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1970 S30 Nissan FairladyZ "S30 LDY"


five1oh

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So here comes another one of my stories.....

 

A couple months back my brother-in-law was at my house and mentioned his boss owned a "right-drive" Datsun....he is totally not a car guy but obviously my interest was piqued. I started asking him what kind of car it was and started listing names, he wasn't certain so then I started pulling up google images and he gave me an 80% sure nod it was a Z...he also mentioned it had been sitting and they wanted to let it go cheap but to a good home. Because I am such a Datsun nut he spoke up when she mentioned it and said I would be the perfect person, my bro in law also mentioned he thought like 2500-3500.....sure..yah right!!! When he gave me that price I thought if it was what he says it was it would probably be post 76 and needing to be smogged.

 

I urged him to get me pics and he said he would. A few weeks went by and nothing....a few more weeks nothing...I kept bugging him but he said his boss hadn't been at work. I started to lose faith and he kept promising he would get them to me...then came December 23rd...

 

I woke up to the following pics sent to me 1145pm the night before...I became so giddy...no way was this happening:

 

38755527854_6e804be559_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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So of course I immediately responded to my brother-in-law the morning when I saw it.....I sent him some pics of my past cars to hopefully give her peace of mind on selling it to me. Obviously it was not as cheap as he mentioned but cheap enough that it would be stupid for me not to do whatever it took to get the car. A couple messages back and forth and she agreed that I could call her. So a few hours later I was in my car doing some last minute Christmas shopping for my wife with my two kids (4 & 2) and had her on speaker phone. I started asking questions to twin details when she had her husband jump on.

 

He went on to mention he bought the car BRAND NEW while stationed in Japan for the Vietnam war. I couldn't believe what I was hearing... I told them to take a ton of pics (didn't get the best but saw all I needed) of the problem areas and to have a great Christmas and that I would call them Tuesday once I checked with the wife and bank...

 

SERIES 1 What?!?!?!?!?!

 

27685883879_a38769a5d8_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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I got the funds on Tuesday and told them I would be up Friday to get it! Then the next few days were rough convincing the Mrs. She is AMAZING and after some pretty uncomfortable conversations she allowed it. My dad went up with me to dig it out and load it up. It was tough but actually worked out very well due to the incline of the driveway:

 

27685766879_11ece82db0_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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So the story is Norman was using his GI bill to go to medical school and was almost done when his unit got sent to fight the Vietnam war. He flew a couple missions as an Air Force Captain and he ordered this car brand new! In 1972 he came back to California and brought the Z with him. He went on to be a Dr. And drive the car all over the US and Canada. The car currently has 306,000 kms and is 100% original (with the exception of a repaint in the 70's and the dealer added bump strips and wheels).

 

Made it home safely - whew!

 

24596513737_d46fb5b724_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

27686001959_37f5f1e8e1_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

LOVE these seat covers! Just kidding:

 

38754923634_038a9d7329_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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After unpacking I couldn't wait to remove the contents of the glove box as Norman mentioned what he had would be in there...

 

ARE U KIDDING ME?!?!?!

 

So flipping awesome!!!!

 

38584459795_5821773c05_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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Found this in the tool bag...and all items were accounted for!!!

 

39432896682_924395ecba_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

39463431791_9c56c33919_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

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It just kept getting better and better. In addition to the papers pictured above I have importing paperwork from 1972 along with practically every registration paper from 1973-1994 and hit an miss until 2012. I also have current 2018 tags! According to Norman it was garaged until 2012 and it has sat the last 5 years outside. So apparently this car is a highly optioned Fairlady ZL (as reference by the order sheet) that includes a super rare rally clock and passenger foot rest. In addition it has reclinable seats!!

 

It was definitely well cared for over its life and you can tell!

 

27685750709_d7fe7d5b22_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

39463296951_3fc8eb652c_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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Reclinable seats!!!

 

25593014148_c18ae6eaeb_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

Footrest

 

39463543751_1400b3039c_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

Rally clock:

 

24596590677_145033a0cb_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

Uncracked dash!!!! I guess the quality in Japan was better?

