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With the rust in the roof and the patched-up floorboards - given the last two or thee months of market pricing - I was surprised it sold for over $18K.

I'm always shocked when I see a seemingly nice Z with lights installed backwards. It tells me that the owner/restoration shop doesn't know Z cars very well. What else did they do half-arse?

The cross hatch angle should be around 30 degrees. I still see vertical scratches in the bores too. You mention the bores are still 86mm. What is the difference, from a measurment inline with the crank, and at 90 degrees to it? Be sure to also measure near the top, halfway down, and at the bottom of the stroke. You will find a difference, in diameters, and at each of the three locations from top to bottom. There is a specification for the amount of elongation of the diameter, and the taper from top to bottom. Check the service manual. The cylinder block deck still looks pretty rough, and would need cleaned up prior to installing the cylinder head. Have you measured it for flatness? I believe the allowance is something like 0.003". How about the cylinder head? If the lower end is an indicator, the head will need work as well. As Zed mentions, how many times do you want to pull the engine and disassemble it, and how much money do you want to spend before deciding that a proper rebuild would have been the better way to go initially?

3D printing gets a bad rap sometimes because the designer had no idea how to design the part to be 3D printed. Done correctly it is an amazing tool that is capable of making many intricate parts that can't be made conventionally. We use it a lot for aerospace and automotive components, material choice is critical and also print orientation to ensure the correct load profiles. We use FEA analysis and optimization software to get the strongest parts possible.

Sorry but i smiled behind my hand.. when you sayd that the diameter was still 86mm.. It would be shocking if it wasn't! Normally you shoud measure it in 1/100 mm i've seen (Swiss made) parts that were made on 1/1000 of a mm! (NOT of inches!) My bet is that the 300$ are gonna be as i call "learning money" and there is nothing wrong with that, but be prepared to pull the engine again.. Those proffesional engine builders.. most know what they are talking about and your engine has a LOT of miles on it. so it really needs a rebore. As for the crank.. it can be as shiney as a new chrome part, but that tells me nothing. Use a micrometer to test it. And look in a service man. what it should be.. (And you have a good chance you find out that the crank also needs a new surface and new bearings.) Yes i know i'm a bit harsh (i learn't that us Dutchies are a bit directer than you americans.. 😉 ) but it's now that you could save yourself 300+ dollars and a lot of unneccessary work 😮 (Think of all those bolts that have to be unscrewed and screwed on again.) I never said it's a cheap hobby...

This 72 BRE tribute sold for $28,200. Odd things, cars like this. Under the hood it has tubing like the race car had, a continuation of the roll cage and chassis stiffening structure, but it looks only cosmetic. There is no cage structure in the cabin, which looks completely stock. It also lacks a strut tower bar. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-240z-277/

Did you guys use a ball hone? Looks scrapey. The angle seems shallow like it wasn't moved up and down fast enough. Not an expert. You can still see the scratches. Don't have the experience to say if it will seal well with the scratches but it doesn't look ideal. I think that you're on the edge of "go cheap and hope" or spend the money and do it "right"? If you have the means of tearing it down again easily, I'd probably just put some new rings in it and see what happens. If you have limited space and time maybe you should spend the money and make sure it's right. It's a dilemma. Another way to describe it - if you like working on it do the rings and take a chance, if you like driving it spend the extra money on an overbore.

I got a message from Rockauto about a huge jobber outlet selling off a lot of S30 parts and more ? . . .https://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1209204&m=wc&l=en&html=true

The new owner just sent me this pic from the race track, look at the G's it's pulling.

That aught to be a quiet car with all that sound mat! I love the idea of a quiet Z...

A little late, but I am sending a couple of pics for reference anyway. Nice work on your solution.

Bingo! Had an old pice of angle iron and lucked into an odd shape that worked perfectly. I thought I'd be bending for 20 mins but only second attempt. First attempt was an L and there just wasn't enough clearance for the wingnut. This must have been an extra father's day gift cause I never expected it to be so easy lol. Finished work.

And there she goes to a new home, I'll still get to see it few times each summer which is good but I don't mind telling you I shed a little tear as she left.

To change the subject a bit - Had a 280 recently sold on BAT towed to my shop for a once over for the new owner. The car has very low mileage. It almost goes without saying that the rear brakes were frozen. Got the right rear wheel off and discovered this "modification" had been done to the fuel pump. As these cars age I see more and more generations of butchers plying their trade but this is a new one on me!. Now, what was he trying to address with this trick? Cheers