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Just putting my head around the door to tip my hat at the big 51.

It's all reinstalled and working properly! Put it everything back in the door yesterday, but didn't have the opportunity to takes pictures until today. I believe the smudge you can see on the window is from excess grease - not a scratch. Thanks everybody!

That sag is on all four sides of four screw carb isolators. I believe it was intentional as the sag looks the same on all four. Three screw carb isolators are flat on three sides and a different shape on the bottom for the water passage.

LS Fest in Bowling Green

Also the shape of the S30 Z cars requires that all of the seals on the rear half of the car be in good shape or your gonna get lots of fumes

Got the new seat upholstery installed. Also added the brake booster and master cylinder. Got the new exhaust system installed along with a few more hoses and interior parts. Also picked up the cowl and fuel door from Miguel. Fenders and hood will be ready in two weeks.

@One Way, I think I have a unicorn you might be interested in. Back when I had my 280z it was missing the D/S hood vent drip pan so when I was at our local Z clubs swapmeet I picked up a pan for my car. When I got it home I could not figure out how to mount it, it wouldn't fit, it was then that I realized that some clever guy had made an identical pan for the passenger side. Here it is, it's very well done. It is useless to me as I don't own that car anymore, it's all yours for the price of shipping.

What I’ve learned from all I’ve read, in what I hope is a succinct way is that: 1. ZDDP - is important in the correct amount as it creates a “sacrificial” layer for our non-roller cams and reduces wear on big end bearings. Others argue that modern lubricants are so much better than what was available in the 70s and you don’t really need it. I have read that it’s particularly important on modified engines with stronger than stock valve springs causing greater friction between the fam and rocker surfaces. I personally err on the side of caution and would rather have ZDDP mixed in the correct proportions by oils manufacturers - apparently too much has a detrimental effect too. 2. Engine seal swells - The old reasons for damaging engine seals seem to be dispatched with: the first set of synthetics in the 70s were at fault and are no longer an issue / modern synthetics don’t affect it. Others say that the new plastics / rubbers used in rebuilt engines aren’t affected the same way. I guess I can buy both. 3. Oil weight - You can lose up to 5% bhp on the thicker oils such as 20w50. I personally like the 10w30 millers. Having said that, there is a classic racing oil I have in right now that I can’t remember the name of. Lower winter / cold rating better for startup protection; lower summer rating improves flow and reduces drag. Some worry that the tolerances of our engines are too loose for thinner oils but others contend that engines properly rebuilt with 21st century tech are able to take it. My personal experience has been that on the dyno we saw a small difference in oil drag - but I can’t recall the exact percent the tuner quoted. 4. Diesel engine oils - some contend that the detergents in diesel oils are designed to suspend combustion deposits / particles for longer in the oil and are bad for gumming up your engine, others swear by it. 5. Intervals - A pattern of consensus appears across various Z related discussions that we should change our oil every 3k miles and filters every 6k. My oil is done annually so it’s closer to 800-1000 miles but the filter is always changed (they are cheap enough). Running an oil catch tank, it’s amazing the sulphur smells that can come from the juice / gasses inside it. All of these combustion by-products are sitting in your oil in the sump in the winter and being pumped about when you run your car. Also there is the argument that over time, the polymers in the oil are broken down by these by-products. This is why on my diesel Q5 i use long life oil but change it annually at around 8k-9k miles. Long life servicing by the PO caused the turbo oil feed pipe to gum up and killed the turbo (new turbo for free by Audi well outside of warranty - they only charged me for an oil change, what a way to gain a lifetime of my loyalty)! Interestingly, many modern engines are designed with loose cylinder tolerances (read designed to consume oil) to reduce parasitic losses for the purpose of improving fuel economy and use the oil to achieve a good seal - also interesting to note that these same engines use 5w30 and not the thicker oils! I think that covers what I’ve learned to date. Would be interesting to know what your go to oils are and why you like them. (Apologies for any typos, my eyes aren’t fully focussing today and my autocorrect is a little too keen for my licking!)

First, let me comment that those carbs and manifolds are true automotive jewelry - absolutely stunning! Your mention of the fuel rail caught my attention so here are a few observations. The supply nozzle positions for the flat-tops are substantially different than for round-tops so I recommend you get a fuel rail from a '70-72 model car - the pic is a Series 2 style from the later '71's and 72's. The rail is longer and correctly positions the nozzles for the feed to the floats. As @Patcon mentioned, the asbestos wrap is a big caution. They put it on the '72's and later, carbed and injected. It has an adhesive that will have melted around everything, expect to find significant corrosion under it. Also, the wrap contributes to deterioration of the nylon insulators for the mounting tangs. I've restored quite a few of these rails and faced all of these issues. Jim

Stop worrying so much, those are not areas famous for rusting out.

