Datsun Competition Seats

Albrecht

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
SeanDezart said:
Cheeky :D - I got in it ok but remember you having OEM works seats...(see photo) - as a reference, it was back in April 2011.
No, I'm referring to a pair bought for a future Z project by someone we both know.
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The bare FRP shell in your photo is an untrimmed Ikeda Bussan 432-R type seat. It's fitted as a passenger seat in the KPGC10 (for the purposes of compliance) but the driver's seat is a vintage (1984) NISMO race seat, as pictured earlier. As far as I remember it was the NISMO race seat you struggled to get into (and out of...).

SeanDezart said:
I'm not questioning their prices - it's a free world and they can obviously charge what they like [and if it sells, it's the correct price) but they don't just sell into Japan :

http://www.kameariusa.com/

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic12f02 (and there are more Kameari parts sold via them).

http://whiteheadperformance.com/product-category/240z-260z-280z-70-78/exhaust/
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I'm not sure what you mean. Those three businesses buy parts from KEW at wholesale prices and retail them in the USA. Like I said, Japanese margins are fairly small so - when non-Japanese mark-ups are added and all costs are included - it makes the retail price expensive.

I honestly don't know why anyone would buy KEW parts from those businesses though. I've always bought direct. And what's this got to do with KEW's products, exactly...? In your previous post you were making it sound like you thought their parts were ****.

SeanDezart said:
So do you mean Japan as a niche market or the rarer S20, 2-TG and 2000GT parts ?
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I mean as a legitimate, Japan-based company primarily making and selling Japanese-made parts for L-series engined cars, most of which are more than 35 years old. I think that in itself is what I would call a 'niche' market.

I would very much doubt that the potential market for KEW's core products outside Japan amounts to anything like what they sell in Japan. They sell a lot more outside Japan than they used to (thanks to the internet, e-mail, credit card and debit card payments and trusted global shippers, but more specifically because Mori san made a big effort to deal with the English language) but I reckon it's limited due to Japanese overheads, the exchange rate and shipping, taxes and duties. There's no way to scale-up the volume to make unit costs cheaper.

SeanDezart said:
My whole point is that parts, like cars need to accessible (for the Z scene to grow and evolve outside of Japan and also the USA - basically HERE in Europe where we never had much of anything ; cars or after-market parts !) and not merely to the lucky few that either live and/or have access to parts within Japan and the means with which to buy them.
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I'm sorry, I'm still not getting your specific point with regard to KEW. The above is KEW's problem how?

Sean Dezart said:
Most people here, quite rightly, rely upon products outside of the EEC and therefore pay high shipping charges and in most cases customs duties on the whole amount - it must have a stifling effect on interest and quality improvements and reinforce the typical journalist's article claiming that parts are difficult to come by.
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Again, what's this got to do with your previous comment about "replicating" (ie copying) KEW's products and making them "cheaper"? Do you feel the same way about people copying (faking...) Rolex watches and making them "cheaper". If you can't afford a Rolex I don't think the best solution is to buy a fake...

SeanDezart said:
I chose a Tomei variable timing sprocket and an Arizona Z car baffled sump because they were less expensive at my door than the Kameari equivalents - does it matter who copied whom if the end product is acceptable ?
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Well, the short answer is yes. Of course it matters. Let's take KEW's 'Twin Idler' cam chain tensioner as an example: You could probably copy it, but you would have lost the link between the idea, the development and engineering and the final product. It's like people who copy branded wheel shapes without having done the design engineering that made them that shape in the first place. It's going down a path that ultimately leads nowhere. Really, what's the point in copying something like that?

