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What did you do to your Z this week?
- Thread starter jonbills
- Start date
Perhaps cover them with something and fit the original grab handle?
LiamR
Club Member
My door cards? Noooo way! Would be a crime to cover these. Racecar all the way
Alphabettispaghetti
Club Member
yellowz
Club Member
I'm thinking cowhide.......................
LiamR
Club Member
There is indeed a grab handle there dude! It's just very well hidden.
Matt Berry
Club Member
Think I’ve seen that somewhere before, looked half decent if I remember rightly!
uk66fastback
Club Member
Actually I've since 'googled' skillard and some people have used the original handle.
Liam I thought covering them might look nicer and also reduce noise.
I've seen these cards (unpainted though) on a race car (think it was Dean Halsey's) and they serve a purpose but IMO they are a bit utilitarian for a road car. I sold a Ford Anglia to a Swiss race-driver once and he let me keep at lot of the interior trim, seats, bumpers etc but he needed the door cards to meet regs. It might be to avoid limbs being trapped.
Paul Henley
Club Member
Hi all, over the weekend I finally got round to installing the towing hooks mounted beneath the rear bumper (they only turned up recently in a box of bits, after I thought I must have thrown them out). Anyway as they are left and right handed I thought I'd source a pic on the net to confirm which one goes on which side. Couldn't believe how hard that was, seems very few 240's still have them fitted. I'm guessing that over the years as cars have been worked on that a lot of owners think the car looks "cleaner" without.. Anyway a couple of pics of mine fitted.
Paul
Paul
Attachments
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
They are actually 'Tie-Down Hooks', intended to be used while securing the car during transport. The dealers were supposed to remove them at destination, but many of them didn't bother.
They are not suitable for towing/pulling the full weight of the car or any other car.
Paul Henley
Club Member
Every days a school day, and that explains why many were removed. And the two on the front chassis legs, were they the same or as they are bolted to the chassis are they actually fit for use for towing? Thanks for the reply.
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
There should have been at least one proper 'Tow Hook' (Nissan sometimes called in a 'Traction Hook') on the front end, often on the LH side of the car, and this was the recommended point for attaching an actual tow rope. It was a closed loop (a round hole in an L-shaped bracket) as opposed to the pigtail shape of the tie-downs.
A lot of the time there was another tie-down hook on the front of the car, also - like the two on the rear - recommended to be removed at destination. Main purpose of the tie-down hooks was to secure them on the boat. Long journey! Possibility of very rough seas. Lots of salty sea air flying around...
Apparently cars occasionally broke free when not tied down properly (!), the worst of them being scrapped.
Paul Henley
Club Member
My car also came with the 2 traction hooks bolted to the front chassis legs, one on either side. Hopefully I'll never need them Thanks again for the interesting update.
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Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Glad to help.
It leaves an interesting dilemma with regard to 'originality', and whether to leave the tie-down hooks on, or take them off. I guess that if the designers/engineers responsible for our cars were to see them left on, they might wince.
Paul Henley
Club Member
I'll be leaving them on, I love originality and as they were on the car from new I'm happy to leave them on, besides as a talking point I can now impress anyone who asks about the "tow hooks" with my detailed knowledge that they are in fact tie down hooks
uk66fastback
Club Member
Interesting stuff. As an aside Paul, can you tell me why your rear number plate is vertical? Is it slightly too large to slot into the panel exactly? First one I've seen that doesn't sit at a slight angle from the vertical. And in the interests of originality it wouldn't of course have come with black and silver plates although I know why you've got them!
Paul Henley
Club Member
Hi Mike. The number plate sits vertical due to the fact it sits on a bracket that holds it vertical. From the picture below you can just see the bracket in the middle of the back of the plate. From the parts manual I have its listed as part No 96200 N4000 It doesn't appear in the parts diagram below for 240's up to August 73, however it does appear on the parts diagram below for 260 2+2's from Oct 73. My car is a very late 240 registered in 74, so I'm guessing they started fitting these brackets to the very last of the 240's... Unfortunately for this part it doesn't say what period it was fitted, only that it was fitted to European cars. Hope this helps. 
