Old Timers: Tell Me About My Vintage Roll Bar

[73str86]

It looks like after owning my '73 240z for about three years, I still don't know everything about my Z. The PO bought the car used at a Datsun dealer in 1976. He didn't mention any performance upgrades when I was buying it, just that it was the longest relationship of his life.

I discovered I sold the 99996-E1140 Datsun Comp headers over the summer (thought they were no-name, now I have NOS Clifford).

Car has front/rear sway bars. I finally measured them...25mm front, 19mm rear. Presumably from Nissan. That explains why the Autozone front sway bar bushings were so hard to get on!!

The last thing I'm trying to figure out is who made four point roll bars back in the day. It mounts in the same location as modern ones, but has no cross bar. I bought padding one day for the top bar, but after bringing it home realized it is so tight there is no room for padding.

My conclusion is that in 1973, someone bought this car, and bought every performance part they could afford through Datsun Comp at the time, perhaps to autocross? I have 25+ years of registrations, receipts, nothing about these parts, so I think the PO bought, drove it, enjoyed it, oblivious to what suspension/performance components were on it.

Do any of you remember buying/wanting/selling these roll bars back in the day?

Photos to be taken in daylight. Thanks in advance.

[26th-Z]

Jeremy,
Without pictures, it's impossible to determine what you have. It's possible that you have a Nissan / Datsun competition roll bar but I have only seen pictures of it. The roll bar is quite distinctive in that it bolts to specific areas of the chassis and has two rear braces. A Datsun competition department parts bulletin I have lists one from Bob Sharp Racing - part number 88888-BSR00 "Full width 1-1/2" seamless tubing w/ back braces. Complete w/ bolts, plates and template for cutting floor $79". Another listing comes from the Nissan (Japan) Sports Option parts catalog. 96100-E7275; Kit-Safety Bar. I don't see a roll bar listed in my BRE / Interpart catalog. I would guess that in all probability you have a welded prefabricated roll bar / roll hoop assembly marketed here in America by any one of a number of performance market retailers.

[73str86]

Thanks for the reply 26th-Z. Mine isn't quite that fancy. Here are the photos I finally took. Excuse the dusty interior.

Would an aftermarket roll bar look this unfinished at the rear mounting points?

[John Coffey]

At least here in the USA, that roll bar would have not been legal for race use from about 1970. I've got the historic SCCA GCR going back to 1968 and straight rear braces for the main hoop were required from 1970. It might be a one-off bar or something sold as a "street" bar.

[rclarksf]

You know, the California version of these cars were absolute crap. I lived in Southern California, bought an early 73 brand new, and was essentially a guinea pig for dealer fixes to resolve really, really, really bad driveability problems; mostly related to the flat top Hitachi carbs and the fuel lines being routed thru the transmission tunnel - which basically vaporized the fuel in the lines.

Dealers wrapped the fuel lines in asbestos, installed secondary high volume electric fuel pumps and tried a number of other half-assed fixes. I recall on summer days literally cranking the motor for 20 seconds to get the stupid car to start. I sold it prematurely, but most of my brethen bought a set of Series 1 carbs and manifolds and then just swapped them out to drive around - and swapped them back to pass the regular smog tests.

I'm back now with a 71, round top SUs and my foot to the floor.