Carl Beck

From the Z Therapy Z Car Spotters Guide - - -- - "This is not a carb-It is a boat anchor! June1972 240Z to all 260Z's (US) Flattop "Hitachi"" - - - - - - - - - - - - Wonder where that came from? Flat Tops didn't start until Aug of 1972 here in the US... when the 1973 Model Year cars started production. FWIW, Carl B.

HI Kats: No they are different people. I haven't found anyone that has a record of the models names from that period. According to Mr. Speckman, the car that was in the Jan 1970 issue of R&T was his - HLS30 00008 - a Silver Z. FWIW, Carl B.

If you have a good digital image already - then any local sign company, like Signs Now can scan it, and print it on vinyl - shouldn't be more than $20.00 to $25.00 .... cheap considering the cost of their overhead and equipment. Great Job by the way - put it on E-Bay and see what it brings.. got to be worth a couple hundred bucks to someone.. They don't make them like they used too.. FWIW, Carl B.

Keep in mind that on a used car - it is possible to have "leather" set upholstery. A couple of companies used to sell them for the first generation Z's and they may still be available somewhere. So if there is a question - clear it up with the present owner... FWIW: Carl B.

Hi zhead240 Wow - talk about having Day and Night. A Datsun 240-Z and a Triumph TR6 is about as close as you can come to the dawning of the new age. I liked the TR4/6 for style and top down fun. (Although I also like the 2.0L Fiat 124 Spyders as well) In one garage you'll have a blast from the past and a representative of the future both circa the 70's. On the one hand -The British Sports Car of the 50's carried forward into the 70's. On the other hand - Japan's frontal attack on the Sports/GT market for the future. Coupe vs Convertible Uni-body vs. Frame and Body 150HP 2.4L OHC L6 with 7 main bearings vs 104HP 2.5L Pushrod I6 with 4 main bearings Front Suspension - MacPherson Struts vs Upper and Lower Wishbones with coil springs Rear Suspension - Chatman Struts vs Semi-trailing Arms, Lever Arm Shocks !! (does it really still have Lever Arm Shocks in the rear for 73?) At $3,500.00 if the engine isn't shot - I don't see how you could go wrong, especially if you like the straight arm driving position and the wind and rain in your hair!. Now I'll have to start looking around here, but I doubt I'll find a good TR6 for less than twice that price here in Florida.... but maybe.... good luck, Carl B.

Can you Post the pictures of the battery tray? Did you find out where is the car was located - PRIOR to its present location. Shouldn't see that much rust in AZ. What did you offer for it? Carl B.

You'll have to let us know how it holds up. It would be good to have something that doesn't need to be sprayed. I've used the SEM NAPA Red vinyl and trim paint - it's an exact match to the original, and it will hold up well. You can spray the seats and door panels without fear of it rubbing off on your cloths.. if you follow the mfg. directions. FWIW, Carl B.

I believe that you should have suggested simply rotating the GenII 180 degrees, then mounting it on the firewall above the transmission tunnel. That way there would be no need to modify the unit itself. The round air ducts are soft plastic - they fit right over the oval outlets on the evap. unit. You want to make sure you tape them in place, then put a very small screw through the air ducts into the outlet on the unit. FWIW, Carl

Your upgrade includes super insulation as well as great weather stripping/seals. That has a LOT to with it, as well as the actual A/C unit... For everyone following along - I meet Derek at friends house, and looked the set up over. Super good job... very nice indeed. I'll see if I can dig out the adapter brackets from an older Sanden set up - and take a picture of them. Sanden used to have two models of their compressor a 5 series and a 7 series. I think the adapters were for the longer 7 series... but not certain. FWIW, Carl B.

Can you show a Picture of the mount? I used the OEM mount, with the OEM Hitachi compressor. The Hitachi is too expensive. Sanden used to supply a conversion kit for the L24/L28, that used an adapter bracket to mount their compressor to the OEM mount.. FWIW, Carl B.