Perhaps the comparable key points can be limited to lubrication/wear, deposits, replacement interval, seal interaction, and costs.

That bodywork. Racer wants.

A chap here tuned nearly the same engine so perhaps we can compare your set up to his to see if there are significant differences. If the smell of gas is from the car then you may have the same issue with EFI. There are a few gas hoses that pass through the cabin that age and release fumes. We can guide you though checking. The DCOE carbs also have fuel bowls vented through the air filters so that can easily fume out a garage where you store the car. An air box may reduce that smell.

Wow wow wow... I haven't thought about that movie in forever! I've seen it a bunch times, but unfortunately don't remember any good lines or situations. All I remember is a dead guy and one guy was very afraid to drive a certain color car. Yellow maybe? Red? Saw himself in a mirror on the highway? @Pilgrim, I just watched that clip you posted. I remembered it as it played. That was excellent! Disappointed I didn't remember that without the hint.

Waiting on a part for the waste oil furnace. A transformer that makes the spark for igniting the oil, 120 volts in, 10,000 volts out. Well, when it works like it should. Mine doesn't, and the package guy will have a new one here next week. So I got a wild hair and decided to rearrange the shop a bit, do some cleaning. I cleared a path, and dragged HLS305957, build date 6/70 out and assess its condition. Managed to get it out and have a cursory look, but need to move all the stuff into the slot it was in and then free up the right rear brake so I can roll it up on the lift. I got this car not long after the race Z and the brown 72. A friend of a friend connected me with a guy who was under threat of divorce if he didn't clean house. I can't remember if I got it free, or paid a couple hundred bucks for it. It was last registered 1991. The original color was yellow, and it has those stupid dealer installed rub rails on the sides. One of the previous owners changed it to red. It was later painted red oxide primer, the badges removed (why didn't they take off those stupid rub rails?), and an attempt was made to graft the headlight buckets to the fenders. The front marker/turnsignal assemblies are missing, and someone has gotten creative and uses stainless lockwire (like is used to secure assemblies in aircraft) to suspend the bulbs in the middle of the openings. The bumpers are trashed, the rear looking like someone had a trailer hitch on it at one time. I'll get some pictures up, after I get the shop cleaned back up, and the brake freed up. OK, lunch is over, back out to the shop.

At :45 seconds

What about when trashes the car and he says "$500? Seems a little steep to me" I love that movie too!

1&6 fuel in 2&7 float vents to air cleaner 3&5 coolant lines 4 vacuum line to brake booster 8 positive crankcase ventilation

Try googling "cylinder head rebuild service" in your country. They are very common in the States. They would make it like new for cheaper than buying another one. Actually if you find one close by they could fix yours without removing it, possibly? I would think there's a way they could test your questions on bad seals or guides etc. maybe just by pulling the valve cover off and visually looking around. If you have a damaged seal someone with experience could tell by viewing it.

New valve seals and checking guide wear would be my next step. It's possible the #4 seal was damaged when it was installed.

Alan - were there no Zs of any form raced in Japan before 1970 ? https://www.racingsportscars.com/races/search.html?coun=J&year=1969 https://www.racingsportscars.com/races/search.html?coun=J&year=1970 Might the two cars in the photo : red no.8 and blue no.19 be invitational entries at...Fuji - testing ? They're certainly up against and apparently well-placed on the grid against some very serious competition.

Other than pin lubricant, and insuring the pin slides in easily before attempting the re-install, the secret is a way to rotate the pin easily back and forth while you gently push the lock pin into place. It only fits correctly with the pin rotated "just so" making it very tempting to use too much hammer to get that pin to seat. I use a pair of thin M12x1.25 nuts that I lock together back to back on one end of the pin. Then I can put a vise grip on one of them and wiggle/rotate to my hearts content with one hand as I push the lock pin home. I find the pin is never "loose" by any stretch so it takes a bit of force to rotate and push/pull so having a firm nut/pair and vice grip gives you the torque to move it to just the right spot. Here is the result of the last pin pull last week. Yanked the threads right off of both ends of one pin, cut it off then used the air chisel on the middle bit. Popped right out. After that, didn't bother with the other (both of my spindle pin threaded rods now have pin threads stuck in them, humph....) just cut and air chiseled. Both pins where rusted solid into the steel bushings inside the stupid fancy poly bushings that were installed years ago without lube.... All the pin ends are still nicely bonded to the bushing tubes. All four. The lock pin area was clean as a whistle.