HS30-H

I concur Ian. Jeff has a pair of solid rotor type (narrow) Sumitomo MK63 4-pot calipers, complete with the correct mounting kit - identifiable via the alloy plumbing elbows and flexi pipes. Your early Sumitomo MK63s use the Dunlop style ball-bearing bleed nipples (the bleed nipple 'squashes' a small BB against a small hole in the caliper to seal it) and there's a reverse dome on the end of the nipple to assist this. Swapping in an ordinary M10 1.0 valve won't do.

Hitoshi Uemura told me that the vented quarter panel design update saved both manufacturing time and parts costs, deleting the complex vents & drains in the tailgate which were made up of many individual components and which took time to assemble. The vented quarters function was pretty much achieved at the metal stamping and spotwelding stage, with just a push-on vent/emblem on the outside (popped on after paint) and simple holes in the hard plastic interior trim. A neat solution.

With all due respect to you, I think the main question here starts from a mistaken premise. The whole 'Series One', 'Series Two' ('Series 1.5' LOL) thing implies hard change points onto which have been hung big assumptions. People have tended to believe that the big production change points (EG vented tailgate to vented quarter) also included a raft of other content/spec changes. But if you look at the wider story of the whole S30-series Z family, you can observe changes being made all the way through production. The Japanese market variants in particular were going through a constant process of evolution in specs and componentry. So much so that it is hard to track them all. Yes, some of the major changes coincided and were obviously planned to happen at points when updates to new regulations were being complied with, but evolution was going on all the way through production and for many different reasons. As an example, here in the UK I have often heard people talking and writing about early production UK market RS30 '260Z' models as being made with many "left over" HS30 '240Z' parts. It's as though they imagined Nissan having warehouses full of '240Z' parts which somehow needed to be "used up" before the switch over to 'real 260Z' parts. This is - of course - a simple and innocent misapprehension. In trying to make sense of what they observed on the cars as-delivered they came up with an imaginary scenario which did not reflect the wider reality. All they were observing was ongoing evolution in componentry either side of a major update (the switch from HS30 '240Z' to RS30 '260Z'). The expectation was that the 'new model' switch should indicate all new content. Some of it was, but a lot of it wasn't. So, for example, we hear about early 260Zs with '240Z' doors and '240Z' struts etc as though old parts are being used up before the switchover to newer specs. You'd kind of hope that Nissan had a better grip on their parts production than that, no? I'd be surprised if a lot of this doesn't come from expectations based on the activities of the major American manufacturers, and that being applied - mistakenly - to a Japanese manufacturer. Perhaps American and Canadian car buyers had got so used to the 'Model Year' updates of their domestic manufacturers that they expected Nissan to behave in the same way? The fact is that in some ways they did, but in others they did not. Hence the confusion?

I think some of us find it strained rather than offensive. It attempts to put somewhat square pegs in neat, round holes. Yes, I can see how it came about and yes, I can see that some kind of lines in the sand would be useful (I tend to think along the lines of 'solid pillar/vented pillar' and then 'A-trans/B-trans' and so on) but trying to define spec/content - and that's exactly when it gets used - by citing a fairly arbitrary idea of 'Series' is soon going to get tripped up. And yes, it does get used as though it is a hard and fast rule/absolute (see post #2637 of this thread...!) and reinforced by people who are often cited as authorities on the cars. Self-certification.

Presumably it will be explained away with the usual goalpost moving and assigned some fraction between 1 and 2 ('Series 1.25'/'Series 1.5'/'Series 1.75'). Solito Negotium. I'm sorry but all this 'using up of stock parts until depleted' narrative is a combination of supposition, underestimation of Nissan as a company and lack of knowledge about what was actually going on. It implies that Nissan's component manufacturing - both in-house and with sub-contractors - was somehow disconnected with the sections of the company engaged in planning model updates and supersessions of said components. The idea that Nissan would find themselves with crates full of suddenly obsolescent parts which somehow needed to be "used up" before the introduction of their successors is for the birds. This is Cargo Cult-level nonsense. Jungle tribes trying to make sense of refrigerators dropping out of the sky. Much like the retrospectively-applied vernacular 'Series' appellations, indeed. Pundits need to do better. Have to laugh at the list of de-merits for this car cited as reasons why it won't be bid as high as last time. Those 'faults' (hey, it's had a life, who knew?) were on the car last time it was bid sky high too. The car hasn't changed, the zeitgeist has.

Deal breaker. That'll eliminate the 'Serious Collectors' (TM). 🙃

Indeed. And after dressing and painting nobody would know they were ever there.

Well your memory is obviously much better than mine Kats, as I had completely forgotten about that. So the N3200 was part of the aborted Fairlady 260Z-E project... ...and the airbox mount is correct. Fascinating to think that some of the specific parts made it into Nissan's spare parts system. As mentioned, my white 240ZG project car needed a radiator support crossmember (due to old damage) and the only panel I could find at the time was the same 74820-N3200 as David has. I just removed the unneeded additions. Think it worked OK. David, can you do something like this for your N3200?

The mount for the 432 airbox is on the wrong side (factory mistake?), but the holes for the H-H 'Traction Hook' are correct. N3200 ink stamp part number? I think it was a generic one-size-fits-all interim service part just before the version with the aircon condenser-related horn mounts. I used one for my white H-H and I had to cut the 432 airbox mount off (although it was on the correct side). Worked OK. I think you'd struggle to find an NOS E4200 or E4201 version.

The double stripe in the photo is next to an E4100 part number, so I would imagine it is paired to that in some way. As mentioned up-thread, E4100 was listed for the S30-prefixed Standard Fairlady Z and Deluxe Fairlady Z-L models up to chassis number S30-00976 (at which point they switched to the E4101). PS30-prefixed Fairlady Z432 and Fairlady Z432-R got the E4200 from the beginning of production and switched to E4201 at PS30-00103, so I doubt they would have double stripes too. When we see paint stripe colour identifications on these cars (such as seen on springs, for example) it usually seems intended to identify parts that are in parallel use, and would help in avoidance of mistaken fitment. I think the large and prominent stencilling of the full part number on the moustache bars is significant in that respect, as Nissan were using the E4100 and E4200 in parallel on at least two different variants and their sub-variants. It seems as though the E4101 may have been in that mix too for the Export models, so I'm imagining a situation on the assembly lines where that large white part number and the stripe(s) also helped identify a complete assembled rear end 'module' on the jig (as pictured) before lifting and fitment into a painted body. Would be interested to hear other opinions on that.

Just as an aside, here's an E4100 - with double stripes - on the factory floor as part of a rear end 'module' ready to be installed. Early photo:

I saw E4101 in the USA & Canada catalogue too, but wondered if the E4100 was superseded so soon on the HLS30s that it wasn't listed. It certainly ranks as a very early part number change. I wonder what was different? Musings for another thread I guess...

Not E4100? In the first Japanese market parts manual (pub. C-137) they list 55450-E4100 first for the S and D models, superseded by the E4101 at S30-00976. That would be around January 1970? S20-engined models first got the E4200, which was superseded with the E4201 at PS30-00103. I would imagine both supersessions were likely to be NVH-related improvements?

Fat (male) end to the back, skinny (female) end forward:

Very likely to be from an original European market variant pairing, yes? Have you got the correct double-flanged sliding-joint propeller shaft to join the two together?

As standard equipment on the S30-series Z range, FS5C71-A was usually paired with 3.9:1 ratio R180 in all markets except USA & Canada (including Japan). It was also paired with 4.44:1 ratio R192 LSD on Japanese market PS30 Fairlady Z432 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-R.

Cant angle is 12 degrees, as stated in various Nissan technical publications (none of which I seem to have to hand at this moment...).

Casting batch identification. They would be casting several batches a day, and each batch would be given its own identifying code letter for quality control/traceback purposes.

Factory-fitted air conditioning was available from the beginning of production in the Japanese market. The core support panel was shared between Domestic and Export markets, hence the mounting holes for the S20-specific air cleaner box and radiator overflow bottle being present on Export cars.

Where did you get "wrapped in leather" from? The genuine steering wheels - whether early 1970s originals or NISMO Anniversary re-pops - were all manufactured by Izumi for Nissan and were made from a skinned Urethane material with moulded-in faux stitching detail. They were never leather. Recent (Chinese-made) copies are another matter. Honestly, do those screws and rivets look like they are 50+ years old to you? https://mspeed-japan.com/product_information.php?page_num=21&category_id=5 As with all vintage items, provenance is key.

The mirror is a (relatively) recent re-pop of the factory Race Option interior mirror. I have one in my KPGC10. Here's an original in use:

I'd say that the complexity of the joints (shape, and number, of the panels being joined) meant that they were likely to be - as we have seen in the 'nude' shots - 'cosmetically challenged'. Add a little assembly worker variation into the mix for good measure. They required filling/smoothing, and the top of the rear quarter joint was a large area. I can't think of any other areas of the early S30-series Zs where cosmetic filling was required before paint, as I pointed out up-thread. Can anyone think of any? This is specifically a Nissan Shatai thing. If it was their habit to use lead, and they had workers who were skilled at applying it well, and fast, then why not? It certainly 'dries' and is workable much faster than a plastic-based filler and there's no use-it-or-lose-it time constraint as there is with a hardener-added mix. Much better for a busy production line. And as we know, the lead is very resistant to cracking. Seems ideal.

I wholeheartedly concur. It was another stinker. Unfortunately my stack of poor, bad or total garbage books on the subject of 'our' cars is so tall that it I had to apply for planning permission from my local council.

You can't see the text that accompanied the photo? Here it is again:

You obviously don't see the drilled-out spotwelds either.