HS30-H

Gav, Thanks for the kind comments about the car. However, it really IS the dark choccy brown that people associate with S***! If you saw it in the shade, or out of clear sunlight ( evening is best ) then you can see it in its 'true' shade. It seems to get lighter in sunlight. It's not everybody's cup of tea. Its absolute hell to keep looking clean too. Its shows up absolutely everything, and there are lots of little scratches, stone chips and more serious marks almost everywhere - but particularly at the front. There must be something about the shape of the G-Nose that funnels flying stones up and onto the bonnet ( hood ) more than the short-nose car. I've never suffered so much stone damage as I have with this car............ Alan T.

Great! Glad that the numbers were of help, and I hope it will be useful info for others too now that its going to be in the 'archives' so to speak ( as mperdue pointed out ). Its nice to finish off a thread and bring it to a successful conclusion too. All the best, Alan T.

Tanny, It would be nice to know whether my efforts were any help or not. To go to a bit of trouble to dig out what I thought was the relevant info and then not get any response is a little bit disappointing to say the least............................ Alan T.

Must be how dark they look in pictures that makes people think that mine are black. They are actually metallic Gunmetal Grey ( the colour is called Anthracite Grey ) and they are the same colour as the Bumpers and Overfenders on my ZG. BURGUNDY????!!!!!!! Must be another problem with picture colour, as the colour of my ZG is original factory Grand Prix Maroon - which is not really Maroon at all, and is best described as a pure brown, as its not got much red in the colour. Gets a lot of choice comments ( "s*** brown" etc ) but its the correct Factory colour, so I think I can live with the funny looks and amusing asides. The original Factory Sports Option 8-spoke wheels came in a satin black finish and that's how they were used on the Factory race cars. It was this look that really started the ball rolling for the Japanese street look of dark wheels - but they are a devil to keep clean if they are not lacquered. That's pretty much why you will see a lot of dark metallic grey wheels with lacquer on them in Japan. My tip for a good look is the darkest metallic grey colour you can find, and to lacquer them for ease in cleaning. Both BMW and Opel have factory paint colours that look just right. Alan T.

Hi Eric, Congratulations on your new race car. Hope you do well with it. 2ManyZ's posted the list of the names for the different "B" box ( 'Bent Stick' FS5C71-B option box ) transmissions and their ratios - which you should copy and file away for future reference. That's useful data. I think that the spare box you have is the "Option 2" Direct Drive ( fifth gear is 1:1 ratio - ie. not overdrive ) and the shift pattern is the 'Dogleg' first ( first gear is all the way over to the left and back, and reverse is all the way over to the left and forward, leaving second, third, fourth and fifth in the conventional 'H' gate pattern ). Does that make sense? If it doesn't then I'm not explaining properly! The idea of the 1:1 Direct Drive top gear is that in a pure race car you don't really need an overdriven top gear at all - as long as your Final Drive ratio and driven tyre size are correctly matched to the max revs that you want to turn. The idea of the 'Dogleg' shift pattern is that when racing you very rarely need first gear, and the 'H' pattern gate of the remaining 4 forward gears makes it a lot less likely that you will 'wrong slot' and ruin the transmission ( or worse..... ). Sorry if you already know the above, but you might not. Coincidentally, I've been using an "Option 2" box on my car for a while now ( even though its not a race car ) and rowing it along in the gears is real fun. Its just that first-to-second shift that takes a moment longer. Its mated to a 3.9 R200 with LSD, and my rear tyre size is 225 / 60-14 at the moment. I don't find that too frantic for my engine, although prolonged high-speed cruising on the Motorways here in the UK ( max legal speed 70mph ) can be tiring. To be honest, a final drive ratio of 4.1 or 4.375 would also be OK for me ( a lot more interesting around the backroads and occasional circuit drives ). For your AutoX and track work, I think it would be fun for you to try the Option 2 box for a while. If you have good engine power then a 3.7 or 3.9 rear end ratio might be OK. If you are limited for torque ( like me ) then a numerically higher diff ratio might be more suited to it. Depends on your tyre size of course. If you want to turn the Option 2 box into funds to use elsewhere on the car, then you could sell it for quite a few dollars. You might be pleasantly surprised! Good luck, Alan T.

