Genuine PS30-SB 'Fairlady Z432-R' refresh story in Gallery

[HS30-H]

Takeuchi-san told me that he checked each body panel when they are disassembled, he noticed there are various thickness of the panel. He said probably Nissan used some kind of liquid to thinner the metal by hand, quality is not same, the thickness is vary between 0.6 mm and 0.8mm .

He is impressed about frames under the each side of floors, the thickness is almost 0.7mm!! Our cars has 1.0mm for the frame is not it?

Hi Kats,

I believe that the PZR-specific panel pressings were made from one gauge thinner sheet steel than the other early S30-series Z models. There are also some sections of the bodyshell ( inner sills / rocker panels, and around the diff area ) which are one gauge thicker than on 'normal' cars, but maybe this was not on all 432-Rs.

The variation in panel thickness is - I think - part of the result of the manufacturing process. Some areas of the panels stretch, and some are forced to shrink in the dies. I have seen and measured this variation on stock bodyshells too.

PS: Alan, did you get the box safely?

Yes, received safely. Thank you! I have sent you an e-mail.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[HS30-H]

A couple of things that I forgot to include in my description of 'showroom stock' 432-R specifications:

You would not see any stainless garnish in the windscreen / tailgate rubbers. The rubbers were the same as 'stock' on other cars, but they simply did not put the garnish into the rubber on assembly.

Same with the roof gutters: No stainless garnish along the roof gutters in the standard specification of the 432-R.

[HS30-H]

All of you hello

I am poor at English. I cannot do good expression.

I inform it beforehand.

No problem, Takeuchi san. Every picture is worth a thousand words!

Kats and myself can help with explanation / translation if necessary.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[Carl Beck]

Alan - Great Thread. Thanks for pointing us to 'take432r' Photo Gallery - it is good to see some clear pictures that allow detailed views of these unique Z's. Also wanted to say that your summary of the "r" alterations was not only informative, but fun to read.

Kats - very interesting to have some actual sheet metal thickness measurements. I went out to the garage and measured the OEM Frame Rails and Front Fenders that I have - they are

Frame Rail = 1.27 mm / 0.050 inch - 18 gauge {0.478 nominal, 0.0438 Min. and 0.0.518 Max.}

Front Fender = 1.37 mm / 0.0539 inch - 17 gauge {0.538 nominal, 0.498 Min. and Max 0.0548}

Checking the weight of cold rolled sheet metal - per sq. ft.

0.6mm / 24 gauge cold rolled steel weight 1.00 bls per sq. ft.

0.7mm / 23 gauge cold rolled steel weight 1.125 bls per sq. ft.

0.8mm / 21 gauge cold rolled steel weight 1.375 lbs per sq. ft.

1.0mm / 19 gauge cold rolled steel weight 1.75 lbs per sq. ft.

1.27mm /18 gauge cold rolled steel weight 2.0 lbs. per sq. ft

1.37mm/17 gauge cold rolled steel weight 2.25 lbs. per sq. ft

So if the fenders actually are 0.8 mm it looks like about 0.9 lbs could be saved per sq. ft. of sheet metal. A wild guess would be that a front fender has about 8 sq. ft. of sheet metal {fender and brace}. So a "stock" front fender should weight about 18 lbs {8.16 Kilograms} and the "R" fender should weight about 11 lbs. {5 kilograms}

All just a wild guess - but it would be interesting to weight each type of front fender.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[take432r]

If there is Alan, I am fearless. Thank you.

[kats]

Alan, you have got the box, I sent a PM to you too .

I did not know about one gage thinner and even Thicker !

We are tend to focus on only thinner metal on Z432R,

but some erea need to have strength to keep the car on good

Performance .

Hi Carl,

Interesting approach of thinking light weight body of Z432-R,

I only mentioned how thin the body panels are, but on the other hand

we have to look where is normal thickness and even thicker than normal.

