HS30-H

This is a specialist forum. Those sailing blithely into such waters might be well advised to pay attention to the charts. 'Here be Monsters'. "...and to truly clarify further for those whose only reference for these particular cars is Wikipedia..." was perhaps - in retrospect - a little unwise, don't you think?

How does any of the above make the term "HAKO clone" appropriate? It's a misnomer when applied to any C10-series Skyline, because ALL C10-series Skylines are - by definition - 'Hakosuka' Skylines. Your "more powerful swap appropriate for the car culture of the time" raised a smile here. What "time" are we talking about? Nobody was putting modified L28 engines into C10-series Skylines whilst they were still in production. That's a phenomenon that didn't really get going until the late 1970s, and even then sparsely and in semi-legal street car culture - not racing. Most cars like yours are fairly recent confections which - let's be honest here - bask in the reflected glory of what the GT-R models achieved and signified in period (ie, when they were still in production), and are based on - again, let's be honest about it - models with no real sporting heritage of their own. Calling yourself a "purist" in the same sentence where you explain your 'GT-Kai' emblem is deliciously ironic. Those 'GT-Kai' emblems are another recent phenomenon, produced in response to exactly the kind of gentle correction I made when I pointed out that the term "HAKO clone" makes no logical sense. GT-R owners have been ribbing the owners of wannabes and lookalikes for years, telling them to take the GT-R emblems off their dolled-up shopping cars. The 'GT-Kai' emblems are an in-joke that goes way over the heads of many. I've even seen a magazine article written by a journalist who believed the 'GT-Kai' was a legitimate factory variant. I can't help thinking that any self-respecting "purist" would balk at the idea of a GT-X having its surflines cut off to become another GT-R lookalike, but there you go... There's some irony in your car wearing a 'Sport Corner' badge too. See that big 'R' in the middle of it? It represents the GT-R models which the Nissan Prince Tokyo Sport Corner dealership specialised in selling and servicing. Your car - being a lesser model - would have been sold in an ordinary dealership, and if you had taken it to Nissan Prince Tokyo Sport Corner for servicing they would have told you to take it elsewhere. Politely, I'm sure. Meanwhile, back here in 2018, there are owners of cars which were sold and serviced by Sport Corner dealers in period who are taking their Sport Corner stickers off of their cars, because too many of the wannabe cars are wearing them. There's a nice in-joke variant - produced recently - with a big letter 'L' in the middle. It might suit your car. While I'm at it, let's get the heritage of NISMO correct shall we? What became NISMO in 1984 was previously two distinct branches of Nissan's motorsport-related activities - essentially the artists formerly known as Prince (based at Murayama) and Nissan's own Works outfit (based at Oppama). The Omori, Tokyo base of the newly-named NISMO was previously known as 'Nissan Omori Works' and was nothing to do with the main Nissan Prince Tokyo 'Sport Corner' dealership. They were two quite distinct entities and existed, until quite recently, in parallel. Nissan Prince Tokyo didn't beget NISMO. My KPGC10 was rebuilt by an ex Nissan Prince Tokyo Sport Corner staff member, so I know a little bit about the subject.

If I have any "problems" on this forum it'll be with people who don't understand the difference between fact and fiction. You now seem to be supporting the idea of fiction as fact. You're backing the wrong horse. The car in question was being described as a "HAKO clone" when the truth is that it left the factory as a C10-series Skyline, and the vernacular 'Hakosuka' applies to ALL C10-series Skylines - regardless of model variant. He is misusing the term. Try describing a 1970 HLS30U as a "Series 1 240Z clone" and see what happens. People will - inevitably - point out the it can't be a "Series 1 240Z clone" when it already IS a 'Series 1 240Z'. That's what we are dealing with here.

Ah, you've taken my correction as some kind of insult I see. Sorry but, as the owner of a genuine KPGC10, I have to stick up for what's right. The term "Hako clone" means only one thing to me, and in you car's case it is clearly inappropriate. Your car left the factory as a C10-series Skyline and it is still a C10-series Skyline. It's left the factory as a 'Hakosuka' and it is still a 'Hakosuka'. If it's a "clone" (actually, merely a lookalike despite your exhortations...) of anything then it's a clone of a KPGC10 GT-R. If you see this as nothing more than "nit picking" then you should probably have bought a genuine KPGC10 in the first place.

My OCD compels me to point out that every C10-series Skyline is a 'Hako'. The vernacular 'Hakosuka' applies to the whole series, no matter what variant. It's either a Hokosuka or it isn't. Your 'Hako' appears to be a (very nice!) GT-R lookalike. There. Said it. And breathe... Love the Pao!

What model/market/build date is the particular car concerned?

As mentioned, I've got both. Hopefully your blonde has matching collar and cuffs.

The same place you are, by the looks of things. I get that you don't like the look of them (even if nobody asked...) but I don't agree that they "get in the way" any more than any other externally-mounted mirror does. And I own and use cars with both factory fender mirrors and factory door mirrors, so I think I know what I'm talking about.

