HS30-H

Hi Guus and hi Rodd, Well Guus, I AM single ( but "shacked up" ) so you can't really marry me - but what colour hair do you have????!!!! Nah, even if you marry me I won't give you the parts...... Seriously though, those Kobe Seiko Rally Mag replicas are REALLY expensive in Japan. I guess you are using Euros in Holland now, but in Pounds Sterling they work out at £300 EACH. That's the RETAIL price in Japan too - so you need to add the cost of shipping and duty too. That makes for a very exclusive set of wheels - but if you are aiming at making an accurate replica of the Monte Carlo car then I guess nothing else will do....... just don't look my way if you want cheap prices. Its just as expensive for me too. The prices of parts on my ZG made my hair turn grey and then start falling out. I shall pick up on this with you privately - thanks for your e-mail address. Rodd! Thanks for the posts about the Le Mans cars, and glad to hear that you are also into the Works rally cars. Did you actually know that Nissan also still own the '73 Safari rally-winning car? They hardly ever show it ( it is in pretty-much the same condition as it finished the Rally ) and they keep it in Yokohama with the other two cars that they had on show at the NISMO HQ in December.Maybe one day they will make a proper museum, and you can get to see your favourite-ever Z in the flesh. I have not seen that Fujimi kit of the '76 Le Mans car before ( despite having a lot of their other Z kits that I have never made ) and was interested to see that they made the kit without the aerodynamic front end on it - but with all the "overfenders" and the big rear wing. Notice also the BMW CSL "Batmobile" style mini-spoiler above the rear hatch glass. Very interesting. Wonder why it was not as accurate as it should have been? Thanks for the pictures of "6466" in Works rally car guise ( as driven by Harry Kallstrom ). I have some other photos of the car too. This car was a full-house,close to final development of the Works rally cars - with Injected "LY" Crossflow engine, 110 Litre fuel tank, vented rear disc brakes and the big diff. It was driven by Kallstrom on the '74 TAP Rally in Portugal, and then by Cahal Curley in the '74 RAC Rally in UK. Then it passed into the hands of Englishman Chris Sclater for a semi-Works supported career. PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THIS TIME IT WAS LEFT-HAND-DRIVE. Hence my doubt about the true identity of the car that was entered at Le Mans in '75................. That car seemed to have suddenly been fitted with the whole rear panel from a "240Z" ( including the lights and trim pieces ) and had miraculously changed from LHD to RHD. This makes me wonder if indeed it REALLY WAS "6466" - or if the Japanese registration identity plates had been switched onto an earlier car in order to legalise its entry at Le Mans????? I certainly do not recall hearing that the '75 Le Mans car had rear disc brakes and a fuel-injected "LY" Crossflow engine - which was what "6466" was fitted with in its Rally career. And why would they change the whole rear panel to an earlier type? Surely if it was damaged they would have easily been able to find the correct "260" type panel and lights??? What about the ( if I am indeed right ) conversion from LHD to RHD? Does it make sense? Certainly, Hans Schuller had good contacts with the factory and the Works Rally team staff - so he would have been well connected enough to pick up a "tired" ex-Works rally car and modify it for Le Mans. Schuller did some circuit racing in Japan for the Works team, and was apprently no slouch despite the fact that he was a navigator for Edgar Herrmann. I really wonder whether the '74 Le Mans car was in fact an ex-Works 240Z Rally car - rather than "6466" which was a 260Z. Maybe they needed to pull some kind of switch in order to get the car into its class at Le Mans, and to "give" it the identity of "6466" helped this? The most fascinating thing in all this is to find out what actually happened to "6466" and what was the identity of the seemingly ex-Works 240Z Rally car that they put "6466"s identity on for the Le Mans entry? I was also wondering if the '75 & '76 Le Mans cars were in fact the same car ( this does not seem to be mentioned anywhere ) and if the '76 Le Mans car still exists, despite the sadly fatal crash? If it did exist, it would be possible to pin down its true identity and clear this mystery up somewhat......... Did you guys notice how few of our American friends seem to be interested in the Le Mans and Works Rally cars? I have not noticed many posts from them ( despite Mike starting this thread ) and I wonder if thet are tuning in or not? Is anyone out there?! Hope that you are not bored, because we are having a great time with this....... More on this soon, all the best for now, Alan Thomas ( HS30-H ).

