26th-Z

Zymol products tend to be pricey for no apparent reason but they are very good quality. You won't be disappointed. I tend to believe that this comes down to a get-what-you-pay-for decision.

Here is a link to the discussion. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4334&highlight=Armourall I still stand by what I said back then and object to the testimony from the I-Love-Armourall people. I just don't believe they know what they are talking about regardless of their experience. Silicon emulsion is bad for vinyl and rubber. It is a well documented fact. The interesting point of the question has to do with the "black rubber material" that came off with the application of Armourall. That should not have happened and I suspect the dash is already covered in some sort of coating as there is no rubber material on a stock dash to come off. Soap and water should be fine for cleaning.

Here's a few pictures of various manuals printed in the 70 - 71 range. In the beginning, service manuals were printed in different volumes, engine and chassis, in Japan and supplimental volumes printed in California. By 1971 all the volumes had been combined. Early original service manuals had a pebble textured paper cover and later versions, including the reprints, have a smooth glossy cover.

Carl, The Nissan Cube is hardly a "me too" vehicle. Perhaps arriving on American shores a little tardy, but it has been a Japanese domestic vehicle for several years. Comments from Denise McCluggage, AutoWeek 6-1-09 Then And Now; "Nissan brought a selection of its home-market cars to San Francisco a few years ago so American Journalists could experience them. I chatted with the Cube and could tell it wanted to stay. "Bring this one," I said. Maybe, they said. And now Nissan has. But not my cubic Cube. This Cube has read the wrong book on how to dress for success in America. We're not speaking."

Just got an update from Yoshikawa san. He posted new pictures on his web site. With so many questions regarding metal and body work, I thought you all would find this as fascinating as I do. Hello Chris, I made all aluminum door for S30. Original was 34.8lb but new door is 19.84lb! I put these photos on my website. I want speak to members of Classic Z cars.... Soon I will make hood for S30. Best Regards, Shin Yoshikawa

I want to bitch that all this BRE repro stuff is lowering the value of original historic items that were expensive and difficult to obtain.

The roof of 26th was covered in aluminum foil once to reflect the hot Florida sun.

Agreed. The Shin creation is just the body shell, tub, chassis, whatever and does not include any running gear, suspension, engine, glass or interior. The thing to do would be to transfer all of that from a titled car. Shin has indicated that a customer in Japan is using an S20 engine.

The current ZCCA rules note the ARA kit but describe the compressor as 'York'. I don't know why. I'll look for Sankyo. I don't know, Jon. Carl may be talking about Dependable. The DAS I'm talking about became WWL.

Perhaps a little background… DAS stood for Distribution & Auto Service. "Distribution & Auto Service, Inc. provides vehicle processing, logistics, & marine services to the automotive industry. The company was founded in 1969 & is based in Wilmington, California. DAS was formerly operated as a subsidiary of Nissan North America. On April 30, 2005 Distribution & Auto Service, Inc. became a part of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. Distribution & Auto Service, Inc. prepped the Datsuns prior to sending them off to the dealers. The older car carriers (before Nissan had its own fleet) always had an 'acceptable' amount of loss/damage when shipping the cars from Japan. DAS, in addition to just unloading the cars and reloading them on American distribution carriers (trucks, trains and other ships), also checked for contact damage (which also took place during the loading/unloading procedure as well) & salt water damage which took place while the vehicles spent weeks in the holds of these ships. The vehicles were washed & checked to make sure that there was no interior damage and that things like the wheel covers, jack & tools, antenna, spare tire, and optional parts were in the car meaning ready for dealer distribution. DAS was primarily a distribution logistics facility however they did have the capability to perform repairs and assembly functions. What the dealer did was PDI (pre-delivery inspection) which would include waxing, installing the wheel covers, antenna, etc. removing plastic from the interior, etc. My concern with your question, Gordon, is that the A/C is not described on your window sticker. It should be. What might be a likely explanation is that the A/C was dealer installed as an option after the sale. That's entirely possible.

Yea, but Mike! Don'cha love the drama? The poor guy's thread turned into all this reminiscence about selling the Z and moving on to the next chapter. Love it! Personally, I'm back from a previous car chapter. Now, I don't necessarily agree with some of the comments about the car in question. I think it's worth every penny of the insured value. I can think of a Z that won every top award given in the Z community and it is valued at three times the $24k figure. Sure, as with any car, to achieve the top value in sale, one must find the 'right' buyer. And the "share the same vision" comment was probably the most appropriate. I would suggest marketing the car in that direction to that sort of audience. Sorry to see you split, Stephen. If I had some spare money, I'ld buy your truck.

