HS30-H

I take your point Mr C. but my point is that - in the case of the car we are talking about - Nissan never stamped the engine number on anything except the block itself. Describing such a car as having "matching numbers" when the only place where the numbers match is on pieces of paper seems slightly arch at the very least. All the more so when there were indeed some S30-series Z cars that did have the original engine number stamped on a plate that was attached to the body. In my view - and this is generally the case in Japan, where most of the 432s and 432-Rs are - the best way is simply to say "original engine". And even then we are usually only talking about the block casting itself. I know the vast majority of Japanese market S30-series Z owners in Japan wouldn't use such a term in reference to such a car. They'd actually be more likely to be discussing whether it still has its original K3 cylinder head or not, and whether its got all the other correct factory parts attached to it... How about a case where such a car might very well still have its original engine block, but doesn't have the paperwork to back it up? A good example might be my KPGC10: I don't have any of the original sales paperwork for the car - most such cars have lost them along the way - but it's very likely that it has still got its original engine block. Is it a "matching numbers" car? Obviously not. But - in my view - that's the 'wrong' expression anyway... I know I'm probably labouring the point, but it just sounds wrong to me. Like 'Series 1' and 'Series 2' and all that stuff when applied to non-North American market cars. Sorry.

My point being that the use of the term "matching numbers" in relation to a Japanese market S30-series Z is essentially meaningless. The car may well have its original engine (and if the original paperwork with the car backs that up, then all well and good), but what numbers "match"? There's no engine number on the tag. That's the point. I didn't imply that the car was any kind of "fake". Did I see you mentioning this car in another thread? I seem to remember you mentioning a genuine 432-R being on its way to Australia, and now you mention a 432. So is it a 432 or a 432-R? Or both? The "matching number" American cars I'm referring to are not Japanese cars...

It'll certainly be the only one with "matching numbers" in the world, let alone Australia. The - largely American - obsession with "matching numbers" (usually referring to and original body and original engine combination, but more specifically related to those American cars that had 'matching' (literally) chassis numbers and engine numbers) can't be accurately applied to the 432 or 432-R, as the factory didn't stamp the original engine number on the data plates.

Well, for a start, all the stuff about the "Nissan Fairlady ZG". There was no such model. It was the 'Nissan Fairlady 240ZG'. The whole poster fails to get across the fact that the Japanese market did get L24-engined cars ( a layman reading the text would be forgiven for believing that Japan only got 2-litre engined cars ) and that the Fairlady 240ZG was part of a range of Japanese market models ( Fairlady 240Z, Fairlady 240Z-L and Fairlady 240ZG ) that all had the L24. And what's all that stuff about the 'G-nose' panels 'kit' being offered to the North American market? Bolting parts onto your car doesn't instantly turn it into another factory model, so what's this stuff about "...and cars equipped with it can be referred to as a 240ZG"...? That's just complete and utter nonsense.

So, after all that, we still ended up with a whole load of mistakes...?

Well, the year stated is 1971. The car we know as 'Big Sam' ( actually two, or three cars depending on what we want to count... ) didn't exist as 'Big Sam' in 1971. That's a whole can of worms that you don't really want to open here, believe me... But the point is that the car is depicted in a 1990s-era livery and spec ( when it was owned by a perfect gent called Nick Howell, and prepped by Tim Riley ) and is sporting the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed start number sticker ( the '240' in a silver oval, stuck on the rear quarter where the factory emblem would normally go ) so it's not in its 1974/5-ish era championship / class winning livery, which I would think would be its most significant and pertinent? It's up to you what you depict in your poster, but I would have thought a period-correct livery ( like the BRE car and the works rally cars ) would have been more suitable for purpose? Having said that, I don't think your choice of cars makes much sense really anyway. The subject is just too big. You can't decant all of the significant models into something that fits on your poster size. In fact, you wouldn't be able to do justice to the full complement of the Japanese market models on one poster, let alone the world market. And there are probably enough recognisable and significant competition cars to justify a poster of their own, too. I think that's a point I made way back at the start of the thread. I don't agree. It doesn't make much sense to try to be accurate if you are going to blur the lines between what was factory stock and what wasn't. Pictures such as these - annoyingly - get used as reference pieces. They can tend to seed a new crop of mistakes and confusion. I think if it's worth doing it's worth doing well. Mistakes may happen, but when you've got a good chance to get it right ( our comments here will surely help? ) then I think it's worth keeping at it until it's a right as you can possibly get it.

