Mr.Uemura wrote a book "making story of a Fairlady-Z"

[kats 969]

Hi,

In Japan,a very interesting book was issued for all the S30 fans recently.

Mr.Uemura was an engineer of Nissan ,he did great job especially chassis and compornets layout , not only that, he also was a chief of the test crew of 240Z in the US and Canada Oct -Dec 1969.

So many new fucts we see in the book!! I have to tell you soon.

Kats

Edited July 5, 2014 by kats

[SteveJ 1,196]

I have to respond just so I don't miss updates to this thread. Thanks, Kats.

[Fred Sigarto 28]

Me also Kats, thanks for the info

[kats 969]

Thanks for the interests,

To begin with,see this menue for the prototypes.

Jul 1967 chassis test car /5cars with temporaly exterior No chassis #

#1 heat prove/noise & vibration/high speed Durability

#2 suspention/rough road

#3 elgonomics/brake system/noise & vibration/performance

#4 stress/noise & vibration/rough road

#5 Durability

Nov 1967 1st group of prototype / 11 cars No chassis #

#1 L24A LHD Belgium road test

#2 L16A LHD rough road test

#3 G8B LHD 180hp Solex performance test (G8B means S20)

#4 L24A LHD performance test

#5 L24A LHD for Nissan Shatai

#6 L20A RHD automatic transmission/high speed test

#7 L20A RHD 160hp Solex daily driver ability test

#8 G8B RHD 160hp Solex Belgium road test

#9 L24A LHD noise & vibration test/replaced to L16A later

#10 L24A LHD hot weather test

#11 G8B RHD 230hp Weber rough road Durability test

Sorry for my poor interprit, they may not be correct in some of them.

I did not know 4 cylinder L16A was considered and tested for the Z! I thought 4 cylinder idea was only for exterior design sturdy.

Also S20 for LHD!

L engine with Solex was L20A 160hp,not L24A.

Very interesting!

Kats

Edited July 5, 2014 by kats

[Carl Beck 243]

Hi Kats:

Thanks for sharing the new information you have found. Very interesting - now we might have a better idea of what cars we are seeing in some of the Crash Safety Tests as well.

I did not know 4 cylinder L16A was considered and tested for the Z! I thought 4 cylinder idea was only for exterior design sturdy.

I believe it was you that Posted the following Image here some time ago.

Do you know yet - how to order a copy of the book on line?

thanks,

Carl B.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Carl Beck

[HS30-H 993]

Hi Kats:

Thanks for sharing the new information you have found. Very interesting - now we might have a better idea of what cars we are seeing in some of the Crash Safety Tests as well.

I believe it was you that Posted the following Image here some time ago.

Do you know yet - how to order a copy of the book on line?

thanks,

Carl B.

Carl,

If you think the 'Fairlady Z 160' emblems were a reference to the L16 then you are already barking up the wrong tree.

As was noted in the source of the original photo, the '160' referred to the 160PS rating of the S20 (G8B) twin cam engine.

I very much doubt that any emblems were produced for the (single...) L16-engined prototype, as it was soon dropped.

Kats,

GREAT stuff from Uemura san! Thank you.

Remember we talked some time ago about the rumours of an early prototype being tested in mainland Europe? Seems it was true...

I think we know what happened to the LHD S20-engined car, don't we...?!

[kats 969]

Hi Carl,

I think the book is a Japanese magazine issued early 1970,I will check it when I am home .

Mr.Uemura told 'We also had 19 moch-ups, to follow up those tests of 11 complete test cars'

They were

12 crash test

2 seatbelt & mounting stress test

2 body stress & vibration test

2 engine room moch-up

1 wiper test cut body

Is this model available in the US?

?????????????????????Z? | ?????? Eaglemoss Ltd

I will pay aprox.150000 JPY when I complete !!And will take 2 years to finish.

The most valuable thing of this model and you will be pleased is, a DVD of an old film making Fairlady-Z. I am not happy with the model ,I expected much more high quality in this price range. However I have the DVD!! This is awsome.

It is not co-oparation of Mr.Uemura & Eagle Moss,but after reading the book I noticed there are lots of test cars discribed in the book are seen in this DVD.

Running test cars have different C piller, different tail lights, different interior trim & color e.t.c. So the design team were still working hard at that time.

Kats

Edited July 7, 2014 by kats

[kats 969]

Hi Alan!

Yes of cource I remember you let me see the picture of the LHD S20 car,that car

is proved of its existance by this book!

About Belgium road,Mr.Uemura told it was a simulated road in Oppama factory.

The factory lmported blicks from Belgium where the road replaced to modern then blicks were not needed.

The test road was extreamly tough for test cars, body and axle & suspention.

Like 510 ,Cedric, they set a target 4000Km running test, but for S30 was 2000Km because the car was not considered as a TAXI.

Kats

Carl,

If you think the 'Fairlady Z 160' emblems were a reference to the L16 then you are already barking up the wrong tree.

As was noted in the source of the original photo, the '160' referred to the 160PS rating of the S20 (G8B) twin cam engine.

I very much doubt that any emblems were produced for the (single...) L16-engined prototype, as it was soon dropped.

Kats,

GREAT stuff from Uemura san! Thank you.

Remember we talked some time ago about the rumours of an early prototype being tested in mainland Europe? Seems it was true...

I think we know what happened to the LHD S20-engined car, don't we...?!

[xs10shl 27]

Kats,

This is great news. Just the kind of book that needs to be translated into English- something with some real stories and facts. Anyone in the group have any thoughts about how to help make that happen?

I'd be happy to make some phone calls to some publishers, under my pseudonym - "Al Goertzovich". Or better "Nicht Goertzovich".

Edited July 7, 2014 by xs10shl

[kats 969]

Kats,

This is great news. Just the kind of book that needs to be translated into English- something with some real stories and facts. Anyone in the group have any thoughts about how to help make that happen?

I'd be happy to make some phone calls to some publishers, under my pseudonym - "Al Goertzovich". Or better "Nicht Goertzovich".

Hi xs10shl,

That is what I want to say.This book is must be spread

all over the world. I am for sure the book is deserved it .

And xs10shl, can I see you on Sunday 9th

or 10th ?

I will send PM soon .

Kats

[HS30-H 993]

About Belgium road,Mr.Uemura told it was a simulated road in Oppama factory.

The factory lmported blicks from Belgium where the road replaced to modern then blicks were not needed.

The test road was extreamly tough for test cars, body and axle & suspention.

It's OK Kats, I was only joking about European mainland testing - although we know that did come later, and that a rally test car was certainly in the south of France in January 1970.

Of course, Belgian 'pavé' surface was always one of the auto industry testing standards. Many test courses include a pavé section. It's very harsh to drive on, and hurts the driver just as much as the car. I had to take a short cut across a section of pavé at the Longcross test course here in the UK (it was for a magazine photo shoot) and immediately my interior mirror fell off...!

Here's a clip from the film you mentioned, showing one of the disguised test cars on that Belgian pavé surface at Oppama:

[kats 969]

Alan,

I am very interested in the early Europe test too,we keep our passion to finding the

more details and stories, my next plan is having an interview with

Mr.Takei as a chief crew of the Europe 240Z development team.

Alan, posting crips from the DVD is very helpful,everyone can see the interesting

details.

Here is a question for all of you,

What is a true reason for the size and shape of the floor tunnel ?

A: To install a BorgWaner auto transmission.

B: To maximize ability of installation on a production assembly line

C: To install a Nissan President V8 engine

What is your answer?

Kats

Edited July 8, 2014 by kats

[240260280z 346]

[kats 969]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72615[/ATTACH]

Hi Blue,

Its beautiful but looks so painful to a car and driver.

Kats

[Carl Beck 243]

Hi Kats:

OK - - - Mr. Matsuo wrote in his part of the Farilady Z Story - that the original design based on a 4 cylinder / roadster chassis - had to be made wider to fit an A/T in - - -However there is a lot of extra room left there, compared to most production cars. So with the hint of "size and shape" and knowing that Mr. Matsuo wanted to see the Z get a V8 at some future point… I'll have to go with "C" leaving room for the Nissan V8. Whatever the answer - it left a lot of room for SBC's.

Carl B.

[240260280z 346]

Kats, that is the famous cobbled Paris-Roubaix road that is used to destroy cyclists I was impressed to see Nissan using similar to test. ?????? - Wikipedia

Edited July 8, 2014 by Blue

[Montezuma 11]

Hi,

In Japan,a very interesting book was issued for all the S30 fans recently.

Mr.Uemura was an engineer of Nissan ,he did great job especially chassis and compornets layout , not only that, he also was a chief of the test crew of 240Z in the US and Canada Oct -Dec 1969.

So many new fucts we see in the book!! I have to tell you soon.

Kats

Kats, Can you bring that book with you to ZCON; I am sure many would be interested in seeing it.

Regards, David

[kats 969]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for joyining,

Mr.Uemura said there were 3 types of transmission going to be fitted,

FS5C71A, F4W71A, and BW35(BorgWaner made).

Development team thought Automatic transmission was must item for the users in the US.

He said BW35 was an only choice for the automatic transmission at that time,

it was a very big so the tunnel was enlarged.However it was not installed ,Nissan

chose much more compact JATCO 3N71A and waited until it became ready for install on an assembly line.

Mr.Uemura said in the book 'this car does not need such a big tunnel...'

JATCO was an originaly Nissan's Yoshiwara factory.

So the answer is A ,

but Mr.Uemura said 'We very much expected and prepared for an order of installation Y40 (President V8 4000cc) from the US maket ,but no order'

He said if it became real it could be a good easy-drive car with big torqe despite less efficient procedure on an assembly line.L20/24 were installed from the underneath , but Y40 needed to be installed from the top due to its width of engine.

