HS30-H

Now live: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-353/

After a long wait and much behind-the-scenes activity, now live: Bring a Trailer1971 Datsun 240Z Series I by S30.worldBid for the chance to own a 1971 Datsun 240Z Series I by S30.world at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #231,895.

Ah, there it is. The old Zed Head patent switcheroo. You've created a special thread to discuss the upcoming Bring-A-Trailer auction of an S30.world car when it would have been more appropriate to discuss it in the thread - which you yourself started, if I'm not mistaken - on the topic of Bring-A-Trailer auction cars. I don't see any logical reason for this and - informed by the many ill-informed, negative comments you made about S30.world previously - I don't trust your intentions as being pro bono. I think you have a cognitive dissonance issue. You don't appear to have noticed that he has avoided your thread. It's not me he's avoiding, it's you. Well advised to do so, too.

It looks very different when you put it in the light of multiple negative comments he made about S30.world on this forum between September 30th and October 23rd last year. It might be worth re-reading them if you're so convinced of his best intentions. When did he have his Road To Damascus moment? I don't think he's changed his spots. We'll see when the auction starts... Last year Zed Head was suggesting - and I quote verbatim - that the reproduction S30.world fuel tanks were "a scam". Comments like that stick. He has a habit of making other rash, uninformed judgments which don't get corrected. Elsewhere on the forum he's complaining that AI is turning out to be a problem child (garbage in = garbage out) whilst pumping out some of the very same garbage that AI is picking up and serving us back up as slop. Knocking on for 20k posts on this forum might suggest that Johnny would be well advised to spend a little more time reading, and a little less time typing.

@Zed Head Let me introduce you to the concept of 'Marketing', as it appears you have never met... Yes, the Bring-A-Trailer auction hasn't actually started yet, but Garage 44 produced a very professional "Sneak Peek" video and released it on their own website's YouTube channel to inform potential customers and interested parties of the upcoming sale. What's not to understand? It's even written out on the header of the video: Let me introduce you to the concept of marketing, as it.... etc What is "odd" about it? Given your previous negative and laughably ill-informed comments regarding S30.world (a few short months ago you were calling them "just a parts supplier") and your complaints of being comment-moderated by Bring-A-Trailer admin, it's hard to resist the suspicion that you're setting up this thread as your own personal rifle range for taking potshots at the upcoming auction. My feeling is that - here, and in previous threads - you've already set out your stall as a bad faith witness when it comes to S30.world.

By the way 'Schroeder', one of your latest BaT comments: "Interesting engine. To get close to 2.8 liters with the factory L24 crankshaft would require at least an 89 mm bore (2.751 liters). And 89 mm pistons, hard to find." Where in the auction listing or seller's comments does it say that an L24 crankshaft was used? One of my own L24s is close to 2800cc, using an L28 crankshaft. No 89mm pistons necessary.

"...even mildly potentially negative." LOL. Have you considered the possibility that you are simply reaping what you have sown? Build a rep for endless nitpicking and you will come to the attention of the moderators. Round my way you'd be advised by your friends to 'wind your neck in'. Got any handy?

Enno specifically asked me about the production date and I gave my input. Nobody is stopping anyone else from posting on this thread, as you have proved. In fact he asked me what I found "interesting" about 'S30-04482', so he was correct. This is a body serial number that falls within a small batch of serials that the Japanese Automobile Manufacturer's Association's didn't include in their records, which is... for me... interesting.

