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Chassis Number
- Thread starter shaun
- Start date
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
And a selling point for the car - SOLD BY Z CLUB MEMBER !
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Are you surprised?exfam said:
Some of the car transporters took as long as 8 weeks to get to the UK from Japan in those days. They often stopped in two or three ports on the way......
The cars also had to be transported from Hiratsuka to Honmoku Wharf in Yokohama on trucks, and then sat there for days or weeks before being loaded on the next scheduled ro-ro ship destined for a UK port call ( bear in mind that there were not all that many ships making the trip in those days ). Then a few days / weeks for unloading / customs / distribution allocation etc and all the rest of it, so it is no surprise at all to imagine a 1971 calendar year production date for a car UK-registered in March 1972..........
If you are really interested in the true production date of your car, you can cross-reference the production date of many of its components. Many of them are dated with 'Ken-sa' quality control stamps applied at the factories of individual components. Once you have a feel for the Japanese dating systems, you can put together the 'evidence' and come up with a pretty good idea of when it rolled off the line......
datsun dave
Club Member
albrecht were and what are the best places to look for the 'Ken-sa' stamps
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
First place I always look is on the base of the rear view mirror. Pull the mirror off its mount ( it is attached by a strong spring, which is a safety feature ) and see if you can spot any numbers printed on the mount base. These numbers can be deciphered fairly easily.
Other good places are the wiring loom section labels. These are a bit harder to get at, but usually have the date of manufacture printed on the white vinyl part-number labels that are woven into the loom insulation. Eash section of the loom has a label.
If you have an original Factory steering wheel, you can often see the manufacturing quality control 'Ken' stamp on the alloy centre casting or on the brass part of the horn ring mechanism. Again, it is possible to decipher the date stamp. There are other places all over the cars.
Bear in mind that these are component manufacturing dates, and they need to be cross-referenced with others on the car to form a more complete picture.
Once production was in full swing, parts were being manufactured, delivered to Nissan Shatai at Hiratsuka and attached to production vehicles within a matter of just a few weeks. On average ( don't take this as gospel, as we have to be pragmatic ) you will tend to see something between three to six weeks between component manufacture and a complete car coming off the production line. Sometimes more - but usually around that kind of time frame it seems.
Look out for the Japanese year dating system though. You will often see the numbers for the 'year' section of the date use the national system relating to the year of ascendancy to the throne of the incumbent Emperor. First-generation ( S30-series ) Z cars were all built during the reign of Emperor 'Showa' ( known outside Japan as 'Hirohito' ). He ascended the throne in 1925 - so 1925 is 'Showa 1', and 1969 was 'Showa 44'. Hence you will see 'Ken-sa' stamp dates such as '71145' for example ( meaning 7th November 1970 ) - but not all component manufacturers ( and there were many component manufacturers on these cars ) used the same dating system - so keep an open mind.
Let us know what you find.
Other good places are the wiring loom section labels. These are a bit harder to get at, but usually have the date of manufacture printed on the white vinyl part-number labels that are woven into the loom insulation. Eash section of the loom has a label.
If you have an original Factory steering wheel, you can often see the manufacturing quality control 'Ken' stamp on the alloy centre casting or on the brass part of the horn ring mechanism. Again, it is possible to decipher the date stamp. There are other places all over the cars.
Bear in mind that these are component manufacturing dates, and they need to be cross-referenced with others on the car to form a more complete picture.
Once production was in full swing, parts were being manufactured, delivered to Nissan Shatai at Hiratsuka and attached to production vehicles within a matter of just a few weeks. On average ( don't take this as gospel, as we have to be pragmatic ) you will tend to see something between three to six weeks between component manufacture and a complete car coming off the production line. Sometimes more - but usually around that kind of time frame it seems.
Look out for the Japanese year dating system though. You will often see the numbers for the 'year' section of the date use the national system relating to the year of ascendancy to the throne of the incumbent Emperor. First-generation ( S30-series ) Z cars were all built during the reign of Emperor 'Showa' ( known outside Japan as 'Hirohito' ). He ascended the throne in 1925 - so 1925 is 'Showa 1', and 1969 was 'Showa 44'. Hence you will see 'Ken-sa' stamp dates such as '71145' for example ( meaning 7th November 1970 ) - but not all component manufacturers ( and there were many component manufacturers on these cars ) used the same dating system - so keep an open mind.
Let us know what you find.
datsun dave
Club Member
Have a "Ken-sa" stamp on the back of my speedo a stamp logo at the top the numbers 26110 in the middle and 2 japanese letters below that.
datsun dave
Club Member
thanks alan
datsun dave
Club Member
also noticed that the speedo starts at 20mph not 0mph
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Wrong. That's your VIN number ( a combination of the model type prefix and body serial number - which is unique to your car ).
The body serial number has nothing to do with the manufacturing date and quality control stamps that we have been discussing, and it is merely a sequential number that was given to each body that rolled off the production line. It is not a 'coded' version of the manufacturing date.......
The body serial number has nothing to do with the manufacturing date and quality control stamps that we have been discussing, and it is merely a sequential number that was given to each body that rolled off the production line. It is not a 'coded' version of the manufacturing date.......
Mr.F
Inactive
HS30-102129 most certainly is not 1971...maybe DVLA is classifying cars from what they would consider is the year of introduction into the UK? On a listing from the Department of Transport statistics received recently, 1971 is the earliest year for their records.
Of the 240Zs licensed at end of September 2005, the following distribution of years of first registration is reported:
1971 5
1972 40
1973 43
1974 10
1975 2
1976 0
1977 1 (!)
And additional cars by SORN classification:
1971 1
1972 24
1973 30
1974 10
1975 3
1980 1 (now that's what you call a late registration!)
As always, the absolute accuracy of these official figures may be in some doubt, but it does give a sort of snapshot.
Of the 240Zs licensed at end of September 2005, the following distribution of years of first registration is reported:
1971 5
1972 40
1973 43
1974 10
1975 2
1976 0
1977 1 (!)
And additional cars by SORN classification:
1971 1
1972 24
1973 30
1974 10
1975 3
1980 1 (now that's what you call a late registration!)
As always, the absolute accuracy of these official figures may be in some doubt, but it does give a sort of snapshot.