26th-Z

More from Brian Long in his description of the 1974 season; "In a season full of incidents, it was decided to rebuild the engine to a higher specification. A forged crankshaft was purchased from Gordon Allen, there were Carello conrods, domed pistons giving 11:1 compression ratio, and a special camshaft from Peter Brock. Power output was boosted to around 250bhp at 8000rpm".

I was afraid I was giving you bad news. Your Z caps will probably get more valuable as time goes on. Hang on to them. If you do go looking for D caps, there are two types. The earliest type have separated spring tabs for fitting on the rim. They were quickly replaced by the continuous spring tab type because they had a tendancy to fall off. If you find a set of early types, let me know and I'll trade you. Technically, your car should have the later type. Chris

Steve, The answer to your question is explained http://www.zhome.com/ scroll down to the Classic and Restoration section and you will find a blurb on hub caps. The D caps essentially came with the hatch vent cars and the Z caps came with the round vent cars. D caps for 70 and 71 cars - Z caps for 72 and later.

Hi Halz and Andrew, There is an excellent description of Big Sam and her (its) history in Brian Long's book; "Datsun Z - Fairlady to 280Z". Page 133. I really encourage everyone to get this book and read it. I find it to be one of the best references with many pictures and very thorough descriptions. In its initial configuration, Big Sam put out 245bhp at 7200 rpm. Triple Delorato 48mm carburetors were used. Big Sam won the 1974 Blue Circle Modsports Championship - the first car outside Japan and the USA to win a championship. Big Sam has a history of chassis replacement as a result of racing accidents and the current car is not the initial car. However, it is my understanding that the current chassis comes from works rally history. How are the seat corner guards coming, Andrew? I have another photo of them (although not a great one) and I got to touch kats'. We should talk more as I am determined to have them and I really have little hope of finding them original.

No, you can't pick up the plastic covers for a few bucks - don't worry. Every now and then you will see them on eBay. I have been toying with the idea of making them.

We are watching history in the making. F1 could not be more interesting. I could not attend because I was all tied up with some Z thing and the airport televisions were showing golf !?!!? WTF? I'll watch the tape tomorrow.