JDM fairlady Z owner

[armouredsnake]

Hi everyone,
My names Keith and I Joined a while back when me and my dad (also a member on here) first bought our fairlady z in Japan over a year ago, and now its in the UK thought I would introduce myself and the car. It may not be to everyones taste as we went down the resto-mod path upgrading a few essential bits for future proofing but here it is. Its a 1976 fairlady Z with a L28 running Solex 44 triples with a 71c gearbox and full skyline diff and axels. With the car being JDM it never had seat belts so now it runs a full 4 point harness and due to this we have updated to seat to leather bride recliners which was a difficult decision to come to but they have great support and works with our car. All the work was carried out in Japan by our builder Mr Hashimoto who has been working on Zs for the last 40 years and the car was imported by the guys down at torque-gt who have done a nice feature of the car so hope you guys enjoy.
https://youtu.be/niV51G6jlgc

many thanks

[YOUTUBE]niV51G6jlgc[/YOUTUBE]

 

[STEVE BURNS]

Hi and a big welcome and that sure looks nice
But hey could you tell be whereabouts in Middlesex those roads are coz I never have come across them

 

[datsfun]

Welcome and what a wonderful car it is indeed; loved the video!

Hope you enjoy the ownership experience.

 

[armouredsnake]

Thanks guys! it was a long wait but all worth it.
And with the roads would be awesome to have roads like that in middlesex but unfortunately the film was made down in the Devon moors.

 

[Jon_Flynn]

Great car mate - and don't worry about it being to anyone else's taste! It is your motor after all, so as long as you enjoy it


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[datsfun]

.

 

[racer]

That's a superb looking car. I love the Works equip wheels.
Welcome

 

[Albrecht]

With the car being JDM it never had seat belts....

Don't know where you got that from? All Japanese market S30-series Zs (including S31s) from 1969 through 1978 had seatbelts. It was illegal not to.

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

looks to be dartmoor? the older, lower fitting fujitsubo.

nice looking car.

 

[armouredsnake]

Don't know where you got that from? All Japanese market S30-series Zs (including S31s) from 1969 through 1978 had seatbelts. It was illegal not to.

sorry about the miss leading info our s30 at one point had seat belts fitted to the driver side but the previous owner when he bought it said they were removed, this was back in the early 80's. Saying that there where quite a few s30'S we looked at in japan pre 1974 that only had driver side 2 point seat belts fitted no passenger seat belt as legally not needed. Either way we needed to add some seat belts to the car and rather than trying to retro fit a 3 point seat belt we went the full harness for added safety

 

[Albrecht]

sorry about the miss leading info our s30 at one point had seat belts fitted to the driver side but the previous owner when he bought it said they were removed, this was back in the early 80's. Saying that there where quite a few s30'S we looked at in japan pre 1974 that only had driver side 2 point seat belts fitted no passenger seat belt as legally not needed. Either way we needed to add some seat belts to the car and rather than trying to retro fit a 3 point seat belt we went the full harness for added safety

Again, don't know where the misunderstanding comes from? Three-point seat belts for both driver and passenger were a legal requirement in Japan during the whole production run of S30/S31-series Z from 1969-on, and the six anchor points were incorporated into every car.

The OEM seat belts (made by Takata, by the way) could be worn as a two-point lap-only style and also as a lap and shoulder type, as the buckles featured a clever detachability option for the shoulder belt.

1971 Japanese market owner's manual scan:

 

[armouredsnake]

it seems this thread has gone in the wrong direction to what I was hoping

Its clearly my misunderstanding but this only came about as the shops we spoke to told us that a lot of owners would remove the seat belts as they got in the way a where not legally required to use them until 1985. with the passenger side, 1973 dec 21 was from when they legally need to be fitted

Sorry guys if I have miss informed you

looks to be dartmoor? the older, lower fitting fujitsubo.

nice looking car.

Thanks I wasn't able to go down when they filmed the feature due to work but seeing as Dartmoor is just behind torque gt its highly likely.

exhaust wise its actually a Spirit Garage (Japan) 6-3-2 exhaust which sounds great but due to its odd design just sits way too low for comfort so we've got one of the new fujitsubo exhausts on order which is due to be released in the next couple of months

 

[Jon_Flynn]

Try Sean for an exhaust as well dude, although I bet that one sounds epic! Think the car really looks great and has clearly had a lot of time spent on getting it right.


