1970 Series I 240Z Unique Parts

[texasz]

By chance does anyone have a list of all the unique parts on the Series I cars? I know that there have been many many discussions over the years that talk about one item or another...even a couple conversations that may list a few of the differences. I have yet to see an exhaustive list of these parts all in one place though.

I'll start with what I can think of off the top of my head:

• fuse box
• ash tray
• pillar emblems
• E31 head
• "Nissan 2400 OHC" valve cover
• E31 block
• map light (no shroud)
• metal fan (behind radiator)
• tail light wire harness (has aprox. 1" white molex plug)
• door key and locks
• coin holder
• seats (non-reclyning)
• toolbox lids
• coat hangers
• seat belts
• steering knuckles (shorter than later models and smaller ball joints)
• tranny (has straight shift stick)
• shift stick
• inner rubber shifter boot
• center console
• choke assembly in passenger compartment
• choke plate on center console
• hazzard switch
• dash (depression above hazzard switch is unused and thus not cut open)
• speedo (the numbers start at 20MPH)
• steering wheel
• gas door
• gas cap
• expansion tank (it's metal, they changed to plastic)
• carbs (4-screw style)
• front bumper mounts
• rear bumper mounts
• combo switch
• steering column (different number of teeth)
• hatch
• interior hatch trim piece
• hatch vents (on exterior of hatch)
• hatch vents/drain tubes (inside the hatch itself)

This should be a good starting point and if anyone can add what the differences are that would be even better (specifics are always best)...and if any of the above is incorrect please share.

[Walter Moore]

Not all of the items you listed are unique to the "series 1" cars. My car (4/71 build) is an early example of what some people in the U.S. call a "series 2" and it has, or originally had several of those items:

E31 head
Series A transmission
4-screw SU carbs.
Dash mounted hazard switch
Unused depression above the hazard switch.

A lot of those things you list are common to all of the pre-73 cars.
(or perhaps even to all of the 240s)

[texasz]

Walter, you are correct about the parts you listed from your car. There was a period of transition during which many cars got only SOME of the Series I parts. It has been speculated on this site and others that they just used up what parts they had then switched that part over to the new one. Good examples of these are the heads, valve covers, gas doors, ash trays, etc.

I suppose I should have been more clear about the existence of this transitional period, please forgive me for that.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Perhaps I may be wrong, but isn't the E31 the head not the block? Just a nit.

[texasz]

Perhaps I may be wrong, but isn't the E31 the head not the block? Just a nit.

It's both. Nobody really talks about the block casting code much so I had not realized this either. About the only block casting codes people talk about much are the N42 and F54.

[mally002]

What about the red dot mirror..? wasn't sure if that was series 1 only.

[Arne]

Ho boy, lots to do here. Remember that the soi-disant "Series 1" designation here in the USA generally indicates a car built through early Jan. 71, the change coming at around VIN #20000. The late-71s (sometimes aka "Series 2") ran from the end of Series 1 production through 8/71.

• ash tray - Same basic style used through 8/71, several small variations during the run.
• E31 head - Many late-71s had the E31 head, through 5/71 at least, maybe longer. By 7/71 (my current car) had gone to the first of four E88 variations.
• "Nissan 2400 OHC" valve cover - Not all Series 1 had these. Apparently none of the automatic-equipped cars (from 9/70-12/70) had them, and even the manual transmission cars seemed to lose these sometime in 10/70.
• metal fan (behind radiator) - All '70 and '71 cars, through 8/71.
• tail light wire harness (has aprox. 1" white molex plug) - There were many wiring harness differences, even within the Series 1 cars. The tail light harness plug size difference is a minor thing, but is actually related to a complete change in the brake light function on USA cars. The Series 1 cars use all three red bulbs per side as brake lights, the Series 2 and later only use the upper and lower outside pair.
• coin holder - I could be wrong here if you are talking about some small variation I'm not aware of, but if not all '70-71 cars had this, again through 8/71.
• seats (non-reclyning) - Same again, they didn't change to the ratcheting recliner mechanism until the '72 model year. Standard on all '70-71.
• steering knuckles (shorter than later models and smaller ball joints) - Only early Series 1. The knuckles that take the smaller ball joints were phased out during the middle of Series 1 production. From personal experience, after 6/70 but before 10/70.
• tranny (has straight shift stick) - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• inner rubber shifter boot - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• center console - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• choke assembly in passenger compartment - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• choke plate on center console - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• dash (depression above hazzard switch is unused and thus not cut open) - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• gas door - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• gas cap - All '70-71 again, through 8/71.
• expansion tank (it's metal, they changed to plastic) - Other way around, and not strictly a Series 1 change. Early cars (like my former 10/70 and 4/71 cars) used a plastic tank, through 6/71 according to the parts list. After 6/71 they had metal tanks (like my 7/71 has).
• carbs (4-screw style) - 4 screw carbs were used for all '70-71 cars. The very early cars had some differences (lack of float drains, different shape float covers), but those were phased out long before the end of Series 1 production.
• front bumper mounts - I'm not aware of any differences here until the '73 model year.
• rear bumper mounts - Same as above.
• combo switch - Many electrical parts are slightly different, but again, they even vary within the Series 1 run.