Here's the "office" and Jacking Point;

Guus, Starting to get the hang of my new scanner now. Here are some photos as a taster of the Works Monte Carlo Rally Car at Nismo's HQ back in December. They are the engine bay, Rauno's "office" , and the Jacking Point on the left-hand side sill. You might need to replicate the jacking point for your replica car............... See you again soon, All the best, Alan Thomas ( HS30-H )

Hi Guus, Thanks for your response. That certainly wasn't me that you met at Zandvoort - I was living in Japan in the early '90s. The last time I went to Zandvoort was probably about 1976, but yes I did have a 110 Red '73 UK-spec. 240Z that was pretending to be a Fairlady 240Z with lots of period option stuff ( factory headlamp covers, mesh grille, 8-spoke RS Watanabe wheels, all emblems Japanese-spec. etc. etc. ). That used to be my daily driver, but I sold it on. Regarding the photos of the Works Rally cars that I took at the "Omori Factory" in Tokyo - well, copying 300-odd photos is going to be a pretty arduous task, not to mention expensive. At least half of them are of the Safari car, rather than the Monte car ( although I would have thought you would be interested in both ). Far better for us to narrow down the areas that you are most interested in, so that I can edit it a bit. Bear in mind that they are pretty precious to me, and simply passing all of them on to you will be a bit of a wrench. This kind of thing is not easy to get hold of, and I did a real lot of leg-work ( not to mention spending a lot of money ) to visit Japan and see the cars. Nissan hardly ever lets the "General Public" see them, so short of a "Royal Audience" by command I had to wait until they came on show to all. I will scan up some tasters for you and post them below later tonight. Love those pictures of the Le Mans cars above. I have been trying to understand the truth and all details about those cars for quite a while now. Are both those photos old ones from the period in question? I heard that the second-year car was still in existence in the Poitiers region of France, but it must surely have been rebuilt or re-shelled from the crashed car? I think they were a little creative with their entry for the first year, as the car was described as something different to what its Japanese registration plate number said it was........... Do you know anything about all this? I am trying to establish whether that car really was an ex-Works rally car, and if the two cars that raced at Le Mans in successive years really were in fact one car ( meaning it changed from a 240Z into a 260Z - as I say, I think they were a little creative ). I would love to hear what info. you have, and maybe that would be a good trade for some photos! As for parts for your Monte Carlo Rally replica - what do you need? If you want to go the whole hog it will cost a lot of Yen. I have replicas of the "Rally Mag" wheels that were originally made by Kobe Seiko for Nissan, however they are cast aluminium rather than forged magnesium ( to keep costs down and last longer ). However, they are REALLY expensive - and I mean REALLY. I also have a pair of excellent replicas of the factory bucket seats ( the ones that were manufactured for Nissan by Ikeda Bussan ). The Monte car that you are replicating had a pair of these, but some of the Safari and RAC Rally cars had a reclining version for the navigator. These seats are also MEGA expensive. I also have some hard mechanical parts, such as R200 LSD Diffs. ( 4.1, 4.3, 4.6 & 5.1 available - no 4.8 ) although you will find that the Monte cars on that year had an R180, and these are too easy to break so I don't recommend them. Some of the factory Rally cars used the R192 Diff. ( not the R190 - that is different ) which was fitted to the Z432 and Skyline GT-R - but they are so expensive that there is no point, and you can hardly see it anyway! I have MK63 4-pot front brake calipers, Factory Rally struts / legs ( F & R ), and the Datsun Competition steering wheel. I am making a replica of the 100 Litre fuel tank ( with the corresponding "flat floor" in place of the spare wheel well ) for my project 432R replica - and lots of details on the shell were similar. In fact, you could call some of the factory Rally cars a 432R ( PS30-SB ) shell with an L-series engine installed. In essence, that's what they were - but obviously with all the special Rally bits. Many of the Japanese circuit race parts are shared with the Rally cars. I could go on about all this stuff forever, and bore 99% of the audience to death! If you want to correspond about it, just let me know. Now that I have my new scanner installed ( bought today! ) I can scan a few photos and put them up for you. In the meantime, here's a taster of the Rally Mag wheels and the Ikeda Bussan seat replicas; See you, Alan Thomas ( HS30-H ).

