HS30-H

Here's a pic of the components on my car. That's a Peugeot 306 / 505 GTI vented disc, used in conjunction with the Nissan Sports Option Sumitomo "MK63" 4-pot caliper. You have to re-drill the PCD for the hub mounting bolts, but other than that its a bolt-on job.

A little background info on 26th-Z's pic of the Kobe Seiko wheels in the Japanese auction: Kobe Seiko were the original manufacturers of many of Nissan's competition and Sports Option wheels. They made the original equipment magnesium wheels for the 432, as well as the Works "Rally Mags" used on the Factory rally cars. The pictured wheels are a later ( modified ) version of the moulds and tooling for the 432 mags. Kobe Seiko marketed this design themselves under the "MAGLLOY" design name ( which you can see cast into the rim ) after production of the 432 had stopped. Just in case anyone is interested.............

Many of the Japanese plastic model kits of the Seventies and Eighties were re-hashes of previous mouldings. I'm no expert, but I've made a few models over the years. I used to watch my dad making old Monogram hot rod kits in the Sixties. Those kits were great, and I've still got some of the ones he made. I've also got a fair few unmade plastic model kits of the first-generation Z. Maybe I'm saving them for the future?....... This particular issue is a kind of pastiche of the car that ran at Le Mans in 1976, and was entered by "SION AUTOS 2001". The same car ( with different paint and details ) also ran in the 1975 event. In fact it was an ex-Works SCCN circuit race car ( not an ex-Works rally car, as has been widely claimed ). We went through the story in a previous thread on this site, I remember. As I say, the paint and decals of this kit are similar to - but not 100% accurate - the 1976 Le Mans car. The real one was using the full Works "Type B" aero package ( G Nose, super wide Overfenders, and three piece rear spoiler ) but the kit shows a car with no G Nose. The real car had the super-rare Kobe Seiko magnesium 4-spoke Works wheels, but those of the kit are different. The kit shows an LHD configuration, but the Le Mans car was RHD. Lots of other small differences too. Its probably a rare kit, but does not accurately represent the car that it is ( roughly! ) based on. I think that's fair enough for a 'hobby' kit, as opposed to a serious scale-modeller's kit. Come on 26th-Z, you know you want it!:classic:

I hope you Skyline owners don't mind if I poke my nose in here occasionally.........:classic: The pic of the 4-door with flares seems to be from one of the Japanese auctions. Probably USS by the looks of the photo angle. They drive the cars through the photo booths at the auction and take front and rear shots while the car is momentarily stationary. These photos go on the website along with the auction grading sheet, and the same photos are used on screen when the car goes through the actual auction. I've been to some of the Japanese auctions ( USS Kobe and Osaka, and another rival auction in Nagoya ) and it was somewhat mind-blowing. The volume of cars they get through is amazing. Llama, Be careful about the Overfenders for the 4-door cars. They are shaped differently to the 2-door versions. You can indeed get two-piece Overfenders for the rear of the 4-door cars, and they are still being made by the aftermarket in Japan. You don't have to cut up the sheetmetal of the body unless you need clearance for wider wheels / tyres. This is not easy on the 4-door, as you have to cut the door and door opening if you want to go particularly wide ( don't do it! ). I've seen this done on a couple of cars in Japan and it looks like a real lot of work. My advice would be to fit the Overfenders if you want to, but don't get into the sheetmetal around the door opening. Good luck! Alan T.

Hi Alfadog, I believe its a bug deflector. You can see them on lots of cars in Japan - epecially big 4x4's. It probably stuffs the aerodynamics, but the trade-off between air resistance and annoying bug squash must be considered worth it. I remember when I was living in Japan and we'd go out racing at night. Quite often had to stop at the rest areas on the expressways to get the bug mess off the windscreen. The wash / wipe wouldn't clean it effectively and they just gummed up the wiper blades making it much worse. Don't they have these deflectors in Australia? I've seen them in other sub-tropical countries, so I would have thought they'd be handy in the climate you have out there ( lucky sods! ). Cheers, Alan T.

Some of the best dealerships in Japan though........ That's not so bad is it? They are almost identical anyway. I should imagine ( as Alfadog pointed out ) that Kobe Seiko or Nissan themselves took a lot of 'inspiration' from the Minilite and Brabham designs, just like Watanabe did............. Prince would have brought a lot of this preference with them when they joined Nissan. Take a look at the wheels on the R380:

:classic:

I believe that Kobe Seiko used to make all sorts of forgings and castings for companies like Nissan - not just wheels. They launched their own brand wheels in the mid Seventies ( quite similar to the 432 mags, actually ) but I'm not sure what happened to them after that. I can imagine that they are probably still making castings and forgings, but I don't know about wheels. I certainly haven't seen any under the Kobe Seiko name ( it sounds a bit industrial, and I think the best translation for "seiko" would be "precision engineering" - so, "Kobe Precision Engineering"............. Hmmmm, maybe not so bad? ). Cheers! Alan T.

