Carl Beck

Houston area -you should be able to find a buyer at $4,500.00 to $5,500.00. Body mod's like the wheel flairs, molded rear spoiler and 280 Hood really hurt the resale value of a 240Z. What were you thinking price wise? Carl B.

Hi Greg: Great driving and super effort. Even a 2nd place finish in that field would have been a significant accomplishment in a 40 year old car. Nonetheless - it is the "SafeRacer" SCCA National Racing Series - and the track rules are intended to keep everyone "safe"... Does this remind anyone else of a certain Tran/Am championship race many many years ago? FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Ron: Yes - he said he had talked to you and you sent him to me. We talked for about 1/2 hour - a real "car guy" and it was great meeting him. I told him to send detail pictures - and I'd be glad to pass the infor along to anyone interested. It is interesting to contrast that car with the one that originated this thread... the one kept in the garage is sure in a lot better shape.. but still not worth anything close to the asking price.. as it sit now..

Hi Alan: I am sorry - too many other things going on around here - and I lost track. I had actually started a response... and got distracted.. It's hurricane season here, I have a daughter we just got off to Rome so was working the digital communication pathways for her Mother to keep in touch... etc etc... According to Mr. Dunn, that is what Nissan contracted with his firm to produce. They had it printed on the invitations sent to the media types. So that is thus what the event was called in some of the newspaper reports. Interesting to note that "Nissan Motor Co. Ltd." was credited with showing and producing the car. No question that people here knew Nissan was the producer of DATSUN cars/trucks. Not that I have found so far. That however is not at all uncommon for the time. The Press Release Kits provided by Nissan and prepared by the Public Relations Companies Nissan hires - contain high quality photographs showing the car in its best views - so that the newspapers don't have to send their own Photographers, nor wait for film processing and printing. All this costs the papers money - so the Public Relations Companies provide photo's with the hope that the newspapers will use them and thus provide the free Publicity. Not to mention UPI, AP and Rutgers wire services in New York putting it on the news wires. In which case it would have been flashed around the world. Publicity is what all the New Model Introductions and Car Show's are all about.. The amount of Free Advertising they get reaching millions of people - has to exceed the costs of the events. Personally I believe - - There is little doubt that the timing of these events was completely thought-out by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. top management, so that the most Publicity would be generated in the markets they wanted to reach. If you look back though the major US Automotive Magazines say between 1960 and 1968 {which we have done when researching our friend Mr. Goertz}, you find that most of the coverage of International Automobile Shows, outside the US - went to Europe at the time {and Goertz was one of the people often interviewed, or who made comments on the new models for the Magazines located in NY or Detroit} . It is hard to find any coverage at all of the Tokyo Motor Shows prior to 1970. The Automotive Magazines did cover single new models from Japan that were going on sale here.. but usually they were Road Tests done months after the model went on sale. {of course all that changed after the introduction of the 240Z}. Nissan must have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their International Preview of the Datsun 240Z. {indeed in todays money that would be more like hundreds of thousands of dollars}. Air lifting cars, chartering private airliners for Press people, renting conference/display space in the most exclusive/expensive hotels, developing and distributing Press Release Kits and bringing Director level personnel from Japan. With the Dollar/Yen exchange rate at the time - it must have cost them 20x the cost of display at Tokyo. Back in the day so to speak - Newspapers love to be First With The NEWS... Reporters like getting the most current stories, and getting face time with top executives from the Auto Industry. Personal interviews result in something to "report". So from a Publicity perspective - introducing the Datsun 240Z first in the US resulted in the most media coverage and most Publicity in North America. Indeed - Don Shannon covered the Tokyo Motor Show for the L.A. Times. Japanese cars were popular in California at that time - if not in the entire US... His lead-in line for Oct. 24th was "Few Surprises Seen at Tokyo Motor Show". In the body of the article, Don did mention the new Fairlady, but felt that it's $1,850,000.00 {$5,100.00 USD} price tag would be too high to sell well in Japan. Given the price - I'd guess he was talking about the Z432. FWIW, Carl B.

The Parts List shows 63120-P9000 is for the Turbo . See Parts Diagram... E-Mail me at: beck@becksystems.com I can verify the part number with a Nissan Parts Manager and give you order information. BTW - here is a picture of the first 280ZX Tubo to arrive in Germany. regards, Carl

Funny... I know of another 72 Z with an original 19K+ miles. {I'll paraphrase the story...it's mostly correct but not exact years etc} A man bought the car in 72 and drove it for a couple years, then parked it in the garage and used another car as his daily driver. Some 10 years later, he passed away, the car had 19K+ original miles. His wife put the Z outside in California, with a car cover on it, so she could get her car in the garage.. and it sat there for about 30 years. The car cover rotted and fell off.. and it sat there. The lady passed away and her relatives cleaned the house out, sold the car and sold the house... Through a friend of a friend kind of deal - the present owner bought the car, trailer'ed it to his storage facility with the intention of some day restoring it. It sat there for a couple of years.. His buddies at the storage facility cleaned the carb's out, drained the gas tank and put fresh gas in, drained the oil/water and replaced with fresh liquids.. and got it running.. He then changed the clutch master and slave and got it to the point that it can be moved under it's own power... but no brakes {rear wheel cylinders had froze.. so they were freed, but not repaired.. no brakes at this point - but can be stopped with the E-brake} Paint is SHOT... Dash is cracked.. and of course everything rubber in the car would need to be replaced. Most likely the carpet is dry rotted as well. The rest of the interior is in good shape.. the paint under the hood, in the door jambs and interior is in good shape... The body is straight, no rust with only a couple small door dings.. the car sits with the same wire-basket wheels that it came from the dealership with.. Silver, 4spd. One the one hand - with a little sweat equity and maybe $10K for paint/body {repaint the top surfaces} and mechanical parts..this might be a very decent car. {I say "might" because we really don't know if that engine was properly taken out of its 30 year sleep}. On the other hand - it would be a good car for a complete and proper Restoration.. In that case figure something closer to at least $20K plus the price of the car.. The car is located in California, you'll have to bring a trailer ... what is your best cash offer?

Absolutely!! There has been nothing better since..

Cheap repaint? - Walk away..

YES - Congrats on the WIN Greg!! Very Impressive! btw - Mark I can't get that URL to download.. Carl B.