Rear spoiler was an extra-cost option on the Fairlady 240ZG. Everything else on your list I agree with though. I just thought it might be a bit brutal to go the whole hog...!

Some observations: Japanese market cars did not have the marker lights on the rear quarters. The exhausts on the works rally cars are wrong. Japanese market cars are all Nissans ( not Datsuns ). Nissan Fairlady Z432 didn't come with a rear spoiler as stock equipment ( although it was an extra-cost option ) but Nissan Fairlady Z432-R did. What's with the door mirror on the Fairlady Z432-R and Fairlady 240ZG? Nissan Fairlady Z432-R came with steel wheels ( and no hubcaps ) as stock equipment. The police car is a Nissan Fairlady 240ZG, as is the Nissan Fairlady 240ZG ( what's a "Fairlazy"? ). Brock Racing Enterprises = BRE not 'BRA'. 'Big Sam' is depicted in Goodwood Festival of Speed guise ( with '240' FoS start number and 240 door numbers ) which is perhaps a little 'late'? The car has been returned to a closer approximation of one of its original liveries now. Complicated all this, isn't it...?!

You might want to check that before you change gear next time, or listen out for a big CRUNCH.... I've currently got three F5C71-B factory 'Dog Leg' shift pattern Sports Option transmissions, and this is the shift pattern: http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_3792.jpg

Datsun UK Ltd ( a concessionaire ) were so cheap that they simply used the Datsun Netherlands photo shoot car for the UK market brochure: But apart from the door mirrors ( and the fact that this is an LHD car instead of an RHD car... ) pretty much most of the UK market cars looked like the above 'Euro' spec car. The front indicators were deleted from the corner valances ( special press tooling was made ) and moved up to the top of the front bumper, and front sidelights were incorporated into the headlamp units. All this done to meet new European standards on lighting ( height and function ). Note the front and rear spoilers, which were standard equipment on all 'Euro' and UK market cars.

I've got a nice NOS one, still in the box. Special "Kerrigan" price of £999.00 GBP. With free postage. I take PayPal too.

You. HTH. Nonsense. It's something I (have to!) do all the time. For example, I've done it with Motor Sport Auto in the USA. In any case, you were not doing anything "blind". I recommended Revive Jalopy to you on my personal experiences with Nishi san and his family, and I have been dealing with them for 15+ years now. I have visited them in person several times, know many other people who trade with them, and they have a good reputation on the classic car scene in Japan. In what way were you dealing with them "blind"? Frankly it seems there's always a backstory to what goes on with you. At this point I don't trust you to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. After all that's gone on, you suddenly now have a price from Revive Jalopy too. Right after you were whining about them not answering you for some imagined reason.... ...at which point I stop taking you even remotely seriously. Exactly how much did you think it was going to cost you? $100? $10? $1? I would pay Revive Jalopy $136 for that in a heartbeat ( and have done... ). Just wait until I invoice you for all the time I've spent taking you seriously and trying to help you. That'll make you swallow hard.

Aaargh! Kerrigan, you will be the death of me. As I've said what seems like 1000 times already, Nishi san at REVIVE JALOPY in Saitama, Japan is making 100% accurate reproductions of the above 'VIN' tag. If you order it with YOUR chassis number, he will even stamp it up for you. All you have to do is make contact, either directly, or indirectly through the go-betweens already recommended to you. I got Nishi san to stamp me up an in-joke 'special', using my S30 body serial number on a PS30-prefixed tag. Here's what it looks like:

The correct engine bay 'VIN' plate for Kerrigan's car would look like this:

AVOID. It's a sh*tbox.

Yes. Just when I thought things were getting better, he does it to me again.....

