26th-Z

In my opinion, the 2000GT project was for a "sports car", not a "240Z". When you look at the time line of development with respect to each of the cars (2000GT, A550X, and 240Z) you can see a progression and of course similarities, but I view the development of the 240Z as an independent effort. My understanding is that Matsuo san began work with his team on a fairly vague set of criteria and that the initial proposal was a convertible. It might best be said that there is a correlation between the cars; each developed by a different design team. Essentially, Nissan was having some luck with the roadster and the corporation was growing to a size that was able to discuss the idea of marketing a world class sports car. Several teams of designers and engineers were involved over a number of years in what became a number of different cars. In other words, each of the three cars I sited responded to different design criteria and a different decision making process in their development. I credit Yoshihiko Matsuo as the chief designer of a team that developed the 240Z. Brian Long supports credit to Goertz for the A550X, but I see more of his influence in the Silvia. Actually, I give credit to Goertz for instigating full scale clay modelling at Nissan and little more. When we talk about these cars, it must be remembered that these are only the cars that made to the public. Many clays, mock-ups and design studies were made in addition to the cars we finally see. Brian Long suggests there was influence from the Prince R380 and the Nissan A680X, but Matsuo denies it. The writings of Fumio Yoshida discuss three different design teams (studios)responding to the vague "sports car" criteria in the early stages of what became the 240Z. Matsuo doesn't subscribe to it and indeed Yoshida's description shows the Matsuo team as the predominant team throughout the design process. I see about 9 separate prototypes of the 240Z over a period of about 4 years. I credit Yoshihiko Matsuo, Fumio Yoshida and Utsuki Chiba as the princple designers of the 240Z although I have seen the names Shitara and Kurisaki mentioned. I also have seen some information from Teiichi Hara about the various design development teams operating at the time. Matsuo tells a humorous story about how shocked he was to see the Maserati Ghibli - so similar to his latest development clay. Many writers use this comparison to express the European influence in the 240Z design. I say; "bunk". So my point is that there is no clearly defined lineage in my opinion. All these cars are related and very much part of the 240Z story, but one cannot simply apply one to another. It is my opinion that the S30 project was an independent design and resulted from a design criteria (or program) that matured from studies begining in late 1966.

Hi RichieP, Perhaps Nissan used paint effectively depending on how you look at it. If you clean your parts back down to bare metal, powder coating seems to be the prefered finish for ease of cleaning and durability. I personally do not like POR types of encapsulate products. I'm not planning for a daily driver and expect to paint all my components - simple, easy, cheap.

ChrisA, I don't ever intend to be rude to anyone, but your post is completely uncalled for. Read the last page of the Midwest thread yourself, dude. If you don't intend to hijack this thread, then don't.

Yes. The pictures only show the bottom of the engine (which is filthy, dude) and if the leak was from a hose, tube, or head gasket, the top of the engine would be wet.

Jared, Welcome to rust-world!! How much it is going to cost is a matter of what kind of result you are looking for. For an old man and collector like me, cost doesn't matter as I am looking for show perfection, bragging rights, and a bunch of other nonsense attributed to a pair of garage queens. I'll bet your lovely is a daily driver that you keep very clean and are very proud of. I wouldn't fret over the rust hole if that is the case. I would patch it, protect the rest of the area from further rust, and drive on. Enjoy your ride!

I was going to say freeze plug, but Carl offers more insight.

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper, "Hello." "Is your daddy home?" he asked. "Yes," whispered the small voice. "May I talk with him?" The child whispered, "No." Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your mommy there?" "Yes." "May I talk with her?" Again the small voice whispered, "No." Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?" "Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman." Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" "No, he's busy," whispered the child. "Busy doing what?" "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer. Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed. In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper." Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?" Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:"ME."

Your best bet is probably going to be Zbarn because of the shipping costs. Shipping a hatch is going to cost you the better part of $100. I have found Greyhound bus to be reasonable. http://zbarn.com/

I have no idea.

I bought and plan to use this Momo wheel on one of my Zs. The smaller diameter will indeed increase your effort to turn the wheel. Make sure you get the right adaptor. I thought I saw an adaptor on eBay for sale. A Nissan horn button for the adaptor is being offered by "choosalogin", but if you buy a new wheel, get the whole setup. Momo products are first rate quality - enjoy.

You are too funny Zrush. I love the ZG, but I'm already up to my spring perches. Wanna Roadster?

Same here! I collect pictures of them. Please include some information about the car.

Completely agree.

Circulating around the e-mail

Yes you have to remove the timing cover. Just think of how clean and lovely everything witll be when you get it all back together!!!!!

I went over to the PBS site to see what they had and couldn't find it. This one is on the History Channel site "Nissan Z" http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72035 I have this and it is pretty good.

Welcome! The local Tampa club is http://www.suncoastzcarclub.homestead.com/

So what if we take it too far. Love the conversation and now I am challenged to take a look for the moulding fingerprint. I had not thought of the S30-S application. Good point. Keep that in mind when you consider the source of the HLS30 derivation, eh? You made a couple of other points pertinent to recent threads on this site. I think we are still on topic although we are getting rather obscure. "these humble Japanese sports-GTs are the most 'exotic' things I have come across." Yes. Humble in their simplicity yet so efficient. I think it is also appropriate to point out that the use of injection moulded panels for automotive interiors as well as the use of the FRP technology was fairly cutting edge for the time. I see the PZR is coming along nicely. Thanks for the conversation. :classic:

Thank you for your informative answer, Alan. I suspect you remember how interested I have been in the cultural aspects surrounding our Japanese imports. If I understand you correctly, the same reasoning might apply to these stampings? Would we call these Inkan? One appears on my FRP headlight scoops which Endo san told me is a "ken" inspection stamp. The other is his steering wheel showing date of manufacture. Regarding the interior plastic panel moldings, they are indeed injection molded and I can tell you from experience that the butterscotch does not hold it's color evenly. Hand workmanship is also evident on the plastic pieces. Or perhaps the molds were revised. 26 and 27 do not have rear window demisters and there is no notch for the wiring in the headliner panel.

That's the same one, Mike. Perhaps a different piece of paper. This discussion is particularly interesting to me as all of my butterscotch interior panels do not have anything like this. Thanks, as always, Alan for a particularly interesting answer. I would like to hear more about the meaning of the circle (ring) around the letters. What is most provocative is the idea that a "Nan" label would be printed for such a use rather than the notice hand lettered on the part. Further, that the label would remain when the part was placed into service.

Thanks Hayden, I have a collection of these and this is a new one for me. It does not match my usual "ken" markings. They all seem to be made with a rubber stamp. I also looked for something in my reference of Japanese language and can't find anything matching. Very interesting! Did you say they were on all of your interior panels and all the same? The sticker appears to have been placed over the red coloring and beneath the glue for the foam padding indicating it is original and also indicating the red color is original. I can confirm that the foam is similar to typical production padding material. Alan would certainly be of help!

Same car!!! Go to Mike's paint code link and click on the 907 green car. You are correct, Vicky. The Black Pearl Edition was the only black S30.

Here it is again through the photoshop brightness feature. 907 green in my opinion.