beandip

Sounds like you need a different differential. There is supposed to be some padding under he carpet. Which helps with road noise, but if you have gear noise that is loud , not good. Gary

Getting your tidy Whites in a bunch won't help here. If you don't understand what someone is telling you . Say so. What you do for a living means nothing here. My neighbor is a Kidney Specialist and apparently a vary good one. He doesnt know a injector form a Carburetor . I don't know how to transplant a Kidney. I won't offer help to anyone that has a bad attitude.

One of our club members bought a diaphragm from our Sponsor Nissan dealer just a couple of weeks ago. If you have a OEM pump , with the series of screws all around the top , these can be rebuilt by a new diaphragm. Gary

A sign of the times Sports Fans , when a '79 is '' old School'' ph34r , Just kidding. Welcome to the club and congrats on the ''new'' ZX . Good to have you with us. Gary

The 260 block has the same crank as a 280 so the little difference is not as significant as if you were driving a 240. Changing ignition to electronic will help wake up this engine and by all means change the flat topped carbs to SUs. Check and see what diff gear ratio you are running. If the PO just stuck in a 5 speed and kept the old ratio . find a 3.90 diff. with your overdrive 5th gear you will have good hi way speed and much more torque off the line. These three things will make a good difference. From there it is big bucks . Just how fast do you want to spend. Gary:rambo:

First off , if you are expecting the piston that you can see while looking in the throat of the Carb, to move with the movement of the throttle linkage . You are mistaken. they are drawn up and down by the vacuum created by the suction of the engine drawing in air. As Bruce said it sounds like a linkage problem. Did you disassemble the carbs? If you removed the butterfly disks and didn't align them properly . This would have a major effect on the throttle response. Gary

Glad you fixed the problem. Sorry but this was a simple job really. With any car this old there will be many other things that will come up. So just realize it and take them as they come up. How is the rest of the Z mechanically? How many miles on it . Overall condition means allot. Gary

I know of a place but not nearly in the quantity you are looking for. Go to a Sporting goods store and the fishing department. they sell paint for fishing lures. There should be an email address or 800 # on the bottle to follow up on. At least it's a start . Best of luck . Gary

Welcome to our Club, looks like you are doing a super job. Keep in touch. I noticed on the red 260 you still have the emissions carbs. How well does she run with the flat tops? Keep up the great work and all the best with you leg. Gary

Just a comment. Nissan has done a good job in designing these cars. Are there flaws in design ? Sure a few, but vary few. I have completely disassembled my entire Z and this is my observation. Watch eBay there may be a new valve show up for sale. With a Car this old you should prepare your self for finding this sort of thing again and again as time goes on. If this sort of thing stresses you , I recommend that you keep your old truck and sell the Z. Life is too short to be stressed over something like this. Gary

A couple of questions, Is this a injected or carbed engine? What Ignition is in use and what advance is it set at? If this is a manual trans Z , if you put the trans in 4 gear and driving at about 1500 to 1800 rpm. floor it and see if you hear the noise then. Are you using regular or mid range or premium gas? Has there been any mods done to the engine or is it bone stock. Because of the smoke, it makes me suspect predetonation, pinging. If this is the cause you could either retard the spark or use higher octane fuel. Let us know what you find. Gary

dkd021 , You are absolutely right . I am afraid I was speaking from my own experience and I did all my own work with a big help from my friend Escanlon. If you are going to have all the refresh done by others , this is a whole different matter. the cost factor is a large issue. Just the paint and materials alone will run close to $1000.00 , for PPG top quality paint, and sealer and primer ..... Weather striping kit another $250.00+ And the beat goes on and on . Gary

What ever floats your boat. I did a complete color change. But I has some rust issues to deal with by the battery. Surface rust on the frame rail and heavy pitting on the battery support. So if I touched that up the rest would not have looked that good. When I started I intended to keep the orange. However I went ahead and pulled the engine and tranny to change the fly wheel and detail the engine bay. I then found some rust in the cavity of the front fender where the cowl drains. I then ended up with both fenders off. And so on and so on. Bottom line for me is , I want the engine bay the same color as the body. On a 240 Z you can have the engine out and on the floor in 2 hrs. Even less. I look at it this way, in for a Penney in for a pound. I am going to be the one driving and caring for he car , I might as well have it the way I want it. She is a vary bright Yellow , and she doesn't blend in with the crowd. One thing, when the body is all finished and buffed out the old paint will just look old, and you are going to wish you had just taken the next step. Like I said in the beginning , what ever floats your boat. Gary

since there is no frame , it is due partly to thicker sheet metal in the car overall. With larger bumpers and emissions junk also. 2200 Lbs. Vs. 2600 Lbs. Red dog, Just because you use a F-54 , you don't have to give up the carbs. You are so fond of. I didn't. Actually the 280s are bored and stroked L-24s. Have you looked into the cost of a Stroker ? Unless you have deep pockets or Daddy does this is a spendy build.

The thing is if you use old rockers it is likely that you will destroy the new cam. The old rocker might be resurfaced , depending on there condition. Use new lash pads. That's the rub. Cams are cheap it's all the other stuff . Nissan is really in love with there rockers $$ .

