Walter Moore

My only comment, and then I will stay out of it, is that around this part of the country people swap small block Chevys into EVERYTHING... There is nothing wrong with a SBC. It is a good engine (for a push-rod design, arguably the best), but they are so generic and common that it (in my opinion) detracts from the "special-ness" of having a Datsun in the first place. For example, I took my 240Z to a car show here in town today. There were 230+ cars in the show (one Japanese car... mine) and I bet that at least 40% of those cars had a small block Chevy engine, regardless of the "brand" of the car. In the parking lot where I was parked there were 7 Ford coupes of various years, from 1930 to 1942. EVERY one of them had a SBC in the engine bay. The SBC swap thing is so common here that I keep waiting for one of my neighbors to stuff one in his garden tractor. But, after all my hot air on the subject, it is YOUR car. Do what you want with it and don't take any lip from anyone, including me.

Mine is bolted on with a very large number of 6mm bolts. (Stainless steel, just because I had them around and I HATE rust. My spook came from an Ebay auction. The seller had it listed strange, and it didn't generate much interest. It looks to ME like a BRE style part, but it didn't fit very well at first. I had to use a large number of bolts, about 4 to 6 inches apart and sort of pull it into the right shape to fit the lower valence of the car. Very strange and frustrating, but it worked.

Some people don't like them, but I went with 15" wheels from an 81' ZX Turbo. Take a look.

Well Carl, I finally have my Z operational. It has taken me just under 5 years, and just under $6K to turn a $250 parts car into a drivable hobby car. If I had someone straighten out the paint, it would run the cost up to the "refresh" range you list. (The car listed has paint that looks to be better than what I have on my car.) I would love to have started with a car that was in the condition of the subject of this thread.

I feel your pain. They don't call this the rust belt for nothing!

That may be giving him more credit than he deserves in my opinion, but text messaging while driving is something that we really need to stop ASAP. There was a group of teens killed earlier this summer because the driver was messaging her friends. They went head-on into a truck or something. (I don't remember the details.) On the other hand, I have actually observed drivers in Tokyo apparently watching TV while they were driving in rush hour traffic! So I guess distracted driving isn't just a U.S. thing.

I am amazed that the 10A headlight fuses held with 130 watt bulbs. You must have been really quick when you switched between high and low beam. (During the switch both filaments are energized, requiring 20A per bulb.)

I don't know much about the 73, but the timing marks on my 71's front pulley are in 5 degree increments from 20BTDC to 20ATDC. (I hope.) I can't get more than about 12BTDC because I have my distributor drive off by one tooth, but there are two marks past that. (The 73, being more throttled by emissions regulations may be different.)

I just went through this... get out your timing light and see where the #1 plug is actually firing. Even with all the static timing appearing to be correct, you really can't be sure until you watch it with a strobe light. And as "ktm" said, double check your firing order. Once I got my engine running it was really rough because I had the 2 and 4 plug wires crossed. (But it did start on only 4 cylinders.)

Ignore my first post. My memory must be getting bad. I remembered two blue wires going to the antenna, but they are from the antenna switch, not the radio. The blue wire is shown on the wiring diagram as the power wire for the radio. The red wire must be the unlabeled wire (on the schematic) that connects to the dash lights. I have no idea why the radio will not shut off, unless it has an internal problem.

My 71 (Build date April 1971) has round vents in the side, and none in the rear hatch. So when they say "early" they mean really early.

The red wire is power. (+12V) The Blue wire goes to your antenna. (raise signal) The gray wires are speaker wires.

My Z had those wheels on it when I found the car.Mine had been painted black at one time to hide the rust spots. Of course the paint mostly peeled off, really a bad look.

I think that there are more suppliers of kits for the small block swap, but the best source for information on that subject is http://www.hybridz.org/ That is where I would look for information.

I wouldn't use 20W-50 unless you only intended on driving it when it was 90 degrees or more. I have had friends destroy their engines completely with that stuff in cooler weather. It takes too long to get moving when the engine first starts. It starves the main bearings, and worse on a L24, the cam bearings.

I spent a couple of years tracking down wheels identical to those. Personally I would keep them. At least they are Datsun (Nissan) wheels. What is more they are 15" wheels meaning that it is easier to find good tires for them. Just my opinion...

Seems like I set mine at 0.45mm. But then for reasons that I long ago forgot I only have metric feeler gages... When I used to set points on American cars I was constantly multiplying by 25.4 I have never owned a dwell meter. They made sense on an old G.M. where the dwell was adjustable without removing the cap. Seems like on a Z where you have to pull the cap anyway and pry the points open a feeler gage would work just as well. But to each his own.

There may have been some unpublished deal to kick in enough cash to pay the taxes as well. I know that I was once offered a relocation package that included enough extra cash to cover the income tax. (and the tax on the extra cash...) What would U.S. federal income taxes be on a $30K auto when the kid likely didn't have any significant income anyway? (He is a college student isn't he?) Maybe $7K tops?

I used various "Orange oil" cleaners, over the course of a couple of years on my tranny. It looks okay, but will not win any awards. In my case, it is just going to get dirty again anyway...

Your E31 head may have already been reworked once, but if it hasn't be aware: My E31 still had the original brass intake valve seats in it. (I don't know why Nissan used brass...) Those seats have to be cut out when they go bad, and after they are cut out you basically have to up-size the intake valves to the 44mm valve and hardened seat from the L28 (280Z) This makes working on the E31 a little more expensive than it would be otherwise. As for putting it on the L28, how easy is it to get racing gas in your neighborhood?:cheeky: