Carl Beck

For 1970 the "Green" was #907 and Datsun called it Racing Green http://zhome.com/History/colors.html and http://zhome.com/History/ZColorGallary/index.html Looks like a very nice Z to have. FWIW, Carl B. Carl Beck clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com Z's..several 510 Station Wagon... love it!!

See: Mr. Woof's72z for his set up http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28153 I used his picture to show another... You really shouldn't need chokes in California.. unless you go to the tops of the mountains... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guus: Thanks for the great coverage - keep it coming!! Although the photographs thus far are excellent.... I'm sure hoping that someone will get some details of the Z's - engines, suspension, special prep items... kind regards, Carl Carl Beck Clearwater, FL http://ZHome.com

Hi Tony D / everyone: ""included the "Sports" 240"" ... That makes it sound like there was more than one model - there wasn't. The 69 brochure covered the Datsun 240-Z as it was spec'd for the U.S. at that time. There was no lower trim level vehicle mentioned at that point, that I can find. The 1970 Showroom Sales Brochure, that outlined the standard trim, equipment etc actually raised the trim level. (while spec.'ing out the 150HP emissions version) After that brochure went to publication, Nissan included Tinted Glass and Rear Window Defroster as Standard Equipment also. (although it was listed as Optional in the 70 brochure). Emissions Policy - what can we say? The U.S. Voters got what they wanted - less pollution from the cars. Many people thought that was a good thing - and therefore the better car: but I know what you mean. Interesting to note that in the long run, those heinous US Emissions Requirements, may have actually lead to far better performing engines today. We'll never know if the manufacturers would have applied the available technology as it came along - of if they would have invested billions of dollars in the necessary R&D to develop it, without being forced to or not.... but I doubt they would have. If we are looking at the choices Nissan's conservative engineers made - it is important to note that selection of the S20 for the Z in Japan, was a Management decision, not an engineering choice. Given that the S20 was a Prince Engine - we'll never know if the engineers at Nissan would have selected it or not. Neat as the 432 was at the time, or neat a total package as it is still today - the S20 was selected to comply with Japanese government restrictions on engine displacement, while offering a great performing 2.0L engine in the JDM (even if at a significantly higher tax rate and initial price). Emissions or Displacement - government's influence drives engineering choice most of the time. Competition Rules and Regulations drive engineering choice at other times. While the triple carb'd L24 produced 175 HP - it also used a 10.5:1 compression ratio - whereas the 150 HP version was lowered to 9.0:1. So I'm not sure how much HP gain can be attributed solely to the carb's in that case. FWIW, Carl B.

If they were here - there are a couple that I'd just go buy today. But - this is the one that will sell first and for the most: http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/472915756.html FWIW, Carl B.

Down-draft vs Side Draft: Just one case of engineering "choice" for example: Interesting that Mr. Iida commented in an interview reported by Nostalgic Hero, that when his team designed the first L20 in-line six cylinder, OHC engine (with a four month design cycle), they used side draft carb's because they had less resistance to flow, than the down drafts, and thus produced more HP and Torque. (115 ps or 113.43HP) Everything in Engineering is a trade-off however. Mr. Iida also said that the reduced resistance to flow of the side draft carb.'s, combined with poor valve stem seals - - resulted in oil being sucked up the cylinder walls, and the oil rings used were not sufficient to initially seal, nor wipe the walls clean - thus high oil consumption resulted. He also tells us that the twin carb's were difficult to tune and the original L20 suffered from a high idle speed - which caused higher fuel consumption and customers complained about the noise at idle from the engine. A year after initial production, the second version of the L20 was equipped with a down draft carb. - lost some HP/Torque (now down to 105ps or 103.56HP), but equipped with new valve seals and newly designed oil rings, combined with reduced flow from the downdraft carb - the oil consumption was brought under control, and with the down-draft engine idle speed was lowered to increase fuel mileage and reduce noise in the car at idle. {on later engine designs, in addition to better rings and seals - Positive Crankcase Ventilation reduced the tendency to suck oil past the rings and valve stems into the cylinders - when pressure went negative in the cylinder, relative to the crankcase - on the intake stroke. Engines designed later had to have PVC to be exported to the US starting in 67 AIR...cjb} FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Jared No problem - I understand completely.... the problem with having only written comments is we miss tone and facial expressions... Just like Stephen's "vaunted" as a good thing... My house and garage are filled with "historic junk"... Speaking of going off topic - heck I still have a Mac SE running with MacDraw in my office... -VBG- All the wonderful leading edge stuff for their time... FWIW, Carl B. with disks from a CDC 300MB Hard Drives - with Removable Disk Packs..circa 1980...at $49,500.00. Built with licensed technology from Honeywell - we only had to pay $25,000.00 for the drives direct from CDC!! Only the old guys recognize them today....

