HS30-H

Hi Gee, Sounds like this particular car is no. "HS30-00131" - which makes it the 131st "HS30" ( RHD "240Z" - in this case Australian market ) to be assigned a body number. Please remember that the "HLS30" VIN prefix cars ( most of them were the USA / North American market LHD "240Z" models ) had their own set of build numbers, which run quite seperately from the "HS30" / "PS30" / "S30" series cars - which all had their own set of numbers. That means that theoretically there would have been the following cars with the following numbers: *"S30-00131" *"PS30-00131" *"HLS30-00131" *"HS30-00131" ( "your" car ). So it doesn't mean its the 131st of ALL early Z cars, it means its just 131st of the "HS30" VIN prefixed cars. Australia got most of the first few hundred of the "HS30" series cars ( although #33 and #34 were brought to the UK for publicity / show purposes ) - so this particular car is one of the first batch of Australian imports. When you go to see the car, I would recommend that you still have a good look at the VIN number on the firewall and make sure it says "HS30-00131" as the vendor seems to be implying. Like Z Kid pointed out above - anything could have happened in the last 30 years and another car could have donated parts or even its whole shell to this car. Z Kid's advice to check, check and check again is very sound. Is "bolts" a local Australian term for the rear hatch struts? The only thing I could think of last night was exhausts or exhaust pipes, but Z Kid's suggestion makes much more sense now. If it has lost its original "vented" rear hatch ( which would have had a single gas strut ) it could be replaced - but it might be a good bargaining point. Gav, when I said "dual exhausts" I meant the twin-pipe system that ended in the one-up-one-down rear box as fitted to all S20-equipped Z cars from the Factory, and offered as a Sports Option part in Japan for all other models. This was two separate pipes right from the exhaust manifold exit, and the two pipes only rejoined in the rear box. I didn't mean the full straight-through twin pipe system with megaphones as fitted to the early Works Rally and domestic circuit race cars. Sorry to be vague and cause confusion. Gav - I think you were probably thinking along the same lines as me when Gee wrote a description that sounded like a 432!................. Gee - if you want info / pics of the Japanese market Fairladies ( including the 432 & 432R ) then send me a Personal Message from this site with your e-mail address and I can send some pics direct to you. Otherwise, there are a few pics in my Members Gallery section that might be of interest. Do let us know how you get on. If you end up not getting this particular car then maybe you could pass on its details to other Australian members here who might be interested. All the best, Alan T.

Sorry Gee - I meant to say that YOU were in Australia as well as the car ( its well past my bedtime and I've probably stopped making sense! ).................. Yes I'm in London, England, UK. You'll find the VIN number stamped on the firewall sheetmetal inside the engine bay. Its situated above the brake booster and master cylinders, but you might have to push some wiring and the screenwasher hose out of the way to find it ( its up quite high ). Give it a rub to make sure you read it right. If it says "HS30" then a number, you know you are dealing with a right hand drive "240Z" ( which will most likely / almost certainly be an Australian market car, and therefore not made in 1969 ). If it says "S30" then a number, its a Japanese market car ( and therefore possibly 1969 ). If its says "PS30" and then a number, send me a PM and don't tell anyone else about it! ( it would mean it left the factory as a 432 with the S20 twin cam engine ). I'll get the first plane out there. Not very likely, that one. If this was a bet, I'd have my money on it being an early ( possibly very early 1970 ) Australian market car. I think this would explain the vendor saying it had the "high compression" engine ( actually because the very early cars were fitted with the "E31" cylinder head. You can check the engine spec by looking for the block number ( stamped on a raised pad towards the rear of the block on the spark-plug side of the engine ) and the head casting type ( cast into the head near the front of the engine, in the area of the fuel pump ). There should also be an aluminium tag riveted to the inside of the engine bay ( near the base of the driver's side strut tower ) which also has the VIN number on it, but may well be missing. Maybe the owner is talking about the "rear box" ( muffler / exhaust box ) being non standard? That's the only thing that makes sense to me being two instead of one ( two pipes or two boxes maybe? ). A cracked dash is probably par for the course, I'm afraid. However, I know people who have spare early consoles if you ended up needing one. These are minor details in the grand scheme of things. Its the body that needs to be a good building block to start out with. Interesting that the clock has been replaced with what the vendor thinks is a "non-standard" item ( I'm now going to go to bed thinking it MIGHT be a PS30-SB Fairlady "432R" with dual exhausts, no centre console and the Rally clock - eek! ). If you have any questions on VIN numbers and other trivia, then don't hesitate to ask. There's a few of us on here who are "anoraks" and love that sort of thing. Good luck, Alan T.