If you put that rubber tire on top of a rubberized undercoating - and leave it there for a year or so - which is all to typical - please let us know what you find the next time you take the spare out... Depending upon the exact materials used - you may need an air hammer. At the very least I'd put a layer of wax paper between the two. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bob: We had some discussion on the Z Car List about using Vaseline Petroleum Jelly on the dash. The idea was to rub the dash down, let it set for some period of time to soak in - - then wipe it dry. The people that use it say it leaves the dash looking like new. Others said they used it to store the dash, and keep it from drying out. It seems to me that vinyls once they are chemically stable (after being molded/formed) would be unlikely to actually absorb anything, but they are porous enough to retain a top coating of some type. Kind of like putting wax on a painted surface... So there might be some preservative value there, in terms of retaining the plastizes within the vinyl - I don' know... FWIW, Carl B.

Ah...yes... I believe I said with the snow tires changed and emblems added.... I was just trying to account for mounting white walls for the original photo. Yes that is the most likely the Red Car...... but is it the one in the 69 Brochure as well? I think that is the original question. Are you saying that it is also the car on the R&T cover? Carl B.

What do you suppose this line in the ad. means? Another 610 that was raced, or a parade lap -????? "Some people have even come back the next day with old photo's, one person gave me a copy of the 1975 runoffs video, featuring the 610 on pole with Bob Sharp driving." Carl B.

Is this a Automatic Transmission? Carl B.

Hello John: Great pictures - thanks for sharing them with us. If you see the 240Z's again - get the VIN numbers - it would be interesting to see what cars went to France. For What Its Worth (FWIW) Carl B.

Hi Chris: According to Mr. Speckman, **** Roberts told him, his car was the car used for the R&T cover on the Dec. issue. It is possible that one or all three were shipped without the D hubcaps - only to have them put on after arrival here. #6 and #7 seem to have been built in Sept. and #8 the first of Oct. It is also possible that some of the very early photo's were of #4 and #5 used in the North American Road Tests by Nissan. They didn't have any identifying trim during the road tests - but that could also have been put on after the fact for the photo shoots. Have you found any other pictures of a Z with white-wall's? I was thinking that perhaps they replaced the snow tires on one of the test cars and added the Datsun Emblems and D Hubcaps for the photo shoot.... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: I wouldn't have a clue as to its current market value. Something like this is so unusual.... The following for the Datsun 610's was about 10% of what it had been for the 510's. Nissan USA ended their sponsorship of factory backed teams by 1974, so the 610's never got the publicity that the earlier 510's did. The Trans/Am series was huge - but the B Sedan races were far less covered by the automotive press... I drove a 75 Datsun 610 for about four months as a Dealer Demo - I grew to like it a lot. It never had the "personality" of the 510, but it had a lot to like about it. The BSR 610 for sale seem to have good documentation and a well known history. You most likely could not duplicate it for less than $75K+ today. It just may not reach the right buyer on e-bay. The owner needs to take it to the Monterey Historic and put it in an auction there... He would most likely find a group of potential buyers that would appreciate the car. If it was an original BSR 510 - it would be easily over $100K.... a 610... I just don't know. I should think that anything under $60K would be a bargain in todays dollars... just for the fun of owning it. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi peng155 As zhead240 said - UV is very damaging to the vinyl, so is ozone. Dashes crack because the as the vinyl looses its plastizers, it drys out. Add a little UV damage and you will see the previous black vinyl turn a light gray. That light gray area isn't faded - its damaged and nothing will "restore" it. Once the vinyl is dried/UV damaged - its ability to expand/contact with thermo cycles is greatly reduced. Subject it to direct sun, let it heat the dash up rapidly - and the foam under the vinyl cover expands at a greater rate than the vinyl can - - - cracks develop. (ie. the gap in the coefficient of expansion between the two types of materials is too large at that point) All the above is accelerated when some one installs a new radio, or when they have to remove and re-install the dash. In both cases improperly tightening down the dash can put it in a very slight bind.. that introduces additional stress. Some morons hit the dash when they lose their tempers... Some Z's have been kept by their previous owners for decades - mostly idle in their garage. Some new owner comes along and the first thing he does is clean/detail/polish/wax the car, He applies brand X protectant (fill in any name) to the dash during that process. He get it running properly - then starts to drive the car on a daily basis. At this point the dash is being subjected to wide thermo cycles. The interior of the car is now 130+ degrees F. during the day, and it cools to 70 degrees F. at night. Driving also subjects the dash to a lot of typical road induced shock and vibration... About three or four months later what was a "perfect dash" (his words) CRACKS! Then he get on the Internet - and tells every one that brand-X protectant caused his 30+ year old vinyl covered dash to crack. Just my perspective - but IMHO that new owner is a moron at best, or just a poor fool stumbling through life like the rest of us. He only noticed the fact that he put something on the dash - and is blissfully unaware of all the chemistry, environmental damage and stresses involved; not mention that he thought any vinyl product over 30 years old - would last forever. Personally - - I bought my 72 240-Z when it was new. I've used Armor-All on it since then and to this day. The dash is crack free. I have a second 72 that I bought from its original owner - he too used Armor-All from the day the car was new, and I continue too. That dash is also free of any cracking.. I will say that it is more than likely that in the past 36 years - newer technology vinyl protectants have most likely been developed... Most now have some type of UV shields, some claim anti-static characteristics. Most of them when used on new vinyl products from the beginning have a high probability of greatly "extending the useful life" of the items treated. As I said above - that graying area you see is indicative of UV damage. That area will be more brittle than the area surrounding it. That doesn't mean that the dash will crack - If you take care to avoid the extreme thermo cycles, keep the dash covered and the interior of the car as cool as possible when parted in the sun - - Covering the dash not only shields it from farther UV damage - but it more importantly helps keep the dash cool and allows more time for the vinyl to keep pace with the expanding foam under it. As mentioned above - SEM Vinyl Die is a good product to use,to restore the dash to a uniform color. good luck... FWIW, Carl B.

