Leaderboard

Fisheye lens has the rear muffler angle distorted, was the only way I could capture the whole system under the lift. In "normal" perspective, it is perfectly parallel to the chassis. Muffler is also an excellent copy of the original, in OD and length. Reverse wheel thingy - perhaps the spare wheel well? There's a good 3/4" - 1" gap between the muffler and spare wheel well. No hard contacts at all.

I've had leaks on several various headers and I've always retorqued cold. I've had the best luck replacing the studs and nuts to get a perfect inside to outside tightening pattern just like head bolts.

The floor pan repairs look kind of shoddy...IMHO.

Except water. Haha!!

Factory tool kit back in its original home. Pretty cool the inventory list was still in the bag!

I do love qualitative claims. One of my favorites is "water-resistant". Everything is water-resistant - for a while.😁

Red on(in?) white 72. A "survivor" by my standards. Looks pretty good. Very little salt used over here and when it is it gets washed away by gallons of roadspray pretty quickly. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-205/

Well I believe I found the corporate. Looks like the Green/Blue wire got so hot it may have unsoldered itself from the combo switch. It looks a little dark around the area. Do you think it will work if I just solder it back on?

Along with pulling all the plugs, I open the throttle all the way during the test.

Here are a couple links. Scroll through the first to see more on the Griffith where it mentions a lighted opening rear trunk and where the chassis strengthening is located. The second link is an earlier discussion on this forum. http://datsunforum.com/the-datsun-z-as-a-roadster-a-background-and-history/

There you have it! Thanks Chuck for the kind words, didn't realize you were on this forum🙂 You all have been a great deal of help. Can't wait to rip the Z around town!

Got the Z back from the exhaust shop last week. Guys did a great job on the system, very happy with the final results. With that complete, I was able to dial in the carbs and get a few miles on the Z as we complete the shake down process. Being 50 years old I am amazed how tight and smooth this Z is cruising down the road. Much nicer of a ride than my "survivor" '72.

Nope, just stuck in the replacements (I felt I'd gone through all other options), fired it up, and watched the AFR's. AFR came back inline immediately so I heaved a huge sigh of relief. We had already checked every other part of the EFI. With the injectors all looking new(ish) and the nasty end of the plugs all looking the same, I didn't suspect injectors.

Am.. i.. gonna say... something about it... I don't think they did a good job.. the damper is to long and had to be installed on a angle and... and.. now it hits the bottom of the car.. (at least it looks like it's on a angle?) Does the exhaust not make a clunking noise against the reserve wheel thingy... whatever it's called.. ? 🙄 Your car has become a beautyful car and now there is a crummy exhaust under there..(sorry again but i took a day and ask myself if i had to say this and yes...... i sayd it.. 🙊)

I haven't finished designing that. I have a plug & play in my mind's eye, but I need an intact 78 or 77 to study and test with.

Other things to consider: LED bulbs would put less strain on the circuit. Check the side markers for corrosion. The front ones especially are subject to water infiltration and corrosion. Rebuild the headlight switch and clean the contacts.

I don't recall ever talking about those or seeing them with either David, or Tom Howen, his friend and driver. Tom was the car builder, engine builder, etc. Dave sold Datsun Competition Parts and Cosworth pistons and other brands of racing parts. He possessed all of the knowledge from their efforts, and he provided the financial backing for their direct racing efforts. I believe there were some reliability issues with the roller rockers, and I also remember hearing that weight was a problem, but I don't recall if I got that info from either Dave or Tom directly. I worked in Tom's Shop for the summer of 89. It was neat to see a lot of the work being done and learn some from the depths of knowledge they had acquired.

I've noticed a "tick" on my 280 with a 6 to 1 header. Got my hose stethoscope and found the area is under the flange between #2 & #3. My question, should I try tightening the nuts while the motor is cold or hot? You guys know more about the science of metal microstructure than me so please advise. Thanks for any replies. Cliff

12.45V is just fine. As for keeping it cool, I suggest ice cubes. However, if you don't like the wet spots on your pants from the ice melting, you could rig up a small can of R134 and open the valve a little every now and then. Seriously though... That desoldered wire is obviously the result of a fault somewhere generating way too much heat. The issue is if you haven't figured out what the original fault was, there's the risk that it happens again. My first guess would be failing burned up switch contacts inside that switch you pictured. I don't want you to put it back together now and then just have it happen again in a couple weeks.

Well THAT doesn't look right! Haha! Couple thoughts. First, before you bother to reconnect that green/blue wire, have you verified that wire actually has the correct battery voltage on it? Should have 12V on it when measured to chassis ground. And second... If that wire got so hot that it desoldered itself before, do you know why? And if so, have you changed something to prevent it from getting that hot again?

To the original poster (OP), I offer my opinion. I only have experience with Mikuni 44's... so stating that up front. David Weber of Malvern Racing (long dead, but was a friend of mine when I was a young kid) told me that Mikuni 44's are the best carb for Datsuns. He didn't care for any Webber variant and the 40's were no good either in his opinion. I was 18, and running a 2.3L stroker motor in my 510. Know that there are many variables in engine building and you can get lost in them. That said, don't. Rebuild the 44's you have. Match the intake side ports of the manifold to the carbs outlet if you wish, or don't. Not an issue for a street car. Taper from intake inlet to head side should be gradual, but for a street car, again, it doesn't really matter. Do source RUBBER carb isolators. Dave said the others are trash, and Mikuni's won't operate properly if the fuel is bouncing around inside the carbs. Mikuni's can be tuned for street without issue. I was running 40mm chokes on the 510, and it was totally streetable with a 490/290 cam. It was my car in college. Lotsa fun. Separately, I have run 44's on my 240z as well. 2.933L technically because sonic bore testing wouldn't allow me to go past 88.5 on the bore. Narly cam, still totally streetable. Lots of fun. The crazy loud wine is a Kameari chain tensioner which I may have had a bit tight.

