Frank, the spoiler I used didnt have the vents.we will be making them with or without the vents
The mods I did to my rack was a Coke Can, made of alloy then,I just cut strips for each side , folded them to fit and toqued it down, no more movement
Steve

Yeah I dont think it matters what is used on the rack bushs as long as theres extra crush on the rubber,
Carpet ,I dont know Frank, must be a bitch to vacuum?
Steve

Hahaha!

Believe me, the stuff we used no longer needed a vacuum! But it was strange to feel how differently the car handled after such a simple (and free!) modification. Made us wonder why Datsun couldn't have done something better.

Oh, and about your steering shaft disc (we call them Hockey Pucks, but in a land without ice skating, it's easy to undrstnd why you wouldn't) ~ please explain again how you replaced that with (what?) (an Alu MINI um billet?)
I should imagine the weird angles of the screws would prevent you from using something solid btwn the discs??? I would love to replace mine with something more substantial ~ every time I look at it I can imagine it crumbling to bits at some crucial moment, leaving me with a free-spinning wheel and headed for a cliff or something.

That metal "puk' was machined up by a freind of mine, used I think two inch aluminium rod, cut to the correct size,thickness, then he drilled holes using the rubber one as reference, fitted up, made a difference!
ran that for about 3 years in club conpertion as well as a daily driver and was still on the car when sold.
Never had any problems there,I did however break the stabilizer bar that goes from the chassis rail to the lower conrol arm, I had teflon bushs machined up, man what a difference but after a week one of the rods broke on the road so I replaced them with new rubber ones and never went there again BUT the difference in handling and breaking was outstanding.
So for now I'm gonna make like a hockey player an get the puk outa here
Steve

Let me know when you start making those simple chin spoilers ~ I might buy one from you.

thanks Frank, wont be for awhile but as soon as we are up an running I'll let you know about front and rear spoilers
heers
Steve

Well, it's been a few years since this thread was active, but our Chicago member TENGU just sent me a great 1974 article which fits right in here, so I looked this thread up.


http://zhome.com/CarDriverAero/CDAero74.htm


Here's a full report on the effects of front and rear aerodynamics for the S30 Z cars. They say essentially what we have been talking about in this conversation. Their idea was to increase fuel economy by lowering drag. That was important back in the early 1970s because gasoline prices had just skyrocketed up to more than a DOLLAR A GALLON!!! Horrible. Car and Driver magazine rented a racetrack and used a slippery 240Z and a Ford Pinto Brick for comparison.

Thanks, Jake, for sending this on to us. I see "ZHome" mentioned in the link, so we can see Carl Beck published this first. (Why am I not surpriZed?).

Frank

_________________
1970 240Z

These spoilers (front and back) were stock in all european models.

ps. the original owner of this car came to our office when he saw my Z on the company parking lot. We talked almost an hour

_________________
240zgoldie.blogspot.com

Well of course he would stop and talk with you ~ the Z is a brotherhood!

Unusual (to us) features on his car are the clean bumpers without overriders, inboard "280Z" parking lights in the grille, non-retractable antenna and those two curious chrome things on the rear bumper. (Lights?)

The "European" front spoiler was exactly what I wanted for my Z when I first owned it back in the 1970s. I'm actually glad I never got one for it ~ those really didn't work very well, altho they looked very neat.


Frank

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1970 240Z

Yes, that's defiinitely a Euro-spec 240Z. Those are license plate lights in the rear bumper. Euro cars also had turn signal/parking lights mounted on top of the front bumper (thus the "indents" in the valance corners where the US lights would be". The front air dam was standard on Euro Zs, but I don't believe the rear spoiler was. The fixed antenna is aftermarket, not stock.

Euro cars also had a couple of features that never made it to US cars: A "flash to pass" button on the end of the turn signal lever, when pushed it flashed the headlights and a 5 speed transmission.

FWIW

_________________
John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

You are right about the antenna, but the rear spoiler was in all of the euro z cars Ones without it are modified either by the owner or dealer.

_________________
240zgoldie.blogspot.com

The first rear spoilers I ever saw on a 240Z were useless little things. They covered the trailing edge of the rear hatch, but had no 'ears' on the sides.
It didn't take long to understand that there was no airflow in that 'vacuum' over the rear hatch, so the spoiler did nothing.
They put the ears on the sides, which diverted air from the wind stream across the spoiler blade, and VIOLA! Downforce.

