HS30-H

Well, it ought to have the full number ( INCLUDING the prefix ) stamped onto the firewall. Can you take another look? See the attached picture for places to find this information on the S130 series Z. Don't get confused just because the car is not actually badged as a "ZX". If its only got the "Fairlady Z" emblems then that's what you have. The S130 series was released in Japan in August 1978. I think you have one of the following: *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 You said you have the L28E engine didn't you? In that case, just work out the trim level, and whether its a 2 seater or 2 by 2, and you will know pretty much which model it is from the above list. If your full VIN is missing or erased ( or just the VIN prefix ) then I would guess it may have been some kind of dodge to register it as a late S30 or S31 series Z when it was imported to Australia? I can't imagine any other reasons to mess with it that are not illegal. My guess is that you just have an early S130-series Z ( forget about the "ZX" bit ) and its early production date has caused confusion in the past as well as now. Its certainly not going to be 'pre-production' - so forget about that. I had a guy here in the UK excitedly telling me that he had a "pre-production 240Z" just because his VIN prefix was "S30" and not "HS30" - so you can see that the Japanese-market models cause some people to get rather over-excited. Try and work out your full VIN number if you can. Good luck! Alan T.

Hi Nick, That's interesting. Slightly worrying too! When I was looking for this information, I checked through all my Factory Engine Service manuals for the L20 / L24 / L26 / L28 engines. I have several different years, and several different market versions ( including some of the more comprehensive Japanese versions that seem to have dimensions and specs that the others do not ). To cut a long story short, I found every conceivable dimension and specification for these engines EXCEPT that one measurement. Dimensions for the cylinder block are very comprehensive, and they go into great detail about valve, valve guide and valve seat dimensions. They mention a fair bit about head warpage and acceptable tolerances - but always fall short of quoting an actual dimension for the head thickness.............. That made me suspicious. Why would they not quote something as important to us as that? They skirt all around the subject - even mentioning chamber volume and how it is affected by skimming the head - but never actually quote the thickness. The only reason I can think for them not quoting it is that it must be a little bit of a grey area. I wonder whether there was a Factory tolerance for this dimension that allowed a fair amount of variation? Varying thicknesses between the cam tower bore / cam tower base mounting and the mating surface of the cylinder head to the cylinder block would of course have an effect on the cam chain tension and the cam timing. Surely they must have had a tolerance to work within - but they never quote it. I got the dimension I quoted above from the "How to Modify" book by Frank Honsowetz - which contains a lot of useful information. I cross-referenced it with my stock of heads ( I have 9 heads and two whole engines to compare to ) and came up with no dimension bigger than 107.14mm on any of my heads. The 107.14 was from a known-history ( definitely never skimmed ) N42 that I have set aside for some port work. Some of my heads were just a smidge less than this - but the majority of them seem to have been skimmed at some point in the past ( some of them quite a lot! ). I know how to measure, and I have some good measuring tools at my disposal - but measuring these heads without a surface plate and height gauge is probably going to give a slightly different reading to me working with digital vernier calipers and micrometer - so I accept a slight tolerance for my error. That N42 was fairly consistant along its length - but some of the others measured slightly different along their lengths, which could be due to bad machining I guess. Its worrying that a firm "official" Factory dimension seems to be so hard to find. If anyone has any better information I would be very interested to hear it. Technically, I wonder if a small amount of variation is all that important for this dimension. There are other dimensions that are more important than the overall thickness, I suppose. Anyone else got any thoughts? Alan T.

Now you've blown it! Manchester is a different country altogether. My local team is Arsenal FC, and I can't stand them either.

Don't know about that. Got a few books. The knowledge is in them, not in me. Lately I've been checking which of my stock of heads has been shaved. That's why I had the dimension to hand. Good luck with the engine build:classic: Alan T.

James, Its 107.137mm or 4.218 Inches. Alan T.

Sometimes I think my car owns me, rather than the other way around............ I'd love to 'drop in' ( maybe at Interlaken ) but driving that thing around in the Alps would be hard work. I've driven an old car over the Alps before, and I needed some time off work when I got back. Let's wait until nearer to May 2004 before making a decision. Its over 6 months away for heaven's sake. Now you have planted a seed, though. Alan T.

Hi Andrew, Sorry to say that I have no photos of any Z cars at Geneva shows. Are you sure that your father saw one at the '69 Geneva show, and not the '70 or '71 event? If there was one displayed in those years then I'd love to see it too. Its spec would probably be a combination of the RHD and LHD 'Export' specs, judging by the French and Dutch market models that I have seen. Sorry I can't be of more help. Alan T.

Sorry - I meant the whole VIN ( including the prefix ). Can you find it on the car? Should be there. Alan T.

Hi 280zx Fever, I very much doubt that any "pre-production" Z ever made it out of Japan, or even out of the hands of the Factory. Please take a look at you VIN number and report it to us. That will clear the confusion up, I am sure. My bet is that your car is simply an early Japanese-market 280ZX ( S130 series ). Is that the car in your avatar image? Looks like an S130 to me. Let us know what the VIN is. All the best, Alan T.

Joseph, I agree. Mine ( on my ZG ) sounds just like yours ( no holes ). I think the earliest ones did not have the holes, and the Parts Lists for Japan don't show the holes either. Same part number though. Alan T.

Yes - it had the amber indicator section on the rear lights. They were probably still finalising a few details for the Export models even while this car was being diplayed. I think this car WAS intended for the USA / North American market. Surely it must have been? It was going to be their single biggest potential export market, after all. I would love to know what VIN number that car had ( if it had one? ). Careful what you say though, as we all know the Z was 'made' for the USA. Alan T.

