Bruce Palmer

Time to blow off the mid winter stink!! Territory will be Salem Oregon and surrounding area. Datsuns Northwest is hosting their annual mid-winter fun run on Saturday the 12th of Feb. We will end up at the Silver Falls Conference Center for lunch and a club meeting, the first of '11. Lunch will set you back $8.50. Meeting will be held around their big old rock fireplace and they are setting aside their big parking lot for "Show Off Parking". Prospective new members come take a look. $24/year dues and this is the group that puts on Datsun Driving Canby Fun in June. Check www.datsunsnw.org for details re: start time and place.

Jessi, After sitting for all that time, the fuel system will most certainly need to be chased to rid it of all the varnish and sludge that has accumulated in the tank and lines. The brake and clutch hydraulics will need to be bled, at least, if not replaced entirely. Pitting in the cylinders and subsequent loss of stopping power will leave you standing along side a tree somewhere if not worse. Rubber brake and clutch lines are probably dried out to the point they are not safe. Which carbs are on the car, flat tops or round top? While doing all this work I wouldn't even worry about the engine. Doing a sensible startup procedure it may run fine. L motors are pretty tough. I'd definitely spend the money on a rebuilt distributor though. Anything rubber on the car will more than likely need replacing. Belts, hoses, suspension bushings and boots. Oh, and wheel bearings cleaned and repacked, U-joints same, stuts cartridges and shocks check. Sitting idle can be harder on some of this stuff than being driven daily. You have loooooots of time to look for wheels.... Make lists and keep jobs seperated or it will look overwhelming. One thing at a time, one thing at a time. Mark and bag stuff as it comes off. Look at this deal like the "free kitten" offers you see every spring. Doing the work your self will be great experience and you are getting into it right. It's all outflow from here. Hope it turns out to be worthwhile to take on......

Still waiting to hear back from the owner. Apparently telephone challenged or something. And no, I've crawled on my last airplane (commercial at keast) ever..... A train ride would be nice south to north though. PM or call me with a phone number and I'll call you as soon as I hook up with the owner.

We go thru a transmission parts warehouse in Portland. Full kit cost like $180. If you can go thru it yourself with this little investment I can't imagine why you'd buy someone elses half worn out box. I'll bet there are tranny parts suppliers in AZ. Let your fingers do the walking....

So safe to assume that if this block is from a normally aspirated version the compression ratio would be higher than the turbo motor would have been? The SU setup is a bolt on just as the "big boy" 2 barrel setup was. And runs the 2.8 just fine. Shameless plug for us..... Compression check is definitely in order. Is the oil showing any indication of water in it? With the engine running is there any evidence of excess pressure build up in the radiator. When head gaskets go wierd things can happen in unusual places more than just coolant out the tail pipe.

Are you wanting to fix the mechanical issues so you can drive the car while you are doing the body work? You might check www.paintucation.com for DVD help on skills building. I'd guess the white smoke is a blown head gasket. Fairly common that they just rott out over time. Transmission probably needs bearings and synchros. Carb and manifold are off a Mexico market something or other. Not a Z anything we would see in the states. Looks like that carb has been around the worrld underwater.

Now if you could only find someone to play with..... nyuck nyuck

Unique approach to supplying a known degree of fuel pressure by blowing into the vent tube. I wouldn't drive around with an air nozzle hooked up to it but for what you're trying to solve, it's pretty darn resourceful. On the float settings. Unless the kits you bought had two different lengths of needles and seats you'll have to adjust both float levels the same height regardless of the length of the standoffs. Oh, and the needle in an SU carb will never shut off the flow of fuel. OD of the needle at the base is still smaller than the ID of the nozzle. Press on. If captured behind enemy lines this agency will disavow any knowledge of your existance or whereabouts.

Territorially speaking zbarn.com in East TN is close.

Also hopefully you didn't charge the battery backwards which can happen with deader'n a hammer batteries....

So how long before every out of work carpenter in the states is on a tramp streamer heading down under. The rebuilding effort no doubt will be monumental. What did I read...80% of Queensland under water?

The one here in Salem? It's a running driving car. Buy the car, cover my expenses I'll drive it to you..... The girl who runs the changing room at my gym drove it daily until she bought a Del Sol a couple of weeks ago. I need a road trip.....

Well, look at it this way. Your expenditures are just starting as it will need a boatload of 32 year old stuff replaced so you'll know the status of all systems. The good news is you bought it right. Good grief, shiney and all one color is worth more than what you paid for it. I just heard about a 79 ZX 2+2 for sale here in Salem for $300. Running driving car. Buy 2make one. Can't have too many old Datsuns.....

Now, as long as we have you on the line, clear something up for me. I understand that your drive on the left side of the road in the UK goes back to the days of jousting. Most knights were right handed hence manuvered the lance with their better (stronger) arm? Truth or fiction???

Oh man! Don't tell me we have another Houstonite with an unanswerable question. Steve H. did you put him up to this??

Curious, as this unwinds, to see how close you come to what you want, for what you want to spend.

Ed, Sounds like you're not getting gas to the carbs. Disconnect the gas lines at the carbs and crank the engine. If everything is working and clear you should be pumping gas into a moonshine jar in relatively short order. Electric pump at the back of the car? You went thru it. mechanical pump on the engine? Is New. And you said you had the lines purged clear back to the tank correct? I've seen the sock in the tank inlet tube after the tank has been re-sealed get goobered up with sealer such that it can plug up. Anyway, start taking fuel line loose progressively toward the tank and crank the engine or run the pump. SUs are a contolled gas leak, you need to starting leaking some gas to them...

Alex, Interesting comment about the new car owner tendencies. I've wondered many time about how collectable or fullfilling anything could be that has a payment book still attached to it. Wow, how cool is this? "My collector car is still under warranty and the dealer does all my work". Have you checked the classifieds here?

Just grab your check book and enjoy the "ride"..... Webbers don't tune for nothing..... I know, clumsy structure....

There are more than likely enough photos of together systems at our web site to get you where you need to go. Good luck.

Ed, You are welcome. Just keep hanging around and sharing. This is a pretty good group and helpful to boot.

Wow, a 70 parked in 74 and eaten up with rust? That certainly is what NISSAN was after. Cars that disappeared in relatively short order. Welcome.

Ed, See I told you they were out there sculking and lurking and more than likely offering help. Is this a great group or what??

We will most surely share the findings, if there are any findings. We will also share the findings if there are no findings.....Findings findings, who's got the findings......

I claim the 5th. nyuck nyuck