zKars

Ok, what madness is this? I touched nothing else, what the **** did I disturb? Ok, what did I do befween the time it ran fine and when it went to crap…. Think….. Well I put the air cleaners on. Notice I said cleaner”S”. They look more or less like this. I did not take pictures of the actual situation. Anyway, These flat pancake air cleaners fit just fine, AND they have a knipple ob the back for a rubber hose to run to the fuel bowl vents. I had faithfully put these back on with the air cleaner bodies of course, good little boy that I am. Little short black vacuum like thick walled hoses. So on spec, with the car idling madly, roaring away, and not from high RPM, I pull the rear fuel vent hose off the top of the fuel bowl. And then the most magical thing happened.

Three minutes later he’s back. And the sound of the thing is something quite atrocious! The exhaust note is distinctly different than when he left. He has this crazy system where the muffler tip is turned down 90 degrees BEHIND the rear valance, which has had the exhaust exit hole filled it. It’s slighty overlappig the underturned lip, so I’m wondering if the exhaust shifted. The exhaust note is now easily TWICE as loud as before and extremely sharp and staccato is how I describe it. Like a 13:1 race engine! Something isn’t right, so I start scratching my head thinking what did I do or forget to put back? It revs up and runs not back, but there is a hint of misfire in the sound. Is it the new rich mixture that’s just burning more distinctly for the first time in a long time, Is it plugs that were burned up from the lean mix that are now misfiring from the new mixture? I change the plugs to some fresh BPR6ES and while it’s a bit smoother, it’s still making the intense racket out the rear.

Greetings! I’m in the sharing mood again, so thought I’d share an episode from the series “I have no idea what just happened, but you won’t believe what the solution was”. Yesterday, local Z owner wants to drop by for an SU tune on a recently acquired late 71. It’s “running” but is overheating and doesn’t run “Well” overall. Suspect mixture too lean or fuel supply lacking. So do the usual, no need to bore you with details, but here is the overview, no order intended. Bowl fuel level Fuel pressure air flow sync linkage evaluation. How many turns down for the knozzles, Nozzles were down 1 turn on the front and 1.5 turns on the rear. Aha. Too simple. Turn them down 2.5 each. As I have decided in the past, got the AFR gauge out finally, stuff it in the tail pipe, 12.5-13 at idle. Much better. That should do it. Get the owner to go for a quick around the block test to see if there is a noticeable change in performance. Goes around the block and comes back with big smile. I could here him enjoying the hell out it, the exhaust is not subtle on the car. Says there is 50 more HP and while it was short drive, the engine temps were much lower than before. We are DONE I say. About this time another friend drops by, so the inevitable conversations ensue and finally I decide the put the air cleaners back on and send the young man on his way. I do so, he starts the car, and it sounds a bit rough, but off he goes.

First I respect the level of effort put into your process. The results are enviable. I will use the screw head reforming idea, thanks for that. Another day, another new thing learned. I am very lucky. I have a plater that does all the prep work for me. I feel like a cheater now…

Yes, I have some spares…. At least they are shiny, most have rust pitting but not enough to affect strength. The threads at the bottom end of those pins are just M12x1.25. Easy to find a washer and nylock or Stover lock nuts. Send me a PM, we’ll get what you need on the way.

I seem to have one of each type. Small type uses a simple bolt, larger type uses a shoulder bolt. Both are M6 Now you’re going to make me measure everything, aren’t you? PS. The bottom row larger style would have the same flat/lock/nut as shown in the top set I’ve certainly found all manner of “user selected” hardware that more or less functions as a rotation point. Not all that critical as long as there is little slop and pivots freely. And will continue to do that for a long time.

Here is the FSM for the Body Electrical of a 74 260. And the picture that tells most of the story. LR is power the motor, B is the ground and you ground either L or LW to get low or high. LY has something to do with the park function. BE Body electrical.pdf

I’m far away, so tough to get them to you quick, but I have a set. Let me know. Another option is to just get a pair of the front bearings from RockAuto, and put those in the rear isolators. That is all the rubber ones really are, just substitution to fill the space in the isolator that the bearing does in the front. It will not cause your rear struts to tend to steer or anything strange. Will add about 1/2 lb of weight

Took a break from stub axle assembly. My favorite after a fresh thick powder coating and it rubs EVERYWHERE!!!! Grrrrr.. Let me know if you need more details

I’ll give details in the morning. The collars are all hexagonal, some variety in them for sure. Bet they were round then crimped with a hex shaped crimper, kinda like a TV coax crimper.

The sum total of my choke cable boot collection.

I think one of my spare sets still has bellows. I'll look.

Better yet these! https://www.mcmaster.com/7965K834/ Groove and all! What do you think now?

Got a rack with a worn short bushing, then started searching.... Found this thread, the size needed. Thanks Mike W. I'm going to buy a few of these and turn the OD ID to the right number. ID = 24.98, these are 25mm. OD = 28.55, these are 30mm. Got the 50mm length so I have something to chuck up. Or up chuck..... What do you think? Guess it depends on if I'm happy with the ID fit. Got to better than the sloppy noodle I have now

There are both very affordable reproductions and not that much more expensive OEM ones available from all the usual vendors. https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic02o02e01

Most stock lash pads are 0.160-0.170 inches thick, NOT counting the indent in the bottom, that actually rests on the tip of the valve. Aftermarket shims are available with or without these recessed bottoms. 0.12 or 0.080 inches does not make sense for any reground cam, they would have to be thicker than stock. Assuming stock valve heights of course. If you had really tall valve tips now, maybe thin lash pads make sense? These guys are my fav. AUD $ is way under both USD and CAD. http://www.precisionshims.com.au/products/slotted I’d ask a few more questions of your machinist about installed valve height and what rocker pad to cam clearance he is measuring at. You know the .008 hot and 010 cold lash setting.

I like this one: but also get great results with PB Blaster. I suspect that all the "major" brands do about the same job, maybe variance in time to work or something. My one attempt to use the ATF and acetone potion was a dismal failure, but then I don't follow instructions well or have much patience. My only real advice here is 1. Don't bother with WD40, and 2, be patient and use several clean it, soak it and let it work sessions. Again the patience thing usually bites me on that last one...

This has been discussed and solutions provided in another thread, do a bit of searching. It is much trickier in the early 5 speeds that don't have the reverse lockout device. That pin is quite tight. I built a little press thingy that slips over the rod, but the easier method is to drill the case where the reverse lockout would be, use a punch to get the pin out, then put an NPT pipe plug back in the new hole to seal it. Once you find the thread and read what others have done, the solution will come to you

I will add that in speaking with Bruce at Z-Therapy about this, that a worn jet tube or the nozzle is actually very un-common, at least to the point of being a vacuum leak.

As I understand it, he is swamped with apparently upgraded responsibilities at the Nissan and other dealerships and has had to step away from his love of supporting the Datsun community. I last bought parts from him over 2 years ago, then tried to buy lash pads, and basically never heard back. I believe he’s quite distraught at the situation but is unable to do much about it. Seems like it was a pet project and he is not willing or able to assign someone else to take it on. Best we just assume it doesn’t exist for the time being. Since he hasn’t taken the site down, let’s take that as hope for the future. He helped many many people and has an excellent reputation.

The reason I haven’t chimed in with my “favorite” is there are just too many to choose from. They are all my children, I don’t dare declare any particular one my favorite without risking the wrath of the others. I should lay them all out on the floor and take a group photo. At least I’ll try to contribute more to the thread I started called “Cool Tool of the Day”. One a week on Sundays perhaps.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DATSUN-FAIRLADY-260Z-280Z-PARKING-HAND-BRAKE-CABLE-EMERGENCY-/151459145571 from AK260 above. I ordered this cable from ebay as suggested above to check it for fitment and quality. I am very very impressed. Ordered Jun 23, arrived July 5th. Paid $102.53 CAD shipped and customs fees paid. Design is nearly identical to the OEM cable. Even came with a new pair of pins for the wheel end. @Joseph@TheZStoreI would suggest considering investigating if you can source these cables. Highly recommended them.

Yup, it's real. Drive me nuts trying to figure it out. And its not something you can change, the dang stops are inside the rails and built right in. There is a domes punch area (or two) right through the body the forms the stop. Tried to drill one out, discovered there were two, metal shavings were getting everywhere, like inside the rail in the grease, gave that up real quick. Played with enough of these to think it only applies to the early non-flip forward seats. Never encountered it in 72-3 and later seats. It's either to prevent the passenger seat from going back too far to interfere with what's behind, aka the tool bins, or has something to do with limiting leg room so the passenger will have his/her feet on the floor boards or access to the glove box, what with those lovely fixed belts..... Is the foot rest option thing involved in that? Talk about a WAG......

One of the cars I worked on this winter have an older set of Z-Therapy rebuilds on it, so when I got to the point of putting the carbs back on, I didn’t look too closely for problems. But as I was syncing and setting up mixture etc, the engine would randomly change idle, always upward and sit there unstable as hell. Blip the throttle, fool with the choke and it would settle down. Then off it would go again with very little provocation. Finally realized I was just grazing the little fuel hose on the bottom with a tool or finger while working on them, it would set the idle off on one of its fits. What I was doing was shifting the nozzle around in its tube, creating clearance and a vacuum leak when it sat just so. I’m waiting for new nozzles from Z-therapy now, should solve the issue. The back carb is much better and doesn’t exhibit this behavior. Other carb sets I have laying around, from which I was going to snitch parts, are all worse. The nozzles literally rattle around in the tube. So expand your mantra when you help yourself or others decide on SU quality and vacuum leaks. It’s not just them shafts that get worn.

Some things just become matra’s. With SU’s, people ask you how to know if the ones they have or are about to buy, are worth anything, and the “Standard Response” is “wiggle the shafts and see if there’s play” as they cause a vacuum leak. Then we typically add to that “get Z-Therapy to rebuild with their cool sealed shaft bearings”. End of discussion Well as I’ve come to discover there is another nasty vacuum leak area of concern on SU’s that I think is JUST as prevalent as shaft wear. The nozzle fit in its sleeve is often very worn.