Amen to your list 240znz, I thought from your post about painting the door-surrounds black that you had taken leave of your senses! Seems you had a better idea of what was important all along....... Didn't realise that you actually don't have your mitts on a car yet ( I'm the new boy around here ) - sorry about that. Also thought you were based in the UK ( from your user cp ) but seems you might actually be a kiwi. If you get a Z in the UK will you take it back to NZ? Surely buying a right-hand-drive car in Japan and exporting it to NZ would be easier and cheaper? You would get a better car for about the same money, and Japan is surely nearer to NZ than the UK? Don't be scared about buying a car from Japan; there are plenty out there and there are a real LOT in better condition than most of the ones I see in the UK. Aren't there any good / affordable ones in NZ then? Don't get tempted by the Volvo idea ( unless you get a Z and use the "modern" as a hack ). I used to drive a '73 UK-spec. 240Z as an everyday driver in central London, and just got sick of the damage and vandalism ( mostly parking damage by my neighbours ). Was sad to do it, but ended up buying a "modern" as a hack / parts chaser / shopping car - and the wife doesn't moan about how cold / hot / noisy / bumpy it is! Now that she is happy, the freedom has allowed me to make the Zs more radical, so it paid off in the long run........... Glad to hear that you are not thinking "concours" - as in my experience a few stone-chips and some oil stains are nothing to worry about. I like cars to look as though they are driven, and we all know that that's what these cars are all about. All the best to you, Alan Thomas ( HS30-H ).

Most of the shiny stuff on the S30 series Zs is stainless steel, apart from the bumpers and door handles ( have I forgotten anything else? ). The best thing to do is to have it polished, I think. Personally, I prefer to keep the body and paint pretty much as it was when it came from the factory ( which is difficult enough! ). They look good enough as it is, and any modifications would be better done on the drivetrain and suspension. With cars this old, going through the suspension and driveline to make sure that all joints, bushes and geometry are at least as good as they were when the car was new is one of the most effective ways to get maximum enjoyment from the car. There is a huge temptation to stamp your personality on a particular car by changing something cosmetic, rather than doing what really needs to be done. Its really tempting................. I prefer also to keep any modifications or additions to the car in a "period spirit" - rather than try to make the car perform or look like something built last year. The S30 series Z seems to be loved by what we used to call "customisers" as well as "classic" car enthusiasts, so you can see many variations in taste and fashion in their modifications. But if you look over the period of ten or twenty years or so, you will see that what was cool or fashionable then now looks really bad, and it takes time for it to come back to being cool again. Twenty or thirty years ago candy and metalflake paint jobs would have been pretty cool - but then they were seen as garish and bad taste. Now its all coming back again, and the new TVRs are really turning heads with young people who have never seen these kind of paint effects before. What comes around goes around, and the problem is that by the time you have perfected your look fashion has already moved on and you don't look so cool any more.................. That's why I prefer to keep to "period" spirit modifications, using factory option parts or replicas of them - even down to period tuning stickers. Its fun and a real challenge to get it "right", and you don't have to kid yourself that your car will outperform an R34 GT-R if you just put a little more thought into it. I try to think of my car as something that got stuck in a time warp, and every day is somewhere around 1973. That way I know that I am always aiming for an achievable target. I think that if I think of it as a "classic" car it is better than thinking of it as a canvas for my temporary whims and fancies. I think the owners of some of the more exotic classic machinery have got the right idea. You don't see that many Ferrari GTOs with 19 inch wheels and 35-series tyres on them. What's wrong with a little good taste? Polish 'em!

Don't do it! Why would you want to do it? It will always look bad! You will never be able to maintain it! Quit now while you are ahead! Somebody back me up on this! It's not an early '80's Porsche. Somebody put a straightjacket on that man! Oh well, you can do what you like - but plenty of others have done it before you and 99% of them made a bad job of it. I spent two weeks trying to clean this stuff off of a pair of window frames that I bought and I don't want you to go through that. These things might look OK in a photo, but unless you go the whole hog and disassemble it and then get it all anodised, it will never continue to look as nice as the first day you did it. If you want to do something to your Z, go and do something useful! Change the oil or something. ( hey you guys out there - don't encourage him! )............

