HS30-H

Hi Kats, I was wondering if the lady in the manual is part of the "Optional Equipment" package. I'd love to have a personal assistant to wrench my ( wheel ) nuts................ I don't know much more about the South African market cars than you do. I know that some of the cars sold there were indeed badges as "Fairlady Z" and ( after late 1971 ) "Fairlady 240Z" - but I don't think it was a major market. It was, of course, an RHD market. You might have noticed that many of the Works rally cars that competed in the East African Safari Rally, and other African rally events, were badged as "Fairlady" models. The first of these were RHD, but they then switched to LHD for later events ( and yes - they moved the Handbrake levers to the left side of the trans tunnel on these cars ). I'll see what I can find out about the South African and other African countries markets for you. Cheers! Alan T.

I don't know about anybody else, but I don't really mind people downloading and saving the pics that I upload here. That's fine by me, just so long as they don't go on to use them for any other purposes ( such as uploading them to another site etc ). It would be up to Mike to make any changes to the software on this site that would make the images viewable but not downloadable. I quite agree that there are pics on many other sites that have been uploaded from other sites without the original owner's consent. This is precisely what I want to stop happening with the images that I upload into the Gallery section here on this site. Its a case of breaking the chain, or not allowing a chain to start. If we are not vigilant 'at source', then the battle is lost before it has even begun. You comment that "......you cant assume the website has copyright over the images just because they are on the site." This is true - but you have to assume innocent until proven guilty, and most sites ARE ( like this one ) covered by Copyright - so if you see Copyright notices then you just don't rip. Easy as that. Like I said before, if in in doubt - link. If you want to go further, ask. If you get wrong information or accidentally end up with images that have been ripped from elsewhere, then at least you tried and did it in good faith. The best way, when all is said and done, is to use your OWN photos that you took yourself. Everybody would ideally take responsibility for this themselves, but just like all rules and morals there are people who have quite different ideas.

Hi Kats, Another interesting post from you. Isn't this the Japanese-market owners manual for English-speakers? I've seen one before with a green cover that had similar content. I don't have one, but the one I saw was very similar to the one that you have, and it was described to me as being an official 'translation' manual for the 'gaijin' drivers who had bought a Fairlady Z to use in Japanese territory. My Fairlady Z-L was bought new from the "Export and Diplomatic Sales" office at Ginza by a USAAF pilot. This was in late 1970. Maybe they found a need for an official translation for customers such as this? Note that it mentions the models that debuted after October 1971, and also the specific models that were only sold in the Japanese home market ( the 432 and the ZG ). This shows that it would presumably have been aimed at owners in Japan who did not speak / read Japanese. I think there were plenty of these people around the air bases and stations all over Japan - not just in Okinawa. As an aside, I believe that the early Z cars sold in South Africa were badged as "Fairlady Z" models - so the Fairlady Z emblems WERE seen outside of Japan, but only in a very limited way. Cheers! Alan T.

Thanks to both Steves ( sjcurtis and Zvoiture ). I can see that the trans tunnel on the G35 Infiniti is very wide, and that the Handbrake lever is close to the driver. I would have thought the width of the trans tunnel would preclude them from leaving the lever in ONE configuration. Surely they must transpose it for the RHD and LHD versions? Anyone got a pic of the RHD version? And we can see from sjcurtis' pic that the RHD Z33 has the Handbrake lever on the LEFT of the tunnel - just like the LHD. Says a lot - but I'm not 100% sure what! Alan T.

