26th-Z

What are you going to do with the crankshaft, Kats?

Dave, There are formed gutters in the fenders for the hood and inspection lid areas to naturally drain rainwater and there is no weather stripping other than the cowl. Yes, reasonably expect water to make its way into the engine bay area.

Swampfox, From your description, I would say that you have the early hinge and those arms can rust badly. Post some pictures. I looked but can't seem to find digital images of my hinges. I may have them on film but the the comments are pretty much correct. You shouldn't have rollers or detentes. I would encourage you to repair your hinges.

Quick answer: no, no and no. The muffler looks like a 280Z type but it could be aftermarket. AN original stock muffler was round. The gearshift knob is aftermarket possibly AMCO part #99990-00005 which would have been an authorized accessory for the 1972 model year cars. The window decal is something you would find in a tourist store. This page from Carl Beck's site will help you with your 2/71 "crossover" car. http://zhome.com/History/New71Late.htm which means that you may have a mixture of early and later parts.

Blue, Gas cap 17251-E4101 does not come with a chain. Looks like that's what you have. I had a look at the rubber grommet on #27 last night. I don't know what your grommet is from. Don't throw it away. We may figure it out some one of these days. I have a question about #48 that you may know. Is #48 a HLS30U that was converted to a HLS30UN when it was restored? I think it was.

I had mine rebuilt some years ago - took these pictures when they came back from the shop. The symbol on the castings is Hitachi. The metal bands between the front and rear castings is supposed to be a dark green. The shop painted the fan and pulley but the fan is supposed to be plated. Kats has beautifully restored pictures on his web site, but I see that it is down at the moment. I'm a little confused at the moment about the capacity of the alternator. 40amp? 45amp? I would have to do some research. Blue engine paint overspray is common / original.

Where did you get the pictures of #16 and #48?

Blue, I didn't mean to sound rude. Don't take it that way. Thanks for the great photo of the grommet. I don't know what you have if it doesn't have the firewall lips and I wondered about the "no through-holes" comment. There is another thread circulating about speedometer cables you may want to check out. Console face plate is correct. There is a thread in the archives with a fascinatingly rude argument about what color it is supposed to be. Check out the single groove harmonic balancer! There is a thread about fuel pumps in the archives. These pictures are mine - the difference between old and new castings. I won't guarantee that the old one is authentic 1969.

Well, unless I'm mistaken, that's a part you won't see very often because one of the parts it is made for has been replaced also. In all probability, you don't have that part either and the replacement doesn't fit that rubber grommet. No need to send it to 240Zrubbers because it is already reproduced. $40 You say it has no through-holes? What size is it? Take a picture of it with something that will show us size and scale. So let me ask you. The stuff 240Zrubbers sells is pretty expensive. Are you ready to spend that kind of money on a "proper" restoration? The S30 type Datsun was thoroughly tested and developed before any cars were manufactured and sold. It certainly was consistently developed and improved, over a number of years, but it would be inappropriate to say that "prototype" parts were initially used because the "production" components weren't delivered in time. What came on the early cars is what was intended. A lot of people claim a lot of things, but I have found over the years that if you haven't researched, if you haven't read everything you can get your hands on, if you don't speak Japanese (or know someone who does), you don't really know a lot about these cars. These are not American cars built exclusively for the American market (like many, many claim and I have heard some whoppers); these cars are Japanese imports.

Let me say something here and try to help you out with your ideas about things. There is no such thing as "series 1, series 2", etc. That is American market nomenclature for differences between model years and an attempt to label Japanese production methods equitably with the American automotive manufacturer's methods we're familiar with. It just doesn't work that way. What you may call "prototype" was production at the time. Prototypes were not sold, exported, delivered, what ever. Certainly there were parts that came with the very early cars that were almost immediately superseded by something similar but really all you can say is; "oh look! This part is manufactured differently". There isn't any rhyme or reason to what part went on what car and you certainly can't attach a certain "up to serial number" label other than what appears in Nissan documentation. And even then you are going to find anomalies.

Yea. Very strange isn't it? Send it to me.

I don't know that they actually do. I just made that up. Glad you were entertained.

Niles Manufacturing provided automotive switches to Nissan. I don't recognize the piece. Perhaps if I knew where it came from on the car. Hitachi voltage regulator for the original "grapefruit style" alternator. Covered in undercoating. 40amp (45 amp?) capacity TL1Z-37 Oil pressure gauge sending unit. The original sending units had a bayonet plug fitting. This one is either aftermarket or later model type with the electrical fitting changed. Speaker cover (as required to deliver the proper base vibe. Commonly known in speaker techno circles as the back-plate acoustic reverberator bouncer designed for single speaker AM audio systems.)

