HS30-H

Nigel, When I started pulling up that rear floor insulation on my 1970 project car I was horrified to find that it revealed quite a lot of surface rust..................... To be honest, the insulation was a bit scruffy - but I had NO IDEA that it was going rusty underneath. The idea of stripping it all out was part of my "432R Replica" theme ( they had no insulation in them whatsoever ) so I was trying to replicate that. What with the 1970 body being "pre-storage bin" ( just stamped holes in the floor ) there was actually quite a lot more of the insulation than on the later cars. This has now all been stripped off, blasted and painted. Makes me feel double satisfied to think that I have removed some really sneaky hiding rust and replicated the 432R at the same time. I should put some before and after photos up in the Member Galleries. Yours might not be as rusty as mine was, though.......... Alan T.

Bleachzee, Please be careful not to mis-describe your engine when ordering gaskets. You mentioned "L20b" above - which is a four-cylinder engine................ Gaskets and ALL parts for the L20 are still available from Nissan Japan, and there are hundreds of thousands of cars running around in Japan which are still using the L20 six. Just make sure that your parts supplier orders the parts for the right engine. Block height is the same as the twin-carbed L24 / L26 / L28 engines - so all gaskets other than the head gasket will interchange. Good luck, Alan T.

www.bestmotoring.jp = Main Japanese page. www.bestmotoringvideo.com = Main English language page. The Japanese pages have more downloads and are more up to date than the English language pages, as it takes them a little while to dub / edit the new titles with English. Alan T.

trs, thanks for understanding what I am trying to get across. I completely understand your enthusiasm for this kind of thing ( which I share ), and like you I would like more people to see and understand what's going on in Japan S30-wise and with old cars in general. I think you and I are probably both on the same side as far as that goes. I worked with 2 & 4 on several occasions, but all of them were in connection with the Japanese car magazine that I work for on a freelance basis ( ENGINE Magazine ). They were tie-ups with the Japanese Lotus importers, and in particular we worked on the Lotus one-make race series here in the UK ( now defunct ) that used the Motorsport Elise ( the road version of which was called the Exige ). We worked with Keiichi Tsuchiya three times, and once with Naoki Hattori ( who some people may remember as an ex-Champ Car driver ). Tsuchiya was great fun to work with, and impressed everybody at Lotus with a really good time at the Lotus test track at Hethel. He always had bad luck in the races, and had to make do with a bit of a dog of a race car that was made up from a crashed chassis. Hattori matched him when they raced at Oulton Park, and I can say that both of them are very impressive drivers who make a lot of very intersting observations about the cars they test on the videos. I'm sorry to say that I can't remember which videos these exploits ended up on ( I think one of the races was in the BM Special Vol.46, and at least one other report was on a Lotus special video ). 2 & 4 always excel at their in-car cameras and split-screen displays, and the cars always have to carry a lot of equipment. I was always hugely impressed with how quickly they installed all of this in the car and got it to work so well. The end product is absolutely fascinating. Their Video Special Vol.56 is a tie-in with the release of the Z33, and features some interesting cars from the whole Z range. The "Caster" is Mr Haruto Yanagida ( boss of "Central 20", and one of the S30-series Z car's most successful Privateer and Works race car drivers ) along with his son, who has been testing the Z33 race car in Japan. As far as 260Z's idea to show a clip / promo on this site - I think it would surely be a lot of work to get this ironed out. They have their own website, and surely if this site were to have any promotion for them it would mean money changing hands? I can't see 2 & 4 doing this unless they do it for a lot of other makes first ( such a small amount of their product is Z-related ). I could always ask them, but I think I can imagine what the answer might be. I honestly think only a very few of the people who look at this site will be interested enough to order one of these videos or DVDs, and if they ARE eager enough then they would surely be looking at the Best Motoring site already?................ And 260Z, I should imagine that I have partaken in "piracy" of one form or another in the past, as most of us probably have. However, as I said in my original post, this company's products feel very close to home for me. Maybe that's why I feel so strongly about it in this case. Alan T.

