beandip

racer-1999, brings up a good point. Since you are in California you will need to pass emissions . This may be a BIG problem to overcome with this engine. take the time to explore that issue before you jump into this. Gary

The Chevy your Father is giving you would be a great candidate if this is what you want for your Z. You will likely find fuel mileage to be not too bad considering that engine will not be under much load , hauling the light Z. There are things like reinforcing the body of your Z to handle the greater HP. Weight wise the mod is about a toss up. by all means go to hybridz , there are many there that have done this change. No sense in re-inventing the wheel here. All the best, Gary

Danny , welcome to our group. If you haven't already done this . check the hoses that run from the suspension to the wheel cylinders and calipers. Look for cracks and signs of deterioration. If ANY question replace them. Bleed the brakes and in doing so flush the system. Check the brake pads and Shoes if so equipped. Take a close look at all the rubber hoses on the fuel system and be sure to use injection rated hose, made to handle more pressure. Replace the fuel filters and of coarse change oil and filter and coolant. This is all just deferred maintenance , but you need to know what condition the brakes are in. Pack the front wheel bearings . As a preventive issue any time you unplug a connector clean it . The same with the sockets for the light bulbs. If you have any problems with the car let us know. All the best Gary

Sounds like a faulty ignition switch. This is the small portion of the switch at the back of it . Where the wiring harness plugs into . Check with the Nissan dealer they maybe still available.

You said that she is all over the road. Jack up the front end to get tires off the ground. Grasp a front tire front to back and see if you can feel any play , looseness, then do the same thing holding from top to bottom. You can feel if the tie rod ends are shot and also the same for the ball joints. I tried a set of 15'' rims with 215/50s . Falcons was the brand of tires, which are good performance tires. The car was all over the place seeking its own line . I put my own 195/70s back on and solid as a rock. I was told by tire guys that it was a combination of the off set of the mags and the width of the rubber. If you have loose tie rods and or ball joints the car will want to wander and in the wind it is magnified. My 240 was a handful until I replaced the worn out struts and lowered the front a inch or so. She handles great now. I did also replace the stock springs with Euro stage 1 , all the way around. Gary

You were asking how to tell what engine you have . The block should have cast on the side F-54. This tells you it is a ZX block the head has markings , P-79 which is a NA head , P-90 or 90a are turbo heads. The 90a has hydraulic lifters. If it is a NA engine it has flat to pistons the Turbo has dished pistons.

Well when you do own a Z I hope we can be of help. Gary:surprised

They are available at the Dealer. At least they were a few months ago. Gary

I replaced all the wiring in my '73 , all of it. I was fortunate to have a good friend that had a '72 parts car and the harness had not been compromised. You might be able to come up with one if you start looking. There are only three separate harness one for the area back from the firewall to the tail lights , one for the dash and one for the engine bay. I would recommend not mixing harnesses from different cars. Try and find all three from one car. The dash must come out, but while it is out clean the gauges , go through the heater and replace all the bulbs. It is the best time to tackle these things since everything is right in front of you. The only part that gets tricky , in that you need to pay attention how the old harness is fitted on the Dash . Taking a bunch of pictures will help. The rest is simple. Gary

On first start up , keep the rpm up around 1500 rpm to keep good oil flow and lubrication going. I wouldn't rev the engine , however running it up while driving should not hurt any thing but don't do it quickly. In other words for the first few hundred miles , drive the car as you would normally . No racing . Taking the car on a 100 mile run is right on and varying the speed is also , watch the temp. If she starts to heat , slow down some. If the engine was running OK when you removed the carbs , leave them alone until you have some miles on the engine. If they are a little rich it wont hurt anything. I think changing the oil as the builder is cheep insurance, and I would do the same thing. Worse case scenario on the cam and rockers thing is the cam could be damaged and in need of replacement. But if so the work all can be done without pulling the head. Keeping the RPM up on a first start up is important, at idle the crank isn't spray/splashing oil like it is when the pressure is up. This is lubricating the cylinder walls which are tight and breaking in. Gary

Did you balance the carbs air flow? If the balance is off the carbs cant otherwise be set. Backing out the nozzle 2 1/2 turns is only a starting place to get the engine to run , so you can warm it up then adjust the mixtures . Use the search feature, there is all the information you need there and more on this issue. I am vary willing to help. If you cannot find what you need there send me a PM. Gary

So ? I have seen one with no door handles and fender flairs, the marker lights were gone also. After all these years there are all kinds of cars out there.

