beandip

I would like to help but I can't figure out what you are talking about. If you could take a picture this would help greatly. Gary

Change the oil before you start the engine. A engine setting that long in your area will have condensed moisture in the crankcase, same for the fuel tank. New oil and filter, so since pumping sludge through the engine. You can squirt some gas into the float bowls of the carbs through the vent hose in the top of the float bowls. No more than a oz. pull the choke full on and keep your foot off the gas peddle. try and start the engine . I am taking for granted that the engine is not frozen up. Zed findings is a great place for new floors. GAry

A friend had this happen to him and he was able to get at the latch by unbolting the hood hinges . He then had someone hold the front of the hood up some and was able to trip the latch by crawling under from the front . I ran a length of stainless wire to the latch and into the area by the steering post. I had a cable brake on me but I just reached the wire and gave it a yank . Good luck with the hood latch. Maybe someone else has a better way of reaching the latch. Gary

Ive been running these also for 6 years and swear by them. Gary

I bought mine from Nissan and they were marked the same way. Just compare the left one with the one that came off your car. They are sided and they are not interchangeable. If the part numbers match you are good to go. Gary

OK, was it Divine intervention ? What proved to be the problem?

Well check the filter on the inner fender . Is it full of fuel? I have never been able to hear a mechanical pump over the sound of the engine running or turning over with the starter. If your pump is good it should be able to draw the gas from the tank, unless the line is plugged or a filter is clogged. If you disconnect the fuel line from the discharge side of the pump and connect a length of hose and put it in a gas can , have someone turn the engine over, you should have fuel flowing. If not and the line to the tank is not clogged , replace the pump. There are screens at the banjo fittings on each carb. If the pump proves good then check the screens for debris.

No there shouldn't be any problem. The biggest issue is the alignment of the domes. Have you tested this by lifting the vacuum pistons with your finger and seeing if they drop cleanly with a clunk? This is important. If the needle is contacting the side of a nozzle it will wear . These surfaces are both brass and soft. This wear will cause a mixture variation you cannot control , plus it can cause the piston to stick. Rather than removing the dome if all is adjusted correctly , you can draw the oil out with a old turkey baster or a length of plastic hose like used for the windshield fluid. Gary If you know anyone else in your area that has a early Z . Split a bottle of 20w with them. You will each have enough to last you for years. Gary

If the electric pump is running and you have zero or a low amount of flow. Then check the filter that is in between the pump and the tank.

There is a removable plug in the side of the case. You fill to the bottom of the hole. Gary

I sincerely doubt that dirt or the backing plate being rusty is the problem. The return spring will overcome any dirt. I think what you said is the cause. The wheel cylinders are either stuck because of rust or they are frozen in place. If you can take them apart and the cylinder is not pitted , they can be rebuilt. Kits are available. If pitted , replace them. If the piston in the cylinder is stuck or frozen in place it cannot allow the shoes to return to the relaxed position and they will be against the drum. Gary

What wt oil are you using in the dampeners. To thin of oil can cause the engine to stumble at first throttle opening at low rpm. Try some 10w30 and better yet 20wt available at the local cycle shop. ( fork oil) Cold start up. Depressing the throttle actually has vary little effect when starting the engine . Actually if the mixture is set correctly , just adding choke should be all that is necessary. As Bruce stated, sounds like a lean condition also. Check the vacuum advance also. Gary

I installed the Euro springs with KYB G2 struts and am vary happy. My Z did set high with this combo. There are three of us here that bought the springs. Since they are not progressive , removing coils only lowers the car and does not stiffen the ride further like with a progressive would do. I wanted my car lowered from stock and I ended up with 2 1/2 coils off the front and 1 1/2 off the rear. She sets with a slight rake to the front. I did use energy-suspension bump stops on all four corners. I recommend that you remove about 3/4'' from the front ones . I didn't and it is fine but just a little more travel would be better. The car corners flat with vary little lean at all. I wanted a good ride and not stiff or hard. If I were to do it again , I wouldn't do any thing different. Except for the stops. If you would like any further info from me on this , send me a PM Gary

Just adding 10w30 to your dampeners will not cause what you are experiencing. There is something else going on. Are these 3 screw or 4 screw SUs? If they are 3 screw carbs there should be two conical shaped plastic things sticking up on the top of the carb body. These are to align the dome of the carb to the body. If they are missing then when you reinstalled the domes they are likely miss aligned. This causes the needle to stick in the nozzle. reach your finger into the intake of the carb and lift the vacuum piston up and let it drop. It should drop with a clunk. If it doesnt or if it sticks at all, the needles are in contact with the nozzle. Unless of course there is dirt on the piston and this will also cause it to stick. To lean of a mixture can cause the engine to backfire through the carbs. To answer the amount of oil, from empty about 3cc , Esnanlon is right you can just use a spoon full. You cannot over fill the dampener. Any excess will drain into the intake and be burned by the engine . Gary

