Captain Obvious

Right. Sorry. :stupid: Didn't read carefully enough. I remember replacing masters in the past, but I don't remember ever rebuilding a master. Not saying it didn't happen... Just saying I don't remember.

I don't know if the annotated pic is showing up, so I'm trying again:

I haven't used their kit, but there's another issue that I will warn you about... I bought a new slave cylinder. Unbolted the old slave from the bell housing. Unscrewed the old slave from the rubber hose, and screwed the new slave onto the hose in it's place. So far, so good. Then when I went to attach the new slave to the bell housing, I found that it was 180 degrees out of place and I could not mount it to the tranny. The real solution is to pull the retaining clip and take the rubber hose off at the other end, spin the hose around halfway (180 degrees), and then reattach it to the hardline. But my clutch hardline is looking pretty rusty down there, and didn't want to come off easily. Not wanting to break the hardline, I just rebuilt the old slave and put it back on. I'll deal with that rusty clutch line some other time, just not right now. The moral... A new slave cylinder might not fit the same way as your old one, and if you don't trust your ability to get the rubber hose separated from the hardline without breaking anything, then you better have a backup plan.

Well then... Be troubled. I'll go on record as number two. I had a 77 intake that had an erosion issue directly underneath the EGR valve. I don't know if it actually made connection between the two areas of the manifold, but it was so bad that you could see cracking and peeling/flaking on the OUTSIDE of the casting under the EGR. I gave that manifold to another member here for experimental surgery and/or practice. I could dig through my notes and get in touch with him if you would like. Maybe he would take some pics of that area (if it's still attached). He said something about making a non-EGR intake out of it.

Awesome. Thanks for both 77 and 78!! How about 74? :pirate:

I annotated the pic identifying the parts of the lock. What I'm calling them, anyway. I haven't given up on fixing this myself. I've got the skills, just not the parts. Right now, I'm running with the bent tumblers (wafers) removed. I just put everything back together and left the bent ones out. Works, but is "less secure". Again, I fear the flatbed more than the lock pick. I'm assuming my hatch and passenger door locks are fine. I expect they would get the least amount of use. Certainly nothing like what the driver's door and ignition would see.

Nice. Where would I find a copy of the one for the 77's?

Well I know for a fact that one of my springs is even LONGER than it's supposed to be! I suppose if the choices are few enough and different enough from each other, I could probably identify my springs through the "load at length" method. If I'm reading that chart correctly, it appears that there are only four applicable choices for the round tops, and they are different enough that I could probably figure out what I've currently got (even if they have been tweaked some).

There is a small diameter pin that holds the lock shell (what I believe you are calling the cylinder) into the steering lock housing. I don't remember offhand how large, but something like .070. Problem is the pin is pressed into a blind hole and there's no way to grab it to pull it out. It's supposed to be "secure", right? Anyway, I drilled into the visible end of the pin until I was deep enough that the pin wouldn't interfere. I was amazed that the pin didn't simply spin in the blind hole, but The result is that after I had drilled enough off the end of the pin, the lock shell comes out of the larger casting. You can see (what's left of) the pin in the lower left portion of my pic. I replaced the pin with a similar sized screw. I'm not overly worried about security with this car. If it's going to disappear, it will happen on a flatbed, not someone who is going to take all the time to properly disassemble the steering column and take the lock apart. Besides, once you have the steering lock off the column and the electrical switch in hand, who cares if you can get the cylinder plug out of the steering lock casting, right? I'm not a locksmith, and I'm not sure that I'm using the proper terms, but I'll update a pic showing what parts I'm talking about.

