Patcon

If this is the same guy and it appears to be, he seam seams very open about his past. What a disaster....

Be sure and post results, that should be interesting info...

VIN would help a lot, even the last four digits. Most lay folk don't realize all the other numbers are the same. If it's not too rusty the price could be a good deal. Anyone try to contact him yet?

If I were this deep into an engine, I would have the crank crack checked, polished and the assembly balanced. Before they polish they will mic it to see if it will be in spec after polishing, otherwise they will turn it. If it gets turned then you will need thicker bearings. Plastigage is not very exact but I use it because it gets you close if you use it properly. My machine shop normally helps with a lot of these details many times I get them to supply the bearings...

If I was robbed recently I don't think I would have posted my address unless I had a big dogs and something to back them up....

I would think drilled or slotted rotors would make a large difference. In the rain I use to drag the brake a little if I anticipated needing to stop to get the water out from between the pad and the rotor and to add some heat to dry things out.

I was going to check and make sure you got them. I hope they will work for you, let me know if you need any dimensions for mounting them.

Ditto that made me laugh out loud...

What is the extra piece with the yellow wire on the sender?

Do you get much salt air, where you're at? That looks like what happens to cars that are around the beach. The aluminum normally gets tortured too.

That's 5,500 rpm in reverse Good point on the crank Zed, I had forgotten about the bad keyway, the crank is pretty much stuffed anyway. When I take an engine apart, I rarely refresh, I just build them top to bottom. I hate doing a job twice and I one threw a rod out the side of a I-6 BMW motor that had been "refreshed". It costs some more but on a Datsun I probably won't have to touch it again in my lifetime.

I like the page. Tagged it...

The crank turning smoothly is not an indication of straightness. These cranks are long and can be out of spec and still turn, especially with the clearances you have on those bearings. I always take my cranks to a local crank specialist. They check them for straightness, straighten them if needed, crack check them and polish or turn them. rossiz is right, balancing makes everything better... There looks like there is Automotive Crankshaft service in Richland Hills that might be able to help you out. Make some calls. There were 2 more in the yellow pages. Since you are in the Fort Worth / Dallas area I would suspect there are more than that. Who is doing the machine work? vatting / boring and hone / decking / checking the head They can probably make a recommendation too...

Where????

Go dad!

Good to know... I always found it hard to get a rear valance nice and even because the metal was so thin and easily stretched

I didn't know Charlie made those...or the rear valances either. That makes it so much easier to save questionable cars...

I have the Hobart 210 or 230 from them. I like it and haven't really had any issues. I find running thin wire .023 or .025 makes it easier to weld on these thin cars. Real thin areas on setting #1 about 20 in/min thicker stuff on #2 at about 25 in/min very rarely up to #3 or #4. Also keep the feed line as straight as possible if it has a lot of turns in it sometimes it doesn't feed consistently. You should have plenty of welder, so with a little practice you will figure it out. Are you using shield gas? I don't like flux core wire....

What welder are you using?

^^^^ What he said. A wire brush will not get you down to clean metal...

Soooo...California, Arizona and NJ are expensive to get your car painted; Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, not so much. I was quoted $6-7000 for all my metal work, epoxy primer, finished in basecoat clearcoat. One of the guys would blast it for that... I opted to do it all myself because I can use that $6000 to buy tools and new parts. I figure I will have about $10 -$12,000 in it reasonably finished. I am not trying to build a trailer queen but a nice driver. One thing you could try, is call Datsun Spirit or another reputable Z specialist and see if they paint or could recommend someone that is not too far away. Even if you have to trailer it out of NJ, for that kind of money hauling it a few hours would be well worth it.

Sometimes the chokes won't come out. Weber makes some specialized tools, one of them is a special puller for removing stuck chokes. The one I had with a stuck choke couldn't easily be driven out. You can destroy the casting if you get too aggressive with a hammer and a drift....

I would think in Panama $4,500 would go a pretty good way. $5,000-$6000 would get you a really well done job here where I'm at...

2 gallons of filler is about 200% of what you should need for a car the size of a Z if it's reasonably straight, even if you sand half of it off on the floor. No primers in your list! Are they supplying primer but not finished paint? That doesn't make sense because they want you to supply paper and sealer... My biggest concern right from the start, is are they planning to fill all the rust holes with filler and then just spray base and color over that and call it done. I would look for a professional shop that doesn't ask you to supply all the materials. I wouldn't POR 15 under any finish paint for any reason, but that's me. Etching primers will work, epoxy primer are better....

You have prayers for Kathy...and wisdom for the doctors...