HS30-H

Yes, you're right. I don't think I put that very well did I? The L20 six got the 'A' suffix well before the L20 four arrived with the 'B' suffix. The story that was related to me when I looked into this was that it was a case of killing more than one bird with one stone. Yes, they needed to differentiate between the early style L20 six and the updated L20 six, so they started to use an 'A' suffix on the updated design. A good illustration of this was in the factory parts manual for the GC10 Skyline: This had sections for both the 'early' / 'old' type L20 six and the 'new' L20'A', as the earliest GC10s were equipped with the 'old' type L20 sixes, and then they switched to the 'new' L20'A'. It must have been quite confusing at the time to have the same model of car fitted with two versions of what was essentially the 'same' engine. Those first 'new' L20'A's had the 'A' stamped into the pad on the block that carried the engine number. No doubt this was an effort to make sure there was no confusion, but it's possible to see Nissan's period advertising and other technical descriptions not differentiating between the two types. I don't know whether that was deliberate or not? And just a year or so down the line ( late 1969 ) Nissan were churning out what were clearly 'new' type L20As without the 'A' being stamped on the block as part of the engine number. Quite confusing. Again, the story I was told was that the 4-cylinder L20 was 'on the drawing board' - or at least being mooted - during the 1968/9 period when the L20 six was updated, hence the 'A' and 'B'. Even if they were not ready to make it yet, we can imagine that they could see a 4-cylinder L-gata engine of two litre capacity being necessary somewhere in the near future. If that wasn't part of a long-term plan then it would have to be a big coincidence, no? One thing is for sure: Those 'A' and 'B' suffixes did the job of differentiating between the six and the four, and the 'old' and 'new' sixes. But anyway, Kerrigan's Fairlady Z-L was fitted with the 'new' type L20 six, which the factory called an 'L20A' at the time.

Absolutely not. 1969 production: 969 'Domestic' S30-series Z ( Fairlady Z, Fairlady Z-L, Fairlady Z432 and Fairlady Z432-R ) and 543 'Export' ( Datsun 240Z ). Bear in mind that the numbers for the 'Export' units do not discern between different export market models ( a few 'Europe', UK, Australia, NZ etc cars WERE made before the end of 1969 ) even though we know that most of them were North American market models. The Fairlady Z-L for sale in Holland doesn't necessarily look like a 1969-build example to me, as there are many non-1969 build parts on it. The car has clearly been modified. I've asked the vendors to supply the chassis number for this car ( if it WAS a 1969 build, then I'd be interested in buying it ) but they have so far avoided making a clear answer.

As is often the case, this is something we have discussed on this forum - in detail - in the past: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/misc-s30/14422-home-market-s30-factory-options.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/misc-s30/14501-home-market-hs30-options.html

The engine your 1971 Fairlady Z-L left the factory with was called an 'L20A' by Nissan. The 'A' suffix was added to the L20 sixes when the L20 four debuted ( 'L20A' = 6 cyl, 'L20B' = 4 cyl ) in an attempt to avoid confusion. You won't necessarily see the suffix codes written anywhere on the car itself.

In a word, no.

What was an LHD speedo cable doing in the UK? Did it get lost? RHD one is shorter than LHD.

Oh dear, is "The Automobile Capital of the World" suffering from short term memory loss? Electronic test equipment. This is all quite well documented, as are the 'Kaku U' team's activities with the S30-series Z and the 510-series Bluebird before it. We've discussed it here many times before, with Kats bringing a lot of first-hand data and anecdotes from some of the Nissan Shatai 'Kaku U' team members. The test equipment ( data logging, and partly to do with torsional dynamics of the unibody structure ) was exactly the same as that used in the cars in Japan during development and pre-production testing. Rear window defroster was always part of the design and engineering of the S30-series Z, and was available on some ( most! ) Japanese market models from the beginning of production. Some export markets got a somewhat de-contented spec. package thanks to cost-cutting measures and perceived needs... Again, a subject we have discussed in-depth on classiczcars.com in the past.

Yes, the 'net is indeed "full of crap". It's like a Typhoid-infected well at times. It may be a token gesture, but we've spent a lot of time and effort on this forum over the years trying to get the story surrounding our cars right. If there's one place where we should try to get it right, surely it's here? Why should the Goertz Myth be repeated here, of all places? Our well should have clean water in it. So by all means point at the site, but if you know it contains blatant errors then please flag them up. If you don't, it looks like some kind of endorsement. I like the cars and I like driving too ( you think I don't? ). But if more of us were virtual "proof readers" then perhaps we might not have to wade through quite so much nonsense being written - and repeated - about those cars. Other make and marque enthusiast groups don't stand for it, so why should we?

Perhaps you might like to point out the presence of the pot holes to other road users who are following your directions...? You've posted links to similarly flawed articles with no comment in the past. I think it's worth commenting on / querying / correcting the mistakes here ( where better? ) as well as on the original site ( should they actually allow comments to be posted ) as that's the only practical way to promote the truth.