Mr.Uemura said 'BW35 was used for President and Cedric '

So my guess is the team would think and prepared 'for the S30 ,BW35 for Y40 engine'.

No test cars of this Y40, too bad.

Answer C could also be correct I think.

Kats

Hi Kats:

OK - - - Mr. Matsuo wrote in his part of the Farilady Z Story - that the original design based on a 4 cylinder / roadster chassis - had to be made wider to fit an A/T in - - -However there is a lot of extra room left there, compared to most production cars. So with the hint of "size and shape" and knowing that Mr. Matsuo wanted to see the Z get a V8 at some future point… I'll have to go with "C" leaving room for the Nissan V8. Whatever the answer - it left a lot of room for SBC's.

Carl B.

Edited July 10, 2014 by kats

[kats 969]

Hi Blue,Montezuma

It is Paris! very beautiful.

I bring this book to ZCON 2014!

Kats

[Carl Beck 243]

Hi Kats:

Very interesting information, thanks for bringing it to us. "JATCO" Japan Automatic Transmission Company - was a joint venture with the Ford Motor Company. The A/T's were just smaller copies of Ford's A/T at the time. (Ford was a major investor in Madza at the time as I recall}

There were no orders for the V8 from the US - in part because of the Fuel Shortages here in the US, caused by the "oil embargo" and the ever tightening EPA emissions standards. The fuel shortage brought with it the National 55mph Speed Limit. However even after the fuel shortage had passed - I guess people here valued clean air and water, more than they valued performance. So the US Emissions standards continued to get ever more strict. It took the auto manufacturers more than a couple decades to figure out how to have both low emissions and performance - all with better fuel economy.

FWIW,

Carl

[Carl Beck 243]

On July 6, 2014 at 9:34 PM, xs10shl said:

Kats,

This is great news. Just the kind of book that needs to be translated into English- something with some real stories and facts. Anyone in the group have any thoughts about how to help make that happen?

I'd be happy to make some phone calls to some publishers, under my pseudonym - "Al Goertzovich". Or better "Nicht Goertzovich".

Hi Gang:

I am very happy to tell everyone that you can now order an English Language Edition of Mr. Uemura’s book. Titled;  “DATSUN 240Z Engineering Development”, by Hitoshi Uemura.  It is available to you only on Lulu.com (linked below).

 

Many thanks to Mr. Uemura and his friend Mr. Yuichiro Motomura for making this available to us. Mr. Motomura provided the English language translation along with digital copies of all pictures, figures and charts making the publication possible.

 

I hope you will all order several copies, for yourself and to share with your fellow Z Car Enthusiast. We need to make this a "Best Seller" with the hope that more will follow.

 

https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=Datsun+240Z&type=

 

FWIW,

Carl B.

 

[HS30-H 993]

14 hours ago, Carl Beck said:

I am very happy to tell everyone that you can now order an English Language Edition of Mr. Uemura’s book. Titled;  “DATSUN 240Z Engineering Development”, by Hitoshi Uemura.  It is available to you only on Lulu.com (linked below).

Carl, can I ask who chose the title of the Lulu.com-published translation? Was it Uemura san himself, or was it (ironically) prompted by a change in target market?

The original book - published by Tokyo Tosho Shuppan in June 2014 - was titled 'Fairlady Z Kaihatsu No Kiroku' (roughly translating as 'Fairlady Z Development Record') and also covers some of Uemura san's work on the S130-series.

Also, the original book was a hardback with 230 pages. I notice the Lulu.com-published version is much shorter at 114 pages. Is that because of a change in format/sizing, or is this an abridged version with some original content not included for some reason?

Thanks,

Alan T.

[Gav240z 230]

I too am interested in why the English version may be shorter? I certainly hope some home market car details were not omitted? That would be a shame.

I'm also curious about this S20 powered LHD S30Z chassis.

Alan are you willing to share photos of this car? Does it still exist?

[26th-Z 567]

Good!  I'm glad to see activity on this thread.  Have you bought the book and read it yet?  I have, and I'm really anxious to discuss this.  I don't have the Japanese publication but it wouldn't do me much good other than comparing the pictures.  If you haven't purchased your copy, I encourage you.  If you enjoy the topic of how the Maru Z project became the S30, in North America the Datsun 240Z Sports, as much as I do then buy this book.  This book really explains many of the pictures, DVDs and discussions we have had in the past.

Thanks and recognition should be given to Carl, Art Singer, Yuichiro Motomura and DocUmeant Designs for the publication.

Kats, do you think the S20 powered LHD car was "First Stage Prototype Car #3" described in the book?

[Gav240z 230]

I bought the book shortly after my post, because I figured with or without the difference in pages it was probably still worth buying for information contained within.

It is now on it's way to Australia ;).