HS30 00501 would be the first 1971 RHD Datsun 240-Z according to the factory. Should have the fresh air exhaust vents in the quarter panels. I think Kats or Chris posted this before...image below. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Steven: It wasn't the "project" that caught my attention - it was more specifically Sunbelt Performance and John Williams. Some of us know John, and were just talking about his driving etc at the recent ARRC... Sunbelt Performance and John did the rebuild and restoration on my BRE Z's engine... Sorry to say I did miss your earlier thread about the exhaust system... I'm sure I would have followed it had I seen it. I owned/operated a muffler shop for a couple years... built a lot of exhaust systems for Z's in the mid-70's... Glad to see that MSA seems to have improved theirs... FWIW, Carl

....and the reason you didn't share it with the rest of us at that time....is??.....

Hi Guys: Just so we aren't taking across one another - nor giving conflicting advice to Shoottathril200 - - my response was really aimed at the original Post - wherein Shoottathril200 ask about "adapting" a 280ZX F.I. system to his 240-Z. Not really talking specifically about racing, nor increased performance in his case - - more about being able to properly tune out a F. I. System for his L24 and using modern aftermarket parts that are easily available and relatively inexpensive etc. I wouldn't swap out the OEM system on a stock 280Z/280ZX... nor recommend it. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Stephen: I worked for DATSUN in 74/75. The 260Z's built on the 280Z Bodies had to be sold and titled as 1974 or 74 1/2 Model Year Vehicles here in the U.S. The L26 could not meet the U.S. Emissions Standards in effect for 1975. If that 260Z was titled as a 75, it was a title error or mistake of some kind. It would seem that it would make it very difficult for it to pass the CARB standards for a 75 model year in California - at least in years prior (if it was in California when still requiring vehicle inspections for emissions etc). FWIW, Carl B.

See: http://www.classicmotorsports.net/news.php?cat=14 FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Jared Well my conclusion may have seemed a little too insensitive - but I hope the rest of it was more a consideration of the technology, than just my opinion. Lets face it, can you plug your P.C. into your Jetronic System and reprogram the fuel maps, adjust the volumes and air/fuel ratios to account for different engine displacements, head flow rates, new cam profiles, or different spark timing curves? Don't get me entirely wrong - I love the 280Z's and yes they run just fine with the system the factory equipped them with 33 years ago, but the system wasn't programmed for the best performance possible. I agree that for it's time, the system was pretty effective and mostly easy to work on. But given the options available today - I would not recommend going back in time..while trying to improve the performance of an L24/L28 etc. FWIW, Carl B.

Interesting article in the Nov. Classic Motorsports Magazine, on their Z Car project. Engine rebuilt by Sunbelt Performance, Balanced Performance Motorsports and John Williams in Atlanta, GA. Stock L24 started at 134 HP at the rear wheels... and 169 HP after the rebuild.... FWIW, Carl B.

I agree with the recommendation to replace the studs when you have the intake/exhaust manifolds off. With water cooling running through the aluminum head - I would not recommend using Stainless Steel studs. Far less electrolysis, corrosion of the studs and galling will occur using the Cadmium plated steel studs from Nissan. The Cad. plating is a sacrificial coating, so new studs with their full depth of coating should always be used... and old studs that have given up their coatings should be discarded before they corrode. FWIW, Carl B.

The Fuel Injection System on the 280Z/280ZX's were put there by the factory to meet the US Emissions Standards. They are analog (ie hard wired) systems, and the only way to "tune" them is by feeding false signals from the sensors they use. By todays standards they are historic junk... Making the situation even worse - call your local Nissan Dealers Parts Dept. - and price a new set of Nissan Injectors...CARZY!!! If you feel at home with Fuel Injection Systems in todays digital world... by all means look into what is available in the aftermarket... Todays F.I. systems are very "tuneable" and a way of overcoming the limitations of the tapered metering rod's in the S.U.'s.. Visit hybridz.org and go from there... lots of guys have installed various F.I. systems on the older in-line sixes - to yield great results. good luck, Carl B.

Because I said; "In the case of our DATSUN 240-Z's ....." I could have said; "In the case of the Datsun 280-Z's.." the "H" stands for the 2.8L engine.... but wasn't thinking along that line at the time... Why Nissan used "R" for the 2.6L in the 260-Z, then reverted to the "H" for the 280-Z's.... we'll most likely never know ;-) FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bryan: Wrong - VIN's existed before 1980. They were simply "standardized" in 1980 and the new standards included more information, that both the government and consumer groups wanted to see related to each vehicle. The "VIN" was required to be visible, from outside the car for all 1969 Model Year cars sold in the USA. (check the dash of any 69 Model Year car sold here in the USA). In the case of our DATSUN 240-Z's the complete VIN is comprised of two parts. Vehicle Identification Number = Car Model Information + Chassis Number HLS30 XXxxx H= 2.4L engine L = Left Hand Drive S30=Sport Coupe XXxxxx = the chassis serial number for that model FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris; Is there a page missing? the article seems to start in the middle.. thanks, Carl B.

