Newbie wanting a Z :)

richiep

Club Member
They do look good - that little bit nicer than the vented version that came later. Dave Porter could do with a pair of them to make his 1970 JDM/432-styled car cosmetically complete. As I mentioned before, on the rare occasions they pop up on Yahoo Auctions Japan, they command strong money. Alan - what's the availability and price like for these in Japan through other (not auction) channels?
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
As I mentioned before, on the rare occasions they pop up on Yahoo Auctions Japan, they command strong money. Alan - what's the availability and price like for these in Japan through other (not auction) channels?

Pretty difficult. Anyone who has any spare is holding onto them for grim death.

There was at least one - if not two - projects to do a limited production re-pop of them a few years ago, but the trail seems to have gone cold. The originals are diecast and any re-pop would have to be cast just due to the prohibitive cost of diecast tooling. Casting means a lot of fettling before chroming and painting to make them look authentic. They are handed too, so that's double the work.

The early domestic 'Z' bonnet emblem ( not to be confused with the much flatter S130-series type ) is in the same situation.
 

datsun dave

Club Member
Pretty difficult. Anyone who has any spare is holding onto them for grim death.

There was at least one - if not two - projects to do a limited production re-pop of them a few years ago, but the trail seems to have gone cold. The originals are diecast and any re-pop would have to be cast just due to the prohibitive cost of diecast tooling. Casting means a lot of fettling before chroming and painting to make them look authentic. They are handed too, so that's double the work.

The early domestic 'Z' bonnet emblem ( not to be confused with the much flatter S130-series type ) is in the same situation.

I did look into having some made BUT will need a original set to scan and copy.
 

richiep

Club Member
A year or two back someone in Japan produced some replicas of both these early quarter emblems and the correct bonnet emblem in some form of plastic/resin. They were available on YAJ in very limited numbers (and priced expensively) and then nothing. And as would be the case with cast reproductions, they were not chromed or painted, so added effort required there.

I could really do with replacing my bonnet emblem tbh - it was tatty when I got it from Japan and I had it re-chromed, but that hasn't held up particularly well. The one I got for Dave P was far better than mine - I didn't want to give it to him when it arrived tbh!!! :D
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
So if these were available cast in zinc alloy or even lead or tin based alloys albeit in the raw with a decent surface do you think many people would still be prepared to buy and have them properly chromed themselves.I take it the locating pins on the back are sized and spaced all the same for quarters.
 

richiep

Club Member
One consideration would be that the market for these emblems is almost entirely in Japan - they are early JDM car-only. Apart from a few people with early Fairlady Zs outside Japan or those wanting a different look to their early "240z" quarter emblems (or building JDM-look cars), this is a pretty specific product.
 

datsun dave

Club Member
A year or two back someone in Japan produced some replicas of both these early quarter emblems and the correct bonnet emblem in some form of plastic/resin. They were available on YAJ in very limited numbers (and priced expensively) and then nothing. And as would be the case with cast reproductions, they were not chromed or painted, so added effort required there.

I could really do with replacing my bonnet emblem tbh - it was tatty when I got it from Japan and I had it re-chromed, but that hasn't held up particularly well. The one I got for Dave P was far better than mine - I didn't want to give it to him when it arrived tbh!!! :D


Yes i remember you handing it over with tears running down your face.

The emblems i had looked into would have been finished in chrome and painted.
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
Those roundels are a far simpler cast than the vented as well,going from the pic i take it theres no standoff recesses around the outer circumference either.Time to melt down those surplus french majorette toy cars ,lol.
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
In what way are the early ones handed,is there a cut out on the outer circumference on the other side of the one pictured or some other uniqueness/recess/projection hidden from view. Or am i being ignorant or misunderstanding whats written. The vented ones ive got are handed(i assume,,,never had an R one) because of the cutouts on the outer circumference able to face to or away from the frontal airflow and the L stamped inside,,,,(ive got 2 L not fussed, plus symmetry is not quite important on mine lol and the vents are sealed)
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
In what way are the early ones handed,is there a cut out on the outer circumference on the other side of the one pictured or some other uniqueness/recess/projection hidden from view. Or am i being ignorant or misunderstanding whats written.

They are subtly shaped, and assymetrical. They sit flat on the surface of the panel ( they are for UNvented quarters, remember ) and there are no gaps or cut-outs.

