26th-Z

I judged the stock class with Jeff Fox at last year's national convention. I have judged a number of local car shows and I was once a Chief Scrutineer for the SCCA. My local Z club gave me the honor of being Lead Judge for the past Florida Z Fest. I plan to judge this year's national convention. ZCCA has a judging certification program and I am not yet certified. Plan to do that at the convention. "gnose" is a certified judge and I talk to him quite a bit. The Street Modified Class allows up to 15 visable modifications and the Nissan Modified Class gives you 25. Page 7 of the ZCCA manual outlines each class. I feel that the ZCCA rules are liberal enough to allow everyone with a CLEAN car to win. If I could make any comment it would be that in order to win, one must be CLEAN. Really nice cars loose all the time because they are dirty. We could go on about what part belongs on what car and how the rules don't address this or that, but I really feel that the conversation is mute because the cars we are talking about are dirty and who cares about a dirty car at a car show! And here, let me get on my soap box. I like the ZCCA rules and think they address just about anything that can be done to a Z and win a car show. I've seen guys play the classes to get a trophy rather than put their car in what might be considered the proper class. There are all kinds of ways to win a car show - even Stock Class. I've seen guys "fabricate" original parts, alter incorrect parts to look correct, all kinds of things. Know why they won? Their cars were clean. Look at the way the scoring works; 0 point deduction for brand new / 10 point deduction for junk. What's average? Dirt. No rips, no tears, no smudges, scuffs, cracked spoiler, bug remains, oil spatter, sand, brake dust, smears, stone chips... Shall I go on? C L E A N Thanks for letting me bleed. Clean cars are 5 mph faster than dirty cars and that's a fact!

Most all cars designed in the late '60s did not have provisions for fog lamps and extra driving lamps. Bulb and reflector technology was different as well. Extra lights had to be hung on a car and they were usually big. It was a look you had to like in order to like the look. Now, lets not make a mistake and confuse the headlight covers with anything modified. The headlight covers I showed would be considered stock. They were not imported on HLS30s because of American laws at the time. But they are authentic.

The trouble with kids these days is that they don't know the difference between glass and plastic. The correct optional headlight covers are plexiglass. These are the real deal - like EScanlon's - and everything else is aftermarket. Furthermore, I contend that the original design of what became known as the 240Z iintended for the use of these covers over the scoops such that the fender line completes the arch around the hood. Now before you start throwing rotten oranges at me for being such a smart-arse, remember that I can still lift 120 pounds after drinking 18 beers which makes me king of Mt. DAT.

They look real good, Ben. Never took you for a hubcap man. But you're right. Everyone needs a couple of sets of wheels at least!

Zhead was asking me about that car last night. It appears to be an aftermarket ZG nose added to a later model Fairlady.

Thanks Patrick, I'll call and find out more about it - 1971 Vintage Z apparently. BTW, I'm still working feverishly on my Vintage Z resarch project. Got into a discussion on the IZCC forum and learned a lot about the general perception / car shows of Vintage Zs. I'm getting close to a photo collection of half of them. Tracking down VINs is another story.... Will be writing more soon.

Hey there, terd. Have fun with your Z!

907 green with a black interior is a correct combo for early HLS30s. I seem to recall that Kats has a color code card from 1969. Both of my 907s have the butterscotch interior.

Greetings! This picture came to mind. From "Nostalgic Hero", Vol. 96, April 2003.

Zthing, You have an early engine in your car and I was going to mention it in the other thread. The 2400 valve cover is not very common and usually sells for over $100 on eBay. I would recommend repairing yours with parts from the more common OHC valve cover. Also, your engine should have the eight counterweight crankshaft http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4959 which is nice. Evidently someone took your original engine out and replaced it with the earlier one, probably not realizing what they were doing. In my opinion your engine is more valuable and I would recommend keeping it in good repair.

MAKE ME LAUGH, Victor...PerrierZ! Wha ha ha ha! Can use that in my compendium? Or do you think he would be insulted?

Finding the 11/69 sub harness for the heater fan was a big surprise to me. I think it is also interesting to find the October 15 date on the dash. If we look at your production records, Kats, this date would be significant - meaning 26th could not have been assembled prior to mid October. I will do more research with the cars in Tampa the next time I visit.