But Kerrigan, this is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about when I refer to the frustration in trying to help you. You've been a member on the classiczcars.com forum since August 2003. On the classiczcars forum I - and several others - have documented, discussed and argued about the Japanese market models for something over 12 years at least now. I myself have added lost of photos, scans and text containing accurate data about those models. The 1971 Fairlady Z-L is one of them. I own a 1970 Fairlady Z-L myself, so I had a greater incentive to find out more about such cars and - particularly in the case of one or two USA-based "experts" who see them as "irrelevant" - to defend them as significant variants that are a key part of S30-series Z history. Katsuhiko 'Kats' Endo is another who has added valuable information to the forum, in particular period data from Nissan Shatai ( the company which actually built these cars ). So why haven't you picked up the correct factory model designation of your car from those discussions? The factory build codes are something I feel like I've written out a thousand times on various forums, so what's the big mystery? I know for a fact that you have participated on some of the very threads where such topics have been discussed in depth... The basic model code of your car is - simply - 'S30'. In factory parlance it was variously nicknamed the 'Deluxe' and/or the 'Dx'. On factory parts lists it is sometimes called the 'D' model, or 'Z-Dx'. It shared the 'S30' chassis number / body serial number sequence with the 'S30-S' model 'Fairlady Z', a cheaper - no frills - model that came without hubcaps, bumper rubber trims, carpets ( it had rubber mats ) and even without a clock. This 'Fairlady Z' model was nicknamed 'Z-Standard', and 'Zs', 'S' or 'Z-Std' depending on which factory publication you refer to. And as the 'Std' and 'Deluxe' models shared that 'S30' prefixed body serial number sequence, there's no way of telling whether a particular car is a 'Std' or a 'Deluxe' just by looking at the chassis number. So, for example, a car with a theoretical chassis number of 'S30-00023' could be either a 'Deluxe' Fairlady Z-L with all the bells and whistles, or a basic 'poverty' spec 'Standard' Fairlady Z with a 4-speed. It gets a little more complicated after that: Now, there were suffixes to these basic model codes, and these suffixes - mostly used by the factory and the dealers - identified particular sub-variants. For example, a Fairlady Z-L equipped with an automatic transmission would be coded 'S30-A' and a Fairlady Z with an automatic transmission would be coded 'S30-SA'. A Fairlady Z-L equipped with an automatic transmission and prepped for 'Regular' gasoline ( as opposed to High Octane ) would be coded 'S30-AN', and a Fairlady Z with automatic transmission and prepped for Regular gas would be coded 'S30-SAN'. However, these suffixes were only noted on the factory paperwork and the dealer's paperwork. They were not noted anywhere on the car ( although there were clues to them... ) and you will have to piece together the original spec of the car ( and therefore the applicable 'Shashu Kigo / Shanai Kigo' ) from the evidence presented on the car itself. With a 1971 Fairlady Z-L that's actually fairly easy: Take a peep at the attached scan. It's a official list of Nissan's S30-series Z models as of October 1971, when the L24-engined models ( with HS30 prefixes ) were introduced and sold alongside the previously available L20A and S20-engined variants, giving a prospective buyer no less than 20 variants to choose from, all of which could be up-specced from a fairly comprehensive list of dealer options and official 'Sports' option parts. The third column contains numbers that - to Nissan at least - identified the sub-variants properly. These numbers are the 'Ruibetsu Kubun Bango' for each sub-variant. If you can pin your car down to one of these then you have your answer. As I'm guessing it came with a 5-speed trans, it's either an S30, S30-C, S30-N or S30-CN. If it had factory aircon it's an S30-C, if it had Regular gas prep it was an S30-N, if aircon AND regular gas it's an S30-CN. If none of the above then it's a 'normal' S30 code Fairlady Z-L. If any specific questions, fire away...

Well, if you're right I'll usually agree with you... Hopefully you saw me sticking up for the Canadian market cars a bit further up the thread, too. Some of our USA-based "expert" friends might not have, which is bad manners at the very least. Nissan on the other hand took the Canadian market very seriously. And rightly so.

Best thing that could happen to it. In my opinion...

There's no such thing as a "1970 JDM ZG". The 'HS30-H' model ( Nissan Fairlady 240ZG ) debuted in October 1971. Why is the only '1969' car a "USDM"? The two cars you list below that, a "JDM Z" ( which one? ) and a "JDM Z432R" both debuted in 1969 too. Doesn't make sense to me. You're making it look like the "USDM" model came first ( it didn't ) and you're leaving gaps. You're also forgetting about our friends in Canada; That's why the correct term is "North American Market" rather than "USDM". Unfortunately, artworks of the type that you are engaged in producing ( nice as they are ) tend to get used as reference material for historical fact. Mad isn't it? Missing out large and important chunks of the S30-series Z story is something that happens time and time again, and it may indeed be one of the contributing factors in your ongoing confusion regarding models, specs and production periods. The internet's default setting is USA-centric ( it shouts the loudest ) but these are Japanese cars we are talking about here and their story is best told from the Japanese viewpoint ( preferably in a seated position at the end of the production line.... ). To be honest, I'd rather see you take a shot at grouping just the "USA" ( ahem, North American Market ) cars together. That on it's own would be a big piece, and you'd have your work cut out keeping it accurate and fully representative. Trying to throw in assorted "JDM" models without really knowing what's what is probably going to result in the kind of glaring omissions and/or tokenism that sends people like me ( who takes this kind of thing far too seriously... ) into a mouth-frothing frenzy. In fact I'm well on the way there already. Nurse! And if you put that bloody 'OMS Pace Car' thing in and leave any of the Works rally cars I'll probably have to hunt you down and confiscate your pencils. A barried-up 'image' car built to queen around a lap or two in front of real race, versus two outright wins on the East African Safari Rally and an - all things considered - amazing third outright on the Monte Carlo Rallye is not only no contest, but also no comparison. So there. In fact, there's enough material for you to make a race & rally competition-only grouping that would be both interesting and huge on it's own. Food for thought? I am now going to lay down in a darkened room.

Very very ( very! ) unlikely that you would have seen a 1971 car with a Grande / Aerodyna nose in North America in 1971. The 'G' nose was sold as a semi-official 'Race' part - through 'Datsun Competition' in North America, but it was well after 1971 before it got there. In any case, you are in danger of straying from your own ( "USA model" ) theme by including such a car. In my opinion it would be a travesty to include something in a 'USA themed' that looks so much like one of the exclusively Japanese market models, but isn't. If you want to include a 'G' nosed car in a USA-themed grouping, there's one - rather obvious - choice. Yutaka Katayama's personal USA-market 240Z was dolled-up with a 'G' nose ( but no Over-Fenders ) wire wheels and bright yellow paint for him in the USA. Katayama was President of Nissan Motor Co. USA at the time. It's a famous car, and might be an appropriate car to include in this group. How a 1969 Police car ( as used exclusively by the Japanese police... ) fits in with your USA-themed grouping I don't know....

Well done, Lachlan! Great car! Good luck with it.

Like I said, you need to put some trust in them. These are people I know personally. I vouched for them didn't I? That means you don't trust me either, then? Your credit card's supplier is there to protect you in such situations. Revive Jalopy's postal address is easy to find ( I linked you to it, remember? ) so you could try that. How about engaging the services of a translator? Heaven knows how the East India Company or the Silk Road traders managed to do business... Look at this from Revive Jalopy's point of view; How many USA-based small businesses would even attempt to answer an enquiry in Japanese from Japan, let alone try to process the order? I can tell you from personal experience that many USA-based businesses don't want to deal with anyone outside the USA, even if they do speak English. I told you before that you need to be persistent, and I was persistent with you wasn't I? Just getting you to use the correct e-mail address for Revive Jalopy was hard enough... Speaking purely for myself, I find it frustrating to see you popping up on multiple forums at different times asking the same questions even when you've been given the answers elsewhere. It's been going on for years. I see you offering thanks to people who have been no help to you whatsoever whilst you all but ignore the people who have given you good data and good advice! It's like there are several different Kerrigans out there, all of them with short-term memory loss. You just don't seem to take things on board. It ought to be a pleasure to offer help, advice and recommendations to you, but you make it a chore. Well, welcome to my world. There's plenty of bad data out there ( most of it originates in the USA, ironically enough ) but picking your way through it and recognising fact from fiction and who is to be trusted is all part of the game. You've owned your car long enough for you to be on top of the pretty basic stuff ( and didn't I send you an Excel copy of the factory parts list for your car on CD some years back? ) but you still seem to be waiting to throw a six to start. But why are you relying on an Australian parts source to decode your chassis number? This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. YOU need to get on top of the data ( starting with the factory parts lists ) and YOU need to compare and cross-reference part numbers so that you can tell what parts on your car are different than, or the same as, the 'Export' models that you can find in north America and elsewhere. Your searches for a fuel pump and windscreen wiper arms are the perfect example: The original fuel pump on your car was identical to those fitted to the 'Export' cars that were made at the same time period as your car, and the part numbers would have told you that. The wiper arms were the same as the RHD 'Export' cars, so again the parts lists would have provided you with useful clues and you could have TOLD that Australian "expert" exactly what you were looking for. Actually, talking of "experts", I can think of one USA-based "expert" who is adamant that your car ( and all of mine too ) was "irrelevant". Now how's that for stupidity and arrogance personified? You can get started on "the impossible" right after you master HTML and the 'quote' function, eh?