Hello Guus, How do you do? I have heard about your Monte Carlo rally Z project, and in fact had seen pictures of it. Glad that you are doing something that not many people try to do. I have about 300 photos of the Works rally Zs that were on temporary display at the Nismo HQ in Omori, Tokyo last year. They let me go all over them ( once we found the keys ) and let me have full access - so I could sit in them and pretend to be Rauno and Edgar on the stages.......... Tell me what areas of the cars you are particularly interested in and I will try to select some of the best shots. I also have a big archive of period books and magazines ( particularly Japanese race magazines like Autosport and Auto Tecnic ) which contain great articles, as well as a lot of contemporary Japanese stuff like NOSTALGIC HERO and OLD TIMER magazine. I am sure that you have a copy os "NOS HERO" which has just beautiful photography. Kevin Bristow is a good friend of mine and I have been helping him to research his own ex-Works 1971 RAC Rally 240Z. He is making an absolutely fantastic job of it, and it is progressing well. I actually have some performance parts that would suit your Monte Carlo replica well - I import a lot of stuff from Japan for my own cars as well as for the Rally and Circuit racers in the UK. I can get some parts that you might have thought were not available any more. Let me know what you need. Have you seen any pictures of Vince Budd's Monte Carlo Rally Z replica from here in the UK? He has made a pretty good job too, and has used some parts from me quite recently too. His 4.6 R200 LSD will make a big difference to his stage times I think! Stay in touch, and tell me what you want to see details wise on those photos. All the best, Alan Thomas ( London, UK - "HS30-H" )

The chassis number identifies the car as a Japanese ( i.e "home" ) market S30 Fairlady. As such it came with an L20 engine ( just a two litre version of the L-series six and hardly any different to the L24 / L26 / L28 etc. ). Yes, this engine came with the E30 head. If it was a Fairlady Z432 the chassis number would start "PS30" and it would have an S20 engine - the twin-cam, 24 valve 2 litre six with triple 40PHH Mikuni carburettors. The factory made a total of somewhere between 420 and 500 of these cars ( a small proportion of them were the Fairlady Z432-R "PS30-SB" lightweight version ) but the actual figure is rather difficult to pin down because the factory slipped out quite a few cars for the domestic circuit race programme, like most car manufacturers. The true combined total is probably around the 450 mark if the race cars are included. PS30 chassis numbers go up over the 500 number, but there were some gaps and this does not denote that more than 500 were made. Many people get confused and think that all the Japanese market 2-litre cars had the S20 engine, or that all cars called "Fairlady" had the S20 engine. This is quite surprising, as the information is quite clearly detailed in most books about the S30 series Z cars. Its not so confusing really.......................... One of my cars is a 1972 Fairlady 240ZG ( HS30-H ) and many people automatically think that it should have an S20 twin-cam installed! This is really annoying, as the 240ZG came from the factory with a "normal" L24 engine, like all other HS30 variants ( that "H" at the start of the chassis number denotes the L24 engine ). One of my other cars is a 1970 Fairlady Z ( S30-S ) and this was made around mid year with a chassis number over 3000. This car too came with the L20 six, just like BleachZee's car. Also like BleachZee's car, my Fairlady S30 came out of Japan as a personal export by a US serviceman. It went to the USA and then came to the UK - so it is fairly well travelled. None of these cars were ever officially exported outside of Japan, and being such a low chassis number it is a very rare survivor of the '69 S30s. I know of a fair few in Japan, but many of them are fitted with later L28 engines for a bit more HP. If Bleachzee wants any more info on his type of car, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Happy to be of any help I can. By the way, why can't everybody understand that ALL the cars we love are actually "FAIRLADIES" and that the S30 series is the base that all "our" export variants come from? I cannot understand why so many people cannot get their heads round the fact that this is a Japanese car and that the Japanese "home" market right hand drive versions are what all the other versions are based on!!?? The left hand drive US export version in just a mutant export version of the Japanese base model. Please note the location of your hand-brake lever and the location of your indicator stalk. Does this ring any bells with you? They changed the design to incorporate specifications that would suit the US export market as they knew it would be such an important part of their business. They did not design the S30 series Z "especially" for the US market, but they took it into account as being the largest potential market. Jaguar did this with the E-Type Jaguar ( marketed as the "XKE" in the USA market ) and Triumph did it with their TR series sportscars, but they did NOT design the cars SPECIFICALLY for the US market. To the Japanese, and to me, these cars are ALL Fairladies, and they are all S30 series Z cars. The US-spec. HLS30. the UK-spec. HS30 and all other versions are all types of S30 Z, and were re-named to suit the local market requirements and taste. I guess its too late now, as thirty two years is a long time, but we really ought to be calling this the Internet S30 Z Club, as all the Z cars up to the S130 series would then be correctly included. They are calling the "new" Z a "Fairlady" in Japan too, rather than a "350Z". It will just be called a "350Z" for the US and other export markets, but to the Japanese it is the latest in the long line of cars to carry the Fairlady nomenclature.

