FastWoman

Passed inspection today. Yea! All legal now, I had a chance to punch the accelerator. From what I could tell on the inside of the car, the exhaust sounds fine -- no Honda tuner kid-car character to it. Unfortunately my inspection sticker reads 9-11. Now I have to look at that on my windshield for a year. Kinda takes some of the fun out of driving. :disappoin

Well, if you find a source/solution, let me know. If it doesn't cost a fortune, I might be interested in replacing mine too, just to have it original.

I have to wonder whether raw fuel is ever ejected into the carbon canister if/when the evap tank is removed. For instance, what happens if the car is parked with a very full tank (topped off), and pressure builds in the tank? Does raw gas get burped into the canister? What if the car is parked leaning to the right? What about a hard lefthand curve? Of course if enough fuel is ejected into the canister, it will run out the bottom and onto the ground.

How odd! Does your car have any structural issues? Is it solid? How are the frame rails?

I finally have the MSA premium (aluminized) 2.5" exhaust installed in my mostly stock EFI '78, with a stainless steel Magnaflow glass-pack added as a mid-pipe muffler (rather than a resonator). The system uses my OEM exhaust manifold, rather than headers (which I don't particularly like). I also opted not to install the flex coupler that I was considering before. These are the parts: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MPE-10416 http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/PEC27/15-6304 I had Tidewater Z do the installation for me, as they had to do a bit of cutting, refitting, and welding. They did a nice job, although they were quite slow getting around to it. Total parts were around $350 and labor $200. The exhaust fits well and sounds pretty good. It has a very deep note at idle, but a bit louder than I had hoped. There's little or no raspiness, which was my #1 concern. It sounds a bit mellower than a moderate "American muscle" tone, and of course with an even tone, rather than the characteristic American V8 "burble." The exhaust gets somewhat louder under load, of course, but still without raspy overtones. Very nice. I haven't yet had my car on the freeway because it's still not legal. I hope to have my inspection sticker Monday. Then I'll be getting on to other projects, like replacing the intake/exhaust manifold gasket (small exhaust leak around #6 --- shhhhh!) and replacing my injectors. Anyway, thanks, everyone, for your helpful advice. I'm pleased with the outcome! Sarah

Don't automatically assume the tank is fine! It might not be. It's a simple part, but mine actually had a leaking solder joint at the lower fitting. I didn't smell fumes but discovered decomposed paint (from the leaking fuel) right around the fitting. My local radiator shop repaired the tank for $30. If your car doesn't require 100% OEM purity, you can replace the vent lines with non-Nissan rubber. Just be sure it's fuel-compliant. You might have trouble finding 5/8" fuel line for the large hoses, but you can obtain it at a tractor supply or from the Hampton Rubber Company in Hampton, VA. http://www.hamptonrubber.com/ (They're not a mail order company, but if you call them, they can put together a UPS care package for you.) There are a couple of tight bends in the 5/8 line that might be difficult to recreate without kinking the line. (The OEM hose is formed.) You can create these bends with a stainless steel slinky thing that my auto parts store gave me. The hose goes inside it, and it forms a supportive cage around the bend. It works fine. Unfortunately I can't remember what it's called, and it's not on any of my receipts. It was a free sample that came with their boxes of 5/8" heater hose (which you shouldn't use, because it's not fuel compliant). If you really WANT the two larger OEM hoses, in decent condition, with the original braiding on the outside and the formed angles, I have them from off of my '78. I threw them in my box of serviceable OEM stuff to keep/sell/whatever. I personally prefer new rubber to old/authentic rubber, so I replaced those hoses while into the project. Anyway, PM me if you need them.

FAIW, one of mine is seized up too, and it's not really a problem. The one that feeds vacuum to the dash can be bypassed without any negative consequences. It's redundant with the vacuum selector switch (mode switch), as I recall. The other does actually have a function, of course. That said, if you set your idle just a touch higher than normal (maybe 100 RPM), your engine will be happy dragging the compressor even without the help of the fast idle actuator. My car's previous owner didn't have the fast idle anywhere near to correct adjustment, and it didn't actuate. Even so, the engine ran fine with the compressor. I fixed it and properly adjusted it, and honestly the engine could almost do without the thing.

Mike, I already have holes (maybe 8mm dia?) on the bottom sides of the frame rails on my '78. I assume they came that way from the factory, perhaps for drainage. I have to say the rails are in great shape on my car. I have some rust problems elsewhere, though. I wonder if cosmoline is possibly the best stuff to use: http://www.cosmolinedirect.com/#342 The #342 on the right would be the thick, petroleum goo/wax like stuff. Some of you might have seen the stuff coating precision tooling, especially cutting tools. I once had to clean the stuff off of a giant milling machine, and I can tell you it didn't want to come off! Do you think this stuff would penetrate rust?

You're saying that's the way your headlight is oriented when you have this problem?

KJP, I actually can't make much sense of the diagram. I'd have to look at my car, but... Mine is dry-rotted, BTW. A piece of the passenger rubber fell off the other day, but my driver's side rubber is still intact (but rotted).

KJP, my car is actually in the shop today. I need to replace that part myself, so I could only show you a pic of a half-deteriorated part. But I'll see what I can do.