Surely these days the big auto manufacturers have a better handle ( excuse the pun ) on what kind of sales figures they expect for certain markets? The point being that the 'expected' major market for the Z33 ( 99% certain to be correct, I would have thought ) was going to be LHD. You'd have to assume that the designers of the Z33 thought that their placement of the handbrake in its production position ( closer to the driver than to the passenger in LHD form ) was ergonomically suited to its major market. Since they don't seem to have made TWO positions for the Handbrake for LHD or RHD use, then it is to be assumed that they went with the position that most suited the major - expected - market ( LHD, no? ). This is the OPPOSITE situation to the S30-series Z. Matsuo san has clearly stated that they never EXPECTED to sell quite so many S30-series Z cars in the LHD market, and that he and his team designed the position of the Handbrake to suit the RHD version. They considered that the position of the Handbrake lever in the first LHD cars would not be enough of a problem to hamper its use. Strict cost-cutting dictated that the Handbrake would not be re-sited for the LHD market cars, so they had to have their Handbrakes in the RHD position by default. Some car manufacturers still do the same thing - releasing models with certain details biased to one market's layout - but some DO reposition major controls such as Handbrake levers to suit LHD and RHD market versions. Handbrake positioning seems to be a very interesting example of cost-cutting and bias in certain models / markets. Not sure how this applies to the G35 coupe. You might expect that a model such as this - with its expected huge sales in the LHD market? - would have a Handbrake lever position suited to that market. Anyone have pics of both RHD and LHD interiors of that model? Alan T.

Hi Mr Camouflage, I think your views on this matter are quite different to mine. As far as I am concerned, the Internet should NOT be a free-for-all of stealing / misappropriating images in just the same way that a bookshop or reference library should not be a place where anyone with a pair of scissors can do what they like................ When I upload images to this site, I am in effect passing a certain amount of ownership to classiczcars.com However, they are then covered by the copyright of the site - so I hope nobody thinks that this gives them the right to do what they like with them. I accept that this means almost anybody will be able to download / store / print them for their own use - but if I spot them USING one of my photos for unfair or unapproved use then I would feel justified in pointing out to them in no uncertain terms that what they are doing is contrary to Copyright law. 99.99% of the images that I have uploaded to the Gallery of this site are photos that I have taken myself with my own camera. Before uploading them to this site, I have to compress and resize them to fit the format of the Gallery. These resized and compressed images are then 'watermarked' with the site URL before they are cleared in the Gallery. At that point, I have allowed these resized and compressed versions of my pictures to come under the copyright of this site. Your question of whether Mike or myself 'owns' the pictures at this point is academic; they are covered by the site copyright and I expect that to be fully enforced. If I spot anyone using them without permission then I will bring to to attention. This has indeed already happened, and I made it clear to the person involved that I would like them to cease and desist. It is almost inevitable that some people will try to appropriate and misuse the images at some point ( that's the 'young' nature of the Internet at this time ) but if I spot them then I will make the situation clear to them. I should imagine that Mike takes this subject just as seriously as I do, and is equally vigilant in enforcing copyright law on those who think they can do what they want. This whole issue of what the Internet is about and what it is for seems to be confusing to many people. Ripping-off video clips and pictures is rife, and people seem to think that if they see something on the Internet then it is 'fair game' to pilfer / appropriate / rip-off what they want. They are very much mistaken. 'Free Use' internet content is usually quite clearly marked as such, but pretty much anything else is covered by Copyright at some point, I believe. The Gallery images and just about all other content of this site are NOT 'Free Use'. Mr Camouflage, you may well still own the Copyright to the ORIGINAL versions of the images that you have uploaded to this site. However, the compressed / resized versions that you have uploaded are COVERED by the Copyright of this site once they are are part of the site. Quite how this affects YOU is something that you would have to take up with Mike, but as far as I am concerned when I upload my photos to the Gallery here I am happy that they are covered by the site Copyright and that all visitors / users of the site are allowed to VIEW them - as opposed to do what they like with them. I'm sure that Mike and the Moderators of the site respect this and take the Copyright of the site very seriously too. Cheers, Alan T.

ZmeFly, Thanks for taking my points in the spirit that they were intended. I didn't want to be a spoilsport. I just think its worth us, as the members of this site, being careful about where we get images from. I think this site seems to have a good reputation, and its worth preserving that. I think a good rule of thumb would be - 'if in doubt, just post a link'. Copyright law is indeed very complicated and sometimes open to interpretation. When it applies to the Internet, its even more complicated. There are exceptions for 'Fair Use' and critique purposes, which allow us to quote sections of text or use some images for the purposes of discussion. However, above all else we have to use common sense and discretion. If you have personally contacted the owner / administrator of the site that you downloaded the pictures from, and got his blessing to use the images here, then I see little or no problem. It at least ensures that nobody will be getting upset or offended. All the best, Alan T.

The parts sold by MSA and other aftermarket suppliers are replicas / copies / interpretations of an official Nissan-built variant that was sold only in Japan. What is commonly referred to as the "G-Nose" was a set of additional body parts that were fitted by the factory to a Japanese-market version of the Fairlady 240Z. This was called the FAIRLADY 240ZG, and the factory model designation was "HS30-H". Basically, Nissan wanted to homologate ( make legal for use in racing ) these parts so that they could use them on their Group 4 racing cars. Under the rules of the F.I.A and J.A.F they had to build and sell a stipulated number of cars with these parts on them to the general public. Once the parts were homologated, it allowed Nissan to use an even wilder version for racing, and this evolved through the gradually more extreme "Type A" and "Type B" versions as the factory race cars were further modified for domestic Group 5 and 6 racing in Japan. As the basic "ZG" model now existed, the factory only had to make these even more extreme parts available to the public through their "Sports Option" parts lists in order to be able to use them legally on their racers. The "HS30-H" Fairlady 240ZG version of the S30 was personally designed by the Chief Designer of the S30 - Mr Yoshihiko Matsuo. The "ZG" ( the "G" standing for "Grande" according to the factory ) was a factory-made version of the S30-series Z, and simply bolting a G-nose kit of parts onto an unsuspecting 240Z does NOT make it a genuine ZG. However, the factory sold the parts through the aforementioned Sports Option lists and anybody could buy the kit and add it to their car. The genuine parts comprised a five-piece nose kit and four fibreglass "overfender" flares, along with plexiglass headlamp covers that had a chromed ( later stainless steel ) trim ring around them. The main parts of the nose were fibreglass, but the front bumper was made of expanded urethane foam. The bonnet hinges on the genuine cars were also different, to allow the bonnet to clear the front filler panel properly. The true "HS30-H" model had an extra rubber strip on the rear bumper, that joined together the two corner pieces. The rear bumper was painted gunmetal grey to match the front bumper, undertray and overfenders. At the time of its launch in October 1971, the Fairlady 240ZG was the most expensive of all the versions of the S30 then on sale in Japan. They only came in three colours; Grand Prix Red, Grand Prix White and Grand Prix Maroon. In the USA, Datsun Competition offered the genuine factory parts for a very short period. When they ran out, they started to sell replicas made locally, and as far as I am aware some other companies also offered their own versions - which were of varying quality. Somehow, these were always known as "ZG" or "G-nose" kits, even if they were not all that accurate. If you are interested in the Japanese-market models, then using the SEARCH function of this site will reveal a lot of answers to your questions. There are also a lot of images in the Gallery sections that you might find of interest. Have fun. Alan T.

26thZ, So, as I suspected might be true, many of the early Export cars had the rubber side sill trim - but carpets on the floor and rear deck area. I wonder whether this is the spec that Kats needs to replicate? If you have not seen the Japanese home market rubber floor mats and rear deck, then I will lay mine out and photograph them for you. These ones did NOT have the Z logo on them. They are from a base-spec Fairlady Z, and are destined to be used in my 432-R replica project car. Cheers, Alan T.

PS Fairlady Z432 followed most trim spec from Fairlady Z-L. ( that's why Watanabe san's 432 has carpet side sill trims ). Fairlady Z432-R followed most trim spec from Fairlady Z. So 432 would have carpet side sill trims and 432-R would have plastic side sill trims. Unless the owners wanted to specify the opposite option. Alan T.

Hi Kats, Well, as far as I know ( mainly about the Japanese market and UK market cars ) there were the following differences: Fairlady Z had plastic ( 'Leather' grain print ) side side trims - along with rubber mats ( no carpet ). Fairlady Z-L had carpet side sill trims - along with full carpets. Fairlady 240Z and Fairlady 240Z-L ( from late 1971 ) followed the same pattern. HOWEVER, I can see that some customers could specify plastic side sill trims and rubber mats as an option on even the Fairlady Z-L. You could consider this a 'downgrade' option, but I should imagine it was necessary for practical reasons in some areas with a lot of rain / mud? For the UK market ( according to the Parts List books ) I can see that the rubber side sill trim was also specified on some cars as an option. I have seen SOME of the UK market cars with rubber side sill trims and carpet on the floors / deck area. Confusing isn't it? I have one NOS rubber side sill trim in my stock of spare parts, but it is for an LHD car - so there must have been some LHD cars that had these fitted as standard equipment. As you know, I don't know too much about the USA market cars -so somebody else needs to give you some help on that side of things. Best regards, Alan T.

