Zed Head

That broken rusty bolt piece can exert a lot of resistance. Rust is weird stuff, it actually grows as it eats away the base metal. Oxygen atoms are added to the metal that is pulled off. It will expand to fill every void, and when the growth occurs in expanded cylinder head holes, the result is a compressed pile of rust when the head cools down. Rusting rebar cracks concrete even when its buried deep. Called "spalling". It's powerful. It's a major cause of bridge damage. Here's a fuzzy picture I took of mine right after I finally rocked the head off of the bolt remains. That pile of rust was packed into the hole. Here's another, more clear.

In 4th power is transmitted directly through the main/center shaft. In 1 through 3 and 5 it uses the countershaft. So noise in those gears could be a countershaft bearing going bad, or already damaged. If you haven't changed the transmission fluid yet, you might find metal parts on the drain plug magnet. If you decide to change the fluid, which you should, make sure that you remove the fill plug first, to be sure that you can refill, and to avoid sucking dirt back through the vent when the old oil comes out.

Does it make the noise when you shift, or while you're driving in one of those gears?

Here we go. The author is a car salesman. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Keep pumping. http://www.roadandtrack.com/author/2767/colin-comer/ http://colinsclassicauto.com/

Seems like he would have just written that if he wanted to. The article has an odd tone to it, like the author just decided on a theme and tried to fit the reality to it.. The 280Z is often bashed because it's the "GT" version of the 240Z. The 240Z purists usually talk about the raw sports car nature of the 240Z and how it was lost when the GT-like 280Z was introduced. But this guy starts by describing the 240Z as a GT car and comparing it to GT cars of the day. GT, GT, GT.... Seems way off base from the first few sentences. Apparently he owned one though. And like many early 240Z owners, thinks it's worth huge money now. Seems like could tell us more about his $75,000 car. It's not even "low VIN", it's over 500. Is anyone aware of a plus 500 VIN 240Z that sold for close to $75,000? Lots to suspect in this article. But it is an interesting read. Doesn't really seem worth much though, in the big scheme of things. "CC" is the author. I couldn't find any more about him because that is one screwed up web site. Keeps reloading more junk before you can click on the bottom links. "I bought the finest original Series 1 car I had ever seen—low miles, flawless original paint, and an interior and chassis you could eat off. It wasn’t one of the first 500, but it was a very early production car. I paid $15,000, probably a record price at the time. I enjoyed the car for a few years and sold it for $25,000. That buyer later sold it for $40,000. Today, the same car is likely worth closer to $75,000. "

"They". The internet is full of bad people. Stay away from the internet. It's bad.

Without at least a few details it's just guys saying that some random person made them feel bad and they blame everybody for it. I know that John Coffey was a moderator over there. Because he deleted some of my posts. But he seemed to be popular over here. That's what I mean about smearing unintended people. If you're going to be negative you need to work much harder at it than being positive. Don't post negative comments just for your own sake. Do it right. Edit of edit - Be constructive.

No problem Site. Tony D does that to people. He is also apparently a nice guy in person. His internet persona is the bad one. Maybe people experience the words from the internet in different ways. There's probably a good psych study there somewhere. If Google hasn't done it already. I wonder how zcar.com survives.

Still no backstory? Maybe you can't even remember. Just smear everybody. Tony D is a major supporter of that site. Pretty sure he's donated hundreds of dollars. Ironic, I think.

I thought of something last night that might help. Feeler gauges. Stick two thin ones in to any gap you can create, then stick another between them as far as it will go. Press on the blade while you hit with the hammer. The gauge blade should slide in a little farther with each hit. If you can't even get one blade in, then pound wit the hammer while you try to stick the blade in. You might have to work a gap open a few thousandths of an inch at a time. Maybe you're trying to do too much at one shot.

Here's something funny. I donated a few dollars on the Hybridz site, and made a few comments about how SuperDan should make it easier to donate, because the Donate button is buried in a sun-menu. So I decided that I should donate over here, but can't find the Donate or Support page.

He's not an admin though. If one guy can ruin a site, this site would be dead also. BUT. Maybe the Admin over there was Made in China. Fits the thought pattern. Broad brushes smear a lot of good things.