One more:

Another:

Here's one:

"Export Model" Fairlady Z ( actually HLS30 Datsun 240Z ) from front 3/4 with printing fault on photo ( sorry ):

and another ( 432 on turntable in front of the backdrop ):

another angle:

Hi Kats, Glad you liked the photo. I will send you a high resolution copy direct by e-mail. File size will be quite big, but it might be worth it. Its interesting that they called it a "Fairlady Z Export Model" on the Nissan stand, but its already emblemed-up as a "Datsun" and "240Z". Is this evidence of Nissan's thinking at the time, or can it be explained away by the fact that they were showing the car in Tokyo and thought it easier to call the car a Fairlady Z "Export Model" just for the Japanese show? I have some other angles - but all mono I'm afraid. Here are some:

Hi Gee, Well - we don't get as much hot sunshine as other countries, but the interior trim panels seem to go brittle and crack up just the same. I've been hunting for good early interior panels for my project car ( it came with NO interior except the dash ) and I have to say that its been really tough. Most of the used ones you come across are trashed. There are quite a few people sniffing around for good parts over here, and when they find them they lay them down like fine wines. Shipping from the UK to Australia is going to cost more than shipping from USA / Canada too - so all in all it kind of nixes the idea somewhat. There will be those RHD only parts that might have no alternative but to come from another RHD market - but you are so far away from the UK. Japan is so much closer to you - but the Yen is mighty strong at the moment. Sorry if it all sounds negative, but good stuff is VERY difficult to find over here these days. If you need anything smallish or less likely to be trashed then don't hesitate to ask me. All the best, Alan T.

Lots of good differences pointed out - well done everybody. I've been looking at this photo for a long time, and keep seeing more and more things that are strange - but some of the comments have made me look again. Great fun. I would have thought that this crash test car WOULD have had an engine and transmission installed, or the crash test results would have been rather meaningless? Its clear that this crash test car has many features that are different to the production specs, but its possibly a bit dangerous to comment in too much detail on the front end as its so mashed up from the impact. I think I can see an inspection lid still in its horizontal position, and its possible that the bonnet ( hood ) has overlapped the scuttle panel after impact too. Nobody has mentioned that its another RHD prototype. I would suppose that is a large block of something heavy on the drivers seat - simulating the weight of the driver? Here's a clearer pic of the pressed steel four-spoke wheels on one of the prototypes. They were quite different to the Magnesium wheels on the 432 ( made by Kobe Seiko ). This car has similarities and differences to the crash test car: Alan T.

That pic of the blue car I posted in another thread was actually the "Export Model" ( a USA-market car ) at the '69 Tokyo Motor Show. Isn't that the one you mean? Maybe I confused the issue by discussing the fact that it was emblemed-up as both a 'Datsun' and a '240Z' - but where the number plates would be they had attached cards that said "Fairlady Z Export Model". It has the ( non-vent type ) '240Z' pillar emblems, whereas the Japanese-market cars just had the round 'Z' emblem that looked a little bit like the later ( vented ) 'Z' emblem that ALL markets got when they went to vented pillars. Perhaps its too late at night for me to try to remember all this properly! Anyway, the 432 & 432R were emblemed in the same way as the other Fairlady models - but with the addition of the pot-metal ( later plastic ) '432' emblem above the 'Fairlady Z' emblem at the bottom of the front wings ( fenders ) and underneath the 'Fairlady Z' emblem on the rear hatch. If a rear spoiler was chosen then the '432' emblem usually went below the 'Fairlady Z' emblem on that too,( edit: although the 432R shown at the 1969 Press Preview event in Tokyo did not seem to have the '432' emblem on the rear spoiler, most production models with the spoiler DID have it ). There was a sticker-pack available for the 432R, which consisted of two black or white stripes fitting around '432' and 'Fairlady Z' emblems, which went along the lower part of the sides of the body. Very rare. Alan T.

Here's a close-up of one:

2Many, Common mistake about the Japanese-market cars, that. In fact, the 432 ( and 432R ) emblem was round, and it had a 'Z' in it, but it was NOT a vent. It was just a flat emblem, and a bit like the bonnet ( hood ) badge of the Japanese-market cars. Not quite the same though. In fact, all of the early Japanese-market cars had this round 'Z' emblem. They could not fit them with the '240z' emblem for obvious reasons. They fitted in the same holes as the early-type '240Z' emblem - so if you took the emblems off both cars you could swap them around. Its interesting that the later 'vented' emblem became round in shape again, like the original Japanese-market version. There must be a tale to be told about this, and I'm wondering whether it links in to the story of Mr K's 'editing' of the original emblems on the USA-market cars? Interesting isn't it? Alan T.

taikaki, If Kats does not mind, I can answer this for you with an immediate illustration. The 432 and 432R are included in my particular area of interest. The normal 432 ( PS30 model ) had a pressed steel Splash Pan. The 432R ( PS30-SB model ) model on the other hand had an FRP engine and transmission pan. It was tucked UNDER the front valance panel ( which was also FRP, and a slightly different shape to that of the 432 and other models ) and was fitted as much for aerodynamic reasons as for other functions, according to Japanese press reports and Factory descriptions of the period. Here's a picture of the 432R version from one of the Japanese Sports Option lists. They also fitted them to some of the Factory race cars ( Z432-R & 240ZR ) in Japan: Alan T.

Here's what happened to some of the prototypes at the Factory. Interesting details on the car. How many differences can you spot from the final production models? Alan T.