MichaelT Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone. I've been the proud owner of a 1969 Fairlady/2000 and recently acquired a 1972 Fairlady Z. It comes with the original running gear (L20A and 4 speed) and appears to be in good nick. Pretty nasty paint job though. Both cars are JDM cars that have found their way over here in the past. I have limited pics of the Z yet although the interior has cleaned up nicely. Will be embarking on a restoration project on the Z, starting with the body which is pretty decent. Edited March 18, 2016 by MichaelT shaun240 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted February 4, 2016 Administrators Share Posted February 4, 2016 Nice cars, your Fairlady Z has the same wheels as my early 240z, and I've seen them on a lot of S30z's here. I kind of loathed them at first, but have started to actually like them a little. Do you know if your Fairlady Z is a Z-S or Z-L? Does it have a Rally Clock and foot rest in passenger foot well? MichaelT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theremm Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Hi Michael, Have heard a lot about your car, I work with Brent. Look forward to meeting you soon and seeing the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thanks gav240z, I hope for the Z to eventually turn out like the 2000. I agree RE the wheels. i saw them and thought...well they'll go. But at the same time I have already started to like them. I'll let time sort that one out. RE the car - no footrest or rally clock . I'm looking forward to getting stuck into them. Theremm - yes I'm sure we'll meet up soon. I've also heard a lot about your car and look forward to seeing it. Just gotta get the RWC on the Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GongZ Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hello Michael, it looks like you have two very nice Nissans/Datsuns there. Why do you believe that the Fairlady Z is a 1972 model? I know there is some confusion about build numbers versus dates etc., but if it is HS30-103679, then I would have thought it was a 1973 model. My 9/73 compliance-plated 240z has a very close serial number of HS30-103724 - only 45 higher than yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hi GongZ. I have also myself noticed the discrepancy. My car is a JDM. It was stamped 1972 on the plate and has been recorded as 72 for the last 23 years with Qld Transport. I have the papers at home. Seems the previous owner pursued this and there is a letter from Nissan saying this model number, according to their records, places the car in 1972-1973. I'm presuming that the lag between manufacture and local distribution in Japan and export to Australia has muddied the waters with chassis numbers. What are your thoughts. Interesting how cars with very close numbers went to different markets with different engine/gearbox setup and badging. If the zeds are in any way built as organised as the Fairlady Sports, then anything is possible. My plan is to rebuild the Z over time. I'm currently enjoying driving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
road rider Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I like your cars......I like them a lot Oh, and welcome! MichaelT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Thank you and thank you. At the moment the sports in very stock form embarasses the Zed. Such a great motor the u20. But I have respectful plans for the Zed. Might take a while tho. road rider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
road rider Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Thank you and thank you. At the moment the sports in very stock form embarasses the Zed. Such a great motor the u20. But I have respectful plans for the Zed. Might take a while tho. The L series motor is up there as far as great engines go, but the U series(U20) is something else again. Talk about bullet proof! MichaelT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hi GongZ. I have also myself noticed the discrepancy. My car is a JDM. It was stamped 1972 on the plate and has been recorded as 72 for the last 23 years with Qld Transport. I have the papers at home. Seems the previous owner pursued this and there is a letter from Nissan saying this model number, according to their records, places the car in 1972-1973. I'm presuming that the lag between manufacture and local distribution in Japan and export to Australia has muddied the waters with chassis numbers. What are your thoughts. Interesting how cars with very close numbers went to different markets with different engine/gearbox setup and badging. If the chassis number is indeed 'HS30-103679' as quoted, then the car is actually a 'Fairlady 240Z' or 'Fairlady 240Z-L' rather than a 'Fairlady Z' or 'Fairlady Z-L', and came from the factory with an L24 engine rather than an L20A. The chassis number certainly puts it right at the end of 1973 production, too. In fact the chassis number is higher than the range of chassis numbers with the 'HS30' prefix recorded by the licensing authorities in Japan, which makes me wonder whether it really was originally built as a Japanese market model. Are you 100% sure of that? 'S30-103679' (no 'H' prefix) would also have been built (late) in 1973. d3c0y and gav240z 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted March 17, 2016 Administrators Share Posted March 17, 2016 MichaelT if you post a photo of the engine bay ID plate we could confirm pretty quickly if it's a Fairlady Z or AU delivered car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted March 17, 2016 Administrators Share Posted March 17, 2016 If the chassis number is indeed 'HS30-103679' as quoted, then the car is actually a 'Fairlady 240Z' or 'Fairlady 240Z-L' rather than a 'Fairlady Z' or 'Fairlady Z-L', and came from the factory with an L24 engine rather than an L20A. The chassis number certainly puts it right at the end of 1973 production, too. In fact the chassis number is higher than the range of chassis numbers with the 'HS30' prefix recorded by the licensing authorities in Japan, which makes me wonder whether it really was originally built as a Japanese market model. Are you 100% sure of that? 