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Hi Kats:I think #2 and #3 are correct. No question that Executives in Japan wanted the S20 for the Sports Car in Japan as Mr. Uemura reports. Mr. Matsuo however tells us that as well in his Z Car Story, only Mr Matsuo reports that Mr. K wanted the L24 for America - so Mr. Matsuo ask what 2.0 liter engine would be used for Japan, and was told to use the S20. So before the Z left the styling studio - it was designed to hold both 6cylinder engines. Then is was up to the Vehicle Development Dept. to figure out how and get it done. Mr. Matsuo writes: = = Quote = = "A Prototype Based On 'Plan A' From 1967, work began in earnest producing full-sized clays based on the Plan A proposal. One of the key Z styling features evolved during this period, namely the "sugar scoop" headlights. The SAE regulations stated they should be 60cm from the ground, but plastic covers were not allowed in America at the time. However, we offered the latter item as an option in Japan. The final clay we produced was very close to the ultimate shape of the Z. Although the body was still a touch narrow, the roofline a little too high, the bonnet much too low to accept the six-cylinder L24 engine, and there remained a lot of detailing to do around the windows and tail-end, I was basically happy with the result By coincidence, at the time of its completion, Mr Katayama was back in Japan to see the 5I0 before It was launched. During his visit, he asked to see the next generation sports car, so we lined up the various clays (including the early ones depicting convertibles), and his eyes went ~- straight to the last one we had built. He said this was just what he needed in America. With Mr Katayama's support, the project finally started to progress and the engineering department became involved. Eventually, by the early Autumn of 1967, we had produced a glassfiber prototype. It was allocated the 'Z' designation (an appellation that would stay with the car throughout its production life). However, when the technical staff arrived to discuss the project, we found a number of problems. Mr Katayama had requested the 2.4 liter L24 power-plant, while the Japanese market had exorbitant taxes on vehicles over 2,000cc. Nissan had just taken over the Prince concern, and we were told to use their two-liter S20 twin-cam unit (this eventually became the famous Z432 model, incidentally). These powerful engines would require a stronger transmission. and the automatic version of the L24-equipped model required a much wider transmission tunnel: this in turn led to a reduction in interior space, so the only solution left open to us was to increase the width of the body. At the same time, the bonnet height had to be altered to accommodate the engines, and the roofline was adjusted to suit. = = end quote = = Mr Uemura tells us that indeed the Z Car was styled first - then the engineering was done - the opposite of the normal vehicle development process. So both the L24 and the S20 for Japan were Executive Management decisions. Mr. K was part of Nissan’s Executive Management team - indeed he was President of Nissan Motor Co. in USA. The English language version is easy to get - just order it on-line. http://www.lulu.com/shop/hitoshi-uemura/datsun-240z-engineering-development/paperback/product-22879948.html FWIW, Carl B.

Many thanks to the artist formerly known as Blue!

Now if only the weather in Texas would cool down!!!

I put a donut spare in my '75Z. I bought it on eBay last year for $49 + shipping. It appears to be unused. Its size is 125/70/16 and it's from a 2012 Nissan Sentra. I weighed it on my bathroom scale...26.2 lbs. I also checked the weight of my new Panasport Z-lite wheels (16x7) with Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires (205/55/16)...39.0 lbs.

I used to boil mine in a balloon

Cool idea

UK/European S13 and S14 200sx have Fs5w71c gearboxes too.

It is hard to find any good 14" tires today - - however a Goodrich Radial T/A in 195/70R14 would be fine with me. HOWEVER - a) There seems to be ONLY 1 for sale... and you might never find 3 more to match b) with any tires on line - you need to ask/verify that the Date Of Manufacture on that tire is current (within the past 12months). You don't want to pay retail for tire that has been sitting in a warehouse for the past 5 years. Carl B.

You were right.... It was still early. This ones better. .

