Mark Maras

I used lacquer thinner on the residual undercoating. Mineral spirits took too much time and effort.

Years ago I disassembled my late 70 4 speed because it had the same problem going into second gear. When I got it apart I found pristeen synchros. I replaced them ,the bearings and seals because I had the new parts. I later reused the pristeen used synchros in a friends gearbox. The used synchros worked just fine. The experience left me thinking the original problem with my trans could have been fixed with different gear oil.

The hole in my US slotted alum wheels is 3". They were on my 71. The caps were attached using 4 sheet metal screws. The holes are 3 5/8" apart center to center.

The hole in my US slotted alum wheels is 3". They were on my 71.

If you do end up drilling it, use a left hand twist drill bit. When the bit gets enough bite on the bolt, the bolt frequently screws out with the bit.

My 71 Z roundtops were adjusted for near sea level. When I took it up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood (app. 5000') I had to lean the carbs out a bit to keep it from missing. I noticed the miss started at just over 4000'.

Factory option, or dealer installed?

I've not seen one before. It reminds of that saying "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

Is it possible the switch is screwed in too far? My first thought is wrapping the threads in PTFE tape to encourage sealing and prevent the switch from screwing in quite as deep.

Is the "micro crack" in the dist. cap near #1?

Pull the transmission and stick your head up in the tunnel and look thru the p. plate to the clutch splines. The clutch splines should look centered in the p. plate fingers. If it's not centered, loosen the p. plate just enough to slide the disc to the centered position tighten it down and install the trans. I've successfully installed two clutches with no pilot shaft to center the disc. Honestly, on the first install, I doubted whether I could do it by eye but to my surprise, it slid right in. Same with the second.

I don't have an answer but my first impression is it's not electrical. Seems more like the throttle butterfly is opening and closing to produce that amount of variation in the rpms. It appeared that you were holding the throttle steady.

Have you tried putting the car on jackstands, starting it up, and putting it in gear to see if you can locate the noise while it's up in the air?

You say it doesn't change with RPMs but does under load. Does it change with speed?

Take a look at the one star reviews for that item at H.F. They describe the same problems with the unit.

The difference in the injected and carb grinds could be the lobe separation angle. A narrow angle between the lobes contributes to valve overlap. The closer the angle the more it kills vacuum. (Thanks "Engine Masters").

I once found a frayed (near the center) cable that was causing a speedo fluctuation.

I'm glad the issue is fixed but I'm stuck with the question, why didn't the bad u-joint show up when they balanced it previously?

Any detectable movement in a u-joint is bad and will be felt.

Was the crankshaft debacle a recall of some but not all 240 crankshafts? I had always assumed that they replaced all of them but perhaps it was only after a failure. Circa 1973 I went to the Nissan headquarters In Beaverton, Oregon with a friend who worked there. One of my memories was a surprisingly large pile (accurate description) of six cylinder crankshafts laying (thrown) in the corner. I asked about the sloppy storage of the crankshafts and he told me about the balance problem back then.

I'm beginning to think they changed belts mid year in 71 along with a number of other things.

Thanks, that confirms my memory. Mine were the lift type.

Going by memory it was the one in the black and white photo. Most of the 20+ years I drove it, it had a five point racing harness in it.

It's interesting that my late 70 build, 1971 Z came with the green 70 owner's manual.

My 240 was built in Nov. 70. According to the title and registration, it is a 71. The seller states that it has an Illinois title that says it's a 71. I guess he's just referring to the build year.