The obvious miss in your list is the defroster switch (added around VIN #1400 or so). The Series 1 defroster switch is black and unlighted. For late-71 it is orane and lights up when switched on.

[Arne]

What about the red dot mirror..? wasn't sure if that was series 1 only.

Only in very early Series 1. Later Series 1 had the same mirror stalk as the red-dot, but without the red-dot itself.

[Unkle]

There's lots more , I'll add : Plastic clips for early inspection lids
: Chromed plastic gas lid locks, not metal (early)
: Gray dash components, not black
: Dual hand/choke throttle levers
: Clear hatch glass / no defrost lines
: Unique gas lines/filler/no expansion tank
: Less than 4 digit VIN'S (duh )
: Early console shape
: Carpet stay at back of seats between tool boxes
: Was it metal headlight housings ?
: Steering wheels had solid spokes
: Plastic covers screwed on under seats
: Vinyl wrap for passenger side wire loom(2 snaps)
: Early radios were unique
: Early throttle/choke were cables ,not solid (Kats)
: Your turn !

[Arne]

Many of the parts being mentioned here are low-VIN parts, not Series 1 parts, strictly speaking.

: Plastic clips for early inspection lids - Low-VIN only
: Chromed plastic gas lid locks, not metal (early) - Low-VIN only
: Gray dash components, not black - Low-VIN only
: Dual hand/choke throttle levers - Low-VIN only
: Clear hatch glass / no defrost lines - Lower-VIN only, before around #14xx
: Unique gas lines/filler/no expansion tank - Low-VIN only
: Less than 4 digit VIN'S (duh )
: Early console shape
: Carpet stay at back of seats between tool boxes - Low-VIN only?
: Was it metal headlight housings ? - "plastic" headlight buckets through '72, metal after that.
: Steering wheels had solid spokes
: Plastic covers screwed on under seats - Low-VIN only
: Vinyl wrap for passenger side wire loom(2 snaps)
: Early radios were unique
: Early throttle/choke were cables ,not solid (Kats) - Low-VIN only

[kats]

Hello, it is interesting, I love this conversation.
"front bumper mounts" - I am not for sure this is APPLICABLE for all cars until late 1970 or not, but my 03/70 240Z has a bumper which has single mounting bolt for each frontside(left/right)
accordingly the black mounting bracket has only one hole for bumper side to connecting the bumper.This bracket is very thin metal to compare the later one.

The Bumper overrider is slightly wider than the later one.And the guard rubber mounting is unique, not bolted but snapped rubber nipple.Not for sure when it has changed.

kats

[kats]

Hi,

Seat belt hanger is mounted on the seat back, and I think 10/69 to 12/69 has a metal hanger which is covered by brack vinyl.From 01/70 has a black plastic hanger.
BTW, Only a few 1969(prototype?) japanese S30s have a hanger on the middle of the seatback like Exported 240Zs up to mid 1971.

All the other Japanese S30s have a hanger on the top of the seatback up to mid 1971.