The easiest places to look are the seat belt labels (if still present, given that you mention an 'H belt') and the white vinyl tags on the individual wiring harness sections. There's also a nice ink stamp on the interior mirror's base mount if you're lucky. Take a peep under the dash to for the underside edge of the glovebox liner and see if it has any chalked letters/numbers for Standard vs Deluxe spec too. Not without photos. Many cars had period mods of that nature, both official Nissan 'Sports Option' parts and any number of aftermarket suppliers. Can't identify without more to go on. The 'Rally' clock (should be a two-knob Oscillator driven unit on a 1970 built car) and passenger footrest would appear to indicate an 'Deluxe' model S30-D Fairlady Z-L rather than a 'Standard' model S30-S Fairlady Z, but items such as these did sometimes get chosen as extra cost showroom options, or retro-fitted by owner later in the car's life. You'd want to cross-ref with other Standard vs Deluxe features present on the car to be sure. As for "raced in England", again this is something I often hear and just as often it turns out to be a little bit of artistic license or wishful thinking. If the car pitched up in England a few years after being sold new in Japan it would most usually be what we call a "GI Bride" scenario where a US serviceman bought a car while stationed in Japan and then brought it with him when subsequently stationed on a US base in England. One of my own cars had just such a story. It would be unusual for it to have been raced in England and I have a pretty good record of cars that did, so I'll leave that where it is until further details surface. Correct high-domed 'Z' bonnet emblems and correct trunk lid 'Nissan' emblems come up on Yahoo Japan auctions from time to time (although $$$!) and are also occasionally reproduced. NISSAN 2000 OHC cam covers are rare and expensive. Another online auction item, but - as with much of this stuff - it's as much about who you know as what you know. You need to make friends with early Fairlady Z owners and then sweet talk or blackmail them... Camshaft? Stock L20A camshaft won't be much different to stock L24 cam of the same period. The two RHD-spec brake booster hoses should be fairly straightforward to locate. I've been asked about S30-prefixed '4482' and '4483' before. Strong sense of Deja Vu (all over again...).

Yes, the chassis number is engraved in the firewall sheetmetal above the brake booster. You might need to push away some wires and washer tubes to see it fully. Would be good to see a photo of it. 'S30-04483' falls into a sequence of chassis numbers produced right at the end of 1970, so it was almost certainly manufactured towards the end of December in that year. Official data tells us that the last 'S30' prefixed chassis number built in the 1970 calendar year was 'S30-04504'. The first 'S30' prefixed chassis number for 1971 production was 'S30-04505'. There are manufacturing and quality control dating stamps and labels all over these cars, so you can cross-reference them to give you a confirmation of the likely production date (most of the components will have been made just weeks or a month or two before the car rolled off the production line).

'S30-04482' is an interesting one. Can you take a photo of the chassis number engraving on the firewall and the engine bay data plate (if still present) and post here? Thanks.

It's a casting foundry mark to identify tooling used when the case was made. Nothing to do with what's inside. The competition-oriented versions of the B-'boxes (your 'Option 1, 2 & 3') were Servo (steel) synchro 'boxes with Direct Drive (1:1) fifth gears and 'Dogleg' shift patterns (1st gear left and back, opposite Reverse and 2nd thru 5th in conventional H pattern). Correct name for one of these Direct Drive 'boxes is 'F5C71-B' (note no 'S'). Yours is likely just a normal FS5W71-B.

Make your own hat! They might even do a special 'Cad' plated version for you...

I don't know about anyone else, but what was left of my originals and my Japan-made repros all have the INSPECTOR space on the inside face. One of my repros was signed by Yasuharu Namba, for fun.

Was it that much of a mess back then? Really?

Kats, I'd like to thank you once again for being the man who actually made all this a reality and a success. Without your months - if not years - of work in planning and preparation, your excellent Japan-wide connections and trustworthiness it simply would have not been possible. From choosing the venue (the Keihanna was a PERFECT choice) to bringing some of Japan's very best S30-series Zs and their owners from far and wide, so much went into it that many of the participants were unaware of. Your family were also working hard behind the scenes and made great sacrifices for us, which we all benefitted from. One thing that possibly doesn't come across in the video is the esprit de corps felt by all involved. We all - visitors and participants - converged on the Keihanna Plaza hotel in dribs and drabs over the course of a day or so. 'Our' team members from Australia, USA, Germany, Switzerland, UK and Holland while the Japanese participants arrived in their cars from all corners of the country. The atmosphere was laid back, friendly and fun. Getting the cars into the hotel's event hall and in pre-planned position - mostly on Go-Jack skates to preserve the floor surface - quickly developed into a military operation with everybody playing their part in good humour. A great atmosphere. And oh the lunchtime and evening socialising! I'm not sure the local hostelries and eateries knew what hit them... The drive-out was another dimension. It's one thing seeing the cars static inside, but convoying together in such beautiful countryside the cars - and owners - came alive. I'm something of a veteran in visiting Japan but for some of our group it was their first time, and how lucky they were! I kept telling them that it took me many years to see some of these cars and to drive/ride in them in rural Japan, but here they were getting the full VIP treatment from the get-go. Like winning the lottery jackpot with their first ticket! Moving on to a new hotel base in Yokohama for visits to Nissan HQ, NISMO and the Nissan Heritage Collection at Zama were the icing on the cake. So, again, thank you Kats. You made A Dream Come True for many people...

