HS30-H

When you write "American"........ who exactly are you quoting? I don't see that question in this thread. And what exactly is an "...."American 240Z"...."? Its a Japanese car - made in Japan.

1 type? Maybe the 'HLS30U' only came in 1 type ( and even that is not necessarily true ) but there were some rare homologation specials and limited editions for markets other than the USA, and these are the Z cars that are commanding the highest prices in the world market today. Nissan did make some special models, and these are the ones that we can expect to sell for the highest prices now and in the future too. Perhaps you would like to look into the prices and availability of prime condition PS30s and HS30-Hs. The PS30-SB would probably be the model that is commanding the highest prices in the world at the moment out of all the S30-series Z cars. Only individually historic race cars would appear to be capable of topping that at the moment. The 'HLS30U' model was made in comparatively huge numbers, so it is likely that only special-interest examples of the 'HLS30U' ( such as the lower VIN numbers ) will command the highest premiums in top condition. I don't think the 'HLS30U' is comparable to the W-30 Olds 442, as the sheer numbers of 'HLS30Us' made - and the number of them still 'alive' - is in a completely different league to a super-rare Muscle car. Alan T.

Deja vu! We've been here before in another life: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9281 The SEARCH function can throw up an awful lot of good references.........

I'm afraid I don't have the kind of detailed data that you are asking for, but I'm sure that Kameari have got all kinds of graphs, readouts and technical specifications for them. They are very thorough, and they are very serious about what they sell. Obviously this manifold is Stainless steel, and Kameari say that it is a "true" equal-length design. Pipe length is quoted at 800mm ( they don't give the size of the final pipe joint diameter ) and of course I think it goes without saying that LHD fitment will probably be a no-no due to its sheer bulk. Only other thing mentioned in the sales blurb is that this header is definitely drag-oriented ( mid range to high rpm bias ) and probably not very suited to street cars, to say the least. Kameari have some other ( more sensible ) designs in both Stainless and mild steel - in sizes of 45 & 48mm. See attached pic:

Hi Miles, Well, I would not recommend ordering any Kameari parts through Autobacs.......... Kameari usually has three or four of each design of their exhaust manifolds in stock at their shop in Yashio-shi. Every time I go there they are well stocked, and I've never had to wait very long for anything I've ordered from them. Alan T.

Sorry Oliver, I haven't found them yet. We are getting ready to move home soon, and that particular note may be part of the stuff that I've already packed away ready for the move....... It will turn up eventually though. In the meantime, how about a Kameari Engine Works 'DRAG 6-1' 48mm unit at 294,000 Yen?:

Yeah, the inlet is pretty compact on the S20, especially when you consider that it is full of coolant passages too. See attached pic of an end-on view for comparison. The point ( in relation to Gav's question about his Mikuni L-series manifold ) is that there is not 'step' down from carb to head - it is just a ( short ) horizontal plane. The stock airbox on the S20 ( and the remote filter - which was mounted in front of the radiator support panel ) was pretty big. The air box had integral airhorns for the stock 40PHH Mikunis, and these air horns were attached to the cover of the air box rather than its base plate. I think this was done to ease servicing; it would be a real struggle to get the air box cover over the stock airhorns. Nevertheless, I have had to address this issue with my project car's engine - as I am using Weber 45DCOEs instead of Mikuni 40PHHs. I reckon I can get the airbox cover over the 45mm high full-radius rampipes I hope to use, and will therefore be able to use the stock filter box too. It will be a tight fit, but I think it can be done. I think longer rampipes would be better, but for sure they won't fit under the modified stock airbox. The factory race cars were fitted with injection systems that used very long trumpets. The inlet manifolds for the ( sliding throttle ) injection system tipped the inlet UP at an angle - presumably for packaging reasons.

Gav, Steve has touched on something that you might not have thought of. The shape of your Mikuni inlet manifold might have a lot more to do with packaging issues, rather than being dictated purely by efficiency........ Mikuni made some inlet manifolds that were expressly for the LHD market, and I believe that these placed the carbs higher in the vertical plain in order to give more clearance for a tubular exhaust manifold on an LHD car. I've also been told that some inlet manifolds for the L-series engined Skylines displayed these traits, because the Skyline engine bay was narrower than that of the Z. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

1963 'Prince 1900 Sprint'. Prince were calling it a 'Prince Skyline Sprint' at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show. Prince employed Italian coachbuilder Franco Scaglione to come up with a swoopy sports prototype for the show. It never made it any further than that, unfortunately. Did I win anything?

Isn't the "Iron Cross" wheel a different design altogether? ( it actually looks like a German / Maltese cross ). I thought that first came on the S130-series?

Hi Stephen, I wonder why the part numbers are different? It would seem that the part numbers I quoted from the Japanese parts list are later ( or at least a higher number ) than your wheels. Is there a detail difference do you think? The Nissan 'Service Shuho' booklet where I first see these wheels introduced to the Japanese market is dated July 1976, so I'm wondering if they were introduced earlier elsewhere? I've never even seen a set in the metal. Must be pretty rare I'd guess. Alan T.

40300-N3225 & 40300-N3226 were listed in the Japanese-market parts catalogues for the later cars. This wheel was also used on some Export market cars; we first saw them here in the UK on the later RS30 '260Z' model. Scans from Japanese-market parts catalogues and the tenth edition of Nissan's 'Service Shuho' booklets for the S30-series Z are attached below. The 'Service Shuho' page scan illustrating the hubcaps also shows the rather neat 'Nissan'-branded locking wheel nuts:

Ha! There must be a secret subtext there. I'll have to try and dig out a few Japanese wheel advertisements that have cherry blossoms and Samurai warriors on them to even up the balance now. E42 'Part Type' usually means 432/PZ-specific........ Proves what we keep saying about "looking at the whole family in order to understand each family member"....... Alan T.

While I have the book handy, here's a scan of the Japanese domestic parts catalogue page that depicts the 432 Mag, the steel wheel, and the hubcap for the Fairlady Z-L. Part numbers: *40300-E4100 arse'Y WHEEL, road *40315-E4105 arse'Y COVER, road wheel *40300-E4200 arse'Y WHEEL, ( magnesium )

The situation is a little confusing when it comes to what Nissan called "Europe", and what it called "Exc. Europe" ( which covered the UK market cars ). Both "D" and "Z" emblems were used. See the page scans attached below for descriptions, applcations and part numbers: No idea. Could it possibly be the huge gash in the earth caused by the mining of ore to make all the Kobe Seiko wheels? I'm just glad you never asked me about the model and her silver jumpsuit.........

I'm surprised to hear this, Arne. I grew up in the Sixties and Seventies looking over my dad's shoulder whilst he was reading magazines such as Motor Sport, Autosport and Motoring News, as well as very glamorous 'import' magazines such as 'Hot Rod', 'Popular Hot Rodding' and even 'Hop Up'. There was a period when I would have sold my soul for a set of Halibrands to go on my Thames panel truck ( dreaming that it would become a 'Gasser' ), but a set of Appliance 'dish mags' or Superior 'slot mags' were as close as I could get. I used to go to my local - and not so local - speed shops just to stand open-mouthed and watery-eyed in front of their selection of custom wheels. Many of these were from American companies, but even then I noted that a few of these were wearing 'Made In Japan' stickers on the inside rim....... This was so surprising to me that I made a mental note of it at the time. I also noted that the ones wearing those 'Made In Japan' stickers were often the cheaper designs ( and therefore more likely to be within my reach )...... I even remember ( after later getting into old Porsches and VWs ) that some of the early Empi wheels were made by BRM here in the UK, but were then farmed out to Japanese manufacturers who could make them more cheaply for the USA market. Do you think it is possible that some of the USA wheel manufacturers were having some of their wheels manufactured ( or part-manufactured ) in Japan, and then finishing / re-packaging them as a 'Made In USA' product? I'm talking about the 1970s here. The wheel aftermarket in Japan became absolutely HUGE through the mid-Seventies and the Eighties. The array of manufacturers, 'design' and 'character' brands and 'tie-ups' with known brands ( such as March for instance ) was mind boggling. Look through a 1970s Japanese car magazine such as Auto Technic or Car Graphic and you would see what seemed like at least half of the magazine consisting of flashy advertisements for aftermarket wheels. I find it hard to believe that this did not spill over into the USA market. Alan T.

Maybe they were "sourced" locally ( and from USA-based companies ), but I'll bet that more than half of the wheels sold in the USA by American companies during that period were actually manufactured in Japan - and many of them even designed there too. Japan was a wheel manufacturing powerhouse during that period.