Hi Guys: I believe that Kats showed us pictures of both types - along with part numbers - in a discussion several years ago. He may still have the pictures on his Web Site somewhere. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Kats: Some updates since you first started this Thread. Re- your item #8: Oct. 22nd, 1969 was the date that Nissan Motors Ltd. held its International Preview of the Datsun 240Z in New York, NY. According to Mr. Dunn - who headed the PR Firm that handled the arrangements at the time -The International Preview {planned weeks in advance} was held in New York instead of the more usual US automobile model introductions held in Detroit - - because Nissan did not want to seem disrespectful of the U.S. Auto Industry. {by introducing an import car in the heart of the US Auto Industry aka Detroit } The Datsun 240Z was flown in from Japan the week before, so the display could be built in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. The introduction of the Datsun 240Z was made by Mr. M. Okuma, Managing Director of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Export Division, accompanied by Mr. Y. Katayama, President of Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A. and Mr. S. Kawazoe, Vice President of Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A.. Because most of the automotive reporters at the time were located in Detroit, Nissan chartered a plane to bring the Detroit media to New York for the event and to return them home after. After the International Preview in NY - the 240Z was flown to L.A. - where it made it's West Coast Debut the 24th of Oct. 1969 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Hollywood. {the Hotel used in the movie Pretty Woman and many others} If you look at the Picture with your #9 press kit - you can see that is the car used on the earliest 1970 Datsun Full Line brochure, as well as on the cover and in the article of R&T Jan. 70 issue. Note the white side wall tires. That is HLS30 00008 a Silver Z. The photo's in your Item #8 - Press Kit seemed to have been used in the Newspaper reports the following day - 23 Oct. 1969. N.Y.Times 23, Oct. 69 - "Datsun Enters the Middle-Priced Sports Car Market" L.A. Times 23 Oct. 69 - "New Sports Car Gets 1970 Datsun Spotlight" For example: the lead paragraphs read: N.Y.Times 23, Oct. 69 - Datsun Enters the Middle-Priced Sports Car Market "Nissan Motor Company Ltd., which has built it reputation on economy cars, is making a determined bid for the middle-priced sports car market. The company showed its Datsun 240Z sports car at it international preview yesterday at the Pierre Hotel. The car is expected to be competitive with Detroit-built sports-type of cars and European sports cars."..... L.A. Times 23 Oct. 69 - New Sports Car Gets 1970 Datsun Spotlight "A new high performance sports car, aimed directly at such American competition as Buick's Opel GT and American Motors Corp's AMX, highlights the 1970 model lineup of the Japanese built Datsun. Nissan Motor Co. Japan's second largest auto maker and producer of the Datsun line, announced Wednesday that it will offer the 240Z sports car as its "answer to the high performance personal car market"..... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Alexander: Interesting - - For the Right Side of the 280ZX - the Parts Catalog lists two Part Numbers -One from 07/78 forward and a different one for 12/80 and forward. For the Left Side however - there is only one Part Number given - applied from 07/78 forward. Did Nissan actually change only the Right Side panel? http://nissanparts.cc <pre> Part # Description List Unit Price Price 62612-P9000 Apron Side R $138.10 $110.20 $110.20 62613-P7100 Panel Apron Lh $134.00 $106.93 $106.93 </pre> You might want to try to order them via your Local Nissan Dealer. That way you might save on shipping and handling charges. It looks like the above are still good Part Numbers. See diagram below... FWIW, Carl B.

If it was a stock 77 4/5 spd. - it's an R200 If it was a stock 77 A/T - it's an R180 FWIW, Carl B.

Drain are refill with 1.3 liter if it's an R200. You NEVER fill to the breather!! You fill to the level of the bottom of the "fill" plug. That is about the middle way between top and bottom. You can use the breather to put 1.3 Liters in, if you can't get the fill plug to come out... FWIW, Carl B.

To get that MSA retractor out of the way - I would make two steel plates about 1/16" thick and 3" x 4" wide/tall. Then drill holes for small bolts at the corners in each pair. Then bolt them to each side of the bulkhead supporting the rear deck area... ie. the upright area behind the seats. You can put one inside the tool pocket and the other on the outside or even under the vinyl covering. Once you have them bolted in place - just drill a hole for the bolt that holds the retractor in place. That would put the retractor much higher up and provide a strong mounting point. FWIW, Carl B

True - DOT 5 will not harm the paint - it cleans off easily. DOT 3/5 Will.. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi wreckerjimbo: I belonged to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Club in the early to mid 60's. We held our Club meetings in Mansfield. When the Mi-Ohio Track project began - we helped clear large rocks and tree stumps from the fields. Raced a 59 Corvette back then... aka the PlasticPig as the "sports car guys" referred to it. Great group of people and we had great times. I grew up in Ashland. Good to see you here. Tell us more about your 260Z - what class your running etc. Should be beautiful this time of year.. FWIW, Carl B.

The stock wheel studs should be long enough to mount 14" slotted mags. Perhaps you simply have the wrong lug nuts. On standard slotted mags the stock wheel studs will only extend past the wheel face a fraction of an inch. The lug nuts then extend inside the wheel thickness. The lug nuts should have a shoulder on them, that is just short of sticking though the thickness of the aluminum wheel. Unless of course you are using wheels with the wrong off-set and require thick spacers. Post a picture of what you have...

