Carbon Hako at TAS2023

Robbie J

Club Member
That being the whole point, surely?

They are displaying - rather creatively - carbon panels. What's not to get?
bonding carbon onto a rusty steel shell, it would creak and moan going down the road.... I think I would prefer a metal car in this case
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
If I'm understanding this product it's alternatives to metal which I'm guessing are NLA. Bit like front wings, doors, rear hatch for an S30.

I don't suppose there is a pristine 'Hako' without any outer panels that could be used for exhibiting the panels. Surely nobody would attach these to a rotten car.

I know someone in the Club who fitted a carbon skin over his roof to cover a sunroof up. He later replaced the roof with a secondhand metal panel.
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
bonding carbon onto a rusty steel shell, it would creak and moan going down the road.... I think I would prefer a metal car in this case

Have you missed the whole point of the display method?

Maker & vendor 'Restored Parts' are not going to be "bonding carbon onto a rusty steel shell". They are simply using the partly disassembled rusty shell as a prop to hang their wares on. I think it is a clever and effective method, even if it seems to have whistled over the head of at least one attendee...

I don't suppose there is a pristine 'Hako' without any outer panels that could be used for exhibiting the panels. Surely nobody would attach these to a rotten car.

Exactly.
 

Robbie J

Club Member
So you have a floor a roll cage and these panels... they are to thin, it would need more structure including a most of the shell he told us. You can just use the metal floor as well somehow.

What I've seen here is they don't mind rusty (seriously bad structure) classic cars driven around. Yes you have Garage Yoshida rebuilds to perfect but even major tuner cars are not perfect. Yes I got the concept without the sarcasm but you bite every time. Its lighter but really its to make a very expensive car for the rich... not for people wanting to restore cars not really a fan of it
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
What I've seen here is they don't mind rusty (seriously bad structure) classic cars driven around.

The biennial 車検 ('Sha-Ken', from Jidosha Kensa Torokuseido - the Japanese equivalent of our MOT test, but a lot stricter) would normally be expected to detect such cars and fail them.

I see you're in Japan with Dave W of the self-styled 'GTR Heritage Centre'. Dave knows a good bit about finding rusty cars in Japan. Here's one he sourced, imported and sold in the UK after describing it as "immaculate":

Left hatch hinge-1BW.JPGRight hatch hinge-1BW.jpgFrankenstein filler-1.JPGLater 73-on rear panel welded up-1.JPG

But generally speaking, I'd say the situation in Japan is not all that different to here in Europe and UK. Plenty of early 70s cars went through a dip in value in the 80s and were subject to make-do-and-mend type repairs. Values started climbing back up slowly and some of these cars survived in better condition than others. We are often left to deal with the legacy.

But just like here, there are plenty of excellent old cars in Japan and there are many small businesses involved in amazingly detailed and accurate stock restorations. They tend to be artisan types who are introduced and recommended through word of mouth. It seems a little unfair to focus on the occasional sh*tboxes that might be floating around semi-legally.
 

Robbie J

Club Member
Hey I'm only saying what I've saw, likewise what Dave gets up to his is business, he seems like, he has a bunch of happy customers as well, just because we share a hire car does not mean I'm condoning anything either way

I was with a nice US guy today owns 240Z that was a L series fan. Not S20 or RB, that's fine each swings there own way, I prefer to comment on what I see myself and let the world get on with itself... a bit of Sake talking there
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
Ah, I remember seeing something about that previously (probably via you Alan!). Very Rocky Auto to do something like that..

There were a couple of different people making castings and conversion parts for the RB20E/RB30E single cam LY-lookalike heads to L-gata bottom end hybrids. I think we have discussed them here before? Nothing directly to do with Rocky Auto.

One of them was Sato san ('Studio Sato') and he had a blog covering what he was doing: http://sato1511.blog40.fc2.com/category47-2.html

Some good detail in the photos he posted.

Sato RB20E-Lblock.jpg
 
Last edited:

richiep

Club Member
There were a couple of different people making castings and conversion parts for the RB20E/RB30E single cam LY-lookalike heads to L-gata bottom end hybrids. I think we have discussed them here before? Nothing directly to do with Rocky Auto.

Here's one I photographed at the All Fairlady Z Meeting at Fuji back in 2018:

View attachment 55710
That sounds familiar - I'm sure there is previous discussion on the forum. That kind of creativity appeals to me - finding new ways to experiment while keeping the L-gata base in there. E.g. the Datsunworks twin-cam Honda-derived head, JMC Base all new L-series head, etc.

@atomman needs to get his butt back in gear and plough on with his RB head adaptation to the L6. If successful, that is something I'd like to add to my to-do list after the present 2.2L 18RG and 3.1 L6 builds I have spread around the garage!
 
Top