HS30-H

What model/market/build date is the particular car concerned?

As mentioned, I've got both. Hopefully your blonde has matching collar and cuffs.

The same place you are, by the looks of things. I get that you don't like the look of them (even if nobody asked...) but I don't agree that they "get in the way" any more than any other externally-mounted mirror does. And I own and use cars with both factory fender mirrors and factory door mirrors, so I think I know what I'm talking about.

Only by lazy or oblivious owners. The factory documentation for the MK63-20S advises on how to trim and re-shape the backing plates to suit.

And presumably you don't find it is "...one more thing to have to work around."..? I have never found the factory-fitted fender mirrors on my cars to have got in my way. As with the mirror on your door, I just sub-consciously work around them. Unless you find yourself walking into your door mirror all the time?

And you have your mirror(s) where, exactly...?

It's for the S20 engine in the PS30 Fairlady Z432 and PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-R, which used transitorised ignition systems. The blue dot marks peak torque (5,600rpm) and the red dot marks peak power (7,000rpm).

I think it's an example of 'Auction Fever', Kats. A typical perfect storm of unwarranted hype ("Barn Find", 'Vintage Z', 'Famous-in-Japan owner') and timing (big hoo-ha auction connected to Tokyo Auto Salon, so all the big car guys are 'in town'...) that is hard to replicate. Elsewhere people are marvelling at the price achieved for the 10km-from-new R34 GT-R too, and thinking - probably mistakenly - that it makes their R34 GT-R equally as valuable. Truth be told, better Zs than the two VZ cars could be bought at much lower prices, but the buyer(s) likely don't really know or even care. It's often the case in car auctions, and I hate them. At least the people at a livestock auction know something about what they are buying... Yes, I feel a bit sorry for the cars too but I feel even more sorry for the KPGC10s and PS30s that went across the block in the USA over the last couple of years. Matthew 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under your feet and turn and tear you to pieces".

Is the car actually going to be used in anger as a rally car, or is it more of a 'looks' thing? If it is for serious use then I could give some recommendations, but if it's just a looks thing you could build your own setup with a few pointers.

Good! However, it still looks a little close to the exhaust manifold to me. I'm thinking that the engine needs some space to twist in torque reaction (pivoting on an axis through the crankshaft centre line and transmission main shaft) and you may need to 'cheat' a little extra space by shimming the engine mounts a little more away from the steering shaft? I think you have space to do that.

Same old, same old though. Too much Goertz and way too much Katayama.

Don't forget this one (my favourite....)

"Wantanbe's". Maybe that's a clue...

PMC's licensing of MB patented details (if it even happened in the way being assumed...) related to their G7 six and pre-dated their merger with Nissan by several years. Nissan's L-gata (starting with the L20 six of '64) was up and running way, way before their merger with PMC. What parts exactly are you pointing at being "nearly identical"? The cam followers look very close, as indeed do the cam follower pivots. Cam towers and oil spray bar? Duplex chain cam drive and chain tensioning? Combined oil pump drive and distributor drive via shaft taken off crank was not an MB first. The valve layout of the M180 is completely different, as is port shape and layout. These types of discussions too often descend into the old "Japanese copycats" type accusations. It's easier for people to package it up that way and file it neatly. I think the truth is a bit more complex than that. There are still a lot of post-war nation and industry rebuilding angles left undiscussed. A dear friend of my wife's family - a Japanese engineer who graduated from the Japanese Imperial Navy's technical school as an aircraft engine specialist and who joined Nakajima Hikoki in 1944 - was working with Japanese battery manufacturer Yuasa in the immediate post-war years. By the late 1940s Japanese and German industrial concerns, having a pre-war history of Axis co-operation and a shared necessity of post-war rebuilding from total devastation, were in fairly close contact and our friend was sent - along with several of his colleagues - to Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany to work with M-B engineers for several months. He had some very interesting stories to tell. Other Japanese and German companies were doing similar personnel exchanges, and were sharing for the common good. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's relevant to the discussion of 1940s and 1950s technology and is worth bearing in mind.

This is hardly 'new news' though, is it? It's well known that other engine manufacturers were inspired by the same Mercedes Benz valvetrain designs. Prince Motor Co. apparently paid to license some of the MB patents. You never hear the same said about Nissan, or even any whisper of litigation, so I wonder if MB ever fully patented those particular details that are being recognised here? And whose designs *inspired* MB? There wasn't that much new under the sun in OHV valvetrain design by that time... What's not being discussed here is the big layout difference. The Mercedes M180 engine was conceived and designed primarily for use in LHD vehicles, whilst the Nissan L-gata range was conceived and designed primarily for use in RHD vehicles.

What are these two, Sean? The one on the left is aftermarket. Looks like a stainless Spirit Garage item to me. The one on the right looks like one of the old MSA systems.

All of which very likely indicates that it is going quite slowly... Probably on a warm-up or cool-down lap.

Possibly best advised to tag the line "....in the USA/North American market" onto your original question, as 1973 240Zs sold elsewhere in the world certainly did.

Very sad to hear this news. Victor was somebody I admired and looked up to from afar. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. If anybody has any news regarding a memorial service or related event, please let us know. Thank you.

It's still on track according to your original post, as far as I can see. Unless a little too much sunlight has been let in on the 'magic' for your taste...?

One last thing, if I may: Do you own a passport? A passport issued by the United States Department of State? That's a straight question, no spin.

Once again, I find it hard to take you seriously. Take another peep at posts nos. 5, 15, 17, 21, 24, 27, 29 and 35 of this thread for starters. Don't make me quote them all. And that's without listing up every post from our new friend 'tzagi1', who is beyond satire. He even mentioned old Russian trucks at one point, which made the tin foil on my head quiver a little. Putinbot? Nah, he's too funny to be Russian. But here's a real zinger from yourself: "Considering how many parts can get replaced during a restoration, it seems kind of limiting to make a small piece of firewall metal so important. If a person cuts that rectangle of metal out of a car and installs it in another car, which car is the legitimate one?" That was from post no.68. A rhetorical question? Satire? Not clear from where I'm sitting. One minute you're condoning the practice, and the next you're against it. My impression is that you might have woken up and smelled the coffee around the second page of the thread. Hard to tell though. You're clear now though, right?

First I want to hear your explanation of how you can "swap a body" on these cars. Swap a body and you've effectively swapped a car.

The answer to your first question is 'Part Number One'. It's the unibody/monocoque/bodyshell, and it carries a unique identity. You cannot "swap a body" on these cars. Nissan did not supply 'Body In White' un-numbered replacement bodyshells for these cars, so if you substitute one for another then you have - effectively - another car altogether. Parts from two - or more - cars can become one, but two unique identities cannot become one. I notice people like yourself are not asking why the car in question ended up like it did. We are talking about two cars in the mix here. One car donated an engine bay tag, door jamb tag and dash tag (what happened to their original bodyshell?) and one car donated its bodyshell (what happened to its engine bay tag, door jamb tag, dash tag and any identity-related paperwork?). "As long as one does not lie" is not going to cut it here. The car itself - as it stands - is a lie.

It is perhaps wise not to take the expression "playing god" too literally. Especially if the letter g is in lower case... National laws pertaining to motor vehicles in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are administered by The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - a government agency - on a nationwide basis. The DVLA share data and intelligence - where necessary and practical - with other European vehicle licensing agencies. I think you'll find that most first world nations take a dim view of vehicle cloning, vehicle identity fraud and - in the vernacular - vehicle 'ringing'. Indeed "this is not England". And I've a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.