Just to update DOEHRING about that NISMO "museum" in Japan; in fact Nissan showed two of the Works S30 Rally cars they still own at the NISMO headquarters ( called the "Omori Factory" ) in Omori Tokyo. This was a special promotion in late November and early December 2001 to coincide with the "NISMO FESTIVAL" event at Fuji Speedway, where the "new" Fairlady Z was shown to the general public ( to be sold as the "350Z" in the USA ). Nissan actually still own at least three S30 "240Z" Works Rally cars, as well as many other important ex-competition Datsun, Nissan and Prince cars. However, these cars are normally kept in Yokohama ( in a building called the "Nissan Memorial Sports Hall" which is in reality a large hanger that is not open to the general public ). One day maybe they will make a proper museum.............. Please note that the Nismo HQ at Omori, Tokyo is most definitely NOT a museum! This is the main HQ of NISMO and is very much a working and creative facility, with race-car building and planning going on, as well as special servicing on high-performance Nissans for customers. This site was originally the HQ of Datsun Competition ( "Sport Corner" etc. in Japan ) and has a great and long history. The two S30 Rally cars on display were the no.5 car driven by Rauno Aaltonen on the 1972 Monte Carlo Rally ( finishing third ) and the no. 21 car driven by Edgar Herrmann on the 1971 Safari Rally ( overall winner ). Both cars are in amazingly original and unmolested condition with fantastic patina and almost nothing missing. I was lucky enough to visit the Omori Factory at just the time when the two cars were on temporary display ( I also visited the NISMO FESTIVAL at Fuji Speedway ) and the staff there were kind enough to let me take many photos of the cars after crawling under, over and all through them. Anyone who thinks that these cars were anything like a "standard" car would be in for a real big surprise.................... Another genuine ex-Works 240Z is currently under restoration in the UK. There are very very few survivors of the Works rally campaign. DOEHRING asked about a Rally 280ZX possibly entered by a Japanese privateer crew on the RAC rally in the UK. I photographed this car several years ago in a small museum in Japan near Fuji Speedway. I still have at least one photo and I will try to dig it out. It was indeed a privateer effort, sponsored by the Japanese importer of CIBIE spotlamps - and the museum that the car is now in belongs to the CIBIE importer. That car was nothing like as special as the Works S30-type Rally cars. Perhaps DOEHRING would like to get in touch with me if he is interested in more info.

Just a quick note to put ericB straight about the head from the S20 engine. It will certainly NOT fit any of the L6 blocks, or any other block apart from the proper S20 block. This engine was derived from the Prince GR8 racing engine, and is quite fundamentally different to the L-series sixes. There WAS a bolt-on crossflow head for the L-series sixes offered by the factory, which was called the "LY" ( usually nicknamed the "Crossflow" head ) and that was actually a single-cam head with a hemispherical combustion chamber. These were made available to the public through the Sports Option parts lists in Japan in the early '70s, and were homologated mainly for race use in Japan and on the Works rally cars. In fact, to build a "true" LY28 engine you would need the rods, pistons and cam-drive parts that go with it, as well as all the manifolding parts. These engines used a different bellhousing and engine mounts to the normal L-series engines, as the mounting position was "straight" rather than canted over. So, don't get mixed up between the LY28 "Crossflow" and the S20 - as they are quite different animals. There are very few LY28 engines or heads left in the world now - and most of them are in Japan ( where they are very sought after ). Some of the Works rally car parts dissipated through Europe, and there are two cars that I know of in the UK that have ex-Works LY28 Crossflow engines installed. There was an aftermarket Twin-Cam Crossflow conversion available in Japan in the late '70s, manufactured by a small company called "O.S.GIKEN". This was called the "TC-24" and was a true bolt-on conversion for the L-series six block, but was extremely expensive and was only made in limited numbers. This too is now very sought-after in Japan. "O.S.GIKEN" still make many high quality parts for high-performance Nissan cars, and are particularly well known for their excellent clutch and transmission parts. The RB-series Nissan sixes are not technically related to the L-series sixes, the S20 or the LY28 - but they do share a common family tree.