Mike, Can I point something out here? I don't want to be a killjoy, but this talk of putting some of the video up on this site rather shocked me. Please stop and have a think about it for moment. I remember some months back you were concerned that somebody seemed to be copying and selling the microfiche CD that you had made and marketed. There was a big debate about piracy and how to stop it from happening. So what's changed? If you put this file up on the web and allow everyone to have access to it, then I see no real difference apart from the fact that no money is changing hands. I have to declare an interest that makes this particular case all the more important to me; I have worked with "2 & 4 Motoring Co. Ltd." ( the makers of the Best Motoring / Hot Version videos, who are owned by the Kodansha publishing group ) in Japan and here in the UK, and I am quite friendly with Tohru Yamamoto - essentially the boss of the company. Being this close to them makes me feel potentially all the more guilty at the thought of you putting anything that they have created up on the site for all to see. At the end of each of the Video / DVD realeases from this company, there is a piracy warning ( just like anywhere else ). For the Japanese-market releases its written in Japanese, but in the Export market versions ( only a select few titles at this time ) it is of course written in English. Just because its Japanese does not make it fair game to copy / pirate / distribute. 2 & 4 make these videos as a business. It costs them a lot of money to make them ( if anyone sees one of them they might realise how much goes into it ) and only the fact that they can sell and distribute them carefully allows them to make more. We are not talking about a huge company here, like Sony or EMI - where Napster and similar ideas were seen as Robin Hoods robbing the rich and giving to the poor. 2 & 4 has a core staff of less than 20 people, and they market their product mainly through their website. The new releases usually make it into Japanese bookshops ( in the motoring section ) but the core of their business is through mail order. What I am trying to say is that they are not a multi-million dollar outfit that can afford to take a hit from a little bit of piracy. Sorry to sound so dramatic, but this strikes very close to home for me. I have earned money from working with 2 & 4 on three of the Best Motoring titles, and it feels to me as though I have to defend them. Most of us at some time have copied a video / CD / Software / magazine article / picture for a friend or acquaintance - or been in receipt of something that has been copied ( I am no different ). I guess that this is in fact technically illegal, as almost all products / publications have to guard against it ( even this site? ). It will, however, always go on. The main thing is that we should all try to be conscious about what we are doing and try to be sensible about it. Copying for a friend to see is quite different from sticking something up on the web for the whole world to download..................... One could argue that a clip on this site would be "free publicity" or some kind of promotion for the company that makes it - but I think we can agree that it would more likely lead to a wildfire duplication of the file and free distribution around the globe. I doubt that this would lead to more business for them, unless they try to make more English-language versions. I have given the link to the Best Motoring website here before: www.bestmotoring.jp - and it is possible for people to make International orders with them. I believe that they even have a USA distributor. They have downloadable clips on their site, and I think all in all the videos and DVDs that they sell are very good value for money. The point is that I don't think that they are so enormously expensive / overpriced that they would "deserve" to be pirated. Like I say, I don't want to be a killjoy ( hell - I would LOVE people to see what good cars / parts are around in Japan, and I have bought a fair bit of stuff from SPIRIT GARAGE myself ) but this case strikes rather close to home for me. I have very mixed sentiments, as like "trs" I would love to spread the word about the Japanese Z scene and cars like this. I can't stop you trying to put the clip up on the site, but I'd prefer you to stop and think about what you are doing. Just because its a Japanese product does not make it fair game for us to do what we want with it. Hope that you will understand my sentiments. Faithfully, Alan T.

Hi Eric, I used to own a '65 Mustang many years ago, and my main memory of it is that the suspension squeaked a lot. Didn't matter what I did, we couldn't stop it squeaking. Since I bought an early Z,its now me that squeaks. R.S.WATANABE wheels are still made by R.S.Watanabe in Japan, and I would presume that you are interested in their classic 8 spoke design ( which have always been known as the "Hachi Spo" in Japan ). Watanabe still make the classic deep-dish version in both Aluminium and ( very expensive ) Magnesium. They also added a split-rim version some years ago. They have many other designs of wheel available too. Check out their website at: www.rs-watanabe.co.jp Its mostly in Japanese and can be quite hard to navigate and see what you want - but I can assure you that its all in there somewhere. They have some data for the S30-series Z car with recommended fitment sizes. The 15 inch rim diameter is more useful these days as its much easier to find suitable tyres for them. If buying used R.S.Watanabe 8-spokes, be careful that you do not end up with a set that was designed for a later model ( wrong offsets ) or a FWD type ( very wrong offsets ). Watanabe have made these wheels for many years and for a great many applications. Be careful. The early Seventies castings ( and Magnesium forgings ) are becoming quite collectable in Japan now. Most early ones had a manufacturing date on the back. Good luck ( hope you get a Z ), Alan T.