Hi v12horse & Alfadog, Sorry to nitpick, but the eight-spoke wheels on the 1970 Sports Option lists for the Z432-R were not actually made by R.S. Watanabe. They were made by Kobe Seiko, and did not have any identifying marks on them whatsoever. They looked VERY similar to the classic Minilite and Watanabe shape, and were made from Magnesium. First of all they were only offered in 8j x 14 size, but the later Sports Option lists for the HS30 and RS30 offered the same wheel in 10j x 14 size. I am told that a few Nissan dealers in Japan actually sold R.S. Watanabe wheels in the early Seventies, and offered them in fitments for the first-generation Z. The wheels in the Sports Option lists were made by Kobe Seiko, who also made the magnesium 432 wheels and the Works "Rally" mags used on the Factory rally cars. Cheers! Alan T. ( Nitpicking Dept. ):classic:

Heavier, but probably not slower:

It was supposed to be appropriate! I have an old magazine article about Japanese police cars, so I thought I'd put a pic up. Here's a later and uglier one:

Z Police are ready to chase...............

Hi Carl, Unfortunately, people like you seem to be something of an exception on ebay. Very often my enquiries have gone unanswered, despite my efforts to let the vendor know that I understand about international shipping and what it costs ( its part of my job ). I have 100% good feedback - 95% of which is from sellers outside my home country. Does this count for anything with these vendors? Does it hell!............ However, I do understand that there are a fair amount of idiots on ebay ( both buyers AND sellers ) - so I really should not be so surprised. Its just a microcosm of the World, after all................ Alan T.

texasz, ebay username "navyzero" should be a clue to you. He's Japanese alright, and that's the Japanese navy ( Kaigun ) and not the US Navy, British Navy or indeed the Swiss Navy. I think you know what a Zero sen is too?......... The answer is that he's buying the "2400 OHC" valve covers and selling them in Japan. They are fairly collectable over there, and some of the Factory race cars used them - so they have a small following. I sourced a pair for a Japanese friend of mine a couple of years ago. He kept one and sold the other. Alan T.

Just my little bit of fun. I'm glad one of you guys finally noticed ( or at least noticed and said something! ). Thought my hard work had gone to waste...... Nothing wrong with replicas, by the way. I'm building one too:classic: More power to you........... Razor, I think Z Kid's point is a good one. The condition you describe is just like what happens when you have the Earth connected wrongly. Don't give up on it yet. Electrics can be a pig to sort on an old car, but once you get it right its very satisfying. Alan T.

I'm noticing that more and more of the items I'm interested in on ebay are being listed as "United States Only" and "No International Bids". What's that all about?

The best gas for your car at the moment might well be Oxy-Acetylene or Argon ( as in Argon Arc Welding ). Maybe its you that needs the laughing gas and not the car. No offence intended:classic: Alan T.

Another possible scenario: Your hard fuel line ( running from the tank to the front of the car ) could be compacted with years of crud. I've seen this on many cars that I have taken spares from in the past. My current project car was a great example; when I took off the hard fuel line and snipped it into sections I found enough striated deposits to satisfy a geologist! This would allow some fuel to get to the front of the car, and about enough to build a bit of pressure, but it would not allow the volume that you need. I've seen this any number of times. Even blowing down the line with compressed air didn't really show up the problem ( the crud was compacted and would not blow out - but air was still coming through the line ). You might even want to consider replacing the hard line if you consider that its particularly bad, and cleaning out the fuel tank itself - which is where most of the crud comes from in the first place. Good luck! Alan T.

Now that you mention it, I remember it being in the For Sale ads in the back of Classic & Sportscar magazine for a few months running about a year or so ago. I have no idea of the engine spec. and I don't remember what was being claimed. As far as I remember its was a track-only car, and not legalised for use on the road. That could have changed though. I remember it being present at a Track Day at the Goodwood circuit a couple of years ago when I was running my car there. He seemed to be having some kind of diff or driveshaft trouble at the time (? ). I was having trouble of my own on the day; I "ran out of talent" and buried the car in the gravel trap at Woodcote corner..... :stupid: