HS30-H

Benoit, Did you manage to get in touch with Janspeed? You have asked about the Janspeed turbo conversion on here a few times now, and it makes me wonder how far you actually got with Janspeed. Its no use trying to e-mail them - I don't think you will get any response. As far as I know, they do not have an e-mail address that is for the use of the general public. I think I advised you to try contacting them either by telephone ( if you feel confident enough about your spoken your English ) or by letter. I think if you tell them about your car, and you quote the conversion number ( from the Janspeed plate in the engine bay ) then I think they might be able to help you. However, this is something that they sold MANY years ago - so you will have to talk to the right person inside the company. Most of the younger staff will probably have no idea what you are talking about. This conversion was made before many of the technicians there were born! Failing that, I can try to get the information that you need from them on your behalf. I'm willing to give it a try if you tell me what you need to know. You need to be specific about your problems and you have to be sure that you are not blaming other more basic spark and fuel problems on the Janspeed parts. Also, how do you know that the turbine itself is still in good condition after so long being unused? If its a Micro Dynamics control unit, then what do you need to know? Again - it might be a good idea to try contacting them direct. You will at least need to try to identify the part that you are enquiring about. Does it have a design or model number on the unit? Alan T.

Interesting points there, 26thZ. I've often been told by people who were involved with the manufacturing of the Z and its components in Japan that the sudden boom in US / North American sales demand took them completely by surprise. Of course, they were hoping that the Z would sell well in that market - but it was never a 'done deal' and they had a hard time keeping up with demand once it started to get really popular. I have seen some of the early USA marketing stuff and I can see that the promotion of the car was at first rather conservative. In my opinion, Nissan's US operation somewhat underestimated the aspirations and expectations of many of the S30's buyers for their territory. It seems clear that many of the decisions regarding the spec of the USA market cars were greatly influenced by NMC USA and Mr Katayama in particular. I quite agree that some of the details of the USA market cars were influenced by cost considerations, but that's not the whole story is it? Making lower rate springs, and 'softer' bump and rebound rates for the dampers costs no more or less than making the specs that the other market versions used. Additionally, its clear that even the Japanese domestic market cars were subject to cost-cutting and design concessions - but they still got the opportunity to buy a model that was equipped with a close ratio 5-speed transmission right from the release of the car in 1969. In my opinion, NMC USA slightly underestimated the knowledge and sophistication of its potential market. If they were hoping to poach customers from the British sportscar crowd, as well as the American Muscle Car and Italian Exotics crowds, then they could have been a bit more bold and made the spec of the USA market cars a little less conservative. That it was such a huge success anyway makes it rather difficult for me to follow through the theory. As a "what if..." it is all rather irrelevant - but nonetheless I find it interesting to wonder out loud what and why. Alan T.

Good point, Zedrally. I should have made it clear that the 'default' transmission in most other Export markets apart from the USA / North American market was indeed the 5-speed. However, I don't think its 100% true that there was "no option" apart from the race and rally boxes. All the parts data I have for the UK and Australian markets suggests that buyers in these markets DID in fact have the possibility to specify that the car they were buying be fitted with the 4-speed transmission. The key point seems to be that most dealers were not aware of this fact or did not bother to inform their customers of the fact. I would be surprised if even ONE buyer in these markets decided to have a four-speed instead of the standard five-speed. I'm sure that to most minds the 5-speed would have seemed a better choice at the same price. I've always thought it interesting that the Japanese domestic market got such a good choice of specs, but that the Export markets seemed to get one spec choice only. What's even more interesting is that the USA / North American spec. was pegged with the 4-speed ( or Auto ) and its corresponding diff ratio, while all other Export markets had the 5-speed ( or Auto ) and its corresponding diff ratio - along with the other detail differences that made the USA / North American markets 'softer' than the other Export market models. Clearly that was a marker as to what Nissan and its local importers thought the public in those markets were looking for in these cars. You'd have to wonder whether the default 4-speed was the 'right' decision for the USA / North American market - especially in the light of so many 5-speeds being retro-fitted to cars that were previously 4-speed equipped when new. I don't see or hear of many 4-speeds being put into cars that were previously 5-speed. Alan T.