Hi Steve: That is too funny... In a few months Mr. K will be 101 years old! He is very computer savvy.. and simply an amazing individual. I guess age is to an extent relative.. I once remarked to Mr. K that I was starting to feel my age and he ask how old I was - I told him and he said - "I have children older than you".

Hi Indri: Thanks - I bought my first 240Z in March of 1970 - and I've been driving them ever since. Still have the 72 240Z that I bought new at the end of 71. {along with a few others now}. FWIW, Carl B.

On thing that makes the brake fluid "brown" - is the rubber stoppers in the caps on the reservoir deteriorate with age. In effect they finally dissolve. If you are going to replace all components of the hydralic clutch system. Use DOT 5 Silicone Fluid. It will not absorb moisture - thus no rust and corrosion in the system. It will also protect and lubricate the rubber seals in the system. I forget now exactly when - but about two or three years ago I finally had to replace the clutch master on my 72 240Z. I had replaced the brake fluid, in the Clutch System, with Silicone Brake Fluid when the car was new at the end of 1971. So that clutch master, slave and rubber line lasted the first 35 or 36 years. I've also ran Silicone Brake Fluid in the same car's brake system - since I stopped racing/rallying it around 1978. I had to replace the original set of rear wheel cylinders and brake master for the first time about 10 years ago. You don't want to run DOT 5 Silicone Brake Fluid in a competition car. Unlike DOT3/4 Brake Fluids, DOT 5 will compress when heated to extremes. I have ran several parking lot auto-crosses over the years with no problem on DOT 5... but I wouldn't want to run high speed track days with it. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Lee: Actually - the original community was formed around "the Z Car List" which goes back to about 1985/6. In 1987 Bob Weissman set up our first "List Server Software" on a Mainframe at Boeing. As I recall we had about 400 people on that e-mail based Z Car Discussion Group by 1992. In 92 - John DeArmond suggested that the discussion group become a "Club" so that we would qualify for Club Discounts offered by several vendors at the time. Thus the Internet Z Car Club was formed. Paul Richer simply took the names from the list and assigned IZCC Membership Numbers to them as list subscribers let him know that they supported the idea. In 1994 Salman Shami built the first "Z Car Home Page", while working on his M.E. at Melbourne University in Melbourne, AU. By the late 90's - we had about 2400 people on "the Z Car List". It covered all generations of the Z Car and the list traffic was very heavy. People were complaining about too many e-mails per day, and many did not want to know everything about ever generation of the Z Car. They were more narrowly focused on their own car. One of the first "splinter" groups was this one. People that wanted to discuss ONLY Classic Datsun 240Z's broke off and established "the Classic Z Car Club". At that time, they did not want anyone other than Datsun 240Z enthusiasts and only people that wanted to keep their Z Stock. They didn't want to hear about Fuel Injection problems, nor V8 swaps ;-) Next it was the Z31 Group that split off, then the folks at HybridZ and the 90+ Generation with TwinTurbo... The bottom line was - the Z Car Community because so "inclusive" - it failed to retain the following of the more exclusive interests of the individual members. Everyone felt that they had approached "information overload" and they really wanted to devote their time to their interests, and share their interests with like minded people. That Indri is the main reason all the Z Car Forums don't converge into one... Kind of a "Big Bang" that happened long ago and in a far off Galaxy as it reached critical mass.... Of course we older people are less "computer-savvy" as well.. FWIW, Carl B.

