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Not too many Datsun people out here in northern Utah, I think the winter salt has killed most of the old Datsuns like it did to my 73. So I just go with the regular local hot rodders. But note how much room they give me when we parked in this cemetery! And I took low hand for $80 in the poker draw!

Afterthought: 2.5) Before finish painting the inside of the panels like doors, fenders and hood, I will mount the panels and ensure gaps are correct and make adjustments with welds etc beforehand. This way I can ensure gaps are correct before body blocking and sanding.

I think at the end of the day when I ask myself, why would I want to lighten the flywheel?, The answer is to get quicker revs, and a bit more responsiveness. But since I drive it pretty regularly, I'll need to strike a balance between stop and go drive ability and quick revs. it's definitely cheaper to keep it stock. I'll probably end up having the machine shop take it down to 20lbs and keep an Excedy OEM clutch and spend all my saved money on exhaust.

I cant get enough of the sound.... I wouldn't change anything on the flat tops as long as its running smooth I would care less of other peoples' opinions. maybe polish them I cant wait to get mine to this point

Check msa's ceramic coated header and the 2.5 premium exhaust. Seems like it was around $500 on Black Friday. Take those savings and buy some nice wheels and tires.

Thanks zspert. The support you gave me was a major factor in my car’s Gold Medallion success. There are few with your depth of knowledge and experience with respect to factory originality when talking about the Datsun 240z. The Z community will always benefit from your successes.

I went with Fidanza flywheel and Exedy clutch and pressure plate for a 280zx Turbo 2+2. Great pedal feel, never slipped under hard use and best of all i have a very revvy motor without slow speed driving issues. It took me 4 hours to do a 1:45 journey to Silverstone in stop/start traffic on Friday. No issues at all. You just have to learn to dial in 500 more rpm when pulling out of junctions but you soon get used to it.

spend it on the new style Fujitsubo one.

It's a performance modification, adding an extra head bolt. The PO is actually an expert in Z engines.

Well played......

IMO, I would stick with your stock clutch with your build....nothing stronger needed. I installed a Stage I Exedy Racing clutch in one of my Stroker Motors and replaced it with a stock 240mm clutch 1000 miles later (I run stock 240mm flywheels). It was a PITA to drive in town with the Stage I. You probably shouldn’t take your flywheel much below 20 lbs. and make sure you have someone reputable do the cut. I run stock 240mm flywheels (23 lbs.) in both of my Strokers and love em. You’ll get many opinions on flywheel weights and this is my humble opinion.

LOL. Well we have both been under your dash, so yes... We're even. Thanks again for checking so I didn't have to!

Yup!! There it is! Thanks much for the confirmation! So what you're saying is that I've got people who do that for me? Haha!!!

You must be in management CO, you made me crawl! ?. Note to self, Don't eat pasta and then get under the dash.....

Sad to say that I could not find it anywhere on my car. I searched under the passenger and drivers side dash and around the tail light area with not even a hint. I even looked for it on a photo from a 78' I did last summer, granted it was missing parts to begin with. The screws and patina look correct, but I have no recollection or idea where its would go. Sorry...

So Cool! Thank you!

It's a "knockoff", not actually made by Standard Motor Products. The eBay ad is a lie. The one on Rockauto shows a true manufacturer, Ultrapower. The eBay ad says SMP, but is false. Notice how they avoid defining "manufacturer" and instead use part number or brand. It's a con and eBay is enabling it.

Thanks for all the good advice. Time to get to work on it. I'll let you know how it went/what worked for me when I'm done.

Fast forward 11.5 years later!! This post still remains useful! My red dash break warning light issue turned out to be the relay under the passenger seat. Thanks!

Given that there wasn't a set way of doing it in the factory, all of it limited/chosen by human hand, there's no 'Right or wrong'.

Lots of good ideas here but they all say the transmission will probably need to be removed to find out. It's still not even clear that the gear shift lever moves. The OP hasn't described moving the lever. It might not even have a lever. Trans rebuilt, installed, key turned to Start car jumps, clutch pushed in car doesn't. That's all we really have. The only conclusion is "transmission stuck".

That looks like the right part but I think it's a scam like "New" alternators. It should be flagged as deceitful on eBay. Look at the words and compare it the real part on Rock Auto. https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?partnum=LX516

I use an OEM spec Exedy clutch with a real light aluminum flywheel in my 240. It was $100 from amazon.com, part number was 066009. Fun to drive as a weekend car. The tach needle bounces like a ping-pong ball but it is a pita just getting up and out of my driveway when I first get in it. After a few restarts I get used to it pretty quick. Humble opinion #2

OLD thread warning, but still relevant to those trying to fix. Using methods described above. Had all three break on one bucket, one on other. Worked great. The ABS glue I received was probably a little old because it was very thick. It worked to my advantage on this project because it steadied the bolts. Still had to do some occasional adjustments while it set up.

rebuilder thought is was a head bolt hole, and chased it.

Yeah, they all are. Good luck with that. Yes it's been repainted. With little regard to overspray.

Yeah, I was planning to measure the projection once I got further along with the head reassembly. Based on the valve lift number you posted from the FSM, it's close either way. But with a closed clearance of approx. .380, I guess it's easier to believe that all my valves stopped in a position where there was no collision. Still thinking about that five mile drive home with only half the cam spinning!!

