Zed Head

Calculate the compression ratio. E88's came in several varieties as I understand things. What size valves are in it? You could probably come out ahead just by swapping to an N42 or N47 head, designed for dished pistons. Higher CR and bigger valves.

I think that it would work just fine. The bores are the same for front and back and the stroke is the same. So performance would be the same. They completely redesigned the internals of the MC besides moving the reservoirs. Might be that they just moved the mass of the larger reservoir and its contents back to where it exerts less leverage on the assembly, for protection against inertial forces and vibration. That would be a typical engineering "perfection" that might happen in a redesign. It started in the front because front brakes = front reservoir, but got moved. There might be better reasons but I can't see them.

It can help to remove the spindle pin lock bolt, put a lug nut on the end of the spindle pin, squirt some penetrating fluid in to the lock bolt hole, and spin the pin suing the lug nut. It will spread the lubricant inside and break up the rust that's holding it in.

The roof of the blue one looks like it's salvageable. Might be some 5 speeds in there, three look like 77-78. Struts, strut insulators, manifolds, consoles. He'd probably take $100, I bet.

I had good luck at the local parts store. They typically have a wall loaded with precut, prefitted lines of various makes. Take the old one in, maybe with a wire or string you used to get the unbent length and you can walk out with a piece that just needs a few bends to bolt right in, professionally flared.

I'd like to see one running and driving just to watch it crumble apart. That would be great youtube material, many views probable.

Butterscotch highway cruiser (automatic) with new wheel nuts. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-202/

If you have a spare brake part around and a flared tube end it might help you to just pull the threaded portion back and stick the tube in to the hole, just to get a feel for how they seal. The threaded portion's sole purpose is to apply pressure on the bell edges of the flared tube end, pressing it down on to the cone in the middle of the device, whether it's a brake cylinder or a caliper or the pressure differential switch. There are only two surfaces that need to be smooth, clean, and crack-free - a small ring around the inside of the flare, and a small ring where the inside of the flare contacts the cone. You can take a bright light and a magnifying glass and examine them closely and you'll get a good idea beforehand if they're going to seal or not. All it takes is grain of sand, or a metal shaving, to get trapped there and you can have a leak. Or even just a scratch or a crack. Once the fluid gets in to the void at the end of the fitting it can easily leak past the fitting end and out of the hole since the fitting end is designed for force not sealing. The fitting is just a clamping mechanism. Anyway, a bunch of words to say take a close look at the actual fluid sealing surfaces.

Have you examined the cone that the fitting seats on? It might need a hone.

Just do both at the same time. Make sure that the MC is tilted upward at the end so that the bubbles will be forced out. You can do that by leaving the bolts loose or by lifting the front of the car. The MC bleed screws are at the ends of the stroke you want the the bubbles to rise to that area so that they'll push out. Both front and rear are actuated at the same time, because they're in the same bore, so you can just run two hoses up in to the reservoirs and pump away.

In short, I think that your assumption is correct.

Interesting how far off the two are, time-wise. Not sure what's going on there. The FSM's I downloaded from this site or others. The 72 FSM files come with a cover image that says 1972. Somebody on the forum will know what's what. Might be that the change happened in 1972. The build date is what you see in the cparpartsmanual data. August/Sept 1971 is the changeover. Maybe the 72 FSM did not keep up.

The Nissan Factory Service Manual is where I got the images. Choose your source.

Added this -

73 flips front and back.

It fits the drawing and the specification (7/8") perfectly for a 1972 MC. Page BR-3 and -27. The 70 FSM matches it also.

I've had the thought that tying the springs down with spring compressors before lifting would stop the front end from rising, to give space. I didn't need it though, I was lifting from the rafters using a chain hoist. But it might be worth a shot if you know space will be tight.

We had a whole long conversation about that car earlier. There's something odd about the BHC. They collect junk and overprice it. Here's some old links, if they come through. Posts 96, 175, and 205.

Did you run the shoes out with the adjusting wheel before installing the drums? If your parts are right you should be able to crank the parking brake handle up and down about ten times and tighten them up. I could tell when the wheel moved an extra click on my 76 because the brake pedal got a bit higher in use. p.s. don't forget that if you can pump the pedal and it gets higher and harder then there's air in the system. If you can't then something mechanical is out of adjustment.

Check that bleed screws are on tops of calipers. Left and right can be swapped, the bleed screws can end up on the bottoms.

Here's some silver/gray stuff. There have been probably been many different colors over the years.

The tank repair guy probably uses something like Red-Kote. But has the experience to get it right. Should work. Good luck. http://damonq.com/red-kote.html https://covidactnow.org/us/north_carolina-nc/?s=26811580 You live out on the coast, right? Must be that ocean air. Stay away from those populated areas when you get back. Cases and hospitalizations are heading back up. The same cycle happens here in Washington. We're freee!...it's back...we're freee!...it's back...

Have you read Nissan's document? Might give you a few more ideas while you're devising solutions. I think that hot float bowls is part of the problem too.

The driver's side tail light lens is busted. That's a deal-breaker.

Plumbing and electrical fixtures offer a wide assortment of possibilities especially if the final route to the carbs is rubber hose. Many come with rubber or plastic grommets inside. Don't forget to insulate the rail. Nissan made up a whole fancy insulation package for the rails to combat heat soak and percolation. That aluminum is going to soak up the heat.