Red dot mirror. I thought the red dot was on the wide face, not the narrow. Seat belt hook, yep. Screws to the side of the seat with a chrome screw and transparent plastic washer. I don't recognize the wing nut.

I had to do some serious digging to find the correspondence with Chester & Harod. Back to an old computer and search through the e-mails. Here is what was written in 2007: From Chester & Harod Auto Carpet Manufacturing (edited for grammar and speeling) Hi. We copied the rubber mats for our pattern but they had 5 prototype demos and they were all different floor. When they (decided) on the one that they would produce, they put a jack behind the passenger seat with a cut out on the rear mat for it & we made 1800 mats that we had to take back & make that cut out for the jack. Those rudder mats is what they (were) going to use until they saw our carpet. We can make rubber mats but carpet comes with padding. We can make wool carpet if you (want) it'. Hi We have the original pattern. The original was loop. We made carpet for the first 1970 Z (1800 cars) that (were) shipped to the U. S. A. We can make the carpet any way and out of any carpet you (want). Kats posted pictures of the insulation he bought for his blue 240Z. You will find his complete photographs in the archives. That's what it (NOS) is supposed to look like. I have some pictures from MikeB also. His early cars show faded out stitching from original. Finally, the edge stitching, loop detail and snap fitting from the new replacement carpeting. This is as close as you are going to get to NOS. I also want to mention that the early cars did not have a hook fitting welded to the floor under the front of the seat for holding the the front pieces in place. It was a Velcro pad glued to the floor. You can see the cutouts in the pad in Kats' car.

Blue, I saw where you posted on the thread; "Loop Pile Carpet..." and wanted to thank you for that stroll down memory lane. Perhaps I'm getting a slight off-topic by mentioning the comments HS30-H made and Arne's rebuttal. What I wrote here previously considers the comments from that thread. In the other thread, there is a comment about the initial introduction events in the fall of 1969 and the dealer comments which forced the inclusion of carpeting for North American imports. That's entirely plausible.

Ok, I have some time to write about this subject. The very early imported cars (HLS30U, HLS30UV, and probably the Canada HLS30UN) arrived in rubber mat flooring spec, similar to the base standard S30 specification for domestic models. From what I understand, Chester and Harod supplied carpeting to port-of-entry service and distribution because Datsun USA chose to sell the cars with carpeting and I don't know why they didn't come from Japan that way. The S30-S Fairlady ZL came with carpeting. In the case of my cars, carpeting was most probably installed at the dealer along with hubcaps and other items shipped with the car in bags and boxes. The door panels and dogleg panels were typically shipped covered in a light "visqueen" clear plastic which was removed at the dealer. Seat belts came covered in a plastic bag. My original bill of sale lists carpets as standard specification. In 2007, a couple of guys with very low VINs bought some sixteen carpet sets at one time for their cars. I have two sets. I also have most of the original rubber mat. The picture of the mat with the lens cap is mine. The pictures of the foot well mats are correct. Notice the snap fittings for the firewall and the Velcro tabs for under the seats. The Chester and Herod carpets come that way. We discussed the "rubberized' clear backing to the loop weave when we bought the sets and decided that we wanted the backing for durability purposes. And that is what you see in another one of the pictures above. My sets came with cutouts for the luggage strap hardware on the rear deck carpet. I seem to recall some sort of edge binding conversation when the sixteen sets were ordered and that it was duplicated from somebody's "original" set. I'm not pleased with the fiber insulation mat that I got. It is not anywhere close to the photos I have of stock insulation. But frankly, if you don't lift up the carpeting, no one will ever see it. Let me know if you find a source to replicate the original rubber floor mats. I would be in for two sets.

Chester and Herod Auto Carpet Manufacturing

Well, I wondered. I haven't been a convention attendee since Nashville in 2010 and I think the judging rules have changed.

I recall that the ZCCA used to award a "Gold Medallion" in the stock classes and a "Gold Cup" in the modified classes. Have they changed that?

Congratulations Jeff Mader! Way to go! Zcon 2017 next June in Austin

Love the R380 pictures. Thanks!

http://www.sportscardigest.com/le-mans-classic-night-2016-photo-gallery/ The six groups run three different heats over a 24 hour period.

There is an excellent article about the event on Sports Car Digest http://www.sportscardigest.com/peking-paris-motor-challenge-2016-report-photos/ Lots of pictures, worth a look.

The description was written by the auctioneers; essentially car salesmen. Used car salesmen. I saw a Goodings auction about two weeks ago with the same sort of nonsense. The Petrolicious description is much better.