'S30-103679' (no 'H' prefix) would also have been built (late) in 1973. Alan did any home market cars receive a 4 speed box? Seems odd it got a 4 speed I thought that was only North American delivered cars (HLS30's). I was under the impression the home market all had 5 speeds (the non-auto cars that is). It's possible the gearbox is from something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GongZ Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) The plot thickens - its like CSI S30 now. Edited March 17, 2016 by GongZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Will post a pic but it's worn down. Everything is badged Fairlady Z and all the writing is in Japanese. Im not au fait with all the grilles yet but it's got the same grille as the Jap auction ones. Diamond chicken wire style. Has and L20 and 4 speed. I sometimes forget I'm not in the sports and go for 5th.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GongZ Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 A pic of the chassis number engraved into the firewall would be great too, if you don't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted March 17, 2016 Administrators Share Posted March 17, 2016 Here is a good reference car, if it is indeed an HS30 home market car. https://picasaweb.google.com/107400787026175995661/HS30103407?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNPj4YaDu_-IywE&feat=directlink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Will post a pic but it's worn down. Everything is badged Fairlady Z and all the writing is in Japanese. Im not au fait with all the grilles yet but it's got the same grille as the Jap auction ones. Diamond chicken wire style. Has and L20 and 4 speed. I sometimes forget I'm not in the sports and go for 5th.. If that's the original engine and transmission then I'd say the car is almost certainly a no-frills 'S30-S' 'Fairlady Z' model, and the chassis number is actually 'S30-103679' rather than 'HS30-103679'. 'S30-103679' is a late 1973 production chassis number. gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Alan did any home market cars receive a 4 speed box? Seems odd it got a 4 speed I thought that was only North American delivered cars (HLS30's). I was under the impression the home market all had 5 speeds (the non-auto cars that is). It's possible the gearbox is from something else. The cheapest, no-frills, S30-S 'Standard' (factory parlance: "Z-Std") got the 4-speed as standard equipment (either 'A' type or 'B' type, depending on production date). It also came with bare steel wheels (no hubcaps), plain chrome bumpers without the rubber trim, no clock, no radio, no passenger footrest, rubber mats instead of carpets, no HRW and - depending on date of production - a few other cost-saving measures. Judging on what I've read of this car so far, I'd say it does indeed look to be a 'Standard' model. It would have had the 'F4W71-B' transmission and a 3.7:1 ratio R180 diff as stock equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted March 17, 2016 Administrators Share Posted March 17, 2016 The cheapest, no-frills, S30-S 'Standard' (factory parlance: "Z-Std") got the 4-speed as standard equipment (either 'A' type or 'B' type, depending on production date). It also came with bare steel wheels (no hubcaps), plain chrome bumpers without the rubber trim, no clock, no radio, no passenger footrest, rubber mats instead of carpets, no HRW and - depending on date of production - a few other cost-saving measures. Judging on what I've read of this car so far, I'd say it does indeed look to be a 'Standard' model. It would have had the 'F4W71-B' transmission and a 3.7:1 ratio R180 diff as stock equipment. I'll bet it was originally white or silver too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Yes it was originally silver! It's had 2 repaints - metallic blue and then red. But the interior under carpets etc is all silver. I'll put up some images. Some just to show the interior (which I think cleaned up well). I have an original steering wheel coming. Got a replacement lens for the map light installed now, some of these pics were from when I got the car. There is Japanese writing all through the car. The speedo is in KPH. Not sure if all 240z in Aus had kph but the Sports were in MPH. I have a JDM Fairlady Sports. Under the wheel arches up the front is evidence of mirrors being installed. Someone has put in a small plate during a repaint. Is this normal? I'm making an assumption that mirrors were there. Also the interior panels have Japanese symbols on them (I make out Hiragana/Katakana, but my Kanji is non-existant) but I have no idea what they mean. Otherwise the engine number is: L20586004, E30 head. If you look at the ID plate on an angle you can make out a lot of print. Up top it has s30 and a kanji text beside it. See pic below. Its also got 1989cc engine capacity. The bottom box under the chassis number stamp has a 4 in it. Cannot make out another letter and I think there is Kanji along the bottom. It has funky separable seat belts, and I'd appreciate any input on whether the interior stuff was common in Aus as well. Seatbelt tag also in Japanese. There is a random chassis shot, I was hunting for rust under the car. I've found almost none but having read a lot of build threads I know it is in there waiting!!! Now to figure out how to put images up. oldmates260z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 gav240z 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) So the image compression kind of made some of them small. Harder to see what I mean on the engine plate (which I removed for ease of photography). And with the Japanese script down the left side of the seatbelt tag. Edited March 17, 2016 by MichaelT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted March 17, 2016 Administrators Share Posted March 17, 2016 Yeah so definitely not an HS30, just an S30Z and based on the lack of options I'd say Alan is on the money regarding spec. I've never seen an ID plate that faded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Not the clearest image (sorry) but this is roughly what your engine bay tag would originally have looked like: Note that Japanese tags don't show the individual engine block number. You can buy an accurate replica tag from REVIVE JALOPY in Japan. They will stamp it up with the correct numbers for you too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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