kats

Congratulations Zup !! Mr.Matsuo was amazed at your car ! Kats

Thanks , like everyone said I think it is a combination of some facts , how people use the car , and what is the best for the manufacturer. Funny thing is FS5W71B still remain Porche synchro for the fifth gear . Kats

Thank you everyone ! I am so happy that we can talk about this deeply . 4 speed vs 5 speed , I think this is slightly related to the topic which we always love to discuss “ S30 series was made for USA or not ? “ This is my thoughts at the moment, The S30 series oriented in Japan , was made for the WORLD . Its biggest market was USA . Probably this was the same for people in Nissan company at that time. However each person who was involved had each idea in his mind I think . Mr. Suitsu who was a chassis design manager of S 30 , he said in an interview “ we aimed USA as the biggest market of this car , we always kept that in mind “ For the US , he said “ there are many troubles about Porche synchro , people in the US mistake their shift , two way action ( put , then push with squeeze) makes a driver feel completed shifting , but it really has not completed . This makes a transmission worn out easily “ “ So we quit Porche synchro in the US “ I see why 5 speed was not available for USA and Canada until August 1976 , Nissan did not have “Warner “ 5 speed until that day . FS5W71B is a Warner synchro, after its debut , USA and Canada received 5 speed without fear of Nissan . Mr. Takei and Mr. Miyazaki dedicated developing Europe model in 1970 to 1971 , They were in a “ vehicles test department “ that they always felt Z car needs to be more sportier for the customers in Europe. 5 speed was no doubt for them . Mr. Uemura was an engineer and he had got to be involved S30 project in April 1967 and was told “ this car is mainly exported to the US “ He and everyone wanted to make a car which can be sold well in the US , he started work for chassis design . In his mind there was always people in the US . Also he was the crew of test drive in the US and Canada late 1969 . After the test he was convinced that 4 speed with 3.364 was proper for the US and Canada . He said about 4 speed and 5 speed , 5 speed is must in Japan because the car is not for the ordinary people in Japan ( engineers had heard of sports car was popular even for young ladies in the US , big difference! ) So , did not want to lose against TOYOTA 2000 GT or Mazda Cosmo etc , Nissan must have 5 speed for their sports car in Japan even someone doesn’t like the feeling of the Porche type synchronized gear shift . Sales department worried about the feeling of Porche synchro , Mr. Uemura too, but finally he insisted to fit 5 speed into S30 . Mr. Matsuo was passionate about to shock the WORLD with Z car . ( Mr. Yoshida and Mr. Tamura were too , the design team had been learning from and taking admire to many great sports cars around the WORLD , naturally they wanted to compete with those cars ) But at the same time every designer who I met said “ I wanted to be successful in designing sports car in the biggest market, USA . Winning in the US meant winning in the WORLD “ . And , the team had started it well before they met Mr. K !! After they met Mr. K , they put many US related things into the S30 . Like enlarging the height of the roof , widening the with of engine room for V8 , prepared for a big US made automatic transmission with a wide center tunnel . Also went to 6 cylinder engine from its original concept 4 cylinder engine, Those are all essential and very important things of S30 , those are can not be removed or replaced other things to suite for the each designated Export model . So S30 did not have much consideration for the US at the beginning of design study but later when it had went on real project, it was influenced by USA in terms of basic of car structure. BTW , for the body styling designers , 4 speed or 5 speed might not be the matter . Mr.K always said “ Z car , we made this car for you , USA “ . And he said “ selling car in the US , a single model is the best . Of course we offer optional parts for the customers who really want to add something special “ Mr. K , he thought 4 speed / 3.364 with a single model was suitable for the US and Canada as he had been seeing people enjoying SP SR . But I think the big difference between SP SR and S30 is , sales volume . I understand making small quantity with many variations is not good for a company , but for S30 , Nissan could still sell good numbers of 5 speed from the factory without ruining their profit even there was an issue of “ Porsche synchro shifting trouble “ . If I was able to ask Mr.K now , I would ask 5 speed for the US and Canada , and Mr.K would say yes ... Seems only Mr.K knew a huge success of S30 before its debut while other executives and engineers were wondering S30 ‘s potential of sale . Mr. Kawamata , former President of Nissan always said “ sports car does not make profit , it is just like an advertisement “ He would have never imagined selling a sports car in the US to make people happy , and make Nissan happy until he saw a S30 prototype. Kats And I always thank you everyone, you are all patient for my writing !

bartsscooterservice, Please do not say that , I am always so embarrassed myself. I don’t even know what is bad in your English! Kats

Thank you everyone, me too , why ? I remember there was an interesting interview of Nissan engineers with journalists in a magazine .The engineers said something about “ feeling of Porche type synchronized shift “ , maybe they were afraid of having claims in the US ? They said the point is F4W71A is a Warner type which has good “ snap “ when shift gears , on the other hand , FS5C71A is a Porsche type which has “ push and squeeze “ feeling which some people don’t like it . I willl check when I am home . Kats

One more tonight , Please see this seat , a slim seat back with an seat bottom with a plastic guard. When the plastic guard dropped from the seat bottom? When the slim seat back began to be applied? When the seat bottom switched from the belt to spring type ? Some of them began at the same time , but some of them did not . I want to know this , is it possible that fat seat back without the seat belt hook does exist ? Kats

About the tail gate support, I see this picture , the early brochure for the US , and my friend who has a lot of 1969 Z told me at least US cars has a different style bracket from the beginning, Fairlady Zs has a simple triangle style bracket on the gate , also directly mounted on the body in early model , then later switched to the same one used in the US and probably some other destinations. Kats

This is what I call “ fat “ seat back . Can be seen only early cars . I thank for Mr. Sudo . Kats

This picture was taken when I received the seats . Please note the location of the seat belt hook, this is for export model , and the left seat bottom remained original belts , while the right seat bottom had new belts (missing olive green cloth). This is Mr. Sudo's work . Kats

Thanks Blue , I installed them today. I had not know Mr. Sudo restored my blue seats until I met him several years ago . He kindly gave me this blue vinyl sheets as he had kept for just in case . The sliding basements also holes for both sides to make it applicable for both . Kats

Hi , I have got the restored seat for my early Z from Mr Sudo . The seat formes and basements are originally used for my 03/70 blue 240Z , this time I have got these seats restored. ( the blue seats are now on my blue 240Z were restored by Mr Sudo too , in 2003 , using a donor seats which came from another z ) . I am so happy with the results, I really love early “ fat “ style seat back . Seat belt hook located Fairlady version , it is on the head rest , all the export Datsun version has near the lumbar support. I guess this difference would come from the seatbelt length. Fairlady cars can set the seat much forward than Datsun , designers considered small women behind the wheel . ( only very few women in Japan though) The seat belt must be longer, then when you hook the belt, the hook should be on higher to prevent jamming excess belts on the sliding rails . But early seat has four holes on the back , ( for L & R , Fairlady and Datsun ) which makes factory efficient when making it . And I chose upgrading belts for the seat bottom as I have back pain usually. I do not stick with its original for the seats this time , I took off original 432 seats for preservation , they will be restored using original belts . Enjoy pictures Kats

Thank you everyone , I am glad that you like Dino but even more love Z . Dino has GT in its name but it is more like a racing car . ZG does not have GT in its name but it is a GT , if I was driving from LA to NY , I would take ZG for the journey. Kats

Which one do you like most ? Mrs . Akita , her husband went to Italy in 1972 to buy this Dino as a new car from the Ferrari factory , he passed away some years ago then now she owns it , she used to own Miura , Daytona before she married, so Dino is easy for her . Her Dino and my ZG are almost same age , also almost same color . And , both cars are surviver , non restored cars . Kats

If the green car is your 00051, that would be great!! No rear defroster, no OK sticker , and , all the glasses looked clear glass , to seeing the things through the glasses looked just it is , non tinted . What do you think of it to compare your 00051 ? Kats PS : I took my ZG today for 500 km trip to see Mr. Yamamoto ( OK Racing ) very fun to drive , I feel this car is faster than my Z432 . Maby the same if I judge them by the stop watch . But this L24 with SU / 5 speed with 3.9 rear diff , and the G nose . These things make this car so fast and quiet , stable on the highway , and fun to steer on a mountain road . Mr. K must be smiling in his yellow G nose 240Z . Why did not Mr. K give a choice for customers as a variation model in the US ? It should not be an optional parts , should be ? Cost matter ? Styling taste ? Japan is the only country where G nose is available with the car , some other destinations received as an optional parts . Kats

Anything is welcome here Gavin ! I also think the old architecture is beautiful, I envy . Japanese 60’s And 70’s , they are not like that , Japan was glowing up it’s economy but most of people couldn’t have that kind of house . Kats

Hi Gavin, I am glad that you have got it, I hope it will assist your study a little bit . Let's talk about it in sometime. We still find new hidden ZGs and 432s today . Kats