Blue, Forgot about that... Thanks for the reminder. Even though I can accurately determine the spring constant, that still doesn't tell me what I would call my springs on the open market. By that, I mean... I now know my spring constant (k), but the issue is that the people who sell springs don't use spring constant. The use paint color and "load at length". Problem with color is that mine have been through the carb cleaner dip so many times that there's absolutely no color left on them. Can't use that. And the problem with "load at length" (like what is on that chart) is that it depends on the original at rest length of the spring and since I have no idea if mine are the original length, can't use that. One of my springs is about an inch longer than the other which makes "load at length" measurements invalid. I can assume that the longer one used to be shorter, but the shorter one? Who knows? Maybe it was stretched in the past as well, just not as much. I don't like "load at length" measurements. :mad:

I say skip to the end of the play and toss on a known good set of round tops and see what the afr says. That won't tell you exactly what's going on, but it should tell you if it's the carbs or not. Heck... You've got to be an expert at taking them off and putting them on by now, right? Half hour start to finish, max. I'd even send you a set of round tops to try except that I've modified mine and they wouldn't fit on your car. I know it's a little bit of a cop-out and you've got to admit partial defeat to resort to crude shotgun methods like that, but after thirteen pages, nobody's gonna give you static for taking the easy way out!

I would sure hope they had appropriate springs in them, especially after being through ZT's shop. But, I understand. Straws it is! :classic: I measured the spring rates from my round tops and then as an error check, I calculated the rate as well. Four screw round tops of unknown origin and history, but from everything I've found on the carbs, they look to be pretty much original. One spring is stretched out about an inch longer than the other, but if you do the measurements and calculations correctly, it doesn't matter. I got the following: k (measured) = 0.109 pounds/inch k (calculated) = 0.111 pounds/inch I'm very happy with how closely the calculated reflected the experimentally determined. Before you go swapping springs, you need to know where you are to start, right? You should probably determine the spring rates of what you currently have.

Are there ignition phenomena that would manifest itself in a way to cause the issues you're having? Doesn't misfire at idle, doesn't misfire at WOT, but does misfire at part throttle. What could cause that?

Thanks for the additional info. So it seems that I'm relegated to circumstantial evidence... I've got a five speed in the car. A 5-Speed insignia came with (but not attached to) the car. I checked the serial number on my bell housing and the numbers are shallow and filled with paint, but there's no mistake that the first two numbers are "74" which, if the number stampings really do mean something, puts it at a mfg date of April 77 and that is the same as the build date of the car. Next time I have the car out of the garage, I'll check visually to see if I can verify that it is an early "wide ratio".

Haha. You need to cut down a little!

My 280 is a 77. Build month of April, 1977. What I'm asking is... Is there any way to tell if it was originally a five speed, or did a previous owner pull a four speed and stick in a five speed in it's place? I don't have the "Five Speed" insignia on the hatch, but I do have one in a box of trim parts that the previous owner says he took off when he painted the car. Doesn't guarantee that it came like that originally, but certainly supports the theory. The previous owner did a whole bunch of work to the car and there's very little left that's "factory fresh". I know the engine and transmissions have been out, and painted. I know that the previous owner that I bought it from did not replace the engine or tranny, but I have no idea about owners before him. I know that I'm missing the ID plate that's supposed to be inside the engine compartment. The transmission type isn't built into the VIN in any way, is it?

My 280 currently has a five speed, but I have no idea if it's the original transmission. Heck, I don't even know if the car originally came with a 4 speed or a 5 speed. So... How do I tell if my 280 left the factory as a four speed or five speed? Beyond that, if it did leave the factory as a 5-speed, is there any way to tell if the transmission in it is the original one?

mjr45, Sent you a PM.

Haha! x3! As for the RTV issue... I know that gaskets are supposed to seal all by themselves, but even with surfaces surgically clean, I've not had a perfect record of success in the past. My current philosophy on the topic is to think about a bunch of questions: Is it a "maintenance required" area like a valve cover? How much of a pain is it to do the gasket again if there's a problem? How much of a mess is it going to make if it starts to seep? Have you had trouble with it sealing in the past? If the job is a royal pain in the arse and I'm pretty sure that I'll never need to go in again, I'll use RTV. Especially if it's bathed in oil and going to make a mess if it seeps. Things like oil pans, timing covers, input snouts on the transmissions fit this category. If the job is relatively easy and history shows I'm likely be in there again, I won't use it. Carbs and valve covers fit into this category. Intake manifold? How many miles on the motor, and do you think you'll need to be in there again soon? Which RTV to use? I used to use almost exclusively the Permatex Ultra Copper stuff because of the higher temperature rating, however, a few years ago I switched over to mostly the Permatex Gray stuff instead. I've found the gray to have much better adhesion and better resistance to oil creep past the joint over time. Also, the gray has a significantly higher durometer (hardness) once cured and better for gasket squirm. I don't have the packages in front of me, but as I remember, the temperature ratings of the two weren't that far apart. Maybe 100 degrees or so? I still use the copper if I'm really concerned about the temp. Remember though... YMMV! :classic: One last thing about the RTV's. It's a pet peeve, but I hate seeing big ol' squeezed out beads of sealant from using way too much of the stuff. Remember that if you see a big bead hanging out on the outside, then you've probably got one on the inside as well. I put it on with a syringe. Fill the syringe from the tube and then do the application with a small orifice and use a tiny bead of the stuff. I consider is success when I can juuusst barely see any sealant squeezing out of the joint in most spots, and maybe none of it squeezed out all in a few. Think about where you need to seal and where you don't. You don't need to seal the mounting studs to atmosphere. You do need to seal the intake holes to everything. Only put it around where you need it.

