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Hoover's...

I've always had good results on aluminum and most other metal with lacquer thinner. 6 Z pistons fit perfect in the bottom of a five gallon bucket. Cover with the thinner and put a lid on, it evaporates pretty quick and stinks too, after a few days I blow them off with my air compressor. They look like new.

A few years ago it was $9.99 a gallon at Lowe's, now it's $25. 

Clear hose is best. You can see it before a mouth full. We use them for transferring fuel into boats.

In Alabama it's a "Georgia credit card". 

I used Nissan Titan truck exhaust studs and one use lock nuts on the ends of my N42. Altima smaller stuff in the middle. All bought at local Nissan dealership.

The ends were already wallered out so going with the bigger studs was a no brainer. The smaller Altima which is the same as OE Datsun was just a much better, newer way than lock washers and free spinning nuts from the factory. My opinion only but after years of checking, they are still nice and tight.

23 hours ago, jonathanrussell said:

Hi @VaCat33. Sorry about your problem. I have some experience with and thoughts on vapor lock and will share with you. But, in my experience vapor lock doesn't shut the car down for 2 hours. The very worst cases of vapor lock resolve within 30 minutes (in my experience). So, I would at least do some testing on the ignition system. When the car dies, are you getting spark at all plugs? Cap, rotor, points all in good shape? Plugs less than a year old and NGK vs some other brand? As others have mentioned above...is there fuel in the bowls or are they empty for reasons beyond vapor lock? Stuck needle jets? clogged screen where fuel enters the needle jet chamber? Fuel filter? Fuel tank?

Vapor lock:

I spend summers in Hot Atlanta and vapor lock was at one point a problem with my 72. When I have everything set right, I can idle in traffic as long as necessary and it never vapor locks even on 100 degree days.

- I run BP 93 octane gasoline. I need the octane because my E88 head is slightly milled and pinging can be a problem. So, I don't run ethanol free because you can only find it in 89 or 90 around here. I have found ethanol fuel to have a lower boiling point AND....it gets very bad with age. I have found that a tank with fuel much over a month or so old begins to have a lower boiling point...based on my vapor lock observations. I drive my 72 a lot (most days) so keeping fresh fuel in it isn't a problem. When we are out of town for extended periods though I keep the fuel level low so I can fill up with fresh fuel when I return. So, my question is...how old is your fuel?

- During summer I disconnect the air intake hose for Winter and attach a different but same diameter hose and run it through the left side round hole in the radiator support. I then keep the summer/winter switch on the air cleaner in the Winter mode. This keeps cooler air coming into the engine.

- I use a Mishimoto aluminum radiator and stock fan. Temps never reach 50% mark on gauge.

- I wrapped my stock exhaust manifold and carburetor float bowls with a heat shielding product I purchased on Amazon. This lowered my float bowl temps by 20+ degrees.

- I run a Carter P4070 electric fuel pump with no manual pump. I also have a fuel pressure regulator set to about 3.5psi and a fuel pressure gauge in line.

- My fuel tank has been boiled, acid dipped, and coated on the inside, powder coated on outside so....clean fuel.

So, I do believe some if not all of the things above contributed to solving my vapor lock problems. 

As things stand now, the two things that cause my car to run poorly are....

1) any hint of fuel that is not completely fresh.

2) spark plugs older than about 8 months. Even though my plugs look perfect, once they are about 8 months old my car starts sputtering around 5k rpms. Change to new plugs and problem gone.

I have a petronix electronic ignition in a euro spec 240z distributor fyi. 

I hope something I have shared is helpful and that you are able to resolve your problem. Take care and let us know what you end up finding to be the problem.

J

100% agree with you. I've never experienced vapor lock. 

Your float bowls are low. Don't go by the 23mm, max them out and be sure your overflow hoses are connected to the air box. 

I set mine higher and never have any problems. 

I work for a guy that has 86 1,000 sq. ft. apartments. He raised the the price per month 25% "none are available so I can charge what I want, they can get one somewhere else if they can". The people that didn't renew their leases after the initial 12 month agreement were on a month to month lease. Between 10 and 15 are vacant now. 

The buck is about to stop at his doorstep. Fortunately I run a paint store he owns so I'm moving a lot of product and getting PAID!

10 hours ago, Killain said:

Hi all, would anyone have a picture of the inside of a 280Z fuel tank ? I am in the need to drain my fuel tank, and once drained I planned on removing both the gas cap and the drain plug and leave them both out till the inside of the tank is dry. I have a borescope and once dry I can get a better look inside the tank to see what kind of condition the inside of my 47 year old fuel tank is, is this a good or bad idea ? I never had to deal with a either dirty or contaminated fuel tank, and besides getting the 17 gallons of fuel out, then I need to come up with a strategy on how to remove it while preserving the hoses, nothing on this Z is easily located or priced. I'm changing the fuel pump and the previous owner put a fuel filter inline just before the pump, ( which I reinstalling or a new one) to keep from sucking up dirt into the pump. I haven't found any signs or contamination yet, but . . . . 

