HS30-H

PS Fairlady Z432 followed most trim spec from Fairlady Z-L. ( that's why Watanabe san's 432 has carpet side sill trims ). Fairlady Z432-R followed most trim spec from Fairlady Z. So 432 would have carpet side sill trims and 432-R would have plastic side sill trims. Unless the owners wanted to specify the opposite option. Alan T.

Hi Kats, Well, as far as I know ( mainly about the Japanese market and UK market cars ) there were the following differences: Fairlady Z had plastic ( 'Leather' grain print ) side side trims - along with rubber mats ( no carpet ). Fairlady Z-L had carpet side sill trims - along with full carpets. Fairlady 240Z and Fairlady 240Z-L ( from late 1971 ) followed the same pattern. HOWEVER, I can see that some customers could specify plastic side sill trims and rubber mats as an option on even the Fairlady Z-L. You could consider this a 'downgrade' option, but I should imagine it was necessary for practical reasons in some areas with a lot of rain / mud? For the UK market ( according to the Parts List books ) I can see that the rubber side sill trim was also specified on some cars as an option. I have seen SOME of the UK market cars with rubber side sill trims and carpet on the floors / deck area. Confusing isn't it? I have one NOS rubber side sill trim in my stock of spare parts, but it is for an LHD car - so there must have been some LHD cars that had these fitted as standard equipment. As you know, I don't know too much about the USA market cars -so somebody else needs to give you some help on that side of things. Best regards, Alan T.

Trans Tunnel jute maybe? Alan T. ( edit: Looks like you beat me to it, Kats:classic: )

Hi ZmeFly, Its always good to see pics of Japanese events / meets, but I'm wondering about the origin of your uploads and what event / events they depict. The location of the latest uploads looks very much like Sagamiko Picnic Land ( a very popular place to host car-related events ) and judging from the amount of cherry blossom on the trees it would seem to have taken place around the month of March? Are these pictures that you have downloaded from the Web? If they are, then you might need to be a little cautious about just where they came from, and make sure that they were not originally covered by the Copyright of the site that they came from. They usually are. I notice that the numberplates of most of the cars have been obscured / photoshopped. This would point to their origin as a Japanese site, and is common practice in line with Japanese privacy laws. When I was at the Club S30 / S30 Owners Club combined meeting at Sagamiko a couple of weeks ago, I was asked by more than one person about the photographs on this site. You might be surprised to know that there are a lot of Japanese visitors to this site, and that word spreads very quickly. Most of these visitors do not post here, but they drop in fairly often. One of the comments I heard was with regard to pictures on this ( and other ) sites being downloads from other sites. In many cases it seems that copyright is being infringed without knowledge / intention. In particular, it seems that the use of some of these pics as Avatars is confusing to the owners of the original photos. One comment made to me was to question why anybody would want to use the image of somebody else's car as their Avatar image. To the person who made the comment to me, it seems that this was seen as particularly strange. I think the inference was that this could be seen as disturbing to the owner of the original image. I can kind of see where he's coming from. I've noticed some of my pictures being used on other sites, and a couple of times I even saw a pic of my own car being used by a member for their own Avatar image. It felt very odd. Like I'd had my car stolen! Whilst its great to see pics like yours, and I applaud your broadminded view, I would advise caution to check on their origin and copyright status before uploading here. If they are pics that you have taken yourself, then this would not be a problem. This site too has a copyright notice at the bottom of almost every page, and most of our Gallery pictures automatically have the site logo applied to them. It must be very strange for the owners of orginal images to see those selfsame images posted up here with our site logo and copyright applied to them............... Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm just trying to advise a little caution and point out that the Web is a small world when it comes to a common interest. Things we do and say here are easily seen all around the world, and its worth being careful. Best regards, Alan T.

Hi Steve, Ah - the rules over there are different to over here then. Sounds like its a bit fairer over there. Competitors over here seem to suffer from a lot of anti-Japanese bias. The Escorts and Porsches have it a lot better as far as I can see. Cheers, Alan T.

Hi meakin, Well - I've got a couple of spare FS5C71-B boxes too if you want one. Have you got a 4-speed at present then? You might need a 3.9 ratio R180 to go with it? These spare boxes are the type that was fitted as standard equipment to UK-market HS30 models around the late 1971 period. Previous to that they had the 'A' type 5 speed. I have a spare 3.9 R180 too if you need it. Both of them could probably do with a partial strip-down to ensure that the synchros and bearings are all OK. They are both spare units that have never been opened up as far as I know. There's no point going to the trouble of sourcing a transmission and then installing it in the car without checking it out internally. I'll PM you with thoughts on how you could get one from London to Denmark. That's probably going to be more expensive than buying the things in the first place. I'll PM you with prices for the Option 1 and the Rally Option direct-drive 5-speeds too. Have a chair and some smelling salts handy, as they are not cheap. Alan T.

Ben, Are the Holinger internals 'legal' to use in the Rally and Circuit races in Australia? In the UK, the classes that the early Z competes in have fairly strict rules. I believe that the Holinger internals can only be used if they can be proved to have been used 'in period'. That 'in period' bit is difficult to prove, and in the Historic Rally ( Post Historic ) classes of the MSA here in the UK the cut-off is 1976 as far as I remember. I think that some competitors over here have wanted to use the Holinger internals in the past, but proving that they were used 'in period' is a little tricky. What's the situation over there? Alan T.

Good point there Bambikiller, Its the radiator that you need to match your lower hose shape with halz, as the engine-side lower connection will be the same on the Australian spec. 240 and 260 models. The 240Z type has the 90 Degree upward bend that Bambikiller mentioned. If your radiator's lower connection has this then the 240Z type lower hose will fit. Good luck! Alan T.

I agree - well done Kats! Articles like this are just what this site does best. You can get questions, personal experiences, debate, pictures, and finally a conclusion - all in one thread. Once it goes into the archives its a valuable reference for everybody. Its also great to see a thread tied up with a positive result. Excellent work. When I bought my project car ( a Fairlady Z-L produced in the second half of 1970, and very similar to Mr Yamada's car that Kats mentioned ) it was incomplete and many parts were missing. I won't be restoring it to its original specification - as its going to be a 432-R replica - but knowing what it WOULD have been like is a great help. Kats, I have a question in relation to Mr Nishi's thoughts that the original Jute might have been coated / painted / sprayed / dipped in some kind of fluid anti-rust treatment. From the scraps of remaining Jute on my project car, and the original Jute on my ZG, I can see that it is indeed coated in a dark and sticky fluid. This appears to have been applied at the Factory - and it is not caused by a leak! So are you going to attempt to replicate any of this treatment to your Jute pads? Maybe its best not to, as long as they are not going to get wet and you are going to make sure that all is well under your carpets. In my opinion, the coating is rather sticky and a little bit messy. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Zedrally, Not too bad with the Jetlag now. I'm just working late and dropping in here ocassionally for a tea break:classic: The 'B' type were splined - not flange type. There were earlier ( 'A' type ) Option boxes, and they were flange type. He's going to have to confirm exactly what he's got, as the parts are not interchangeable. Didn't Nissan Motorsports USA have a small stock of parts for the F5C71-B Option boxes earlier this year? They were having a bit of a clearout as far as I remember, and there were some Option ratios being sold. Maybe its worth asking them? Don't forget he's going to need the gear AND the countergear - so that's two items, and they are usually sold separately. Good idea to be careful of that. I had a brand new Option 1 first gear and countergear set up until just a couple of months ago. I sold an Option 2 box to a friend in Japan and he wanted the Option 1 first gear to put into it. The gears are not 'in stock' anywhere that I know of in Japan, I'm afraid. There was a thread a while back where I remember posting a lot of the part numbers for these transmissions. Might be worth a look too. Cheers, Alan T.

I doubt this will help, seeing as I'm on the other side of the World, but I have a couple of Option boxes that I could do with selling; One is an Option 1, and one is the Rally Option box. Both have the 'Dogleg' shift pattern and direct ( 1:1 ) 5th gear. Both are in excellent condition. The Rally Option has had a FULL rebuild ( and I mean FULL ) just recently. Both very pricey though, and as I say, the wrong side of the World. Alan T.

Hi daddz, Good comparison there with the 'Crapi' here in the UK. That's almost exactly the situation that I saw with the early Z in its home market. When new, the early Z would have been pretty much unobtainable for the younger age group in Japan ( unless they were lucky enough to be fairly rich ). In fact. almost any new car would have been all but out of reach for the younger male around that time. However - and this goes for just about anywhere, not just Japan - give it a few years and the price of these self same cars drops through the floor. Then it becomes within reach of the people who couldn't afford it the first time round, and the downward spiral begins. I'd say that by the late Seventies and early to mid Eighties, the early Z car was starting to get a negative image in Japan due to the type of people who were seen driving them and the fact that they were modifying them and being hooligans with them. That is of course a generalisation, and there were plenty of cars that were cherished and looked after by appreciative owners. My own experience as far as Japan goes ( from the mid-Eighties onwards ) was that friends and family would turn their noses up at early Z cars because of this negative image. It was perceived as something associated with street-racers and lunatic drivers, and the most noticeable ones were VERY loud and extensively modified. There were other models that also got damned by association with this group. This is exactly the image that the early Ford Capri became associated with in the UK. However, the Capri is having a bit of a renaissance here, and some people have been choosing them just to be 'ironic'. The early Z has been coming back up out of its value spiral for some years in Japan, and lots of restorations have been performed. Its still got a slightly negative image with some people who are slow to change their views though. These good / bad perceptions are not the fault of the poor old car! Even the Capri was an honest and fairly worthy car, and did not deserve being tarred with the hooligan brush. That's just what happens when the desireable models of a few years ago become within the reach of the 17~25 age group. Its still happening these days, and the target cars have been the 'Hot Hatch' segment for some years. Its all a big circle, and its the same anywhere in the world I reckon. Alan T.

If it were a custom-built / adapted R&P set then I'd be very worried indeed about how well the machining had been performed. The vendor implied in his answers to me that it was a Factory combination in the R190 / R192 - which I know is not true. I suppose anything is possible when you go custom.

This is all academic, as the 5.88:1 ratio DOES NOT EXIST in the R190 / R192 - or the R180, or the R200. Biggest numerical ratios were 5.142, and the 5.125 offered as a Sports Option ratio for the R190 / R192. 5.1 is quite adequate for almost any use - even with the biggest rolling circumference tyres that can be fitted under the standard wheelarches. I'd like to hear from the guy who actually bought that "5.88" diff so that we can hear what it REALLY was.

Hi halz, Ah, I see what you mean. There are quite a few cars on Japanese roads that are older than the S30-series Z. On any given Spring, Summer or Autumn weekend you can see all sorts driving around in the countryside. I even used to see Fifties and Sixties models sticking out like sore thumbs in central Tokyo. I sometimes think that the media makes a little too much out of this image of Japan being a throwaway society, and that its too difficult or even illegal to own old cars. In fact, its not half as bad as the stories make out. Sure its not all that easy ( especially if you live in an urban area, where storage / parking space costs so much ) but its not an impossible situation and plenty of fairly young guys and girls drive around in old cars. The members of Club S30 are - I would say - perhaps a slightly older cross-section of enthusiasts, but there are PLENTY of younger people who own early Z cars. There are even some quite young members of Club S30. I would say that almost every one of them probably uses their Z as a second or 'fun' car, and owns a family car or at least something more practical for everyday use too. However, the S30-series Z still seems to suffer something of a slightly negative image amongst the general public in Japan due to its years as a bit of a hooligan's choice of transport. This is admittedly changing as the car takes on a more classic status. Surely owning these old cars can be expensive and difficult wherever you live? I know that mine cost me a lot more money and hassle to own than I would like! Central London is really not an ideal place to reside if you are an enthusiast of old Z cars. Maybe your situation in Australia is a little easier - especially with regard to garaging / storage space? I think you have to take into account the fact that prices for everything in Japan are higher than almost everywhere else, but so is the average wage. My impression and experience of Japanese enthusiasts is that many of them will make great sacrifices in order to own the car that they dream of. Hats off to them. Alan T.