And the seatback is little bit fatter when you look at from the side(thicker, I mean more sponge form around the holding area of your back) than the later one.If you compare the early one and the later one really cafully,you will find the difference of width of cutting pattern of vinyl material.
I can not explain better without picture.

kats

[onuthin]

I don't know when they changed but my low vin door hinges did not have an indention to keep the door from fully opening.You have to push the doors past the notch to fully open the doors. Ronnie

[moonpup]

I'll add......"Vented/slotted" front rotors along with dust covers. Also, let's not forget the "D" hubcaps (with two different clip versions).

[26th-Z]

Hello all! Comment about the gray plastic interior / console pieces. They were molded in gray plastic and painted black. There is no such thing as a gray interior. If you see gray, the black finish has rubbed off.

[Unkle]

Well..... here's a case or anomaly (sp?) I've seen a low vin car (in the 100's)
with distinctive gray , not black , not black rubbed off , not painted inserts and radio surround at the upper console. Our cars were side by each to do a comparison , and the difference was as plain as day. The gray color almost matches the gray tailight surrounds. So , after seeing other early vin pics on the various websites confirming these gray parts I always thought these were only found on really early z's.

[Mike B]

Comment about the gray plastic interior / console pieces. They were molded in gray plastic and painted black. There is no such thing as a gray interior. If you see gray, the black finish has rubbed off.

Chris,

Sorry, but that is not correct. The plastic map light surround, the radio faceplate and the ashtray were made of molded grey plastic. Only the top of the ashtray was lightly spray painted black. Here is a thread you started from a couple of years ago that discusses the grey ashtrays and some of the other grey items http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=9374. Also, see the attached picture of the original interior from HLS30-00032.

The heater control panel was chromed first, and then painted grey instead of black. The "AIR, TEMP, and DEF" lettering molded into the early heater control panel is also larger, and the lettering on the three control position stickers (OFF-VENT-HEAT, OFF-HEAT, and DEF-ROOM) is white instead of silver. See the side by side comparison pics I attached below of a damaged early version vs a later version.


-Mike

[70z4fun]

I assume that the expansion tank being discussed in the post above is the fuel expansion tank on the passenger side rear.

This is not a coolant expansion tank? I have never seen a coolant expansion tank in a 240z as OEM, is that correct?

Does anyone know when the switch was made on the oil pressure gauge from the early 140lbs to the 90?


Thanks,
Bob

[AZ-240z]

Does anyone know when the switch was made on the oil pressure gauge from the early 140lbs to the 90?
Thanks,
Bob

Bob,
This is information I gleaned from Wick Humble's Book "How To Restore Your Datsun Z-Car", page 197.

Previous to HLS30-21001, all Z-cars were shipped with an oil-pressure gauge that indicated up to 140 psi. Because the L24 was designed for less than 60 psi, Datsun had received many complaints of low oil pressure from owners, myself included. A gauge that showed a larger proportion of needle sweep for the normal pressure made sense, so a 90 psi gauge was substituted, beginning with late 240Zs.

The lower-reading gauge required a different sender. A 6kg unit supplanted the previous 10kg one. These had to be compatible; a mismatch would give an incaccurate reading so they were only interchangeable as a pair. No change was specified for the water-temperature part of this combination gauge. Parts numbers are:

New Part:
Gauge: 90 psi
24830-E8300
or 24830-E8301
Sender switch:
6kg
25070-89900
or 25070-89900


Old Part:
"Gauge: 140 psi
24830-E4400
Sender switch:
10kg
25070-89910

Datsun didn't intend to stock the early 10kg sender after dealer supplies ran out, so if you have to replace yours on an early 240Z, carefully check part numbers. You may need to change your gauge if the 25070-89910 sender switch isn't available. The later gauge is otherwise indentical with the original type.

Hope this explanation helps.

Dan

[madkaw]

My car is a 9/71 and seems to have both the early and later attributes. Non reclining seats, blanked dash hole, dual choke levers, ect... So I am saying that the dates are not set in stone.

[texasz]

My car is a 9/71 and seems to have both the early and later attributes. Non reclining seats, blanked dash hole, dual choke levers, ect... So I am saying that the dates are not set in stone.

