Careless

Thanks Chris, More to come! I got almost all of the engine components I need, so sometime next week I'll be doing the final paint touch up, and then putting that back together.

I started to assemble the vehicle today. I decided first thing is first... brake lines and brackets. some of the bushings provided were just repainted old dry/cracked bushings. infact, aside from being dirty, the bushing that were taken off the car were in way better condition. I just tumbled them and they came out like brand new rubber. seriously the best investment into this project at this point- the tumbler is easily worth 3 or 4 times its price for anyone who is thinking of doing a lot of this stuff. Get the largest one you can! the isolator on the one large vapor line on the right seems to have the hole in the firewall missing. I can feel the hole there, so the bolt must have broken off. I am going to see if I should drill it from the other side with a slightly undersized bit, and then tap it. I would like to put that bracket there, provided I don't mess up the firewall paint. I've already had to drill out two of those tiny M4 screws because they were just painted over as well. Luckily one came out without much fuss. The other was a bit harder- but now is the time to do it! And I seriously think putting brake lines into old rubber bushings with no help is one of the hardest things I've ever done on a car. I've taken apart complex transmissions and engines and have some race-car building experience and have fabricated competition roll cages and made some interesting things for cars... This was just a chore. The transmission mount and front differential mount really help at keeping the lines up in the air for you when you're trying to figure it all out. Some of the fittings were a little marred in the process of removing the caps I put on there to seal them from plating, but that's to be expected. The threads see some build up and rust from the acid. They should be ok. More pics (and more to come when I get my real camera there).

Here is what the timing cover looks like after it was sharkhide coated, along with the water pump, and oil pump. I had rebuilt the internals of the oil pump as well. These parts are not polished. They just have a nice impervious shine to them. slightly more dull than clearcoat. If you were to take your timing cover off and look at the back of it which gets covered in clean engine oil all the time, that's basically what these look like in person. really shiny, almost as cast... but not polished.

I wanted to show a trick for plating parts that have blind holes. they cause an issue with plating because they produce what is called "bleed out". it's when wet zinc mixed with muriatic acid pours out of the part after it has been plated and dried because the solution has nowhere to go during the plating process. It causes poor plating, white haze, corrosion, and can even ruin other parts that come in contact with the solution well after they have been cleaned. it essentially does what muriatic acid does to plated parts because that is partly what it is. I seal up the holes with RTV. RTV is generally safe for plating in zinc. TADA! i sealed up the shaft orifice and the breather holes on the underside of the diaphragm. I then removed them with a dental pick. This unit was paint stripped and tumbled. I immediately noticed the copper/orange colour that it had come back in when the carbs were given back to me by ZTherapy. It's understandable that they do not want to futz around with messing these parts up- as I'm sure there aren't too many of the factory ones still around. Well... here's how I did it. More pics for reference:

Can anyone identify the proper clutch master cylinder? I see the one 2nd to the left seems to have been the only used one. I went ahead and tumbled it to brighten it up, and I can swap the cups over as well as a new clamp. The unit seems to be in good condition, so I cleaned the bore gently and sized up a new o-ring at the local seal supplier. I will also snag a pushrod from another cylinder and use that. There are various differences between all of these units. I found this thread, but not sure what the conclusion on the early units is : http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/50000-early-series-i-240z-clutch-master-cylinder-touching-windshield-washer-bottle/

So it seems as though the DUAL POINTS distributors like the one I found a picture of and posted (with the purple arrow) use many more washers to preload the diaphragm. At first I thought this was a modification, but then I saw that a NOS diaphragm on ebay has 3 washers stacked behind the clevis. Then I looked at some photos of "before disassembly" and found there to be less on the single points diaphragm. This is a photo I took of the distributor I am rebuilding. I had it right the way I assembled it, but I rubbed some oil on the actuator and it marred the zinc finish a little, so I will be having that rezinced with the upcoming batch of other goodies. Should be easy with the muriatic bath they usually use for recoats. The order seems to be Diaphragm Body Foam Isolator (on mounting face) Spring Thin Washer (most likely to prevent spring end wear. Thick Washer 1 Thick Washer 2 (same size as 1, although slightly different colour. not sure if different metal) Clevis Lock clip Clevis arm Here's the dual points diaphragm for reference. you can very faintly see the edge of the thin spring wear washer if you zoom/squint/concentrate/holdyourbreathe.

has anyone had luck with making their own gaskets? Dan, do you have the contact for the person with the rebuild kit? I saw a website online where someone offered rebuilt ones. Maybe I can cash these in as cores. They're sprayed gunmetal, and it looks like someone tried to take one apart before because I see one screw missing on the face.

Hi Dan, Thanks for the breakdown- that's what I was looking for. Do you mind reuploading the picture of the front? It seems like classiczcar won't load that one properly when clicked, but the rear shot seems to be ok. Thanks again.

Is the front cover of the horn supposed to be black, and the bolts & nuts silver (clear) zinc or yellow zinc? Also, is the rear cover supposed to be "natural" finish? I am just getting around to the horns on the resto I'm doing and they're all "gunmetal" gray in their entirety.

Sorry, I thought you meant heating the housing and pushing them through- passed the ID step. But now I gather that you mean heating them up and letting them fall out or something like that. I think that may have worked better, but I had pressed the balls further in from the get go, thinking it was just a nicely formed pin with two rounded ends. Welding, drilling, or heating would have been a great idea... If it were in the original position. Now that I know how it's made, I would have forced some 309 filler rod on the ball while TIG welding it to the ball and then let off the arc slowly to let the filler wire stick to the bearing and then yank on it. That would probably worked amazing. But that only works if you don't press the ball bearings in first. They go pretty far down in there... too far to use any large TIG cup or filler rod. I think the only way I would have gotten that done was to use some extremely small arc-rod and wrap the OD of the rod with something as an insulator to just stick it in there and press it really quick to fuse it, and then cut the power to the welder or remove the ground. I've had success doing that with broken bolts in blind holes. Alas, it was too late at that point. I had to remove the pin so I tried the most "common" method. I had a feeling it wouldn't work. Next time I will listen to my inner voice a bit more. .

I really don't think there's any way of removing them without making some serious dents and marks on the housing. heating is of no help either, because there is a step just beneath each ball. the step is the ID of the pin for a press fit, and the ball is larger than the step. so once it gets to the step, the area on the inside and around the pin just pops/cracks open. they are hardened ball bearings, they did not deform whatsoever.

The pin cannot be pressed out. It has two ball bearings swaged into either side. If you press one in on one side, it eventually breaks the housing by cracking it where the pin goes through, because there is a small step in the bore that the ball does not easily slide through to the other side. So yes, you can press the pin out. But the pump won't be useable. Found this out today. Wasn't fun.

Did you find out any information on this? Can the pin be pressed out?

small update for now. I had to take a tiny wire brush (sprout shape) that comes in a dremel kit, and i wire wheeled the entire head like i was drawing on it with a fine tipped marker to get all the aluminum coloured paint off it. It yellows over time and catches all kind of dust and never looks good after the car is driven a couple of times. you can never clean it properly. So i decided to essentially wire wheel the entire head with the motor upside down so that nothing went in the valve train or spark plug pockets, and then brake cleaned the motor while it was upside down so all the shmoo fell to the ground on a garbage bag. A lot of scrubbing with a tooth brush, half a quart/litre of wax & grease remover, and one can of brake kleen later, and it's looking pretty good. just gotta do the back of the head and two or three small areas, then i'll put the motor back together and think about doing the "datsun overspray" in certain areas. Part of me wants to, but part of me wants to make it cleaner than factory. The parts are coated with sharkhide. It barely changes the look of how it is without it. Just slightly shinier. The valve cover was burnished and was pretty close to the 13,000 mi 1973 240z that was in the same building, but with 40 years of oxidation, so I'd say this is as close as it's gonna get with a uniform finish. The valve cover is NOT polished. It's just a very high sheen burnish. It's the same "surface" as the head as shown in a close up in the second photo, but with added sheen from multiple burnishing passes. A full micropolish is way more mirror like. This is like... a dull aluminum that someone has sprayed a high gloss finish on- but it's actually not coated with a gloss of any kind. The pan rail has that brown aviation gasket seal stuff. Is that the preferred sealant to use in conjunction with cork gaskets, or is a slight brush on of RTV a good idea?

Hi everyone. I was wondering if the following are still available anywhere: Air Cleaner rubber stripping and carb-mouth mounting gaskets. These are 4 bolt ones for the 1970 i'm restoring, and I can't seem to find the rubber pieces that go inside the air cleaner either. Fuel Pump internal valve gaskets. They OE ones seem to be paper of some sort, but they are NLA. Is it ok to replace with a square-style rubber o-ring of sorts? or is there a preferred method aside from that? Also, can the pin that holds the arm in the fuel pump be pressed out and pressed back in? I need to clean this one up, but I don't want any gunk going into the back of the fuel pump. Is there a way to press it out? I had someone briefly try to press it from both sides, and came to the conclusion that the rounded ends are caps that are pressed in afterwards? Can I just press it on through and then dissassemble and reassemble? It seems like the rounded caps have bottomed out. Not sure if I should try going further. This is the Kyosan Denki fuel pump that i've seen go from 500 - 1000 dollars, soooooo I'd like to freshen it up. The pump is pictured below and the round shiney pin in the pivot arm hole is the one i'm talking about:

I tried out a black oxide solution, and it seems to work amazing. The little fuel filter bracket/holder that is made of spring steel blackened up back to the original finish, and It looks great with a little bit of penetrating oil rubbed into it. I found that the sharkhide dries to a slightly darker haze than the base metal and then it shines right up with some penetrating oil, so that's the route I will take from here on out for items that I'll be refinishing without painting.

I'll have to take this one apart again and lay it out , and if you can compare that would be awesome. it is also a single points. I snagged this photo from another site... I know there is more than one washer. unless there is a washer that goes under the spring on the diaphragm side. But I have a really thin washer, a locking washer that is shaped like clasping end of the clevis, and regular washer, as well as the tube guide that sits in the spring.

does anyone have the order of the small washers/items that go in the following location (purple arrow) on the distributor vacuum advance?

awesome. i love it when someone can finally call a project "done" and just begin to enjoy it and tell everyone about all the stories that got it to where it is. such a great feeling!

sweeeeeeeeeeeet

I need to try a white one because I tried a blue one and... it kinda put blue tint on the test piece. btw, send me a price for that manifold, i'll come look at it!

Hi Chris, Thanks for the offer. The issue I seem to have with the air galley tube is that it's tough to take them off in good condition. Either the tube nuts round off or they are just plain stuck on there! My machinist tried with the oxy torch and couldn't get them to budge at all. I'll consult with the vehicle owner and see what he would like to do. The sharkhide seems to be very good. The brighter/shinier the part is, the better it comes out- as it's light sheen matches the underlying shine much easier and it blends in nicely. I will be sharkhiding everything that I've assembled up until now on Sunday. I just did a demo for a friend who was helping me make room in the garage for more Z stuff and after 5 minutes of drying you couldn't tell it was even on the piece of aluminum we put it on, and I did put a nice layer on there. It's like a clear coat without all the issues I've had with clear coat. No heat curing. No yellowing due to UV or age, and no cracking, peeling, or chipping. It's barely visible, and if you try to scrape it off with something, you end up scraping off aluminum, so it's very thin and self levelling to a degree. I think it will be great. I just need to find something I can wipe it on with that's a bit better than the cotton pads i'm using right now. I need something like cotton baby diaper, as recommended by the manufacturer. If it ends up looking ugly, you can wipe it off with a heavy wipe with any regular solvent, acetone, thinner. The most important part is to have a uniform finish on the shine/surface of the underlying part, and to then have it clean and free from oils and foreign items. A good quick scrub with a tooth brush only used with brake clean, acetone, or wax/grease remover seems to work best prior to applying, and works well for removing it.

yes, I am going to buy that one- but I need the tubes that go underneath the air galley. they are not part of the air galley itself. There is another air galley locally that is much cheaper and i can have it plated to match the rest of the carb and engine fasteners... but i still need those tubes. The problem I have with that one at jdm-car-parts is that the finish is like that of the newer plated stuff. Oddly enough, the parts I've seen NOS from 15 or so years ago are nearly identical to the plating I have done at my local guy. The newer stuff is more silvery undertone... really upsets the look, but If I can't get the local one, I'll grab that one. I believe they are 5/16 inch stainless tube with a regular 37 degree single flare.

Hi again, Ladies and Gents! So I had a tough time removing the air gallery tube from the E30 stamped exhaust manifold. I had to cut one of the extension pitot tubes that protrude into the exhaust ports. They seem to be either stainless or inconel. Does anyone know where I can get a couple of those to replace the one I had to cut as well as some of the ones that have split at the end? I had to drill out one of the flare nuts that broke off at the hex, and tried to use extraction bits. The only solution was to hammer it from the port tube side to fold it up and curl what was left out of there. I think there is about half the tube nut thread still in there from my calibrated cyborg eye gauge. It should hold well. I tested with another tube from a different port as well as a tube nut, and it held a decent amount of torque. I will be using an end-tap to clean it up further in there. My only other options would be to helicoil, timesert, or build up some material via welding and then tap it out again. I don't want to do that on an oily/shitty 1970's casting that looks more porous than SpongBob Squarepants. Can these be made from nominal stainless tube with a suitable flare tool? I doubt mine would work, it would probably just slip on the tube while flaring- unless I heat it up prior to flaring. looking for some ideas if ya got 'em! I did promise some photos. those will come soon. I am starting to assemble the car next week (finally) after receiving the last bit of plated parts. Also, I was wondering if the pivot arm on the fuel pump housing can be removed by pressing the pin out of the side. It seems as though it's using some sort of cap, as I tried pressing from both sides and they both went in and didnt transfer over to any one side... I'd like to use the fuel pump I have as it's in good condition but I want to tumble the housing in the corn cob media.

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I went ahead and did some more tumbling and disassembling more parts and what not. Does anyone know how to take the back housing completely off the smog pump? Do I have to remove the front 3 bolts that hold the plate on underneath the pulley mounting flange, or does the flange come out first, and then the entire assembly gets pressed out? I would like to have the pump housing tumbled when i bring the valve cover and timing cover to the large tumbling facility so that the housing looks brand new. as it looks like it's seen better days. I am hoping to plate the entire back housing if it's possible so that i can then tape off the plated tubes/elbows and give it a quick coat of black or cast iron. looks like it was black phosphate coated before the tubes were pressed in, but I don't find it economical to do anything like that. It will still be under the minimum charge for the items I am taking to tumble, so I might as well have at it. In other news, I found that Meguires HOT SHINE tire shine is my new tumbler solution of choice for plastic pyramid media, with about a cup and a half of water... and for the dry shine media- a couple of table spoons of CLEAR (not "natural") furniture/floor/wood wax heated up until liquid and dropped into the dry shine media really brings out the lustre on old and new items alike. You just gotta let it run through for an hour before tumbling the actual parts so the dry corn cob media soaks up the wax and breaks down the clumps evenly. I will be posting photos as soon as I get the next stuff back from the plater and the tumbler place. the anti-backfire valve came out brand new, as well as the fuel pump. But I would like to remove the pivot pin from the fuel pump arm so that I can run it through the dry shine media to brighten it up a touch to match the carb hats and valve cover, so I think I just have to heat up the housing a little bit and press the steel pin all the way through one side. Should be relatively simple. The replacement pump I was given was not for a 240z head, the bolt pattern is different.