My 73 240Z bought in July '73 came with the Toyo tires. Funny some things you remember!

The function of a balk ring is to "lightly" couple the input and output shaft. this lets the disconnected input shaft (clutch pedal down) match the speed of the output shaft for the gear that is "about" to be engaged by the shift fork. as the speed match up the gear dogs engage the hub, you get a smooth crunch free engagement. They are sort of like a small clutch between each gear change. My guess is something is wrong and a balk ring is not allowing free spinning on one of the gears while in neutral (all the balk rings should be fully disengaged in N). I don't know how this could be done during a reassembly, I do know the only place that was mentioned to be extra careful with respect to the 3rd/4th sychro hub. I am not sure if you could be put it the incorrect way and get the gear box together, but there was a warning in the FSM about direction.

Agree.

I spent a lot of time trying to find little things like the chrome piece around the door handle ends, and the little cup at the door latch on the bottom of the door. There are many parts out there but most don't fit right anymore. If the guy has all of the parts saved in boxes you might be fine. People often take their cars apart though, because they look like they're falling apart already. A vicious cycle... Just realized that I never knew how to spell vicious. Thank you spell-check redline.

The original tires size on all 240Zs is 175 SR 14. I still have my original spare Bridgestone RD150 in my '73 in that size . I believe that was the most common tire fitted although I've seen some reports that Toyo tires were fitted on some. That tire size translates to a 175/80 14 tire size today. When I went looking for Bridgestones in that size for the restoration to stock condition of my car, (see the thread "We're Bringin' Back the Flattops" on classiczcars.com) I discovered that Bridgestone no longer sells that size in the US. I think there may be some manufactures that sell that size in the US, but not from any Japanese brand. HOWEVER, Bridgestone does sell that size in Australia and Europe. (Bridgestone B330 Evo 175/80 S 14s) I found a seller on the UK eBay site that would ship them (from France!) and now have them fitted to my car. About $125 each, including shipping.

Nope, zip ties are too permanent for my style. I'm a velcro kind of guy. ?

Have I been working on your car...? Wait, I use zip-ties.... I guess not.

I also took some quick and dirty measurements on the distances between pistons and valves... The valves, when closed, are about .185 below the head bottom surface: And the dish depth on the pistons are about .115. Don't have a pic of that measurement, but it was like this with the caliper in the center of the piston: So... The bottom line is there is about .300 clearance plus the head gasket thickness between a closed valve and piston when the piston is at TDC. That distance may have saved me a whole lot of crunching. Also, assuming that valve opening distance is greater than .380-ish, I believe this confirms that the stock motor IS an interference design?

Well with the valves lapped into place, I know both the valve faces and the seats are consistent now. So even if the valves rotate, they should be fine. In fact, some cars, they try to rotate the valves on purpose. Is that not the case on the Z?

My guess would be a bracket that helps hold the passenger side finisher panel in place right above the passengers knees. Bolts to the bottom lip of the dash right below the glove box and the plastic finisher panel clips into it. That finisher panel is then screwed into place with a screw on each end for the final lock. I did not crawl inside my car to verify...

Well, don’t leave us hanging! Could you share some photos of your artwork?

I'd be glad to if he is interested. I hope mine has glass balls to! AlabamaDan, don't bust my balls.

Yeah, that seems like a high place to start

Please, one of you two send (lend) a set to The Capn' so he can start making more.

So I cleaned them again with Deoxit and got some more connectors while I was at it too. The oil pressure connector hadn't been cleaned before and I know that is part of the fuel cutoff so maybe that will help.

@Patcon Well, I did not want Cliff to feel special so a set are also going to you Charles. btw your's is the last set on Ebay. Cliff is Mr. Penultimate. DatsunDan in Alabama is sending them so they should get there soon!

From your photo. If your tangs are at this severe angle you'll have problems. That bent upwards tang will keep the float pushed up and no fuel will enter

Guys, Guys, Guys, don't over do it!!! I'm in the process of prepping what should be the next 240 Gold medallion car for the 2020 convention. Here's the way I apply the yellow to achieve the correct look. I buy a can of School Bus Yellow spray paint at Lowe's/Home Depot, brand not important. At the same time I buy 3-4 1 inch foam brushes. Spray the paint into the plastic can cap, dip the foam brush into the yellow and apply. Results aren't too neat and the paint is thin, just like Nissan did it. Very interesting discussion about the red trans marks. Absolutely not the same from car to car and not always red. My last restoration, 10/71 Red with white, had a multi color piece of art on top of the trans. Difficult to reproduce but I think I did that line worker justice. Unfortunately can't seem to be able to find the picture I can't be sure I took, damn! Oh Yeah, don't forget the blue assembly marks on the balance pipe freeze plugs. AND the blue dot on the 240 fuse link. Just scratched the surface of this topic and have created enough confusion for now. Cheers

Good guitar band @kats

I’m ready.

This just in: Hello Mark, Thank you reaching out to us. There’s a pallet of 280z dashes arriving this week. However, we are sold out for a month and expecting to have some in stock as early as September. So all of you on the wait list with deposits or prepaid should be getting your dash soon!

I once "borrowed" a box of black hair dye to freshen up a set of cargo straps for a 240z, never heard a word about it, couldn't be me my hair hasn't been black for years. The cargo straps looked fantastic.