Only by lazy or oblivious owners. The factory documentation for the MK63-20S advises on how to trim and re-shape the backing plates to suit.

And presumably you don't find it is "...one more thing to have to work around."..? I have never found the factory-fitted fender mirrors on my cars to have got in my way. As with the mirror on your door, I just sub-consciously work around them. Unless you find yourself walking into your door mirror all the time?

And you have your mirror(s) where, exactly...?

It's for the S20 engine in the PS30 Fairlady Z432 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-R, which used transitorised ignition systems. The blue dot marks peak torque (5,600rpm) and the red dot marks peak power (7,000rpm).

I think it's an example of 'Auction Fever', Kats. A typical perfect storm of unwarranted hype ("Barn Find", 'Vintage Z', 'Famous-in-Japan owner') and timing (big hoo-ha auction connected to Tokyo Auto Salon, so all the big car guys are 'in town'...) that is hard to replicate. Elsewhere people are marvelling at the price achieved for the 10km-from-new R34 GT-R too, and thinking - probably mistakenly - that it makes their R34 GT-R equally as valuable. Truth be told, better Zs than the two VZ cars could be bought at much lower prices, but the buyer(s) likely don't really know or even care. It's often the case in car auctions, and I hate them. At least the people at a livestock auction know something about what they are buying... Yes, I feel a bit sorry for the cars too but I feel even more sorry for the KPGC10s and PS30s that went across the block in the USA over the last couple of years. Matthew 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under your feet and turn and tear you to pieces".

Is the car actually going to be used in anger as a rally car, or is it more of a 'looks' thing? If it is for serious use then I could give some recommendations, but if it's just a looks thing you could build your own setup with a few pointers.

Good! However, it still looks a little close to the exhaust manifold to me. I'm thinking that the engine needs some space to twist in torque reaction (pivoting on an axis through the crankshaft centre line and transmission main shaft) and you may need to 'cheat' a little extra space by shimming the engine mounts a little more away from the steering shaft? I think you have space to do that.

Same old, same old though. Too much Goertz and way too much Katayama.

Don't forget this one (my favourite....)

"Wantanbe's". Maybe that's a clue...

PMC's licensing of MB patented details (if it even happened in the way being assumed...) related to their G7 six and pre-dated their merger with Nissan by several years. Nissan's L-gata (starting with the L20 six of '64) was up and running way, way before their merger with PMC. What parts exactly are you pointing at being "nearly identical"? The cam followers look very close, as indeed do the cam follower pivots. Cam towers and oil spray bar? Duplex chain cam drive and chain tensioning? Combined oil pump drive and distributor drive via shaft taken off crank was not an MB first. The valve layout of the M180 is completely different, as is port shape and layout. These types of discussions too often descend into the old "Japanese copycats" type accusations. It's easier for people to package it up that way and file it neatly. I think the truth is a bit more complex than that. There are still a lot of post-war nation and industry rebuilding angles left undiscussed. A dear friend of my wife's family - a Japanese engineer who graduated from the Japanese Imperial Navy's technical school as an aircraft engine specialist and who joined Nakajima Hikoki in 1944 - was working with Japanese battery manufacturer Yuasa in the immediate post-war years. By the late 1940s Japanese and German industrial concerns, having a pre-war history of Axis co-operation and a shared necessity of post-war rebuilding from total devastation, were in fairly close contact and our friend was sent - along with several of his colleagues - to Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany to work with M-B engineers for several months. He had some very interesting stories to tell. Other Japanese and German companies were doing similar personnel exchanges, and were sharing for the common good. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's relevant to the discussion of 1940s and 1950s technology and is worth bearing in mind.

This is hardly 'new news' though, is it? It's well known that other engine manufacturers were inspired by the same Mercedes Benz valvetrain designs. Prince Motor Co. apparently paid to license some of the MB patents. You never hear the same said about Nissan, or even any whisper of litigation, so I wonder if MB ever fully patented those particular details that are being recognised here? And whose designs *inspired* MB? There wasn't that much new under the sun in OHV valvetrain design by that time... What's not being discussed here is the big layout difference. The Mercedes M180 engine was conceived and designed primarily for use in LHD vehicles, whilst the Nissan L-gata range was conceived and designed primarily for use in RHD vehicles.

What are these two, Sean? The one on the left is aftermarket. Looks like a stainless Spirit Garage item to me. The one on the right looks like one of the old MSA systems.

All of which very likely indicates that it is going quite slowly... Probably on a warm-up or cool-down lap.

Possibly best advised to tag the line "....in the USA/North American market" onto your original question, as 1973 240Zs sold elsewhere in the world certainly did.

Very sad to hear this news. Victor was somebody I admired and looked up to from afar. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. If anybody has any news regarding a memorial service or related event, please let us know. Thank you.

It's still on track according to your original post, as far as I can see. Unless a little too much sunlight has been let in on the 'magic' for your taste...?