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 Post subject: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue May 27, 2014 11:25 am 
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Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:34 pm
Posts: 106
Location: Torrington
I was starting to think that the day would never come

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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue May 27, 2014 12:10 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
How very cool!!!
Some of our Club Partz Car pieces are on that racer, and I zee our CTZCC decal on the rear hatch. Makes us proud.

"DATSON"? That dates back a Looonnnnng way.

If you really want to do yrslf a favor, search for a pair of those vented (louvered) inspection lids. They let heat out of the engine bay but more importantly they reduce under-hood air pressure, which lets you go a bit faster for free.

This has been a long on-going project! Great to zee it near completion (they're never really 'finished', right?)

viewtopic.php?t=3642

:thumbs_up: :mrgreen:

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Tue May 27, 2014 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue May 27, 2014 12:22 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:34 pm
Posts: 106
Location: Torrington
Thanks Frank - can always count on you for positive feedback and inspired ideas. That DATSON miss-spelling helps identify the real Datsun fans when they point it out.

I may look at a 280Z hood which has vents as well. Vintage doesn't like fiberglass, so I lightened the steel hood by removing all the reinforcements and the hinge mounts. Now I crave the convenience of a hinged hood even if it means a little weight penalty.

Tim


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue May 27, 2014 12:32 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
Do Vintage rules require you to have an external battery disconnect switch?

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2014 6:43 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
["That DATSON miss-spelling helps identify the real Datsun fans when they point it out"].

Good enough excuse to use your Post as a brief history lesson! :D

Back in 1914 these cars used to be called DAT, combining the first letters of the three principal investors (Den, Aoyama, Takeuchi). The company underwent some strenuous restructuring and corporate takeovers in the next two decades. Markets for personal cars in Japan were almost unheard of, so DATs were primarily farm trucks, fire trucks, small buses, ambulances and military vehicles.

In "about" 1930 (bear in mind the Japanese didn't count years like we did), the Japanese government changed laws to make it easier for individuals to own and drive personal cars without a license. The DAT company created a tiny subsidiary branch which translated from Japanese into English as "DATSON", meaning "offspring of DAT" or "son of DAT". DATSON sold 10 personal cars during the whole year of 1930. In 1931 they sold 150. It was hardly profitable.

They discovered with embarrassment that the English pronunciation of their company name DATSON meant "Lose Money" when spoken in Japanese. Thinking they might have perhaps struck upon the reason for their losses, they changed the company name in 1933 to DATSUN. That had the double effect of not sounding like "loser" in Japanese, and in mentioning the Sun, the national icon on their flag. Now, not only did their name sound less moronic, it sounded patriotic as well. They did much better under the DATSUN name.

WWII short-circuited all civilian production into war machinery. After WWII when NISSAN began exploring the booming USA market, they felt the name NISSAN sounded too Japanese-militaristic for Americans to adhere to, so soon after the recent unpleasantries of the war. They used the old DATSUN name here, and the rest is history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun

P.S. ~
Somewhere along the way, NISSAN bought the U.S. Graham-Paige car company when it went out of business. One of the most-successful NISSAN/DATSUN personal cars sold in Japan was a re-badged Graham sedan. If anybody knows the whole history of that escapade, please join me in cluttering up Murph's Post even further! :lol:

Sorry Murph, but you're the one who painted that historic name on the nose of your Z. 8)

Frank

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:59 am 
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Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:34 pm
Posts: 106
Location: Torrington
Hi Frank,

Supposed to have a battery disconnect switch accessible from outside the car. I mounted mine in the left eyeball vent location. I can take a photo of the dash sometime.

Tim


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:51 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
So Tim, can you pleaZe trailer your track rocket down to the meeting this Wednesday so we can all drool over it and zee what you have accomplished?

Frank

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:51 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:38 pm
Posts: 3411
Location: rhode island
Nice work Tim. :thumbs_up: the minute I saw the spelling on the hood I knew you were a true fan.....Nicely Done. :D what shade of black did you use on the hood, I like it? and are those appliance rims?


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 4:45 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:22 pm
Posts: 441
Location: Clearwater, FL
Frank T wrote:
P.S. ~
Somewhere along the way, NISSAN bought the U.S. Graham-Paige car company when it went out of business. One of the most-successful NISSAN/DATSUN personal cars sold in Japan was a re-badged Graham sedan. If anybody knows the whole history of that escapade, please join me in cluttering up Murph's Post even further! :lol:

Sorry Murph, but you're the one who painted that historic name on the nose of your Z. 8)

Frank


Hi Frank:
Just in case anyone is interested and still following.. also I didn't want you to be "alone" in this - LOL.