Are you recommending this, Blue? It's yet another short article that makes mistakes. They quote facts and figures for the North American market cars and fail to properly explain the German ( Euro ) market specs. The car in their pictures is one of the 'Vintage Z Program' cars on German license plates ( so it's not even an original German market car ) and appears to be something of a parts hotchpotch, too. "Die 240 Z-Karosse geht auf einen Entwurf von Albrecht Graf Goertz zuruck...." According to whom? According mainly to Albrecht Goertz, that's who. None of the main players in the creation of the S30-series Z attribute even a small part of it to Goertz. The Goertz story relates to another design which never reached production. What a pity we still have to see Goertz getting a namecheck, but no mention of the people who actually were responsible.

I'm 99% sure it's an Izumi. Made by the same people who made the OEM steering wheels for 'our' cars ( Izumi Motor Co. made the 'Datsun Compe' steering wheels too... ) but one of their many aftermarket versions. And I think it's been modified some time in its life too....

The short answer to that is..... absolutely nothing. Never even heard of it! Sorry!

A photo from one of the build-up reports ( issue no.84, dated January 2000 ) shows the same location as the original shot, and some of the build team:

Chris, I'm not a member of that Facebook group so I can't do cavalry charge to come to your aid ( or even Medevac you out of there..... ) but the build of this ( replica ) car was covered comprehensively in J's Tipo magazine in the late 1990s. The fact that the car even appeared at the 2000 Convention in the USA should ring some bells with the nay-sayers. The photo of Katayama san inspecting the car after it had been painted was also in J's Tipo magazine, included in one of the build reports. Proof positive that people ought to at least try to keep original source information with the photos that they right-click-and-save.....

OK, now I remember.... The car was/is a project build by a member of the 'J's Tipo' magazine staff in Japan, and the whole build was covered in the magazine in the late 1990s (!). They even took the car to the 2000 Z Car Convention in the USA. Some scans from J's Tipo magazine. This was issue no.92, dated September 2000:

Chris, It's a replica / 'tribute' car being built in Japan. Covered by one of the magazines, too. I'll see if I can find it and give you a link.

It's not an LY. 'CF-L' is an acronym for 'Cross Flow-L (series)'. It's basically a single-cam RB head converted to run on an L-gata 'block, with dedicated castings and specially machined components. Guy who made it ( them ) in Japan has a blog showing the whole process. ( Edit: Sato san's blog is where you found it..... ).

I think it's a given. A distinct model - quite different in the metal ( and plastic! ) from its siblings - and with somewhere around 25 cars produced for homologation in JAF's 'Prototype' class ( depending which ones you count... ) it has to be the rarest model in the whole S30-series Z range. Think of it as the equivalent of the Porsche 911R - its inspiration - and it starts to make more sense. Next up would have to be the 'ordinary' ( but extraordinary ) PS30 Fairlady Z 432 with around 420-ish built. Then perhaps the other factory 'homologation special' - the HS30-H Fairlady 240ZG with 500 built ( the minimum for FIA Group 4 homologation ) or perhaps slightly more. In terms of distinct factory models that were made to be sold to the general public, I'm sure that the PS30-SB, PS30 and HS30-H are the top three in terms of rarity and current market value. Alan T.

Hardly. Try thinking about the PS30-SB, PS30, HS30-H etc etc before you get into limo territory....

I don't think it's got anything in the hole. The lower dash mount is visible, and you would not see that if the plastic storage pocket thingy was installed. They were an extra-cost option on the 'S30-S' Fairlady Z 'Standard' ( no frills ) model. I was really happy to get one last year, but can't think what to do with it except put it on the bookshelf and feel pleased with it.....

The LHD was the mirror image. The RHD was the mirror.

Full of errors. Classic poisoned well. Best avoided.

If you're going into that level of detail, I don't know how you can hope to be accurate without detailed photos of every part on the car. There are literally thousands of non-standard parts and details on a Works rally car, and every car was unique in some way. This pic is out of focus, but it shows the knob mounted to the right of the centre Halda. This knob is a rheostat for the navigator's Halda-illuminating 'P' light that's above it:

One thing to note about the Kakimoto cam / tappet cover on an S30-bodied car is that the very front edge can rub on the inside of your bonnet / hood as the engine moves around a little under drive and engine braking. The solution is to fit engine mounts with uprated rubber ( like the Kameari units ) and lower the engine slightly by slotting the mount brackets. There's plenty of space in the S130-series body though ( as in your pic of Kakimoto san himself )....

Earliest Japanese market factory parts list for the S30/S30-S/PS30/PS30-SB - to my knowledge - is dated Dec.1969. They are extremely interesting and useful resources, and a great aid in understanding the whole S30-series Z range.