Here are the tags from the wiring harnesses. Notice the different colored dots on the tags. After the part numbers, there is a number inside a little triangle. What is that? Also, what is the black triangle to the left of the part number? The last photo is my surprise. Never expected to see the 11. But it corroborates the door tag!

Hey there Mark! Hello Eric! Glad to see more people into this thread. The "one-hour photo queen" came through for me again - bless her. In the days when film photography is getting as rare as 240Z parts! How's that for grammar? These are all photos from 26th-Z. Door tag stamped 11/69. I'm glad Mark posted his 11/69 tag to compare his serial number with. 27th-Z is stamped 10/69 and 26th seems to be out of place for some reason. Look what I found. I'll start with the gauges under Her Majesty's dash. The dash I had re-covered last year was a spare I bought and used to see if I liked the recovering deal that was going on at the time. 26th's dash is still in one piece - unmolested. The first picture is a stamping on the foam directly above the speedo and tach. It says 44. 10. 15

Bayak, Your question is really wide open and the basic answer would be that the US market cars were left-hand drive. Now, looking at your profile, I would imagine that you might be specifically asking about the 260 2+2 and 280ZX model. Most of these answers deal with the 240Z model, or HLS30U. Having said, I will leave it open to more refined answers from more refined experts.

My photographs (assuming they turn out well enough...I have my moments...film, you know) won't be back for another 24 hours. I was really surprised last night. Alan, I simply made the Ok statement to keep the conversation going. I recognize your point. I'll have much more to say when the photos come back from the "1-hour developers".

From the Datsun 260Z - 240Z USA and Canada Parts Catalog; December 1973. Your car is a 1972, perhaps titled as a 1973, but titles are irrelevant in my opinion. Check the data plate on your driver door jamb. Check the part labels on the wiring harness. The seat belt labels will also give you a date reference.

Or perhaps advanced carcheology...Photos on the way with a surprise or two for me. I just spent a couple of hours in the shop unpacking boxes and photgraphing dated parts. The other guages have date stamps also. Look for a date stamp on the dashboard foam directly above the speedo and tach. The dash for 26th-Z was made October 15, 1969, I think. I'll have lots of questions about the stamp. The wiring harness labels have red and blue marker dots on them. What does that mean? Does anyone have the stamps for the date markings? I made reproduction seat belt labels some time ago and just copied the 9/69 date from my originals. I found more material. Do you want blank labels for your seat belts, Kats? Does anyone else want repro 1969 seat belt labels?

Hi Kats! I forwarded this conversation to Jim and see if I can get him to join our discussion. Talking with him last night, he seems to recall odd dates from his cars. Now you make me work! I will take photographs of dated parts I have. 27th Z is in storage and not taken apart. I may try to find dates on her parts. Give me some time. I do not have a digital camera! Did I show you my new Datsun jacket? Here is me with the Kumo tire girls at Sebring last weekend.

Hey Zrush! You in on this conversation?

I'll add to your answer Alan. HLS30-00026 is door date stamped 11/69 and HLS30-00027 is door date stamped 10/69.

Hi Kats! You propose a good method to establish a build date. So many people have questions about model years and build dates! I searched the archives for "date stamp" and there are several conversations about individual part dates and the meaning of the markings. Is you picture the back of your speedometer? Chris

I heard the seller had problems with the title, but.... When I first met Jim, we thought his was the only automatic VZ, but I have three accounted for now. Carl Beck remarked to me this weekend that we may find more because the automatics may have been a type of car that was used less and garaged more making them easier to find in better condition. Pure speculation, but interesting to consider. I have ten cars photodocumented, Vicky. Two yellows. Yours is the only yellow in that flavor I know of.

Check this site out. http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz903/ Kats is a member here and he deals with early car issues, but when it comes to nit-picky details, Kats is my hero. Get a Datsun parts book - one is sold here in CD form and pay close attention to the difference in part numbers and applications for your model. That will help. Otherwise have a good time and welcome aboard! Oh yes, make a good parts survey for your restoration plan and start buying parts as soon as you can. Good advice. It will save you $$$ in the long run.

The doors are going to look pretty funny with the window surround hanging off them. I spoke to Her Majesty about this issue some time ago and she advised that a proper 240-Z never has her doors hiked up in the air. (I think its a Fairlady thing)