Sad to say - I had to use my Hagerty Policy about five years ago. - I took my Z to the body shop I use for restorations and refresh jobs. - The body shop told me how much it would be to repair the car - Every damaged part was replaced with NOS parts. Hood, Front Fender, Bumper, Center and Right lower finisher, Parking/Turn Signal Light. The Right Head Light nacelle was fiberglass, and it was repaired. All-in-all it took about $8K to put it back to original condition. At the time the Agreed Value on that Z was set by me at $16K. - After getting the estimate from the body shop - I called Hagerty and the Lady that handled the claim simply said - {para phrase} I am so sorry to hear that your car was damaged. If you are happy with that body shop go ahead and have the do the repairs.{/ para phrase} So I told the body shop to proceed. - About two weeks later - the car was almost finished and the body shop owner told me that they hadn't received approval from the Hagerty yet. In fact they didn't hear anything from them. He suggested that I call them. - I called the Lady at Hagerty - told her what the shop owner said - she put me on hold while she checked to see what the status of the claim was. When she came back on the phone she said; "I am sorry for the delay Mr. Beck, the check for your damages was sent out two days ago - you should have it tomorrow. If its not there in three more days let me know." The check in full was at my house the next day. I had been with a couple different Classic Car Insurance Companies before I switched to the Hagerty. I have been with them now for over 20 years. If their premiums were twice as much as anyone else's - I'd still stay with them. When you deal with anyone there - you are dealing with real Car People, that happen to be in the insurance business. They support the hobby and the Classic Car Community. Their Quarterly Magazine is almost worth the premiums, I've saved every issue. You do not seem to understand the difference between an insurance policy written with an "AGREED" value, vs one written with an "Actual Cash Value" and/or a "Stated Value" Hagerty wrotes only "AGREED VALUE" Policies on Classic Cars. "Agreed Value" means that you and the insurance co. agree ahead of time what the exact value of the car is. That is the amount they pay in case of a total loss, or they will pay up to that amount to fix your car. PERIOD No Claims Adjustors - there is nothing to Adjust. "Actual Cash Value" - is determined by a number of factors at a specific time in the future - when a loss occurs. So the value can go down due to use, wear and tear. This is where you and the Claims Adjustor butt heads... and usually you lose. "Stated Value" - is a situation where you "State The Value" of your car. Your premiums are then based on that amount of coverage. When you have an accident, you still deal with a Claims Adjustor.. wear and tear still apply. The Claims Adjustor is NOT bound by the value you Stated. It is simply a starting point - from which "adjustments" can be made. In no case however would the value of your car exceed the "Stated" value. DO NOT LISTEN to your Insurance Agent - PERIOD. READ your Policy - that is what controls. If you don't understand the language used - ask an Attorney to review it with you and explain what it means. Your Policy has to say "Agreed Value" - so something along the lines of - "we will pay up to the amount given in the Declarations Page to repair your vehicle, or in case of a total loss bla bla bal" FWIW, Carl B.

A different tool for "Flow Measurement" http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/Tools/STETools.htm They don't seem to be available any longer. This does allow you to run the engine and observe the behavior of the two SU's... FWIW, Carl B.

The L24 and later L26 blocks were the basic same castings - Except, the L26 blocks had eyebrows machined in them to clear the larger valves use in the L26. The L28 blocks were a different casting. The cylinder walls are cast with a larger diameter to begin with. The second casting of the L28's put additional webbing between pairs of cylinder bores - some reports say that this was done to strengthen the cylinder bores, others say it was actually done to redirect the coolant flow inside the block for increased cooling for the turbo heads.. Convert it - Not really. I suppose you could cut the P30 open, then cut the cylinder bores out of an L28 and weld them in.. along with the webbing between them... but seriously - NO. You can't "re-sleeve" a block that wasn't designed/cast to use replaceable cylinder sleeves to begin with. If you had a cylinder sleeve, the diameter of a bored out L28 cylinder - and you cut the entire L24 cylinder wall out to make room for it - you still would have nothing to hold the bottom of the replacement cylinder bore and/or its sleeve in {ie...keep it from dropping down on the crank below}. A better approach - grind the "L28" off an L28 block and re-stamp it "L24". Then grind the casting numbers off the side of the block, and weld in the L24 casting numbers. :-) FWIW, Carl B.