Groundhog Day ( again ), I see..... As I've told you several times Kerrigan, 'Revive Jalopy' in Saitama, Japan can supply you with the correct engine bay 'VIN' tag for your 1971 Fairlady Z-L, and Nishi san will stamp it up himself with your chassis number before sending it out to you. You're either not trying hard enough, or you're trying too hard in the wrong places ( like asking Nissan Japan, for example ). If you can't sort it out yourself then ask a company like RHD Japan or Jay Ataka at http://jdm-car-parts.com/ to help you. Half of Jay's stock comes from Revive Jalopy anyway....

Nishi san and his family ( it was probably his son who answered your initial enquiry ) are people whom I would count as personal friends. I have known them for many years, have visited them personally on several occasions over the years and have both bought parts from, and had them made by, Nishi san and his staff. 'Revive Jalopy' have a good name in the Japanese Z (and GT-R) scene, and I would trust them implicitly. What you need to do is to man up and put some faith in humanity. You also need to stop thinking that the world revolves around the USA. I've told you before ( I'm sure you're sick of hearing me say it... ) that you own a JAPANESE model of Z and you need to stop thinking that the mountain is going to come to Mohammed. In the case of your repro 'VIN' tag quest, you need to tell Revive Jalopy your car's chassis number and give them your full credit card details, your home address and anything else that might be relevant. Invest some trust in them. Try to see things from their point of view. They get hundreds of 'window shoppers', so show them you are serious. What's the worst that can happen? Your credit card supplier will protect you. I live ( I figure ) at least twice as far away from Japan as you do. I reckon this whole thing is far harder for me than it should be for you. And yet all I see is you struggling, asking questions to the wrong people in the wrong places, and talking ( writing ) as though you don't even know the differences ( let alone the similarities ) between your car and the 'Export' models that shared so many parts with them. I mean, WTF? Really. Why on earth are you talking about your mechanical fuel pump as though it's rocking horse sh*t, when it's more than likely exactly the same as the part fitted to the North American market cars? It's like you haven't really done the due diligence in researching/learning what it is you've got. I despair when I see you stating that the Z-L's 'Passing Lamp' switch function is "unique" to the Japanese market when it's NOT! This is something that I - and others - have discussed on the classiczcars.com forum ( of which you are a member ) and - if you had searched - you would have found that it was NOT "unique" to the Japanese market. In any case, what's wrong with yours? It's just a sprung contact switch and a relay. If you have problems, just ask me! I could find you another ( used ) one quite easily. DON'T expect to find NOS 'off the shelf' ( of course ). RHD steering rack? Again, I could help - but WHY? Has yours somehow disappeared or melted overnight? They are rebuildable / repairable / adjustable. You should not NEED a new one. The maintenance data is exactly the same as that for the north American market models ( just the rack ratio is different ) so what's the problem? Wiper arms? $350 US is CHEAP rather than "outrageous" as far as I'm concerned! In any case, if you were more proactive you could have pirated the RHD-specific parts of your old wiper arms and mated them with new replacements of the wearing parts from the north American market cars. You just have to be a little creative, that's all. It's what most of us with RHD market models have to do most of the time. If you really love your car, you'll embrace the 'difficulties' and challenges, and wear them as a badge of honour.