[quote=ArnieTX;2292 Anyway- it's sad to see great cars just dieing a slow death. It may be sad , but maybe your expectations are a little high for a 35 year old car. Gary

Sounds like the engine is dieseling . Your description is vague so my best guess is the timing is way off. If the engine is dieseling this will damage the engine so don't procrastinate in addressing the problem. Gary

Do as Nissanman

Do as Nissanman said . I recommend that you buy a manual like How to Restore Your Datsun Z CAR BY Wick Humble Also watch e bay for CLYMER DATSUN 240-280z & ZX 1970-1979 shop manual. this specific shop manual. There are other CLYMER shop manuals but I found this one to be better. Nissan shop manual is the vary best but harder to find and spendy. In doing my redo on my 240 I used both of these two extensively. Clymer's are out of print so used is the only source. Motorsport has the How to Restore manual. Gary

[quote=BRE-240Z;230494 Which brings me to my next question....what are people who've done this using to plug the 'water drain' holes in the replacement pans? Are they the same size as the stock floorpain drain holes, or are they different? Can anyone shed any light on this for me? I have done the same thing you are, about 5 years ago. Just contact Carlie Osborne at Zedd Findings. He has the rubber plugs. I bought mine when I bought the pans from him. He will stick them in a envelope and you should have them in hand in a couple days. Your old seat mounting will work the same as it did before . I used a spot weld cutter to remove mine , and my welder welded in the mount in the same place it came out of. If I remember correctly the holes are smaller in the new floor. Gary

Spindle pin puller makes the job simple and you can do it in the car and reuse the old pin. If you live in the SALT belt there have been two members the puller wouldn't work for. But out of more than 25 that is not bad. Do a search on spindle pins removal. Gary

There is supposed to be a felt channel in the window channel that extends down below the sill. If the felt is missing the glass will rattle like mad. Also there is a rubber block the glass is supposed to rest on when the window is down. There is a roller that is spring loaded that holds the glass from rattling and they can fail. Check these out. Gary

I think I know someone that has a set. I will find out if he needs them. He bought the set for his Wife's Z. these old turbines are hard to come by. There is another place you can try though. IDAHO Z CAR 208 466-0004 Kim Blough is the owner smokyyaro@velocitus.net all the best Gary

Weasel. I did what KTM said however I am running the P-79 head that the F-54 engine comes with. If the 280 engine is in good running order it will have vary noticeable improvement in performance over the L-24 you are now running. When the time comes in the future, to do a valve grind have the head milled when the head is serviced. Mine is milled .030 and the compression is 9.5 to 1 . Not a high compression but you wont need to shim the towers. I have been using the middle grade of gas with no detonation problems. For street I would recommend a 2 1/4'' exhaust . I am running headers only because the engine came with them. The stock ZX manifold is fine for street use and the engine bay will stay cooler, and there is not much difference in performance. This will save some $. I am also running SUs but I found the 54 needles work the best for me, the 27s were way to rich. I also have the ZX ignition and this alone is a big improvement over the old points. The zx ignition will help your L-24 as well. I do have a question . You say that the L-24 is a low mileage engine. Why do you want to rebuild it if it doesn't need it? Especially since you need to keep the cost way down. Gary

My '73 is a late build date 8/73 . The in line fuse holder on mine failed when my old pump locked up and shorted out . The fuse didn't blow, it melted . If it wasn't for the pressure switch that I have in place , Earlier posting look back to #4 , I would most likely have severely damaged the wiring, or had a fire. In my attempt in restarting and or figuring out what had happened . Power would have still been on to the pump. My new fuse holder now has a 15 amp fuse and I have had no further trouble and of course a new pump. Gary

Are you attempting to balance the carbs by just counting the revolutions of the adjustments? You need to balance the air mixture with a Uni-sun or similar tool that is measuring the air flow into the carbs. After the carbs are balanced air flow wise then start on the mixture adjustment . When you have this correct then go back and check the balanced again. Starting with the fuel mixture adjustment at 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 is a good starting place and the engine should run. and Idle . I start with the idle at about 700 rpm to 750. But trying to adjust the fuel mixture with the balance a skew is a waist of time. When you raise the front piston and the engine is running smoothly , this is telling you the REAR carb is rich. You disable the carb by lifting the piston. So the engine is running on the other carb. YES to answer your question you are getting closer. Have you done a compression check yet. Not to put a fly in the ointment. But a burnt valve can effect this stuff . but do balance the carbs properly and things will go smoothly for you. Good going sticking with this for as long as you have. It is encouraging knowing that you are not giving up. reread post #3 :classic:Gary

I think that it isn't to bad. I was expecting much more rust damage. the car is vary do able. there is a lot to do because of the years of non operation. It is going to be interesting to see just how much it brings. I am supprised to see a air cond. in the car.