Yours would be one of those transitional cars mentioned in an earlier post. They used the parts until they were gone then went to the new part...that's been my understanding from many dscussions here and on other sites over the years. Hence the mixture of newer and older parts on many of the 1971 Z cars.

[Mike B]

My car is a 9/71 and seems to have both the early and later attributes. Non reclining seats, blanked dash hole, dual choke levers, ect... So I am saying that the dates are not set in stone.

If by "dual choke levers" you mean a choke and a hand throttle, that must have been added by a prior owner. In the US, only the earliest cars had them installed by the factory and all of them were supposed to be removed at the port or by the dealer before being sold. A few of them may have slipped through without being removed. Two of my 1969 production cars had evidence that they were installed at some point (plastic grommet still on the top of the throttle pedal) but there is no way the factory would have still been installing them on a 9/71 car to be sold in the US.

-Mike

[26th-Z]

Mike,
My old thread was about ash trays, not the console. I agree with the pictures you posted but keep in mind that the finish on top of the chrome is old. Of course it would look gray compared to new. I'll have to go dig mine out of the box. And I agree that the map light (circumcized) and radio face plate were molded of gray plastic, but I do not agree that they were mismatched with the rest of the black interior. Hmmm...may be throwing me a loop.

26th came with the hand throttle and 27th's was either removed or never installed. All the mechanism is gone and it has been obviuosly molested.

[Unkle]

Hi 26th (Chris) the car I saw had original , mis matched , un molested panels.
It looked very noticable , the gray surrounds/panels not even close to the rest of the interior's black colour . These were definately *not* rubbed or worn !

[Mike B]

Chris,

Yes, I said your old thread was about grey ashtrays, but you also mentioned that the radio face plate is made of similar grey plastic in post #6 http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/s...42&postcount=6 and Steve Matsumoto (who owned #238 at the time) noted the heater control panel and radio faceplate in #238 were also grey http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/s...07&postcount=7.

Both of the heater control panels I posted pictures of were used, so I don't attribute the color difference to fading. There are too many documented original early cars with grey HCPs, map lights, and radio surrounds for the color difference to be due to fading. Also, the map light and radio surrounds are the same color grey on the back because they are made of grey plastic, not due to fading. Check with Jim F and Carl on this.

Here is a picture from Kats' site that shows the grey panels as one of the unique 1969 production items http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz240zs...eaterpanel.jpg.

-Mike

[Dtsnlvrs]

Point of note on the dash. The blanked hole above the hazard switch was for dealer / aftermarket fog or driving lights. They even had a factory switch for it, though the only one I have ever seen was on my dad's car and was installed in England. 70 and early 71 cars are all pre-wired for foglights, from the dash to the front of the car...check your wiring diagrams and then check your cars...its all there, right down to the 9.5mm holes (3/8in) in the bumper.

[Carl Beck]

Hi Mike/Chris:
Here is a picture of the item in HLS30 00016. That is two owner car, and as I recall it has about 70-80K miles. Always garaged and cared for.. We drove it back to Florida from Ohio with the original 1969 Spark Plug Wires still in place..

As you can see, compared to the Black Dash,and Heater Control nobs - the Heater Control Panel is gray.

FWIW,
Carl B.

[26th-Z]

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.

[26th-Z]

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.

[26th-Z]

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...

[kats]

Hi,

I attached pictures from the brouchure,

#1 1969 Z432 instrument panel
#2 1969 240Z instrument panel
#3 1969 seats
#4 1972 seats
#5 1969 plastic headlight case

Looks grey in the panel, and can you see the difference of the seat back what I am saying?

And please see the headlight case, this early one has sharp edge around the lamp.

kats

[Mikes Z car]

Dredging up an old thread. I noticed yesterday that two of the six screw holes for the aluminum door sill that says "Datsun" from a 71 would not line up with the holes on my 1/1970 car. The bottom two (of three ) holes on the vertical part of the sill, the front one and back one on the 71 were each about two inches closer to the middle of the sill on the 71 than on my 70. In violation of murphy's law the PO of my car had used self tapping screws of the correct thread and diameter to hold non stock carpeting down in the same holes for the sill so I just used them to drill new holes in the right places since I had the screws that came from the 71 sill. I wire wheeled the sills with a bench grinder wire wheel and a fine wire wheel on a drill and waxed them to improve appearance as they were originally very dirty.
Mike

