Jump to content
HybridZ

OEM - Factory - 240ZG Overfenders. The truth.


HS30-H

Recommended Posts

HS30-H. Your car must be the real deal. You got a link to a photo album of your car?

 

 

Lots of photos ( as far as I remember ) in my Gallery section on classiczcars.com: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/u2116-hs30-h.html

 

A more recently updated thread on my 432-R replica project on the gtr.co.uk forum: http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/236658-1969-nissan-s20-twin-cam-engine-rebuild.html

 

A thread on my KPGC10 on the gtr-co.uk forum: http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/59651-1971-kpgc10-skyline-gt-r-arrives-uk.html

 

Same car on Speedhunters: http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/08/car-feature-hakosuka-skyline/

 

 

 

 

You just seem to really have your shit together.

 

 

If only...!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

So the nose and flares had to be offered from the factory to be used in particular race classes but wheels/tires/larger flares didn't matter?

 

Also, do you know of any OEM G noses or headlight covers for sale at the moment?

 

For proper ( fully compliant ) Group 4 homologation of the parts in question - and the evolutions that followed them - Nissan had to make a special variant of the S30-series Z which carried those parts, make enough of them to comply with the requirements of the homologation, and sell them to the general public. Hence the creation of the 'HS30-H' model 'Fairlady 240ZG'.

 

Actually, the dominant reason for Nissan making the Fairlady 240ZG model with 'Over-Fenders' was in order to homologate the extra width of the car. At that time, FIA Group 4 and JAF GT rules allowed the cars racing in those classes to have add-on panels, but there were restrictions on the overall length and width of the car related to its homologated body dimensions. Homologation of the 240ZG allowed add-on panels that were potentially wider and longer than would have been legal on the 'stock' S30-series Z body.   

 

Race wheels and tyres are not really relevant to all this. They had nothing to do with the road cars.

 

 

You want the genuine parts? NOS OEM G-nose panels pop up occasionally for sale in Japan, but they are usually very expensive. They are also fairly expensive to ship internationally. Since I've seen you balk at the cost of shipping Japan->USA for ( the next best thing to OEM ) Marugen Shokai's replica parts, this probably won't be much help to you.

 

I have a spare NOS lower panel ( the biggest single part of the ZG's 'kit' ) but I would not part with it for anything less than what you would probably think was crazy money. But why should I? These things are rare, sought after and pretty much impossible to replace. Anyone who owns a genuine ZG would - naturally - prefer to replace damaged or missing panels with the real thing if they can. If not, the Marugen Shokai parts are the closest alternative. 

 

My advice? If you want the best, then you have no choice but to pay. You won't find NOS OEM parts cheaper than than Marugen Shokai's replicas, and they cost the same to ship.....     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's the thing. I'm not a purist, but I respect those who are. I'm just having fun slowly destroying this little car. I've been at it for 25 years and it just keeps coming back for more, kind of like a stray cat that I was dumb enough to feed one time. I just need fender flares that are cheap, easy to install (no bonding, blending or painting) and let me run big rubber. On the real ZG or H Datsun Z cars, was the sheet metal trimmed? Or were the over fenders just riveted on over un-cut arches? Most of the antique photos I have seen posted have the car at what looks like stock ride height. We butchers like to lower and that requires the old nip and tuck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the real ZG or H Datsun Z cars, was the sheet metal trimmed? Or were the over fenders just riveted on over un-cut arches? Most of the antique photos I have seen posted have the car at what looks like stock ride height. We butchers like to lower and that requires the old nip and tuck.

 

The Nissan Fairlady 240ZG ( you would not have seen the word 'Datsun' anywhere on it when it was new ) didn't have any cuts to its factory sheetmetal. The Over-Fenders were pop-rivetted over intact, stock S30-series Z sheetmetal. 

 

I'm quite nonplussed that people don't seem to understand what a 'Homologation Special' actually was. Why the comments about skinny wheels and tyres? The Fairlady 240ZG wasn't a race car. It was a road car. But it was a road car that only existed because the manufacturer wanted to use certain parts - and evolutions of those parts - for racing, and needed to make and sell the car in adequate numbers in order to legalise that with the race sanctioning bodies.

 

Think Dodge Charger Daytona, Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, Alfa GTA, and any Group B rally car, etc etc. Same thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, did you learn anything? You asked for a link to photos of my cars, I gave them, and you don't seem to have any further questions.

 

Like Nietzsche, I feel like I'm staring into the abyss, and that the abyss is staring back at me.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow!  a reference to Nietzsche and 40 year old Japanese sports cars in the same post.  Is this a great forum, or what?   :)

 

Thanks for clearing up a great deal of mystery and misunderstanding about the overfenders, by the way.  I appreciate the shared insight.

Dennis

Edited by psdenno
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alan - I always assumed the road cars had the over-fenders attached without an modification but now I know.

 

Perhaps Waiting for Godot might have been a better descriptor of your experience but since it was yours, Nietzsche it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

What are the differences between the ZG type, the Works Type A and Type B overfenders?

How wide are they? For example in relation to the overfenders MSA sells.

 

 

I think the best way for me to answer part of that is with some photos/diagrams.

 

However, please remember that the 'Type A' and 'Type B' descriptions of the Nissan works overfenders are vernacular names given to them in retrospect. In period, Nissan only ever referred to them by their part numbers. The original parts have been copied and plagiarised, and in turn those copies themselves copied, so that we end up 40-odd years down the line not really knowing what is what. The factory race cars themselves gradually used evolutions of the originally-homologated parts, so it makes it even more difficult to pin down what's what from old photos.

 

I don't have any firm dimensions for 'Type A' and 'Type B' overall widths. I could measure the original parts I have, but I don't think it will mean much. Probably better to ask any supplier/manufacturer for the dimensions of the parts they are selling, as that's what you will end up with.

 

Here are dimensions for the 432-R type overfenders (the very first overfenders made and homologated for the S30-series Z) and the 240ZG type overfenders, both from the original homologation papers:

post-425-0-77628700-1421335167_thumb.jpg

post-425-0-42196700-1421335213_thumb.jpg

post-425-0-72079900-1421335231_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok thanks.

I bought the MSA flares but I am quite unsatisfied with the fit.

A tip where I can get a set which fit the best?

The Marugen Shoukai? http://home.att.ne.jp/sky/FairladyZ/ZG/OF/of1_new.htm  In comparison with the overfenders of your first post, they don't seem to be similar.

 

I'm sorry to say that - in my experience, and that's based only on what I have seen and held in my own hands - the MSA overfenders are really not the same as the OEM 240ZG overfenders in weight, thickness, shape, fit or finish. I'm sure they are perfectly serviceable for what they are, but in comparison with 'The Real Thing' they are not equal.   

 

The Marugen Shokai 'Special SP' ZG-type overfenders are the best replicas of the OEM Nissan Fairlady 240ZG overfenders on the market today. So if that's what you want, I'd recommend them.

 

In my first post on this topic, the DARK GREY/GRAPHITE overfender in the photos is an NOS genuine, OEM, Fairlady 240ZG overfender. The WHITE overfender in the photos is an NOS genuine, OEM, Fairlady Z432-R Sports/Race Option overfender.

 

Please don't get confused between the different types.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The SP version is the 42,000Yen version, that is the replica version that HS30-H is speaking of i believe.

 

edited: thanks for the info  Ereschkigal(went from the top of my head and added in one extra zero..)

Edited by Crossbone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...