I wonder if this is acting like the modules we have on out later 280 ZX Dists. Does the Skyline have a computer input to the module? When we try a module other than a 12 80 on our Carbed engines the input form the module causes the ignition to retard the timing, with out a signal form the computer. A friend of mine has devised a method to stop this from happening plus he uses a different vacuum advance that has two ports . One goes to the ported source just back of the front carb and the other to manifold vacuum. The claim is faster throttle response and better power and mileage. He has gotten 35 mpg on a bone stock 240Z with 150K. I haven't done this my self, but he is a VARY knowledgeable and respected guy that has been building Zs for over 30yrs. Gary

I bought a tee at my local parts store that is compatible with he block and the sending unit. I took the sender with me just for that reason. I wouldn't run a tap into my block either. Another way of safeguarding this is the use of a inertia switch. In case of a crash or roll over it will cut the power. This is the reason I have done what I have here. Not worried about a oil pump failure. I just don't wish to be French fried with the gas running if I crash and cannot turn off the key. I have seen and dealt with this type of crash when I was a Fireman in Los Angeles. Gary

Just running the engine and having the coolant circulate through the thermostat will push any air to the top tank of the radiator. If you added more than a cup of water I would be surprised. when does the electric fan kick in . Any time you are moving forward 15 to 20 MPH the radiator should cool the engine with no fan at all . As long as there is no restriction to air flow. I have seen some electric fan setups actually restrict air flow while not operating. The radiator you said is near new. Is it of a capacity large enough for the engine? A cause of a stumble or hesitation can be from too thin of oil in the dampeners of the carbs. ATF can do this. Try 20wt oil, witch is the recommended oil . If you don't have 20 substitute some 10-30 . Another is a faulty vacuum advance on the Dist. Gary

Six_shooter . It is a simple addition. Buy a tee and connect it to the port used by the oil sending unit . Attach he sending unit back on and add a simple pressure switch there. My switch activates at 5 to 7 psi. and has two spade connectors on the top of it. Just wire the switch in the power source to the pump by the counsel/dash where the in line fuse is located. Even after 3 months of non driving my car , she still fired and ran with the fuel in the float bowls. As hard as I have pushed my Z I have never had the oil pressure drop wile cornering. I am not saying that it is not possible . This is one of the reasons race engines run with a dry sump. Gary

The points we are referring to are not in the cap. They are down in the dist, and have a rub against the center pole of the dist. these contacts open and close with the 6 lobes on the shaft. They look like a small lever with round flat tips that come together and separate with the action of the connection to the main shaft as it turns. If you keep 12v going to the ignition it WILL burn the points and they may even weld themselves together. This is about as basic as I can describe them.

I recommend that you check to see if the engine is frozen, rusted, in place, before you spend a bunch of money and time on other stuff. remove the spark plugs and pour some ATF in each cylinder. About a tesp. full in each and let it soak over night. then DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE OVER WITH THE STARTER ! use a socket on the crank pulley nut and see if the engine will turn. I also would change the oil and filter and pour oil over the cam and valve train components. BEFORE YOU TURN THE ENGINE OVER. No point pumping the crappy old oil through the engine. When changing hoses. Be sure ANY hose that is going to carry Gas is rated for Gas. DO NOT use vacuum hose for fuel. I personally would not use vinyl hose for gas line on the carbs for a couple of reasons . Mostly because of the heat from the exhaust manifold and how it effects plastic. A failure in this hose could be catastrophic. ZTherapy and Nissan have the hoses for the carbs. Ordinary gas line from the parts store is too stiff and will cause the choke/nozzles to stick. When you do turn the engine over manually , watch to make sure the valves don't stick down. If you have a stuck valve it could damage a piston or the valve could become bent. This is the main reason for not using the starter until you are sure all is working as it should.

Welcome Chris. You will find these little engines are built of quality materials, and are mostly the same. The 260 is really a 240 block with a 280 crank. The next year '75 the bore is larger along with the crank produced the 280 and was injected. There are different heads over the years. The 240s and I think the 260 have flat top pistons . The L-28 or 280 blocks have dished pistons. The different heads were because of emissions standards , and a attempt to maintain HP. It is common to have these engines go 250K miles before they need to be bored when rebuilt. Usually just a honing and re-ring is all that is necessary. The 280ZX is a different block but only from a cooling change. The heads on all these engines can be swapped but care needs to be taken because of the different combinations can cause some high compression. The ZX engines non turbo have flat top pistons. Gary

Bill you didn't say weather or not you are still using the old duel point Dist. or not. If you have changed to a ZX or other up grade ignition , then the relay is out of the loop. I left my relay there only because it gave me a place to connect the unused OEM plug. Gary

Well welcome to he Site . You will find that there is a wealth of info to draw from here. Keep in mind you are looking at a old car in the cars you mentioned. When you are driving a 30+ year old car there is a constant maintenance that must be done. If you think your present car is hard to work on , you will find these cars not that friendly in that regard. I, like you, love the style of the early Zs . I suggest that you look for the most rust free Z that you can find. This will save you big bucks if you can. All the best , Gary

They were still available at Nissan last year.