I saw that on eBay, and got involved. It ended up as a bit of an argument............. In fact, the R192 / R190 was never made with a "5.88:1" gear ratio, and the lowest ratio it came in was 5.125:1 I was convinced that the vendor actually had a 4.875:1 and was mis-describing it. I told him so, and he bit my ear off with some choice language in reply He told me that the 510 Auto-X'ers in California "use them all the time". I won't repeat the four letter words he added to spice things up........... I told him that I might be interested in it if he could PROVE what gear ratio it had in it. All he had to do was open it up and take a photo of the stamping on the Crownwheel. Needless to say, he could not be bothered. That's eBay for you. Either the person that eventually bought it KNEW that it was being mis-described, and had a fairly good idea of what he was getting, or he is in for a surprise. Mind you, I don't know what kind of event he would need a 5.88 diff ratio for, unless there are wall-climbing events that I don't know about I have a few R200's with LSD units fitted, and in several ratios. A 4.375:1 will get me close enough to the 4.44 ratio that would have been correct for the 432-R, so that's good enough for me. Alan T.

The R192 diff ( for some reason usually referred to as an R190 in the USA ) was kind of like an R180 on steroids. It was standard equipment on the PGC10 and KPGC10 Skyline GT-R and on the PS30 Fairlady Z432 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-R. On an S30-series Z, its a straight bolt-in swap for the R180. As fitted to the above cars, it came with LSD from the Factory. On the 432 and 432-R it came with a 4.44:1 ratio. In the USA, Datsun Competition used to sell them as a performance upgrade. Alan T.

Halz, I am a member of CLUB S30, but it seems that they have made a bit of an exception for me. I sometimes find myself in Japan and can visit / join in with some of their events and meetings, so its possible for me to join in with some activities - although ( frustratingly ) without my cars, which live in the UK. Membership is not cheap, and I was invited to be a member by mutual friends. They have a very nice Newsletter - but you can actually see that online from their site a little while after it goes out to the members. Of course, its all in Japanese too. The pics of the event at Sagamiko show cars belonging to members of 'Club S30', as well as the 'S30 Owners Club', along with some guests who I believe were not members of either. Club S30 is a small and compact club, and I honestly can't see much practical use in being a member unless you get the opportunity to take part in person. Not trying to put you off, but - as you mention - their website is all in Japanese, and so indeed is all of their club communication. I can't speak for the other club, as I'm not a member. There are many other small clubs and groups in Japan, though. All the best, Alan T.

Hello Kats, Thank you for your encouragement. The Tow Hook looks great on the car. Now I'm waiting for somebody to question whether it should be painted / electroplated / bare metal.................... I'm not sure that we will ever be 100% sure. Isn't it fun? The Jute Pads from Watanabe san's car are great reference. So all the LHD people ( like you ) have to do is to reverse the shape side-to-side and they will have the correct shape for their market? It was indeed a great pleasure to meet Matsuo san in such a relaxed atmosphere. Past encounters with him have been restricted to just a few words and the answers to one or two questions - usually at a very busy event / show. I shall endeavour to keep in closer touch with him from now on. I have passed on his regards to our mutual friends. Now I have plenty of inspiration to get me through the cold winter months. Best wishes, Alan T.

I don't think that car was a 432 Gav. I'll have another look through my photos and see if I have one of it. If so, I'll post it. Alan T.

Hi Kats, Yes - it was great to see you again at Sagamiko. Thank you for being so entertaining. Actually, I wasn't angry about the Tow Hook situation - just feeling silly. If I had have stopped myself from posting it to you, and had thought to bring it personally from London, then I would have had the pleasure of handing it to you myself. I was very pleased and relieved to hear that you actually HAD received it before the show, and had even painted it and bolted it onto the car before coming. Now we are all happy - even your car! The photos from the Japanese site are much better than mine, I think. They convey much more character and feeling of the event. It was a great day, and I spent a lot of time just wandering, looking, hiding from the sun and talking to all and sundry. Not really concentrating on taking photos at all. I should have paid more attention to it.................. I'm glad to hear that you got the valuable reference from Watanabe san's 432 for your jute pads, Kats. One day your car will be 100% finished - or maybe you will not be satisfied? Maybe even 'perfect' is not quite good enough for you?:classic: Once again, my thanks and best wishes to you, Alan T.

