Carl Beck

If you have the VIN correct - it would have a Manufacture Date of 02/72. I have HLS30 71162 listed as being in Seinajoki, Finland. FWIW, Carl B.

Looks like a great Project Car, and at a very low price. Also marks you as "seriously hooked":-) The seats alone are almost worth the price of the car. Enjoy the process... Carl B.

Looks like 1977 with 84,156 total produced and 75,957 exported was the highest production year for the First Generation Z's. A few of the units exported to other than North America would have been additional 260Z units. 1974 production 62,961 total with 54,026 exported 1979 105,045 produced and 85,643 exported set the record for the Second Generation Of course these are "calendar year production/export" numbers so there is some overlap of specific models - given that model change overs were in the last quarter of the year... FWIW, Carl B.

Koalia: What is the VIN on your Z? Carl B.

Automobile Title and License Plate information are "Public Records". Since taxes were collected for license fee's they used to be open to the Public. However Federal Laws passed to protect "Personal Privacy" now cover them - and they are no longer open to the public. So it is no longer possible for individual citizens to research previous owners of a vehicle. Lawyers can gain access to the records with a Court Order if they are needed for a law suite, Police have access to the current records for law enforcement purposes.

New? or Used? Carl B.

Or.. if you have a Mac - just use the Graphic Converter program that is included. ;-) FWIW, Carl B.

There simply are not enough cars on that registry to fill in all the blanks between. FWIW, Carl B.

If that engine number is 176715 - it came out of a 73 240Z and is not the original in your car. Take the engine number off the data tag in the engine compartment. 176xxx series engines are found in cars with build dates of 05 or 06 of 73. FWIW, Carl B.

On my computer screen, Lee's first picture looks about right. The picture of the pully at Post #3 looks like it has too much green/teal in it. Motorman's block looks about right given a slightly darker lighting in that photo. FWIW, Carl

Hi Tom: GREAT story - thanks for sharing. I think many of us can relate to that trip, in many ways. All though your story I found myself thinking - "yes, I've been there and yes I've done that".... Problems along the way simply add interest to the trip and provide better material for the story afterward... keep at it... Carl B.

Not really. The R180's that were raced ran 4 sypder gears - the OEM units have two. That is the weak point in the differential. The R180's that were raced by winning teams - were checked/rebuilt several times per season and many ran differential coolers for longer races. Nonetheless - I agree that the R180 in as new condition is strong enough - and stronger if you add a posi unit with 4 spider gears. The R200's are stronger - and in many cases you can find units that are far newer and have less milege on them. Even if they have the same mileage - chances are good that because they are stronger - they will run longer in lower torque application. Just my personal experience - but the R200's I've ran - all ran with far less noise in the cabin. For many reasons I'd take an R200 over an R180 every time for other than a single purpose race car - and even then the type of race would be considered. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Shane: Good to have you here - that Cartech Turbo-kit is a rare set-up. I haven't seen one on a Z in decades... Enjoy the project... Carl B.

Hi Arne: Was any thought given to using a static cling vinyl - very easy to install and it stays were you put it, until you pull it off. I've had static cling vinyl signs on the sides of my car at 100mph+, and the IZCC Decals have never come loose on the inside of the glass. just a thought... but the "new" adhesive seems to be somewhat of a problem. Nonetheless - the new one's look great - and I really didn't care if they were "exactly" like the originals anyway. Keep at it... Carl B.

Thanks Adrian - I understand now. kind regards, Carl

Hi Guys: I'm a little confused by the use of a couple terms - could be something lost in translation. As I understand the definitions of the terms: Chassis Number - - the serial number stamped into the body of the car, usually in sequential order that identifies that unique unit. Such as 00001, 00002, 00003...... Vehicle Identification Number {VIN} - - The series of letters and numbers that identify the completed vehicle. Such as HLS30 00006, HLS30 00007, HLS30 00008..... H = 2.4L engine L = Left Hand Drive S30 = 2 door sports coupe 00006 the chassis that car was built on. Carnee/Carnet - - Japanese carnet registration number as Alan defined it - in effect the Japanese license plate number for identification of a specific car - which could have also had a License Plate issued by the country within which it was being operated. So the Carnet ie the Japanese registration and the license plate could be transferred from one car to another - - and one car could have had more than one Carnet Number, depending on what Country it was registered for road use at what point in time. However the VIN and its included Chassis Number were unique to a specific car. {Unless a car was completely rebuilt from others - and only one VIN was retained to identify it } Adrian - - are you indicating that 1/1970 240z HLS30-1639 8/1970 240z HLS30-7996 8/1970 240z HLS30-7998 8/1970 240z HLS30-8449 Are the VIN's of the 4 LHD cars that were "Works Rally Cars" ? Or are they cars that you presently own? From an earlier thread - #7996 was identified as TKS 33 SA 987 {71 Monte Carlo Rally}. Thanks, Carl B.

