Carl Beck

You just have to keep ordering and buying them, until you get the right size! You should receive an e-mail order confirmation with a request for SIZE from DHM... my bad:stupid: thanks Wes Carl B.

Hi Steve: Numbers match. Its Number 486... my bad.. Interior - needs replacement... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Gang: Anyone looking for a 69 production year 240-Z? #485 with an 11/69 build date. Second owner, where the first was the Datsun Dealer. Looks rough, but might be in good enough shape to save. Anyone near Napa, California that could go inspect the usual rust area's? Not running nor started for years, reported with 37K miles and all documents from second lady owner.. Asking price of $5,200.00 seems in the ball park for an 11/ 69 Z. PM me if you are a potential buyer. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: I just checked them all - and they connect me to Pay Pal and ask for my login... Maybe a few others can try - you don't have to complete the transaction, just to see of the "DONATE" buttons connect you to the Secure PayPal page that says DATSUN HERITAGE MUSEUM. thanks for the report... Carl B.

Hi Gang: Time to update this thread: The Datsun Heritage Museum's Grand Opening approaches... Time to finalize your plans to attend !! Nissan Motors will be represented at the event by the head of the West Coast Sales Division. Gayle Brock and Mike Sage have jointed the DHM Board of Directors. I think we all know that Gayle is Peter Brock's wife and head of BRE2.com . Mike Sage's father was one of the very early Datsun Dealers and today his family owns the Sage Auto Group. (Universal City, Glendale and West Covina Nissan, West Covina Toyota, M/B of Valencia, Glendale Infiniti, West Covina Scion) Mike is a real 240-Z enthusiast. We have been working on the Datsun Heritage Museum's web site. Much credit and thanks to Will Stokes for getting this rolling. You can now make your tax deductible contributions via PayPal (and thus via VISA/MC/Discover ) via the DHM Store.. and receive the specified "thank-you" gifts while supplies last. http://DatsunHeritageMuseum.com There is a little more information about the DHM, the members of the Board of Directors etc there now - with lots and lots more to come. So at this point I'd say that the Web Site is about 1% complete... but we plan on it being the virtual extension to the physical building. Several of the idea's expressed in this thread are being worked on... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Arne: Just FYI - If you check the Mobil 1 site - you will find that they have certain types and weights of Moble 1 that do contain the necessary ZDDP additives... Carl B.

I don't know - I don't have both types to compare. I know the one's from Classic Datsun are as original and good quality... FWIW, Carl B.

The picture above your Post - is the original, hand lay up, very early in the season. The spook was refined and redesigned - most likely also looking at produce ability as well as function. So BRE did sell the same spook they used, after the development work was done...

AND As you can see - many of us have different experiences. I don't see how you could get that car in even "presentable" condition for less than $10K, even if you do the body work and paint yourself. Past that, its been my experience that once you start "refreshing" every thing leads to the next - and you'll be lucky to have less than $15K in it. Lots and lots of little stuff adds up in a hurry on these projects. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi ToXIc If you can't afford it right now - how about just putting off the purchase while you save a little more cash to start with a better car. Alternatively - you can start buying the most common parts needed to refresh or restore a 240Z now. Then get the car later - its far easier to store cash or parts than to keep a car in a garage space. Personally, I don't see how the car pictured could be mildly "refeshed" for anything less than $15K. If you want something to work on - and really enjoy doing that sort of work - then by all means go ahead and get it. It's just that it is SOOOO much more enjoyable to work with a car that isn't a rusted mess to begin with... good luck, Carl B.

Arne and I are thinking alike - I'd like to have higher resolution copies of the pictures. That may be a 20K mile car... See if it still has it's date stamped spark plug wires on it.. They should say 1972 on them. At any rate - in Canada, in terms of US Dollars - - it's a major project car... and we'd have to know what spares and/or NOS parts come with it - to really pin down a value. Given that you can't pay too little when you buy a pig in a poke - if the floorboards and front frame rails are solid...$1,500.00 to $2,500.00 wouldn't be out of the question for a good body in disassembled state... If you have done a couple 240-Z's it is no problem putting one back together out of boxes of parts - on the other hand if you haven't - putting one back together can be a real challenge. Another thing to consider is the unknown condition of the original engine. You wouldn't want to put serious refresh/restoration money into a non-matching number car. The bumper are another item to check - they are expensive to replace or re-chrome today. The Direct URL for the Common Rust Area's is: http://zhome.com/Classic/CommonZRust/RustPrevention240Z.htm FWIW, Carl B.

I'd vote - NO Non-running, with that much rust and damage to begin with (bent front fender and left door etc) - I wouldn't touch it. Personally, I'd want to start with a far cleaner, good running car. I'd spend the extra $5K right up front. FWIW, Carl B.

I used the A/C compressor mount and the OEM compressor from the 280Z. It was the simplest solution, but not the least expensive. The Hitachi Compressors, even rebuilt, are relatively expensive. A rebuilt Hitachi runs about $175.00 around here, while you can buy new Sanden/Sanyo compressors for slightly less. The aftermarket compressor manufacturers used to sell brackets that fit their compressor to your L6. A few of them can still be found in junk yards... but I don't know of any that are still sold by the aftermarket suppliers. FWIW, Carl B.

If I told Mally02 how much money was spent on that paint job - he'd just die.:tapemouth It is however a thing of beauty and has been a joy for Ken I'm sure. Ken -you still owe me a set of washers. You can bring them to the convention in Cleveland. hope to see you there, kind regards, Carl B.

An additional note about 901. The original paint was mixed using a very fine silver metal flake. Most paint shops today do not carry that in stock. The silver metal flake in common use today is larger and mixed with some red or blue and sometimes both. It goes by different brand names like "fire mist"...If you want your 901 Silver to come as close to original as possible - be certain that the very fine silver metal flake is used. BTW - that is also true of the Metallic Silver on 1970 SS El Camino's FWIW, Carl B.

Some time ago - Jon Mortensen posted a link to Paul Richer's solution to the differential mount/nose strap. I copied Paul's instruction sheet - but deleted the old URL he had as it is no longer any good. I think this is a very elegant solution - easy to fabricate at home and it does the trick. I would think that Paul's approach would be fine for most L6 powered Classic Z's. I should think that for a Z running less than 225HP - one could use even thinner steel stock to work with. Good thing the image of the information sheet was captured, rather than just the original URL.. FWIW, Carl B.

I put the Super Cooler II in , without removing the dash. You do have to remove the center finisher, with the old heater/vent control panel. No modifications needed to the car - just build a couple brackets to bolt to the existing nuts in the firewall. The entire process is far easier than installing the old dealer installed units.. FWIW, Carl B.

HI Mike: Maybe not - given the number of DATSUN dealers in Alabama at the time, and the total number in the US... if Nissan sent one Z to each of their Dealers it would have taken at least a thousand cars.. and I'm certain that the West Cost got many many more Z's than one per dealer in the first few months.. So take a thousand cars and mix them up without regard to VIN.. and yes it would be easy for 999 being the first one to arrive in Alabama... But then every Dealer could have thought that they got the first one into their States. The first 240-Z into Valley Datsun in Spokane was 1777, and that was the first one I ever saw.. FWIW, Carl B.

Order one of their mockup's and see... I have the Vintage Air Super Cooler in my Z - it's smaller than the original heater/AC set up.. FWIW, Carl B.

901 was a Metallic Silver right from the begining on the top surface of the cars. The paint used inside the car, and under the hood did not contain the metal flake and it was not clear coated. When metal flakes were added to the acrylic enamels in 70-73, they had to be clear coated to cover any metal flakes sticking up above the surface or skim coat of the enamel.. FWIW, Carl B.

Interesting - As I recall - Brian reported to John Ursel, that he sold the company in 1980 and the subsequent owns went chapter 11 in 81. That is why he had kept no company records personally - they were all left in the company files when he left. Is that all BS by Brian? Do you suppose Royce Bateman might have an insight? FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Craig: Good to see you here. I for one do not believe I yelled FAKE {although I might have warned against buying a FAKE}. I appreciate the fact that you have spent a great amount of time tracking down authentic Scarab's built by Brian. I am sure you are a storehouse of detailed knowledge about this subject. I am also sure you know far more about the Scarab's than me. On-the-other-hand - I'm no babe in the woods on the subject of buying/selling Collector or Collectible cars. I've lost far more money than most paying my dues... I have also tried to at least follow the various reports of Scarabs, and published publicly whatever information was contributed (mostly by Bruce Bladon} on the Z Car Home Page and in many discussions on the old Z Car List. I have to say that there seems to be a lot of conflicting information, an all but total lack of standards followed by Scarab and very little documented facts. It seems that for the right price Brian would build whatever the customer was willing to pay for, on whatever platform they had. All of which makes it very hard to state definitively exactly what a Scarab is or was. If there is an issue here, I believe it works both ways; that is to say we shouldn't yell FAKE too soon, nor should we say a car has been "authenticated" when it's only our personal conclusion or opinion. I understand how you arrived at your conclusion that Brian put the same Scarab Build number on two cars. I also believe that any prospective buyer should give due weight to your researched and opinions. However I do not believe they should be lead to believe that the car has been "authenticated", and therefore will not be constantly questioned in the future. {especially when it has been so extensively modified and bears the same build number as a documented example} Nor do I believe that we have any obligation to the present owner - to help him sell the car at the highest price he can get. The seller bought the car without documentation, then highly modified it and now he wants to get top dollar for a "Scarab"? I don't blame him, but I don't have to support his quest. It's the potential buyers that come here for advice. I do believe that the best advice that can be given in situations like this to potential buyers, is to buy a car that is as original as possible to it's "as modified by Brian condition", and which is supported by a very good document trail. Lacking that, the value of any Collector or Collectible vehicle would be greatly reduced and far harder to resell in the Classic, Collectible and Special Interest market. I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no intention to cast any doubt on your research, nor your honest efforts to report the facts as you see them. I am simply doing the same from my perspective and experiences. Looking forward - do you plan on publishing your research related to these cars? I for one would be very interested to read it, and I'm sure it would be of great benefit to any potential future owners. FWIW, Carl B.

Sailor - you've left us hanging... how about some pictures of the things you were not happy about on this car - so far it looks like a great car... What shipping damage etc, or what were you disappointed about... We'd all like to know what specific things should have been pointed out by the seller.. thanks, Carl B.

Hi Ljbryan: It is too bad you didn't use the search function before you purchased a car, or at least read the information in the "E-bay" forum. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16183&page=2 You can read the Posts in that thread.. especally starting with the second page.. around Post #35 or so.. We'll hope that everything works out for you - FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Will: Your actions and comments along with several others here, were exactly what I would have expected from any person with an ounce of personal integrity and the nerve to stand up and protest the insulting behavior exhibited by surfsnake. I'm proud of you guys... FWIW, Carl B.