SeanDezart said:
So, you still don't see why anyone would or should 'copy' KEW products and make them cheaper ? Surely you must support good quality parts and car available within Europe....? These are for people to whom KEW do not target their products - your own words so tell me please how the majority should proceed to construct a quality car from A to Z , Or should they just stay humble and muddle through.......there are those who would sneer at that too remember ;-) !
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It would be better if a company - or companies - set up in Europe conceiving, designing, manufacturing and marketing their very own products to compete with the likes of KEW and/or to remake parts that are no longer available at any price. Just copying KEW products is pointless, in my opinion. Anyone, ANYONE in the world can buy KEW products direct from KEW in Japan. They will take an order in English and send the goods anywhere in the world. If even that is too much trouble for anyone then I'll show you a customer who's not worth catering for.

There are other specialists in Japan who make parts for 'our' cars too, but you won't see their products being sold outside Japan all that much because the parts are just not commercial enough in a market that thinks parts for these cars should cost peanuts.

SeanDezart said:
I don't see KEW advertising 'their' manifold as a Harada unit and I can't remember now for how much they were selling directly from Japan an Ebay.com
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Too funny. If you buy a Harada Shokai manifold from KEW it comes in a box with HARADA SHOKAI K.K. printed on it. Everybody with half a clue in Japan knows that they are designed and made by Harada, so KEW don't need to broadcast it. KEW sell components made by other well known (in Japan...) companies too, and it's not a secret. If you ask Mori san he'll tell you.

In fact, why not ask Mori san if you can be his European distributor? If you had a go at it you might realise that - just like Gene Berg in the example I cited before - supplying parts is just one small part of a much bigger story. You need to know exactly what you are selling, you need to sell parts that go together as a package, and you need to deal with people who - much of the time - haven't got the faintest clue what they are doing and think that bolting 'Part X' on their engine will give them 'X' horsepower.

And good luck with that.
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
Hi Alan.

We've hijacked a thread, not our own and we're disputing - the mods'll be along soon so let's agree to differ until you begin a specific thread in the correct place. Until then I'll just keep my reply and counter-arguments as a draft.:thumbs:

Happy-slappy New Year.
 
moggy240

moggy240

Insurance Valuations Officer
Staff member
Club Member
These are a cheap alternative.

EBay 151717099706

They had been reduced just before Xmas to £169 so could be worth watching, only thing is that they don't have headrests
 
MikeB

MikeB

Well-Known Forum User
Those are just copies of the Cobra Classic range, but with vinyl coverings, standard equipment in any 1960s suped up Mini.

Were the Datsun competition seats based on a metal tube frame or the grp casing?
 
A

Arius

Active Forum User
moggy240 said:
These are a cheap alternative.

EBay 151717099706

They had been reduced just before Xmas to £169 so could be worth watching, only thing is that they don't have headrests
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I currently work for BBClassics, funny to see our seats being discussed.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
A

Arius

Active Forum User
SeanDezart said:
http://www.leboncoin.fr/equipement_auto/935388321.htm?ca=12_s

These the same ? - seem expensive !
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Different material used for the actual part you sit on and the back rest. Ours are entirely made of vinyl.

On another note we're currently waiting on a very similar style seat with headrests to be shipped over, pretty sure they won't have the inserts though - I'll need to look over the moulds we got made.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
richiep

richiep

Club Member
I’m pretty sure they are made by a company in China.

Overall, I think they are pretty good. They are clearly not going to be as good as the Kameari replicas or other Japanese-sources ones, but they look pretty smart. The main issue is the same one Alan highlighted early in the thread - you end up sitting on them rather than in them because off the base cushion padding. This is a problem for me at 6’3” as it means head on the headlining and knees jammed under the steering wheel! At least that was my experience when I welded up an adapter frame to fasten the seat on its generic runners to the factory mounts. I’ve not had a chance to revisit the situation yet but they will need two things: a mounting setup that lowers them (maybe between rather than above the factory seat runners), and the foam base trimming to make them softer. The original option seats, if you look in pics, have a lower base with a change in angle along a line of stitching, creating a more “scooped” effect for one’s posterior to sit down into. These replicas lack that. I may see about having a local trimmer alter the bases to replicate that style more closely.
 
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