Carl Beck

With all the metal work that has been done, I'd want to see pictures of the process in progress. He said the quarter panels were replace and done correctly - I'd want to see what he considers a correct job to be... Not a bad looking car from the pictures... but you'd want to closely inspect this car before buying. I don't think he'll meet his reserve with "pre-approved" buyers only... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Gang: If you have a new KYB GR2 shock cartridge for the FRONT of your 240-Z (KYB #361002) - that is not yet installed in your car; could you please extend the piston rod to it's fully extended length. Then measure the distance from the top of the cartridge to the tip of piston rod. Likewise the rear #361001 Likewise the Tokico's... Let me know what you find..... thanks, Carl B.

Hi Rick: Just in my personal experience - in general NAPA has both better Counter People, and they offer better quality parts - if you ask for them, or let the counter person know you want them, and rare willing to pay for the higher quality parts that they sell. Usually the NAPA people will have access to the specifications of the parts they sell, and they are usually willing to look them up if your standing there in the store in front of them trying to make a decision. In the last couple of decades... "price" seems to be everything.. indeed the only thing .. for most buyers and NAPA has had to respond to the price competition from the larger chain AutoParts Stores... so in many cases if you don't specify that you are looking for and willing to buy "quality".. the Counter People will grab the lowest price item to quote... In which case you might as well go to AutoZone or PepBoys etc. In many cases the price competition has been great for consumers - in just as many cases it's really been a screw job... as always "buyer beware"... good luck, Carl B.

Hi Moonpup: Thanks for letting us know... While I personally am convinced that Mr. Goertz really had nothing to do with the actual design of the Datsun 240-Z, others still do. One person that my research lead me to, had worked for Mr. Goertz for a couple of years directly and then worked with him on a couple of projects years later. That person told me that the truth would come out when Mr. Goertz was no longer with us. He believed that it was indeed Goertz's hand on the design...that guided/refined it. I'll revisit that person now and see if he can produce the drawings, documents and/or photographs that would prove Mr. Matsuo did in fact see the finished A550X at Yamaha Design, or that he did in fact see the original drawings, sketches etc done by Mr. Goertz - and then carried on from there. In point of fact - I really do not care what the truth is - I simply want to know the truth. So far, years indeed decades of research on this subject and the man himself, leads me to belive that Mr. Goertz claim to the "design" of the Datsun 240-Z may have existed in his minds eye... but in fact, I can find nothing to support his personal perception as in any way linked to reality. I will say that you can not follow the life of Mr. Goertz without developing some level of admiration for him in many regards. In a very real sense, he represented the "Great American Success Story". A Jewish Emigrant from Germany just prior to WW-II he came to America with a somewhat substandard formal education and no real assets other than having a Father that was a German Count. A title he much later inherited, upon the death of his older brother. While the media like to refer to him as a "German Count"... being German myself and the great grandson of German Emigrants.. I say that Mr. Goertz was indeed an "American"... he became an American Citizen, spent his lifes work here and served in the US Army during WW-II. He also openly expressed his love and admiration for America, the freedoms we enjoy and the great opportunities we offer all our citizens. I am personally sad to hear of his passing. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Arvin: Good to see another person that considers the Datsun 240-Z to be their Dream Car. It might be helpful if you could elaborate a bit more about what you have in mind, when you say you want to locate one for future restoration? Perhaps we can then offer advice or steer you to a car that meets your desires/needs. For example - does that mean: A) Your thinking of buying a pretty nice car you can drive today and not be ashamed of, then perhaps in two or three years you want to do a complete and proper "as it left the factory" restoration. OR You plan to find a car that within a few months - you will disassemble and restore - with the intention of enjoying the process of restoration itself OR C) Are you thinking that anything you can afford to buy today - will most likely need to be fully restored at some point in the future as you can afford it. FWIW, Carl B Carl Beck Clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com

