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I got the exhaust finished this morning. Went with 2.25" pipe to keep a little bit of the low end torque. Plus this car will likely never have side draft carbs, bigger cam, Robello, etc. Used the Magnaflow 10425 in the middle, with a V-band clamp behind it. I was going to use an oval turbo style at the rear, but the guy talked me into using a 6 inch round 14" long MagnaFlow 12615 instead. Said it would be a little quieter and wouldn't have to mount it at a weird angle. They didn't have much of a selection for old school tailpipes, but ended up with this stainless tip, which they found in their old stock. And no U-shaped clamp showing out the back. 👍 It sounds awesome! Not a tinny sound, but deeper. Pretty loud at the high end, but pleasantly quiet at cruising speed while being able to enjoy the radio. Perfect for an old guy. And it does seem to pull harder going through the gears with the header, at least by the seat of my pants. I may have to upload a driving video. 😉

Received new fuel tank from S30World to replace the tank in a friends 77. Impressive quality, identical to original. Comes with what looks like a primer coat, you need to do the final finish. Slight damage in shipping to one vent and corner of flange area. Installed & car runs great, owner happy except for the cost to fill it... Joined our local club and will be going on our drive to Eureka Springs Sunday to meet up with the Ozark club. Corrected a number of other issues with exhaust manifold, egr, fuel rail, locks, etc. Back down to six S30's in garage again..

Not much for Datsun stuff there. I did find this Harada antenna I know it is not from a Z but looks close in size and shape. I tried looking up the part number but did not find much. Anyone seen this one before and know the application? $10 I couldn't pass it up. I also ran across this truck tool kit with a new lug wrench and jack handle, the other part seems to be missing. It did have the paper in there though, and the bag is in good shape. Again $10 I could pass it up.

Ah...Here you go. 17251-E4101 is the original filler cap superseded without date by 17251-E4102 (with chain). The filler neck 17212-E4101 changed to E4102 with it, but again, no date listed in the parts book. The rubber flap, 78818-E4100 is the only listing. My cars have the flap. I still have a brand new one that I bought in 2013. It is labeled E4100.

Saw this clip and thought it’s really cool

Well, I have figured this out and now and can post this for future Z owners that convert their 280Z to a ZX (E12-80) ignition. First I tried what ZedHead recommended and replaced the (E12-80) with on of my OEM backups. Result.. no change tac remained non functional below 1200 RPM. I’ve kept coming back to my original theory which was the Tac doesn’t like voltage greater than about 12.5V. I surmised this because I put my multimeter in the tac and measured the voltage charges as I revved the engine. Voltage drops at the tachometer at higher RPM. I noticed that around 12.3v it would begin to indicate RPM. I then checked my primary resistance on the coil. It came to .6 Ohms Using Ohms laws voltage = current x resistance. I determined that with a .6 ohm coil I was pushing the max alternator voltage to the tachometer. So I went out and bought a 1.5 Ohm coil. Put that one it and the tac magically worked. I have three coils on hand now and tested each one. With the 1.5 ohm coil installed I should be reading a lower voltage at the tach At idle it’s around 10.3 v. With the 1.0 ohm coil installed I read around 12.5v at the tach and the RPM worked at idle With the 0.6 ohm coil installed I read 13.4v at the Tach and no reading at idle. So I believe the mystery is solved. I learned a lot on this problem and I also got to test my backup ECU and (E12-80) ignition modules. Time to move on the the next problem….do they ever end? Thanks for the help guys!

Z car wheels are lug centric. In other words, the lugs and lug nuts are used to set the center of wheel's spinning motion. I would check the holes in the wheels and the lug nuts. Make sure that they fit tightly. Those wheels require a certain type of lug nut, that fits the hole precisely, not the tapered seat nuts that a steel wheel would use. Also, check the seating surface of the wheel on the hub. Might be some crud causing wheel runout.

Prestone back in the day made a back flush kit that hooked to the heater hose connections. Thermostat had to be removed . Run the chemical in the block for a set period and back flush again. Worked amazingly well. My two cents from an old guy.

