26th-Z

Thanks Gav!

My copy arrived yesterday. Couple of points for now and I plan to write this weekend about a number of things. I have been waiting to see this book, as some of you know, and I want a little more time to digest the contents. I feel very, very naive at the moment. The book is available at MSA, Amazon.com, and a number of different motorsport book dealers. I bought mine on the cheap from Amazon - $32 delivered. The quote that started this thread is somewhat taken out of context. I concur with Mike's post; perhaps this is actually the way the original car really was. The Porsches you guys are referring to was the 914, not the 911. The 914 raced in the same class as the original 240Z, not the 911. Chris

Your '72 was probably THE car representing the change, Jay. Collector's item. Metal headlight buckets are made in two pieces. they have a welded seam and they were more expensive to manufacture. FRP is different from fiberglass in that it is a compression molded process as opposed to laid cloth. Kind of like comparing particle board to plywood. In some respects it is stronger and in some respects it is very difficult to repair. The manufacturer of the FRP products on the Z car was making molded stadium seating at the time. Headlight buckets are not the only thing made from FRP on the Z. The original spoiler, fender flares, ZG nose, and I think 432-R hood, doors and deck lid were made from FRP.

I don't know when they switched to metal, but the correct term for the early headlight fender extensions, sugar scoops, buckets, whatever...is fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP).

Don't ever hear much about the Zzzap. Most of the conversations I have seen are about the Black Pearl. Nice to see a Zzzap owner amongst us. Welcome!

Couple of things: Oh yes it DOES make him smart, Bill. The build date of our American cars is stamped into the data plate on the driver's door jamb. Although there have been many good points about the accuracy of that particular date, it is the very best for determining the information most people seek about the various differences. When a car was sold or titled has nothing to do with what wiring harness is in the car. Skip the DMV. Skip the merchandiser's catalog. Go straight to the door jamb! Chris

http://www.cybersanford.net/NewPage.html

Your'e right Vicky. April 21st - 23rd from the holiday 2005 mailing.

Ron, What can you tell me about getting one serviced?

I didn't realize you were into this sort of car, Eric. I hardly find anyone who knows what they are!

Firewall VIN rules. You seem to have a November 1970 build. The dash has probably been changed. Check around for other dated parts and see what you come up with. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16870&highlight=manufacture+dates

Derek, Looking at the IZCC registry, I would say you have an April build date. There is no data-base that I am aware of. The engine is not original, however the carbs could be. I'll bet the hatch has been replaced with a later one. Sounds like it. The early vented hatches came with vertical defroster lines after serial number HLS30-01452. This means that your car has no provision for interior ventilation. Not a huge issue - the vented hatches notoriously leak exhaust fumes. I wouldn't cut holes in the hatch. Just back-paint the hatch black undrneath the vent grills or leave the body shaved as it is. Shaved bodies are quite popular these days.

Yea. Was that a 'buy-it-now' for $350? Damned good price.

I don't know what's on AM where you live, but the only thing to listen to down here is Rush Lindbau and cha-cha music from Cuba. I don't think I'm going to be doing too much cranking on the tunes. But you know how it is. I'll show up at a car show some day and somebody will say; "that's not original"! There's enough of that forcasted for Her Majesty! The original AM radio units on a 1970 build would have only one speaker on the left side mounted next to the antenna. While we are talking about it, though. Datsun offered an optional Hitachi 8-track / radio unit. I believe they were standard to the Fairlady ZL model and optional to the S30-S, HS30, and PS30. Remember the thread we were talking about all the options? Then, I got into a conversation the other day about Clarion being the original intention for the radio units - not Hitachi. I don't think, however, that Clarion units made it to production. CW-

The cover on eBay is brand spanking new. No backing plate though.

Yep, Enrique. Your'e backwards. The early style Hitachi AM only had auto seek tuning and the antenna switch to the right side of the radio. The later Hitachi AM/FM had the horizontal switch above the tuning knob. I have a picture of the wrong radio for Derek's car, but no good pictures of the correct one. I guess I better stop my restoration work and take some pictures! When I bought 26th, she had an FM radio and I later updated her to FM / Cassette. Getting into the restoration thing, I paid dearly for an A+ AM radio and felt really foolish. Finding one in working condition that is only going to light up one 6" speaker so that you can listen to static is going to seem pretty dumb, IMO. I see them on eBay from time to time.

Derek, The archives on this site are full of conversations about dash caps and restorations. A cap is easily the cheapest way to go and depending on how well you install it, will look just fine for a regular driver. A new correct dash for your car is unobtanium and if you are lucky enough to find a good used one, it is going to put the bash on a grand. Your dash can be restored with new foam and vinyl and I recommend "Dashboard Restorations". The texture in the vinyl is not exactly correct, but I doubt anyone is ever going to spot it out. Restoration runs around $800 with the shipping and everything. Chris

Hey Derek, What is your build date? April? You may want to register your car with Beck's site www.zhome.com He keeps track of the classics. What are your plans for the car? Chris

Well your'e in luck because the ZCCA international convention is coming to Dallas May29-June2,2006. The Z Club of Texas and Cowtown Z Club are hosting and you don't want to miss this extravaganza. If you can't find Z guys in Texas, your'e not looking. Contact the clubs and join one of them.

Here. I found a better picture and drew some arrows to point out the differences. The backing plate on the left is from 26th. The backing plate on the right is from a '71, I think. It has an additional vent tube connection and a clip to hold the vent hose. Interestingly, both backing plates were stamped out from the same die. One has a hole drilled and a clip welded on to areas that are clearly marked with indentations "targets" in the metal. My opinion would be that if your build date is before 7/70, your backing plate would be like mine on the left. After 7/70 would be like the one on the right. I'll tell you who is the real pro at this is Carl Beck. He could tell you better when the change happened.

No. The backing plates are different between '70s and '72s if you are looking for accuracy. The '72s have an additional vent from the carburetors which is lacking from the '70 style. We were just kicking around the early carburetor conversation. These eBay examples have the drain plugs in the front of the float bowls. They are the later four screw style. Air cleaner boxes for the early cars, like this eBay example, had no flapper valve and pre-heat hose connection. What troubles me though, is that there is no inner pipe on the backing plate for the crankcase ventilation hose on this one. It looks like the wing nuts are the wrong ones also. I will also add that I have three different non-snorkle air cleaners. All have slight differences that you would only notice when taken apart. From the outside, they are all sisters. Check out section 11 of the parts fiche.

In all my experience in all my years of fooling with SUs, the engine electronics is 75% of the problem. The rest of it is timing and carburetor adjustment. Make sure your electrics are in top performance meaning brand new. The service life is far gone for original equipment. Make note that original spark plug wires were dated. If you a set of dated wires, keep them. If the old black distributor cap has copper contacts, keep it. My suggestion would be to replace all the electrics, set the timing and valve clearance before I looked at the carbs. Now, they may have some varnish build-up and I'll go along with the suggestion of getting a book or video before you take them apart and clean them. I'll bet they look better than this!

Let's dump this thread and go over the other one.

Well, your'e doing good! A friend of mine just bought one of those Nikons. I switched to a Canon system when I had to get something with auto-focus. Now, I'm kind of locked in. Have my eyes on a Canon 20D and I need to make the jump to digital.