Mileage on the car? Owner History Known or not? Original color still in place? Dash cracked or not? Clutch is good for 60K miles at least - depends on type of driving - city/highway? It is very large for the size of the engine. 72 4spd - good for 120K to 150K mies easy -if driven correctly. Rebuild costs around $550.00 most area's of the country - if you have the tranny out. Shifter busings go out-usually with age. Easy fix if the shifter feels sloppy Original Factory paint on firewall and front shocktowers will peel - due to galvin. sheet metal used there. Pictures???? FWIW, Carl B.

Mr. Matsuo tells us that indeed the 411 design was done by Pininfarina - - he (Matsuo) was given the responsibility of making it more appealing to the youth market in Japan, after he was critical of Pininfarina's design.. thus the Matsuo SSS Model... and thus his promotion to the head of sports car styling studio... BTW - Pininfarina also did design work for Prince as well FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris: It could be - but I'm not certain of that. The Red car used in the 69 Sales Sheet - might be the same one, only with the DATSUN emblems now on the front fenders and "D" hubcaps now added. Its possible. Here is another 1970 Advertisement (see below image) - that shows the same red car as the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure, taken at the same photo shoot, only this time used for a Magazine Ad instead of for the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure. It was also used to produce a huge Billboard on the LA Freeway. Kats mentioned the wing nuts - and the 70 Showroom Sales Brochure (SSB) shows a picture of the engine. So I thought that was the one he was referring too. #006, 007 and 008 were expedited from Japan for the Introduction in New York, as well as the rest of the International Auto Show circuit. Also for photo op's. and Ad. Copy etc. On this day they took the red Z for the photo shoot. BSR got the Green car in the SSB #6 after it was damaged, and the silver car in the SSB, #8 went to Bob Speckman when it came off the show circuit. The last known owner of #7 was Ron Cook. FWIW, Carl B.

My answer was related to this one.... Carl B.

Hi Stephen: I started selling cars in 1962 - and we called them VIN's then. If anything the Federal Requirement to standardize the information and the order in which it is presented - might be called a Federal VIN. Prior to the Federal Standard - the Vehicle Identification Number on our Z's consisted of two parts. The first part defines the Model and the second Part is the chassis serial number. FWIW, Carl B.

What manual What is the complete VIN on the car?