A little past halfway down of the link I posted earlier.

https://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/fuel/gastank/index.htm

I found some at Nappa too.

Is this common on the 240s? It's my first time seeing what appears to be a heat shield under the fuel pump? Curious mind asking. Thanks for any replies.

Good read if you have time.

They have marine stabilizers that get rid of ethanol or av-gas. If you do get e free fuel you can run the feed hose of the mechanical pump straight out of a gas can between the bumper and radiator. I did that to confirm a nasty tank on one I bought. Drove it around the neighborhood for a few days, very slowly.

I ask my nephew if he was a starter for his baseball team. He didn't know what that meant, said he was a player.

They rarely go bad just filing the contacts to shine again and making sure there's no spider webs in there.

I had to bend the arm on mine when I first bought my '77 after reading this great write up with a lot of good photos. Thanks @240260280

https://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/tps/index.html

10w30 down here. That high milage valvoline has the best additives from my reading without going with the diesel oil. It's got some extra zddp for worn engines and supposedly keeps the rubber conditioned?

Walmart has a high milage brand also that I run in my d21 pickup with 350,000 plus miles. 

I have great oil pressure in my 240, always. When it drops down a little I check my records and it's always time for a change out. Can't explain that but it never fails to be true.

Do you think dead heading increased fuel therefore eliminating hot evaporation?

I'm just curious as this is a common question asked often. I've never had an issue and it's 90F right now down here in the Deep South and getting warmer as I reply.

The newer needle valves from ztherapy are a little tricky to set the gap between the float and lid edge. I learned the hard way that turning the lids upside down to adjust does not work like their older video where they use Grose valves.

I'm curious like Captain Obvious if the float chambers are running out of fuel then filling back up after waiting a short while. Have you tried adding choke when it starts to stumble? In my short learning curve the chokes work better than pedal.

Clarity: the fuel evaporates faster when it's hot.

7 hours ago, zKars said:

We discussed the “missing dizzy spring” on a thread here some time ago. Long story short, it is by design, the spring is not missing. Concentrate on the sticking advance issue. 

I’m willing to bet one of your choke nozzles is stuck down even if the cable is trying to push it up. Give both a good finger shove upward under each carb.

Secondly check fuel deliverability. Pressure and volume.

That 250 degree hard coolant line between the intakes seems awful hot to me. The valve should close when the temp gets up to operating range. That's for cold weather starting. I bypassed mine so no hot coolant flows through there.

My domes are cool to the touch now although I do have a ceramic coated header that took a lot of heat away.

You could check the float chambers when it won't run by trying to see if the floats are buoyant in the fuel by sticking a small red straw down the vent bung. If the chambers have fuel in them that straw should be "bouncy". Move up and down with the float.

Have a hose pipe on the ready at least, of course an extinguisher would be #1 but when they're empty you might as well throw it through a window. 

Gas isn't that bad. I've siphoned a 100 gallons over my life and drank at least one half of a gallon. It may cure covid like drinking Clorox? 

If you back it up on ramps a 5 gallon bucket or 11 (57 gallons ) would slide in and out easy.

I did my 280 first then a 240 after I got the steps all worked out. No problems and it's been 10 and 6 years respectively. 

Turn the tank upside down vertically with the fill hole at the lowest point and in a 5 gallon bucket. It all drains out. I ran some welding wire through the vent tubes to make sure they weren't stopped up.

The first time was a nerve wracking experience but the next one was much easier. I'd quit my job and do it for a living if I didn't live in Bumble Snot Alabama.

Get a tub from walmart. Tighten the plug when it's close full and pour it up in jerry cans for your lawnmower.

Read over this. It really was a big help for me.

atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/fuel/gastank/index.htm

I'd get the restored tank. Cost was over $100 for mine then the headache of doing the job within the time windows. It was a hectic job for sure then it needs to cure for about a month.

I used Red-Kote from damon products. The instructions are online if you want to read over them.

8 hours ago, dutchzcarguy said:

Americans don't??  We like a nice piece of... Horse!  I growed up eating some horse meat.. is good for yah!  🙂  I'm well over 6 foot..

Put enough ketchup on it and we'll eat anything.

1 hour ago, dutchzcarguy said:

...like a horse likes to play chess.. hahaha I like to completely change sayings into something really weird.. did i do well?  🙂  )   (Can you imagine the horse.. looking to make a move with those hooves?? hahaha!)

    beautiful isn't it... those horses in the meadow? 

 

Restaurant Mazenburg is closed now. Do the Dutch not eat chess playing horses any longer?