Hi Sean and Mike, Sorry - I didn't spot this the first time round. Some markets insisted that the VIN numbers on imported cars be "tamper-proof", and I think France was one of these back in the early Seventies? Hence the stamped "X" at the beginning and end of the VIN. On some makes and models of car, its quite easy to "upgrade" to a better spec VIN with an extra prefix letter ( theoretically increasing value ) or adding a number or two to the build number ( making it a bit "younger" ). I think these stamps were put on by European authorities at port of entry ( not by the Factory ). And you are right Sean - the UK market "HS30" cars did not have them ( typically lax of the UK authorities ). I've been quite tempted to stamp a "P" in front of the "S30" on my 432R Replica project car ( for a little extra fun ). However - this would certainly be seen as fraudulent, and I'm trying to make a replica not a fake. I think that's the kind of jiggery pokery the French authorities were trying to avoid. Does this mean you finally found a car then Sean? I thought you were getting one in from the States? All the best, Alan T.

Hi Gee, That's interesting. I take it you mean you are in Australia too? If its an original Australian market RHD car with an "HS30" VIN prefix, then it would have come with a 5-speed "FS5C71A" -"straight stick" transmission ( later ones had the "B" type "bent stick" box ). I think you already know this, right? As to it being 1969 build date, I think you will find it hard to get anyone to agree that any "HS30" VIN prefixed cars were made in 1969. Most people seem to accept that the first "HS30" cars were made in Jan. and Feb. of 1970. Some WERE made in late 1969, but not released to the general public. This is not to be confused with "S30" and "PS30" prefixed RHD Japanese "Home" market cars that were very certainly being made in 1969. So, this car that you are going to see might be a 1969 Japanese market car ( check the VIN number ) or a very early 1970 Australian market car ( check the VIN number ). Either way I would be very interested to hear what the VIN number is! To be honest, if I were you I would not be so concerned about the transmission situation. A good used "A" type 5-speed, mountings and propshaft could surely be found quite easily ( I know its a bit far away - but I've got these parts spare in my garage ). Whatever you get, I doubt that it would be 100% as-it-left-the-factory anyway. You are talking about a car that is well over 30 years old and went through a very deep trough in value during the 1980's. Let us know how you get on, and good luck with it ( don't forget the VIN number check ). Alan T.

Hear Hear, Having had the pleasure of a ride in this car, I can vouch for its almost uncanny condition. Its almost too good to be believed, and I have to keep going back and taking another look to make sure that my eyes were not deceiving me. It was most odd to see an "HLS30" in such good condition in Japan. Weird to think that this car was made in Japan, sent to the USA, and then repatriated to the land where it was made. It then took a short "holiday" back in the USA and returned to Japan - so its been away and back twice.................... Kats is now on the trail of some original tyres for it - so if anyone has any likely candidate in their spare wheel well, please let him know. Hats off to Kats! Alan T.

Sorry Gav, I'm not sure what ratios the Australian market "240K" actually had........... All the different Japanese home-market Skylines are confusing enough without the export versions thrown in! Amongst Japanese street tuners of days gone by, the hot tip for a nice home-built close ratio gearbox was to Frankenstein up a selection from all the different cars that had either the "A" and "B" boxes - depending on what type you were building ( the internals are not interchangeable between "A" and "B" type ). As far as I remember, it was the First and Third gear ratios that were particularly useful. Sorry I can't remember more. Maybe if you could find out the ratios of that particular box it might help you to decide whether the parts would be of use or not. Although I do not really have the space to keep it all, I tend never to chuck anything away these days............... Victor, I totally agree about the FS5C71A straight stick boxes. When they are set up right ( after a proper and full rebuild ) they are just fantastic aren't they? Unfortunately, it seems that not many people have experienced one in tip-top condition ( I've driven lots of early Z cars with totally worn-out transmissions that the owners think are "normal"! ). They don't know what they are missing! I would love to be able to experience a drive of a "brand new" Z to see what it was like................ Gee, Whereabouts are you? Is this 1969 car you are going to view a USA / North American market car? If it is then it would have originally come with the "A" type 4-speed. The "Skyline" box might not be a bad thing as far as driveability is concerned, but possibly undesireable to you if total originality is your aim. All the best, Alan T.

Steve, Maybe this box is from a C10 series or C110 series Skyline. Some C10 series Skylines ( notably the GT, GTX and GT-R ) used both the FS5C71A ( "A" series "straight stick" ) and FS5C71B ( "B" series "bent stick" ) boxes, and I think as far as I recall the C110 series Skylines used just the "B" series in 4 and 5-speed form. If this Z got a Skyline box I would have thought that it might have been a 5-speed "upgrade" - hence one of the above. As far as I am aware, they will fit into an S30-series Z with the appropriate Z mountings. I think the cases are the same as the equivalent Z boxes, and they look outwardly the same? There was, however, a big difference in gear ratios depending on model type and year ( some of the Skyline ratios are quite useful when building a close-ratio gear set from standard parts ). Sometimes stuff gets mis-described by vendors, and I'm wondering if this is the case here. If the car originally came with an "A" type 4-speed, and was upgraded with either an "A" or "B" type 5-speed from a Skyline, then that might be the answer. Quite often its forgotten that most RHD S30-series Z cars were offered with the "A" type 5-speed right from the beginning of production. I have heard these boxes mis-described as "Motorsports" or "Option" boxes when installed in early cars. I wonder if any of the above might apply to this particular car? Whatever, if its a 1969 build date then it has got to be of interest and I would not let a non-standard transmission put me off - as its easy to change back to standard spec. Good luck Gee, Alan T.

Can't be from a Z. Not even the Japanese L20E equipped Z was lumbered with a single downdraught. Come on Zvoiture, put us out of our misery! Alan T.

Yes, they were plastic on the early "HLS30" USA / North American market version too. Interestingly, there does not seem to be a reliable cut-off date or changeover VIN number for them suddenly becoming steel. Some people have tried to identify when this switch happened, but I think it was more chaotic than a simple switchover from plastic to steel. I have experience of cars with one side plastic and one side steel that definitely came from the factory that way. Seems they might have used both for a little while during the changeover period. Its another one of those funny little anomalies that sounds most unlike the Japanese character................. I'm with you all the way with regard to your sentiments on colours for these cars. I too think Silver looks just fantastic on a good straight and bodily stock early car. Hope yours turns out just how you want it to. Good luck with it, Alan T.

mmagnus, If your car was made in 1970 then BOTH of the headlamp buckets ( "Sugar Scoops" ) should be made of plastic. The metal one was probably put on later? Alan T.

260z has got the cigar I think? The owner is obviously trying to hide it ( I can see the scrape marks where it got pushed under the shelf! ). I can imagine that all that anti-smog equipment must really strangle it. Poor thing. Keep 'em coming Steve - a few of us here love these little conundrums. Alan T.

Hi Tanny, Crikey - 6500 feet! I'd need Oxygen to just walk around up there. In that case, you probably WOULD find the Starter Devices useful. I should imagine that kind of altitude would make your car quite difficult for set-up choice too ( ? ). When I drove my car over the Alps from France into Italy, it behaved REALLY badly at the high altitudes. The setup for the jetting etc. was done at roughly sea level ( or a little bit above ) and the big change in barometric pressure up in the mountains seemed to throw it all out of the window. Was fine once I got down to the lower levels again. I would have thought this would force you into making a decision as to WHERE you chose your setup to work at. Either down at the lower levels or some kind of compromise? Good luck with it, anyway! Cheers, Alan T.

Alfadog, is yours actually badged as a "240K GL"? I'm still not sure what you have got ( you said is had a "KGC110" VIN prefix - but I thought that made it a GT? ). So far I've found two-door models with minor-change variations by the following names: *HT1800 GL *HT1600 GL *HT1600 Dx *HT2000 GT-X *HT2000 GT *HT2000 GT-X - E.S and of course the HT2000 GT-R. All of the above are the Japanese domestic model names. There are even more ( more confusing! ) models of the four-doors and a couple of wagons too. Chuck in a few special models for the government / armed forces and it makes a really diverse range. So what the hell have you got? It must have had a special name / variation for the Australian market. Looks like Japan did not have a HT2000 GL like you got. Also looks like they made minor changes to trim and brightwork every six months. Yikes. I just had a sniff around in a few books and now I remember what's different between the GT-R and the GT-X ( which I think is the Japanese model equivalent to what they called the "240K" for the few export markets they sent them to? ). Its the rear three quarter. The wheelarch on the GT-R is much higher and more rounded ( obviously to help them in homologating them for racing - which never happened ). Once the Overfender is put on top, it makes it look quite different anyway - so it maybe disguises the fact that the wheelarch extends right up into that swage line and cuts it in half. The GT-X still has the swage line complete................. So, Alfadog - if you want to make a GT-R replica you are going to have to break out the tinsnips! ( please don't! ). Looks like Ben has a much better idea about all this than me, and I would agree that yours is very likely to have a relatively poor performance in comparison to your Z. That's just the nature of the beast. nixcars, I looked up the dimensions for the GT-R ( yes it WAS technically a four-seater ) and you are right; there really is not that much difference: Overall length: 4460mm ( the same ) Overall width: 1695mm ( includes Overfenders ) Height: 1380mm ( a bit lower ) Wheelbase: 2610mm ( the same ) So it must be that radiused rear wheelarch that makes the car look so different. Interesting. Alan T.

Halz, The production figures of the USA / North American market version of the "HLS30" hugely outweighed those of ALL production of the equivalent RHD cars of the same period. That fact is not in doubt. I'd have to get a few cross-references together to give you even a ballpark figure on the RHD car production figures ( a lot more difficult to pin down than the numbers for the American "HLS30" cars ), but you can bet that its nothing like the numbers for LHD cars. The numbers ARE significant though ( its not like they just punted out a few hundred right hookers ) and the RHD cars cannot be written off as an afterthought, even though it would appear that some people think this is the case. I would certainly agree that the Japanese "Home" market cars are the publicity underdogs, and they tend to get a few lines of mention if at all in most English language magazine articles / books / internet sites. Most of the prejudice seems to be based on the belief that the 2-litre engines that the Japanese market got until late 1971 made the cars in some way inferior to the L24 engined versions. I don't think that's necessarily true. I certainly don't think that higher production figures make a certain variant more of a "winner" than any other variant. In fact, I'm not trying to prove that any particular variant is some kind of victor over all the others ( even though you could argue the case that some of them are more complete packages than others ). What bugs me is that the Japanese home market cars get hardly any coverage at all in the English language. That's why I'll stick up for them. Alan T.

Whoa! Hold up Alfadog - don't quote me on that! I just might be confused as to what model variant of C110 Skyline you have got hold of............... I think there were at least a couple of different bodyshapes on the two-door C110. I believe that there was a GT and a GT-X model ( both had the L-series sixes ) as well as the GT-R. Maybe it was the wheelbase that was different or something like that. I just remember ( faintly - as I'm "old enough to be your father" and the old brain cells are going ) seeing the different models on the road in Japan and being confused / interested at that time. Suffice to say, the C110 is not my strong subject! I can't believe you're the proud owner of both the "240K" and your Z. You lucky sod. What kind of pocket money are you being given?! Gav, don't talk up my "library of knowledge" for God's sake! I know a few bits and pieces about what interests me, but the rest is all a mystery to me........... Glad you share my enthusiasm for the Prince and Nissan "R" series sports racers. I have yet to see one of these mentioned in any depth in any of the English language mags / books. As far as I know they DID in fact take them for a few races abroad ( guess where? - Australia would you believe, as well as south America ). How do you like that? With the Brabham connection, it all ties in very nicely with Australia. Maybe you might be able to find out a bit about them racing over there. I must dig out some photos of them and start a thread about them. It would be nice for people to see what other exotica Nissan and Prince were putting together around that time. Alan T.

I just wrote a long reply to that, Bambikiller - but then scrubbed it out. I think I would be just adding more rope to the noose around my neck. I don't think anyone takes kindly to me having a little dig every now and then at zhome for its lack of Japanese home-market car coverage. Seems the jabs are not taken in the spirit that they are given. To cut a long story short, I've had correspondence with Carl Beck in the past. I thought I could be of some help to him and his site with regard to the RHD cars and the Japanese home market cars in particular. He pleasantly rebuffed my opinions, and seems to be happy to believe that he has the story of the Z pretty much sorted out now. For my part, I'll always try to champion the underdog in this story; the Japanese home-market cars. There's no way that I will ever go along with the idea that the USA / North American market cars were some kind of "definitive" version that was designed as a priority above all others. Alan T.

Good point from 2ManyZs there about the VIN number situation. Too many times people will tend to think that the number on a particular car means it was the "xxxth" built - when the truth is somewhat more complicated than that. I really hope that somebody buys it and DOES restore it to running condition. The poor thing deserves to survive. Actually, if that car was up for sale here in the UK I for one would be bidding on it. Like St. Stephen and Gav240z, we are usually forced to revive cars in worse condition than this over here in rainy and cold Great Britain............. As long as the price was not so high ( who knows how high it will go? ebay is a bit of a strange environment ) it could be a worthwhile "project" for somebody with access to a bodyshop and a good chassis jig. Would be an awful lot of work though. This vendor might be "talking it up" a little bit ( I guess that's forgiveable seeing as he is trying to sell it ) but all in all I think it really is a fairly rare and low VIN number. There can't be all that many 1969-build cars that are going to surface "unknown" to the Z community like this one seems to be. Mind you, once all those panels were put on, there probably would not be very much of it left that was made in 1969.............. I'll be offering prayers for this car. Alan T.

They ( it? He? ) can take it, don't you think? I'm sure that a faint voice from over here in the little old UK will not worry Zhome too much. Anyway, if you look deeper you might find that my little digs are kind of "affectionate punches"........... There's a whole lot of good stuff over there, and Carl has been quite heroic in championing the cause of Yoshihiko Matsuo and putting down the "Goertz Myth". That's admirable. Personally, I don't agree with some of the things that Carl writes with regard to the design of the S30-series Z being "for" America. I think one of the articles on his site says something along the lines of the Z being "....the first American car designed and built in Japan...." - which I find a very odd thing to say. Sorry if I made you feel ill Michael, but you always have the option of ignoring my posts or perhaps not taking them so seriously. Alan T.

Alfadog, congratulations on your new acquisition. Nissan never raced the C110 series Skylines ( although a mock-up of a race car was made for publicity purposes - see nixcar's previous post ). They pulled the plug on the race programme at the time of what they called the "Oil Shock" in Japan; the worldwide petrol crisis...................... The KPGC110 Skyline GT-R is the rarest of all the early GT-R Skylines; the factory only made a couple of hundred of them ( much less than the four-door PGC10 - the "original" GT-R - and the two-door KPGC10 ). The C10-series GT-R used to be one of the most sought-after and pricey Japanese "classics" - but the KPGC10 GT-R "Ken & Mary" is now coming into its own due to its rarity. I've seen minters advertised at more than 8,000,000 Yen recently ( and heard first-hand reports of excellent cars actually changing hands at 6,000,000 and more ). That's much more than even the best KPGC10's. Sadly, they are rather less well catered for in regard to spares than the C10 series cars. This has to be mainly down to their lower numbers, and the fact that for many years the 110 was seen as a bit of a "Bosozoku" chariot. In the late Seventies to mid Eighties period the C110 series two-doors were one of the Japanese street-race gangs cars of choice. They did terrible things to them ( really silly chop-ups and sci-fi "aero" parts ) - not pretty and not very clever! It has to be pointed out that the C110 series cars suffered a reputation in Japan for being of lower quality than the C10 series in relation to their fit and finish. The trim and brightwork were always said to be of noticeably lower quality than previous models. Mind you, I think that was probably true for almost all car manufacturers at that time. Zedrally - in answer to your question, the basic model series of the car was the "C110" Skyline. Gav240z - that "original" GT-R was the four-door "PGC10" and two-door "KPGC10". That's the previous model to the one that Alfadog has just got. That Prince Grand Prix car ( actually a Sports racer ) was the Prince R380, which used the GR8 engine. The S20 twin-cam was developed from the GR8 engine, and the Factory always linked the original GT-R and the 432 with the R380 Sports Racer. Interestingly, the ORIGINAL chassis / body of the Prince R380 was a Brabham sports racing car that Prince bought in. They installed the GR8 engine and went Toyota chasing with it. They subsequently made their own versions of the chassis / body / monocoque. The R380 / R380-ll / R381 / R382 & R383 were a very interesting and successful series of race cars, and little known outside Japan. Turning this car into a GT or GT-R replica might be a double-edged sword; surely the car would warrant preservation if its pretty good. And isn't the rear quarter of the GT and GT-R a different panel completely? Maybe a subtle lowering job and "period" set of wheels would be enough to make it look pretty darn good. By the way, the S54-series Prince Skyline was ( I think ) the first Skyline to have the round tail-lights. They were divided into three rather like the ones on the MK1 Ford Cortina. Prince used the S54 tail-lights on the R380 Sports racer - hence making a link with the road car that they could exploit in their advertising. The much bigger round tail-lamps of the C110-series were also heavily featured in their advertising, and came to be known as one of the trade-marks of the Skyline range ( right up to the R34 ). Lachlan, have you still got your Z? I hope this is an addition to your stable rather than a substitute! Alan T.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTE: BTW, it is generally aknowleged that Japan didn't think Americans gave a flying hoot about a sports car anyway, so we didn't get the FIA stuff like Europe and Japan did, and the racers in the states had a bear of a time gettin any support from Nissan for a long time (so I've read), because they just thought we were ignorant fat slobs and didn't care about real racing, plus many within Nissan didn't care about racing, and only had a few real supporters from within.UNQUOTE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whew, thats a bit strong Mudge. I think its true to say that the USA-market spec. S30-series cars were a slightly less "sporty" specification than the rest of the world got, but please don't think it was ever easy to get the Sports Option / race parts from Japan over here in Europe either. The only place it was all really easily available was in Japan. The USA market model "HLS30" had only the four-speed trans and rather low ratio rear end ( with no other choices offered ) and no rear anti-roll / sway bar. You can probably blame this on Yutaka Katayama; as it was ultimately his decision to make the USA / North American market cars to