Hi James, Bad luck, but I'm sure you'll get a good car in the end. Thanks for closing the thread. It makes things nice and neat. All the best, Alan T.

George, You might also like to ponder on the fact that the HLS30 and HS30 cars switched the different spring rates for the front springs, quite apart from the fact that the LHD and RHD cars had different spring rates anyway. That means ( I think:ermm:) that it was not JUST about balancing up the weight of the engine. It must also have been about the driver too? There was also a special spring for one side at the front of the car for when the car was fitted with Factory Air-Con. Of course, this must have been to balance up extra weight added by the Air-Con parts. I've promised to write out a list of part numbers for all the different springs for the different markets and different models. I've come unstuck because I've noticed part numbers that are very similar and look like a misprint in the Factory parts lists. I've asked a Japanese friend to check out his data to cross-ref this but he says he's confused now too! There seem to be hundreds of the darned things! Its a real can of worms:cross-eye Alan T.

Hmmm, that's a difficult one and an easy one at the same time. It seems these kinds of terms mean different things to different people, but amongst the group of like-minded people that I hang out with we would define "Semi Works" as a car that was close to Factory spec. in many respects, and would have had to have a good few proper Works parts on it to qualify as such. A real "Works" or "Ex-Works" car would have to have been built by the Factory or the Factory's appointed constructor, with a specially-selected / fabricated bodyshell ( part no.1 ). A semi-Works car would have to be in some way endorsed by the Factory, or at least have a hell of a lot of the 'right' stuff on it........... I think its easy to pin down the meaning of "Works", and a lot less easy to define the "Semi-Works" term. I also think its a historical fact, and is not possible to change or make something what it originally was not. So if you took a Factory "Works" Rally car and turned it into a coffee table, it would still be a Works Rally car ( if you know what I mean! ). With a semi-Works car, you certainly could not turn it into a full Works car, although you COULD turn it into a coffee table. Where am I going with this????!!!!.......... I think the cars in the photos that Guus posted are ( like his own car ) replicas of Works cars. That is, the intention is for them to look and perform in a similar way to the genuine Works cars - without actually pretending that they indeed ARE the real thing. Guus, in Kevin Bristow's case I think you are getting mixed up between the TWO cars that he owns. "OMT" - the yellow car that he has rallied for many years with great success, was originally put together ( based on a standard UK-market road car ) by the staff at Old Woking Service Station - which was the Datsun garage where the Works rally team made their base when they were in the UK. It carries a number of proper "Works" parts that were pirated / salvaged / bought from the Works rally operation and fitted to the car. Kevin has sometimes called "OMT" a 'Semi-Works' car, but this is probably stretching the truth a little. On the other hand, his genuine ex-Works rally 240Z ( the 1971 RAC Rally car driven by Edgar Herrmann which he has been restoring for many years and has not yet driven) is without any argument THE REAL THING - that is, a full Works-built ( at Oppama ) and dedicated Factory rally car, with just about 95% of its original fittings and parts left intact. This is a very special car indeed, and could be used to define the term "Works" car. But as I say, these terms seem to mean different things to different people......... Alan T.

St.stephen, Thanks for the support. Here's what the UK price guides say: *Datsun 240Z = ~ 8,500 *Datsun 260Z = ~ 7,250 *Ferrari Dino 246GT = ~ 55,000 *Lamborghini Miura = ~ 70,000 Those prices are in Pounds Sterling, and for "Condition 1" cars. Must say that the really good stuff seems to go for more than that over here - so the price guides are a bit conservative. Condition is ALL when it comes to the top money though. The really best Creme-de-la-Kremlin stuff seems to change hands for top money and never gets advertised. All the best, Alan T.

So it looks like the part number that you need is 32703-78103 for the 4-speed up to 8/71 in USA and all the 5-speeds, or 32703-P2619 for the post 9/71 in USA 4-speeds. It would have been a lot easier if they called a spade a spade and just said "A" or "B" type - but there you go. Those Japanese manual numbers are probably different because its a really early edition. The Datsun Competition manual numbers will probably be more help to you if ordering in the USA. Alan T.

