Arne

Test fitting the pre-production mockups is underway. There will need to be some minor tweaks to the shape of the template, based on my tests. And as mentioned in the previous post, the font/typeface has not been finalized yet.

I paid $14 and change for mine locally. The local store I buy from didn't stock them but had them in overnight with no shipping.

Installed mine this morning. Took about 2 hours. I did not completely drop the diff as I was lazy and didn't want to disconnect the driveshaft or halfshafts. Was probably a bit harder that way, but not too bad. The mount was a VERY snug fit into my car's tunnel. Took some persuading to get it up far enough to get the bolts in place. Nothing too bad, but some work, none the less. I used the stock mount on the crossmember with a black #9.9101G bumpstop as noted earlier in this thread. On my car with the R180 in the stock '70-71 (forward) position and a reasonably fresh lower mount, I had to trim three 1/4" steps off the bumpstop (3/4" total, see attached picture). This gave me a really snug fit, there is pressure on the bumpstop at all times. I didn't want it to get too sloppy if bumpstop breaks in. Tried to grab a few pictures under the car as I worked, but I'm not going to bother posting them. I painted the R-T mount black, the bumpstop is black, the diff is black, and my car was undercoated when new (you guessed it, black) so even with the flash you really can't see anything. Test drive went fine. Since my car's lower mount was fairly new, any clunks I had weren't from that, so I expected no real change there, and there wasn't any. I could not tell any difference in NVH, either.

Today's trivia. I was conversing with the owner of the company who makes these about the font or typeface used. We have been discussing how closely the original typeface can be duplicated. Here's an interesting tidbit, not just referring to the font used for the 240Z or Datsun sunshades, but all of the originals. "...were hand cut stencils from fonts used by Pete Brock at the BRE shop." Now that he brought that to my attention, it's obvious. Compare the '4' in the 240-Z original sunshade to the numbers (46) on Ron Carter's BRE re-creation. I wonder if Pete now has electronic versions of that font, and if so, what it would take to be able to get use of it for these?

Rob has a good point. I'd also add that you mention the battery is fine. What tests show that the battery is fine? How did you determine that?

The file to open with whatever PDF reader you normally use is S30_1a.pdf. Because of the security features, it is best open in Adobe Reader, not IE.

Both turbo pumps have the same higher PSI rating, the auto pump is said to have higher volume as well because the automatics had an oil cooler and needed the extra volume. Not sure if the extra volume is worth the $30.

Actually, it just looks smooth. Your Rolex (like most other Swiss-made mechanical movements) ticks at 8 times per second. Most Japanese mechanicals tick at 6 beats per second.

I'm pretty sure he still has a few, 5 at last count.

Payment instructions are in the first post of this thread. Note that Dave wants either Walmart or US Postal money orders only. (Or cash...)

Doors are different too - longer. Only the parts forward of the doors are the same.

Dave, you can definitely attach your pictures directly to a thread, which is actually the preferred method as they are then always linked to the thread, even if the Photobucket path gets rearranged or is unavailable. When composing your message, scroll down a but and look for the "Manage attachments" button. And as the other Dave said -- Welcome!!

Closer to 20,000 total for the North American market. The '70 vs. '71 question is indeterminate because many states back then allowed cars to be titled as either model year, year sold or year of build date. So we have oddities like cars titled and registered as 1969 240Zs, or cars built in 12/70 (with 1971 emissions stickers) registered as 1970s. Traditionally, we here in the USA would consider cars built 9/70 or later as '71s, which matches what Nissan did with later year splits. If you use that break point, then there were somewhere around 8-9000 as 1970 models for North America, and another 11-12,000 as 1971 models in the final 4 months of the year. As to how many are left - that really hard to say. Here out West I see them not infrequently. But even here, most of the remnants are quite rusty. I'm sure that the majority are long gone. Rough wild guess? There may be as many as 25% hidden around, but probably not.

http://www.supersprintna.com/They don't do Datsuns anymore though.....

Can't find the answer? No offense, Wing, but you must not have looked very hard. Any parts vendor's catalog/webpage would have answered that. But since you asked here, the answer is ---- '70-78 all the same.

Now that sounds like a recipe for rapid diff mount failure...

Though I've not been to ZMecca, nor have I met Jim in person, I can say that Jim is not just a successful Z collector and resource for us, he is also a really great guy, willing to help others with their needs. When I needed to find a moderately rare part in exceptional condition a few months ago, Jim was more than willing to sell me the best spare he had - one that he had been planning to install on one of his own cars. Didn't matter to him if that meant that his car would be stuck with a slightly less-great part - since I said I needed a really nice one for my car he was happy to part with his best one. While I happily paid his asking price, I still feel grateful that he was willing to let go of his best one.

Very true. I strongly suspect that this will probably be the final period-style mod for my car. Not to say there won't be other more modern mods hidden underneath (like the R-T diff mount I plan to install soon), but I've tried to keep all the visible changes period-correct.

Because most people (not just Z people) find them to be singularly uninspiring. Nothing that makes them stand out. They don't have the classic Z styling that identifies the S30 and (to a slightly lesser extent) the S130, nor do they have enough performance to outshine other cars of similar vintage. Here's a different twist on this question - why did you ignore the S130 in your list?

Status today(12/1/09): Item | 240-Z | DATSUN | Total | ------------------------------------------- Ordered | 40 | 20 | 60 | Paid for | 34 | 20 | 54 | Pending | 3 | 0 | 3 | ------------------------------------------- Available | 3 | 0 | 3 |

Got word today that the paper template/mockups are on their way to me for test fitting and final pre-production approval. Will post pictures once I get them. Today's status: Item | 240-Z | DATSUN | Total | ------------------------------------------- Ordered | 40 | 20 | 60 | Paid for | 34 | 20 | 54 | Pending | 2 | 0 | 2 | ------------------------------------------- Available | 4 | 0 | 4 |

Mine arrived today, Dave. As expected with stuff from you, it looks great. Yes, I know you didn't build them yourself, but I figured that if you were happy with them, they must be of similar quality. I might get around to putting mine in Saturday morning. Maybe....

IMPORTANT!! I just found the transmission that you mentioned on eBay. I recommend that you not buy anything "rebuilt" from that seller unless you saw the rebuild being completed! There have been many people here who have had horrible experiences with that seller. DO NOT consider that transmission as an option.

A press is handy, but it can be done without if you are a bit creative in tools. But a good set of long-jaw pullers is essential, as is a factory service manual (FSM) that covers transmission repair. (You need the factory specs and tolerances.) I spent about $350 in parts to rebuild my early 4 speed (Nissan gaskets, seals, shims and synchro rings, generic bearings), I'd expect that to go to $400 or so for the extra synchro ring and such for the 5 speed. You'll also need a large, very clean work area for this. As well as patience and time. Many people are intimidated by this work, but I've found it not too difficult.

Common issue. The stock cast iron manifolds warp and put pressure on the rear-most studs until finally they simply snap off.