26th-Z

The photos I have, and believe them to be Nissan press photos, show the Z432 and the Z432R without flares. It's possible the 432 was sold basic, and then as Alan points out, supported by the "Sport Options" listing.

Too funny - Beer, helping ugly people have sex since 1862.

Datsun boasted an engineered interior vent system when they were marketing in the early years. At the time, interior venting, or flow-thru air ventilation with the windows up was not a common feature in either foriegn or American cars. Remember the little hoods sold for VW windows so you could roll the window down just a scoach and keep the rain out? Internal venting was a big feature from Datsun and it does work pretty well. The first Zeds came with vents in the rear hatch. The interior panel is sealed with rubber flaps and the hatch has plastic ducting to the horizontal vents out the back. The trouble with all this and any internal venting system is that it relies on a sealed cabin. The venting design assumes positive cabin pressure, and in the case of the rear hatch vents, a negative or sucking air pressure behind the car. Break the cabin seal, lose the positive air pressure, and the whole thing breaks down. Datsun also figured out that the hatch sealing design didn't work very well and found better results by relocating the outlets to the side wings out of the exhaust back draft. Yes, the exhaust gasses actually swirl behind the car. Smelling exhaust gasses in early Zeds is inherent and can only be stopped by a thorough seal to the hatch and venting system. The one thing that I should also mention is that an inspection of your exhaust system is in order whenever you smell gasses. Just make sure you don't have an exhaust leak.

I cruise the forums and the latest uploads at least once a day. They are a delightful moment of relaxZZation. But my favorite thing about this site is the members. I have to say you are a great group of enthusiasts to correspond with.

My bet is on the caliper too. I'm dy'in to find out what happens.

I didn't respond to that old thread, the discussion was about the rear bumper not hooking something on narrow streets. The end caps appear in Brian Long's; "Fairlady to 280 Z" book on Japanese home market Fairlady's and 432's. Photographs of American imports do not show the end caps.

I refer to Brian Long's; "Datsun Z - Fairlady to 280Z", for this information. The S 211 debuted at the Fifth Tokyo Show in October 1958 as a four-seater open sports car. Designed by Yuichi Ohta, the car featured a fiberglass body shell powered by the Type C, 988cc over-head valve engine. It was the car that launched Nissan into the sports car market. Put on sale to the public in June 1959, the S 211 was built to order by Tonouchi Industries of Yokohama. It competed against the British Austin's and MG's in the American market and did not sell well due to the small engine; only 20 were built. A right-hand drive version of the 211 appeared at the Los Angeles Imported Car show in March 1959. It weighed 810kg, produced 34bhp with a top speed of 70mph. Ahh... four wheel drums with semi-elliptic leaf springs all around. Sold for 795,000 yen. The SPL 212 debuted in 1960 with an uprated 1.2 liter engine and was the first Fairlady. S - sports, P - Bluebird chassis, L - left hand drive. All were left hand drive and all were specifically produced for the United States market There you go - everything I know about the 211. Good luck! Restore that mother!

I tried contacting the Clarke County Police Department via e-mail with no luck. I'm not inclined, but there is a crime stopper reward program of $1000 for information. I tend to agree with you guys who have hard feelings about someone breaking into your shops. I have had plenty of things stolen. This web site lists a phone number and such http://www.accpd.org/contact/contact.html Like I said earlier, a little private detective work might reap some good rewards.

If the guy gets busted, the property will return to the owner. If the property is not collected by an identifiable owner (deceased or abandoned), the stuff will sell at a police auction. There is a good chance the guy died and the estate has no idea the stuff exists. Or there is no estate as there was no will and no apparent heirs. Someone willing to do a little research has enough to go by from the web conversation. A search through the property records could turn up a rightful owner! I gotta laugh - It might be worth it just to bust the kid and get the stuff! Then, I'm tempted to make a smart-arse remark about SC! Another appropriate comment - Ebay is possibly the easiest way to fence stolen property.

I understand 432 versions were used as Police chasers in Japan. Seems logical enough. Brian Long's book mentions it.

I am happy to confirm that the early Z's had fiberglass headlight bucket "sugar scoops".

Lets talk about this 69. What is the VIN number? You can find it in several places: Top of the dash on the driver's side, On the plate in the driver's door jamb, Stamped in the firewall in the engine bay, On the plate attached to the left front shock tower in the engine bay. The plate on the door will have the date of manufacture stamped on it. The plate on the shock tower will have the engine number stamped on it All of these numbers are important. Only some 500 69's were imported and that makes the car rare, classic, and very collectable. Even the worst rust bucket is valuable. I am definitely interested in the car. Concerning parts for the car, they are only scarce, and with some determined effort can be had at very reasonable expense. Most 71 parts interchange and some up to 73 model year. Please consider the car with great interest. Post photographs for us, if you can and good luck. You may have found a real nice car.