Yep - Victor's got it. All Japanese market Z's are Fairladies. From October 1969 the Japanese market only had the choice of S30 Fairlady Z or Z-L ( both "S30" VIN prefixes ) or Fairlady Z 432 and 432-R ( "PS30" VIN prefixes ). Fairlady Z and Z-L had the L20A engine and the 432 and 432-R had the S20 twin cam. Both were under the 2 Litre capacity limit. The 5-speed transmissions ( FS5C71-A ) were standard on the Fairlady Z-L, 432 and 432-R and optional equipment on the base-model Fairlady Z. From October 1971 the Japanese market got the additional choice of the Fairlady 240Z, Fairlady 240Z-L and Fairlady 240Z-G ( all "HS30" VIN prefixed ) which had the L24 engine in twin-carb form - much like many other Export market Z's. Again, most models had the 5-speed transmission ( the FS5C71-B in these later cars ) with the 5-speed as an option in the Fairlady 240Z base model. Victor's question about your VIN prefix is key. It determines a real lot - but not everything! Please try to stop thinking of the 5-speed in the car as a "Roadster" 5-speed. In some ways I can understand that line of thinking, but the "A" 5-speed was not JUST a Roadster box in other markets. That's just the ( understandable ) American perspective. All other markets apart from the USA / North American market got the choice of the 5-speed transmission right from the beginning of sales. Good to hear of another Fairlady "on the run" in the USA! Was it a souvenir brought home by a US Serviceman / woman? Alan T.

Good question................. Since the Japanese domestic market mirrors are mounted in pre-drilled ( pressed ) holes in the fenders, this is probably not something that is usually a problem. When I mounted the mirrors on my previous everyday driver ( the red UK market car ) I drilled the holes for them after measuring the positions from my ZG. I certainly can't remember seeing anything official from Nissan that gives measurements for these positions. I'll have another look through my literature and see what I can find though. What I CAN do is measure the positions from the ZG again. As far as I remember, they are asymmetric; that is, one side is in a different position to the other. I think its the driver's side that is CLOSER to the driver than the other - so you LHD guys might have to take that into account. I guess the measurements could be transposed to give an LHD set of measurements. This is not something that is immediately apparent, but its true - they really are asymmetrically mounted. These mirrors magnify quite a bit, and you can have a REAL hard job getting the actual mirror part pointed where you want it. They are so far away from the driver that a very small move of the mirror angle makes a BIG difference in what you can see in it from the driver's seat. Once they are right, you screw them up tight and theoretically forget 'em. You can't see as much in them as a door-mirror, but you get used to it and learn to trust them. Its actually quite good that you don't have to move your head much to use them; just a flick of the eyes. I'll go to the garage over the weekend and try to take accurate measurements for you from the ZG's mirror positions. All the best, Alan T.

........and here's a close-up of the sprung base and the black plastic stem mount. You can see the size of the holes that you need to drill by looking at the shape of the black plastic stem mount. This goes on the outside of the fender, and the sprung base goes on the inside ( under the wheelarch ). See the hole size? Alan T.

Hi BW, If you are talking about the Japanese domestic market fender mirrors ( the genuine Nissan parts ) then you DON'T have to take off the fenders to mount them. You should be able to get good access to the mounting area by jacking up your car and taking off the front wheels ( make sure you do this safely and don't leave the car on the jack while you are under it ). Unless you have the aftermarket plastic splash-protectors under your arches, then you should be able to get to where you need to be. These mirrors mount on a sprung base ( it was sprung for pedestrian safety ) and the sprung base goes underneath the fender. There is a rod which passes from the mirror stem through the plastic mount base and into the sprung base. A simple nut secures the mirror stem to the sprung base. The problem is that proper mounting of the plastic base requires you to drill one BIG hole and one small hole in your fender top sheetmetal. Some owners are reluctant to do this. The Japanese domestic fenders came with these holes pre-drilled from the Factory. If you are talking about an aftermarket "bullet" style mirror, then you would simply have to drill the holes that mount the base through the sheetmetal. You could nut these up underneath the fenders in the same way. Without seeing them however, its difficult to comment. Here's an "exploded" view of a Japanese domestic market fender mirror for your delectation: Alan T.

Hi Brian, Dream on. The head of the S20 engine ( found on the PGC10, KPGC10 and KPGC110 Skyline GT-R's, and the PS30 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z 432 and 432-R ) will NOT fit any L-series sixes. Apart from the obvious issues of water and oil passages not coming even close to lining up, you have the problem of turning the oil pump and distributor drive from the L-series crank to fit the S20 head's arrangement. Also the problem of adapting a single OHC chain drive to a double cam arrangement with a completely different chain tensioning system and length. You'd be looking at different pistons, modified to make use of the S20's hemispherical combustion chamber shape too. There are myriad other issues with this idea, and it really is a non-starter. The price of a good used S20 cylinder head alone would probably scare you off before you even got around to figuring what you would need to do to make it fit and work properly. The Nissan "LY" or "Crossflow" head for the L-series six is such a rare beast in Japan that very high premiums are paid for them. The last time I saw an "LY" head for sale in Japan it was for a huge amount of money, and it was not even complete. Also, don't forget that the the proper "LY" used a different Crank, Rods and Pistons from the normal L-series engine. I get the feeling that you are probably looking for more power, but that you aren't really a 'purist' or period tuning parts collector. If this is the case, then you are probably better off trying to get what you want from an L-series engine or going for a later model engine transplant. An RB25 swap would be far more easy and economical than the above options, for example. Alan T. PS - Just in case you haven't seen the business side of an S20 head, here's a picture of mine which is awaiting rebuild at the moment:

Yes - I thought the original theme of the data list was for RHD "Export" cars only? I did not give you my data, as both my RHD cars are non-Export Japanese domestic market versions. I also got the impression that it was for cars that are still "alive" ( as opposed to scrapped / junked ). Sounds like the job of a life-time, but very well worth doing nonetheless. Any extra data on the RHD cars is always worth gathering. :classic: Alan T.

I just happened to be watching this thread Guus. Don't expect it to work every time! I really ought to be WORKING on my computer instead of dropping in here every now and then for a 'tea break'.....:classic: Alan T.

Hi Guus, Yes - the "Datsun Compe." steering wheel is a straight bolt-on to the early S30-series Z cars. You would not have any problem there. It even has all the horn mechanism and indicator cancelling device that the standard wheel has. Just a word of advice about the website links posted above. "Datsun Freeway" used to be "Japan Datsun Service", and is a very well known company in Japan amongst early Z owners. You might find that some of the things they show on their web pages are no longer available, as they are in many cases 'one-off' or limited quantity NOS parts. Its a case of first-come first-served. I'm not saying its the case with all of the parts they have on there - but like most business websites, updates don't come as quick as we might ideally like. They have some English language pages on their website as far as I remember. Good luck, Alan T.

Why are you even considering an engine swap? Surely the first part you should consider tracking down and fitting would be an LSD? That's the first thing that is going to help you to "drift" your car. Getting your car to perform well in an autocross or "drifting" situation is more a function of the suspension and transmission / diff than it is of the engine. Alan T.