And here's the diagram of the parts that the numbers relate to;

Here's a page from the Nissan Sport Service ( Factory race and rally parts manual ) manual for option transmissions. Notice that the numbers are different, but I think they are in many cases the same parts; Alan T.

OK - I've scanned a page from an old Datsun Competition parts catalogue which seems to have most of the information ( and even in English ). I hope that the numbers will be legible from this scan. Alan T.

Victor, I'm willing to try to help. I have some part numbers for the speedo gears, but what transmission is it for? Is it the "A" type or the "B" type, and is it 4-speed or 5-speed? If you can get back with a reply, in the meantime I'll go and dig out the tranny book from the cupboard ( its a danger to your health just to open the doors at the moment; I'll have to wear a hard hat! ). Alan T.

Well Trex, I'm sorry that you seem to have missed my caveat about 'opinions expressed....' at the bottom of my post. I'm also sorry that my opinion is not a reflection of the truth as you see it, but surely you can't expect everybody to think the same way as you? What makes you think that I have not met Spike Anderson, and what makes you think that I would have a different opinion about the Samuri hype of the UK-based Z scene after having met the man behind the company? There are many stories about Spike being a 'loveable rogue' and a bit of a scamp, and I hear plenty of kind words about him as a person. I told a little story about Samuri, and there are plenty more - but I don't think they are all bad or all good. You also seem to think that I have not met Win Percy, but I have. Win has his own opinion, but he would wouldn't he? Nothing wrong with that. Presumably you have your own story to tell - so go ahead and tell it. That's what this kind of site is all about. Surely you can't expect everybody to agree with you? I don't expect everyone to agree with me ( and they evidently don't! ). My own car would seem to have little to do with the Samuri topic, but you seem to think it does. I can't see why you think I am "lucky" to come across an HS30-H ( luck had very little to do with it, and my car had several owners before me ) and you seem to be trying to bring that model type into the discussion in some kind of competition against the HS30. I don't see the relevance of this. They both had identical mechanical specification. Please also note that the 'H' suffix in the Factory code for the ZG does not appear in the VIN / Chassis number. I'm glad that you mentioned Tim Riley. Tim recently emigrated to New Zealand, and will be sadly missed from the Z scene here in the UK. In my opinion, Tim's work was vastly underrated. He put an awful lot of time and thought into Big Sam, but when it goes well now Samuri get all the plaudits. That's an injustice, and it's just the kind of thing that I kick back against. The scene here in the UK is such a blinkered one that people like Tim don't get the credit they deserve, but the Samuri name seems to get more than its fair share. I don't quite know what you mean by "ivory ZG tower" - but it would seem to reflect your own personal bias and prejudice, to which you are entitled just like I am. If I did not own ANY car, would this make my opinion any less valid? I can't see how my car has anything to do with this thread. I also have not set myself up as some kind of historian, but If you see my posts in this way then that's up to you. I should not think that Spike will worry too much about having to 'forgive' me or not. The Samuri legend is well established in the UK, and has spread to other parts of the world too. If you want to post some information regarding the Samuri conversion cars, then please go ahead ( that's what the original post was requesting ). Differences of opinion are healthy, and there's nothing wrong with discussion without confrontation. Keeping it all interesting and good natured is the 'black art' - not cylinder head porting. Best wishes, Alan T.:classic:

Phil, I'm glad you concur. That makes just two of us here in the UK that don't believe the hype........... That Samuri legend is a really hard thing to kick back against, as everyone in the UK seems to connect the early Z to the Samuri name. Last time out in my ZG I was filling up at a petrol station and got asked the Samuri question ( you know the drill - "Is it a genuine Samuri?" ). No it bloody well isn't! I've seen some really nasty work on some of the cars that *purport* to be Samuri conversions ( there's lots of fakes out there, or just stuff that is mistaken for being Samuri ). Some of the intake manifolds and linkages can be laughable; differing lengths of linkage to each carb and even three different series of Weber on one manifold. The mind boggles. You are going to have merry fun if you expect your car to fit in to any category at a car show. I would not worry too much about it if I were you. You can't really expect the judges to know too much about what they are looking at. Mind you, I got an unexpected award once just for parking up at a show. A car club for a different type of car gave my car their "Your Car Is Cool" award - which I was quite chuffed about. I don't go to many shows now. I prefer to see the cars moving and not static, or at least mixed up with other different types and marques. Leads to much more interesting conversation. Fred! Sean's coming to see me on his way back from visiting Dave Jarman next Wednesday. He'll be bringing some stuff back for you, as long as he doesn't get lost! ( I have to make a good map for him ). He tells me he's originally from south London. Usually we don't let those foreigners over this side of the river:bunny: I hope hope he'll be carrying his passport......... Alan T.

Hi Guus, Great pics! Must be great fun driving on those kind of surfaces. I'm puzzled by the no.5 car's front end spec. Its obviously an LHD car, but its got the UK-spec. front valance corner panels ( no Indicator cut-outs ) and the corresponding oblong indicator lights on the front bumper. Very strange. Do you think it might have originally been a UK-market RHD car converted to LHD? Do you know the owner at all? Interesting to see that all three owners went for the "Works" rally paint scheme. Tony Fall was also competing this year ( I heard ) but I didn't spot his car in the photos. Maybe he had already crashed or broken by then ( as usual....... ). Did you hear anything about him? The UK motorsport press didn't mention anything much about the Historic Monte this year. There are four 240Z 'Post Historic' class entries in the Welsh Rally this coming weekend. Its too far for me to go and spectate but I'll let you know the results when I hear them. All the best, Alan T.

No shame Alfadog, There's really not very much that's special about 99% of the so-called "Samuri" conversions that you will come across. Most of them consisted of a bit of porting on the head ( in many cases just matching the inlet and exhaust ports to their manifolds ) maybe a set of carbs, and an exhaust system ( often Janspeed, but sometimes GDS ). Not all of them came with the "special" paint job either. Frankly, I'm not a believer in the hype about the Samuri Conversions legend. They were the most prominent of the few tuning companies in the UK that were messing about with the Z back in the mid Seventies to late Eighties period, but that's not saying much. For some reason they got a reputation in the UK-based Z scene for being demon tuners, but this was largely based on the image that their race cars made for them. BIG SAM was indeed a fast car ( and still is ) - but was based on a Works rally bodyshell, and is considerably stiffer than the stock shell. Its on its second Works shell now, and still comes out occasionally - but there is very little of the original ( Samuri prepped ) spec. remaining. Most of the work that you see on the car now was performed by Tim Riley, and is quite different to when it was raced in the mid Seventies. Most of the road-spec. Samuri cars disappeared many years ago, and what is left now seems to be pretty iffy stuff. Its very hard to prove that a car purporting to be a Samuri actually IS one ( supposing that you would WANT to prove that it is ) as they were never properly logged of identified by Samuri. The UK-based Z owners clubs both have a separate 'class' for Samuri versions, as do some of the UK price-guides in the classic car magazines. I have never been able to get my head around this. The cars are still 99% Nissan, and a bit of porting and a two tone paint job don't make them special in my book............ There are LOTS of funny ( and not so funny ) stories about the activities of Samuri, and their somewhat hit and miss approach to business. One of my favourites came from a chap who took his 260Z to Samuri for a ported cylinder head and exhaust conversion. He made the mistake of turning up a day early to collect his car, only to find the Samuri proprietor with his backside in the air, cigarette in mouth, leaning into the engine bay with die-grinder in hand, merrily grinding away at the inlet and exhaust ports. The head was still on the engine, and he had stuffed toilet roll down the ports to stop the swarf falling past the valves! The owner said that the car went quite well afterwards, but he could not get the image of all that aluminium dust flying around out of his mind.............. Joseph, are you SURE you want a Samuri? You could do a much better job yourself you know. Alan T. ( opinions expressed are my own personal bias and prejudice, and do not necessarily correspond with those of classiczcars.com:bunny:)

