HS30-H

Thanks for the replies Gentlemen, Alfadog and That Ozzy Guy, you might be interested to know that the Japanese "Home" market S30-series Z cars had extra seat mount brackets - so that the seat runners could be unbolted and moved several cm forward of the "normal" position. If you look at the seat mount brackets in the floor area of a non Japanese market Z, you will see that the REAR bracket has TWO holes in it ( am I right? ) - however, the forward bracket only has one hole position. This means that the Japanese market had the option of having the seat mounted forward of its usual export position. Take a look at the pictures of the floor on my 432R replica base car and you will see what I mean. They are just L-shaped brackets that are attached to the floor and the forward seat crossmember. This is also a good way to identify a true Japanese "Home" market car - if ever you are in doubt............... There are a lot of replies from owners with RHD cars. I am hoping for a few more from LHD owners ( thanks Victor and 2Many ). Maybe I should re-frame the original question a little and get a little closer to what I am driving at here: The S30-series Z was made in both LHD and RHD versions, but the Emergency Brake / Handbrake / Side Brake / Frein a Main was always on the RIGHT side of the trans tunnel. As far as I can see -either the LHD cars or the RHD cars must have had the Handbrake in the "wrong" place. But which one was "wrong" and which one was "right"?...................... Alan T. ( ps - is this a "leading" question?! )

This is a modified Tamiya kit. In the text on the builder's site he says that he was moved to make this "350ZG" as a tribute to the original 240ZG that he loves so much. He says that he also loves the 432, but as the body on the 432 was so similar to a "normal" Z he thought the ZG treatment would be the most appropriate........... I can't say that it looks any better than a normal Z33 to my eye, but I think Nissan need this guy working at their design studio. He seems to have a much better idea of how their modern cars might be related to their past history than they themselves do. They can start him off in the Exterior Door Handle Design Department................. Alan T.

Hi Jash, Congratulations on your new 'Hakosuka'. In Japan, the C10 series Skyline and the S30 series Z have always been seen as 'brother and sister', so its kind of appropriate that you ask the question here. You won't find much that is interchangeable between the S30-series Z and the C10 Skylines, except of course the engines, transmissions and diffs. Certain brake parts are swappable, but it really depends on what exact model you have and what is still standard or has been modified. Lots of parts will look very familiar to a Z owner, but there are cases where minor differences can make the parts non-interchangeable. The rear suspension on the C10 was completely different to that of the Z, and that is probably the biggest and most apparent difference under the skin. Actually, with such a high survival rate for the C10 series Skylines in Japan there is a pretty good situation for genuine Nissan spare parts, and replicas for those items NLA. At least the body panel situation is better than that for the Z. Here in the UK there is only ONE two-door C10 Skyline. Its a KGC10 that had a half-hearted GT-R makeover in Japan, and was imported privately by a very gullible young lady who used an importing agent to find a car for her. It turned out to be a real shed, and is still unroadworthy. Its a really sad tale of somebody being ripped off by an inept and unscrupulous trader. He got her money and she found that the small print did not cover her. A very sad tale. I'm sure yours is much better than that. I have a fair bit of data and literature on those models, so if you think I can be of any help then please don't hesitate to ask. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Mr C. Congratulations on your new purchase. Sounds like its a good 'un. I remember a thread in the General Discussions forum a while back called "kph in a 240Z?" or something similar. It was this same conundrum of an MPH speedo in an Australian-market 240Z or vice-versa. Search for it and you should find it in there somewhere. Looking forward to seeing the photos and hearing the VIN number ( always interesting on RHD cars ). All the best, Alan T.

Hello all, Can I ask for opinions on the following? Are you happy with the positioning of the Emergency Brake on your early Z car? In the UK, we have traditionally called this the "Handbrake" ( is that true for Australia / New Zealand too? ) and I know in Japan it has mainly been known as the "Side Brake". Some owners will realise that the positioning of the Emergency Brake on the right side of the trans tunnel ( from the viewpoint of the driver sitting in the car ) was the same for both Right Hand Drive and Left Hand Drive versions. As far as I am aware, the only time that the positioning was changed to the OTHER side of the tunnel was in Factory-built "Works" competition cars ( specifically, in SOME of the Works rally cars that were Left Hand Drive - but not all of them ). I think this was only performed on a handful of cars after the Works drivers complained. As the owner of more than one RHD early Z car, I have always felt that the position of the handle on the right hand side of the tunnel was perfect. When I drove an LHD early Z car for the first time, I was shocked to find how awkwardly positioned the Emergency Brake seemed. I have in the past owned a fair few non-Z LHD cars ( American, French, Italian, German ) and I think I remember that the handbrakes were usually centrally-mounted or were otherwise easy to get to and use effectively and sportingly ( especially for the odd handbrake-assisted turn ). The early Z cars seem to be unusual in the way that they kept the same position on both LHD and RHD cars. What do you think? Alan T.

Gotti. There's a name that brings me back to my youth. I had a set of 8 x 13 Gottis on a Renault 8 Gordini I 'acquired' many years ago. They were de rigeur for a tuned Frenchie at that time ( late Seventies ), the car was a 1969 model but the wheels I had were probably made around 1973 or so. I used to think I was Jean-Luc Therier driving a Works Alpine-Renault on the Tour De Corse ( reality was a lot less romantic ). They were so wide they actually slowed the car down a huge amount just through tyre drag............. Used to go 'round corners like it was on rails though. That was until I discovered that terminal oversteer in a rear-engined car really IS terminal. Took me ages to get my Insurance premium back down to a sensible level after that. Alan T.