The original IMSA cars looked great, but this attempt is quite far away from looking like one of them. I was particularly amazed by the efforts to make the nose look something like a Ferrari GTO ( notice the low oval air intake and the three scoops above it ). I wonder if that was part of the original "kit" or a further modification by the original owner. The wiring looks very professional ( not ). Love that Nitrous bottle ( not plumbed in of course ). Zedrally and 240Z what are you both thinking of!!?? Have you been looking at the HybridZ site too much lately? Alan T.

It's a new George Barris design for the 2003 PopeMobile.

Too late DRECORD, I already saw it. I've already got the intravenous drip attached and I'm waiting for the Ambulance as I write this.................. Alan T. ( I lost my heart to a Starship Trooper ).

Cuong is travelling in the Far East at the moment, so don't be surprised if he doesn't answer this for a few weeks yet. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Gavin, Thats a relatively low chassis number that you have there. The actual date of manufacture was not "officially" marked on most of the early RHD models as far as I am aware. However, I wonder of the Australian market cars had a similar tag on the inside of the door jamb ( just by the catch ) to the LHD cars, which stated a manufacturing date for local compliance purposes? The UK and Japanese home-market cars certainly did not. I can't remember whether they did or not - but if you DO find one please bear in mind that the RHD cars had to stick around in Japan for a lot longer than the LHD cars, while they got enough made / ordered for a consignment to be sent out. Some of my Japanese friends have told me that they remembered RHD Z cars sitting at the dockside in Yokohama for weeks and even months before being sent out. Compare this to the USA / North American market cars which were being sent out just as fast as they could put them together. Add this up, and it means that quite a lot of early RHD cars ended up at their destinations quite a long time ( relatively speaking ) after leaving the assembly line. For this reason, the local compliance / date of manufacture tag ( if fitted ) would not necessarily all that accurate on an RHD car compared to an LHD car. Based on the manufacture date of other cars that I know, I would think your car is indeed a mid to late 1971 manufactured car. To pin this down more accurately, you might want to get into Sherlock Holmes mode and start sniffing around your car for clues. First place to look would be the cloth tags on the seatbelts ( presuming the original Takata Kojyo belts are still in it ). These state the month and year of manufacture, and can provide a good clue. Usually they were made only a few weeks before the car was put together. Other places to look are on things like the back of the ashtray, the fusebox, back lamp housings and other items like that. You will quite often, but not always, see a round-shaped ink-stamp with a series of numbers in it. This is usually the manufacturing date of that item - but its in Japanese year date system according to the incumbent Emperor's reign ( in the case of your Z - it was still Emperor Hirohito, who the Japanese know as Emperor "Showa" ). To get the "correct" year date, just add 25 to the last two numbers on the date stamp. This is because the "Showa" era started in 1925. You will be therefore probably be looking at date-stamp numbers that end in 46 ( meaning 1971 ). If you see more than one 45 number, your car could well be an earlyish 1971 car. However, from your VIN number I think its a later 1971 car ( arguably one of the better dates to have in an RHD car ). You can also date these cars from the glass manufacturing marks and other more obscure places - but that's too complicated to get into here. Have a dig around your car and see what you can come up with datewise. If you need any help I would be glad to try to assist. I love early RHD cars in particular. Glad you are not too upset by the fact that its not some kind of Homologation Special. All too often people mis-identify stuff because they do not have much data on it. I guess this is what happened with the person who described your car as something other than a "normal" early RHD car. What you actually have is something rather good anyway. Remember that the early RHD cars were a much better spec. than the LHD cars ( 5-speed, 3.9 diff, rear anti-roll bar and the driver sitting in the "right" place! ). Hope that you take it back to its original colour, and close to original spec. if its been modified in any way. These relatively early HS30's are worth looking after. All the best, Alan T.

