I've a 1971 Fairlady Z (the "Z" car in RH drive) and it is supposed to have the 5-speed out of the "Datsun Roadster". Would that be the 1200 or the 2000? It has a much shorter drive shaft than the "regular Z" and a mechanic told me that's because Nissan used the "roadster 5-speed" in it.
Would a speedo cable from a regular Z work on it?
Thanks!

Hi Kerrigan - the gearbox is definitely not out of the 1200. I would also be surprised if Datsun bolted up the 2000 Roadster 'box behind the L24 but they may have. Speedo cable end on the Z five speed is the same as the regular Z four speed.

It's an interesting car to say the least.
It actually has the L20 2.0 ltr engine in it, with the original Hatachi sidedraft SU-type carbs.
And I'm sure the driveshaft is out of a Roadster as when the splines went bad (no grease fitting on the original) it was replaced with a "Roadster driveline". Which the mechanic drilled on the flat and put a grease fitting on, which eliminated the "dry spline" problem which knocked out the first one.

The L20 (stamped on the block with the engine serial number L20nnnnnn) is an inline six cylinder.
Looks a lot like the old chev corvette inline six ... where did Nissan get the idea ...

Would the speedo cable transmission end fitting be the same on the Z four speed and the Roadster 5-speed?

Nissan didn't make a longer box than the 240Z box, but early production 240Zs have the diff positioned 2" further forward than the "regular" later mounting position and, and which would explain why your mechanic thinks its shorter than a "regular" Z car driveshaft.

The Sports 2000 had a U20 pushrod motor. Its gearbox is mechanically identical internally from what I can gather, but is a shorter box than the Z's. They certainly have the same ratios and old porsche style synchros as the 240Z box, but will not bolt up to the L series motors. Gearbox casings can be swapped though. The Sports 2000 has the same type of flange style output shaft as the as the 240Z did.

I think the confusion comes from the mechanic not being terribly familiar with the 240Z (ie its not a "regular" Z), and seeing what looks like a sporty driveline under it, he put 2 and 2 together and got 5.

Anyway, I'd be very surprised if the Z speedo cable wouldn't fit regardless of what gearbox you have.

btw, what country are you from?

does your car have ventialation grills in the hatch by any chance?

I'm pretty sure the vented hatch only came out in the 'series 1' 240z, ie 1969 and maybe into 1970 can't remember for sure. It stands to reason that this model would have a shorter driveshaft for the reason L18 said, diff being further forward.
The fairlady Z is not exactly the Z car in RHD, it is the JDM model. These were all fitted with two litre engines, even the later 260 type model and even on into the S130s, and Z31s. The rest of the RHD world got the 240s and 260s, but not the 280Z, which I think was a US-only model.
I can't remember what box the fairladys run but I'm pretty sure it would be a 71 box, but not sure which