Rather late in this thread, but FAIW, I had to replace the door strips on my first 280Z when the car was only 8 years old. (It was a harsh environment.) I bought the stripping from my local Nissan dealer. It cost $$$, but it was genuine Nissan, and it was still fairly new rubber. When I was done, I recall it being harder to close my doors (with the new, genuine Nissan stripping) than when I finished replacing the stripping on my current Z with BD's stripping (only yesterday). Moreover, the fit is easing up much faster on my current Z with BD stripping than on my old Z with Nissan stripping. Anyway, I think a tight fit is just the nature of the beast. FAIW, I'm generally of the opinion that old, genuine Nissan rubber is still old rubber. I prefer new aftermarket rubber wherever possible.

Hi all, I got an interesting idea, but I don't know whether it's a good one. We all know that British automotive engineers intentionally engineer oil leaks into their engines, so as to provide a source of lubrication and rust prevention for the underbody. Right? So I'm wondering about my frame rail interiors and other largely inaccessible areas. Would it be wise to mist them periodically with fogging oil to keep them in good condition, or would that compromise the integrity of any painted coatings? I'm also wondering whether it would be good/useful to fog the problem areas inside areas like doors and fenders, where I do have a bit of rust. I think it's much too late to use conventional rust preventatives, but fogging oil might just penetrate the rust and provide a bit of latent protection. Any thoughts? Thanks! Sarah

Tomo, FAIW, there should be two filaments in the headlight, running parallel to each other. They should be oriented horizontally. One will be higher than the other. The low beam filament should be located higher than the high beam filament (which results in their respective beam directions).

In answer to one of your questions, there's no headlight relay. All the "heavy lifting" is done by the switches on the steering column. Those switches go bad after decades of hard service, and a popular upgrade is to install relays. A kit is available from one of the list participants. If you're good with wiring, you can also mod your wiring the way I did with my '78 for a cost of $5-10. The mod is pretty well buried in this thread of mine: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35588&highlight=breakers Finally, genuine factory service manuals are readily available for the Datsuns. Do a search on Amazon or Ebay to pick up a (used) copy. You can also download a FSM for free, but I think it's a lot easier to spread out a real book near where you're working! You can also scribble notes in it.

Zforce, those are exactly the connectors I was trying to order from Route 66 in the first place! Woohoo! OK, I've got my connector ordered. Thanks. Geesh, you'd think ordering an electrical connector wouldn't be this hard. Thanks for the offer, Mark, but my approach to flaky businesses is to abandon any business with them and to warn others. Life is too short! But thanks!

Assuming your plugs look black (with carbon) and not oily, then it's a fuel issue, not an oil issue. If you were leaking/burning that much oil, your plugs would probably be oily.

Frankie, if rust is the only problem, you might try soaking the sockets in EvapoRust. The stuff works. Finish with a rinse in water, dry thoroughly, and spray with WD-40.

Thanks, guys! The Molex connectors look great. The problem is that I'm having trouble finding the pins with the silicone rubber seals. The bulkhead connector also looks great, but there are way too many pins in the thing. I put together a fuel rail (yours, Ron! ) with integral wiring and insulation. I need a 12 pin plug to connect/disconnect the fuel rail as a unit. I eventually found this system: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180553520498 ... which looks promising. These connectors come as large as 1x6, so it would take two for the fuel rail. I have an email out to the seller. I also cancelled the Route-66 order. I got a very quick reply confirming the cancellation. It's been the only communication I've gotten from the company since Aug 20 when I placed the order. Geesh, the way some people do business...

Yoshi, it also helps not to have wide front tires and to have your tires well inflated. Wide tires running at low pressure are misery to steer. Check out HybridZ for a popular retrofit solution using a Subaru Impreza (?) PS rack, if I remember correctly.

Check out the MSA premium aluminized exhuast kits. They're supposed to be the most DIY-friendly.

The fuel filter should be mounted in the engine compartment on the right fender, right next to the carbon canister. If memory serves, it's about twice the dia of the fuel damper. You can buy a replacement filter for about $12 at your local auto parts store.

Hi all, I ordered some nice looking watertight electrical connectors from this company almost 2 weeks ago and have received nothing. Order status says only "order received," with no mention of shipping. I've tried emailing, with no response. I looked up their telephone number (not on their website) and tried calling. All I can do is to leave a message, which doesn't get returned. I hit the web to see if there were warnings about this company. Indeed, others have ordered things that weren't shipped and were unable to communicate. I suspect I'll need to contest charges through my credit card company and find another connector. I'm in part posting this as a warning. I'm also posting this as a query: Where can I find a water-tight inline connector, preferably 12 conductor, that I can subject to enjine heat? I'm trying to make a disconnect for my fuel injection system -- 12 conductors for the injectors and 12 more conductors for everything else.

Rust forms little pits in the metal, so it's hard to get all of it just with sanding. Try using Naval Jelly on it. That will dissolve out the rust. It's a slow process, but it's quite thorough. You can get the bulk of the rust by sanding, but finish off the process chemically.

Thanks, Doradox! I feel a bit better knowing that.