Sorry Gavin, but that "World Rally Spec." thing is just not true. ALL of the early "HS30" VIN prefixed cars ( that's RHD L24-engined cars ) had the 5-speed "A" type transmission - which had fairly close ratios anyway. The ratios changed to a more widely-spaced set when the "B" type 5-speed was phased in, so this is why you tend to hear about the "Close Ratio" gearbox thing. I quite often see comments from USA owners about "special racing transmissions" or similar when they are merely describing either an early "A" type 5-speed or one of the Sports Option transmissions available from Nissan Motorsports in the USA from the early 1970's ( which, apart from the proper "Dogleg" shift-pattern competition boxes, are usually just the 5-speeds that were stock in other markets except the USA ). The E31 head was also stock on most early cars ( what's your VIN number? ). Please don't believe any of that "special run" talk, as the only way that it can be seen as true is in the fact that there really were not all that many early "HS30" cars IN COMPARISON to the amount of early "HLS30" models that the Factory knocked out........ There was no real "Special Model" for Australia; you have to count the "HS30" VIN prefixed cars that went to Australia as very similar to most other "HS30" VIN prefixed cars, although they were arguably more similar to the Japanese market "HS30" prefixed cars than they were to the other ( mainly UK market ) "HS30". This was mainly due to the retention of the proper wraparound front indicators at the front where the UK version had compliance problems with them and switched to a rather ugly version on top of the front bumper. Take those figures from z.home as "gospel" at your peril; they purport to indicate production figures that relate to RHD cars for export. They do not seem to include any of the Japanese home-market cars ( very important ) and they come from the notoriously inaccurate "Datsun 280ZX" book that NMC published when the ZX was launched. They certainly will not help you in relation to how many cars made it to Australia. I would guess that "accurate" figures for Australian-market "HS30" VIN prefix cars would have to come from sources within Australia ( who must be privy to more and better info than that available elsewhere ). This must be known by the Z clubs in Australia surely? Be careful of conjecture though. A nice 1971 HS30 is a good thing to have. Are you sure that it really WAS made in 1971 ( and not 1970 ) - as I would have thought the E31 head makes it statistically more likely to be a 1970 manufactured car. This would be even better ( especially for those early VIN number lovers ). Like I said - what's the VIN number? Maybe this will help to identify it properly. Good luck with it, Alan T.

Hi Lee and George, I can tell you that different markets got slightly different colour choices and combos. For the most part they were the same, but there were differences that throw everything out of the window. Most of the data that you will find refers to the USA / North American market cars ( not the same as other markets ). I can tell you that ( like George's car ) there were a lot of Green cars with Black interiors in the Japanese market - so you can bet a lot of the other RHD market cars were in a similar position. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Rolf, Happy New Year. Actually, most of the RHD market cars did NOT have the little tag on the door jamb that quotes a manufacturing date.................... Like I said, its a lot easier to track the true age / manufacturing date of a LHD market car than an RHD market car............ I have to say that I think this concept of "Model Year" is confusing, and is linked more to marketing / sales than to any reality of manufacturing date. I have never heard the Japanese talk about a "Model Year" ( EG "1971 model" for a late 1970-made Z ) and to my mind it can only be a local market idea that is propogated in order to help sales. As far as I know ( and I could well be mistaken ) there was never any such idea as this at Nissan Japan in the early 1970's period. I also have a very strong suspicion that a lot of the dates on those door jamb plates were "tweaked" to suit business needs in Japan........................ Not that Nissan would ever admit it. Alan T.