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[Alphabettispaghetti]

it seems this thread has gone in the wrong direction to what I was hoping

Its clearly my misunderstanding but this only came about as the shops we spoke to told us that a lot of owners would remove the seat belts as they got in the way a where not legally required to use them until 1985. with the passenger side, 1973 dec 21 was from when they legally need to be fitted

Sorry guys if I have miss informed you



Thanks I wasn't able to go down when they filmed the feature due to work but seeing as Dartmoor is just behind torque gt its highly likely.

exhaust wise its actually a Spirit Garage (Japan) 6-3-2 exhaust which sounds great but due to its odd design just sits way too low for comfort so we've got one of the new fujitsubo exhausts on order which is due to be released in the next couple of months

Don't worry, you've just been misinformed before, now you know!

the new Fujitsubo's have been discussed on here, they look much better fitting.

Enjoy.

 

[Mark N]

Lovely looking and sounding car!
What colour is it? Midnight Purple?

 

[JK240]

Sounds and looks really cool, I do like open air horns

Get it to Donington next weekend with the rest of us

Cheers,

JK

 

[Albrecht]

it seems this thread has gone in the wrong direction to what I was hoping

Please don't be put off, and please don't take anything too personally. There's a lot to know about these cars and none of us knows it all, but I think it's worth trying to get it right wherever possible, and all the more so when the S30-series Z range in full hasn't been given its full due over the years, and lots of misinformation has been taken as fact.

Personally I'm a little bit passionate and evangelical about the Japanese market models, and like to see them described correctly. The Torque GT film is very nicely done and the car looks lovely, but I think it's a pity to see the car being described as a 'Datsun 240Z' when that is emphatically not what it is. It may have been modified to look like an earlier car, but it is a 1976 Fairlady Z (is it a Z-L or a Z-T?) which in this country is a pretty rare beast and I'd be inclined to wear that distinction as a badge of honour.

Again, car looks lovely and very well done.

 

[armouredsnake]

Lovely looking and sounding car!
What colour is it? Midnight Purple?

Thanks, the body work and paint had already been sorted when we first had a look at the car so its not a factory colour but if I recall correctly its called blackish red mica. Looks amazing when its under the sun!

Personally I'm a little bit passionate and evangelical about the Japanese market models, and like to see them described correctly. The Torque GT film is very nicely done and the car looks lovely, but I think it's a pity to see the car being described as a 'Datsun 240Z' when that is emphatically not what it is. It may have been modified to look like an earlier car, but it is a 1976 Fairlady Z (is it a Z-L or a Z-T?) which in this country is a pretty rare beast and I'd be inclined to wear that distinction as a badge of honour.

Again, car looks lovely and very well done.

Thank you

I agree with you, I was a little disappointed that they had it titled as 'datsun 240z' but the first time we got to see the video was when they posted it online.... :bang head:
Being half Japanese and living out there for half my life we where determined to get a Fairlady Z from the mother land so we the utter most pride driving the Z with its fairlady badges (still need to refit the bonnet badge)
You are absolutely right about mods to make it look like an earlier car, the main being the rear tails switched out for the earlier style. Our Z is the Z-L model but unfortunately the previous owner removed a lot of the interior before selling it on to the shop we bought it from so we are missing a few bits and pieces.
Our main problem is that the car was setup on Japanese fuel before leaving japan and now its over here, even though its been to the tuners she's not quite running as she should so thats going to be next weekends task to see if we can get her running properly

 

[richiep]

Excellent looking car. As a fellow Fairlady Z-L owner (1971 in my car's case), I approve!

 

[SeanDezart]

exhaust wise its actually a Spirit Garage (Japan) 6-3-2 exhaust which sounds great but due to its odd design just sits way too low for comfort so we've got one of the new fujitsubo exhausts on order which is due to be released in the next couple of months

I might have swapped one of mine for the Spirit Garage system but I respect that perhaps you prefer to fit all-Japanese parts.

Lovely car, in good hands which, I'm sure, in time, you'll fit with those missing OEM parts.