Topics Last Week

Hey, I have a '73 240Z which was switched to round top carbs, and getting close to wrapping up the tank rebuild and starting to look at the engine. I've only managed to drive the car a handful of times since I acquired it due to ongoing work on it, but In the past I would need to crank for like 30-60 seconds before it would start, and until it warmed up if I didn't give it a little gas to keep the revs up a bit it would just cut out. Once the car was warmed up though it ran fine so I'm slowly starting to give the engine a once over. I noticed that on both sides of the intakes there are open inlets which look like they should have a hose attached. It seems like they might have been connected to the coolant system. There is a hole near the thermostat that's plugged near the inlet towards the front of the engine The one towards the front of the engine appears to be just open, and the one in the back seems like there might be some kind of spring mechanism closing a plate or something. I was curious if anyone could provide a bit more info on these? Should these be capped off? I did double check the crankcase vent hose in the middle and that is in decent condition.

Not disagreeing with you, had a quite lengthy discussion about the topic with him. He's rebuilt dozens of Z engines in the past so I'll take his word on it.

Thanks Chris. They look good.

I know you don’t want to hear this as well but he’s been very responsive about information and tracking my orders.

Adding an update here: I haven't found the root of the issue. I keep the car at my parent's house, so it's not always easily accessible, but I'm thinking that maybe a brake line got kinked a bit during installation. I plan to check those next. If I don't find anything there, I will switch to the old booster and see what, if anything, changes.

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So it's been awhile since I last posted. Remember that aftermarket ECU? I found out it was bad and causing starting issues and the high idle condition. I happened to find an original replacement ECU from another 1976 2+2 and that solved my problem. I also found that the TPS was missing a screw and out of position on the throttle body. As it turns out, the missing screw had broken off inside the throttle body. I was able to source a used one and installed it. Everything now seemed to work except for the temperature gauge. This was baffling to me since I had replaced it with a new one when I replaced the thermostat and the housing. However, that one was a two piece unit. I tested the temp gauge and wiring by disconnecting the connection to the sensor, temporarily running a wire from the the connection to ground and turning the key to the on position. The gauge needle moved from resting position to max within a few seconds, eliminating the possibility of a defective gauge or wiring. This was reassuring, since I was not looking forward to having to troubleshoot a wiring issue, nor did I want to have to go and try to find another gauge. So, I purchased a new temperature sensor, this time a one piece unit. I had some free time to install it yesterday, and Voila! I once again have a working temperature gauge. Here's the one that didn't work: Here's the one that worked: And the proof:

Thank you! Oh there's rust in it, not too bad though in most places. I think that under the hatch sill is probably the worst of it.

It says on BAT and other places...🤣 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4161254077491653/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

Good song I heard in a movie with Harry Dean Stanton, "Lucky". Weird movie but he was weird guy in cool way in all his movies.

Valve cover gaskets were never glued from the factory. Still available from Nissan.

Hi Site……If you shave .080 inches from your P90 head, you’ll have to jack up the cam towers .080 inches too. You use the early 280 valves which are approximately .080 inches longer. With this set up, you don’t need the shorter valve seals……they are used when the L24 head uses a cam with .460 or more lift which would squash those seals. If you decide to do that, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Eiji at Datsun Spirit…..he has everything you need to build that head. He has a ton of Isky Stage III cams also. If you just send him your head, he’ll build you a piece of art. Nice buy for $25.00.

Its a pitty as the car is driveable but has this problem during traffic jams.

He didn't but these guys did.

@Nils Ya, when you press the switch it's supposed to flip into the other position. It sounds like you have a similar issue to what I had originally: I could depress the toggle, it would temporarily switch to the other side, but once I released the switch it would reset back to the original position. Yours sounds a little worse as it isn't even able to temporarily switch. I forget which colors correspond to which, but power comes in through the center connection, and then goes out through the connections on the left or right - one for high beam, one for low beam. Ie, we'll just call the connections 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being high, 2 being the center, and 3 being low. 1-2 would trigger high beams, and 2-3 would trigger low beams. You can test that with continuity. You should never have continuity between 1 and 3. @fredrick that's a spring and a brass cap. It sits in a circular opening in a rocker inside the actual switch housing. The piece is held into the plastic via a roll-pin and is the only part I didn't remove when disassembling the whole thing (I didn't think there was a chance I get it out without it breaking. It's the second picture in the first post This whole setup is quite finicky and I've thought a few times about trying to engineer some kind of replacement, but not sure if the interest would justify it.