... if you look at the picture sblake01 provided in response #5 - you will see that item #38 slides inside item #39 and is then held in place by the pin #32 and the snap-ring #37. I think kinfish was referring to item #39 as being "the fork"... (not the actual shift forks inside the transmission). Note also that item #38 has a "bushing" - ie item #34. I believe that kinfish was saying that part of the sloppy shifter feel is caused by that #34 bushing wearing.. and not the pin that goes though it. Many people replace that bushing and pin, with a stronger steel bushing and secure the parts with a bolt/nut in place of the pin. There are rubber bushings that hold the shift lever #1 in item #38. There are steel bushings available that replace the original rubber ones here - but it transmits more noise into the passenger cabin. BTW - what "3 bushings" did you already replace? (item numbers in the picture?). FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Rick: Sorry - I should have addressed that question about the engine to 240GL... At any rate - I can't give you a specific Brand/Part Number - because I haven't bought a fuel pump and regulator for a triple carb set up for about 30 years now... I am still running the Conelec Fuel Pump I bought back in the 70's... it's never failed... It puts out 7 pounds of pressure and 70GPH - and I have it regulated down to 3 lbs. with a Carter Fuel Pressure Regulator. The Conelec pump was an Aircraft Certified unit and at the time it was known as being one of the most simply built (fewest moving parts) and reliable pumps on the market. What's "best" today - I don't know.... but you'll need about the same spec.'s ( I think that AC actually wound up buying Conelec's patents). Hi 240GL: With the triple carb set up you need a lot of initial timing advance... about 20 degrees. But, you have to modify your mechanical advance so it doesn't start to come on until about 1800 RPM. Total advance seems to work best when limited to 34 degrees and you want that all in by 3500 RPM. Any good automotive electrical shop should be able to set your distributor up and measure/adjust the timing curve on a Sun Distributor Machine...(as long as you know what you want) BTW - for the engine set up you are running - with triple carb.s .. you don't want a primary venture size much larger than 30mm. (most of these set-up's seem to come with 32's or larger.. and they bog badly off the line). I've had Weber 40 DCOE's since the mid 70's - and really never did learn to tune them. But the guy that did finally set them up right for me - certainly knew his stuff... (thus my advice above)... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bruce (eveyone) The Series I cars were originally painted with an Alkyd Enamel. They were cellulose based (vegetable oil) and required lots of EPA unfriendly solvents to spray. Also not very durable by todays standards they get brittle with age. The Series II cars and forward were switched to an Acrylic Enamel. Only the Silver and Dark Blue were "metallic" colors on the Series I cars - and thus the only one's to receive a clear coat. That was because the metallic particles mixed in the color coat could wind up on, or very near the surface of the enamel paint - that would leave them exposed to the atmosphere and leave a rough surface - so a clear coat was necessary to both seal the metallic particle in, and provide a smooth surface that could be polished etc. (this is no longer a problem with modern Acrylic Urethanes - they can be sprayed in a single stage without the need for a clear coat). If you are using a modern Acrylic Urethane Enamel (single stage-two component type paint).. there is no real "need" to clear coat it. However it can be clear coated to enhance gloss, allow higher degrees of buffing and many clear coats enhance UV protection. An Acrylic Urethane with a clear coat - you might call a "two step" pain job (I suppose). But don't confuse that with a "two stage" paints. With two stage paints a color coat is applied, and it usually sprays out semi-gloss to semi-flat, then the second stage is to spray on a catalyzing top coat - that chemically bonds with the color coat - and leaves a high gloss surface. I used PPG's - Deltron DBU (Deltron Base Urethane) on my 904 White 72 - everything is a trade-off of some type. My painter likes this product, has been using it for decades - it holds up well in the Florida Sun, and in case of an accident, it's a little easier to spot or blend in. My white 72 is my main "driver" in that I drive it to most Z Car Events, and on longer road trips. It isn't a Concours restoration... See: <a href=http://www.ppg.com/cr-refinish/phase1/frmHome.asp TARGET=NEW> PPG's Auto Refinish Page</a> FWIW, Carl B.

What engine are you talking about? What cam, what head work etc etc.. Carl B.

Just make sure she isn't one of the ABC Crew... we don't want to see your friend on T.V. Carl B.

