Zed Head

I think that my comments about the bumpers didn't really address the "why" of the struts. The rear 280Z struts are longer after the redesign of the body. It might be that the 280Z's have more rear suspension travel than the 240Z's. Seems like they could have used the same insulators and matched the strut length to it. Probably an engineer "perfecting" something, or just starting from scratch.

The spacer that the ztore is selling is designed so that they can sell insulators for both small bumper cars and big bumper cars. What they're saying is if you want a replacement insulator for your big bumper car you have to buy the short 240Z insulator plus the spacer. Because the "correct" insulator is NLA. They should really call it an adapter. It adapts the short 240Z insulator for use in the 280Z cars. Seems really expensive for what it is. The specs are probably way too precise. It looks like a wheel adapter.

Shiny and clean. Looks like you have an F54 block with the holes for the engine-transmission gusset. Designed to reduce NVH. I can't remember how the holes in the transmission case look though. Might not fit your setup.

It seems so. There's overlap though. Kind of doesn't make sense in light of the 5 mph requirement. The front bumper is usually hitting the back bumper of the car ahead. Bureaucratic nonsense. 1976 -

I think it was so the bumpers would be at the regulated height. Found an interesting Hagerty article. I've also read somewhere that part of the reason for the big bumpers was for insurance purposes. The insurance companies were paying out too much for minor parking lot bumper bumps. Can't remember where I read it but it stuck in my brain. A congressman was involved. They're called "safety bumpers" but the safety is for the insurance companies. 5 mph. https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/the-hack-mechanic/two-years-that-changed-cars-forever-1974-bumpers-and-75-smog/

Maybe you and @madkaw could share brand information about the VR's. Where did you buy them? Maybe they're all from the same batch.

Race car 280Z. Anybody seen it in action? No reserve. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-datsun-280z-66/

Apex has had had delivery problems for quite a while. Better check the wait time. That Gold Line Brakes shop looks interesting. Worth a call or email. The seals are in the bore right, so the piston is the part that needs to be perfect. A rebuild kit might be worth an attempt, they seem cheap. Figure out where the piston will sit with new pads. Might be that your pads finally wore down enough to let the crusty piston surface hit the seals. You'd imagine that a Craigslist part needs a rebuild too. There's a reason they're not on a car. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1981,280zx,2.8l+l6,1209338,brake+&+wheel+hub,caliper+repair+kit,1720

Check the fuses and fusible links associated with the ignition circuit. You have exposed wires which might have grounded. And the Pertronix Ignitor can get damaged if the power is left on. Your wiring quality looks terrible. Spend some time making sure each connection is solid and insulated. There is a link in the Downloads area about how to test the Pertronix Ignitor. Once you get your wiring correct you might check it out. If you have power at the correct wires (test light or meter) and good grounds then testing the module would be on the list.

I thought "prancing horse" was Ferrari. Anybody know what this is about? https://bringatrailer.com/2022/12/01/bat-auctions-presents-the-z-collection/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-240z-223/

It's on BAT now. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-240z-101/

Just for learning, I pointed out the contact points. That lever in the middle bounces back and forth between them.

The diffs are probably all the same if they are as they left the factory. But the mounting hardware could be different. The very early 240Z's had the differential mounted forward by a small amount, about an inch and a half I think. It caused vibration so they moved it back. So the mustache bar and the differential mount are different along with a shorter propeller shaft.

What's the casting number on the head? I circled where it should be. Post a picture of it, it will show if the head has been shaved by its distance from the surface. It kind of looks like it has been. Also, take a picture of the back of the cam shaft. There should be a letter stamped in to it. And take a picture of a cam lobe or two. You can tell if it's been ground by the size of the lobe.

The pistons combine with the head's combustion chamber volumes to determine compression ratio. The F54 used the P79 or P90 head. It has a larger volume than the N42 and N47 heads. The F54 and the N42 L28 engines have similar CR's. 8.8 and 8.3. The engine in this thread looks interesting, probably has more interesting parts. Probably should be rebuilt but if it ran okay before it could just be reassembled with a new head gasket. All from a tiny leak...

What is the engine supposed to be? You just kind of appeared from nowhere. There are some not-so-good things in the pictures but it's hard to tell what they are. You might clean up the piston tops and post another. Detonation can cause damage that looks like foreign object damage. It can also break rings.

p.s. does anybody know why I can click on the first picture and have the ability to magnify immensely (just keep clicking and it keeps growing) but cannot do the same on the second picture?

What do you know about the engine? It has studs and non-stock pistons and a mish-mash of valves. It looks like somebody ran straight water for a while the passages are full of rust. Did you jam the timing chain? If not you'll probably need to reset timing anyway. Could be that your damper is broken or the wrong one also. You should probably get Monroe's book. https://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Your-Nissan-Datsun-Engine-ebook/dp/B006VUICHG

That's Datsun Spirit. https://www.datsunspirit.com/ They do have headers but they look different. The welds. https://www.datsunspirit.com/product-page/6-1-stainless-steel-true-equal-length-header-with-merge-collector

I see now. Spirit Garage is a Japanese company. Funny, if you google Spirit Garage you'll get a whole different thing. https://www.spiritgarage.com/product-group/1 Return shipping would be expensive. Another option is to have somebody modify the headers. Your problem is just a normal part of building your own car.

Here's a link to the company. Never heard of them before now. Don't know how it works, there's no parts shown. He looks more like a representative for other companies. https://jessestreeter.com/

It's been discussed before, but the coolant might actually be for heating, as I recall. There's a thermostatic valve in the line. Some people don't run coolant through them, they block them off, I think. So, maybe major modification is possible. On the other hand though, cooling would probably be good, because the header pipes are so close. Angling the mounting surface is a good idea except the the carbs will then be angled also. You'd have to bring them back in to line by angle the mount from the manifold to the carb. Surprised actually, that they don't fit right. I wonder if the guy would take them back and remake you a set. They look custom built. He might appreciate the feedback too. If you're having problems other people are too. SU's are common. You'd be doing him a big favor by letting him know. Be nice and you might get a good result. Hopefully he didn't order a big batch from some offshore company. Good luck.

A spacer would probably work but it would need to be designed to work with the yokes. The intake and exhaust surfaces need to be at about the same level for the yokes to clamp properly.

There was somebody recently (maybe Dolfinz?, who knows) who had a NOS VR, if I recall right, that did not work. They opened it up and found that one of the set of contacts was stuck shut (I think). Cleaned it up and it started working.