Right ionman, I see where you are coming from. Amen to what you say. Mind you, I can see the attraction for people to try to make their cars ( not just Z cars ) something more ( to their way of thinking ) than they already are. I guess that's human nature. Any of the modifications / additions / deletions that I make to my Z cars conform to a sort of self-imposed set of rules that I have made for myself. One of these rules is to try to keep everything "period" correct for the early Seventies period. Hence the 14 inch wheels ( which make it a pain to find good tyres that are not too "modern" in profile ). I also try ( sometimes with more success than others ) to find parts that were available as Nissan "SPORTS OPTION" items in Japan during the period when the cars were current. As far as I am concerned, this makes them legitimate and "correct" to use. Like I say, its a self-imposed set of rules that I just have in my head. Your car looks super clean and original. These days that makes it unusual. Thats sure to give you even more satisfaction, and I can relate to your way of thinking. Best regards, Alan T.

Just to clarify this point, my comments on previous posts about skipped sequences in the numbering of S30-series Z cars were in connection with the RHD models. This is very well known in Japan. As far as I know, there is no evidence that any numbers in the HLS30-series VIN prefixes were skipped - so you do not have to worry about it for the LHD cars. The LHD VIN numbers make a lot more chronological sense than the others - so they can be relied on to provide more accurate dating info. Alan T.

Hi Otso ( 260z ), Can't imagine the temperatures you have over there in Finland. It was pretty cold here in Sapporo last night, with about 4cm of snow - but only about minus 7 Degrees. Surely those extremely low temps must hurt your car? ( or does it preserve it?!.... ). I've not heard that story about matt black hoods being to stop reflections ( but maybe that would be a useful side effect ). To be honest, I think its a case of style over effect. I don't have "blood" roots in Japan ( just my in-laws ) but we always come up to the north for New Year. The rest of the time we are in London or Tokyo. I didn't import my ZG to the UK myself ( and they were never officially exported outside Japan ) - it was brought to the UK in 1988 by a Japanese businessman with a large car collection. Its been owned by quite a few other people before me, but I think I've owned it the longest now ( and spent the most time and money on it ). It had a great body when it came from Japan, so its always been in good condition and only needed painting and detailing. I have done a real lot to it under the skin, and further improvements are in hand ( suspension ). When you ask about "original" G-nose parts, I presume you mean the original Factory-built parts. These are all but unobtainable from Nissan ( although I have seen some NOS parts in the hands of a collector over here in Japan ). I myself have a spare NOS front pan section ( the biggest part, which goes under the whole front of the car ) which I know is now very rare. The one thing that needs to be understood is that the ORIGINAL parts / panels were of amazingly good quality and construction. To replicate this would cost a real lot of money and time, so thats why the replica parts are usually of inferior quality. As I say, replica parts ARE available here in Japan from several different sources. They vary in quality, but generally speaking the 5-piece kits always work / fit better than the others. There are a couple of companies in the UK that supply the inferior kits ( and they import them from the USA as far as I am aware ). I don't recommend them. Better to spend extra and get a 5-piece Japanese kit. When I get back to London I'll look into putting up photos of my "other" Z cars ( although the 432R Replica is still in the paintshop and looks like a big kit at the moment ). Kats! Happy New Year! Nice to hear from you......... I flew up to Sapporo CHT from Kansai KIX last week on an ANA flight ( I wondered if I should ask the pilot if he knew you! ). Actually the pilot was really nice and made announcements in English ( just for me???! ) - the flightpath was really interesting too and Fuji-san looked beautiful. We are going back down to Tokyo tomorrow night ( ANA again ) so I will tell you about it. We fly back to Amsterdam then London on 7th with KLM ( horrible ). Actually, I have found that in the original road tests of October 1971, different testers / press called the ZG either the "Grand" or "Grande" Nose ( just different spelling ). I think this is just confusion from Journalists, and now we do not know which was correct. The Factory themselves also used different spelling in different advertising and brochures, and the Factory parts book lists the Manual Transmission ZG as an "HZG" and the Automatic version as the "HZGA". Interesting. I understand what you mean by Japanese English causing confusion - but you have to expect it, with such a big gap between languages. I have to say that however much the Japanese mis-use English, the English-language speaking world mis-uses Japanese just as much! It does not matter. What is more important is communication ( and one day we will be able to communicate without language, I hope ). I can imagine the feeling in the early 1970's - with the Japanese people wanting to dream of more modern and glamorous things. That's why they were using such interesting names for things ( and it still happens ). I like it. Its all part of the attraction of these cars. How about the example of the Cherry X1-R? It sounds like a cross between a space rocket and a fruit cocktail. I admire their boldness in using names like this ( even though it sounds funny outside Japan ). Outside Japan, I think we abuse Japanese terms just as much ( words like "Kamikaze" are used without people knowing the true origin of the word ). I think if we look at it chronologically, we can see that Matsuo san and his team realised that the aerodynamics of the first S30 series Z car were not satisfactory. You can see that the ZG influenced the styling of the S130 series Z ( and indeed there were originally plans to make the G-nose standard for the RS30 onwards, but they were dropped ). For the Japanese market, there was a period from late 1971 when the Automatic transmission Fairlady ZG ( "HS30-HA" ) was the MOST EXPENSIVE of the whole range, and was seen as the top model S30-series Z. This is why the ZG has always commanded higher prices and more demand than the "standard" Z cars. Prices of good condition ZG's are third in line behind the 432-R and 432. Kats, when I get back to London shall we start our campaign to promote Matsuo san as the true leader of the S30 design team? I am looking forward to it. Best regards, Alan T.

Yikes Ben you got me ( Im feeling very far away from home at the moment over here in Japan ). You are dead right, I shouldn`t have tagged a T on the end of that engine spec. ID. Sorry. See what happens when I try to rely on my drink-addled memory....... Good excuse dept: I`ve found some nice new Skyline books over here and have had my head buried deep in them over the last few days. Maybe that`s where the "L20ET" mis-ident came from. Regarding the Japanese "Home" market speedos; the one on my ZG goes all the way up to 240KPH. I think all the L24 engined cars all had these in Japan. The 2-Litre L-series cars were probably the ones that only went up to 180. As far as I remember the S20-engined cars ( PS30 and PS30-SB ) went up to 240KPH too ). Makes Phoenix_400`s possible purchase car sound more and more like a Japanese market car that was brought back by a serviceman. Ben, I share your thoughts about the ignition upgrade and open trumpets on the Webers; that`s typical Japanese street-tuned car stuff. That makes two us who think its a serviceman bring-home job. Alan T.

That reversed lettering moulded into the front airdam / spoiler clinches it; that`s definitely a part I have seen before. Forget about the "built for racing" and "European family" stories - as I think they are not accurate. I am willing to bet that the car has never been to Europe and was never intended to be a race car. Sounds to me like a Japanese "Home" market "S31" Fairlady Z ( roughly equivalent to the US spec. "280Z" - but with the L20ET injected 2 litre ). Again, I think it was probably brought back from Japan by a returning serviceman ( sounds like you might be in the right area for this kind thing ). Now you need to convince yourself that the condition of the car makes it worth getting involved with. Make sure its what you want. As Beandip says, everyone here is friendly and willing to help with advice - so they are not just trying to put you off by making cautionary words that sound negative. Some of us have learned from bad experience that a rusty car is a liability. Make sure you don`t let those Webers persuade you to buy something thats actually not all that good. Good luck, Alan T.

Hi there 260z, Thanks for the nice comments about my car. I have something in common with you at the moment; I am guessing that you have plenty of snow up there in Finland at the moment - as I am up to my nose in it here in Sapporo, Japan. I`m on holiday visiting relatives, and the weather up here is very interesting........................ For a "standard" G-nose and Overfender installation, you would not technically have to cut the rear arches. The point is, however, that you would probably want to fill up those rear arches with some fairly wide wheels and tyres ( although the ZG came stock with the standard skinny steel wheels and hubcaps...... ). Usually this means that you are forced to cut / clearance the rear arches to avoid cutting your tyres. The matt-black bonnet thing was also popular in Europe during the mid Sixties and early Seventies period. Originally thought of as an aid to dissipating engine heat, it soon caught on as a racy street modification. Its also quite handy for disguising the bad gelcoat finish on Fibreglass parts. Alan T.