Trans Tunnel jute maybe? Alan T. ( edit: Looks like you beat me to it, Kats:classic: )

Hi ZmeFly, Its always good to see pics of Japanese events / meets, but I'm wondering about the origin of your uploads and what event / events they depict. The location of the latest uploads looks very much like Sagamiko Picnic Land ( a very popular place to host car-related events ) and judging from the amount of cherry blossom on the trees it would seem to have taken place around the month of March? Are these pictures that you have downloaded from the Web? If they are, then you might need to be a little cautious about just where they came from, and make sure that they were not originally covered by the Copyright of the site that they came from. They usually are. I notice that the numberplates of most of the cars have been obscured / photoshopped. This would point to their origin as a Japanese site, and is common practice in line with Japanese privacy laws. When I was at the Club S30 / S30 Owners Club combined meeting at Sagamiko a couple of weeks ago, I was asked by more than one person about the photographs on this site. You might be surprised to know that there are a lot of Japanese visitors to this site, and that word spreads very quickly. Most of these visitors do not post here, but they drop in fairly often. One of the comments I heard was with regard to pictures on this ( and other ) sites being downloads from other sites. In many cases it seems that copyright is being infringed without knowledge / intention. In particular, it seems that the use of some of these pics as Avatars is confusing to the owners of the original photos. One comment made to me was to question why anybody would want to use the image of somebody else's car as their Avatar image. To the person who made the comment to me, it seems that this was seen as particularly strange. I think the inference was that this could be seen as disturbing to the owner of the original image. I can kind of see where he's coming from. I've noticed some of my pictures being used on other sites, and a couple of times I even saw a pic of my own car being used by a member for their own Avatar image. It felt very odd. Like I'd had my car stolen! Whilst its great to see pics like yours, and I applaud your broadminded view, I would advise caution to check on their origin and copyright status before uploading here. If they are pics that you have taken yourself, then this would not be a problem. This site too has a copyright notice at the bottom of almost every page, and most of our Gallery pictures automatically have the site logo applied to them. It must be very strange for the owners of orginal images to see those selfsame images posted up here with our site logo and copyright applied to them............... Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm just trying to advise a little caution and point out that the Web is a small world when it comes to a common interest. Things we do and say here are easily seen all around the world, and its worth being careful. Best regards, Alan T.

Hi Steve, Ah - the rules over there are different to over here then. Sounds like its a bit fairer over there. Competitors over here seem to suffer from a lot of anti-Japanese bias. The Escorts and Porsches have it a lot better as far as I can see. Cheers, Alan T.

Hi meakin, Well - I've got a couple of spare FS5C71-B boxes too if you want one. Have you got a 4-speed at present then? You might need a 3.9 ratio R180 to go with it? These spare boxes are the type that was fitted as standard equipment to UK-market HS30 models around the late 1971 period. Previous to that they had the 'A' type 5 speed. I have a spare 3.9 R180 too if you need it. Both of them could probably do with a partial strip-down to ensure that the synchros and bearings are all OK. They are both spare units that have never been opened up as far as I know. There's no point going to the trouble of sourcing a transmission and then installing it in the car without checking it out internally. I'll PM you with thoughts on how you could get one from London to Denmark. That's probably going to be more expensive than buying the things in the first place. I'll PM you with prices for the Option 1 and the Rally Option direct-drive 5-speeds too. Have a chair and some smelling salts handy, as they are not cheap. Alan T.

Ben, Are the Holinger internals 'legal' to use in the Rally and Circuit races in Australia? In the UK, the classes that the early Z competes in have fairly strict rules. I believe that the Holinger internals can only be used if they can be proved to have been used 'in period'. That 'in period' bit is difficult to prove, and in the Historic Rally ( Post Historic ) classes of the MSA here in the UK the cut-off is 1976 as far as I remember. I think that some competitors over here have wanted to use the Holinger internals in the past, but proving that they were used 'in period' is a little tricky. What's the situation over there? Alan T.