Ya, we pulled the injectors and fuel rail and used the ECU. I suspected a few clogged injectors (I knew that they were all opening or at least "clicking") but when they all fired properly and filled the graduated cylinders equally, it obviously wasn't that. The injectors on his engine look relatively new - green top hose type - but they need to be flow tested on a real bench and perhaps resized. The ultra lean condition immediately disappeared when I installed some "known value" injectors. Young Kurtz has done an great job with help and advice from you guys! His undercarriage looks amazing and he has accomplished a great deal. We're going to finish up a little engine work for him and he'll have a nice 280Z to cruise around in.

Sakura Garage is @cgsheen1 and his son, I believe. No surprise that they figured things out. Might be that the problem was an opening and closing issue. The flow test was probably just wide open. The rig for pulsed testing is kind of spendy and more complex. I wonder if the "bad" injectors were original or aftermarket.

Here is a thread where I was asking for previous experience and thoughts on a .480/274 cam with stock fuel injection. People with a great deal of knowledge suggested that I would be disappointed with the results. I ended up installing a .460 lift cam on a .080 shaved P79 head with DSI lightened flat top pistons. I went for Zcardepot's FAST EFI system. It's nowhere near as tunable as Megasquirt or Haltech, but it works just fine for my application. The car runs beautifully. Didn't even bother seeing what would happen if i tried to run the stock FI. https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/63898-lift-480-480-duration-274274-cam-with-oe-fuel-injection/

Pages BE-13 and BE-15 in the FSM cover these circuits. Common points of failure are the fuse box, the steering column connector connector where the green/blue and green/white wires pass between the dash harness and combo switch, and the combo switch. Unplug the steering column connector and check for voltage to ground at the green/blue wire on the dash harness side. It should always have battery voltage. Also examine the connector carefully for signs that it has overheated. I've seen many meltdowns at this connector. If you don't have voltage to ground, go back to the fuse box and test the voltage to ground on both sides of the fuse. The loose wires in the first photo are for the key buzzer. I'm not exactly sure where the second photo was taken, so I can't give an answer on those wires.

You have way more skills than i do, we all know that, going that deep. I can't even imagine how I would get the flange that hot then back on a cold head without pulling the whole left side off. "Take my wife from me please". I'm thinking the ambient temp aluminum head's threads will allow me a bit more tightening down. I'm sure it'll do it again sooner or later but I may go with 2 gaskets? Zcardepot.com has the copper diamond ports with injector holes I could probably Dremel out to match the square ports on my N42. Uh...I'm not so sure that's doable now after seeing how close I'd be to the stud holes. Oh well Yellowstone season premire in a minute. Time to veg and watch the Duttons raise hell.

Nothing too scientific but I'd try torquing it with no gasket, the engine cold and the flange hot (below 1000 f, dull dark red). Torque the leaking area first and then the rest. Keep checking the torque in the leak area as the flange cools. Then remove the manifold, install the gasket and retorque.

I'm gonna try cold. I damn sure don't want to replace the gasket. I can only hear it with the hood open and idiling. My anxiety can't get any worse so I'll live with it if I have to.

I have a tick on my MSA 3-2 headers the paintable type between port 4-5 tried a bunch of different gaskets they always end up blowing out over time. I retighten cold but I just deal with it I guess I could get the header flange resurfaced

I'm sure someone will chime in with a more scientific response, but I remember reading that you are supposed to re-torque the exhaust hardware after a few heat cycles..which I have interpreted as cold. I believe I have the cheaper version of the same header as you...the MSA paintable 6 to 1(non coated). I have the same tick, and it gets a little louder when the car is at normal operating temperature. I will contend, however, that I did "lightly" drop the header last year when I had the engine out of the car, so I'm sure my tick is self inflicted. I have replaced the OEM exhaust hardware with studs from MSA, and I have indeed tightened them while hot...but certainly not very much tighter than they were. It made the tick only barely less noticeable, and preceded go back to the same noise level after another long drive..but again, I probably have a small fracture. So cold is probably safest, hot is ok as long as you are careful not to put too much pressure on your wrist torque wrench.

Want a second shot at a 2000GT??? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-toyota-2000gt-2/

Nice Toyota 2000GT, but another white beauty with a 5-speed has caught my fancy 😉

Such a waste, in the future parts will be hard to find. Theres many good parts on that Z that could be used on a restoration still.

Here's a nice custom, " professionally installed" https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/oshawa-durham-region/1973-datsun-z-series/m2551289?undefined

So this car isn’t technically for sale but the owner said he’d take $400. It’s has a complete L28 and manual transmission. Most of the parts are still there. I saved it from its demise just by chance. I haven’t been to this yard in 4 months and he’s got all sorts of old cars. Had three 280s, a 240 and a 2+2. He’s was crushing the 280s and keeping the 240 and 2+2. I just happened to walk up to this one when the auto grim reaper approached. I told him “don’t crush this car”. He had already smashed a decent 78’. He said go talk to the owner. Owner didn’t care either way. I think I convinced him to keep it. Here’s the video I took. If I arrived 5 mins later this puppy was going to be tuned in to Tuna Cans and paper clips. I did mange to grab some parts. ECU, fan shroud, cold start injector, condenser, a quartz clock some other odds and ends. $30 total Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The sellers picture taking skills are impeccable!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-Datsun-Z-Series-/324840608189?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 Another sweet convertible. Hard to resist hitting the Buy now button

Another in my neck of the woods. I may have even raced against this car a time or three. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-196/