[Webmanic70]

Dredging up an old thread. I noticed yesterday that two of the six screw holes for the aluminum door sill that says "Datsun" from a 71 would not line up with the holes on my 1/1970 car. The bottom two (of three ) holes on the vertical part of the sill, the front one and back one on the 71 were each about two inches closer to the middle of the sill on the 71 than on my 70.
Mike

Yep. They moved the holes closer to the middle on later models to get better access to the screws because the door gets in the way. I noticed this last year when updating the sills and had to drill new holes.

[CanTechZ]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but, while I was at a show yesterday I noticed that the plastic left and right side interior trim panels on the series one cars have no perforations where they line up with the 240z pillar emblems on the outside, later cars have perforations in these trim panels that line up with the vents on the outside. The areas I am describing are circled in red in this parts fiche image.



Also the series one brake master cylinders have the reservoirs reversed as compared to series two and later. I know this has been noted in other brake system related threads but I thought it would be worth including here.

Mike

[John Coffey]

Noticed something on 502. The lettering on the glass on the passenger 1/4 window and the door glass is backwards. Is this unique to this car or something that happened on some of the other 1969 cars?

[grannyknot]

Noticed something on 502. The lettering on the glass on the passenger 1/4 window and the door glass is backwards. Is this unique to this car or something that happened on some of the other 1969 cars?

Is the etching on the inside or outside of the glass? Maybe they were switched left for right?

[grannyknot]

sorry, double post

[John Coffey]

Side window glass is specific to each side of the car. The passenger (right) side glass is etched on the inside. The driver's (left) side is etched on the outside.

[CanTechZ]

Noticed something on 502. The lettering on the glass on the passenger 1/4 window and the door glass is backwards. Is this unique to this car or something that happened on some of the other 1969 cars?

My 7/70 Series I car has this reverse lettering on the passenger side also.

[John Coffey]

It could be something that exists on all S30s. I just don't remember.

[CanTechZ]

Side window glass is specific to each side of the car. The passenger (right) side glass is etched on the inside. The driver's (left) side is etched on the outside.

In thinking about this it also explains the backwards etching on the RH side windows. If the same fixture and tooling was used to etch both the LH and RH windows and the fixture was first designed to hold the LH windows so that etching was done on the outside it would read correctly and if the same fixture was used to hold the RH windows then the etching would have to be done on the inside, resulting in reverse lettering when viewed from the outside.

[SeafireXV]

I think you forgot to include the early air filter housing, the one without the heat riser tube and cold air flap.

[Mark Maras]

My early 71Z & early 74Z are both the same. Reversed on the right. If the windows are interchangable, as in one part #, they are etched on the same side, If I were to swap the left & right windows, the etching would remain the same. Reversed on the right side. That is if they are interchangable?

[CanTechZ]

My early 71Z & early 74Z are both the same. Reversed on the right. If the windows are interchangable, as in one part #, they are etched on the same side, If I were to swap the left & right windows, the etching would remain the same. Reversed on the right side. That is if they are interchangable?

FYI. The door and quarter window glass is not flat, so they definitely would be different part numbers.

[Mark Maras]

Thanks, I was trying to come up with an easy explanation. Nice to know about the Q-windows, Mine are about to come out.
Mark

[CanTechZ]

I think you forgot to include the early air filter housing, the one without the heat riser tube and cold air flap.

I think this depends on the market that the car was sold into as emissions standards were different in various countries. My 7/70 Series I car is from Canada and has the non emission air box (no cold air flap or heat riser tubr), non emission balance tube etc. but as far as I know most of the US series I cars mfd in 1970 had the emission version of these parts to meet tighter emission standards. Maybe someone more knowledgeable on this subject will chime in if I am not correct.

[240dkw]

I think you are correct, here is a post from a few years ago.
http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/o...tml#post335894

[Fred Sigarto]

Don't think this was mentioned, early Series I had shortened driveshafts, which made the halfshafts not at right angles to the diff, that lead to the rear end "squat" on acceleration, as was mentioned in early C&D or R&T magazines.