Good point there Bambikiller, Its the radiator that you need to match your lower hose shape with halz, as the engine-side lower connection will be the same on the Australian spec. 240 and 260 models. The 240Z type has the 90 Degree upward bend that Bambikiller mentioned. If your radiator's lower connection has this then the 240Z type lower hose will fit. Good luck! Alan T.

I agree - well done Kats! Articles like this are just what this site does best. You can get questions, personal experiences, debate, pictures, and finally a conclusion - all in one thread. Once it goes into the archives its a valuable reference for everybody. Its also great to see a thread tied up with a positive result. Excellent work. When I bought my project car ( a Fairlady Z-L produced in the second half of 1970, and very similar to Mr Yamada's car that Kats mentioned ) it was incomplete and many parts were missing. I won't be restoring it to its original specification - as its going to be a 432-R replica - but knowing what it WOULD have been like is a great help. Kats, I have a question in relation to Mr Nishi's thoughts that the original Jute might have been coated / painted / sprayed / dipped in some kind of fluid anti-rust treatment. From the scraps of remaining Jute on my project car, and the original Jute on my ZG, I can see that it is indeed coated in a dark and sticky fluid. This appears to have been applied at the Factory - and it is not caused by a leak! So are you going to attempt to replicate any of this treatment to your Jute pads? Maybe its best not to, as long as they are not going to get wet and you are going to make sure that all is well under your carpets. In my opinion, the coating is rather sticky and a little bit messy. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Zedrally, Not too bad with the Jetlag now. I'm just working late and dropping in here ocassionally for a tea break:classic: The 'B' type were splined - not flange type. There were earlier ( 'A' type ) Option boxes, and they were flange type. He's going to have to confirm exactly what he's got, as the parts are not interchangeable. Didn't Nissan Motorsports USA have a small stock of parts for the F5C71-B Option boxes earlier this year? They were having a bit of a clearout as far as I remember, and there were some Option ratios being sold. Maybe its worth asking them? Don't forget he's going to need the gear AND the countergear - so that's two items, and they are usually sold separately. Good idea to be careful of that. I had a brand new Option 1 first gear and countergear set up until just a couple of months ago. I sold an Option 2 box to a friend in Japan and he wanted the Option 1 first gear to put into it. The gears are not 'in stock' anywhere that I know of in Japan, I'm afraid. There was a thread a while back where I remember posting a lot of the part numbers for these transmissions. Might be worth a look too. Cheers, Alan T.

I doubt this will help, seeing as I'm on the other side of the World, but I have a couple of Option boxes that I could do with selling; One is an Option 1, and one is the Rally Option box. Both have the 'Dogleg' shift pattern and direct ( 1:1 ) 5th gear. Both are in excellent condition. The Rally Option has had a FULL rebuild ( and I mean FULL ) just recently. Both very pricey though, and as I say, the wrong side of the World. Alan T.

Hi daddz, Good comparison there with the 'Crapi' here in the UK. That's almost exactly the situation that I saw with the early Z in its home market. When new, the early Z would have been pretty much unobtainable for the younger age group in Japan ( unless they were lucky enough to be fairly rich ). In fact. almost any new car would have been all but out of reach for the younger male around that time. However - and this goes for just about anywhere, not just Japan - give it a few years and the price of these self same cars drops through the floor. Then it becomes within reach of the people who couldn't afford it the first time round, and the downward spiral begins. I'd say that by the late Seventies and early to mid Eighties, the early Z car was starting to get a negative image in Japan due to the type of people who were seen driving them and the fact that they were modifying them and being hooligans with them. That is of course a generalisation, and there were plenty of cars that were cherished and looked after by appreciative owners. My own experience as far as Japan goes ( from the mid-Eighties onwards ) was that friends and family would turn their noses up at early Z cars because of this negative image. It was perceived as something associated with street-racers and lunatic drivers, and the most noticeable ones were VERY loud and extensively modified. There were other models that also got damned by association with this group. This is exactly the image that the early Ford Capri became associated with in the UK. However, the Capri is having a bit of a renaissance here, and some people have been choosing them just to be 'ironic'. The early Z has been coming back up out of its value spiral for some years in Japan, and lots of restorations have been performed. Its still got a slightly negative image with some people who are slow to change their views though. These good / bad perceptions are not the fault of the poor old car! Even the Capri was an honest and fairly worthy car, and did not deserve being tarred with the hooligan brush. That's just what happens when the desireable models of a few years ago become within the reach of the 17~25 age group. Its still happening these days, and the target cars have been the 'Hot Hatch' segment for some years. Its all a big circle, and its the same anywhere in the world I reckon. Alan T.