I finally decided to install headers on my Z, the MSA 6-1's. I had their Performance Exhaust ordered too, but cancelled that after deciding I wanted a resonator, and didn't like the rear muffler u-bolt mount setup. So, going to drive it 10 miles up the freeway open exhaust to a good shop to get finished up. Here's a few pics. Here's what I'm starting with, which all has to come off: Here's the monstrosity to be removed. I've tried to keep this car pretty much stock, but removed the smog pump a few years ago which helped it run better. So now a header, since the exhaust pipes are getting a few pinholes. Figure if I'm doing the exhaust, may as well go the header route now. Here's the old Nichara system dated 1984. Mufflers still seem solid, just the pipes are getting bad. Anybody wants it come get it. 🙂 Already had the MSA studs installed when I rebuilt it a few years ago. Dry fit to make sure it clears everything, thermostat housing, etc. Did have to remove that tray like thingy-ma-jig bolted to the oil pan bolts, not sure what its purpose is. I did use the Stage8 locking nuts, we'll see how they work. I may regret this if I need to re-torque nuts. The shield fits nicely. Love the thick flange on the header, and not having to mess with stepped washers for the 6 studs between exhaust and intake. Finished with header. Overall, pretty easy job. After adding new coolant, started it up. It's going to be a noisy drive to the shop tomorrow! I'll post pictures of the finished mufflers and pipes, tomorrow, hopefully.

I replaced the shifter boot and then the E-Brake boots and I bought them from Redlinegoods.com and I had a color problem but thats fixed and I thought I'd post the finished pictures. The shifter boot is made out or leather and the original is made out of vinyl, so if and when you think you'd like to do this, there are 8 little clips that hold the shifter boot on the underside of the console, you'll need to take them to a vise and open them up using a screwdriver, or some other leverage type tool ( The new leather is thicker than the Vinyl ) and I didn't want to remove the console, so once it's loose, I put a cardboard box under the back of the console and it will hold it up so you can install the boot, then just lower it back down and screw it back together. And I then decided it looked odd only the shifter boot being a different color so I ordered a E-brake boot from the same company. Now the difference here is the original boot has push-snaps to hold it to the carpet on the tunnel, but Redlinegoods.com can't do the snap-clips. So if you want to replace the boot with snaps, I can tell you what you'll need and where to get them, ( it is not a big deal, and they are pretty cheap) But I did mine and this is what the finished product looks like :

I think we could make a meme of that, Alan.

Clip from Nissan/Shell Juke 'Safari Tribute' promo with giant clanger: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxJJNZD8xa441B5l_PF6tpOd1rprahTMIs "The actual...." Nope.

I’ve been lurking for months now, just learning. It’s a 72 240z. Bought about a year ago and slowly getting it back in shape. Did the usual rust repair in the dog legs. Added a mild cage so my chances of dying in a mild accident are lesser [emoji6] And now just trying to get the panels fitted properly before heading off to paint. Just ordered lower fender patch panels from KF vintage because mine are beat to death. Goal is to just have a good daily driver. Here’s a pic of the car when I first got it and at present. Yes, it looked more complete in the first pic, but there was a lot hiding under that paint… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah Eiji said it sounds normal too. I appreciate the reassurance. I'll just drive it and enjoy it.

Sounds perfectly normal to me. L series engines always have valve chatter…..especially with a higher lift cam. I asked the Z Doc about this when he used to build my heads…..he said its the nature of the beast. You might be trumpeting it through the thin headers too. Enjoy it, drive it, L series engines are hard to break…,.believe me I’ve tried LOL.

That's very kind of you Kats. Thank you. Japanese engineering of the 19th and 20th centuries is a fascinating topic, mixed up with all kinds of politics and social history. A period of rapid changes with extreme highs and lows. I am intrigued by it.

Hey 87mj! I only live about 4 miles from Gas City speedway. Update: Saturday I checked float level and set them a 9/16. Pulled both carbs to verify the throttle blades were closing all the way. Reinstalled both carbs but left off all the linkage including choke cables. Fired it up and had to actually turn the idle screws to get it to idle at 800 rpm. Reinstalled all the linkage and still have good idle so evidently it was linkage related but I can’t see anything different. Time to start putting some miles on it!

