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The car that sold on BAT recently raised an electrical question for me about the ground distribution. On the car I'm working on, there is no dedicated ground strap going directly from the battery to the firewall, but instead, grounding to the harness (and hence the body) is done through the alternator. Then I saw that car on BAT, and there IS a dedicated connection right from the battery terminal to the firewall. Is this connection supposed to be here on the early cars? It's not "necessary" to work, but just wondering if this is how it's supposed to be:

The stop screw catches the front piston like this: And the rear piston position is established by the retainer clip in the back: So the distances between those two reference locations and the "forward-most" seals on each piston is what's important. It looks like the front piston is really close, but the rear one is not. Might be "close enough", might not.

1971 United Kingdom market HS30 'Datsun 240Z' with low recorded mileage. The usual inaccurate salesman's flimflam in the Bonhams write-up, but a nice car: https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/listings/datsun/240z/62327cfd-fa98-45e5-9035-b38d20db87e2

The stop screw catches the rear (left in photo below) piston in the narrower part between the seals, right? I noticed that space on the Tokico kit (bottom) is longer than the Nabco version (top). There’s also more fluid in that area because the piston is narrower there. The front (right in photo) piston is also narrower on the Tokico, but otherwise those are really similar in length. Virtually the same. I wonder if the Tokico works in the Nabco but not the other way around.

That's really a risky maneuver. Overall length isn't as important as where the seals end up located when the cylinder is at rest. It would take a lot of study and investigation to know if it would work. Off the top of my head, looking at the rearmost piston (the one that the master cylinder pushes against), it has the seal in a different location than the original. The front piston is harder to analyze since it depends on where the seal will end up when the stop screw hits the lip of the piston. I'm just a guy with a keyboard, but I don't like it.

I only have one of the anomalies; the other four are outer shells for the hatch buttons

I would think if the OD's on the pistons are similar and both brake port holes are open at rest it would probably work...

Pretty cool. Odd that there's no fan shroud. Maybe because it doesn't get that hot in the U.K.? I've heard/read about the carb'ed European 260Z's, still around after EFI was introduced in the States. Never seen one.

I considered putting this in the ZX section but I thought the brake specific section would be better due to all the upgrade threads. I was wondering if anyone has tried or knows what happens if you try to use the pistons from a Tokico master cylinder rebuild kit in a Nabco MC. looking at them side by side they are clearly different, but only just. It make be hard to see in the photo but there are small differences in the measurements between them (dirty is Nabco, shiny/bagged is Tokico). The overall length looks the same. I haven’t measured them yet so can’t give you precise numbers.

You dont see these everyday in Australia; perhaps that is why it was imported from the UK (of all places!) Classic Throttle Shop1978 Datsun 260ZTime-capsule 260Z: low mileage, UK-delivered, tastefully upgraded, impeccably maintained, and beautifully documented throughout...

My daughter identified it using a Google function. Pretty cool... It's a Mopar antenna nut, not mine

If you have a caliper on the bench you might as well pop the piston out. Don't scratch the cylinder with the metal dust seal retaining ring. Images won't load but the Brake chapter describes it. Uploading Attachment... Uploading Attachment...

Not sure what you mean by two pieces. But if it's sitting on the bench then, obviously, there's an open port to atmosphere. No way to hold pressure. The piston should be easily moved by hand if the caliper is new or newly rebuilt and has had fluid in it. Or maybe not, re above. Where did you get the calipers? Might have a bad rebuild. Tight seals.

Cody's in Florida so I think he's safe. I just don't want to ship it back and then realize it's mine. But I don't recall any part like that

Most calipers I've worked couldn't be collapsed by hand and my hands are pretty strong. Have the calipers been rebuilt?

There is still fluid in that assembly. Did you blow everything out with compressed air?

Did you open the bleeder??

Haha, rabbit hole for sure. Sitting on the bench, with the caliper taken apart in 2 pieces, the brake pads "piston" ought to be able to compress without having to open the bleeder, correct? The fluid should go back the way it came from. Anyway, how hard should it be to move the piston? Can you compress it by hand or do you need a C clamp like I did?

Might want to ask Cody if he had a few parts he wanted to slide in on the Old man!😂😂

Brake line is quite different than the bleed system. IMO go back and do it by having that bleeder open. You might be going down a rabbit hole here.

I can't recall anything like that on my ride, so no idea.

Opening the bleeder when the brakes are stuck will tell you if the problem is pressure in the caliper or something else. If there's pressure in the caliper you can work your way back to the the MC fitting by fitting. Or work your way down, from the MC. First you need to know if it's hydraulic pressure or just mechanical sticking.

Probably worthwhile to read the Brake Chapter. It's not long. Well-illustrated.

But, don't overlook the brake pressure warning switch. Or the NP valve. Can't remember the car. (https://www.classiczcars.com/settings/signature/) It can get gummed up also. Uploading Attachment... Uploading Attachment...