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How about a bad valve seal? And, the oil rings scrape oil, the compression rings create pressure. You can have a bad oil ring with good compression rings. A possibility. This is an old California Datsun engine, maybe Datsun Parts LLC. Quality was suspected from the start. I'd put that hotter plug in and just drive it.

Lucky it came off easily. I wonder how it would look if you cleaned off the residue and buffed it. You might be able to hold off paint for a while by doing that? You could say it was a custom pin stripe from the PO ?.

@CanTechZ Good news: Was the adhesive moulding and came off without a hitch. ? Bad News, whem the PO repainted the car, they just left the moulding on. So will need to repaint the doors at some point. But either way, this is way better than welding up screw holes. Also, I know its not original but the 302 silver looks a lot more exciting with some metal flake in it.

A Uni-Syn is a great tool for balancing SUs. I still have my 47 year old original one that I bought for my first adventure in tuning SUs. It still works great.

Hi all, Just a follow up on my build I had @grannyknot over today helping install the L28 and the install went great despite spending most of the time looking for the correct hardware ? thanks for your patience @grannyknot Looks like I will need to purchase a new pertronix igniter kit as some how the previous owner decided to cut the main wires that feed the igniter.

I pushed a length of string trimmer line through the metal gas line with a length of kitchen cord taped to it, then put aside the trimmer line and tie a piece of rag onto the end of the cord, spray the rag down with brake cleaner and pull it through, you won't believe what comes out. If the cord breaks and the rag gets stuck heat the gas line from outside until the rag burns up and blow the ashes out with compressed air then start over, you will want to do it a couple of times. This is all just a feel good exercise but it does clean some crap out.

I have the same isolator on my car and that clamp/fitting is unused.

Haha! Probably took a lot of testing and revising to get that just right! So you don't have that 77 style hatch? I knew the UK stopped engine sizes and carb evolution with the 260, but I thought the rest of the car was the same as the US. So your entire car, body stampings, electrical, all that? All that stagnated* in 1974 and held through until 79? * Not intended to be derogatory. Used for description only.

My race car is right around 200 HP at the crank and I built it as cheap as possible. I started with an '82 F54 block/P79 head. I got a great deal from a friend and only paid $500 for the engine (with matchbox distributor), 5 speed trans and 3.90 diff. I had the machine shop measure and clean everything, hone the block, polish the crank, install new freeze plugs, do a valve job and mill the head 0.050". My machine shop bill was about $500 and the bearings, rings, gaskets, oil pump, water pump, timing set, head studs, etc. were another $750 ish. I already had an old header and the cam, rockers, springs, and lash pads, though if I had to buy new, they would have been about $700 more for all that. The crank damper is between $150 for a rebuilt stock and $600 for a BHJ. Finally, I had good SU carbs, intake and air cleaner housing, but that's another $500 if you need to buy a good set of rebuilt ones. I didn't need pistons, but that's another $250 minimum if needed. I added another $225 to get the flywheel lightened and $125 for a clutch. Throw in another $200 for misc stuff like belts, hoses, plugs, thermostat, air filter, etc. etc. and you will be at roughly $3,000 minimum if you already have a good engine to start with and don't buy a fancy damper or lighten the flywheel. Obviously, if you already have good carbs, it's a bit cheaper. I have built dozens of Z motors, so I only had to pay for the machining and I didn't go overboard on any component. I'm not saying you can't make 200 HP cheaper, but you would need to already have a vast stash of parts which I'm guessing you don't have and you'd have to cut back on some pretty important items like oil pump, water pump and crank damper. If you start with a N42 block/N42 or N47 head, you can make the same power, but you will need flat top pistons and then the head isn't as knock resistant as the P79 or P90. If you shave a P79 or P90 head, most people choose to change the valves and shim the cam towers. I did not go that direction which saved money. I modified the cam gear and chain guides. Good luck with whatever you decide to build!

Thanks for the idea Mark. I'm having trouble sleeping these past few weeks so I decided to mix up a warm nightcap of Pine sol topped off with some whipped oven cleaner. Having a hard time finishing this post, getting very slee