Oiluj, Nice seats. Where did you get the seat covers?

It sounds pretty normal to me. I wouldn't go poking that nest. You don't want that stuff to fall into your cylinders. My (amateur) advice is to put the new gasket on and forget you ever saw anything in there. If you clean it off, it's going to come back anyway.

I understand what code cutting is. I thought you were suggesting that all I needed to do in order to fix my lock problem was to get a fresh new key cut from wafer codes. But as you can see, the problems run deeper than that. You identified the last wafer correctly as being used for key tip alignment, but the first wafer (the one I identified as zero) isn't for the buzzer. Wafer zero is used to retain the fully loaded cylinder plug in the lock shell. It snaps out when the plug has been fully inserted into the shell and prevents it from being pushed back out. I'm probably not using the correct terminology, but I'm sure you know what I mean. The buzzer switch is actuated by the rod located near the center of the pic. Good memory for not being inside of one of these things for a while though! I haven't even gotten to the door locks yet, but I do remember those lazy cams from a previous Z many years ago... I've fixed them in the past, but I don't remember what I did. Maybe it will come back to me when I've got the door locks off and in hand. Heck, maybe I'll get lucky and those cams aren't all worn out!! Yeah, right. But the ignition lock is my first priority and it sounds like it won't be too hard to find the correct wafers in the boneyard. C'mon spring!

Thanks Unkle, I was hoping you would show up here. I did a bunch of searching before I posted, and didn't find answers for the questions I was asking, but I did see you very prevalent in most of the lock discussions. I realize that new wafers might not be the answer if the housing is a mess too, however, I think mine is salvageable. Here's where I am right now, and you can see why I was asking about the wafers. My lock is way beyond code cutting a new key to fix the problem. Note the bent wafers from positions 1,2,3. I just bought this car and it needs three different keys for locks on the car. I'm planning to re-key all the locks to the same key and change the key pattern while I'm at it. I was figuring to gather a bunch of wafers from donors and use the best of the bunch to create my own new key pattern. I'll cut the first key myself and then use that as a master for future dupes. So you're thinking that they used the same wafers through the 80's? By the way, I was calling them "wafers" because that's what I saw them referred to in past threads on the topic. Before reading those threads, I would have called them "tumblers". What do you call them?

My ignition lock on my 77 is sticky. Sometimes the key turns easy, sometimes not. I assumed that it was worn inside, so I took it apart, and yes... It's pretty bad. So I'm going to rework all the locks on the car and I've got some questions before I start... First, do all the locks on the car share the same wafers? By that, I mean do the doors, hatch, and ignition lock all use the same wafers and springs? Second, what other Nissans used the same wafers? My local yards have no first gen Z's, but there is the occasional 300ZX or mid-eighty's Maxima. Do they use the same wafers as the S30? Any other (non-Nissan) cars that use the same wafers?

So what about the piston springs? The springs are the ones that came with the carbs from ZT and they look OK? And when you get a chance, try that steady state test again and see what happens.The damper should only be a transitional thing. It's effects shouldn't last more than a second or two. I think it's time to swap the carbs with a set that's known to work well on a different car. Shotgun if the problem is with the carbs, or something else on your car somewhere. Mmmmmmm...... Flat tops......