HS30-H

Well, it's hard to make direct comparisons with it being so subjective, but - generally speaking - my GP Maroon ZG has always felt more stable at higher speeds than any of my short-nosed cars. By 'stable' I mean feeling less affected by drag and turbulence both when travelling in relatively straight lines and when changing direction / moving amongst other fast traffic. Hard to describe, but just a feeling that there was more stability - probably because there is less of an open mouth for air to grab hold of.... But, as I say, it's all very subjective. Similar effects can be attained by changing spring and damper rates, and steering rack ratio / steering arm ratio. To get the best out of the 'Grande Nose' you would want to fit it with one of the factory spoilers, to control air going under the car. You can fit front spoilers / splitters and other aero parts to short nose cars too, so its all a bit open to interpretation. It certainly doesn't hurt the dynamics of the car, but one of the greatest attractions of such parts is of course to replicate a rare and limited production factory variant that was produced and sold specifically to homologate the parts for use in motorsport. Alan T.

I already have a fair stock of ZG-specific spares, thanks. However, if Rahail splits the 'kit' and has any parts left over then I may very well pounce. Cheers, Alan T.

Looks like you need to top-up the weedkiller reservoir..... Did they re-badge the Prince G7s with 'Nissan' logos on the few G7s used post-merger? Does yours have a 'Prince' logo on the engine and a 'Nissan' logo on the VIN tag? Don't know if it is would be any help, but I have three versions of the A30-series factory parts lists which cover your car. Would be happy to send them to you if you need them? Cheers, Alan T.

Just to vouch for these parts, as I think they deserve it: Some of you may be aware that I own two genuine factory-built 'HS30-H' Fairlady 240ZG cars, and have had a deep interest in this particular model for a number of years. Don't want to blow my own trumpet, but I think I know what I'm talking about. I travelled to Rahail's home a few weeks ago ( I was buying some other parts from him ) and I looked closely at these parts - which he is now selling - so I have seen them first-hand. Most of them are genuine Nissan factory parts ( made by Kotobuki for Nissan.... ) and the lower nose - the largest part in the 'kit' - appears to be a superbly made replica, at least the equivalent standard to the genuine Nissan ( Kotobuki ) part. In fact, I believe it is an early example of Marguen Shokai's fine work. There are many cheaper so-called 'replicas' of the OEM parts on sale in Japan, but in most cases they are not the equal of the OEM parts in quality, fit or finish - let alone the rather more subjective matter of 'feel' The parts that Rahail has gathered however are excellent, and I will vouch for them ( and for Rahail himself ). I could not say that for the vast majority of 'ZG' copy parts that I have seen in the past. Hope that might help to reassure anyone who was thinking seriously about these parts. Cheers, Alan T.

Good to hear that you and yours are safe, Kats.

Can you take a photo of your engine number pad, and post it here? I'm interested to see it, as I've never seen one before. Also interested to see the oil pan / sump position ( front sump, or rear sump ) and the oil dipstick position in the block. But I don't see how your engine number could have been identified as having come from an R30 Skyline. What system would be used to track such things from the engine number? L28-engined R30-series Skylines are fairly rare beasts, too........ Makes sense to me. The 'R' could then be stamped in the gap between the 'L28' stamping and the block serial number at time of Remanufacture, and the 'X' on the end would preclude anyone from changing the number by adding to it ( same as Nissan did with body serial numbers in certain markets, to conform with local regulations ). Cheers, Alan T.

Here's a link to a great thread running on the viczcar.com forum over in Australia. Owner Adrian is going the extra mile to say the very least. Great stuff! http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,7360.0.html Alan T.

Here's a note for you to put in your records: THESE NUMBERS ARE MEANINGLESS WITHOUT THEIR PREFIXES. Everybody, PRETTY PLEASE!, state your PREFIX along with the body serial number.

My recommended Weber carburettor guru is Mr John Passini ( RIP ). His 1968-published books ( 1. THEORY & 2. TUNING & MAINTENANCE ) have been bibles to me. Here are some scanned pages from book 2, chapter 8, on the subject of spindles:

Isn't a Lybia part of a 'Lady Garden'...? I think you might mean Libya, yes? If they've got a list, you probably deserve to be on it just for that. I suppose we can look forward to the dregs of zcar.com pitching up here and stinking the place up. Oh joy.

I just saw on the BBC news that New Zealand's prime minister John Key has said "....we may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day." Hard to know what to say in the wake of such devastation and loss. Be strong. Thoughts are with you. Alan T.

It's the 48400-E4675 Nissan Sports Option steering known in the vernacular as the 'Datsun Compe'. Made by Izumi - the same people who made the OEM pressed wood composite steering wheels that came on our cars - it is based on the Japanese market centre and spokes ( different angle of spokes to the Export models ) and is 350mm in diameter. The rim is made from urethane, with 'stitching' detail moulded in, and would originally have had a light leather-look texture to it. This wears smooth in use, leaving the shiny finish you see above. NISMO made a limited-edition repop of these in celebration of their ( 15th? can't remember off the top of my head ) anniversary some years ago, and they - as well as originals - can appear for sale from time to time. They are usually 'reassuringly expensive'..... They are nice to use. I have them on a couple of my cars. Alan T.

Reviving this thread to post a couple of photos of an 'interesting' ( ) engine I saw in Japan last week. I'll let the photos speak for themselves: Cheers, Alan T.

Glenn, Bear in mind the 'interview' / round table discussion took place in 1996. At that time, Matsuo san was not enjoying the attention of the English-speaking media that he is now. The truth is that -within a company as large as Nissan already was in the late 1960s - creating a complex industrial product like an automobile was never going to be something that could be credited to one single person. Matsuo san was nominated as the 'Chief Designer' - a designer amongst designers, tasked with coordinating the work of others and managing much of the project. It doesn't mean that every single line and curve on the car came from his pen or spatula any more than it means that every single nut and bolt was to his - or anyone else's - specifications. He was a team leader. Unfortunately, his years in the uncredited wilderness along with the vacuum left by the modesty of others ( and Nissan's head-in-sand attitude ) have seen him come back to take perhaps a little more credit than is wise, necessary or even deserved. Cause and effect. Katayama might well believe that he "created" the car, but this is far too simplistic and banal a statement for it to stand up to any scrutiny. For him to come up with the 'concept' of a sports car ( nevermind that Nissan already had one, and would have more coming ) is something akin to a Butcher coming up with the 'concept' of putting some beef in his shop window. It's a no-brainer. Unfortunately, people seem to just nod their heads and congratulate him for his 'vision' rather than pointing out that it was all somewhat obvious. But that's the 'Mr K. Effect' for you..... There's an interesting two page article in the new issue of 'Kyu Sha Jin', published just last week in Japan. It's an interview with Kumeo Tamura, who took over much of the final ( clay ) body styling on the S30 project after Akio Yoshida's transfer to a different department. Once you start taking into account the efforts of people such as Tamura san, and add them to the work of Yoshida san and his colleagues - as well as all the ( hundreds of! ) engineers and subcontractors involved - any claims from one person that they "created" the Z start to look a little bit daft. Alan T.

The talk about the racing is pretty jumbled up and out of sequence ( half the time it's not immediately clear if they are talking about SPs/SRs, S30s or S130s at any one time ), but one quote shone out for me, and it wasn't about racing: I've seen him say this several times, and it makes my heart sink every time. Alan T.

Have you considered the possibility that it might be an R190 ( called the 'R192' in Japan )? Same design as the R160 and R180, but bigger. Originally fitted as OEM equipment on the PGC10 and KPGC10 Skyline GT-Rs and the PS30 Fairlady Z432 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-Rs, and also as a 'Sports Option' in Japan and Datsun Competition part in the USA. The R190 / R192 will fit in place of the stock R180 without any other mods ( unlike the R200 ) and can easily trick you into thinking it was an R180.......

So, that would be a total of around 40-something HLS30s...? Hope someone will take on "#22". There has to be space for a little pragmatism when it comes to what is - and isn't - possible. HLS30-00022 doesn't have to be 100% concours perfect to be appreciated.

If this thread is a trade advertisement, then it should be paying its way to be here.