HS30-H

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.

I haven't seen the magazine article in question, but I'm sure they made the best job of it they could considering their target readership and the resources they had at hand. Anybody making an effort to write about "our" cars is going to have to refer to previously-published works which quite often contain errors and misunderstandings. I'll try not to belittle their efforts, as I have personal experience of writing to a deadline and about something that one might not necessarily have an all-consuming interest in. You can't please everybody when writing articles like that. Hope nobody's holding their breath waiting for my labour of love. I'm still learning about these cars and I'm not smug enough to think I know even tuppence-worth about them yet......... I've been gathering information / pics / data / anecdotes and conducting 'interviews' with certain parties with regard to MY area of interest - which largely centres around the Works circuit race and rally cars and everything connected with them. Standard road cars - with the exception of homologation specials and other rare beasts including notable privateer teams and their cars - will not really figure. I think most of the standard road "Export" cars have had a fair share of coverage in any previous publications, so there's probably a case for leaving them out. It would however be nice to see a little more background on the actual PROCESS of putting a range of cars like the S30-series Z cars together. When Kats made his recent posts after talking to Nissan Shatai ( who made the bodies for our cars ) and to Matsuo san, I thought it was one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking posts that I've ever seen on this or any other Z site. I just loved to see Matsuo san's private photos of one the prototype cars, and Kats quoted Matsuo san on a few specific details which were enormously interesting. It was like looking through a dirty window into another altogether unknown world. To me, that just brings home the fact that SO LITTLE detail about the evolution of the cars that we love ever seems to be published in the English language ( or any other language apart from Japanese ). Considering so little of the actual background seems to get written about, its an added frustration that what little DOES get published always seems to contain oft-repeated errors and plain inaccuracy. If I eventually end up publishing, it will almost certainly be classed as 'Vanity Publishing' - with a very small run and a relatively high price to cover costs. Picture clearance is one of the biggest obstacles, as I have put together a pretty good collection of rare pics but one needs to get clearance from the copyright owners to use them. Like I said - don't hold your breath. This may be a lifetime's work. All the best, Alan T.:classic:

Hi Victor, Well, the plumbing sounds correct - so that should eliminate my questions on that issue. As far as I am concerned, blocking the return feed to the tank is important - so that's good news. Getting proper "O"ringed gaskets between the carb bodies and the manifold, and their correct rubber or spring washers, is going to help with insulating them from heat soak. Keeping them slightly 'loose' ( but still leak-tight ) against the manifold is going to protect from frothing which can occur at particular frequencies depending on the characteristics of your engine. Hopefully that insulation your are carrying out will make a great difference. Good luck, Alan T.