Hi Alan: Thanks for the explanation. Yes - I take your point. I too was frustrated by that and a few other elements of "the story". It seems to always be so:stupid: I guess my question had more to do with understanding the term "public record" in the context of its use in Japan. Our public records start, in each individual State when it comes to automobile titles and registrations of license plates. All of these "Public Records" used to be open to the public - and which are now closed due to Federal Privacy Laws passed some years ago. FWIW, Carl B.

76 Factory Service Manual - in really good condition - $75.00 isn't out of the question - and in Perfect Condition $125.00.... All depends on having two people that need one - on E-Bay at the same time. Wait long enough.. and you can pick them up for $35.00. Most likely "switch" or both your high beams are burned out. A relay will usually cause one side or the other {left/right} to go out. FWIW, Carl B.

The refresh of my Blue 72 - strip the body, replace the entire rear tail light panel and repaint - about six months. My neighbor did it in his garage - and it was a beautiful job. The refresh of my White 72 - strip the body, fix door dings etc and repaint the entire car - about two months. This was a shop that did only Custom & Collector Cars - no collision work. The repair of my White 72 - I bent the hood, Left Front Fender, bumper, lower finisher panels...Yeiks!! Replaced every part with NOS parts, stripped and refinished the entire car to assure matching paint - - with all delays receiving parts - this took about 4 months. The BRE Z - body shop time only - strip the body, fix a couple small dents, prime, 3 color paint job - -about three months. {the entire process of finding parts, rebuilding, restoring etc... about 4 years..but I enjoyed every minute of it} FWIW, Carl B.

Hi bigjohnson: I believe you really have an L20A or L20E {fuel injected} not an L20. So when you are looking for parts, gaskets etc - make sure you specify L20A or L20E. You should be able to get many if not most of the parts from the Nissan Parts Dept. Nonetheless - if you want to build a stroker, start with a good L28, you should be able to find one fairly inexpensively. Put the L20A / L20E on e-bay, you might find a buyer for it. good luck, Carl B.

Hi Alan: That's interesting. What type of public record in Japan gives that info? 72+950 = 1022 The production schedules show by Kats show a total of 969 domestic cars. Does this mean that the production schedules are incorrect or the public records? thanks, Carl B.

Hi Kats: Thanks for the clarification - if Mr. Yoshida and Mr. Tamura agree - then Mr. Tamura should be listed everywhere as having done the final body styling. My mistake - Mr. Yoshida. I understand what he is saying now. Shin is convinced, buy original drawings found during his research at Yamaha on the Toyota 2000GT - that the Finished Fiberglass Yamaha A550-X was designed for Yamaha by GK Design {Iwataro Koike}, and was no part of the Joint Yamaha/Nissan Project. A side note - As far as I know - at this point - Mr. Goertz is the person that originally circulated the photograph's of the Yamaha A550-X sitting beside a Datsun Roadster in the warehouse. He did this with the comment "look at this"... letting the reader believe that Goertz was pointing to a design of his... but as usual without actually saying that... Yes - now that you mention it - I can see the similarities in the front end of the two. But Mr. Yoshida's sketch looks far more overall like the drawings of the GK Design A550-X... Mr. Matsuo's Plan A sketch is far more evolved. {no vent wing, covered headlights, no "B" pillar etc}. I think it is now quite clear that Mr. Goertz had nothing what so ever to do with the A550-X - and that the metal prototype {pictured below} represents the Nissan 2000GT - built by Yamaha for Nissan, and which was delivered to Nissan - does in fact represent the extent of Mr. Goertz involvement. I had thought that given Goertz's ego - he might have actually believed everything was an evolution of "his" designs... but at this point I think Alan's hard stance on the subject has to be considered correct. Goertz had to have known that the GK Design had nothing to do with his involvement - and he was a complete fraud to have circulated pictures of it....{which he did without comment}... Very Interesting discussion - thanks for bringing it up and following though on it. FWIW, Carl B.

Very nice - and to keep them that way - clean the inside of them - then mask them off - and paint the inside with a coat of POR-15 in the light gray. When that sets up and gets tacky - spray a coat of shinny silver over the top. That will prevent them from rusting from the inside out.... FWIW, Carl B.

Facet sells an all but identical pump to the one from NISMO - shop the Web for the best price. Facet Part FEP60SV - you can buy replacement filters FEP 42370. Should be around $85.00... I've used them for years... FWIW, Carl B.

zinistr: I PM'd you... regards, Carl B.