Hi Guys: The man said the fill plug is - horribly STRIPPED. To me that means that he can turn the plug (it's not frozen in place) - but it simply turns in the hole without moving in or out. It's not a matter of getting ahold of the plug, nor turning it to begin with. Since the case is aluminum and plug is steel... it's a good bet the threads are stripped in the case... in which situation, the hole would have to be drilled out and re-tapped to a larger diameter.. Not something easily done in the car. ZTEC - time to start looking for another tranny. If you hear a standard tranny screeching .. changing nor adding oil is not going to make much difference... At any rate - to extract a stripped fill plug, you have to apply an outward force while turning counter-clockwise. Lock a pair of vice-grips on the fill plug, then put a prybar (old screwdriver) between the vice-grips and the tranny case..pry outward with the pry bar while you turn the plug. If your real lucky, once you move the plug outward a couple of turns, it may pick-up some good threads and unscrew the rest of the way.. FWIW, Carl B.

Are you saying that the fuel gauge was fine - but you really couldn't fill the tank more than half full?

The problem with the recovered dashes is that they can't seem to get the correct grain pattern to match the original. I've seen two of them now and thought they were cheaper dash covers. The full dash covers, properly installed look better in my opinion - because they don't stand out with the wrong grain pattern - and you have to look closely to realize they are the covers.. Just my opinion Carl

Hi Bo: I guess it depends on what part of the Country you are in, or how close to a major population center you are - around here (Clearwater, FL) we don't see too many First or Second Generation Z's in the junk yards and a Turbo L28 turns up maybe a couple times a year. If you want a Tubo L28 in this area - you watch the used car ad.s - and you can usually pick up a whole car, with very rusty body for between $850.00 and $1,200.00. So: Engine with all accessories = $650.00 T-5 Trany = $350.00 to $450.00 (depending on the mileage) R200 Rear End = $225.00 C/V half shafts = $125.00 to $150 a pair Then if your lucky - you can sell a few other parts off the 280ZX T and haul it off to the crusher or junk yard. I have a whole, good running 83 280ZX sitting in the back yard, waiting to be disassembled now.. but with all the other projects I have ahead of it... I don't know if I'll ever get to it. FWIW, Carl B. Carl Beck Clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com

Hi Larry: I've not researched the Pick-up's to any serious extent, but looking at the 58 Pick-up sure looks like they used the same sheetmetal for the cab, as they used for their Austin based sedans. The only one I've ever seen was at Les Cannaday's shop (Classic Datsun Motorsports). From the very earliest days, Datson, Nissan were successful with their little pick-up's. I believe that somewhere I read that only 10 were imported in 58 - so you have a very rare piece there. Likewise there can't be many from 62 left around either. According to Rae's History of Nissan /Datsun in USA 1960-1980... Quoting Wards Automotive in Appendix B: 58... 0 pick-up's and 83 cars 59... 179 pick-up's and 1131 cars 60....346 pick-ups and 1294 cars 61...279 pick-up's and 1157 cars 62...736 pick-up's and 1812 cars FWIW, Carl B.

