HS30-H

My fender mount mirror positioning dimensions in the above file attachment only apply to an S30-series Z. Since this thread concerns an S130 series Z, its worth pointing out that they are NOT the same................ Alan T.

Hi Guus, Well, Nishi san ( super restorer in Japan who is a friend of both Kats and myself ) made a limited edition run of reproduction Rally mags a few years ago. They look exactly like the real thing, but they are Aluminium instead of Magnesium. He still has some stock, but they are VERY expensive. Its also going to cost a lot of money to ship them, and you will get hit for Customs Duty / Import Tax and TVA too. The Japanese Yen is particularly strong in foreign exchange at the moment, so that would not help either. If you think you would still be interested, I'll talk to Nishi san about it. I have to talk to him today anyway - so I'll ask him for his 'best' price for you. I'll let you know. Prepare for a shock and have a chair close by............... As for your question of why I 'need' six wheels - well, I don't really 'need' six ( I can only use four on the car at one time ) but what was offered was six pieces, and having two spare does not hurt. Alan T.

One thing is for sure, even prior to the Z the family tree was massive. I have the Car Graphic "Car Watcher's Guide" for Nissan / Prince cars made between 1955 and 1992, and it runs to 335 pages with two or three model versions on some of the pages........... I would advocate that PRINCE MOTOR CO. products MUST be included as a branch of the family tree. I've seen engine family trees, as well as family trees by model name ( Bluebird, Skyline, Cedric etc etc ) but never a COMPLETE family tree. I think it would be too massive. Great idea though. Zedrally, are you volunteering?:classic: Alan T.

Its GOT to start with the letter S There will be lots of argument about what came first - the chicken or the egg................. Alan T.

Now I'm intrigued Michael. I'm kind of scared to ask for further explanation. Talk about drifting off topic. Sorry. Alan T.

Aha, I see. Well - where I come from ( London ), to 'nut' somebody means to give them a head-butt. This usually results in a broken nose for the victim and a very sore forehead for the assailant. If it does not work properly it can mean broken noses, teeth and jaws all round. Up in Scotland, they call this the "Glasgow Kiss".................. Alan T.

Hi Steve, KONIS are boxed / packed up and ready to go - but not sent yet. We've had a postal-workers strike which has slowed the system down and I didn't want the package getting lost in strike-torn limbo land. They are leaving London tomorrow ( Friday 10th ) and should be in your hands around 15th or 16th if all goes to plan. Is "nut up" American slang for going crazy or does it literally mean doing up nuts on your car? Alan T.

There ain't no Sanity Clause.........

Alfadog, that's not fair! That poor car......... That car does not deserve the Groucho treatment. If anyone does, its me. The vendor of the car does NOT call it a ZG - to his eternal credit - and we ought to be as nice as possible about it. I think he's been pretty accurate, and honest with his description. I sure hope that somebody will buy the car and look after it, and maybe even take it back to something closer to its original spec? OK, I got carried away with the Michael Jackson and Groucho stuff - but that was nothing to do with this particular car. I was just trying to get across the point that sticking a replica G-Nose on a car does not make it a ZG. You forgot the cigar, by the way. Alan T.

Hi Davis, I got a sense of deja vu when I saw your post. I think we got pretty close to sorting out the origin of the EVA airdam / spoiler last time didn't we?EVA thread EVA were an FRP / GRP specialist moulding company in Japan. They made some race car parts, as well as some aftermarket stuff for production cars. The wiring for the Japanese domestic market tail lights was slightly different to that of the 'European' ( UK / Australian ) market versions - although they both had the amber indicator lenses. You can interchange them if you fiddle with wiring. I'd get the dash recovered if I were you ( see DASHBOARD RESTORATIONS here on this site ) as uncracked RHD dashes are in VERY short supply these days, and will cost you a pretty penny to buy and then ship. Regarding your further question about the EVA front airdam / spoiler, is it like this one?:

26th-Z - I'll accept the apology on behalf of all REAL HS30-H models living and dead :classic: I'm not trying to score points off anyone - just trying to get verbal and anecdotal history to match up with reality. This site has a very good standard ( compared to many other Z related sites ) and its worth looking after that. 26th-Z might I suggest that you ask the opinion of somebody with first-hand experience of the ZG model - if there is anything in particular that you want to know about them - rather than that of somebody who seems to regard the RHD models as "irrelevant" Nissan only made the HS30-H model from late 1971 to late 1973, and it was indeed only in 2-seater form. Nissan showed a 2by2 model - with the full G-Nose panels - on a showstand once, but then decided not to go ahead with the model in that spec. If you see one with a 2-litre engine ( and an "S30" VIN prefix ) then its not a Factory-built ZG. Likewise, but slightly more difficult to weed out, many G-Nose panels and Overfenders have been attached to "HS30" VIN prefixed cars ( the correct VIN prefix ) but if any of these did not leave the Factory as a true ZG model then simply bolting the panels ( real or not ) onto a car will NOT make a Factory ZG. There are lots of ways to tell a REAL one from a fake or a replica, and you have to look at a lot of details to come to a final conclusion. Unfortunately, broadcasting these tell-tales tends to help fakers pass off their vehicles as the real thing - so I won't. It has sometimes been possible to find cars that left the Factory as ZG models - but which later ended up losing their G-Nose and Overfender panels ( due to damage or other factors ). Despite the fact that they look like 'normal' bodied HS30 models, these cars ARE still Factory ZG's. If you can't get your head round that - just think of Michael Jackson. He's still the same person as that little kid who sang "ABC" - but he doesn't look like him............. I get a cold chill down the spine when I see the famous ex-Mr K. yellow Z described as a "ZG". This is a good example of the difference between a nose job and Z au naturelle. If I put a false moustache and glasses on, and stick a large cigar in my mouth, it does not make me Groucho Marx.................. Alan T.

Come on 26th-Z, I expect better of you than that! A GS31 with an aftermarket copy G-Nose on it does NOT get the right to be called a "ZG". Only true Factory-built HS30-H models can be called "ZG", and in fact even if you took the G-Nose and Overfenders OFF of a ZG it would still be a ZG. Only the Factory could create a true ZG. This car looks like many thousands of cars that are still lurking in the rural areas of Japan. A modified GS31 like this would not be all that expensive either. And if this guy has a '72 with 432 headers then it must be SERIOUSLY modified. The S20 engine has different exhaust port size, shape ( round ports ), spacing and stud holes to the L-series engine - so a 432 header would NOT fit. He's probably just got a Japanese market 'taco ashi' ( Octopus leg ) manifold that he thinks sounds a bit more glamorous if he links it to the 432. Believe me - they DO NOT fit. I have both and they are NOT interchangeable................ Painting black and white stripes on a pony does not make it a Zebra. Come on guys - this is the best Z-related site on the web. Lets keep the standards up. Alan T.

Here's a close-up of the 432 Kobe Seiko magnesium wheel:

Ed & 2Many, The "Proto-2" pic I posted for comparison with the crash test car was actually just a mock-up. If you look carefully, you will see nothing ( no hub, no axle ) holding the rear wheel onto the car - its just standing there.Yes, Ed. The dark shadow that you see is a prop or stand that is probably the only thing holding the rear off the ground. Well spotted. Bumper guards do look larger than the final versions too. I don't think this is a 'clay' - I think its a little more than that - but its not really a rolling shell either. Its obviously quite a fair way before they finalised quite a few details - but getting very close to the finished shape. I have the date of the photo somewhere and I should dig it out the original again to find it.......... Did I read somewhere in an interview with Matsuo san that he initially wanted to make the whole front wing ( fender ) in one piece with the 'sugar scoop' headlamp surround incorporated into it? Can't remember where I saw that - possibly in an old Japanese magazine article. Anyway, I think I remember him saying that it could not be productionised that way and it took quite a lot of effort to get the sugar scoops made. I think this was the reason that they were initially made from FRP, and then later on they were able to make them successfully in steel. The 'sugar scoops' are a pretty complicated shape.............. 2Many - those are interesting points about the MVSS etc. Now I'm wondering what crash-tests would have been necessary for other markets. Maybe some markets like the UK would have accepted the Japanese crash test results. I was also thinking that LHD and RHD cars would probably perform fairly differently from eachother in crash testing. Food for thought? I have one of the Kobe Seiko 432 mag wheels that I will be using as the 'spare' on my 432R replica project. I can take a photo of it if you are interested. I also have 6 of the genuine Works "Rally" mags made by Kobe Seiko - which are slightly different in detail but essentially a similar design. In the mid Seventies Kobe Seiko marketed a very similar design wheel to the 432 mag and called it the "Maglloy". They crop up from time to time in Japan. If you are interested in Nissan wheel DNA, then the links between Kobe Seiko and Nissan are very interesting. Kobe Seiko made most of Nissan's race and Sports Option wheels before the mid-Seventies, and there was a design used from mid 1973 that harked back to those wheels designed by Matsuo san on the "Proto 2" photo car. Here's a picture of one. They were SUPER wide: Alan T.

Hi Kats, Great photo! I presume that your photo is of either a full production-spec. car - or something very close to it. It certainly looks very close to a production spec - even down to the emblems. Its clear that the Factory would have been conducting crash-tests right through pre-production, but possibly well into production too? I wonder how many cars they tested, and whether these bodies were assigned full VIN numbers? Fascinating! Alan T.

and here's a BLUE 432 outside at the same event. Note its not road-registered yet:

Hi Kats, Great photos you posted - as usual! That's very interesting about the November 25th press road-tests. I presume that this was the beginning of most of the press reports and road tests that started to appear in the December 1969 and January 1970 Japanese matoring magazines? There was a press-preview event in early October 1969 -before the Tokyo Motor Show - where members of the press were invited to look at some cars wasn't there? They could not drive them - and most of them were displayed indoors ( with a 432 and one other model - the "Export" car? outside ). It seems that these press-preview cars were DIFFERENT cars again to the ones that they got to test-drive in November. That's interesting. They were using quite a few different cars for these events. Here's a picture of a Fairlady Z ( base model ) at the Press Preview event:

For the HGS130, Manual transmission = 3.7:1 Automatic transmission = 3.545:1 Can I recommend that you invest in this book: "DATSUN / NISSAN 280 / 300 ZX" - By Brian Long ISBN: 1-901295-06-0 Published by VELOCE PUBLISHING PLC You won't find another book that covers ALL market models so comprehensively, and his understanding of the Japanese domestic market models is particularly good - which is going to help you in your particular situation. The other book I would recommend to you is the Factory Service Manual for the S130 models. This will not be cheap - but it will SAVE you money in the long run. Buying books is an INVESTMENT. "Books and tools, books and tools, books and tools". Should be a mantra for all of us. Alan T.

Can't tell you what the specs should be unless you tell us the VIN prefix..................

Maybe its a Fairlady because it was born that way. If its badged as a "Fairlady Z" that is because it was probably originally made for the Japanese domestic market. If you check out your VIN number ( the full number - including the prefix ) you will be able to get pretty close to identifying what exact model it is: *FAIRLADY Z ( S130S ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY Z-L ( S130 ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY Z-T ( S130J ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY Z 2 by 2 ( GS130S ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY Z-L 2 by 2 ( GS130 ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY Z-T 2 by 2 ( GS130J ) - L20E engine *FAIRLADY 280Z-L ( HS130 ) - L28E engine *FAIRLADY 280Z-T ( HS130J - BC ) - L28E engine *FAIRLADY 280Z-L 2 by 2 ( HGS130 ) - L28E engine *FAIRLADY 280Z-T 2 by 2 ( HGS130J - BC ) - L28E engine I'm curious as to why you stated "Import Car Of The Year" - is that on a sticker or emblem attached to the car? Seeing as the Fairladies were not imports, I'm wondering whether this was attached later ( and not at the Factory or the original dealership that sold the car ). Also - where are you? Its helpful to know this - or is it a secret? There are many people who have posted to this site asking the same question as you. In fact, there was a question just a couple of days ago that is still an active thread. If you type "Fairlady" into the SEARCH function, you will get LOTS of hits. It IS a Z.:classic: Alan T.

whoops - forgot to attach that FSM scan for how to find the VIN number.............