HS30-H

Kameari Engine Works will sell you a brand new pair of R200 output shafts for not that much money. Would save some messing around sourcing used ones from outside Japan.......

Gollum, Thanks for your thoughts, but I still wonder whether I'm getting my point across about the exchange rate between USD and GBP? Betamotorsports are not making their carbon fibre hoods in the UK - so the price at which they are sold is not relevant to my situation of contracting a UK-based ( and more specifically, south east England based ) professional to make moulds and mouldings for me, is it? I think you'll find that Betamotorsports sell some of their products to UK-based companies and individuals, and this is because it is good economic sense for the purchaser, even after shipping and taxes / duties are factored in. It's not that nobody in the UK can make similar items - far from it: we have a thriving composite and race parts industry, who have work coming out of their ears. But the high overheads here ( rent, taxes, wages, raw materials etc etc ) make it cheaper to buy some items in from abroad. I don't have that luxury with these 432R Sports Option overfenders do I.......? I don't like being accused of profiteering, and it is especially galling to have the accusation thrown at me when the economics of the situation are plain for all to see if they would only open their eyes and ears, and understand that the World does not end at the territorial borders of the USA. Alan T.

Here are some pics for your reference. A 'Nissan Racing School' car, showing a left hand rear Overfender installed. That's a 10j x 14 wheel underneath it: Some comparison shots of a genuine factory ZG Overfender and a genuine Sports Option 432R Overfender - both are right-hand side front fitting. The 432R Overfender is significantly wider: I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and hope that you didn't think that through fully before you wrote it. It's a simple matter of economics...... The main factor is the pure cost to have a professional race fabrication shop make proper moulds from the originals, and then make some high quality mouldings from them which are at least as good as the originals. There's a very good chance that my originals will be in some way degraded or even damaged beyond repair in this process. The shops that I have shown these to have all commented on the high quality of the originals and their complex shape ( esp. at the ends ), so these are a far harder proposition to replicate than you might believe. Second factor is that you are obviously thinking purely in $US, and the eBay auction end price to you may have seemed high. However, if you convert that into £GBP - which is what I earn and spend here in the UK ) it looks cheaper to me - one British Pound Sterling is equal to roughly two US Dollars at the moment ), and the cost of making replicas here in the UK is going to look twice as expensive to you. According to the costings and quotations I have at the moment, it looks as though I might be making three or four sets of replicas - possibly losing value on my rare originals as a result - and selling them at a price that actually leaves me less than breaking even on the total cost. Shame on me? I don't think so my friend. Alan T.

They predate the 240ZG overfender, and are a completely different shape and construction. They were designed and made as a Nissan 'Sports Option' part for the Fairlady Z432-R ( model PS30-SB ) and were used by the very first factory race cars, having been legalised for Group 4 competition use in the JAF GT-011 homologation papers for the PS30 model in March 1970. To a serious collector / historic Gr.4 racer ( esp in Japan ) these are highly prized, and I'd say that the selling price of $810 US is peanuts in comparison with what they change hands for in Japan. I have a set myself, and I'm making moulds from them to turn out a few sets for friends. I'll be charging that kind of money just for replicas of these........ Ouch. That's pretty strong stuff. Quite apart from the fact that 99% of the people you class as "purists" would not have a clue what these particular parts are (!), I'd say that the real chumps might be the people who make flip comments about things when they don't actually know what they are looking at. Alan T.

Gareth, I'm afraid you'll have to wait at least until I am back home in London for that. At the moment I'm in Japan for the New Year holidays. Regards, Alan T.

You have a really strange perception about this. If you think that Nissan ( 'Datsun' wasn't making anything during the period we are discussing ) were thinking only of the USA market, or that the needs of the USA market were affecting / trumping all other markets, then you have been listening to the wrong people. The situation was a lot more complicated than that. What leads you to believe that Nissan's plans for the L28 engine in the North American market affected the L28 in the European market? Remember that the L-series engine was used in a lot more vehicles / applications domestically than it was for export markets. Satisfying the domestic market has always been important for Japanese manufacturers, and if you don't understand what Nissan was doing in their own backyard - or if you discount it completely - then you'll never get anywhere close to understanding the export market cars and parts. This talk of "left over" parts has always made me laugh. Like Nissan had some kind of mountain of assorted bits and pieces "left over" ( from what? ) and somebody needed to come up with a plan to make use of them........ Absurd.

Gareth, If anybody tells you that Nissan used "leftover parts" for the European market, then I'd advise you to take what they say with a huge pinch of salt. It's actually far more likely that they don't have the faintest clue what they are talking about, and have simply inherited the lack of understanding of others who also did not take the time to understand what they were looking at. The main barrier to gettting near to the truth of the European market cars is that most of the English-language data for these Japanese cars is biased towards the major export sales market - namely North America. Alan T.

Try this thread for your answer: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=115718

An F1 engine designed and built in France, mounted in a chassis designed and built in England, playing 'God Save The Queen'. I'm sure you are indeed proud to be "an American gear head", but can you explain what that has to do with this vid? I don't see the connection. ???

The US market cars are all Japanese cars. The ratio existed. Nothing was stopping it from turning up should somebody have specifically ordered it, and as far as I know US Customs didn't turn away those 'GI Bride' non-US market cars that keep we see turning up over there from time to time. Never say never. ( nasty cough you have there by the way )......

*cough*:

As far as I am aware, there is no Japan-based website where you can download a PDF of the C10 or C110-series Skyline factory parts lists. There will be a very good reason for that........ Replica / reprint C10 and C110 parts manuals are available in hard copy form, but you have to PAY for them ( and they are not cheap! ). I believe that the producers of these manuals got permission from Nissan, as the originals are still covered by Nissan's copyright. So I'd urge you to proceed with caution before putting anything up on a site for download. You might at the very least want to find out who made the PDF files and put them on a disc in the first place.

I would advise you to seek Uchida san's permission before you make anything of his available on a download.

Glass? Never. OEM Nissan factory option headlamp covers ALWAYS had acrylic lenses. They were never made using glass. The frames were originally made from chromed steel channel section ( two pieces butt-welded together to make each frame ) but later factory runs were made from polished stainless steel.

The 'bullet' section ( inc. the bit with the actual mirror in it ) of the original factory fender mirrors is pressed steel. The stem and base are cast 'pot metal' / mazak. The whole thing sits on a moulded plastic 'foot' base. The stem is sprung under the base so that the whole things bends back if it strikes a pedestrian, but apart from that it is rigid in normal use. The actual mirror section adjustment is made by loosening the screw at the sharp end of the bullet pressing. There's actually quite a large range of adjustment available. A small adjustment at the mirror makes a big difference to the view given at the driver's eye.

What a broad and sweeping statement that is. '60s Le Mans Japanese national colours? No Japanese car competed at Le Mans in the 1960s. Would you like to explain? I don't know where you are picking this stuff up from, but you don't appear to be any more credible than the 'JDM fan bois' that claim those "bragging rights" you mention. What do you know about the "Japanese work ethic and sense of honor" today, let alone over the length of the nation and peoples' history? You seem to touch on part of the truth by accident. The fact is that there is so much nonsensical babble out there in the ether that the truth ( and it is in essence very simple ) is drowned out. With regard to automobile design and manufacturing over roughly the last fifty years or so, people outside Japan have generally underestimated the needs and desires of the Japanese home market, the readiness of the Japanese auto industry to cater to these whims and the sense of competition between Japanese manufacturers to please their own home market customer base. Japanese manufacturers have always given their home market a wider choice of models, specs and price points than they have their export markets. Nobody should need to ask why the export ranges and models would be required to be simplified and made more profitable, whilst the home market could have more choice and exist on lower profit margins. What is "better" is a subjective topic, but when the subject in hand is the cars that we usually talk about on this forum there is absolutely no doubt that the Japanese home market always had a wider and more extensive model range to choose from, along with more official showroom options and 'Sports Option' / competition-oriented parts to use with them. If you want to be brave ( or short-sighted ) enough to claim that ALL of that is no "better" than what the USA/Canada market had access to then go ahead - but you are going to be asked to back it up with facts at some point. These are Japanese cars we are talking about here.