I think the most effective part of making the car to be super light is

deleted components from normal Z432,Z432-R is probably 80kgm lighter than

normal Z432.

I put an optional oil cooler system on my Z432,

I can feel the front section became heavy,it is a small system but it is located very

far from CG ,so it is not ignorable.

If you look into only front section, these are already "lightened" in Z432-R,

Z432-R does not have very heavy steel bonnet but light FRP bonnet , also front center apron is FRP,

no air cleaner boxes,

no master vac,

thin fender panel.

Z432-R acts very quick and light than Z432.Negative effects of oil cooler

system to handling performance is ignorable in this case.

And look into whole body, clear acrylic glasses ,no heater,

no sound deadening , these are very good to reduce its weight.

Keep joining ,Takeuchi San ! Yes if you have Alan, everything all right.

Kats

[EuroDat]

Hi Alan,

Great thread and the photo gallery gives great insight into how its built. I have never seen a Z432 in real life.

Like kats mentioned in his post, it doesnt have a brake power booster. Is that normal for all the Z432's or an extra weight saving? You would need a heavy foot for braking, thats for sure.

Love that engine:D

Edited January 20, 2013 by EuroDat

[Jason240z]

Alan

Thanks again for the link and thanks to your friends for sharing. Its interesting looking at that and a normal 240z to see how they're constructed. Lovely colour too.

[HS30-H]

I have never seen a Z432 in real life.

Like kats mentioned in his post, it doesnt have a brake power booster. Is that normal for all the Z432's or an extra weight saving? You would need a heavy foot for braking, thats for sure.

Just to clarify, Takeuchi san's car is a PS30-SB 'Fairlady Z432-R. It's not a 'normal' Fairlady Z432, it's even more special. I tried to list most of the differences between a 'normal' Z432 and a genuine Z432-R in post #8 on this thread. It's not a definitive list, but it does address many of the things that made the 'R' special even in comparison to the Z432. First and foremost among them is the 'super lightweight' bodyshell...

Yes, the 432-Rs didn't have brake boosters. This saved some weight ( very important with regard to the homologation of the model ), but also gave better brake 'feel'. The pedal effort required would have been higher than a boosted system, but this was offset by the fact that the 432-R had a different brake pedal to the boosted brake cars. The amount of leverage given by the pedal was increased, as the pivot point was different in comparison to the boosted cars.

[HS30-H]

Alan - Great Thread. Thanks for pointing us to 'take432r' Photo Gallery - it is good to see some clear pictures that allow detailed views of these unique Z's. Also wanted to say that your summary of the "r" alterations was not only informative, but fun to read.

Hi Carl,

Thanks for that. I'm a huge fan of the homologation specials and the Works race and rally cars, and I think we are very lucky to see the images that Takeuchi san is showing us. Most of the Rs live well out of the limelight these days, and Takeuchi san is giving us a rare and candid look at his. Manna from heaven for me.

I did not know about one gage thinner and even Thicker !

We are tend to focus on only thinner metal on Z432R,

but some erea need to have strength to keep the car on good

Performance.

Hi Kats,

I assure you it's true. However, it's hard to prove without completely cutting one up......

One of the things I love about these homologation specials is that they are the gift that keeps on giving. There's always some new fact to learn, and some new question to ask. Each car seems to have its own specification. They are so mysterious. I love it!

Cheers,

Alan T.

[xs10shl]

Great pictures of some of the details. Thanks for sharing images of this important car.

To my eye, this car has several series one attributes- I'm looking at the firewall and the gearbox mount- what did the z432r-specific metal stampings look like on the series 2 cars? Were they similar or updated to series 2 specification?

Edited January 20, 2013 by xs10shl

[zpizzaman20]

I had the pleasure to ride in Takeuchi sans car in 2005. It is truly one of the most exciting days of my Datsun life.

Somewhere I have some pictures I took at Tochigi while riding in the car, I will look.