Welcome! You'll have fun here with the low VIN guys. What's your build date? Is your car all matching numbers?

It's good to hear that the battery tray is still available and relatively cheap. I need to put one of those on my list. Originally, the clear plastic drain hose did not extend down below the frame which is why you see so many cars with frame damage in that area.

To the best of my knowledge the wiper motor cover is black plastic molded form or a black plastic bag not rubber. Lacquer thinner is pretty aggresive. Be careful that it doesn't melt the plastic.

You all probably know of Shin Yoshikawa from his impecable cut-away drawings of the Z car to name but one. Shin is also a prolific writer. We have discussed his superb book about the Toyota 2000GT, however Shin writes regularly for Nostalgic Hero magazine and was a contributing factor behind the Del Prado die-cast model racing series. Shin lives in California and operates an automotive workshop and fabrication studio. Check out Shin at http://studiotimecapsule.com/home Some time ago, Shin and his associates built an aluminum body for a Toyota 2000GT. That was a body-on-frame design and now Shin plans to build six aluminum uni-body chassis of the S30. I talked with him this morning and he tells me that four have been committed to contract. One is to be placed as a sculptural piece in the Datsun Heritage Museum. Another is going to the Nissan museum / storage facility in Zama, I believe. Two more will be built with the idea of completing them as running cars. He tells me one in Japan will receive S20 / Z432 running gear. Check out the web site which is a fun cruise if you have never been there. He is asking $60,000 in three payments of $20,000 for the aluminum body shells. Several people have commented to me about the structural integrity of such a construction, but if you read what Shin says about it, it sounds like he has taken these things into consideration.

I have not seen any of the shows, but I'ld like to comment from personal experience. I'm finding the price for just the paint job hard to swallow. I realize what the paint alone costs but the labor rate can't be $37.50 if the paint job alone is going to cost 3 times the preparation. Either we're not comparing oranges to oranges or somebody is getting ripped off. Having said that, it seems like the 80 hours for metal work and prep is low. However! I'm right there with ya on your comment about how many people we know have spent months with a body shop, Carl!

I agree. Seal the tanks. The POR product is excellent for this.

This is a really good thread that will answer a lot of points that have been mentioned. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20792&highlight=5-speed+transmissions

Sure looks like an F4W71a to me. How do you know it's a 5-speed? It's not an FS5C71a or b. I suggest a search through the archives will turn up some interesting info.

It IS rather discouraging, isn't it? When I pick up a copy of something like "Classic Motorsports" and see all the ads for MG, Triumph, Jaguar and such.

I'll be there.

Some time ago, I bought HLS30-00403 for parts. The instrument finisher, although trashed, is definitely black compared to the finisher from 26th. Same molding, just black over the chrome. Note that the actual plastic under the chrome plating is cream white (yellowed from sunlight). A long time ago when Chloe was around, I found and bought this Hitachi radio brand new in the box. The face plate is black plastic and the raised label highlights are all painted silver. Coupled with the ash trays from 26th, 27th, and 403rd - all gray plastic painted black - I am / was assuming that all the interior finishes were black. Searching through the parts books, I find instrument finisher 68830-E4100, E4101, E4600 and 68831-E4100 all applying to the year and model in our discussion. Resting my case now...

I'm having trouble getting a good picture for comparison purposes, but I have both gray instrument face plates and black ones. And I have both black and gray radio face plates also. Here is a real good shot of the instrument face plate from 26th. Obviously gray. Notice the heater switch is different from the typical fan symbol on the switch. Then, a picture from 27th with the more typical heater switch knob. Obviously gray as well. I realize that the radio has been changed in 27th, but notice that the volume control label on the face plate was painted silver whereas Jim's face plate shows no sign of the silver highlighting. I'll have to admit that at first I just attributed the gray to fading but now that you are making me take a hard look at all of this I'm inclined to agree.

These are the two map light face plates I have. The gray one at the top is out of 26th and the black one at the bottom came from a friend-of-the-Z. 27th didn't come with a map light. You will notice black paint covering the back side of the gray one. There's evidence for my case. Please notice this occurance of a gray plastic circumcized map light face plate as well as a black plastic circumcized map light face plate. In real lighting, the gray is the color of the console face from #16. The other face plate is real black. Back tomorrow after I photograph the instument finisher in 27th.

Many thanks for you reflective comments, Carl. The non-metallic paint location comment is a typical automotive manufacturing technique. You probably noticed that the 901 silver cars are that way. Part of the problem I have here is that I have achieved a college education and "we may never know" is not necessarily in my vocabulary. As I have previously indicated, through research, they were NOT repainted in California. I still have a couple of other sources to confirm and I'll let you know if that conclusion changes.