No, they claim it makes 350 Newton Meters of torque @ 4,800rpm. That's approx. 258 ft/Lbs of torque. Doesn't sound like they used anything like 9,800rpm in the videos. I doubt it would go anywhere near that from the spec they quote. Possibly a little wishful thinking there?

That would not have been an F5C71-B though. USA 200SX would have most likely had an FS5W60L, I'd have thought (?). Quite different.

Externally, the F5C71-B looks just like the FS5C71-B - so I think you will have trouble correctly identifying one without knowing what you are looking for. Shift pattern however should be easy to discern: R 2 4 1 3 5 They used the same propshafts as the other 'B' types. If you want to identify the exact ratio set installed ( Race Option #1, #2, #3 or 'Rally' Option #4 ) then the only sure way to do it is to take the case apart and start counting teeth on gears..........

Well, not that "odd" really. You could use this crank for a 'normal' non-crossflow engine as long as you used the correct rods, bearings and flywheel. There were other Nissan 'Sports Option' cranks available too of course.....

Its an F5C71-B Nissan 'Sports Option' 5-speed transmission ( note the difference with the FS5C71-B - which was an Overdrive 5-speed with a conventional shift pattern ). The shift pattern of the F5C71-B transmissions is what is nicknamed 'Low Back' in Japan, and also 'Dog-Leg First' elsewhere. First gear is all the way left and back ( on the same plane as Reverse gear ) with the other four ratios in a conventional H pattern - which is useful in racing. Helps avoid wrong-slotting. Note that this is a 'Direct Drive' trans: Fifth gear is 1:1 rather than an Overdrive. They came in four different 1st to 4th ratio sets. I have one in my Skyline. They are nice to use on the track. Changing hands for more and more money these days..........

Make sure you don't bet more than you can afford to lose, because European dealers never offered those wheels. They are strictly aftermarket items.

12201-N3120 was the 'Sports Option' 79mm stroke crank that was originally made for the LY Crossflow 'kit' ( following on from the 12200-N3120 ). It is made from better steel than the stock cranks, and had improved surface hardening treatment. They were cross-drilled and screw-plugged, and had an extra bolt hole at the flywheel end ( so you have to mate them with the Sports Option flywheels ). They also had narrower rod journals than the standard cranks ( due to the larger journal edge radius - intended to improve strength ) so you need to use the 12100-N3120 rods and their narrower bearings. 'Normal' sized rods won't fit. I have one of these cranks hibernating in my loft space. I'm trying to get it to mate with a standard L24 crank and make babies. No luck so far......

The very first thing you need is the rule book. The spec of the car will be dictated by the organising / sanctioning body and the class that you intend to run in, rather than blind suggestions from this forum's members.

Kameari Engine Works can supply several different options for you. What distributor have you got on the L20A? Is it the Hitachi D606-52 ( High octane ), or the Hitachi D609-52 ( for Regular gas ), the Mitsubishi TVC-6GIL ( High octane ), or the Mitsubishi TVC-6GL ( again for Regular gas )? Those Regular gas distributors have a different advance curve to the others, and are not going to be best to use. Kameari can supply an ULTRA electronic ignition kit that uses a Lumention 'Optronic' trigger, which will fit inside the standard distributor body in place of the original points. Last time I looked, the kit was less than 40,000 JPY. I have used these kits and they are excellent. It is pretty much 'plug and play'. For less than 70,000 JPY they can supply with the ULTRA module plus their own design and manufacture distributor body - which is going to be far superior to a tired and sloppy 35 year old original unit. This will require a later type distributor drive spindle ( which they can supply you with ) and is a nice upgrade over the original parts. You could install this on an L28-based engine when you eventually get one. I have one of these on my ZG at the moment and I am very impressed with it. I recommend the WAKO 'Super Z Coil' too. Alan T.