For the few of us who might not have seen this, here is a video of a small portion of the 3-day 40th Anniversary ZCon in Franklin, TN back in 2010.

A lot of our members were there, including Rick and Kathy Morgan (showing Lucky #13 to the world for the first time), Carl Beck, Jimbo Frederick, Thorsten Link flew in from Germany, Big Al, Paul Makin, Bill Moreau, Vince Corry, and others. You can see our very respectful Vince getting interviewed about his award-winning G-nose Z from Georgia at the end of the video.

Mr K 'visited' the crowd from Japan via SKYPE, Mr Matsuo-San (designer of the 240Z) was there, as were Mad Mike and many other members of our sister Z Car Clubs of New England, Rochester, New York and New Jersey.

It was just days after a huge flood, and the temperatures were well above 100*F, but nobody died and everyone had a great time.

https://youtu.be/AAvvz4KovOw

Anybody have any memories about this?

Frank T

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1970 240Z

I'm going to have to make it to a Z con eventually. Was that a Nissan Patrol? Looked like a scout to me but that wouldn't make sense to here. And that little roadster looked pretty cool too.

Wish they would have fired up the Bob Sharp/Newman car after all the fuss about how loud it was.

When Bob Sharp still lived among us, he would stand up in front of each monthly meeting and regale us with stories about some of the cars he drove in the 'old days'. He even brought in some of his personal 8mm silent films from his earliest races in the first 240Z, showing him passing everyone at Lime Rock Park to take the lead (and the win) away from 427 Cobras, Camaros and Mustangs, and cars literally bouncing off the track end over end, trying to catch him in his little D-Production Japanese car. He spoke about a 300hp car and a 700hp car, but I never heard him mention this one.

After the meetings (and piZZa), a doZen of us would congregate in the dark outside in the parking lot and listen to Bob's humorous stories about individual races and racers, until the mosquitoes got our coordinates and launched a full-scale attack.

I think the best thing about Bob Sharp is that he is a real people-person. He treats everyone as if they are his backyard neighbor and shows a genuine interest in your visions for your Z. His stories are endless and blatantly honest. His delivery makes everyone laugh ~ it's like having a night of free stand-up comedy about your favorite subject.

I understand several Z and Porsche clubs captured him as soon as he arrived in Florida, and I hope they are having as much fun with him as we did.
Frank T

Incidentally, if you are interested in seeing a collection of Bob's winning 1971 240Z season, our Philadelphia member Dave Levinson compiled a DVD of his father's years as Bob's race photographer. Some of the footage was shot while his dad laid (unstrapped!) on the roof rack of a station wagon, carrying a heavy motion picture camera. His camera car would speed away from the start line before the flag fell, then film the cars as the whole pack caught up and passed him at 80mph. The DVD is called "Some People Collect Stamps" and was selling for $30 in 2014.
More info here: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8534&p=57222#p57222

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1970 240Z

I'd use the same words to describe you Frank.

When my Dad and I came to the fall outing (2016?) I remember being excited about the chance to meet Bob Sharp. My dad was a fan and told me stories about Bob's racing legend even before I had my Z. So I really thought it'd be something he'd never forget to be introduced to Bob (I also intended to ask Bob to sign my Z too). As luck would have it we made our appearance the same year Bob left New England altogether (maybe he knew we were coming ). Would have been cool to meet him but it was a perfect trip anyway......well except for the dieseling fit my Z threw upon our arrival. I could have done without that.

I think every Z owner is personally important because s/he is the curator of one of the more-important cars in automotive history. That's especially important today because there is a preciously-small number of successors to this ownership. Over the next 20 years these cars will either thrive or fall into the hands of metal carvers with adolescent fantasies. There is little time for the original generation of Z owners to cultivate an educated interest in keeping these cars whole and running. Otherwise, in another 20 years there will be no more Datsun Zs, but V8 hotrods with modified Z bodies.

Unlike Ferrari or Maserati or such, the Datsun Z has historically been a working-man's car, which any kid with a 9-5 gas station job could afford. That has tended to keep us all on a practical and 'family' level, resulting in a closer-knit, more friendly community. Few snobs here. Most Zs were originally purchased while the owner was still young, and he had the pleasure of applying these wonderful cars to the adventures of his youth. Poor Ferrari and Maser owners had to wait until they were making $1million per year to begin enjoying their marques.

The craZy prices the Z is bringing during the recent year threatens that legacy.

Bob Sharp personifies that idea. He made his living selling cars to enthusiastic kids who loved the Z cars and thrilled at knowing a true racing legend. Bob seems to me to be far more at home with the T-shirt-and-jeans group, than with the starched collar and tie people.

This Club must maintain excellent relationships among all age groups and focus on the "youngest amongest", for surely they will be the deciders of the future of the cars we love today. If we don't take time today to teach them what we've learned about these great cars, they won't know how to feed and maintain them when we're gone....and the Zs will die. We have to be a family for the sake of these great cars' survival.

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1970 240Z

Well said Frank. That's a perspective that I think may be lost on many. Hopefully it catches on.

I know what you are getting at with the metal carvers. We won't go there.

To your point, my good friend Billy (the one with the growing car collection) bought an absolutely stunning 260z a few years back now, at my approval. He brought me along to evaluate it prior to purchase. A 36k mile, one owner, garage kept beauty. We test drive and I could tell she needed some tuning and proper setup but was really in very healthy shape.

Anyway he found that after taking a long drive or idling it for any length of time the rear 3 spark plugs would foul. He's always relied on having his cars worked on (unlike me in that respect) and tried to have this issue resolved at his trusted mechanic. What he found was that no one seemed to be having any luck fixing it. I had mentioned from the beginning that Datsun Z's are very fun and relatively easy to work on yourself....but the SU carburetors are very misunderstood and intimidating to most mechanics, and he'd do better to become his own expert.

