Oiluj

True, where I am on the peninsula temps are moderate. Around here, it's two windows down. The east bay, however, is a different story. Where I grew up in Antioch, (only 70 miles away), Summer temps are typically in the high 90's to low 100's. Still have family and freinds I visit there on a regular basis. Plus, I'm planning a trip in the Z to SOCAL shortly. San Diego was in the 90's today. Nice to have A/C when you need it!

John, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. While I'm an ME, lubrication is not a subject where I have much "practical" experience... Called Dave Rebello today. He basically agreed with what you said above about modern oil technology above. He also suggested the use of an additive, if the particular oil used doesn't have enough ZDDP.

Yup. Same Hatch.

Lon, Thanks for the source. I picked-up a bottle of Redline oil treatment, (W/ ZDDP), yesterday. Plan to do an oil change this weekend and add it in.

Just found a couple interesting links. Looks like there are 2 good additives that work with both dino-goo and synthetic oils. They are Redline and ZDDPlus. http://www.ctci.org/gilsgarage/EngineOil2.php http://www.aa1car.com/library/api_motor_oil_classifications.htm http://www.zddppluscentral.com/ http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=121&pcid=1 Think I'll try one of them with Castrol GTX or Castrol Edge...

Been using Castrol GTX 10-30, but now that then engine is fully broken-in, I'm thinking of adding some ZDDP to protect my cam. Alternately, I'm considering using a synthetic blend oil such as Royal Purple of Castrol Edge. Have searched the archives and the web, but it's really hard to come to any real conclusions on what's best, because most of the information is dated... So what oil or oil addditives are others using and what are your impressions? I know this is a controversial topic, and apologize in advance if this turns into a food fight...

The evaporator tank on my 1972 is steel as well.

Similar to what Arne has done, I've adjusted my throttle damper screw to be about 1/8" away from touching the plate on the linkage. It keeps it from operating under normal driving conditions, but does engage to some extent when I'm driving a bit more aggresively.

Invest $20 in a dead blow hammer. They are semi-hard plastic filled with lead shot. When you hit the wrench, almost all the energy is trasferred to the nut. Would not have been able to break a number of nuts loose on my Z without it.

You can always eliminate the evaporation tank if it's the culprit, but it's much more likely that it's the vapor hose or fill neck.

I've got A/C! And it's even cold... Charged the system this morning and went for a drive. Had an issue with one of the hoses I made. The hose itself had a pin-hole which sealed itself during the vacuum test, but failed under pressure. Was that a surprise when the refrigerent came squirting out! Happily, I had two extra #6 fittings and some extra hose so I just made a new one. Found I'm going to have to add an electric fan to help keep the engine cool if I get caught in-traffic. When sitting at idle with A/C at max cold, the engine temp begins to rise. Just one more project to add to the list... No matter, I've got working A/C!!!

Cool Idea!

I used foam from MSA and had my seats done by a local shop. The MSA foam doesn't seem to have as much "bucket" shape, compared to the original seats, especially in the backrest. That said, it looks good and is comfortable. I'm now working on a cosmetic refresh of my neighbor's 72 automatic. Since the butterscotch seat kits are NLA, she had them custom done by a guy her boyfreind knows. They came out really nice. I'm waiting to get a swatch of material to send to Les at Classic Datsun to see if he can have matching interior panels made. If not, we will have them custom painted.

John, Interesting read. Makes sense to me.

I'm with you on that... I was only lifting the pin very little, but perhaps a bit more than 1/32", probably twice that which would account for the stumbling. Far as it goes, I was mostly just curious. Reality is that I'm quite happy with the way she runs at both idle and on-the-road. These cars really are such a pleasure to drive...

If I recall correctly, changing from idle to 2000 RPM, A/F "flashed" rich. Changing from 2000 to 3000, it goes slightly lean, but almost immediately and catches-up and is in the correct range. This was observed with fairly quick throttle changes. The A/F doesn't vary much with a slow, steady change in the trottle.

I'll second that. Mine was very stiff when I took it out of the car. Cleaned it up, (took about an hour), added white litium grease and it moves like a new part. If it has too much play, you might neeed to replace the bushings.

Yep. Sounds like time to replace the dizzy.

Vintage rubber is more expensive, but the quality of the parts looks very good. They also carry the one-piece outer-hatch seal.

You are removing the heavy, outer layer of oxidation and contaminants. Problem is, you don't know if it's going to lead to stress-cracking of the plastic later on. Not an issue with the door bumpers, but could be a problem on the throttle parts. That said, most paint removers are a combination of caustics & solvents. Assuming these parts are thermoplastic nylon, it has good resistance to both of these chemicals, so it may OK.

Both before and after changing needles in my SU's, I checked A/F with using my colortune (per the instructions) at various engine RPM's. I did notice that the mixture varies a bit across the rpm's at steady state, (idle, 200 RPM & 3000 RPM), but not too much. However, it varies alot during "changes" in throttle. Of course, this is all done at no-load...

In absence of an O2 meter, think I'll stick with the colortune for setting my mixture, especially since the car runs fine and gets decent gas mileage...

Installed a timing indicator plate to replace my single pin indicator. Much easier to set the timing.

I'll second Leon's list, but place the rear wheel bearings, (3), as difficult as (4). It's because you need to get or make a special tool to get those big nuts off the inside bearings.

Background Info: The engine idles reasonably well, (given the stage 3 cam), runs fine and temp is stable at 180F, even on hot days. Mixture nuts are set at about 2-3/4 turns each. My colortune shows my mixture to be about right, measured at plugs 2 & 5. Timing is set at 7 BTDC & carbs are balanced. Reading recent posts, I got "curious" and tried lifting the pins that raise the carb pistons. For both carbs, the engine stumbles badly... Not what it's supposed to do. Even when I increase mixture 1 full turn on the mixture nuts, it still stumbles. I do have the larger jet needles to accomodate the bored & stroked 2.7L L24. Question: So what do I believe? I'm inclined to think I should go with the color-tune results, but what do others think...