Give me the engine serial number, and I'll give you an apox. build date. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Larry: Demographics: My Dad owned a Shell Service Station/Truck Stop.. so I grew up with the sweet smell of leaded gasoline, asbestos brake linings and at the tracks of the time "bean oil". Been a car nut since I can remember!... Worked my way through college working in Bar's and Selling Cars. I was 25 when I bought my first 240-Z... today I'm...ah...what?...61...yea gad! When I bought my first 240-Z in March of 1970 - I was on active duty with the USAF.. I was driving a Porsche 911 and had a 55 T-Brid parked in the garage most of the time (and had several sports cars prior to that.. ) I have a M.S. (Systems) and worked in Aerospace Systems Engineering, Project Management and Engineering Management for 25 years here in Clearwater, Florida. Honeywell Space Systems. Thus my interest in the Design/Development of the Z Car...as well as most other designs of anything. The Z Car: Since May of 1970 (had to wait to take my car off the showroom floor until May)... there has not been a day that I haven't had at least one DATSUN 240-Z. Over the years I've had just about any car I've ever wanted...as the boys were growing up we went though Muscle Cars (a couple of mine are featured in many Ford and Chevy Books/Magazines)... I've had V-12 Jag's and Ferraris... from AM-X's to Z's ... just about anything.. They all came and went.... but the Datsun 240-Z always stayed. I still have the Metallic Blue 72 240-Z that I bought new in 72 (among others). I can honestly say that the Datsun 240-Z is the best Sports/GT if not the best car I've ever owned. (without regard to price). It's visual beauty first attracted me... it's build quality drew me in farther.. and it's drive train and suspension simply demanded that I at least drive it. My first test drive is a long story in and of itself... suffice to say from the first drive I was hooked. Here was a great looking Sports/GT that actually had the headroom, leg room that the average American needed... plus more than adequate power and handing for a great GT. I didn't realize it at the time I bought it - but the huge cargo area with a full hatchback made living with the 240-Z a real pleasure and most likely one factor that made me keep it so long - "UTILITY" in addition to Sport... Over the years the Z also proved itself to be all but bullet-proof mechanically and very easy to maintain. KISS....applies to the fullest here. We took it auto-crossing, we took it camping.. we took it up/down the West Coast and Across America...I can say that you will find even today no finer Grand Touring Car... none as much sheer fun to drive. You become part of the 240-Z, and it becomes part of the road... you feel and hear everything the car does... You feel alive and participating when driving a 240-Z - not just a passenger along for the ride, insulated from the world... Bottom line - Beauty, Reliability, Simplicity, Utility, light weight and tossable.. simply FUN... in a package that fits you like a glove. Why did I not want a Nissan 350-Z? It is all but the exact opposite of the DATSUN 240-Z. - Styled like all too many other lumps on the road today - Too heavy and overloaded with options and too expensive - A hatchback that is really a joke... a rear strut brace you can't take out (give me a break!) - A side window sill height - that leaves your left arm above your shoulder if you like to have your window open and your arm resting on the door... - Can't fully recline the seat and you can't sleep in the rear hatch area...(nor do other things we could do in the 240-Z ;-) - Nothing really "break though" about the design ... nothing really notable.. just another car... it stirs no real passion... What more modern car would I like to have today in addition to the 240-Z (if I hit the Lotto..) A BMW Z08 A 1997/8 Aston Martin DB-7 (in-line six) FWIW, Carl B. Carl Beck Clearwater, Fl USA http://ZHome.com

Hi Bill: Actually it was Enrique's comment about it being a Series II car.. that got me looking more carefully at the pictures.. then things didn't add up. Series II cars entered production in Jan. of 71... and there were still a few Series I cars produced that month as well. So there were some crossover parts on the Jan. production cars... But not in 12/70 and not in the 17,000 VIN series that we had ever found... So thanks really go to Enrique... If you go back out to check the VIN stamped in the firewall - it's actually above and to the left of the brake booster on most Series I cars (but dzrt1st's picture is most helpful) .. and sometimes you have to pull the vacuum line aside... and clean the area to find it. If it looks like it's been cut/pasted into the car (metal not matching up correctly or weld lines hidden around it etc) ... or it it's a different VIN - you'll know that something is out of wack... stolen maybe and VIN swapped... FWIW Carl B.