Gavin - the wider tire will increase the contact patch area of rubber on the road. That will translate back to the steering wheel with increased "feel" of the paving imperfections. Also, a wider offset will effectively increase the track width - center of wheel to center of wheel - thereby increasing the distance at the spindle / steering knuckle. That will translate back to the steering wheel as quicker response and increased road "feel". All of that will affect the control of the car through driver response. These issues are desireable in racing form - increased response and traction - on a smooth, consistant road surface, but present practical problems in everyday driving. You'll "fight the wheel" more at slower speeds. The logic behind the wheels and tires sticking out from the fender is to prevent debris and water from spraying up.

Hey Z KID, Where is that red Z in the jpg - eccy-mirrors? Looks just like Florida.

Datsun lists a rear stabilizer bar starting 8/73 - 55611-E8100 and starting 9/74 - 55611-N3701 but they don't say what size the bar is. Another part search reveals: (to 8/74) 55611-E4200 - 19mm 55611-E4621 - 21mm 55611-E4622 - 25mm Also listed is the mounting kit - 99996-E4010 and the end links 99996-E4020 The bars list for $150 each, and each installation kit lists for $30 Bushings are listed also: 54613-66000 - $194 ea. 2 req'd Courtesy Parts - Texas http://www.courtesyparts.com/

I have learned to preface these types of conversations with "my part" because I am finding that not all Datsun parts are the same - exactly the same. "My" series 1 dash frame has a rectangular cutout in the are of the indentations for the hazard switch, mystery, and later cigarette lighter. The foam in that area is rather thick. Screwed to the dash frame, set in to the rectangular cutout, is a stepped metal frame insert with mounting tabs. The insert forms the inside face of the indent and has cutouts for the switch shaft. It is the inside plate / frame that the mounting nut and washer snug up to. The mounting tabs are for screws in to the dash frame itself, and perhaps the foam. Perhaps this is the only difference between the two series 240. the 260 / 280 is out of my age bracket. Hope this helps.

I concur completely with Alan. If the X's were stamped at port of entry, it might show beneath the plate - as in stamped through. Check it out and let us know. About the fraud thing; couple of observations. One can purchase brand new blank ID plates easily and I can imagine a few Z fakes are going to show up in the future. Brock Yates wrote an article years ago about the surging number of faked muscle cars and matching number claims. One way to combat the issue is to obtain and publish documentation of build numbers and dates. Unfortunately, I think Nissan missed the boat on this. It is up to collectors to gather this information and make it available to other collectors. It only serves to increase the value of valid examples. In the end, though, its buy beware. Nissan was apparently very lose and my experience with my restoration project so far, is that determining a valid "original" example is going to boil down to examining pieces and parts. Everything is so interchangeable and the differences are there but very subtle. My very early example has original differences not found in cars built weeks later. It makes for the interesting points of collecting, though. A good conversation!

Here you go: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3538203224&category=223

I suggest keeping up with Ebay - the standard "Datsun 240Z" search. I picked one up months ago for around $20. Several years ago, I found one in a toy store and sent it to my nephew for Christmas. My sister tells me he ate the tires.

Jim, just e-mailed you about my project.

I was afraid to give out advice or relate my personal experiences when I first joined here, but the forums here are entertaining, informational, and just plain fun. Ya'll make me laugh many times. I especially enjoy the bantering about obscure information such as production dates. I have gained a lot of knowledge and met a lot of great people. Thanks Incidently, I scored some great parts at cheap prices off that site.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I had the same experience years ago painting my Z. The glass company did break the windshield putting it back in and told me the old glass gets brittle. I bought a new windshield and ten years later IT is cracked. Go figure. Bumpers can be removed without dropping the gas tank ( a real pain), but it isn't easy and it is difficult to reach the bolts. I don't remember any special tools, just tedium.

Oh you got me started. I gotta have a tool box of King d*** tools to match my personality! ROFL ROFL

Bart, there is no such thing as valve rings. Valve seats, valve seals, valve guides perhaps, but no rings. Rings generally refer to piston rings. Now, exhaust smoke can be black and it can be blue-grey-white. Black, sooty smoke is too rich a fuel mixture and your carbs need work. Blue-grey-white is burning oil and you have engine problems. Do a compression test on your cylinders to determine if you have piston ring problems. You should get even compression numbers from all six cylinders. Squirt some oil in a low compression cylinder and if the compression jumps way up, its piston rings. If the compression reading stays about the same (with blue-grey-white smoke), suspect the valve train and do a valve job. Your explanation of back-firing sounds like carburation and fuel delivery. I assume you set the timing correctly from your description of ignition work, but bad timing will cause a backfire. Check your spark plugs after running the car and shutting it off from steady revs of 2500 or more. Are they oil fouled or black and sooty? Spark plugs should look light brown. Oil fouled plugs will look oily and grimey. Fuel fouled plugs will look black and sooty. After sitting for such a time, the car may have a number of problems, but from your description, I would thoroughly clean, tune and sync the carbs. Finally, make sure the timing is correct.