I have a usable one , would just need to be prepared . I don't remember any dents or anything. Where do you live you didnt include it with your name. Gary

Unless the old paint is completely shot. There is no need to strip it all down to bare metal. If this is done it will cost more to have a complete paint job done. Because they will just need to build it back up . There was filler used at the factory when the car was built. Usually only for small blemishes in the metal. This will come off with the stripper and will just need to be reapplied. Now if some schlock body work was done and filler was used instead of the metal repaired properly then yes remove it. MOST body shops do not take the time needed to properly tap out all the little dents. If they do, the cost for the job will reflect it. A vary good paint job with what you are outlining , I would guess would be in the neighborhood of $3,000.00, for a color change. If you do the sanding and preping, which on my car, I took almost two weeks . Then the cost will be much less. Are they shooting the inside the cabin and engine bay and jambs. You can find a job for half of this , it all depends on what you want done and the quality. Maco will do it for $500.00 Just to give you an idea, my paint, including primer and sealer and all the needed thinner activator and such came to just a little over $700.00. I did use the best available though. Gary

I have two questions . Since you have had failure of two 180s , why don't you go with the stronger R-200? If you are going to rebuild a engine , and apparently you are looking for more HP. Going to Rebello. Why are you doing this with a L-24 and not a ZX 280? The later engine has a longer stroke and bigger bore, stock. This is a better platform for higher performance. If you are modifying your L-24 but wanting to keep the matching numbers. Doing a modification cancels the value of the matching engine. If this was your intent. Store the L-24 as is , and find a ZX engine, they are plentiful still, and do the build with it. Gary

This is exactly my view,also. Gary

My '73 had one . I left it off when I reassembled the car. I couldn't see what the function was . Latter I read that it was as previously stated, to help with vibration. I don't feel any vibration so I still have not installed it. That is over 10,000 miles back Gary

I received my magazine today. It was sent to the wrong address and my carrier caught it and maybe this is why it took so long. I will send you a PM . I am also a member of a Z club and my membership does include the magazine. I was a subscriber prior to joining and I greatly enjoy the read. Thanks for a great job well done. Gary North West Z car club , charges $50.00 for a single and $75.00 for a family. We now have 50 members and are growing every month.

The air pump being removed wont make any difference , other than eliminating the resistance to turn the pump. The other things being removed should result in a HP gain as the engine should run better. However you will not be able to pass emissions testing. It all depends on tuning. I have a couple of friends that have eliminated almost all of the sensors and emission related equipment on there 280s and they run vary well. I believe one, one a 79ZX passed emission testing also. I think he is still running a cat. though. the computers were modified in some way though. Gary

We pull fuses because this is the easiest start to find the problem. Cost zero to remove a fuse. If you have a multi-meter disconnect the neg battery terminal and connect the meter and see if there is a draw. If there is , then watch as you remove the fuses when the draw is eliminated you know where to chase down he problem. Gary

I hope you used NGK plugs. 10 inches is not much vacuum at idle. Should be 18 to 20 inches unless you are running a wild cam. If you want to see what others think of flat topped carbs . start a new thread , asking just that. I think you will find the numbers will be at least 20 to 1 for the round top SUs. These cars have been around for a few years and everything has been done to them. Benefit from others experience . I know at least 30 Z drivers personally and not one is using flat top Hitachi carbs. Black plugs if not oily, indicate a rich fuel mixture, they could be wet but it could be gas , which is likely.

We here in Oregon have three grades of fuel. Regular, Plus and Premium. I am only running 9.5 to 1 so I use the plus. I have never noticed any detonation but I haven't tried the regular. I saw a interesting thing at the local Dyno that was holding a ''dyno day'' . There was a 280 on the Dyno and I don't know what any mods were made on this car . But he made two pulls with the premium fuel and then they took the car off the Dyno and drained what was in the tank. They then loaded some lower octane gas and put it back on the Dyno and the Z made more power than before. Nothing had been done to the car other than the change of fuel. Now it wasn't a great difference in HP but it did increase. I don't remember the figures now it was 5 years ago , and I didn't know the owner of the car. I must say it did surprise me , I had heard of this but this was the first time I actually saw it proven. My Wife always used Plus in her Camry and a couple of years ago we drove down to Palm Springs to visit friends . On the way down I watched the mileage and we were using the plus. on the way back we ran regular. It is a 1000 miles each way and we got the same 29.5 MPG going each way. No difference. So the information that if you are not running high compression the higher octane gas has no advantage. Now with a turbo or blower this raises the compression because of the boost and it is a different matter. Gary