Some people have used chrome tape to refinish the chrome strip on the door card. I believe, trying to remove the chrome strip off the door card will ruin the vinyl

Here's more detail on the 240SX option. Many people have done it. It's fairly simple. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/240sxtransmissioninstall/index.html http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/240SX5spd/transmission.htm

Yeah, not thrilled about the tensioner position with the .047 shave. Slotting might fix that but I was surprised how much the tensioner has to come out to remove that slack

That's the dumbest thing I've said today but it's still really early... Captain you have a P79 already, not an MN47. Phillip was talking about square exhaust ports. Sorry! Back to the Salt Mines for me. ?

Yeah, that .047 difference really changed the position of the tensioner. However, forgot to mention... The chain guides and tensioner shoe are worn in that pic. If they were new unworn, it wouldn't be quite so bad. I can also slot the slack side guide holes a little to bring it in closer to the chain. I'm thinking that my sweet spot of "low hanging fruit" could be about .040 off the head, get new chain guides and tensioner shoe and slot the bottom hole of the slack side guide a little bit.

That's exactly what I'm trying to do with this P79. I'm trying to achieve the "best bang for the buck" and pick the low hanging fruit. I'm trying to get through this without having to use shims under everything or put in some fancy aftermarket chain tensioner. I would like the piece of mind that I could run a tank of regular gas through it if I needed to without detonating. I'm not sure that would be possible with the common .080 shave off the P79 since that sends the compression ratio up to over 10:1 What I would really like to do is shave the P79 as far as I can and still be able to use the stock tensioner, no shims, and regular gas. In other words, I want as much of a performance gain I can without the next level of modifications. With that in mind, I did this... I measured the thickness of the head gasket I took off the motor. It came out to be about .047: Then I put the head back on the motor WITH NO HEAD GASKET and tightened the bolts just a little. I put the timing chain in place so I could see what that would do to the tensioner. The theory is.... This is what the chain tensioner would look like if you were to shave .047 off the head. With the head gasket missing, the head is about .047 closer to the block, simulating a .047 shave off the head. So with the head gasket installed, the chain system looks like this: Here's a close-up of the tensioner with a normal head gasket installed: And here's what the chain system looks like when there is no head gasket installed: And here's a close-up of the tensioner with a .047 shave off the head (simulated by putting the head on with no head gasket): How does that tensioner look to the collective? I'm not thrilled. I think maybe a .040 cut would be safer. What say ye?

That's a stock Nissan cam. Not a regrind. You might check and adjust the valves while you have the cover off, but other than that, move on. Fix your fuel pressure and get your PCV routing correct.

Sorry, I forgot to update this thread. The new alternator I swapped out from oreilly's has been in for about a month and a half and everything is now perfect. Thanks gang!

Thanks @Zed Head. Given what you're saying, it doesn't sound like the cam is of utmost concern at this point and I should concentrate on other areas. I'm going to order a Fuel Pressure Regulator, test some of the other things you guys have pointed me to and wait for the results of having the injectors flow tested.

This just popped in to my head - some grinders use blanks to make their high performance cams. So they could keep the stock base circle. They only need to cut the base circle down if they regrind a factory cam. Looks like Schneider does either. http://schneidercams.com/dastsunL6_NA.aspx Your measurements imply about a 7 mm lift, 0.28". I think that Nissan rocker arms are either 1.5 or 1.6 ratio. So you'd be at 0.42 to 0.45" valve lift. Even with measurement error, that's not going to be a high lift cam. Cam timing is important though and that might be where any performance improvements come from. So it might be a Schneider cam, moving the RPM range for power, but it's not one of their super-duper cams, like the 300F.

Uh-oh looks like I snagged a photo without paying the royalty fee. ? Your .0296 cents is in the mail. I bet a lot of the google images are from this and other forums.

What broke? That might be a clue to how a 4 speed will do. You could use the front case/bellhousing from your 5 speed to convert a 240SX 71C 5 speed. Wider/stronger gears and bigger countershaft bearing on the later models.

Standard wrenches really aren't up to the job. Even flare nut wrenches won't do it sometimes.

Also were you using flare nut wrenches to start with? If not, you will fail 90% of the time. Brake flare nuts are soft. So they are easily destroyed or damaged

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1075717242637434&set=oa.858685007865587&type=3&theater