Hi, my 01/70 Z432 has a non - chain cap. 03/70 240Z has a chain . Kats

I guess you'll find out how much is true and how much is stuff I made up. 😁

Thanks gents. I went ahead and ordered that adaptor and and a Marshal 1.5” oil pressure gauge that I’ll mount down by the pressure sender. Sounds like it’s not a problem but it’s a easy pease of mind fix. As far as the temp being higher than normal. The car was idling for a good bit and revved up siting in my garage while setting the timing. I’m missing the lower half of my fan shroud also which could be a factor. When driving it seemed lower, I think I have a 190 F thermostat in there. I’ve been tossing the idea of putting electric fans on the radiator to increase airflow, but haven’t done my research.

I think anyone who's spent time working on these cars will appreciate how each component is made or engineered. Having pulled apart the OEM AM radio I was fascinated by the engineering in the mechanical tuner and how intricate it all was (before all that kind of thing was digitised), same for the Harada Antenna and even the combination switch for the headlamps etc.. once you've pulled it apart and repaired it, you gain an appreciation for what went into making the product. Especially considering this was all pre computer aided design. The Rally Clock is next level in terms of the oscillator box, I have had several repaired by Ron at ZClocks and I find them as fascinating piece of technology - albeit temperamental.

Sometimes I just imagine what they did back in the old days, but I have only limited knowledge about history, only people who told me about WW2 was my grandparents but both of them were not engineers. I have some books about Mitsubishi Zero fighter. Very interesting to read , it is hard to imagine how they made tons of parts , assembled them and transported them for making so many aircrafts and ships and weapons, under the unusual circumstances. Japanese didn’t have much resources (still today) , towards the end of the war , materials were going downgraded, quality of the finished products also went bad , naturally. By the way , I did dry fitting of the Nissan sports option exhaust system, I am wondering the steering rod from the LHD 240Z would possibly obstruct the pipes . I hope not … Kats

Thank you for following up. It's good to know the resolution.

Just to close this out, I have everything back together and working correctly. Simply a matter of getting all the wiring properly routed and cleaning up all the connectors. I'll tell you what though, it sure was easier 30 years ago to do all this under the dash diagnosis. Thanks

Very much all of the above. Sawzall where we could because its quickest/safest. Drilled spot welds, then followed with hammer and chisel where trying to preserve the old stuff. Angle grinder with a cutting wheel where we had to. Dirty work, but it goes a lot faster after you get your methods down..

Just wanted to show some of the work I've been doing on my Z to fix some thoroughly rusted floorpans and rockers. It is still very much in-progress but I'll try to update as it goes on. Hopefully it'll be of help to someone as a reference, or at least encourage folks to give it a shot. If you see anything wrong with the approach, please let me know! Some quick background: The car is a '75 that I picked up in KY a few years back. Since then I fixed the fuel system and got it running, squared away the suspension (new bushings, shocks, springs, hubs, etc etc). But that is where my skill set ran out; never welded and never done resto work. Kept trying to find a shop to do the body work, but never had any luck. Then I moved and ended up close to a family member who happens to be a retired welder and enjoys doing resto/custom work on cars. Perfect chance to dive into the Z! So I bought a set of the Klassicfab panels and we dove in. The floors/rails started off like so: Driver's Side: Driver's side outer rocker looking rough: Passenger side: The drivers side was worse, but both were pretty shot. There had been a previous repair to the drivers side floor pan in 2 areas, and the rail had been reinforced as well. But both floorpans were perforated in many areas and the rockers on both sides were pretty shot. The frame rails were also obviously shot. First up, we got the car on blocks and welded in some braces. Then we removed the driver's side inner and outer rockers and floorpan (scary initially to cut into the car, but that wore off quick), leaving the seat braces largely intact. Then we welded together the new rockers (inner to outer), and welded the new frame rail to the bottom of the floorpan and tacked those in: Then we welded those in.. or actually my Uncle did most of it because that is some EXPERT level welding; that steel is THIN And then a quick check for door fitment.. should have done this after the tacks and BEFORE welding.. thankfully lined up fine (not perfectly lined up here because the bolts aren't tightened yet) Next onto the passenger side.. same strategy; started cutting out the rockers and floorpan Nice shot of the 4-layer 'sandwich' that is the rockers+pan+bottom of the A pillar: And thats as far as I've made it thus far.. more to follow in the future. What a dirty and laborious job.. but also highly rewarding so far. I am learning a ton! -Ben

