Topics Last Week

Cunifer! Found reference to it. Will see if it is something he'd make for me. If I do go this route opinions? From what i saw it was easy to work with, could be polished to a nice finish, but not sure how close that would be to "original cad type plated look".

Okay, so I've received various plugs and set screws from both McMaster and Bel-Metric. I ordered 1/8 and 1/4 NPT, 1/8 and 1/4 BSPT, M12 x 1.50 straight thread and M12 x 1.50 tapered thread, and I am still a bit confused! I won't hold you hostage until the end, I'll give you what I THINK the holes were from factory, and then I'll provide some pictures and notes from my "testing". I think the factory balance tube (US market 240Z) came with 2 ea. - 1/8" BSPT and 5 ea. - 1/4" BSPT holes BALANCE TUBE 1/4" BSPT HOLES it was clear to me that 1/4" NPT is too big, couldn't really even get a thread to start, so it makes sense that, 1) One COULD force 1/4" NPT into the holes in the soft aluminum and create some sort of "seal", and 2) a hole that had been "buggered by a previous (or current!) owner could likely be salvaged by tapping to 1/4" NPT. The 1/4" BSPT plugs I have encounter resistance at 1-1/2 turns and are fairly tight at 1-3/4 - 2 turns. This leaves them sticking out farther than I would like for a clean, plugged look as I would like them to be as close to flush as possible. The M12 x 1.50 straight thread, socket set screw I tried fit very loose initially, and threaded quite a ways in (farthest of the three options I tried) before finally hitting resistance. I feel like it MIGHT have finally created a "seal", but not ideal in my opinion. The M12 x 1.50 TAPERED plug encountered resistance at about 3-1/4 turns and was fairly tight at 3-1/2 turns in. This left it pretty close to flush to the surface and provided a good seal and I think this is what I will be using to plug 1/4" BSPT holes. (see pictures below) BALANCE TUBE 1/8" BSPT HOLES it was clear to me that 1/8" NPT is too big, couldn't really even get a thread to start, so it makes sense that, 1) One COULD force 1/8" NPT into the holes in the soft aluminum and create some sort of "seal", and, 2) a hole that had been "buggered" by a previous (or current!) owner could likely be salvaged by tapping to 1/8" NPT. The 1/8" BSPT plugs I have, encounter resistance at 1-1/2 turns and are fairly tight at 2 turns in. This leaves them sticking out more than I would like for a clean look (see pictures below) now I want to experiment with M10 fine thread (both straight and tapered) in the 1/8 BSPT holes INTAKE MANIFOLD WATER HEATING HOLES The outside (inlet and outlet) holes come from the factory with 1/4" BSPT holes Again, the 1/4" BSPT plugs don't thread in very far and sit proud. The M12 x 1.50 TAPER thread plugs thread in farther and sit pretty flush for a clean look. the inner holes (two holes on the inside of each part of the two-part manifold that connects the manifold halves with "bushings" and metal tubing) come from the factory with M16 x 1.50 STRAIGHT thread. I have some M16 x 1.50 straight AND taper plugs coming to try in those holes. I'm now thinking that a straight-threaded plug with a low head and Loctited, may be the ideal ticket for this hole since there is a machined spot to accommodate a bolt head. Heck, any old M16 x 1.50 bolt will work here! Keep in mind that these holes, if not being used (not connected to water lines), can stay open, they do not need to be sealed/plugged, as they will not affect anything other than keeping the intakes warm on initial start-up in cooler weather/climates. I just want to plug them for aesthetic purposes. Here's some pictures to clarify my rambling!

Yes, with the parking lights dead, I still have the back feed

I really wish I still had my '71 White 240Z with the rare blue interior. The car was shipped overseas to Italy, then shortly after that, the purchaser divorced his wife and sold the car. The gentleman in Australia purchased the car and had it shipped to Australia. I have stayed in touch with him on Instagram. The thing is that it is a lefthand drive car and in Australia and everyone there drives a righthand drive cars. I was hoping that I could purchase the car back from him someday.

Hilarious, experienced all the same issues minus DBW. Really cool he documented the process, it's a journey. Congrats on the coil bracket.

You're welcome.

What year is your 280Z? Is it a bot also?

Good to see someone else rebuilding them. He did miss out one part on reassembly, there's a disc with 4 holes in it that goes over the shaft to restrict the flow of grease into the rubber boot that he deleted. Also the Nissan boot has a bleed nipple on it, they are still available.

Yeah, I saw this one on FB the other day.

I get a kick out of a big horn sound coming out of a weee Z car. 😎

The fit up looks good!

@Terrapin Z probably has some good quality used ones.

There is a point where the adjusters will cease to tighten. If they're working properly, they shouldn't be the cause of a sticky drum removal. There are other factors that could be the cause. IRL the drum shoe friction material isnt that thick and they don't see that much use so there really isn't that much re-adjustment needed over time. I daily drive my 260 and have changed shoes once in 14 years. After you have them set properly you won't notice much if any park brake handle lock position change.

Have a nice day, people!

Absolutely! Will take me a little while, but the quality and sound were great on the test run!

Yep, it's right 'chere:

Thats a very good bit to know and it totally makes sense. I'll have to keep that in mind when I finalize the fuel system. Since my fuel tank and mount is currently toast, I'm going to sub in a 3g fuel can for now. I've got the pump installed for now, im not happy with how it mounts so ill have to figure something out. I havent had a chance to look for a right angle nipple that might be able to save me some space. The rusty tire tub came in useful as I was able to run the fuel lines through it. Its just temporary to see if I can get the car running. Since I got the pump wired up I decided to see if pump would run and I got nothing. I dont think it has power. I didnt spend any time diagnosing it, I was happy to accomplish the little bit I did. I'm going to flip through the FSM and see what testing procedures they have. Obviously the fuse and maybe a fuel pump relay are at the top of my list. On a side note, I am having a really hard time with my shrink tube terminal connectors and I was wondering if you guys can suggest some better ones. I purchased these amazon terminals and I just cant get them to crimp for a damn. I have 3 different types of crimpers. The old fashion ones and two of the ratcheting kind. I had a couple of the normal terminals and they crimp really nice and tight, but for some reason the shrink tube ones just wont bite. Maybe I just have the wrong jaw. Can anyone also suggest some decent vacuum line? Im not a fan of the silicon ones and all the line I can find is super thick.

Up front in the area of the console look for blue tape around the wire harness. That's where you should find the female plug with 2 wires. Put a jumper across the plug and you should then have power back at the tank for the electric pump. It's a good idea to put an inertia switch in the jumper loop to shut off the pump in the event of a crash.

🤣 OMG... I used to do that... Thank goodness I haven't seen a phone cord in decades!

Just got the harmonic balancer Back. Looks really good. Namerow asked for pictures.

Pair of original wiper arms, stainless steel. no rust, marked left and right. $60.

thanks for all the help, I did install the 2 rubber plugs underneath the back side of the hatch last year as it must have been an oversite when I restored the car years ago, it did help big time. never thought to look up after the bottom hatch was painted and installed. thanks for making me look again at the license plate wire grommet which was replaced back then. years ago, I think back in the 90s I did purchase a black rear carpeted 6x9 speaker box from motorsport auto that replaces the back cover for the taillights. what I just found was the bass tube in the center has an open 2" plastic pipe that lets the bass out from behind the 6x9" speakers into the cabin. so, I used some black gorilla tape and closed up the pipe on the inside. if it does help which I now think it will then I don't mind losing some bass and having better air in the cabin. that weatherstrip in the rain gutter seems useless to me maybe that is why I never replaced it back then. but it was cheap enough that I will just replace it, so it is original.