He had his car to 6 different garages, the last of which was a Ferrari specialist. Still the problem persisted. Desparate and frustrated he called me and begged to have me look at the car. I really didn't have time to look as he lives pretty far away and I had a lot going on at the time. I told him the issue was going to be in that rear carb, and could only be a handful of things. I was suspecting a bad float and over the phone, talked him through disassembly and checking the float. We determined the float to be good, but slightly misadjusted. Also the needle and seat assembly appeared to not be correct. He replaced both the float and the needle and seat, and properly set the float height as well. He remarked that he felt more confident and proceeded to do the same in the front carb, after I explained why the float adjustment was important and how both carbs need to be in synch.

He still had a rich condition though, and was trying to skirt the issue with hotter plugs and by leaning out the mixture on the rear carb. I told him we needed to look closer. A few months later I was able to go over and look myself. I walked him through the process of removing the dome and piston, and inspecting the needle, which we found to be set too deeply in the rear carb. It was 1/16" too deep, and the front and rear carbs had mismatched needles. I explained the function of the needles, and the significance of what we'd found, and also the overall function of the carburetors, which seemed to really click with him. He ordered new matching SM needles from Ztherapy, installed them correctly HIMSELF, and then properly synched and tuned his carbs HIMSELF. He was super excited and the car runs awesome! No issues idling whatsoever, and the plugs stay clean. I took the opportunity to teach him a bit about reading the plugs as well, as a means of troubleshooting.

The point is I agree with you Frank, teaching new Z owners about their cars, and passing on knowledge is important to ensure the cars continue to thrive.

Jay

What a great example of my point! Bravo to you, sir.

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1970 240Z

I really enjoyed reading this thread, especially the discussions on those wonderful SU/Hitachi carbs. They are no more complex than a simple lawn mower carb and once one spends the time studying them, or teaching someone their "basics", it's great to see folks maintain them themselves as you and your buddy have done Jay. In my Z's 190K mile journey, nobody but me has touched my Z carbs. I've enjoyed explaining the operation of the entire fuel system (stemming from my recent fuel pump issues), to my son Mike (370Z owner) who never worked on an SU before.

To an extreme, I guess, I even removed my Pertronix ignition last year and put it on the shelf as I still enjoy the basic act of periodically adjusting and changing the points in my car. I feel it's like a "lost art" of some kind and I know that if they do go bad on the road, I can usually limp home or, in a jam, throw in a spare set that I travel with in the Z. I also travel with a spare fuel pump now

I was never an expert mechanic, but studying the manuals, dabbling here and there and now having the internet available to us back yard mechanics really helps. The only thing you need is the interest and some basic tools to keep these simple cars on the road and like Jay and Frank said, to pass this knowledge on to others to carry on.

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

I think you might have the biggest dog in this fight, John. Your car is an outstanding example of the marque, and you've owned it from new. Please consider that it will out-live you by at least 2 generations, and consider what kind of care you would want it to receive. If in 40 more years nobody remembers gasoline automobiles (let alone points, condensers, sprkplugs and carburetors), the care and maintenance of your beloved Z will depend upon what you taught your descendants about it, and what they passed on to the (future) owners of your car.

The Marines practice a tradition of "desk-top-turnover" manuals. Each man responsible for a section creates a simple turn over manual, explaining in common language what that section does, how, and who the important contacts are for accomplishing their daily mission. That way, if a person in charge "leaves" unexpectedly (not uncommon in combat or training for it), the next poor guy who gets assigned to take over his position will have at least a thumbnail sketch of how to do that, and who to turn to for advice. He doesn't have to start "cold" and learn by mistakes.

In that spirit I will begin a looseleaf binder of the history, important facts, mechanical changes and useful information about #2807. It will stay with my car hopefully forever, and be added-to by future owners once I'm gone. It will not have to be physically present in my Z, but will be kept updated and preserved among my protected possessions, with instructions that it be passed on to the next custodian. It might be a good idea for all Z owners of this era.

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1970 240Z

I love that you do most of your own work John, and that you've been the sole tuner of your SUs. You've done an amazing job of taking care of your Z, you are obviously well qualified. How is Mike just learning about SU carbs now? I figured he'd have cut his teeth as a kid turning wrenches in the garage with you on your gorgeous Z! I have limited experience with points ignitions, but I can say I did use a file to get mine working enough to limp home one night. That was in a Dodge I had at one point.

There is a really satisfying feeling that comes with being able to fine tune an engine the way you can with the SU carburetted L series. Most every aspect is adjustable, IF you know and understand what you are doing. My 260Z project car helped me learn to troubleshoot really well....it was a great teacher. I knew very little when I first got it, but over the years I gained a really deep understanding of most every aspect of the car. There's no better way to learn, and IMO the Z is about the best platform out there to learn on.

Carrying a fuel pump and spare set of points is a great idea John. Also knowing they can easily be swapped on the side of the road sure is nice too! I'll never forget Frank looking in the windows of my Z at the fall outing and commenting that I travel light. I assumed he meant because we hadn't brought anything other than some bottled waters haha. Thank goodness you lent me that wrench so I could back off my timing a bit after that tank of bad gas I bought on the way up! I still owe you for that one.

Frank, that's a great idea about the binder. It would be good to create something like that for all aspects, from tuning to troubleshooting. Also information relating to modifications as well. Mechanics in this generation, and even the previous, rely heavily on software controlling ignition and fuel, and most everything else for that matter. Many are lost with a fully mechanical car like the early Z.

Jay