Namerow

It's cold here in the Toronto area, but the wind was blowing strongly from the south-east when I went out for my evening walk an hour ago. That's rare. It may just mean it's swinging over to an Easterly. And around here, a wind from the east means, 'look out'. I just tapped my old-school analogue barometer and the needle dropped.

The person who made these statements exemplifies the world's descent into internet-driven communications. Voices that were never heard before now have the opportunity to be heard -- right or wrong. And amplified in this particular case. And the definitions of 'right' and 'wrong' are being re-written while we watch. I have no answers. But I'm very concerned.

I had one of these back in the late 60's. I don't have any of my own pictures but I always liked this magazine ad (the girl was 'available at extra-cost' option)...

My vote for, 'Best Post of the Year (in the Humor category'). Someday I'll write my story of having a conversation with a dog before starting out on a 400-mile drive back home after finishing my race weekend at le Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

Nicely done. Clever use of low-cost, easily-available parts.

Spot-welding. Easy to do (after a massive investment in equipment, of course). Not so easy to un-do in a garage.

In the midst of a lot of personal-agenda-driven POV's about the pandemic, things can suddenly get very personal. That is, when it ceases to be an abstract discussion about 'what ifs' and suddenly becomes of direct and personal importance. I've retained interest in this website because the members exemplify what is, in my opinion, what I would call, 'a good community'. That's a rare thing in car sites, let alone the new wild west of internet sites. I actually enjoy reading members' conversations on CZCC. Mark has been a strong and always-on-topic contributor to CZCC over the almost 10 years that I've been participating. I'm relieved to hear his news. Especially at this time of the year.

Picture #1 should serve as a cautionary message for anyone thinking about buying an old car. A great example of what the 'collision repair industry' does when nobody's watching too closely. Metal butchers. Bondo artists. I've seen similar evidence at a much higher $ level in the form of a 275GTB Ferrari that had a nose job with up to 1.5" of bondo. The car looked immaculate until a new buyer ordered a 'refresh' and the paint came off.

If you have aligned yourself with the 'heat' idea, I recommend putting the piston in an oven at low-ish heat rather than the flame treatment. Given your location, I think that Z-Therapy might be a bit more charitable with help than might be the case if you lived in the USA. It never hurts to ask, considering the fact that they're experts and the rest of us are just 'helpful'.

If all else fails, contact the folks at Z-Therapy in Oregon. They've probably disassembled thousands of Hitachi-SU carbs by now and should know all the tricks for getting the needle out of a piston without damaging anything.

The bolts that hold the timing cover in place respond nicely to a small, handheld impact driver. Be patient. Do not give in to the temptation to just put a wrench on it to see whether you can make them pop loose. Use of a power impact driver is at your own peril. Getting the nuts on the front-most and rear-most exhaust manifold studs is, in my experience, a crapshoot. If you snap off the stud, do not give in to the temptation of trying an 'EZ-out' remover. Better to weld a nut onto the end of the stud. Lots of videos available online to explain this procedure.

When replacing a Z's front frame rail, the T/C rod bracket needs to be separated from the rail so that it can later be welded to the replacement rail. The T/C rod bracket is secured to the OE rail by a combination of spot welds and a long seam weld. I'm looking for some guidance on the steps and tools that work best for separating the bracket from rail and whether this should be done before vs after the rail is separated from the rest of the vehicle structure. The brackets, BTW, used to be available as service parts (74830/78301-E4100) but are now shown as NLA on the Courtesy Nissan website.

Why did you add salt?

No such kit exists. You'll need to make your own. I posted a set of downloadable templates on this site several years ago, along with a written guide outlining procedures and materials. You'll need to use the search tool to find them. The work is very finnicky. You not only need to cut along the inner and outer perimeters of each gasket, but in many cases also punch out holes for the fasteners.

Just thinking out loud here... You could, perhaps, approximate the shape of the lipped doubler plates by finding an appropriately-sized metal bottle and sawing off the bottom (leaving a lip). The only donor item made from steel that I can think of would be a small propane bottle -- empty, of course! Not sure about the metal gauge used for these pressurized bottles. Too thick? The usual metal drinking bottles (as used by joggers, cyclists, etc) would perhaps be closer to the correct thickness but I think they're made from aluminum, so not easy to weld to the floor pan. You might be able to make your own by hammer-forming 0.7mm sheet steel over a piece of shaped and contoured hardwood. The lip could be finished to a uniform height afterwards with a grinder.

I've only tracked back one page in these comments, so perhaps someone else has already mentioned this: Before you go any further, buy or borrow another meter and repeat a few of your measurements. It's not impossible that your meter is the culprit. Best to confirm or eliminate that possibility now.

Beware. Normal assumptions don't work. My 70 Z's wiring demonstrated significant damage to the existing wiring close* to the headlight connectors (* up to 2" of contaminated/burned/almost smoked wire). That damage means increased resistance.

Two super-spreaders that I am surprised continue to operate herein Ontario under current circumstances: wedding banquet halls and gyms.

I fear that the next step (in both Canada and the US) may be the implosion of the healthcare system due to a combination of worker fatigue, fear, resentment and (sadly) illness. And, by 'worker', I include doctors and nurses. There is a useful article in today's Toronto Globe and Mail that discusses the measures taken by local and state governments in and around Melbourne, Australia back in the late summer to address the emergence of a post-first-wave spike that they feared would get out of control. Three months later, they look like geniuses. Melbourne, by the way, is similar in population and geographic size to a typical medium-size US city. Worth a read.

Very cool (in a hot sort of way, that is). NHRA top-fuel class beckons

As a possible measure, consider making a shallow slice (say, 25% depth) along the inside length of the 90. That would preserve the integrity and appearance of the outer, visible surface and retain the broad gluing surface, while weakening the 90 enough to make the flap more inclined to lie flat. It won't be an easy cut to make, though. Maybe use a steel straight-edge clamped in place, along with one of those roller-type fabric cutters (mine has an adjustable depth limiter).

I agree. The seal is accomplished with the lip. The hollow bulb section just provides some compliance and its compression help to force the lip against the hatch shut surfaces. The orientation in the 3rd pic will also be consistent with that used along the side and top strips. It'll be hard to get clamping force on the flattened-out section while the glue is setting. I wonder if it would make sense to trim off the outer leg of the '90' section along this run so that the glue doesn't have to resist the rubber trying to regain its molded shape.

It seems to me that the challenge of modifying the front of the replacement rail is about 10% of the challenge of removing the old rail and installing a new one. It depends on your goals for your car. If preserving visible originality is important to you, then you'll need to do some work on the replacement rail before you weld it into the car. Not that hard. If you'd sooner install a non-stock rad than modify the rail, then your path forward is clear.