 

38584479485_b6c00329f1_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

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Another cool thing Norman told me is the left lever in the center console was "illegal" cruise control. It is basically a throttle control to hold the gas constant once you are cruising. Unfortunately the handle broke off but I found it in the car later. I'm going to try and source a replacement:

 

38754996884_a02223962a_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

I couldn't wait to get it cleaned up and in the garage but first I had to put suspension back on "wanabre" and pull the engine and transmission. Some good friends came over and we got it done so then it was time to wash the Z as it was getting dark but it didn't bother me. We tried to be as gentle as possible:

 

38754996264_8c6eec9d00_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

27685955379_4f71e9014e_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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Looks great wet! Polish will be in the near future....

 

24596470667_72d8e03e8a_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

Got it in the garage and just in time to head over to a friends house with the wife and kiddos to celebrate New Years - Eastern time :)

 

38584598935_18953e35d6_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

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New Years Day I couldn't wait to get the Z back out of the garage to wash it again in the light....it's amazing how much more I had to clean, I'm sure I will be cleaning for a couple more months....obviously I really really really wanted to see if we could start it. A good friend came over once I had it mostly cleaned off and helped me out:

 

27685967769_3ac50388ef_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

39432762872_5d25f096bf_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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Unfortunately the clutch is frozen so I couldn't drive it, will need to drop the transmission to diagnose and possibly replace the clutch and resurface the flywheel. In the meantime we decided to remove the seats and clean the floor. The seats had these cool brackets and spacers so I lowered the seat two notches and moved it to the rear mounts. Didn't take an after pic but it's much better:

 

38754703474_64cd002ef5_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

25593134118_056a11d6f3_k.jpgUntitled by five1oh2010, on Flickr

 

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I hate you so much... Seriously dude, real jealous hatred... Some guys get all the luck. 

Seriously though, congrats on the find! Seems like any Datsun fanatic's ultimate Christmas Present!

~Peter

 

 

I'm not kidding though, I'm still pissed you get all the luck. ;)

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Thanks everyone! I am really still in shock. For reference I am probably in the 70's now for number of cars owned and I am confident I have paid fair market value for almost every one of them....it's just these last two I have gotten deals. I am the guy that pays what something is worth, dump thousands into each one, and sells them for what I paid. I have always been into building cars for the love of it and for me and not for realizing a profit.

 

So I put the Z up in the air tonight and pulled the trans...sorry no pictures. The clutch and pressure plate seemed worn but "ok". I'm guessing the issue was the slave cylinder.....kind of sucks when you do all that work for something that could've been a simple fix.....especially when you have a pretty new slave cylinder that you literally pulled off your other Datsun the day before...oh well.

 

Trans was super greasy so I spent an hour getting soaked in the pouring rain cleaning it in the dark. Since I have it out I'm going to go ahead and have the flywheel surfaced and put a new clutch in. Will take pics before install and update. Thanks again for the kind words. Looking forward to finally taking it for a drive....

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I see it came with a 5 speed option not available on the North Am S30. It's my understanding they were imported from Europe by dealers at huge expense for those racers who could afford them. It should be a Roadster 5 speed with an L series removable bell housing on it. 

 

6M7pLDS.jpg

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I see it came with a 5 speed option not available on the North Am S30. It's my understanding they were imported from Europe by dealers at huge expense for those racers who could afford them. It should be a Roadster 5 speed with an L series removable bell housing on it. 

 

6M7pLDS.jpg

You are correct :)

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Wow... so many cool things with that z.... how original do you plan on keeping it?... I think the preservation route would be best to see... especially with all that paper work..... again nice score....

I think your making everyone jealous who reads this.... true one of a kind find...

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Thanks guys!  I haven't done a compression test.  Currently my plans are to remove the side mouldings, put new wheels/tires on it, and lower it some.  I also purchased replacement interior pieces for things that were broken out or worn.  I won't be throwing anything away and it should be very clean. From there I will polish the paint and repair the left rear fender.  One day I will probably paint it since it has already had one repaint I am not worried about preserving the original.  If I do paint it I plan to leave the inside and engine in original paint.  I am pretty sure it will look close to spotless with meticulous cleaning and preservation

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Damn...you got lucky with that z. Very nice. Night and day after the wash and clean up. I didn't see any major rust? Did u do a compression test?

and almost no rust.  There is some behind the drivers (right side :) ) door but that is about it.

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