this specification. I honestly would not imagine that anyone at Nissan really DID think that Americans were "ignorant fat slobs" - so I think its probably not fair to attribute this kind of comment to them.............. Its a strange dichotomy that Katayama was one of the main forces within the USA arm of Nissan who was promoting the support of private race teams in the USA and Canada, while at the same time he decided that the USA / North American market cars would be arguably less sophisticated than the cars that the rest of the world got access to. In the end, he was probably right to do this. Nissan had supported American racers with parts and parts development ( a two way street ) since the mid Sixties, and no other countries apart from Japan got a setup like Datsun Competition in the USA. Compared to the rest of the world ( outside Japan ), the USA actually had a rather good slice of support from Nissan in relation to motorsports . Did you know that the prices for the Datsun Competition parts sold in the USA were deliberately priced DOWN for the local market? If you wanted to buy those same parts in Japan ( where most of them were made ) they would cost proportionately MORE. In my book, that's what I call good support. If the USA / North American market bore any similarity to other markets ( I'm particularly thinking about the UK market here ) then it was probably down to the ignorance / apathy of individual dealerships that could not be bothered to help racers or sports-minded drivers of Nissan product. The parts were out there if the dealers could be bothered to get them in. How many times have you heard stories of people asking Nissan dealers for sports option or competition-related parts, only to be told that the Factory "does not make them" or that they cannot get them? This obstructiveness has got to be blamed on individual dealerships, not the Factory in Japan. In truth stuff like LSD units, brake upgrades, all sorts of transmission upgrades and engine performance increasing parts were ALWAYS available from Datsun Competition in the USA. Clutchdust is looking for an LSD unit for an R180 diff. - which Nissan still sell, but he might find prohibitively expensive. This is why so many people go looking for interchange parts that they can get a lot cheaper ( and naturally so ). My point here is that Nissan DOES make the parts, and they are available from other companies in the aftermarket too. Its just a question of price ( ouch! ), and a little bit of proactive thinking. A brand new LSD for just about any non-American car is the USA is going to be expensive in comparison to domestic product. Unfortunately, its quite often the Japanese parts that are the most expensive. Its just an economic fact. I've been through several R180 LSD-equipped diffs. over the years ( even used a 4.875 on the street for a while, which was quite funny around town but pretty tedious on long-haul journeys ). I'm now using R200's that I bring in from Japan, and are already equipped with LSD units and nice gear ratios ( 3.9, 4.1, 4.375 and 4.6 are still quite common over there ). They are quite expensive, and its a long way to transport them - but you do get a great condition unit, and they are stronger, cheaper and more common than the equivalent R180. I can't understand why more people don't take the option of getting them from Japan ( and surely they have to be cheaper to transport to the USA than to the UK? ). I suppose that if no company is already doing this, it must mean that the market in the USA is not willing to pay what they would cost? In Japan, Nissan has always been seen as THE company that supported racing and sports driving. They were head and shoulders above all the other Japanese car producers in this respect. This has only changed very recently, and it is a very sad fact that Nissan has virtually stopped race-proving its product on the world stage. Compare this situation to the one at Toyota. It seems that Nissan are now happy to let the aftermarket produce parts for the sporty / race driver. Its probably a sign of the times. Regards, Alan T.

No big mystery, The E30 head was fitted to most of the early Japanese-market 2-litre ( L20E ) engined S30's. As Z Kid pointed out, they were also fitted to C10 and C110 series Skylines and a whole host of other Japanese-market-only models. Actually, they are not bad heads at all - but they need a fair bit of modification to make them work well on an engine bigger than the one they were designed to fit on ( nice compression ratio increase though ). I'm not surprised that you didn't find much about them on ZHome.com. Seems to be a bit of a black hole when it comes to the Japanese-market cars ( and there was me thinking that the "Home" of the Z was Japan.................... ). Alan T.