Left and Right have different factory part numbers, which confirms the difference. The letter 'Z' is also only correct when it's the right way up. I've seen lots of later - vented - ones mounted upside down...
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
They are subtly shaped
:thumbs:that bit puts my mind to rest as regarding assymetry.I mentioned cut out/gaps in case there was some weird reason there might have been one on opposite side of non vented badge(your pic) to justify the assymetry in my mind(only pic ive seen is the one presented)but now wondering how the Z can be placed upside down when the 3 locating pins on back form an isosceles triangle and only allow one way fit vertically,i can fit them either side and the Z stays upright,,,well on my vented ones.The only difference between L/R vented badges i can imagine is the position of the 3 recesses on the outer perimeter being assymetric,lol open to correction hate trying to describe over net.
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
....but now wondering how the Z can be placed upside down when the 3 locating pins on back form an isosceles triangle and only allow one way fit vertically,i can fit them either side and the Z stays upright,,,well on my vented ones.The only difference between L/R vented badges i can imagine is the position of the 3 recesses on the outer perimeter being assymetric,lol open to correction hate trying to describe over net.

The classic mistake is putting the L/H one on the R/H side and vice-versa.

The letter 'Z' is assymetric too ( horizontal stroke at the top is shorter than the horizontal stroke at the bottom ) so it's possible to mount that upside down.

Early quarter emblems ( both Japanese market round 'Z' shield and Export market '240Z' script ) were 2 pin. Vented quarter 'Z' shields were 3 pin.
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
Lol see who loses patience first.Dont know if wires are getting crossed here,but i have a left hand 3pin vented badge in my hand(sad at this time) as i said the pins are in an isosceles pattern,no matter which side i place it on the car the up down orientation cannot change and cant be turned upside down when swapped from side to side due to the isosceles orientation of the 3 pins on the badge and on the vehicle. 2 pins at top and 1 at bottom.
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
The classic mistake is putting the L/H one on the R/H side and vice-versa.

The letter 'Z' is assymetric too ( horizontal stroke at the top is shorter than the horizontal stroke at the bottom ) so it's possible to mount that upside down
Ok just got hold of R hand,vented 3 pin round Z badge,the difference between Left and Right badges is the position of the 3 cutouts on the outer perimeter in relation to the 3 pins on the back that are arranged in an isosceles pattern and the badge cannot be fitted upside down regardless which side they are fitted.( When the correct L/R badges are on the vehicle the horizontal cutouts will be both facing forwards or backwards when standing in front of vehicle,,,depending on how you view left or right lol.The 2 pin earlier type i can imagine can be fitted upside down if the pins are not arranged along the horizontal and vertical axis equally(i havent seen the back of one).Yes i can see the letter Z is assymetric but from what i can see it is the right downwards sloping slash that is different(as mentioned in my previous post)also cant see the subtle difference in symmetry when seeing face on other view of that early badge apart from the letter Z.pic attached.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=e...253B-story-solid-chrome-z-emblem.html;600;450
 

bigblock

Well-Known Forum User
Can anyone confirm that the Zamak4 (asian markets covers a lot)alloy was actually used on the early datsun emblems that are being discussed here.I know it doesnt need to be this exact alloy.Apologies for the wiki link and the thread bombardment,really curious as may get round to making my own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamak
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
....the badge cannot be fitted upside down regardless which side they are fitted.

You're not trying hard enough. Drink a bottle of wine and have another go.

bigblock said:
When the correct L/R badges are on the vehicle the horizontal cutouts will be both facing forwards or backwards when standing in front of vehicle,,,depending on how you view left or right lol.

They are vents, not ducts. So the two ( venting ) gaps are supposed to be facing down, and to the rear of the car. There is only one correct orientation for each LH or RH vented emblem. When the 'Z' is upside down, the emblem too is upside down. Am I explaining this adequately?! Maybe I need a bottle of wine too?

bigblock said:
The 2 pin earlier type i can imagine can be fitted upside down if the pins are not arranged along the horizontal and vertical axis equally(i havent seen the back of one).

But the two pins are spaced equally, that's the problem. Or are they? You've got me going now too.... We are discussing early and late / vented and unvented, domestic and export, and there's risk of confusion. Too late?

bigblock said:
Yes i can see the letter Z is assymetric but from what i can see it is the right downwards sloping slash that is different(as mentioned in my previous post)also cant see the subtle difference in symmetry when seeing face on other view of that early badge apart from the letter Z.pic attached.

Look at the emblem face-on. The 'slash' in the letter Z goes from left ( up ) to right ( down ), yes? Now turn it through 180 degrees ( noting that the 'Z' is now clearly upside down ). The 'slash' still goes from left ( up ) to right ( down ), doesn't it? If it doesn't you are Yuri Geller and I Claim My Five Pounds. It's not the slash that's the problem. It's the top left-to-right stroke of the letter 'Z' and the bottom left-to-right stroke of the letter 'Z' that are unequal. Hence only one way is 'up'.

You won't be able to spot the subtle assymetry in the early Japanese domestic quarter emblem shape from photos alone. The best proof of assymetry is that the LH and RH emblems have different part numbers, and are also marked for L and R.

Nissan would not have done this had there been no difference.
 
Top