Zedrally

What DVD????????????????????

At our last Historic Club meeting I was given a set of magazines for the year 1963. These are an American magazine called Sports Car Graphic published by the Petersen Publishing Company. It's quite fascinating reading about what was in 1963, an exculsive on the Fabulous Twin Mini!, testing the new Cooper "S" and a great write up on the SHELL 4000 trans-Canadian Rally, but I digress..... What caught my attention was a Road Test on the Datsun SPL 310, which we all know as the Roadster. It was given a commendable write-up, however what caught my eye was the last paragraph. "As you may have heard, this car was originally referred to as the FAIR LADY. Feeling this sounded to feminine to Occidental ears, they changed it to the present SPL 310. But we came across this gem of Oriental Philosphy, in the owners manual, that may have hastened the change: You are now in the thrilling stage in the life of your DATSUN Fair Lady, the "Breaking-in" period. How far you can break your DATSUN Fair Lady will determine the amount of pleasure and advantages you can have with your Fair Lady" SCG JUly 63, p51. Now as we have all been lead to believe the FAIR LADY name came from a high up official in Nissan who loved the film My Fair Lady so much that he wanted the vehicle named after it. Well, this myth may well be busted as the above quote preceeds the Movie by over a year as the movie release was on 21st. October 1964, which indicates that no official could have watched this film or could be smitten by it so much that he wanted the name live on in the Roadster and later on in the zed.

I think it may have been one of my posts. I came across a zed once at Pick-a-Part with this combination and concluded that it was from a 260C. Not meaning to be picky, however the manifold was factory produced and used on the L26 in the Cedric, it just wasn't used in the HS-30/RS30! (I believe this is what you meant, just goes to show that people read meanings into statements in different ways)!

Triple SU's have been discussed many times in the past. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13908&highlight=triple+su%27s is one of many discussions about this. I think the only difference here is that a custom aircleaner has been fabricated that looks like a OEM. Nice touch that!

The grinding noise is probably the Starter. At least I hope it is as my 260 has just started doing the same and I'm suspecting it's the bushes in the motor? As for your other problem, I'd be checking the battery terminals, aternator leads etc.

SU's have 4 allen screws. oops, both my 240 & 260 I have have phillips head type screws. Maybe yours have been swapped out by a PO or mine may have been swapped or....you may not have hitachi SU's. Time for more input by others.

post #5. Still none the wiser as we haven't been advised.

Hi Glen, Can you advise what SU type you have? Are they Hitachi Round top, flat top or some euro/british model? Not all SU's are the same and if you have the flat top then I can understand why it stumbles. That said, rebuild kits are available. Try Repco/Super Cheap or Auto Barn. Good luck. MOM

In the quest for further info, can anyone tell me if there is any difference between coils at all. I know that some have a built in resistor, but is there really any difference?

Call me stupid, but if you've altered the capacity of the tank, then no stock sensor is going to indicate the precise amount left/used regardless of it being a 240/260/ whatever S-30 model. You would need to re-calibrate the sender unit to the tank capacity. How you go about doing this is beyond me, perhaps you may need to change the arm on the sender to a smaller one?

Well, if it's any help I looked at the fuel gauge in the 73, it was marked 60L. Looks like you've lost 10 L somewhere? MOM

Didn't the capacity change to 60L? I seem to think that the early tank was marginally smaller, only a gallon difference (5litre)?

I haven't had a chance to read & digest these... http://www.cams.com.au/downloads/articles/Tarmac%20Rally%20regulations%202006.pdf They may answer the problem?

Hi aarc240, Glad to read your input on the 280Z, at least we are getting some interesting reading in this thread about LHD 280's here. Yes, it is a shame that we don't follow the NZ model here. There have been some fantastic rally over there and plenty of action planned in the future. You haven't indicated in which state your residing? So I'm not sure what you could do as far as completing your Gp. 5 replica. Love to hear more about it, perhaps in a seperate thread. Cheers MikeN

Try again with the attachment

Hi Kats. The part numbers are below from the GS-30 parts catelog... I not sure how these options became available to other models... Mike N

He is talking about the windscreen, Differnt terminolgy in different parts of the world. How the side windows got into this discussion is beyond me?

Ah damn, cross posts.........

The one I have is the 3 model version. As I posted above it's inferior. I stand by that statement. Never seen the original, so perhaps I shouldn't have commented at all. In fact I wasn't aware that there were 3 different versions available. Halz, you could consider a FSM for the RS-30. There are only minor differences if one isn't fussed about the interior and it's still available. Where there are differences, I usually consult the Haynes SM, this is usually confined to torque settings. If it's diagrams your after, then I just use the HS-30 Parts Catelog and print out what I need. (Can't get better than that)!

Halz, I've got one here. I'll probably get bashed up for this, but I find it inferior to the other versions available. MOM

Thank you all for the replies, The more I read the more confused I get, such a subject tends to get rather murky and some statments could be taken in different ways. Such as the quote from the homologation above. I could read it as the 280Z was only valid for chassis numbers starting from 270001. Therefore any chassis earlier than that could not be regarded as a 280Z. I won't even bother trying to get my head around the differnt numbers used for HLS & HS production..... Here in Oz, the rules appear to be similar as the UK, if you want to be strictly Historic, then it's either the L24 or L26 engine, with SU's. There has been a push towards re-establishing Group 5 in a Classic Car Category, however events have been rather thin on the ground. MOM

Thanks Carl, My thoughts on the matter go as such. As the 280Z was only produced for the US market, it would not have needed to have been homologated by the FIA, as the FIA has no jurisdiction is the US. Any homologation [if thats the correct terminology that is used in the US] by the US counterpart would only be valid for races/events sactioned by that body. I believe capacity does affect homologation, which would only allow the original H(L)S-30 models and of course the RS series. I'm probably really out of my depth here now and need to seek advice from more knowledgable people on this. Radar on Alan T? Do you have any in-sight? Thanks for all you input. Mike N

Thanks Carl, I wasn't thinking of Left or Right, just the capacity. I can't read the attachment clearly, I think the first capacity shown is Engine displacement of 2305, is that correct? MikeN

The replys have got me wondering how a 280Z can be homologated in OZ? IF there weren't any RHD versions then how did Nissan get the FIA papers?

Hi Mick, Some good input there.... One must wonder how one can build a "works" 280Z when there weren't any built! The Tarmac regs are a WIP, armed with the info that this thread has brought forward, I'm sure there may be a re-classification of those so-called 280Z's. Edit: The CAMS Bible lists the following: 240Z,260Z,260Z 2+2, 280Z in Group Sc Production Sports Cars 1970-1977, seems they forgot the 280Z 2+2!