Indeed. I just can't understand where the wires got crossed. This is a promo tie-up between Nissan and Shell. The presenter clearly thinks he's looking at The Real Thing, so who told him that's what was in front of him? Nissan? Shell? Somebody else? And how come he didn't spot the rather glaring and obvious differences? Unfathomable. Meanwhile, back in Japan, '1223' is looking a little annoyed:

I can easily see how the 'B' width could be 1/4" over, but having an over-width 'A' measurement is curious. To have this happen, it seems that the rad bulkhead would need to have been stretched. Are there any signs of front-end collision damage? If so, the structure might have been over-pulled in this widthwise direction. Regardless, your gaps at the start of your headlight buckets seem ok, so maybe you shouldn't stress too much about the fact that your 'A' measurement is wider than the one that CanTechZ took from his car. Instead, just focus on how to reduce the gaps at the leading edge of the hood and buckets. Here's a thought for others to comment on: A 'reducing' bar could be rigged to pull the front ends of the two fender extensions together. Start with two lengths of 3/4" steel pipe, ~ 450mm long. Weld a 1/4"-thick mounting plate to one end of each pipe (with mounting holes drilled in the plates to match existing hole locations in the fender extensions). Now weld machine nuts to the inboard end of each pipe and then connect the pipe halves with a (stout) turnbuckle. Mount the assembly between the fender extensions and then use the turnbuckle to pull the fender extensions together. You could do this with the headlamp buckets in place and judge the results by eye.

I took some pics of the kind of stuff I've been messing with... Here's my thin steel adapter plate the I'm using to mount a stock shaped switch on the far right console hole. Note that for the pic, I didn't want to pull the whole console out to take out the switch, so that's why the wires are running through the adapter plate. Also note that I intend to paint the plate black, but I haven't gotten around to that yet: And here's the switch that I'm putting in that location: This is what my switches look like at this point: And with the switches ON:

At least fuses are inexpensive to replace, and if yours are of an unknown age I would suggest replacing them all. Cheap insurance. IMHO. I have seen the price of these and many other parts going up and up. With a limited number of cars and popularity factor that is high, it rings true. Disconnecting the battery is always the safest method, can not go wrong there. I hope your repairs go smoothly.

I have a few of those too. There are three wires. One ground. One comes from the door pin switch. The other is just 12V to the light so it will come on when you push the lens. If you swap the wires over one at a time you should be fine. You could also pull the fuse, or disconnect the battery if you like.

Follow up to this. I removed the front carb and recentered the butterfly ever so slightly to make it close completely. There was a very slight gap on the bottom half of the butterfly plate. You really couldn't see it unless you put the carb up to the light and looked through. I didn't think it would make a difference, but sure enough it did. The car will now idle as low as I like.

Hi , this is the front windshield for S30 series cars . 72631-E4100 is a tinted glass which was applied to all S30 cars except PS30-SB ( Fairlady Z432-R ) and 1969 HLS30 and HS30 .There might be some exceptions . I checked the secret codes , this windshield could be made either February 1974 or 1984 or 1994 or 2004 or 2014 . The part number label is not the earliest type for S30 series cars . Also it is not the later type . So I guess this could be made either 1984 or 1994 . Kats

While reviewing @zed2's thread on unchained vs. chained gas caps I spotted @26th-Z's comment about undated supercedes on that item. I recalled seeing a similar catalog notation on door lock assemblies while recently doing research for a friend. Today I was cleaning up some door lock assemblies and spotted a unicorn the probably confirms the timing of this particular supercede (80501-E4100, undated supercede 80503-E4100). The lock on the left is a left side unit, date coded 9 - 7, it has two clock-style coil springs, Note the position of the long arm is down on the smaller spring. The unit on the right is also a left side unit, date coded 9 - 11. It has only one clock-style spring with a different shape and positioning. The other major change is the elimination of the clock-style spring for the primary latch in favor of a tubular coil spring. This type spring is on all later dated units I have. Differences in the pin stamps can be seen in the second pic. Another difference I spotted: internal bumpers for the various levers were clear plastic on the early unit, black plastic or rubber on the later units. Unfortunately I have only the one 9 - 7 unit, no matching right side.