Putting me on the spot again! Now I really AM walking on eggshells............... I don't know how much any of the 'imbalance' would actually MATTER on a street-driven car. I think these days motoring journalists tend to take things a bit more scientifically than they did back in the late Sixties. There's a lot of talk of dynamics that seems to be gleaned from driving the cars ( even little family cars and MPVs! ) well beyond the limits of practical everyday use. I guess this is useful up to a point and in pure terms - but surely Joe Average does not get anywhere near these limits in normal use? In many cases it seems to be motoring publications that are interested in this kind of data rather than the manufacturers themselves. Reading most contemporary reviews of the S-30 series cars, it seems clear that this kind of analysis was not really so deeply undertaken. Maybe if they had back-to-back comparisons of RHD and LHD versions then they might have noticed differences? In any case, in all practical terms, I would have thought it was a non-issue for most owners ( as Victor stated above ). We just tend to adapt. I do think it revealing that Nissan found it necessary to have different springs for the front left and front right of the LHD cars. I would have thought that this was to even-up the ride height as much as anything else, and does not appear to have been necessary on the RHD cars ( most all of which had higher spring and damper rates than the USA-market model anyway ). And there's a point; seeing as the majority of LHD cars were more softly sprung and damped, and the fact that most of them lacked the rear anti-roll bar, then it would surely be difficult to make a truly fair back-to-back comparison with an RHD car anyway? Am I right in stating that the majority of test-tracks and race-tracks in the USA are run anti-clockwise? In Europe and Japan, the majority have always been run clockwise ( and sometimes both ways! ). There was a period where many of the major European sports and race car manufacturers were manufacturing RHD race cars precisely to help balance them on clockwise circuits, despite the fact that their home-market was LHD. Keeping the weight of the driver on the 'inside' was seen as an advantage. I'm sure that Matsuo san and his team would have loved to have been given unlimited resources and no limitations to design and build a car that would be equally as ergonomic, balanced and efficient in ALL the markets that it was intended to be sold in. However, reality dictated a different situation. Its clear that, however much they accommodated the needs of the Export market driver, they were still constrained by the fact that the home market was RHD biased. But as we say, in most practical terms this would not seem to be an issue with most S30-series Z owners. The location of the Handbrake DOES ( in my opinion ) help to point to the fact that the S30-series Z was not designed purely "for" the USA market, no matter what the advertising and sales men said at the time, and has been repeated robot-like ever since. I'm still not 'knocking' the LHD cars - whatever anyone thinks. Alan T.

Hi daddz, I'm sorry to say that I have VERY limited first-hand experience of the later cars. I've got to admit that I have no deep knowledge of the specs / layouts - although I have driven one of each type and passengered a LOT in a friend's 2-seater Z31 whilst living in Japan. Actually, I really liked that car - but it was far from standard. I think its clear that as they pushed the prices up for the later models ( in relation to the S30-series ) they were able to indulge themselves a little more. Just how much this translates to the ergonomics I couldn't say ( you'd be much better placed to judge that than I would ). Mind you, seeing as the S130-series was still using the L-series 6, you'd have to say that it was still carrying a little bit of the Design Concession dictated by that engines RHD-biased origin. Surely the V6 models would be less troubled by this? Its an interesting area of discussion, but maybe one that I don't feel qualified to speculate on - considering my ignorance of the later cars. Not to infer any insult to the later cars, but I WAS surprised by Matsuo's scathing comments on the S130-series cars and his dismissal of all the later generations too. Still, I guess this is a legacy of his bad-treatment by Nissan and the fact that they have ( until very recently ) all but ignored his part in the design of the S-30 series Z. This is all bad blood from the mid-Seventies, when he walked out of Nissan and never went back. I think its interesting that the location of the Handbrake on the Z33 is seemingly being biased towards the LHD market. Isn't it also on the left side of the tunnel for the RHD market cars? That would appear to be a reversal of the S30-series situation, and probably a recognition of the fact that they KNEW they would sell more Z33's in LHD than RHD? Alan T.