Hi Blue, I really love this car, Euro model . One thing we might keep in mind is, this car could be a "Portuguese version " spec suspentions. Not a "Final Europe model " configulation . Like we have discussed about the test report of Euro spec development , Nissan engineers began studying from Feb 1970 , completed in 27th Mar 1971 . So this blue 1969 Tokyo motor show car was born before the study for Euro version. I read the report carefully, I come to think like this, at the beginning of the production, some of the HLS models could have the first version euro suspention , that is later called "Current Euro version" as seeing from the report . In the report, " June 1970 , we confirmed and set the Current Euro version like this ..." , this would indicate that Current Euro version could exist from the begining of production. Nissan began studying faithfully for the Euro model from Feb 1970, but this does not mean they did not do anything for the Euro model before Feb 1970. However some of you noticed , this car's tire is not a 175HR 14, the car has 6.45-14 Dunlop grand speed, that does not match the report , and rear side markers like US is something uneasy for me. But I guess this car has Current Euro version ( Finally called Portuguese version) spec suspentions . Kats

Hi lordkarma88 thanks , I try not to be complaining ? Anyway we have wonderful Z , Z makes me happy. I hope everyone in Florida OK ... Kats

But I still love Z and live in Japan . Kats

Thank you everyone , this is very interesting ! Pennsylvania requires manythings like Japan , Taxas does not so much ! siteunseen , your Alabama plate has "72" , very cool ! If I have a chance to be born again , I wish in other country , not in Japan ! People have been paying too much tax, but we are all worried about our life , crazy. Kats

I know you must have smog test there, is there anything that your car has to be inspected ? In Japan the inspection is a little bit tough for the modified cars , usually those cars have to replace some parts back to original before the inspection. Wheels, exhaust systems , seat belts etc . Also the car must be the correct height and width/ length written in the specifications except having an approval from the district of bureau. I have to pay 300 USD for “ weight TAX” Every this inspection, and pay 500 USD every year for the car TAX . Old car has to pay 25 % more for that !! Looks like there is no one who enjoys old car in the government. Kats

Thank you Captain ! I agree with you and a good question . This time I let this Nissan dealer to do the inspection , but sometimes before I brought my car to the official vehicle inspection facility in my local area to do the test by myself . Doing this in Nissan needs a money but I am so happy because they do a lot of things for the car and generally the price is very good and not expensive. Hi Blue , thanks but that is not my case ha ha ! Let me show "side slip test " . Kats

Hi , today I picked up my Z432 at a local Nissan dealer , my Z had a periodic inspection ( two year ) which is required by the Japanese regulation. This You tube shows my Z432 scored good numbers to pass the smog test , my Z does not need a wide - band allowance which is for a Solex carb car and other specific cars . Z432 , Skyline GTR And Toyota 2000 etc have a blue oval sticker which is “ アイドル HC 特殊 / Idling HC special “ on the right corner of the front bumper means this car’s engine can not be tuned within a STD smog limits ( CO below 4.5 / HC below 1200 ppm ) . So these cars limits like this , CO below 4.5 (same ) but HC below 3300 ppm . My Z432 had CO 3.8- 4.2 / HC 830-950 , nice . This proves properly tuned engine even like a S20 , no need to worry. We have heard so many times that you can not pass the test without cheating ( have to change mixture and timing from what you think the best to pass the test ) then after the test , all the things are back to the way you want . But it is not true always, I love the original, and the car is fantastic, no need to add something or change something. Kats PS , the inspection includes Smog test side slip test head light and all the other lighting system horn , torch Speed meter at 40km/h braking test wiper test, washer test , underneath inspection ( leaks , rubber boots condition etc)

Hi Captain! I will try it within a few days , not on my blue 240Z because the 240Z does not have a pressure proof type tube for the bottle. The bottle itself is designed for a pressure acceptable, and it is designed for both plastic cap and metal neck , you just need to twist the cap / metal neck for attaching or removing. My Z432 has a pressure proof type tube , so I can load the certain pressure in the bottle , when I do it , I put the plain metal cap on the radiator , while pressure relief type cap on the bottle just like a description on the service manuals and the parts catalogs. Let’s see how it goes , I hope I don’t break anything because they are so rare ! Kats

Hi , I found this cap in my father’s tool box , looks like it can be used for the Z432 , little bit different from an original NICHIRA cap though. My father never owned Z432 nor Cedric/ Gloria , so this cap used for some track or some vehicles used in a rice field . I will run my Z432 with this plain cap on the radiator, while pressure relief type cap on the reservoir bottle. Kats