280Z (avatar): 15x7 ARE mesh wheels w/ zero offset & zero backspacing and P225/50ZR15 Dunlop SP8000. The Tokico Illuminas and Tokico springs add to the "look" with a 1" drop. '82 280ZX hardtop: 15x7 Enkei 92 mesh wheels w/ same offset & backspacing as above and P215/60HR15 BF Goodrich T/A HR4's. This car looks better than it should thanks to the Tokico HP's and Tokico springs giving a 1" drop. '86 300ZX hardtop: 16x7 ARE 3 piece mesh wheels (BBS RS imitators) w/ black centers and P225/50VR16 Yokohama ES100's. This car looks a bit cartoonish since the Tokico HP's and Tokico springs lowered the car more than I expected. The front is obnoxiuosly low although the measured drop was 1" it gives the car a rake. ....and the latest as yet to be installed on the Datsun Dynanics '78 280Z: 16x7 and 16x8 Epsilon 2 piece mesh wheels w/ P225/50VR16 up front and P245/45VR16 out back w/ Tokico Illuminas and Tokico springs (1" drop) If you plan on installing any type of lowering springs do so before finding your wheel and tire package. If you plan on using any type of spacer I would opt for longer wheel studs so that you have more threads to lock your wheel and tire package to the hub. Good luck on your wheel and tire odyssey.

Jim, Bravo. I wish I had more time to attempt something like that on my Z's. A friend of mine bought a Miller ten years ago and has been happy with its dependability and low operating costs. He used it to convert his rubber bumpered MGB to early chrome bumpers (lots of fab. work) as well as to weld in new floors and rocker panels. It has also done duty under a few of my old Z's. It is a bit tricky for a novice when it comes to learning wire feed speed and adjusting amperage to avoid blowing through that which you are trying to renew. When I was serious about learning the craft I used to practice writing obscene words on sheet steel and I thought it helped out quite alot. I would also recommend using 3M's weld through coat and always remember to clean back to bare metal before beginning a new weld. If you can swing it a plasma cutter will do wonders for saving time cutting out all of the old metal. A friend of mine at Datsun Dynamics has such a beast and it does amazing things. He removed the entire floor and floor supports from a 240Z in less than one hour. Good luck!

Okay, Since I am a relatively "old" fart here are some of my favorites that you may or may not remember: "The Seven Ups" with Roy Scheider (1973) set in New York City it is based on a true story and while it may seem alot like "The French Connection" it has a great chase scene that ends abruptly when Roy Scheider's Olsdmobile Omega (a.k.a. Nova) stops under the rear of a semi. The chase scene must be about 7 to 10 minutes long with no stupid music to get in the way of hearing those V8 engines rip snort through New York. "The French Connection" (1971)--who can forget Gene Hackman's chase scene that takes place under the elevated train. While it is not Gene driving, the director filmed it at speed which is almost as impressive as the driving that unfolds. Roy Scheider also shows up in this movie; maybe he's a car junkie like the rest of us? "The Driver" (1978) Ryan O'Neal plays a driver for hire and this movie delivers alot of smashed cars which were new then. The best scene is the parking garage scene where the Mercedes Benz is taken apart piece by piece by Ryan O'Neal as he "auditions" for a job. He smashes it into concrete pole after pole while holding the driver's side door open only to let one of the poles "remove" it for him. Towards the end a fairly new Pontiac Trans Am is reduced to scrap metal in a loading dock area. "Brannigan" (1975) This is a great John Wayne car chase movie set in Great Britain. It's deplorable what they do to a nice Series 1.5 E Type Jaguar at the end of this movie. The chase scene with the Ford Capri Mk II is awesome and the Jaguar Mk II sedan gets away as you'd expect. "McQ" (1974) Another John Wayne movie but the Trans Am with the Super Duty 455 HO and 4speed sound really good. It's a shame how they treat this dark green beauty. At least Steve McQueen let the Mustang live after his chase scene. "52 Pickup" (1986) Yet another Roy Scheider movie... but, the Jaguar E type is like the second main character in this movie because Roy Scheider boobie traps this car when it is exchanged, along with money, for his wife. There is a scene that depicts him tuning the carbs on the old cat before its untimely demise. "No Man's Land" (1987) Charlie Sheen plays a car thief and it is not really a chase movie but it is good fun to watch. One of the great pieces of dialogue from this movie is when Charlie Sheen is asked by his protege "Why don't we steal this Ferrari?", Sheen replies: "I don't steal Italian trash" and proceeds to keep pinching Porsches instead. "Whose Life Is It Anyway" (1981) Not really a car chase movie but, Richard Dreyfus destroys a nice '77 or '78 280Z in the beginning of the movie and the rest of the story deals with his paralysis. If you hate 280Z's you'll love that scene; I don't and it was painful to watch. You can console yourself with old reruns of "The Six Million Dollar Woman" with Lindsey Wagner as she drives a silver '75 or '76 280Z throughout the series. "THe Hunter" (1980) Steve McQueen is a bounty hunter and this movie is best remembered for throwing a perfectly good (?) Monte Carlo out of Marina City in Chicago only to have it land in the water below. What Steve does to the Trans Am is also pretty memorable. "Le Mans" (1971) Another Steve McQueen film and although there are no car chases unless you count race cars "chasing" one another around a track for 24 hours this film is alot of fun too. and the last three (let's beat a good horse to death...): Ronin, Bullitt, and The Blues Brothers.

