red_dog007

Well, today I started getting into my Datsun. Taken some of the accessories out and the radiator out as they all are getting upgraded. Now, I need to take the head off to replace a gasket. The manual wasn't very clear about it so how abouts do I go about doing it? Can I leave the carberators on or do they need to come off first? Where do I discount the throttle linkage? What am I supposed to do with the timing belt? How and where does that come off? Are the head bolts under the Valve cover? Then tensioner for the drive belt, show I replace that while I am in there. I am going to be replacing the springs, rockers, ect. and upgrade the cam.

Ok, so. Here is a dilemma. I have to pull the head off to replace a gasket. While I am in there, I want to port the valves for 280z valves, new rockers, lobs, and springs, stage II or III cam, new pumps all around, alternator conversion and a little electrical work under the dash. I will end up leaving the motor in the car while I work on all of this. Now, should I do that, or get a paint job first? They both are big ticket items and with the paint job, I want the engine bay painted. I will only have enough to do one or the other. I could pull the motor out myself before the paint job, but that would be kind of pointless because I wouldn't have any money to work on the engine. If I do the engine, I would be able to drive my Datsun around once again, but if I get the paint job, I won't have to worry about rust as much. I have a few rust spots that need attention before they turn into cancer. Plus the last paint job on it was BS. Just a really bad job.

Your best bet for cheap would be to buy a truck or truck based vehicle if you are wanting something that old, that cheap, reliable and somewhat decent shape. Here are two Z cars though in your area. This one looks drivable for how often you will drive it. Will also be a nice little project. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-Datsun-240Z-NO-RESERVE-more-pics-added_W0QQitemZ280199900237QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280199900237 Then here is a rare 260z that too needs a little work. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-Datsun-260Z-Manual-Transmission_W0QQitemZ230221883959QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230221883959 Good luck finding something though. Hope your search goes well. But like I said, cheap, reliable, and decent shape, you will need to find a truck or truck based vehicle. You can find some awesome stuff, but the only draw back, if it is a draw back for you is economy.

If it was on the North side of Atlanta, I would go check it out for you. Though, March 6th I will be in Atlanta (its a Thursday) and will be there the entire weekend. So if the car is still there, you are still interested, and no one has checked it out for you already, I will gladly do it that weekend. Friday, Saturday or Sunday, doesn't matter. My schedule will pretty much be all clear for anytime. I know that it is 3 weeks away, but if you are interested in me checking it out for you, give me a PM.

Thats a good idea. I will check compression before I take the head off. Also, does anyone know where I can find 280z valves? Do they even call them valves? I can't find them for the life of me.

Thats funny black. HHR is even bending it very far in my books. The only color that I like it in is black, but then I don't like driving black cars. They get too hot in the summer. No vans in my book either. If I had to get a van though, it would only be the Caravan. The new ones look great, and the last gen has never done our family wrong. Though our Toyota likes to brake, (engine blew at 100,000) and everyone that I know have only had issues with their Honda. Thats a very nice Infiniti. Cool that they swapped site unseen. For driving 4.5hours, he must be able to make a pretty nice profit off of it. I know that if it was a dealer, he wouldn't swap a car that he wouldn't make money on.

Well, this weekend I am going to start diving into the engine bay. I got a bad head gasket water leak that I need to get fixed. While I have the head off I am going to go a head and get some other things done. I was going to take the head to the shop to get it cleaned and inspected and while it was there I was wanting to get the valves ported. I read somewhere that you can port the valves 0.010 over and drop in 280z valves for some better air/exhuast flow. This is true correct and is it as simple as that? Then I was going to get a Stage II cam thrown in there as well. Now, would the original rockers, lobs, and springs work just fine with the Stage II cam and 280z valves? I know that in general, it would be a good idea to replace all of those things, but money is tight and that kit is expensive. The engine only has 99,500 miles on it, so I am thinking that these parts are still plenty good. Is there anything else that I might be missing or need to take into consideration?

I like it. Sunroof and Louvers look great on it too. Looks good, nice paint, clean, low mileage, ect. I wouldn't pay $12k for it, but would be extremely interested and try to get it lower. Offer straight up cash or something for it and the price will go down. Seems like little would need to be done to this thing to get it the way that you want. So you would end up saving a lot of money in parts and a lot of time into putting the parts in. Brake upgrade, radiator upgrade, maybe go back to carbs, sway bars, exhaust, and bam your done.

This thing looks like a steal. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1982-DATSUN-280ZXT-87k_W0QQitemZ260208247673QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item260208247673 Pictures look like it is in good shape, Turbo, T-Tops, 87,000 miles, for just $2,800. This thing needs to get checked out. Head gasket is blown, but at that price, still seems killer. As long as their isn't rust and everything else is pretty nice, if I had $2,800 I would go get it this second. 280zx Turbo T-Tops has been on my list of my Datsun collection, and this would fill in just nicely.

Well, I am home! Left on the 21st. Spent three awesome nights in Holleywood. Got to tour three studios, saw Jimmy Kimmel Live for free and went up to their park right next door with a fantastic view. Also got to meet A.C. Lyles and go into his office. Then spent two nights in New Port Beach with a friend. We saw "There Will Be Blood" in theaters and that is one awesome movie. Then went to Tombstone Arizona and spent the night there with family. Then we were off to San Antonio. 70 miles out, car gives us issues, but we are able to keep on trucking a little past El Paso. We pulled over a few times to figure out what was going on but could never figure it out. Outside El Paso we get fulled over for dim lights and the car dies, does not start and we push the car off the exit and spend the night there. Wake up, push start the car and everything is fine for 100 miles and then it dies. Walk 4 miles to the nearest town and thank god they had a Napa. Got a few tools, and we tightened down the alternator. Had tons of power then, lights were extremely bright blah blah. Finally get to San Antonio no issues. We see the Alamo, and then from there we made one final shot home. From Houston to the middle of no where Mississippi, the car was acting weird. Never wanted to go above 70, and if you did it sounded like fuel wasn't getting into the engine. Would loss all power and sound like a lawn mower. Take a 2 hour brake in Mississippi and make it home just fine. After getting the Alternator fixed, a lot of issues went away. But after the engine hit a certain point, it would never go above 70 for the life of it. Before the point I could rip it to 90 all I want, but once that point came, 70 was a dream and it sounded like a lawn more. Would even loss speed going up hills. Thought I fixed it with the loss alternator belt, and thought that I fixed it when I saw a small leak in the fuel line that I replaced, but nothing. I was hoping to keep it as my daily driver when I first got here, but I have a really bad electrical problem that needs to be fixed before it hits the road for good. Plus I discovered a fuel pump and head gasket leak. Head gasket losses a bit of water, oil is fine. Fuel pump drips a little fuel out of the gaskets. So basically, for the next few months I am going to take the head off, fuel pump, radiator, thermostat, oil pump, alternator are all out and getting replace. New head gasket, clean the head, port the valves for 280z valves, new Stage II cam and cam kit, 280zxt turbo oil pump, 4-row radiator, electric fuel pump, new thermostat, new exhaust manifold and a 280z alternator. Will I take that off, and replace everything, I am also going to be taking the dash out to figure out the electrical problems and get everything working again before I hit up the interior which was the first thing that I had wanted to do.

Sweet. Thats the jackpot right there. Wonder why the guy didn't sell everything seperatly. Would have made some more cash. Now I wish that my local Nissan dealership will close down/move so that I can see if they have any freebies or hellacheap bundle purchase of old Z stuff.

Ok, so, I have the electrical pleague. Headlights, side corner lights, brake lights, and my wipers do not work. I am mostly worried about my headlights, and I have rechecked and doubled checked everything. Basically, is my steering wheel control unit dead? When I turn the lights on, all I get are my front blinker lights, and my tail lights. For the headlights, I have tried new bulbs, messing with wiring, double checking wireing to see if there are no cuts, ect. ect. I got the wireharness thing off blackdragon, and for at least the 240z, do not buy it unless you want to do a lot of wire cutting and fitting. Is there any place to buy a completely new wireharness for the 240z? I just want to replace it all. I feel like with these 30+ year old wires, I am not going to be having a lot of fun with them. Also, for the headlights, is there some kind of way that I could rig it up to were I do not need the steering wheel switch? I don't care if I have to pull over to attach/disconnect to get the lights on/off. Also, could I take the headlights and hook them to the front blinker wiring?

The noise seems to be more under me then in front. If it is the input shaft, is this a major problem?

So, basically the transmission sounds like a jet engine at idle. Is this normal with the 4-Speed? Could it be from not running for so long? Sunday I am going to put some new oil in it and the diff, which I hope will clear that noise right up.

That statement is still null. What is a properly built engine? It will be different from person to person. For what I would do with a properly built engine, I think that a L28 NA could keep up with or perform better then a turbo L24 though my idea of properly built would be very different from everyone elses. Also, I forgot to mention that with a L24 Turbo'd, I would get a 5-Speed and a R200 diff, which raises the price again. Still, RB26DETT or even a RB25DET would be a way better choice of a turbo. Cheaper even after installation, and just a few hundred dollars can get you some surious HP on both motors. Though that is comparing it against my properly built L24T which would be different from yours.

Well I haven't been taking any pictures of the progress but I have got a lot done. Dizzy is all set and good. New Toyota brakes are all set and good. New tires, new window are on. A few minor things are left, but it is awesome. The handling is great. Need to get my suspension on bad though because the ride is a bit rough on bummpy roads. Plus I want to get this thing painted ASAP as there is a lot of gittering. I have found out that whoever did the last paint job didn't put the hatch nor doors on properly. Though everything has been shaping up great, and I am pretty confindent about the long trip home. Before I was pretty iffy about it.

It is running awesome now. I am amazed at how much power this little 2.4L has. Even in 4th gear going 45 pulling, it still felt very nice. All I have left is to get my new headlight harness installed tomorrow when it arrives and then get my bumper back on it.

I will have to double check everything, but everything seems to be running back to normal. I seem to be about 10 degrees out or so instead of 5 but will make sure to recheck everything. The thing purrs just like it used to, and it no where near what it was sounding like earlier.

Well, if I did a turbo I would rebuild the entire motor, put in 280z vavles which requires a bore for the better air flow, a new performance cam with new parts (rockers, springs, ect.) new pistons, new rods, 280zxt oil pump and a eletric fuel pump. All that right there will cost well over $1500. Even the cam stuff costs pretty close to $1000. That is just the way that I would do it. If I am in there, I would want it done good and right the first time with new parts inside and out.

If you tune the engine right for a turbo, it will be way more pricey then an RB that can double and triple your HP stock. If everything is done corretly, sure the engine can handle a bit more boost, but even at Hybridz it is only recommened to run a turbo through the turbo block because of thicker walls and a better cooling jacket. L24 just isn't up for the fight imo, and sure it will take 12pis or whatever but it will not live even with performance and turbo ready internals. 8psi might be a myth, but it seems respectable compared to some outragous number. 8psi done right can add LOADS of power with some engines wouldn't be able to handle.

If you do a turbo, try to keep it under 8psi. This motor was not designed with a turbo in mind, and even with a lot of work and money, it still isn't the best designed motor for a turbo. You should be safe under 8psi, but anymore then that and you are going to have some hard times ahead of you extremely fast. Plus just doing turbo work on this engine, you are going to have to do a lot of custom work, and have access to all kinds of crazy tools. Plus, I am sure that it would be way hell of cheaper to buy an $4,500 RB26DETT with say a $1,000 installation price. What I would do is take the current L24 motor out and get it cleaned up at the machine shop. Do a 0.010 bore on the vavles so drop in 280z valves for better air/exhaust flow, stage II cam, tuned S.U. or tripple Webers, and an LB20 (?) diesel crank with a slight overbore for L26 pistons and be able to achieve 2.8/2.9L I have never seen this done before, motor will run strong, be one of a kind, and should push tons more power then a turbo setup.

Ok, sweet. As I was working on it, my brothers mechanic friend came in. I must say, that in those 10 minutes, I learned more then I have all week. He helped everything get in order. Though, he is thinking that it is 180 degrees out as I can not advance the timing anymore. When researching, the dizzys arm on the brace always points to the radiator in photos that I have seen. Plus this was the only way that I was able to put it on. Doing a 180, it would not allow me to drop the dizzy in. But the thing is, I am still I believe 10 degrees out. On the pulley there is 5 notches, and the furthest that I can get it to is the 3rd notch I believe. Does this normally happen on this dizzy swap? I will problably just leave it how it is. A touch higher idle I won't mind. Though, does it being out more then 5 degrees affect performance up high in a negative way? All he was saying that once it gets up to temp, the only thing that he would worry about is when I turn the car off, the engine might keep on running.

So then TDC is done on the cylinder closest to the radiator. Boy do I feel stupid. I get this far, done this much, learned a lot, and I mess up on the most simple thing. Guess it happens to the best of us at some point.

OMG........ Ummm........ I feel really stupid right now. I could have sworn that I had it the right way with marking stuff and what not. *blushes* So on the block, starting from the back nearest the cabin it goes 563241 and then I wire it up correctly to the dizzy?

1 starts closest to the cabine with 6 ending closest to the front of the car on the block and then 1 closest to the front of the car on the dizzy correct?