Hi Larry (everyone): The Datsun 240-Z is recognized by many automotive authorities and historians as one of the ten most important automobiles in US Auto History. In one series of articles by AUTOMOBILE Magazine.. devoted to selecting the top Sports/GT's of the Decade.. the Datsun 240-Z came in right below the Ferrari 365GTB-4 Daytona...(and actually the Daytona should have been in the Decade of the 60's IMHO). The Father of the Z Car was inducted into the American Automobile Hall Of Fame in 1998... one of the very few people still living to receive that high honor. To call it a "break through design" is an understatement in my opinion. The Datsun 240-Z not only shattered the traditional sports car market in America (the worlds largest, most open and competitive market), it pushed the Reset Button in peoples minds, related to how the Quality of not only Japanese automobiles, but all Japanese Products were perceived. In marketing and sales, perception is 90% of reality. The huge success of the design, was in no small part due to Mr. Matsuo and his team being able to retain "design integrity" throughout the entire process from concept to production. What was designed, was built as designed, what was built was tested, what was tested was corrected. Then what was designed, built, tested and corrected was produced. This seems to happen only rarely in the automotive field. As you pointed out, most original designs are badly compromised by the time they make it through the production phase. (if they make it at all). The next question that comes to mind then is; " why did the introduction of the Datsun 240-Z send such a shockwave through the American Market." Followed by; "why did so many automotive writers feel that they had to attribute the design to someone outside of Nissan Motors Ltd.?". The Datsun 240-Z hit the American Car Loving Public and the Auto Executives at the Big Three like a splash of cold water in the face. It was a wake-up call that could not be ignored. WOW, the Japanese are getting serious about building and selling cars that are not only competitive - but world beating!! You could literally see that shockwave move across American as the Datsun 240-Z's were delivered to the Dealers in most major cities .... Likewise you could follow it in the Automotive Press of the time. Why did no one attribute the design to the correct source in the first place? 1. Nissans past history of buying production rights to other manufacturers cars had lot to do with it I believe. Purchasing Gorham's patents to produce the first Datson, Graham-Page's Crusader along with all tooling and technology to produce it and the Model 73 engine in Japan as the full size Nissan Model 70 and Graham-Page's Truck Designs prior to the war. Then the licensing of the production rights to the Austin in the 50's... and hiring outside design consultants like Pininfarina for the 411 in the 60's .. and re-badging the Prince line of cars as Nissan's etc. etc.. As you pointed out - the first insight that Nissan Motors Ltd. was actually developing a solid in-house design department appeared in the early 60's... first with the roadster... that people then thought was a copy of the MG-B (although it pre-dated the introduction of the ... then with the PL510... aimed squarely at the American Market with it's 1600cc OHC engine.. which most people thought was just a copy of the BMW 1600 sedan....(neither of which did Nissan do anything to refute in a PR sense). So when the Z was introduced in Oct. of 69.... most of the automotive press was already pre-conditioned to believe it had to come from somewhere other than Nissan's Design Dept. 2. This unfortunately was compounded by the "Company" culture of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers. Nissan simply said it was a "Nissan Design".... when the Automotive Press wanted to know what Individual was responsible, or what individual should be credited. Nissan failing to supply the Press with information they wanted ... that left only a void to be filled by speculation. Helped along by Mr. Goertz's self-promoting BS.. the Press put 1 and 1 together and came up with 5.... hence the Goertz Myth was firmly attached to the Datsun 240-Z. The pathway to the Myth was I believe helped along and in the wrong direction - because the Automotive Press and sadly the authors of most of the books written about the Z Car... followed the series of Cars from Nissan: Datson, Datsun DC-3, SP 211 and the first "Fair Lady SPL 212. then the Fairlady 310 Roadsters etc. ...... leading right up to the Goertz CSP311 Silvia Coupe. and arriving then at the Z Car.... I believe that the pathway to the truth - is based on following the growth and development of Nissan Motors itself, rather than the cars it produced - most specifically as it was reformed after WW-II. First re-organized to repair WW-II US Military Vehicles left in the Pacific Theater, then allowed to restart production of trucks for Japan's rebuilding, followed by permission to resume production of automobiles. After which Nissan was given contracts by the US Government to build Jeeps for the war in Korea.... Infused by US Capital - Nissan started to rebuild their production and manufacturing facilities first... as they had always been primarily a production and manufacturing oriented concern. After Nissan had reestablished their foundation of production and manufacturing through the 50's, they turned their focus to develop an in-house design capability in the early 60's... If you follow the growth and development of that in-house design capability... it is easy to see how the 510 and Z Car came about.... They were completely different than anything Nissan had been offering in the past... because they came from a completely different origin. There is no roadster DNA in the Z.... but I believe it is the second child of Nissan's newly formed and focused design capabilities. FWIW, Carl B.