I've enjoyed the site. There are many different moderators that have worked there. There's only one Admin and site owner, SuperDan. And SuperDan is fairly noncommunicative. He lets the moderators control things. If you have a problem with SuperDan that's one thing, but if you're talking about a moderator, he's probably gone. I remember that you had a problem with Ron Tyler. But Ron was one of the best moderators. You should be specific. There's no "bunch" to criticize. They don't label people over there. The site is more impersonal. If a bad post comes up they just delete it. If the poster comes back again with another bad post then they give a warning, right in the thread where everybody can see it. So, if you make a mistake or have a bad day or they disagree with your opinion, they fix it and it goes away. You're not stuck looking at Warning points in your profile forever, judgments based on unknown parameters. (I just threw that part in, as a pet peeve). It's a well-run site. This one is too. We need both.

There's a ton of threads out there about either bending the lever, or cutting and rewelding it, or notching parts of the car. https://www.google.com/search?site=webhp&source=hp&q=site%3Aclassiczcars.com+4+speed+5+speed+240z+hit+console+bend+shift+lever&oq=site%3Aclassiczcars.com+4+speed+5+speed+240z+hit+console+bend+shift+lever&gs_l=psy-ab.3...3349.24240.0.24441.71.71.0.0.0.0.166.5552.67j4.71.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.5.425...0j0i131k1.GGf1gfc9Az0

Cool. You can't give the guys with too much free time extra credit though. Monkeys and Shakespeare, you know. I think that the ignition module can get hot because it's failing and passing too much current. Which leads to more heat and then shut-down. The Crane XR-3000 is the right choice, it has "dwell" control, like the stock 78 system. Dave WM just posted about how nice EFI is. So, maybe you dodged an error. See you with the next one. Something will happen, these cars are old. Edit - Just sayin...

They have video of the car running and actually driving 50 feet in the shop (end of the video). The pictures are thorough and easy to get through. It has about 2 inches of ground clearance and lots of hoses and brake lines underneath waiting to be torn off, underneath. Last 10 or so pictures. Hate to bash on it but it doesn't really seem street-ready. More of a show car. http://gatewayclassiccars.com/tampa/1973/datsun/240z-S950.html

Use the cars scissor jack and a piece of wood to push up on the head from below. You need constant force to open up any gaps and keep them open. The head is flexible and the gaps will close back up after you open them with the sledge or hammer. The scissor jack is mechanical and precise and will allow you to apply controlled amounts of force. Plus, if the head lets go it will only move a small amount. And you can leave it there for days.

Could be a loose contact/blade.

Harbor Freight also. If you get some constant lifting force from the rafters, or from below with a 2x4, then pound/tap on the broken bolt piece that will help break that bond. The broken piece will stretch a bit and each "tap" will compress it, causing it to move it out of the hole a fraction of an inch with each blow. Eventually a gap will open somewhere and you can start filling the gaps with wedges. .

Just saw this. Maybe more headaches for Mike? http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/127731-hybridz-may-be-shutting-down/#entry1193850 @Mike

If you already know these two, what advice are you really looking for? Sounds like somebody else is going to do the work. Lowest possible is still going to be small block chevy. That's why people put them in every brand of car in the world. Cheap power well-supported by the parts suppliers.

I broke your wordblock in to edible chunks. Is there any gap at all, anywhere? We need a visual. The head bolt that broke might be rusted in place. Is it rusty? If it is, you might have to spend a lot of time rocking the head back and forth around that broken piece, until the rust breaks up. I had that problem and just had to rock it back and forth and stick wedges and things in to the gaps to get it to work up off of the broken piece.

The 280ZX T5 is only a few years newer. You're not going to get your 250+ HP without a turbo on the RB25. Here's an RB25 starting point. They're all used engines from Japan (JDM), so a bit of a crapshoot on quality, you could end up pulling it back out right after you install it.. Then you have to figure out to work on them. It's a big project. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/rb25det-engine

Not Z? What? I'm not so sure the small block changes the handling much. It's another one of those things where when you do the numbers they can surprise you. The L6 is kind of heavy. The torque of a large V8 probably has a bigger effect. The question was power to money ratio so... The SBC is cheap and they make some high horsepower crate engines. Can't really pick a motor until you know what you want the car to do. If it's a show car then a nice LS or RB might work. Drifters like a big torquey engine to break the tires loose so aV* works there. Race cars might like a 6 cylinder that you can wind up. Don't forget the other parts like the transmission (stick or auto) , and the differential and suspension. More cost. You can just pick an engine alone and make it though.

I was looking back at some old inline 6 builds and see that the thread I linked above got Photobucket'ed big-time. Sad.