26th-Z

On Saturday morning, car clubs were invited to tour the track. Of course it was raining, but the line for the Zs was quite long.

THat's the "Buy it Now" auction from a couple of weeks ago.

And that beautiful power plant.

Yes - that's the car. The description is a little on the far fetched side from what Mike told me, but he says he has a ton of documentation and I'm satisfied it is a cool car. Here's Mike, turn 5:

I just returned from the Walter Mitty Historic Races at Road Atlanta. It rained most of the weekend which always puts a damper on events like these. I should have pictures in a day or so. 240Zs showed out in force and I was really taken with how many Zs filled the club corral compared to the MGs, Triumphs, and Healeys as the event was Moss Motors sponsored. But we all know how British cars do in the rain! :classic: I met Mike Cammarata with his "Macau" 240Z. Check him out on IZCC http://www.zhome.com/Z history/Macau 240Z The car is very well prepared and he is still looking for that nose piece. He mentioned something peculiar about his Mikuni / Solex carburetors in that they do NOT have a serial number engraved on the top cover. Supposedly, they are 44mm throats rather than the typical 40mm? What do you experts know? Mike told me the car was purchased in Guam along with a ton of factory competition parts. It is not a factory prepared group 4 car, and although it was entered in the 1971 Macau Grand Prix (gridded 16th, thus his "16" car number), it did not finish. We did talk about the odd nose piece and the chassis shows evidence of it's mounting, but Mike has all but given up finding it. The car does have a great number of factory competition parts. Very nice. The one car I drove all the way up to Atlanta to see was not there! Although the Nissan NPTI chassis 8805 was there - and sounding sweet I might add - I was looking for a 1987 March Nissan 87G. wizz me off! I'll be posting pictures - stay tuned!

Hello Dastun-Fever and everyone! A couple of things have been discussed that I wish to comment on. Most everyone has encouraged me to restore my car, but everyone also says I can do whatever I want - it's my car. I would think, though, that if one could afford to build a turbo engine, one could also refinish the car to original specs. The initial price indicates to me that money, no matter which way you go, is going to be spent in great quantities. Another option is to just clean it up and sell it. I would think that the car could be worth many times your original price. The best advice I always hear is: "If you want a turbo car, then buy a turbo car. Don't trash an otherwise unique car to make something that never was". I thought the radiator number reference was interesting. What other features of a BP are unique? My suggestion on the stripe kit is that if you happen to find one, keep it safe and dry. Pin stripe the paint job so that you can't tell and it will last longer and look better. I wouldn't diss you for it!

Just curious what price they went for. They have been on my published wish list for a while. I should write Bob a snotty e-mail for not telling me about them. They should be (mine are like this) made of the same thin plastic that the fresh air intake ducts in the front fenders are made of. The plastic errodes, dries, and just crumbles in your hands. There is a metal facing plate that covers them like the facing metal on the early air intakes. The hatch hinges also have a shim for alignment 90407-E4100. Chloe wished me good luck many months ago, but she came up with those hatch vent ducts which I thought was a miracle. Keep looking and let me know if they can be found. Most cars I look at have them missing.

Beandip, I think you are looking for 90410-E4101 and 90411-E4101, seal-cover hinge tailgate RH and LH. This is a truely NLA part to the best of my knowledge. Sorry I missed them on eBay as I would have snatched them up myself! Good Luck! I am looking for them myself!

Here's one that blows my mind. Any thoughts? I'm looking at a set of early belts ( or so I thought ) with the solid black lift latch buckles - dated 2 - 1972. These are identical to my 9 - 1969 set. Perhaps from a Canada car?

The hell with the cars. Check out the race girls on page two of the gallery! Ok, this is a car site. Yes! Evidently, the 350Z is doing well. I like the Calsonic car. I hope to see some 350Zs racing GT this year in the states. Great class, great competition, and the 350Z looks good in race trim.:devious: :devious: :devious:

Now this is turning down right interesting. Do the buckles release by push botton? Could that be the reason they were not allowed in Australia? Because the other type has the lift operation - later changed to the push button type. Very interesting tidbit of early Datsun history!

Hi Vicky! I believe seatbelts came factory original in any color you wanted as long as it was black. The answer to your question, though, lies in the depths of seatbelt restoration and color change heaven http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/ I just sent my belts off to them along with reproduction Federal ID lables to be sewn on the new strapping. When I talked to them, they were real hesitant about restoring the retractors, but that isn't an issue with mine. They duplicate the stiching and can probably find something in red to match your outfit.