HI E (everyone). Yes it does appear to be a Series II body... but it has the Series I steering wheel.. can't see the seats.. Did you check the VIN on the Firewall Bill? Maybe there is a reason it's missing it's engine data tag. With that VIN an Build Date... it really should be a Series I car... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bill: It's certainly worth a grand.. but you'd have to grab it, strip it down to a bare shell and STOP all that rust that is about to destroy it... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Larry: Again, thanks for the input. Interesting stuff.. Ah... Tom Semple. I'll have file that somewhere, where I can find it again. It was a good example of maintaining the DNA of the 240-Z, without it being a "retro" design. The idea that toecutter started the Thread with.. Ajay - "Panchal"... ring a bell? Yes that is my favorite picture of Mr. Nakamura.. and believe me, at that Introduction of the 350-Z he was a deer in the headlights. He did recover... and later expressed some surprise at the media frenzy... Goshen left him standing there to fend off the Press....while he took his leave.... It was a somewhat awkward... but later funny situation. ;-) To each his own, but currently nothing in Nissan's line up does much for me in terms of style. I like their full size pick-up's because they are made in the USA and they do contain some good design and engineering (design in terms of user interface, utility as well as form, fit and function). Yes - "Flagship". Both Mr. Hanawa and later Mr Goshen stated to the Press that the Z Car was Nissan's Flagship product and must be returned to the USA, and it would lead a series of new designs from Nissan. That started the "We Will Build It" ad campaign... Our input (the IZCC Members) to Nissan (via Mr. Kitahora) was to use the existing 240SX chassis (to keep costs down), beef it up to handle 275-300HP and give us the RB25/26. Nissan's reply was that because the Z was Nissan's Flagship it would get an entirely new chassis unique to the Z Car..... Of course that didn't happen in the end. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Larry: Thanks for sharing your insights with us. Not too often that we actually get to discuss design with people that have actually worked in the automotive industry, let alone within Nissan. As "toecutter" started the thread more or less to discuss new and old designs.. or what could have been or should have been... Maybe you can provide some insights.... In 1998 when Mr. K was inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame, Mr. Hirshberg brought an Artists Concept Drawing - of a possible shape for the Next Generation Z...(see picture below). Do you know who did that rendition? It was GREAT!.... Most of the people present told Mr. Hirshberg that they really liked the overall concept, but that it needed just a little more work in the rear end treatment. Nonetheless, it certainly had the "look" of a Z Car again. and carried forward the Z's DNA.... The new Concept for a new Z - of course make all the automotive press at the time.. and Hirshberg and company were under great pressure to have a prototype done by the 1999 Auto Show... With that short a time, as you mentioned they had to use an existing chassis, to get a prototype done for show.. and in that rush the design integrity of the original concept got all but lost. (we'll come back to Design Integrity next Post). That rushed effort was indeed sad for everyone... The Z Car people hated the "ugly golden toad".. and the Dealers Associate told Nissan they didn't like it either... as a matter of fact the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative - that the following year at the 2000 New York International Auto Show - Mr. Hanawa announced that "We Hear You"... and we will return to the drawing boards with a clean slate design for the next generation Z... After that - all the Nissan Design Centers submitted various concepts... and everything got very hush hush at Nissan about the new Z over the following year. When Mr. Goshen finally got full control - the idea of designing and building an entirely new car, with it's own unique chassis... simply would not fly. Cost cutting was the theme of the day to stop the financial bleeding at Nissan Motors Ltd.... At the 2001 Detroit International Auto Show - Carlos sprung the "350-Z" on the public. At first, when only the Concept Drawing was displayed on stage - I thought "WOW"... then they rolled out the metal prototype and I though..."what the heck happened?"... (see second picture below). Do you know who did the Concept Drawings?.... After the introduction of the 350-Z we were all standing around talking to the people from Nissan... and I ask why the car's body lines had grown so "thick" compared to the sleek lines of the concept drawings... and that is when the lead designer pointed to the firewall and said - "we could not reduce the height of the firewall"..... I ask him why not... he replied that they had to use the G35 chassis... At that point I understood what happened... We Classic Z Car Fan's didn't get the car we wanted, nor the car that Mr. Hanawa had promised - we got the best that Carlos could afford to deliver at the time... You mention earlier how "history" is created in the studio's - and the various stories you read related to the history of how things came about doesn't often match reality - and I have to admit that I laugh out loud when I read some of the stuff Nissan put out about the design and development of the 350-Z.... what a complete joke.... I was glad to see Nissan bring the Z Back... and I'll be pulling for them to again design a Z Car rather than Badge Engineer one.... Only time will tell.... IMHO from a "design" perspective the G35 is a much cleaner and better proportioned car. FWIW, Carl B.

Well that was the Mitty 06 Poster until Nissan pulled out... then a new "Official" poster had to be rushed out... One would have thought that with Nissan moving their HQ to the Heart of Dixie, they would have taken that opportunity to visit some of their new neighbors... just my thoughs... Carl B.

That didn't stop me - I just took another car... If we all waited until our cars were done, there wouldn't be many people at the events ;-) Carl B.