Hold on, let's get this straightened up before it gets out of hand. The picture that you posted is of a Kobe Seiko 'Maglloy' wheel - which Kobe Seiko manufactured and sold to the general public as their own design from the mid 1970s. This was essentially the same pattern that they manufactured for Nissan ( used as standard equipment on the Fairlady Z432 ) but with some small detail alterations and some added lettering to differentiate it from the OEM Nissan items. Kobe Seiko made a number of different wheel designs for Nissan to use on the S30-series Z: *Original 432 wheel. Cast magnesium. Fixing points for a small centre cap. Also quoted as an 'Option' part for the S30 Fairlady Z-L and S30-S Fairlady Z. Manufacturing date was stamped onto each wheel, as magnesium was recognised as having a limited life expectancy for safe road use. Usually painted dull gunmetal colour. ( Chief Designer Yoshihiko Matsuo wanted all models of the S30-series Z to have 4-spoke alloy wheels, but this was overruled for reasons of cost - so only the 432 got them in the end ). *Works 'Rally Mag' wheel. Cast magnesium. No centre cap fixing points, and 'vented' spoke castings. Manufactured in 6jj x 14 and ( more commonly used ) 7jj x 14. No manufacturing date stamps. Never sold to the general public, and supplied only to Nissan for their 'Works' rally cars. Usually painted dull gunmetal colour. And then in the mid to late 1970s, after the above wheels were no longer being made for Nissan, Kobe Seiko dusted off the original design and made some modifications. They sold these wheels as: *Kobe Seiko 'Maglloy' wheel. Cast magnesium ( some also later manufactured in aluminium ) and fully tested / licensed for use on road cars. Clip-on centre caps. Usually painted silver. Private restoration companies have in the past recreated both the '432' mag and the Works 'Rally Mag' in limited editions ( made from aluminium for longer life ). These pop up from time to time to confuse matters - but the fact that they are aluminium and not magnesium usually indicates their status as replicas. See pictures below for illustrations of the above three 'types' of Kobe Seiko wheel. Trivia department: Kobe Seiko were active during the Pacific War years, and manufactured all sorts of castings and forging for the Japanese military. One of their specialities was wheel manufacture, and they made many of the magnesium wheels for Japanese army and navy aircraft - including those on the legendary Mitsubishi A6 'Zero Sen' fighter.......... Alan T.

Ha! You're slacking, Mr W. I just took a peep at my one and only USA-market R-Drive parts list too, and its there alright ( although slightly different to the RHD Export market versions ). Did these pages not make it onto the CD-Rom then? That's a pity if so....... Alan T.

Oliver, I remember speaking to the owner of the car at Sagamiko. Some of the parts were nice, and some of the engineering work on the car was good, but I don't think we shared the same viewpoint on matters of taste........ I think I made some notes at the time or shortly afterwards. I'll see if I can dig them up. Bear with me whilst I try to find them.......... Alan T.

I think that's very unlikely.

I guess if all else fails, you could always resort to the drastic measure of asking the person who took the photo whether he knows anything about it..........

AZ-240z, These scans of two "How To" pages from the paper editions of the Nissan 'R-Drive' parts lists should give you all the information you need:

Sad news. Mr Shekhar Mehta passed away in a London hospital on 12th April 2006 after a short illness. He was taken ill on the island of Corsica, where he was attending to his duties as the Rally Commissioner for the FIA on the 'Tour De Corse' round of the World Rally Championship. He was just 60 years old. Born in 1945 - a Ugandan of Indian extraction - Shekhar entered his first competitive event in 1966. He went on to win the East African Safari Rally a total of 5 times - four of them in 'Datsun'-branded cars. First of these ( in 1973 ) in a Works Datsun 240Z co-driven by Lofty Drews - the second Safari win for the 240Z. Shekhar rallied all over the world, in famous events such as the RAC Rally in the UK, The Monte Carlo Rallye, The Southern Cross Rally in Australia, The TAP Rallye in Portugal, The Acropolis Rally etc etc - as well as many national and club events here in the UK. Acknowledged as a fast and flamboyant driver ( sometimes, to be fair, slightly overexuberant ) Shekhar made a big impression wherever he drove, more often than not pictured with a smile on his face and a glint in his eye. He will be sadly missed. Sincere condolences to his wife Yvonne and son Vijay. Alan T.

Would you happen to know which particular Works car these actually came from? Is the history ( fate ) of the particular car known? I have an ongoing project tracking the histories of the Works 240Z & 260Z rally cars, and would be interested to hear why these carbs were taken off the car in question. Usually this would mean that the car had been crashed and split for spares. Cheers, Alan T.