That's an episode of The Twilight Zone I must have missed. In other news, if my grandmother had wheels she'd be a bus. I'll try, but a franchised dealership ordering parts from a competition parts list, then modifying them to replicate stock production parts, is pushing me toward a different conclusion. The exposed splines on that propeller shaft are very persuasive too, LOL Going out on a limb here but.... To flip it? Assumed intelligence, good intentions and being in the right place at the right time. Vendor has now posted with the backstory to his acquisition. I don't see anything to be throwing shade at. Good luck to him, I say.

Did I miss something? What exactly are you referring to? All I see is a sensible, informed and respectful exchange of views and data. Was something lost in translation? Kats just posted dimensions and photos on his long-running and highly informative Datsun 240Z vs Fairlady Z432 thread: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/23900-datsun-240z-vs-fairlady-z432/?do=findComment&comment=682106 Good work Kats! Your thread is a goldmine and one of THE best works of information and entertainment on this forum.

The invoices from Waverly Motors even quote the 'S30D' and 'HS30' origins of the parts. They should have been looking at standard car factory parts lists rather than Comp parts lists. It would have saved the owner some money too. The lack of information excuse doesn't wash. This was happening when the cars had already been on sale for the best part of two years and the stock specs of other market transmissions - including gear ratios and the matching diff ratios - were written out in full in several sections of the factory service manuals for the North American market variants. Seems more like a lack of imagination from the dealer. Commendations to the original owner and his ambition for a sportier drive, but the dealership let him down a little.

That's a very lenient take. Quite simply, Waverly Motors sourced and fitted the wrong part. They fitted an E4100 propeller shaft when they should have fitted the longer E8700, which was already available as a stock Nissan part. And having fitted the short shaft - with the splined centre joint clearly over-extended and NFFP - they sent the customer on his way. It was wrong then and it's wrong now. Waverly also appear to have sourced a competition option version of the FS5C71-A transmission, then took it apart to install a set of 'street' ratio gears when they could have simply ordered an off-the-shelf Nissan transmission which already gave them what they were building. Stock equipment in the rest of the world. You can call it Monday morning quarterbacking if you want, but Nissan had been knocking out FS5C71-A equipped Zs since late 1969 and it seems to me that a franchised Datsun dealer might be expected to have noticed. It was fully noted in the Factory Service Manual for the car. Harsh maybe, but I'd say fair.

It's the stock E4100 propeller shaft for 'early' (FS5C71A) equipped cars. It might look 'strange' because it has been fitted to a car with a rearward-mounted differential position, and is therefore over-extended on its splined centre joint. The car in question requires the longer E8700 propeller shaft specific to the updated, rearward, differential mounting position. EDIT: As Kats has pointed out above.

Huh?

Yes, I have seen that. On the other hand, from Nissan (Japan) parts manual C-235: *343266 - 0501P - RESERVOIR - oil. Worth noting that they were specified for other Nissan models before the S30. Maybe try - if you possibly can - to keep your powder dry. Not doing so can lead to a damp squib (cf 'Cad' plating).

Nissan called this item an 'Oil Reservoir', rather than a "Grease Reservoir". 'Oil' has a little more natural disposition toward moving downhill when subjected to gravity than 'Grease' does. A clue in the name they chose, perhaps? Somebody whose opinion I usually take notice of suggested that the originals - when new - were compliant enough to be 'squeezable'.

Garage 44 and BRING A TRAILER will know exactly what is happening, and when. So if you really want to know I suggest you contact them direct(ly). While you have their attention you might like to suggest a start date and time that fits your busy diary schedule. Clearly you're just gagging to make a bid.