CoastGuradZ, If you like the little Toyota, then you are sure to enjoy a look at the Honda S600: http://www.hondas600.com/ Both of these cars are so scarce that you would probably be afraid to drive one for fear that if it something broke you would have to modify or custom build the needed part.

Alan, Kats, and all: Thanks for a most engaging post on another of my favorite cars of all time. Regarding Mr. Zinn of Florida; I believe he was the subject of an article that appeared in Sports Car International a few years back. The photography was spectacular (as usual for SCI) and as a retrospective it was well written too. When Mr. Zinn was mentioned it was stated that he owned two 2000GT's, one of them being a single overhead cam w/ automatic transmission (a 1970 model if I recall). As an interesting aside, Road and Track published an article in the late 1970's which mentioned that one of the executives at Kearny Mesa Toyota of San Diego used to drive one of the ex-Shelby prepared cars to and from work everyday and would smoke a tobacco pipe whilst embarrasing many "high performance" cars. The car was painted a striking silver with a black band in the midsection. The car was about 46 inches tall from the factory and the ex-Shelby car was approximately 1.5 inches lower! One of the other board members at Kearny Mesa Toyota also owned a completely stock 2000GT that was only driven in good weather. The article also appeared in Road & Track's Toyota 1966-1984 compilation soft cover book. If only Toyota would produce a modern interpretation of that design. Regarding the "cloisonne" emblems it is also somewhat related but, AMCO used to market a shift knob that you could purchase at the dealer's parts department to dress up the somewhat somber interior of a 280Z (we didn't get a fancy wood like shift knob like the 240Z). I have just installed a new in the box AMCO shift knob in my latest '77 280Z and it has a unique finish which compliments the interior. Alan, I was given the email that you mentioned by a fellow Z club member and it was sent back by the web postmaster so it may have been shutdown? Thanks for your great pics of the meet! Is the book published in Japanese? If so, it is not a problem as I have a Japanese friend who has kindly offered her time to translate. Kats, I never cease to be amazed at the depth of knowledge you have attained regarding the Z's early development phase. I wonder how the lower roofline would have looked? Again, thanks to everyone who remembers these great cars. p.s. you might enjoy the following website: http://www.ies-geneve.ch/2000gt/

I have owned too many :classic: I will just list the Z cars: 1983 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 (being 20 yrs. old at the time my insurance was already too expensive--traded in for an '87 Supra) 1982 Datsun 280ZX hardtop (totalled by little old lady in a Chevette) 1978 Datsun 280Z can't remember but it was 455... 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30426919 "Sliver" 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30427175 "Old Yellow" 1978 Datsun 280Z orange parts car 1976 Datsun 280Z black but, was originally brown 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30431775 "Tangerine" 1977 Datsun 280Z HLS30374001 sky blue--gave it to my father and is now a former parts car. 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30448652 Wine Red Met. "Junkyard Car--rescued from a junkyard since it was so solid) 1976 Datsun 280Z Copper--sold it to a friend who has now sold it to his neighbor. 1977 Datsun 280Z HLS30375108 02/77 Wine Red Met. "Major General Andrews' old car" (father talked me into gving him this car as well) 1982 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 (now a parts car to help out junkyard car--ATK engine and new Nissan 5 speed w/30k) 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30456240 Wine Red Met. "Datsun Dynamics" 1977 Datsun 280Z HLS30366531 Wine Red Met. 2003 Nissan 350Z Brickyard Red 1982 Datsun 280ZX hardtop 1986 Nissan 300ZX hardtop 1984 Nissan 300ZX A.E. --sold 1978 Datsun 280Z HLS30469662--ebay car that was sold. 1986 Nissan 300ZX (never put this one on the road) I think that is it as far as Z cars go. In case anyone is interested these cars have also passed through my hands: 1987 Toyota Supra N/A 1988 Toyota Supra Turbo 1987 Toyota Celica GTS 1985 Mazda RX7 GSL-SE 1987 Mazda RX7 GXL 1986 Mazda RX7 SE 1977 Volkswagen Scirocco 1972 Toyota Celica ST (still have this one..)

I took some measurements years ago when I convinced a friend to install 1st generation Miata seats in an MGB. Afterwards I was curious and compared the measurements to a stock 280Z seat. In all directions the Miata seat is within 1 to 2 inches of the stock Z seat. The seatback is slightly narrower and the seat cushion is actually just a bit longer but, almost identical in width. I still have the measurements someplace and I will go and retrieve them. The seat rails are slightly different so it wouldn't be a straight bolt in however, materials technology has come a long way and the Miata seats are probably going to be durable over the long run and with more aggresive padding it ought to provide more stability for the autocrossers and roadracers amongst us. For the clincher most junkyards are quite happy to sell a set for about $100.00 (that's what my friend paid for his) and if you are so inlcined the Miata seats have speakers built into the headrests.

It's funny and tragic to think that Jim Morrison was found not guilty of "lewd" behaviour (funny), and yet Jimi Hendrix passed away the 18th of September 1970, two days before I was born. It's a shame because both artists always have a standing invitation to play through my Z's radio anytime and yet imagine what they might have released had they lived a bit longer. Great website reference, thanks

Dan, I am still waiting for the SUV craze to go away as well. That Smart Roadster would be just the ticket for around town driving. A friend of mine recently bought a G35 coupe w/ 6MT and I recently went for a ride in it. If it didn't have the fussy dashboard details that Infiniti's are known for and the leather seats which feel like there is a phone book mounted under them it wouldn;t be so bad. With my 6'1" height the seat could never be low enough in the car for my tastes. The beltline doesn't seem as high as the 350Z becuase of the "booster seat" but it wasn't my taste. I couldn't justify the asking price either. The joke is that the Infiniti dealer will annoy you with customer care whilst the Nissan dealer doesn't want to hear about a "feathering tire" or a "grease mark" on the windows. I wasn't aware of the gas tank mixture but, I do remember that under the hood of the 2nd gen. there was a small bottle which would inject coolant for cold weather starting. On the two 2nd gen. cars that I owned that bottle never had to be replenished. Curious to see if Mazda will continue to pursue the Rotary sportscar which should give the Z and other a run for the money as the RX8 was a bit of a disappointment. Who knows we may have a "Samurai Shootout" if Toyota makes good on bringing a Supra to market.

Stephen, To answer your question let's go back the intial launch of the 240Z in October of 1969; there were lots of cars that looked similar to the 240Z back then: Jaguar XKE Ferrari 250SWB, 250GTO, 275GTB/4 Triumph GT6 Opel GT Saab Sonnet Toyota 2000GT Chevrolet Corvette C2 When I write similar I am referring to the long hood, short deck design (cab rearward). With the exception of the Triumph, Saab, and Opel the 240Z was trying to emulate the exotic looking cars and provide a somewhat similar performance experience for a lower price point. In all honesty the writers of the day seemed to be saying that the 240Z is a "good" car considering its price however, at the price of the XKE or C2 the Z didn't quite match up. In this sense the 350Z does beg comparison with the 240Z given the fact that you are able to extract that level of performance from an expense of $26,809 for a base model (w/ tags, tax, etc $28,452 out the door). Okay the styling may not be timeless but, unless you can issue a sportscar that looks like a 240Z or XKE and run the risk of being flamed by the automotive press good luck. As for the 1977 810 just look at a period brochure for that car. The ad copy reads like an ad for a Buick as it speaks of simulated woodgrain with the engine of the "legendary" 240Z all the while providing "unprecedented luxury" at a price. As for the new Maxima, Nissan doesn't seem to understand where they are going with this car. It probably won't sell as well as the Altima 3.5 SE because there is price disparity. Unless you have to have that roof length sunroof and that edgy styling, the Altima delivers more bang for the buck. I would say the Altima 3.5 SE is a closer comparison for the '77 810 except that its engine is driving the wrong set of wheels. Dan, In all of my Rotary experiences I have never had reliability issues. The proper care and feeding for a Rotary involve frequent oil changes and coolant flushes. It couldn't be a simpler engine to maintain. My '85 RX7 GSL-SE had 181,000 miles on it when I bought it and when I sold it the car had 205,000 on it and it would not use a drop of oil between oil changes (every 2500) and it would still wag the tail in 1st, 2nd and sometimes the upshift into 3rd. My second gen. RX7 was a similar story. So the "apparent life expectancy" that you are referring to is somehwat suspicious. I have encountered 2nd gen. RX7's with almost 300,000 miles on the original drivetrain. The only reason those cars experience engine mishaps result from substandard maintenance habits as with most cars. As for the 3rd gen. RX7's the problem stems from vacuum lines not being tended to in addition to over enthusiastic owners who immediately upon purchase install over-sized exhausts and adjustable boost controllers and other nonsense. With a Rotary you cannot just install a piece without it affecting other parameters of the engine's performance. With a Z you can get away with more nonsense without the engine grenading itself. With the Crossfire you are benefitting from the merger with Daimler as it uses the SLK's underpinnings with only a 215hp V6 to get the job done. The price is starting at almost $40,000 and delaers in the Washington area have bunches of them sitting on the lot. If Chrysler/Dodge wanted to make a splash why not build the Dodge Razor concept car with 240hp and low curb weight and a price of $15,000! Now that would make a dent in 350Z sales! In 30 years who knows what car clubs will be around and given the internet there will probably be a 350Z club. By then we will have scrapped a bunch more S30's and we will be the old farts bidding the prices to the sky for clean unmolested examples while younger people will question our sanity! Let me run for cover now..

As a former RX7 owner (both 1st and 2nd gen) I found them to be extremely reliable, fun to drive, and great handling cars. Oh, and one small thing Nissan might learn form Mazda: The RX7's don't have to rust in every conceivable orifice unlike the Z car. Mazda could learn to price their parts a bit more competitively though, instead of trying to make back all of their R & D costs on the backs of the weekend hobbyist. Two different schools of thought: Nissan: we'll make a nice looking (S30) car but, it will rust the minute it is minted. Mazda: we'll make a nice looking car that won't rust but, the parts will send you to the poorhouse (maybe you should've bought that 944 afterall).

I read that bit about the "X" in one of Ben Milspaugh's books about Z cars years ago. That may have been repeated because of his experience in the aeronautical field. I just looked through the book "Datsun 280ZX" published by Nissan in 1978 and thought there might have been reference to "X" in that book; I will look it over when I have more time. Yuppie69, Not all 280ZX's were equipped with headlight washers and digital dashboards. They used to package digital instrumentation with a stereo of some small output (better than stock) and usually with leather seat surfaces and t-tops which made for one hell of a bloated, slow and ill handling car. Make no mistakes because apparently the U.S. market wanted such a car; personally I don't mind driving my '82 280ZX. Mine is a hardtop with cloth seats and an analog dashboard and with the Tokico springs and struts the old girl really doesn't mind corners. The car is definitely better suited to cruising the interstates and is a pretty comfortable car. The Z31 is strangely enough more of a sportster than my '82. My '86 300ZX is a hardtop and even before the Tokico springs/struts went in, out of the box it handled better than the 280ZX. Alot of that was due to the much improved seats and better steering feel. The V6 also seems to pull more smoothly than the '82's engine. It doesn't sound any better but its a different car. To be honest now that I have owned a Z31 (a couple actually starting with a 50th Anniversary Turbo) I wouldn't seek to repeat the experience again. The parts are becoming scarce and the people that seem to like the Z31 don't like to spend any money on keeping them in good condition. Okay, maybe I will run for cover now.

Don't feel bad; we here in D.C. have been crippled by the sheer cold. I have a stack of car jobs to do and heated garage space is at a premium. With eight cars (7 Z's and one very old Celica) to look after it is getting ridiculous. All I am hoping for is to at least break into the 40's so that I can get some of these jobs done. Couple that with a "must do" trip to Daytona beach this weekend for the Rolex 24 and I don't think I will ever get done. Oh well.