Welcome to the club! I don't see why a 240Z could not be used as a daily driver - keeping in mind how old it is. Maintenance will be an issue, just like any old car, but you can certainly push an S30 with amazing results. You are fortunate to have a classic car to play around with and a contemporary car to drive as well. Have fun!

I found this place in Texas to restore belts. http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/ They do not have replacement parts for Datsuns, but they will restore everything for around $250.

These belts are non-retractable type with black buckles and a Z logo button which is pushed to release. And they are later series one - probably 1971. I believe retractable type belts arrived with the 1972 model year.

The earliest cars had non-retractable lap belts and shoulder strap with a solid black buckle. The top of the buckle lifts to release - like airline buckles. This is a set of them. Take notice of all the hardware. It is different from later types.

Oops! Here's the picture

I have never seen a belt with a red Z on the buckle, but here are some pictures for you. Belts in the USA have Federal ID tags sewn on every separate belt.

And this Hitachi AM / FM with the antenna toggle switch above appeared with the '72 model year cars.

This is an early radio and face plate. Hitachi AM with touch tuning. The antenna rocker switch goes on the side. This was probably standard up to mid '70? Or early '71?

Yes sir! Faux finishing the firewall to look like stone for that "I'm dealing with the heat" look! ROFL I simply gave up finding braided radiator hoses. Please forgive me, guys. I am going to electroplate all my clamps to look brand new, though.

Many thanks for all the compliments and encouragement. Carl Beck has some very valid points for originality because of the low serial number and I plan to adhere to most of it. I took a lot of photographs of the car coming apart and have had several discussions with people about putting the car back together as it was originally. "Kats" has been a great inspiration. He has detail on his car that makes me smile. And most everything will be a parts swap situation. I could always return the car to "original" by swapping the parts back. I'm going to put headlight covers on a separate set of headlight buckets and I bought this way cool mahogony Momo steering wheel some time ago.

Cool enough, Carl. The mismatched set is not one of his best offerings, but keep watching as he has some great connection directly to Mt. Watanabe and sells wheels frequently. Again, one of the nicest guys I have met in all my parts dealings. I hope to meet him in person some day. Yea, I bought a set of Wats, Ben. I'm half in and half out on all this restoration stuff. Carl Beck is to blame. He says I am foolish to modify the car, yet I really can't stand a stock American Z. As you see in my gallery, I had the car on slots with shaved bumpers. A long time ago, the rest of the body was shaved. But I put all the emblems and markers back on in 1990 for the sake of originality. So the plan is to restore the car ground up to dead original as best I can, take splendid pictures of it, and then replace parts to make the car the way I want it. I will replace bumpers, headlight buckets, wheels, and steering wheel - mostly. I want to lower it, but I dare not. But it does give the opportunity to show the car stock and modified - interesting. I particularly like the domestic ZL model styling and I think the Watanabes will help that flavor. At least that's the direction I'm headed. I'm going to do the interior ala ZL with the foot rest and carpet. Most all of the mods will be with genuine Nissan parts, thanks to Chloe and Alan T. for some serious help. I have had the worst wheel hunting nightmare story, but I ended up with something far more than my original expectations. I passed on two sets of Watanabes - by this seller - before I took the ones I got. It has been a real learning experience and I feel I have gained the appropriate appreciation for them. I think the car will look great. Meanwhile, the engine is at the machine shop and the chassis is waiting to be dipped. This is going to take a long time. Here is the set of Watanabe lug nuts.

Now. If you are interested in the real deal. This set of Kobe Seiko wheels is on Yahoo Japan right now. I can't give you the link, because I found them through a translation site www.rinkya.com and the URL clip takes you to the translation home page. This set may be in need of repair and they are magnesium. I damn near wet my pants when I saw them. If you go to Rinkya, click the automotive search bar before you flip over to the translation page. Once there, type a search for 240Z, S30 HS30 PS30 HLS30, or Kobe Seiko. There are three pages of listings just under the 240Z search, but different listings appear with the S30 HS30 PS30 HLS30 search. Let me advise you to simply leave your wallet at home. Don't even bother mentioning shipping costs. In most cases the seller won't ship internationally anyway.

Carl, I just had dealings with the seller you mentioned (orestus_of_argos?) and found him to be the most communicative, pleasant, helpful seller. He is friends with a lot of us here, and I give him the Good Carkeeping Seal of Approval - 4A double plus. He helped me find brand new lug nuts and center caps for this set of Watanabes. They were exactly as described in his add and his packaging was superb. I highly recommend dealing with him. I made a new Z friend and his Zcar is drop dead gorgeous. You are correct that the latest set on eBay is mixed aluminum and magnesium. Do pay mind to the different colors of metal between the two.