Brian Brazda's Z-Cars

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My first Z - 1972 HLS30-55040

Bought used from Countryside Nissan in 1974.
First thing I did was put the 240-Z stripe on the side and took this photo.
Subsequently, I got a set of 14x6 Cosmic mags and put on 195/70 Michelin XVS tires. I bought the mags from Mark. Can't remember his last name but he had a dark green 240-Z that he'd put new wheels on. I'd met him at at a parking lot slalom in Schaumburg and he was also a Windy City Z Club member. Later I made performance enhancements including headers and new exhaust system. I advanced the cam timing by one notch and added a high-performance coil. Also added a rear spoiler, just bolted on, not blended in. She met her fate when I lent her to friend to take to a rally, and she ended up in a ditch.

My current Z cars
(For sale so I can get a newer one)


I'm in the process of digging these out from my garage.
Better pics coming when I'm able move the stuff all around them.
License plates have long since expired and all tires are flat.

1969/70 HLS30-13456
They made about 16,000 that first year. This one came off the line 11/1969.
The first time I saw her she was in Sonomatic's gravel parking lot on 55th St in Countryside, IL with weeds growing all around her. The windshield had a huge hole in it. I fully restored her sometime in the late 1980s. Got a new windshield and new doors from Countryside Nissan (I undercoated the insides before attaching hardware)
Added front air dam, fiberglass flared front fenders.
Rear fender flares and spoiler, blended in, not just bolted on.
Drive train was salvaged from my HLS30-55040 (above),
equipped with headers and other performance enhancements.
I have the original 13456 engine : - see below for details.


1974 RLS30-012613
This one has a fiberglass hood and front fenders.
I have a folder with complete history and service records for the 2 previous owners.

I'm starting to get some docs put up here.
012613 was purchased new 2/11/74 from Sondag Datsun by Beverly Kosifas from Elmwood Park, IL. She traded in her '74 Buick Riviera. It was originally blue when Bev bought it. And she got a rustproofing guarantee.

Other Z stuff (more photos coming soon)
Windy City Z Club jacket - I have two, am keeping one.
The jacket (as some may remember) was coated with aluminum paint
which never seemed to dry and remained sticky for years.

Manuals - somewhere I have the yellow factory 240 Z one.

1 set 14x6 Cosmic mag wheels (1 pictured)
I have 1 brand new one - "fresh" from a Dover, England auto parts store.
The Cosmics were on 55040 and I'd chipped one on a curb, so had replaced it with the original steel wheel. In 1976, I was vacationing in Europe with 3 friends. We were in Dover, England headed for the ferry to France. We passed an auto parts store and in the window I saw a brand new Cosmic. I hollered "stop the car", got out and went in. It was indeed a 14" with a 4-bolt pattern for a TR6, which happened to be the same as a Datsun Z and they only had one. So I bought what was probably the last Cosmic mag available for retail sale in the universe.

L-24 short block

Orignal 13456 L24 engine.
- Dunno last time it was started, or condition.

Fender protector

1 set hubcaps
Easy to tell which one I've cleaned up (so far)

Indian Head Park, IL 60525
Phone 708-246-9000
Email brian@brazda.com