Hi Michael: Well it's about time!! ;-) Great photo's and it's easy to see that a lot of elbow grease along with a lot of money has gone into that 280Z. It's got to draw a crowd where-ever you take it. Hope you have a few weeks of good weather to enjoy it before the ice and snow come... regards, Carl B.

Hi Warren: Good to hear that you got your 240-Z back. The pictures look great.. Now the real fun begins... Having the car there with it's finished body and paint work gives you an incentive to devote more time to the project; and every bag of old parts you open, clean, refresh/restore and get back on the car yields a great deal of personal pleasure during the process, and satisfaction upon completion. Personally, I'd refresh/restore a lot more cars if I didn't have to deal with getting the body and paint work done... Keep us posted with your progress on the project.. Carl B.

Not quite what you said - - from the comments that followed Post #7 it still seemed to me that it would be helpful if people knew both the starting number as well as the ending number, along with the starting and ending months of production. Just wanted to add some information... FWIW, Carl B.

Just my opinion.... Failure to sell the car - at this point in time - isn't about the price of the car at all. About the SALESMAN: The reason the car isn't selling - is because you are failing to "Sell It". The pictures you Posted with your Ad - are tuning prospective buyers off before they go any farther. Drag that car out of that dark, dingy garage, clean/polish the chrome, stainless and especially the tail lights... Don't "detail" it, don't gloss anything over - just clean things up with soap and water!! (shinny chrome on the tail lights would be worth $500.00).. Show it as it really is - not at its worst. THEN - take clear pictures of the important details, to both Post in an Ad. - and Send to prospective buyers. You know enough about the Z's to know what details prospective buyers want to see - if you don't show them, buyers will know that your description is most likely BS - - and that your trying to hid major flaws in the car with crummy pictures (that's just the way it works isn't it?). Put the car up on a lift - pay a shop to put it in the air for you - and take good pictures of the floorboards and frame rails. Pull the carpets and take good pictures of the floorboards from inside the car. That will help confirm or dispel the talk here about hidden rust issues there etc. I can see rust spots on the rear bumper - are the bumpers rusting through from the inside out? Can you poke a screwdriver through these spots? Are the bumpers dented, twisted? Show clear pictures if you expect to get many calls about the car... (bumpers are VERY expensive now), and if they are rusted through - you can't do anything with them except throw them in the trash... Anyone can see that at least the rear of the car was re-sprayed.. and a sloppy job at that.. so show clear pictures of the inside of the rear panels - so we can see they aren't crumpled, and with bondo sticking through... You have to show off-sets - for every flaw that shows... Bottom line is - show everything clearly, don't hid anything... the right buyer will accept a few flaws in a 37 year old car.. About the Buyer: The car would sell to the people looking for a 240-Z, that they want to refresh or restore themselves. They want to do it themselves because they like the hobby (enjoy the process of restoring a classic), or they want to know that everything has been done the way they want it done. That person loves the Datsun 240-Z's, either has one or more, or has wanted one for a long time. $3K, $4K, $5K won't matter a hoot to the person above - they just don't care about a couple thousand dollars one way or the other - when they find the car they want to start their project with. They know it's going to take a couple years and $20K + to get the car the way they want it - because they have researched the subject, have friends that had done the whole nine-yards etc The have the money and they can easily afford to do what they want... There are a lot of potential buyers that fit the above description out there - but you have to do far more work in presenting the car to them. They aren't bargain hunters, they aren't thinking of building a driver, they are a completely different group than that. They are the people however that have been driving the price of "restorable" vehicles up over the past couple years... About the Car: I agree with you - a Series I, 240-Z, with a crack free, perfect dash (which you completely fail to show clear detail pictures of), with less than 60K miles, in unmolested condition - should sell easily for $3,500.00 to $4,500.00 on the East Cost... The problem is, you aren't really "showing" anyone "that" car. You have described it, but your pictures do not at this point, match your description as far as any prospective buyers are concerned... rather the pictures you have simply raise suspicions ....(as you can see from many of the comments here - I hope). On the other hand: If the floorboards and frame rails ARE rusted to the point of needing replacement, if the rockers are really much worse that expected... if the damage to the rear panels are more extensive than expected... it's a $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 car in non-running condition, and it isn't the car that the buyer I outlined above, is looking for - he wouldn't buy it at any price... FWIW - as I said, just my take on the situation... good luck, Carl B.

According to one factory document: Aug. 1977 thru June 78 HLS30 420001 - 470009 So 470009 should be the last 280Z produced (but I wouldn't bet too much money on that) FWIW, Carl B.