Looks to me that we are not comparing apples with apples here. The Brown ( ? ) 911 in the pics is not really a fair comparison with an early S30-series Z car, as its far too late a model and has crappy USA-spec suspension ( by the looks of it ) and the ugly 5mph impact bumpers. A better comparison would be 1969 Z against 1969 911. The 911 debuted a good few years earlier than the Z, but comparing models that could be bought in a showroom during the same period would seem to be a fairer basis for comparison. If you do this then the comparison might start getting a bit more even. The earlier and simpler 911's are a lot prettier than the later-Seventies versions ( in my opinion ) and have a lot of street 'presence'. A nice simple 911S starts getting difficult to put down so easily looks-wise, and will outperform an early Z in most areas ( especially if the early Z happens to be a USA / North American market model:devious: ). Maybe a 911T or E would be a better like-for-like comparison. The 911 has a pretty successful competition history ( to put it mildly ) - even if you look at just the pre-1975 era. The early Z did really well in competition compared to many cars, but comes nowhere near the early 911 results-wise. I'm a through-and-through early Z enthusiast who used to drive Porsches, and I see the merits and demerits on both sides. One of the 911's problems for people like 'us' is that we tend to associate the 911 ( and other cars ) with a stereotypical image. Usually this reflects our own view of our personal socio-economic status, and our prejudices. I can relate to this, but I have personal experience of early ( and late! ) 911's - and you have to judge the machinery and not your image of its owner. If I had money to spare then an early 911 would definitely be part of MY stable of cars. The early 911 is about a lot more than its static looks........... Alan T.

and here's a scan of the back page, which shows the roll-over bar and its mounting / support brackets, as well as the front Overfenders ( the rear Overfenders are listed but not pictured ):

Ah OK Gee - now I see what you mean. Yes, it looks as though that car has either an original Sports Option roll-over bar or a copy of one. As requested, here's a scan of the front page of the Z432R Sports Option parts list: Alan T.

Zedrally - This is indeed the factory-homologated type of roll-over bar that we are discussing. They were available to buy from Nissan in Japan ( through the Sports Option parts lists ) from early 1970 onwards. Steve ( Zvoiture ), they COULD be considered a true 'bolt-in' part if the brackets that fixed the two centre drops to the floor were simply bolted in with nuts and bolts - rather than the 'Works' style of brazing in more captives and the reinforcing plates to the floor at those two points. All you needed to do was drill through the floor at those points and put the bolts through. Doing them up properly would be a four-hand operation though. The reinforcing plates just sandwiched between the floor and the nuts or bolts from the underside of the car. I've spoken to friends in Japan about these captive nuts now, and they tell me that as far as they are aware the captive nuts in the shell are precisely for the purpose of mounting these cages. It was suggested in a previous post that they were originally jig or production line fixture mounts, and that the body may have been supported at these points as it went through some processes at the Factory. My friends tell me that the Z production line utilised cradle supports that went UNDER the body and supported it's weight from underneath. As far as they are concerned, the Z body was never supported or transported in any other way during the manufacturing process. That's the fresh info I have and I thought it worth posting here. If anybody has any better information or interesting theories then I'm all ears and eyes. Alan T.

Hi Gee, Do you mean the car in sjcurtis's pic? The period 70's shot of the red, black and white car? Great pic, that. That's a privateer team entry using a lot of 'Works' and Sports Option race parts. The team was "Tokyo Nichi Futsu Racing" and they had some some success in Group 4 and 5 races in Japan right up to the mid Eighties. My pal Shun Koike has the very rear spoiler from the pictured car on his 240ZR replica. When the race car was split for parts he bought the rear spoiler and hung onto it for years. It would indeed have had the Sports Option roll-over bar ( the four point one ) as was being discussed in another thread. That reminds me - I must revive that thread to add some extra info. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Mr C. Sorry - I didn't see your question until now. The Z432 and Z432R were never sold by Nissan with 'Overfender' flares fitted. However, the Overfender package was offered in the "Sports Option" parts catalogue for the Z432R, which was issued in 1970. The part numbers for the 432R Sports Option Overfenders were exactly the same as those later used on the production 240ZG. If we want to split hairs, it would not be wrong to say that the ZG used 432R Overfenders.................. If you want to simply fit the 432R / ZG style Overfenders, then no real surgery is required ( they just pop-rivet onto the sheetmetal ). However, if you want to make full use of the wider wheel and tyre combinations that you can fit - then you will have to consider cutting out the original wheelarch lips. How high you take this is up to you, but the Factory race cars were cut and welded very high in the rear arches; just about as high as the mounting face for the Overfenders. All the best, Alan T.