In 1936 Mr. Ayukawa and Nissan purchased the Design, Production Rights, the actual production line and all equipment needed to produce the Graham-Paige Crusader. Everything was disassembled in America, shipped to Japan and reassembled there. The Crusader was a model that was considered obsolete by Graham-Paige at the time. Graham-Page needed the money and Nissan needed a large car to produce for Japan.

At the same time Nissan hired several American Engineers who would go to Japan and teach the Nissan employees how to set up and operate the assembly line, how to cast the iron engine blocks etc. This car would be the first car to carry the NISSAN Brand Name, the "Nissan Model 70". Graham-Paige also sold the design for a medium duty 10 Ton Truck to Nissan, which would be powered by the same engine - the Nissan Model 80 Truck. The Nissan Model 90 Buss then followed. {using the same engine for all - which Nissan would use in vehicles into the mid 60"}.

Of course - Japan went to war with China in 1937 {but had many small "incidents" prior to that}. Nissan at the direction of the Japanese Imperial Army sat up production facilities to produce war materials and vehicles in China - using forced slave labor. During which many thousands of Chinese lost their lives. After the War Ended - Mr. Ayukawa was put in prison and charged with War Crimes. Although never actually brought to trial - Ayukawa was finally freed but ban from ever holding any Corporate Position again. These criminal charges of War Crimes and trials in Japan were broadly covered by the US Free Press. The Nissan name was thus associated with horrible War Crimes.

In my opinion - the Nissan Brand Name was not used for exported vehicles for that reason. Too many people especially in America were too well aware of what was going on in Japan right after the war. The story about fear of failure damaging the brand name is pure fantasy. Secondly Nissan had always used the DATSUN Brand for their small vehicles, sold both in and outside of Japan.

BTW - Wiki is a very bad source of information… IMHO.

FWIW,
Carl B.


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:52 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
["Just in case anyone is interested and still following.."] Oh, yeah. We get email notices when these forum discussions are added to.

Thanks Carl ~ I had heard that Mr K credits his refusal to serve in China (Manchuria?) with his surviving the war. He claimed that at the end of the war when the Evil Empire had been defeated, the Chinese rose up against the Japanese auto bosses stationed in China and caused them to have 'Very Bad Days'. He knew several Nissan workers who had been there when the war ended, and figures he would have been killed or severely set upon if he had been there too.

It makes sense that Nissan wouldn't want to attempt selling cars in the USA if their corporate name was associated with bad war memories. Nakajima (the Zero) didn't have much of a chance, either. I suppose Messerschmitt could have sold a bunch of their little micro cars around the world after the war, had it not been for our recent fear of the 109 and 262 fighter planes .

It actually took 20 or more years for Yahama, Honda, Suzuki and other Japanese brands to become acceptable to American buyers. It even took some help from Elvis Presley, who rode a 350 Honda SuperHawk motorcycle and defended himself with Karate in his 1964 movie "Roustabout".

So, whatever became of the Graham-Paige (Nissan) cars after the war? Were they discontinued or was their production line resumed after 1945?


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File comment: Instead of a Harley, Elvis rode this Honda 350 in the movie Roustabout, much of which was filmed in Florida.
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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:12 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:34 pm
Posts: 106
Location: Torrington
Thanks for the enthusiasm gents! Sorry to have been out of pocket for a few weeks.

@ Paul; the rims 'I think' are old Keystones, 14 x 7". Now I kind of forget as I bought them used.

The black on the car (hood, front end) is good old SEM rust-shield, basically the same stuff that you can get in rattle cans at better equipped parts stores. When I painted my roadster hood I used Rustoleum and got fine results, and the paint has held up well. But the Z I had painted by a body guy that was between jobs at the time, and he flatly refused to use Rustoleum thinking it wasn't up to the task. : ) The SEM is nice because it is not as flat, kind of in between a flat and a satin. Either brand works well and are economical.

The chit-chat over Datson is great, the history and uncertainty of the brand's past is one of the fun parts of owning an old car. I think the best part of converting an old car to a race car is the fact that you can goof around and be creative, if that's your thing. Like the fake Hull's Beer sponsorship (they went out of business in the early 70's.)

Been having some teething issues with her but should be ready to hit the hill this weekend at Pagoda (a race with Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association.) I signed up for Thompson but can't make both (several Z's will be there.)

Cheers!


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 Post subject: Re: Logbook photos
PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:29 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:34 pm
Posts: 106
Location: Torrington
Oh BTW I will keep an ear out for the July CTZCC gathering maybe I can throw the beast on the trailer and make an appearance. June's been crazy busy.


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