Japan actually did not get the S130 Z with the L28 and turbo combination. They got a normal-aspiration L28 model, but the turbo equipped models were all L20 based. The 280ZX Turbo was not a USA-only model - as some other territories had it too. If you are looking for a car on Japanese auction sites, you would need to key in "S130" or more specific details of the model type in your search. For the 2-litre turbo models, try keying in "S130JTB" or "KS130JTB" for the 2-seaters, and "GS130T", "GS130ST" or "GS130JTB" for the 2+2 models. Bear in mind that they will all be L20ET engined - so maybe not what you want. Don't know if you could wangle it or not, but importing a Japanese-market 2 litre car and then upgrading to an L28 Turbo engine would not be a problem here in the UK. We have very user-friendly laws regarding that kind of thing over here - but I guess Australia is different? We got the S130 with L28 and Turbo here in the UK, and there are hardly any of them left on the road in decent condition now......... Alan T.

That's probably the "Fairlady Z" look you are after, as the Fairlady ZG didn't have a mesh grille ( or indeed any grille ). The reason for the extremely high Dollar prices of parts like the mirrors is that the dealers and others who are selling them now are just buying them at RETAIL prices from Japan. Some Japanese specialists have limited supplies of deadstock / NOS parts, and its also still possible to find NOS parts being sold privately by owners who bought them in the past and did not use them. The going prices for these items are gradually increasing in Japan, and when you pay Dollars it makes them look extremely expensive ( especially if you pay in $AUS ). I pay in £STG, which has a supposedly better exchange rate, but I still find buying parts in Japan painful. The Japanese over-the-counter prices have always been higher than in other territories, as Nissan - along with many other companies - set their retail prices to suit the market that they are selling in. If they did not do this, they would never sell anything at all in markets such as Africa and South America. Even though the parts are made in Japan, Japan still has the highest retail prices. Mesh grilles, 'fender-mount' mirrors and Fairlady emblems are all still available in Japan - but they are expensive. Some of the 'official' dealers in the USA are able to get occasional supply of items like the grilles, and when they do they get the advantage of the market-adjusted prices on them. If you bought the same item in Japan it would be more expensive................ Ironically, some parts sold in the USA have for many years been finding their way back to Japan. Some Japanese owners noticed that the USA prices on certain items were cheaper than the Japanese prices - even when including shipping and duty - and made small orders with companies such as TWEEKS and MSA etc. Best place for anyone without Japanese connections to look for these kinds of items is still on the net. The auction sites are a bit hit and miss but more and more people are seeing the interest in these pieces and are filling the gap. Prices are always going to be painful............... Alan T.

I thought Mel Gibson was Australian. Was he actually a Yank all that time? Stone the crows, he had me fooled. Somebody put me straight on that one will you? I'm not sure about "Drawing the raw prawn" ( I thought that was a reference to showing the one-eyed trouser snake the light of day ) but "Stone the crows" is certainly older than its Australian use. I believe that its London slang ( not rhyming ) or Naval slang, and I feel sure I've seen it used in work by Mayhew or Dickens. Talking about literature, that was quite a piece by go z racer, go wasn't it? Your talents are wasted, sir. This thread is like flipping the channels on the TV remote! Alan T.

Please don't cut out the seat-mount members - they are an integral part of the shell and cutting them out will make your bodyshell weaker. I don't know about the USA, but for just about any race / rally / autoX series here in the UK you would not be allowed past scrutineering with seats just bolted to the floor. You'd be amazed how much this would tear up your floor - especially with a bit of spirited high-G driving, and the safety issues in the event of an accident don't bear thinking about. The best thing to do is to lower the stock seat members by cutting and shutting them. You might want to take the time to gusset them at the points where they join the trans tunnel and the inside of the sill ( rocker panel to you ). I had Corbeau GT8 buckets in my previous car ( a 73 model ) and had to lower the seat members to get a proper driving position. The Corbeaus, like a lot of aftermarket seats, have quite a thick seat base - which causes you to be sitting quite high if you still use the stock sliders. Even if you bolt the seat direct to the seat members it still leaves them quite high. Cut and shut the seat crossmembers properly and be done with it. Do it properly and be safe. Good luck, Alan T.