HS30-H

I recommend SWEPCO 201 for use in Servo (Porsche patent) synchro 'boxes. The proper Porsche specialists in NL should be able to supply it, but here's a UK-based supplier: https://type911shop.co.uk/epages/de867ca1-377e-432e-84fd-bdccf2206766.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/de867ca1-377e-432e-84fd-bdccf2206766/Products/2042

AMPCO was/is a majority Nissan-owned affiliate company, making parts for use on Nissan vehicles. Whilst the H2716 'Pop-up' pistons were not OEM on any S30-series Z, they were supplied by Nissan as a service replacement part on Nissan L-series engines. They are not 'aftermarket' or custom.

S20-engined models (432 and 432-R) had an electric pump from the beginning of production in 1969, hence the mounting bracket captives being present in the crossmember on all contemporary S30 models. No mechanical pump on S20 engine.

I remember Carl Beck making the 'dirt floors' assertion with regard to Nissan Shatai's Hiratsuka plant, probably mis-remembering or misunderstanding something that Matsuo san mentioned. Matsuo san was talking about the early days of Hiratsuka's Roadster production, and probably exaggerating a little for effect. He told me the same thing.

Many of us will recognise the name and logo of Nissan-affiliate gauge and instrument makers KANTO SEIKI and their 'KS' trademark as they made most of the gauges in the S30-series Z, and a few other parts besides. Perhaps less well known may be the fact that KS had their own line of sporty aftermarket gauges and instruments, which they sold independently to owners who wanted to upgrade their cars for more sporting use. One of my current (long-running and sloooow...) project cars will have a 'Rally' theme, and will incorporate a few Kanto Seiki aftermarket parts that I have accumulated over the years. I have two of the KS 'Trip Counter' kits (one standard, one 'deluxe') and one of the rare 'Twin Counter' rally odometers (basically a crib of the Swedish-made Halda 'Twin Master'). There was some nice Z-related content in KS's period literature, and KS stickers on some of Nissan's Works rally cars:

No, it's a design that was based on the earliest Nissan Sports/Race Option triple carb inlet manifolds for the L-gata, subsequently adopted by the likes of Tomei and Datsun Competition in the USA. It properly accommodates the linkage to the front carburettor - the Sports/Race Option Mikuni 40PHH and 44PHH having their throttle linkages on the LEFT side of the carb body viewed from the carb inlet side - and gives the main linkage rod full support where it is most needed, unlike the 'rod end' type supports which typically hang the front linkage off the end of the main rod. Harada Shokai also chose to put a fully-adjustable main rod return spring on the end of the main rod, and it is a good solution - used by other manufacturers such as the early Sanyo Shokai manifolds. It works. For reference, Nissan Works items:

I'm stating the obvious here, but - of course - that fitting is usually deleted completely and replaced with a flush plug when converting to triple carbs. That's hardly Harada Shokai's responsibility, and it certainly doesn't make their manifold a "POS". Wind your neck in.

Hi Ian, The Works rally cars usually used the 8k tachometer with the adjustable limit needle. This wasn't a 'tell-tale' type tacho which recorded highest RPM reached, but simply a hand-adjustable needle to set a rev limit for a particular period/engine/event. They were used with a hidden CDI unit: In my experience, the 'Works' 8k tach is extremely rare. The 10k tachs were sold as Sports/Race Option parts slightly later, and were designed to be used primarily for circuit race use (higher RPM than rally type) with the 'White Box' and 'Orange Box' CDI units. The complete kit included a dedicated distributor. My sympathies on being outbid. Happens to me too!

Have a couple more on me:

I've used, fitted and supplied umpteen Harada Shokai inlet manifolds over a couple of decades or more, and never had any major problems with them. Any inlet manifold/exhaust manifold interface has usually been the fault of the exhaust manifold flanges being way bigger than they need to be and/or too thick/thin, and any inlet manifold/thermostat housing interface has been due to either incorrect user assembly of the linkage (getting the return spring clamp round the wrong way/not even understanding how it works) or a slight amount of clearancing being necessary due to the wide variation in thermostat housing shapes/castings. The linkage parts - especially the linkage arms - are not as good as they used to be (I preferred the old cast items), but I don't see any alternative. In my experience they are very far from being the "POS" that you claim this one to be. So my money's on the Harada, not you.

AFAIK the aftermarket replicas (such as those sold by MSA) are 350mm dia or thereabouts.

The normal - Sports Option - 'Datsun Compe' steering wheel was usually 350mm diameter. I have a 1972 vintage version at that diameter. The Nissan Works rally team version was slightly bigger diameter, usually around 370mm, although I have seen at least one that was just over 380mm. I have no idea what ZStory are selling and I see no mention on their website.

Its an early Nissan Works version of the 'Datsun Compe' urethane-grip steering wheel made by Izumi. The Works version was a larger diameter version of the Compe, and followed the same solid-spoke to perforated-spoke transition as seen in the OEM S30-series Z Izumi steering wheels.

For timekeeping, the usual 'Works' kit was a pair of HEUER (pre-TAG) clocks: A 'Master-Time' 8 day clock and a 'Monte-Carlo' stopwatch. Some of the more serious navigators would have their own preferred/maintained sets, and positioning/mounting was also subject to individual navigator preference whenever changes were possible before an event. The usual HEUER Master-Time & Monte-Carlo pair was quite expensive at the time (they still are...) and very tempting for a thief when the cars were in Parc Ferme. There are stories of some sets going missing... For distance measuring, the usual Works kit was a pair of HALDA Tripmasters connected individually to the front wheels by drive cables which ran through the centre of each hub spindle, exiting the hub casting at the back of the strut via a hard tube. Having two Halda drives operating individually allowed the navigator to take an average for increased accuracy. Positioning of the Haldas on the dash varied somewhat according to RHD or LHD layouts and feedback from navigators about their own preferences. On later Works 240Zs and 260Z, Halda Twinmasters were fitted for doubling-up on accuracy. As can be seen, the early Works cars were usually fitted with the oscillator-driven Kanto Seiki 'Rally' stopwatch clocks too. Nothing made by SEIKO for these cars.

I just checked on my cars, and I agree. Smaller than I expected.

M8 x 1.25 Correction edit: I have checked, and I have found mine (three cars: 1970 x 2 and 1972 x 1) to be M5 x 0.8.

Thanks for confirming your input, or lack of it. So you never even saw Uemura san's book in the original Japanese form? Wow... Unless people have the two versions to compare and contrast, they'll never really know just how far the original Japanese language version was bowdlerised in the English language version. Whilst I can understand and commend Motomura san for wanting to get an English language version in front of an English speaking audience, I simply do not understand why it was necessary to insert the term 'Datsun 240Z' in place of Uemura san's original terms (usually 'Fairlady Z' and 'Maru Z', meaning - of course - the whole family of variants) and any reading of the English version will, as is so often the case, miss the point that Uemura san and all of the other participants were creating a family of models in the S30-series, and not just one. In some parts of the book it renders the anecdotes being related nonsensical. Its a real shame. The original makes much more sense. I might 'get' it for the title - although I'd add a caveat - but the (seemingly endless) times it is used in the text just loses the meaning of the original sentences. Since Uemura san used the (correct!) Kanji form of Kaishinsha (快進社) in his book, it won't have been him. If it was Motomura san's doing then I would find that a slightly baffling decision. You might want to think of 'Kaishinsha/Kwaishinsha' as a proper noun, but - as the original was originally written in three Kanji characters - it is not quite as simple as that. I'd be wasting my time trying to explain the nuances of Kanji to you, but the company name is a composite of three Kanji characters and pinning it down as a single proper noun is to miss a lot of the point. That first Kanji ('Kai') means something very specific, as do the other characters, and together they mean something more. For me, the true test is in speaking the word. If you say the word 'Kwaishinsha' (with that rogue 'w') out loud it simply doesn't convey the meaning it was intended to convey any more. That is why 'Kaishinsha' is correct and 'Kwaishinsha' is not, regardless of how it was spelled out in Romaji on the side of the Kaishinsha building. If you want to tell the Toyota Museum staff, the curators of the National Science Museum in Tokyo and any number of other scholars that 'Kwaishinsha' is correct because it is a proper noun, please cc me in on the replies. Might be entertaining. Of course, you spell it 'Kwaishinsha' on zhome.com, don't you? I would imagine that is because - like everybody else who is spelling it out as 'Kwaishinsha', like Mr Evanow and even some of the people at Nissan - you are copying somebody else's (mis)spelling, and simply never even considered the original Kanji form.