HLS30-00026 and 27 - no chain.

(I think the reason Dave asked is that) sometimes the shift knob can amplify vibrations and make a buzzy noise. You can check if it's part of the problem by simply unscrewing it and seeing what (if anything) happens to the noise.

I used Rivnuts to attach my flares. The curvature of the flare brings the top edge of the fire snug with the fender. There are a couple places where I could insert s sheet of paper snuggly between flare and fender, but I believe that is more due to irregularities in the flare or the fender. A solution to eliminate even the smallest gap is to run a section of vintage VW Bug fender welting between flare and fender. I had initially planned to do that, but was pleased with how closely the flare fit to the body without it. The welting is wide and you would need to cut triangular shaped pieces out of the lower part to facility bending/curving and leaving a gap for the attaching screw that goes into the Rivnut. Here's a link: https://www.jbugs.com/product/6730.html?utm_content=shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm6KUBhC3ARIsACIwxBiqriBdDnm73bShSLTwe7wbl9b8efluH6ub93oOYRCG-rVc4Rjo2tAaAmZ9EALw_wcB

My ‘75Z has been languishing for the last two years, but, now I’m on a mission to finish refurbishing it. Well, it’s more accurate to say that I’m now willing to pay to have the remaining work done. I’m getting old. Yesterday, my mechanic finished installing set of Koni struts to replace the original struts from ‘75. Huge improvement over those old struts. My mechanic is currently going through the used 5-speed I picked up a few years ago and hopefully, it’ll be installed in a couple of weeks, along with a lightened flywheel and a new clutch kit. We’re also talking about a new exhaust system. And then there’s that used 3.90:1 diff I picked up with the 5-speed…

ZH, I saw that post where you talked about putting on the negative side of the coil. I’ve seen it on other posts as well like over on HybridZ. Was hoping it would work for me. I’m going to follow SteveJ and see where it leads me.

For comparison I pulled out the early under and behind seat jute and carpet from my 7/70 #6521 out of my crawl space. Here are few pictures, on each side there are two jute pieces and one carpet piece that goes part way under the seat and up to the plastic toolbox covers. The rear jute pieces go into the toolbox area. Looks like when the toolboxes were moved to the rear deck the jute and carpet changed, 1/71 I think. @zed2A while back you messaged me about these jute pieces, now that I was able to get access to them is there any info you were still looking for?

Fantastic!!! I enjoyed two videos so much, thank you for sharing . Personally, for S20 engine , I like the sound from engine bay rather than the sound from tail pipes. I would like to hear the sound more of “ moving parts , and turning parts “ . Your Z432 is so beautiful , 905 red is the one I always admire . Kats

just engage two gears a the same time, that will lock the trans so you can tighten the nut. push two of the shift rings into gear to select two at the same time.

Grab them while you can. These parts aren’t going to be available forever.

I would not try to stake them. The risks are just too high. I would use the loctite.

Can you manually fold the buckets back in to close the gap? The problem I see is the sub structure of the fender. I would try to force the bucket and side wall in a little at a time to see if I could close up the gap. Bolt every thing on but leave the bigger bolts in the bucket a little loose so it can flex.

The starter solenoid power wire does not pass through the ignition relay. You bypassed the ignition switch and the inhibitor relay. The cranking circuit is completely separate from the ignition circuit. You have a cranking problem, not an ignition problem.

vin#5305 6/70 has a chain. It looks just like the one on the left in your photo.

For 1970 and I think 71 cars with plastic tool box covers, the carpet that is behind the seats only partially covers the jute under the seats. These are the only pictures I have of mine before starting the resto on my 7/70. There are some pictures that might be of interest in this discussion,