Early Z

[HS30-H]

"H" signifies the 2.4 liter engine in the 240-Z's when it's in the first position of the VIN prefix. If the VIN is HS30H - the second "H" signifies a JDM Fairlady 240 Z-G. Of course the "H" signifies the 2.8L engine if it's in the first position of the VIN prefix for a DATSUN 280Z. (not to be at all picky - but we do have DATSUN 280Z owners on the forum as well, and did not want to confuse them either.).

Oh dear,

I get home from a hard day's work and have to read more bollocks on this thread..............

Show me an "HS30H" VIN and you get a fantastic prize from yours truly. A wooden spoon with your name engraved on it.

There ain't no such animal.

The 'H' suffix of the Fairlady 240ZG was never stamped on the firewall or VIN tag, and existed only in Nissan's internal documentation and model delineation - in just the same way as the Fairlady Z and Fairlady Z-L shared the 'S30' VIN prefix on their firewall and VIN tag stampings even though one was actually an 'S30' and one was an 'S30-S'.........

I need a nightcap. :sleep:

[sblake01]

..........Of course the "H" signifies the 2.8L engine if it's in the first position of the VIN prefix for a DATSUN 280Z. (not to be at all picky - but we do have DATSUN 280Z owners on the forum as well, and did not want to confuse them either.)

We 280Z owners are probably the least confused members on this site as far as our cars go since we don't have to deal with as many variations of our cars as the 240Z owners. The picture was beginning to clear up a bit by the time of the introduction of the 280Z but I'm afraid that there will always be myths, confusion, heresay, outright untruths, differing viewpoints, etc. when it comes to the history of the earlier cars. Not just Z's but early Datsun/Nissan cars in general.

[Carl Beck]

Oh dear,

I get home from a hard day's work and have to read more bollocks on this thread..............

Show me an "HS30H" VIN and you get a fantastic prize from yours truly. A wooden spoon with your name engraved on it.

There ain't no such animal.

The 'H' suffix of the Fairlady 240ZG was never stamped on the firewall or VIN tag, and existed only in Nissan's internal documentation and model delineation - in just the same way as the Fairlady Z and Fairlady Z-L shared the 'S30' VIN prefix on their firewall and VIN tag stampings even though one was actually an 'S30' and one was an 'S30-S'.........

I need a nightcap. :sleep:

Thanks Alan - we had an off line discussion about that and I wondered if the HS30-H was the same as the HLS30 A or HLS30 AU etc. in that regard..(also never stamped in the firewall nor VIN tags). Too bad they didn't stamp the firewall - makes it harder to tell original from reproduction.

It also answers some questions I had about your earlier listing of VIN start and stop points for the chassis serial number sequences. Do you have an end number for the 1973 chassis numbers?

By 1972 was the JDM Fairlady 240 Z-L the same, or all but the same car as the units shipped to Australia? Were the Export HS30's and JDM HS30's sharing the same chassis number series, only using different assigned segments?

regards,

Carl

[Sean Dezart]

Stephen,

It's up to the likes of us (or more likely - THEM with us posing our questions) that CAN clear up the myths, confusion, heresay, outright untruths, etc, always allowing for differing viewpoints but one can't argue when the truth is presented on a plate !

So here I go again (wanting to understand) :

JDM Fairlady 240Z VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L VIN S30-S but second 'S' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G VIN HS30-H but second 'H' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

First 'H' in HS-30 refers to 2.4 litre engine !

Questions (still) - why are the first two above (S30 and S30-S) known as 240Zs if they don't have the 2.4 litre engine (no 'H' suffix) ?

Were there two Z-G models ? One a 2 litre and one a 2.4 ?

How does Nissan denote the 2 litre Z-G model ? S30-H ?

And for the Z432 ? PS30 and PS30-H (was there an official Z-G 432) ?

"if the HS30-H was the same as the HLS30 A or HLS30 AU" - WHAT ? Never heard of an 'A' or 'AU' (automatic ?)

Someone out there knows something.....

[NZeder]

Stephen,

It's up to the likes of us (or more likely - THEM with us posing our questions) that CAN clear up the myths, confusion, heresay, outright untruths, etc, always allowing for differing viewpoints but one can't argue when the truth is presented on a plate !

So here I go again (wanting to understand) :

JDM Fairlady 240Z VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L VIN S30-S but second 'S' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G VIN HS30-H but second 'H' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

First 'H' in HS-30 refers to 2.4 litre engine !

Questions (still) - why are the first two above (S30 and S30-S) known as 240Zs if they don't have the 2.4 litre engine (no 'H' suffix) ?

Were there two Z-G models ? One a 2 litre and one a 2.4 ?

How does Nissan denote the 2 litre Z-G model ? S30-H ?

And for the Z432 ? PS30 and PS30-H (was there an official Z-G 432) ?

"if the HS30-H was the same as the HLS30 A or HLS30 AU" - WHAT ? Never heard of an 'A' or 'AU' (automatic ?)

Someone out there knows something.....

I will try and answer some of these questions.

JDM Fairlady Z VIN S30 (no 240 anywhere in the name of these cars - some call them 200z as they were fitted with L20a engines with carbs)

JDM Fairlady 240Z VIN HS30 (fitted with L24 engines)

JDM Fairlady Z VIN S31 (same body/tail lights dash as RS30=Export RHD 260Z but fitted with L20e EFI engine, my Dad has one of these)

There were S30-S and S30-L for the trim level and different standard options and as you have stated these were not on the firewall.

There was also the HS30-H the factory JDM Fairlady 240Z with G-Nose and overfenders. These Z were badges "Fairlady 240z" and are referred to as the 240ZG.

Then there is the PS30 the 432. I am sure someone else can let you know what the VIN is for a 432R as I would be guessing so I won't even try as I might get it wrong and add to the confussion.

Also all of the JDM were badged and sold as Nissan not Datsun as Datsun was the name use in the export markets. I recall in the 80's ads on TV promoting Nissan/Datsun then about 1 year later no more Datsun.

I hope this helps a bit.

PS I have never heard of the -A or AU either must be a US market thing.

[HS30-H]

So here I go again (wanting to understand) :

JDM Fairlady 240Z VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L VIN S30-S but second 'S' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G VIN HS30-H but second 'H' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

First 'H' in HS-30 refers to 2.4 litre engine !

Questions (still) - why are the first two above (S30 and S30-S) known as 240Zs if they don't have the 2.4 litre engine (no 'H' suffix) ?

Were there two Z-G models ? One a 2 litre and one a 2.4 ?

How does Nissan denote the 2 litre Z-G model ? S30-H ?

And for the Z432 ? PS30 and PS30-H (was there an official Z-G 432) ?

"if the HS30-H was the same as the HLS30 A or HLS30 AU" - WHAT ? Never heard of an 'A' or 'AU' (automatic ?)

Someone out there knows something.....

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!

Groundhog day. We've been over this what seems like thousands of times before. It must all show up if you use the SEARCH function and read, read, read.

JDM Fairlady 240Z VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L VIN S30-S but second 'S' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

NO!

Fairlady 240Z ( HS30-S model ) VIN prefix stamping = 'HS30'

Fairlady 240Z-L ( HS30 model ) VIN prefix stamping = 'HS30'

Questions (still) - why are the first two above (S30 and S30-S) known as 240Zs if they don't have the 2.4 litre engine (no 'H' suffix) ?

Were there two Z-G models ? One a 2 litre and one a 2.4 ?

How does Nissan denote the 2 litre Z-G model ? S30-H ?

The 'S30' and 'S30-S' were NOT '240Zs'. And stop mixing up suffixes with prefixes.

There was NO two litre "Z-G" model ( where the hell did you get THAT one from??? ).

And for the Z432 ? PS30 and PS30-H (was there an official Z-G 432) ?

Fairlady Z432 ( 'PS30' model ) firewall VIN stamp = 'PS30'.

Fairlady Z432-R ( 'PS30-SB' model ) firewall VIN stamp = 'PS30'.

THERE WAS NO "Z-G 432" ( arrrrrrggghhhh! ).

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G VIN HS30-H but second 'H' doesn't appear on firewall and tag stampings

First 'H' in HS-30 refers to 2.4 litre engine !

YES!

Bloody hell.

This is all written in the book that I know you have on your bookshelf, Sean. How can you make something already complicated even more complicated?

I have a headache now. :squareeye

[HS30-H]

"if the HS30-H was the same as the HLS30 A or HLS30 AU" - WHAT ? Never heard of an 'A' or 'AU' (automatic ?)

PS I have never heard of the -A or AU either must be a US market thing.

I think you'll find clues in the front pages of your Factory workshop manuals and parts lists, thus:

*'HLS30-U' = "Left hand drive for USA Canada."

*'HLS30' = "Left hand drive."

*'HS30-U' = "Right hand drive."

There are lots of other suffixes that denote different specs and options, and these were mainly used internally within Nissan. The Japanese home market - with its many versions and options - was particularly complicated. These full 'Katashiki', 'Ruibetsu' and 'Shashu' codes were printed in the front of the Japanese factory workshop manuals, parts lists and the 'Service Shuho' model information booklets that were used to teach the Japanese dealerships about new models when they were introduced.

Here's a scan of one of the Japanese 'Katashiki' tables from October 1971, detailing the suffixes that were added to identify different model types and specs within the S30-series Z range. Remember that the TWELVE codes in the list are covered by firewall stamp VIN prefixes of just THREE types: 'S30', 'PS30' and 'HS30'...............

[Sean Dezart]

Sorry, been away from this site for some time and THAT book, isn't on my shelf, I lent it to the guy writing the French book on Zs !

So, I'm getting there (I think) :

JDM Fairlady Z model S30-S VIN S30

JDM Fairlady Z-L model S30 VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z model HS30-S VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L model HS30 VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G model HS30-H VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady Z432 model PS30 VIN PS30

JDM Fairlady Z432-R model PS30-SB VIN PS30

Export market 240Z model HS30 VIN HS30 (RHD)

Export market 240Z model HLS30 VIN HLS30 (LHD)

Any other export models ? Z-Gs, Z432s etc ? Or are all the others personal imports ?

Sean

[HS30-H]

So, I'm getting there (I think) :

JDM Fairlady Z model S30-S VIN S30

JDM Fairlady Z-L model S30 VIN S30

JDM Fairlady 240Z model HS30-S VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-L model HS30 VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady 240Z-G model HS30-H VIN HS30

JDM Fairlady Z432 model PS30 VIN PS30

JDM Fairlady Z432-R model PS30-SB VIN PS30

YES!

Feels like its all starting to fall into place.

Export market 240Z model HS30 VIN HS30 (RHD)

Export market 240Z model HLS30 VIN HLS30 (LHD)

Basically, yes. But don't forget that these also have their own sub-divisions ( EG - USA / Canada LHD versions and 'rest-of-the-World' LHD version ).

Any other export models ? Z-Gs, Z432s etc ? Or are all the others personal imports ?

No official exports of 432, 432-R, 240ZG.

Of course, we have not mentioned any of the different Export-market 260Z and 280Z models ( although they will be pretty used to that, unfortunately ) or the A-S30 and S31 and their ilk.........

[Sean Dezart]

And the export RHD to Europe and Australasia were the same spec ?

I can only work out the S30 P, S and HS for now, RS and whatnot later !

[halz]

I've got a fire extinguisher handy in case Alan bursts into flame..

[Sean Dezart]

He's like a Z engine - runs hot but efficiently ! Don't forget to oil regularly !