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1970 240Z

I thought that I had posted the 280ZX pic in the Wind Tunnel. It seems that I must have forgotten so here it is. Please keep in mind that it comes out of the original 1977 280ZX Introductory Brochure (1/2” thick Book) and not the buyer’s brochure. I think there was a difference. Also please keep in mind that it was already a somewhat grainy B&W picture and of course after scanning it, a little touch-up and resizing it and if it’s not bad enough yet, I added the accompanying graphs on the pic to boot. I have the originals that are all full size and are of better resolution……if anyone is interested. In regards to the picture setup, I would suspect that it was NOT taken during or after a data run but rather staged for this photo opp. Any way you look at it, it’s kinda cool.
I did attempt (twice) to contact Hybrid-Z during and after they were testing their S30 in the contracted tunnel down south. I even went to the extent of contacting the Tunnel itself using my “Professional Credentials”. In the e-mails (2) to Hybrid-Z, I explained who I was and the Tunnel (UTRC/MWT) I had operated for over 15 years (Not to many of us out there that actually do this professionally UTC…U.S. Military & NASA Stuff). I offered to help (completely free of charge) them in any way they saw fit. I am/was very good at interpreting and reducing complex Aeronautical data files and Aerodynamic profile curves. I never heard back from them. Oh well
On another note, I just received my first speeding ticket EVER. I-84 @ exit 59w, 1:15pm. Just shifted into 4th plus 2 seconds or so and low and behold off go the blue lights in a brand new Charger a few cars behind me. He said he clock me at 115+ and wrote me up at 84. He was an old gearhead too. Still $299.00, but I think I’m suppose to have one of these things anyway….after all I have been driving it for 30 years.

Yaaay, Dave! Great to hear from you and THANKS for updates on this thread. I have thought about you each time we discussed this subject, but I know when I started it 2+ years ago you were deeply involved in family issues and couldn't spend the time you wanted discussing this.

For you new guys, Dave Russell is a longtime CTZCC member who has restored a PERFECT 1970 240Z by stripping it down to the bare metal. And until HLS30-00013 was discovered, Dave's 1970 Z was the oldest known Z car in all of New England. He also has a 510 and some other noteworthy Datsuns, has built a TRIPLE SU manifold for the Z and fabricated some other interesting engineering feats, including the disassembly and rehab of his windshield wiper motors, rebuilding his power antenna, etc. Dave spent nearly 20 years in a wind tunnel (his hair looks GREAT! ) testing helicopters for the government and in his 'off time' he snuck a few Z carz in there to get ideas about what to do with his own Z.

Dave, this graph shows the figures you quoted us two years ago, about how very much improved the aerodynamics of the 280ZX were over the original S30 body shell. The drag coefficient was DRASTICALLY reduced for the ZX model. We wanted a smoke test on the original S30 and you were looking for one when your Mom fell ill, so you got overwhelmed by other tasks. I think I also asked you what effect a change of Angle of Attack made in the S30 wind stream (if the car was headed uphill or downhill against a headwind).

Anyway, Dave is our most-qualified member to discuss this matter with, and I'm very glad to zee him back in here.


Frank

P.S. Sort of happy to hear about your 115mph speeding disclosure, Dave ~ it shows you're still alive and it's about time somebody caught you at least ONCE! I suspect we've all been there, done that. You could have told him you were conducting airstream experiments.......

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1970 240Z

Hi Dave, long time since!!!

I'm a BIG FAN of yours, but not nearly as big as the one in the picture!

I have a few stories I could share as well, as far as "exceeding the posted
speed limit." BOY, those Bears are getting sneakier all the time,
aren't they? I've also seen a Dodge Charger incognito (incognito until the
flashing light array made it EXTREMELY visible, that is!) Ford Expeditions,
Chevy Caprices or whatever they were, an old Chevy station wagon, and
a regular windowless van are among some of the others I've seen.

In my personal experience going back a few years: How about a Corvette
(fortunately another car had just passed me going substantially faster than
I was); and a nice BRG Camaro Berlinetta (that time I was running away
from the pack).

_________________
All Z Best,.......Kathy & Rick

1969 Z.CAR (#00013 10/69) 8/30/76
1969 ITSA.Z (#00171 11/69) 8/24/73
1970 OLD.Z (#06289 6/70) original owner
1971 510 2dr since 12/31/75
1969 1600 rdstr (our 160-Z)
1971 (#19851 1/71) sold
1975 75.Z (#01343 1/75)