An example of How This Stuff Happens: In 2014 Mr Hitoshi Uemura - former chief of Nissan's Third Vehicle Design Section and lead engineer during the design and development of the 'Maru Z'/'270KK' project S30-series Z - published a book titled 'Fairlady Z Kaihatsu No Kiroku' (tr: 'Fairlady Z Development Chronicle'). Recommended reading for anyone interested in how the S30-series Z came about. On page 28 Mr Uemura mentions 'Kaishinsha', and writes it correctly in Kanji. In 2017 Uemura's friend and former colleague Mr Yuichiro Motomura collaborated with Mr Carl Beck on an English language 'translation' of the book, 'tuned' (ahem...) to an American audience. They chose to title the book 'Datsun 240Z Engineering Development: The Journey From Concept To Reality' (note the difference in titles...). On page 8 Motomura/Beck 'translate' Mr Uemura's Kanji 'Kaishinsha' (快進社) as "Kwaishinsha". So, there it is. That's an example of how the ball keeps rolling... [cue end title music: Billy Joel, 'We Didn't Start The Fire'.]

With regard to the idea that the L24 sprang directly from the L16 (like some kind of Immaculate Conception), here's Nissan's take on matters... Care worn - well used - L13, L16 & L20 engine service manual. Nissan grouping these engines together as part of a series. Related, of course, but the L20 senior and not yet having the benefit of the new tooling, new metallurgy and new oil-sealing technology that the L4s were able to enjoy due to being drawn up later. In due course - of course, of course - the L20 six would be able to undergo updates and join the modular L-gata lineup for a more streamlined range, and Nissan would give it the 'A' suffix to denote the difference between 'Original' L20 and 'New' L20: Context for the L24's 'Immaculate Conception' style upscaling from L16 (a la Mr Evanow): Japanese market H130 model Nissan Cedric debuted with the new L20(A) six in September 1969, and Japanese market GC10 model Skyline 2000GT debuted with the L20(A) six in October 1969. But - of course! - we shall ignore them and paint the L24 as THE prime mover in this story of fours being transformed into sixes. 'Made For The USA', remember...? So, Zhome.com/Evanow take: L16 (not L13, we'll ignore that) begets L24 as part of Export-focused 'Revolution' centered around 510 and 240Z. Forget anything made before the L16 as it doesn't count. Year Zero, OK? Nissan's take: L13 and L16 are part of the natural evolution of the original L20, which begets L20(A) and beyond. We call it a 'Series': 'L-Gata'. My take: If you really want to understand this, go back to the source. Don't ignore Nissan's single biggest market (yes, that's Japan...), and try to stop yourself from looking at Japanese industrial history through the lens of the USA.

You're doing it again. The G8B 'S20' was already lined up and well into the planning stages for the C10-series Skyline in 1966, just before the enforced Prince-Nissan merger. I don't think you're a scholar of Skyline history are you Carl? The ex-Prince staff at Murayama were very protective of what they saw as 'their' IP and there was no way they were going to let their blue-blooded engine debut in the Nissan Maru Z/270KK. The real story here is that Nissan couldn't have a Nissan-branded sedan out-engining and out-performing its new Sports/GT car, hence the planned Hi-Po triple carbed L20(A) version which was part of the plan before the S20 was pinched (somewhat to the Murayama team's dismay). It is notable that the very astute Teiichi Hara used the G8B/S20 as ammunition to help the Maru Z/270KK project styling along. No L24 at this point, and not much Katayama either, but the S20-equipped PGC10 still debuted a good 8 months before the 432/432-R. You seem content that Mr Evanow states that the 432/432-R's S20 came from the 'KPGC10', which actually hit the market a whole year later than the 432/432-R? It's just poor research, isn't it?