If it were a custom-built / adapted R&P set then I'd be very worried indeed about how well the machining had been performed. The vendor implied in his answers to me that it was a Factory combination in the R190 / R192 - which I know is not true. I suppose anything is possible when you go custom.

This is all academic, as the 5.88:1 ratio DOES NOT EXIST in the R190 / R192 - or the R180, or the R200. Biggest numerical ratios were 5.142, and the 5.125 offered as a Sports Option ratio for the R190 / R192. 5.1 is quite adequate for almost any use - even with the biggest rolling circumference tyres that can be fitted under the standard wheelarches. I'd like to hear from the guy who actually bought that "5.88" diff so that we can hear what it REALLY was.

Hi halz, Ah, I see what you mean. There are quite a few cars on Japanese roads that are older than the S30-series Z. On any given Spring, Summer or Autumn weekend you can see all sorts driving around in the countryside. I even used to see Fifties and Sixties models sticking out like sore thumbs in central Tokyo. I sometimes think that the media makes a little too much out of this image of Japan being a throwaway society, and that its too difficult or even illegal to own old cars. In fact, its not half as bad as the stories make out. Sure its not all that easy ( especially if you live in an urban area, where storage / parking space costs so much ) but its not an impossible situation and plenty of fairly young guys and girls drive around in old cars. The members of Club S30 are - I would say - perhaps a slightly older cross-section of enthusiasts, but there are PLENTY of younger people who own early Z cars. There are even some quite young members of Club S30. I would say that almost every one of them probably uses their Z as a second or 'fun' car, and owns a family car or at least something more practical for everyday use too. However, the S30-series Z still seems to suffer something of a slightly negative image amongst the general public in Japan due to its years as a bit of a hooligan's choice of transport. This is admittedly changing as the car takes on a more classic status. Surely owning these old cars can be expensive and difficult wherever you live? I know that mine cost me a lot more money and hassle to own than I would like! Central London is really not an ideal place to reside if you are an enthusiast of old Z cars. Maybe your situation in Australia is a little easier - especially with regard to garaging / storage space? I think you have to take into account the fact that prices for everything in Japan are higher than almost everywhere else, but so is the average wage. My impression and experience of Japanese enthusiasts is that many of them will make great sacrifices in order to own the car that they dream of. Hats off to them. Alan T.

I saw that on eBay, and got involved. It ended up as a bit of an argument............. In fact, the R192 / R190 was never made with a "5.88:1" gear ratio, and the lowest ratio it came in was 5.125:1 I was convinced that the vendor actually had a 4.875:1 and was mis-describing it. I told him so, and he bit my ear off with some choice language in reply He told me that the 510 Auto-X'ers in California "use them all the time". I won't repeat the four letter words he added to spice things up........... I told him that I might be interested in it if he could PROVE what gear ratio it had in it. All he had to do was open it up and take a photo of the stamping on the Crownwheel. Needless to say, he could not be bothered. That's eBay for you. Either the person that eventually bought it KNEW that it was being mis-described, and had a fairly good idea of what he was getting, or he is in for a surprise. Mind you, I don't know what kind of event he would need a 5.88 diff ratio for, unless there are wall-climbing events that I don't know about I have a few R200's with LSD units fitted, and in several ratios. A 4.375:1 will get me close enough to the 4.44 ratio that would have been correct for the 432-R, so that's good enough for me. Alan T.