Randalla

This looks to me like fuel has been leaking from somewhere for a long time, given the color of the stain. Here are a few things to check. First, make sure your float level is not set too high. If it's too high, gas may be coming out the vent tube on the fuel bowl lid, or more likely, given what I see in your pictures, your float bowl lids need new gaskets. Still it's unusual for this to happen unless very aggressively driving and sloshing fuel. I would also check to see that your fuel is not leaking due to a pin hole leak or poor sealing of the hose clips. Obviously this is an issue you should address ASAP. One of two conditions would cause that fuel stain

Yes, late summer is for 240Z bars only. I'm hoping to get a tooling estimate in the next 60 days for 260/280Z taillight bezels to see how feasible it may be to produce them.

I communicated with my supplier this past week about the taillamp bars. Production is currently down, but it looks like there may be enough interest to warrant reproducing some additional sets. I'll post up when they are back on stock, but that may not be until the end of summer.

Thanks guys for the kind words. Steve J, I'd love to be able to offer chrome surrounds for 260 and 280Zs but I believe the tooling would be cost prohibitive. I will however, check with my supplier. A friend from Vegas and I worked together re-chroming good 260/280 cores a couple years ago, but it soon became impossible to find cores good enough to strip and re-plate. These actually turned out to be higher quality and a bit heavier than OEM, as they were electrochrome plated rather than the less expensive process.

I previously produced and sold about 120 sets out, over a five year period. I'm giving serious consideration to producing another batch, but wanted to gauge interest first, as my cost is rather steep and I don't want to get stuck with a mess of them. These are OEM quality or better, with the mold marks for left and right sides and come with install instructions and fasteners. I expect the price to be in the area of $130 a pair. Those of you who have purchased some of the first batch will hopefully vouch for the quality. Any interest?

Makes perfect sense. I think it was about the same time that NHTSA was founded and began instituting new rules. Thanks Carl.

Carl, once again you impress by your depth of knowledge. Both my Series 1 cars are late, 13,000+ and 19,000+. Based on your last post I obviously wouldn't have had a 2400cc valve cover from the factory on either one, which I don't. Any idea about the date or VIN# when the "holed" steering wheels replaced the "plugged" wheels? My 19,000 VIN car has the plugged wheel. I'm guessing that may have been carried through all the Series 1 cars, But am not sure.

Carl, you truly are a wealth of information! Based on what you posted I can only conclude that the hatch and glass on my car must have been replaced fairly early in the car's life. For what reason is any ones guess. Appreciate the informative post ups.

Sorry, should have left my direct email address. For anyone interested or having questions, you can email me at datsun.floatsync@gmail.com. I received and approved production samples of the aluminum blocks earlier today. Float Syncs will be back in inventory soon.

Thanks for posting the picture above ConVerTT. I had the same thought as you regarding the likelihood of the hatch vs. the glass being replaced. The mystery deepens...

Just a quick update on my Float-Sync production. I will be receiving production samples of one of the primary components later today. Should have some new units to sell before the end of April. PM me if you're interested and I'll get back to you with pricing as soon as my price quotes come back.

240260280, very nice transformation after clean up. 7tooZ, I think given your VIN#, you may have a very early Series II car. I believe the series one cars ended somewhere around 21,000. The way it's equipped would seem to suggest that.

Now that's helpful and interesting, thanks Hoover. Our cars are 500 units apart with the same later air cleaners and valve covers, at least. I'm interested to know if anyone has seen a vertical glass hatch that's not vented, that history supports was factory installed. Seems odd that it would be mismatched unless the hatch was replaced at some point for some reason.

Jim, I know most of your cars are very early production cars. Do you have any series I cars post 19,000 by chance? I'll ring you to discuss further, later this afternoon.

I'm interested to hear from owners of late 240Z series I cars (above 19,000). I have a late Series I car that has some components consistent with earlier cars, but some components that are from later cars. My car is a clean, pretty original1971, with a build date of 1/71. The car has the correct series I steering wheel, c-pillar badges, vertical heating elements in the hatch glass, etc. There are, however a few things that seem odd and inconsistent with the earlier cars. Though the car has the correct hatch glass, it does not have the vents below. The valve cover is not the 2400 version but rather the OHC version, and the air cleaner has the heat riser and the flapper. Certainly some things may have been changed over the years, but it's also possible the late cars were built with some series II parts. I'm trying to determine what was original to the car and what may have been changed. Can anyone else that has a late series I car weigh in?

FYI, I am the maker of the FloatSync and expect to have more units for sale in the next 60-90 days. For anyone interested, send me a private message and I'll follow-up with you when they're once again available. The tool will eliminate a lot of guess work and incorrect measurements. Just a reminder that the tool will only work on SUs that have the threaded plugs in the float bowls.

I will double check the mating surfaces. I have two more gaskets coming next week so will try again. Arghhhh!

Not likely, I run consistently 180-190 degrees and am running 2-1/2 exhaust and straight through glass pack muffler

I have a 1972 Z that continues to blow out the 2 holed gasket between the manifold and the down-pipe and leak. I've tried both cut rate auto parts store versions and the OEM version with equal success. The motor is mildly built and I'm running a single 2 -1/2 inch exhaust from the down-pipe to the rear. Wondering if exhaust dope might possibly help. Anyone else have a similar problem and found a solution.

Thanks guys. I'll post up here after getting the new transmission and speedo driver installed and report findings.

I have a 1972 240Z that I have recently installed a 390 rear end in. The wide ratio 5-speed transmission currently in the car has a white 19 tooth speedo driver in it which causes the speedometer to read about 5 mph too fast at 80 mph. I'm planning to swap in a red 20 tooth speedo driver and am curious if any of you math whizs can give me an idea of how much closer I'll get to the speedometer reading accurately. I realize there are other variables that come into play here, like wheel and tire size, but I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect once I get my new close ratio 5-speed installed with the red gear. Thoughts? I'm currently running 16" Panasports with 205/50/16 tires.

Carl, thank you for posting the WSJ article. For us Scarab owners that was great exposure.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I'd love to see you in Scottsdale and show you my Z-cars and other cars if you are interested. Please let me know when you'll be coming out. You probably know January is car auction month in Scottsdale which is an excellent time to be here for car guys. If you know of anyone wanting a Scarab book, they are available on Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/223638321695

Thanks for the heads up. Are you a member of desertdatsuns.net? If not please check us out if you are in the Valley. Just looking for a set of carbs at this point, but thank you!

Any idea of shipping cost to AZ? I'd be interested at $130 if shipping is reasonable.