Mark Maras

I removed what was left of the panel in question on my project 260. After patching the body underneath I made a new one out of 16ga. galvanized sheet metal. It hasn't been installed yet but the plan is to raise the forward part of the panel so it slopes to the rear of the car. I've fitted it & it appears that it will work fine. The body, in that section, appears to have rusted from the bottom up. Much more work to be done at the rear of the car. spare tire well etc.

Hey Geoff WOW The SUs & everything are beautiful inside & out. Tuning these on Lilith should (hopefully) be easy. When is the set-up going to be installed? Are you going to install the new elec. set-up beforehand too? Rapid progress(outsiders point of view) & excellence are difficult to achieve at the same time. Good job on both. Mark

I haven't seen the fitting you're looking for but another hose barb, the desired size could be attached to the f. pump using a short piece of flexible fuel line. I imagine it wouldn't have to be 1 1/2"-2" long & use two hose clamps.

I normally use old engine oil. It actually will transfer some carbon from the oil to the surface of the steel hardening it in the process. Are you going to go for it?

Makes sense to me. The spring had a purpose. I haven't looked at mine yet, but I think one could bend a new end on the spring using heat(very small & focused). It has worked for me in the past, The trick is in the cooling. If the spring is quenched too fast the steel becomes brittle, If you don't cool it fast enough it will lose it's springiness. I have found that a rapid quenching & then a slight reheating 350-400 degrees seems to work quite well. This a basic tempering technique used for knives & other tools.

I didn't fully disassemble my linkage on my Sept 73 260. The spring in mine(if there is one) must be broken too. I assume, since it is a clock spring, it puts tension on the arm to hold it in the resting position. Now I'm going fully disassemble my linkage to see if the spring is there.

Another excellent source is ZTherapy's DVD on SUs. The manuals are fine for tuning but if you want to really know your carbs this is the SU Gospel.

Nice work. Glad the bolts came out OK. Do you think the extensive electrolysis was aggravated by poor alt. grounding or was it normal electrolysis between dissimilar metals? I'm sure you've removed many more w-pumps than I have but I haven't seen one that corroded. Thumbs up on the anti-seize. As I slowly disassemble my original 71, I'm finding that everything I worked on 20-40 years ago still comes apart easily.

Only if you love the mods. I don't

Oh yeah. I have said that repeatedly but when push comes to shove, it's me alone, in the snow, on my birthday, installing my oldest son's timing belt. (Great guilt ammo for later by the way.) He has many talents but automotive is not one of them. My daughter & youngest son however are willing learners & great helpers. Yeah, Yeah, I'm a pushover for my family.

Cool, I'll come up from Portland for Z talk & food. Anyone else from the Portland metro area want to join in the fun? Mark

Hey Jim Congrats on a successful trip. I remember the hydroplaning problem. Driving along just fine & all of a sudden the steering wheel goes loose. Had a trip from Enumclaw to Portland one time in those conditions. The s-wheel was loose half the time. It will wear you out. PM me your address so we can get some goodies to you. It's berry season here. Take care Mark

Disconnect the flat linkage attached to the jet nozzle & see if that allows the nozzle to slide up & down smoothly.The linkage occasionally needs a bit of a twist to align perfectly with the bushing & screw. Slide the nozzle up & down with & without the jet needle in place & do the drop test on the piston to ensure the nozzle is aligned with the jet. Lube tho outside of the jet nozzle before reassembly.

I ran my SUs a little on the rich side with ATF & a mech. pump. The engine always ran strong with that combo. (everything stock) There were countless 6 grand shifts and a few "lost in the moment" 6 1/2 - 7 grand shifts. I could feel the power peak about 5500, but that wasn't lack of fuel. That said & remembering your goals, I'd just stay with the elec. pump. They are easy to diagnose & fairly reliable unless they are made by Lucas. The orig. with a regulator or a lower pressure quiet pump such as the RX7 pump. It is likely the elec. pump from a 74 260 would be a bolt in too. Mark

Geoff Have you thought about trying the new carb set-up on your old engine first? You could tune & balance them on a known engine then swap the whole set-up onto the new engine. A few tweaks to allow for the new build & it should run great. It would also be very interesting to compare the performance difference between the FI & the SUs on a known engine. Mark

Thanks for the tech article. The testing procedure is particularly interesting. I remember the elec. gremlins that arose from not replacing the ground wire on the valve cover of the small block Chevys. My dad always said "you can't have too many grounds" & proved it many times by bringing a circuit to life by adding a ground. Easier than finding the bad connection for him. Coolant as a ground circuit=corroded rad. fittings, timing covers, diesel engine blocks maybe even Subaru head gaskets. I think I'm going to run the tests on my Subie first.

Hey Buddy, Have a safe trip. As far as what else to bring, you probably already have it in the trailer. Good to be traveling with a friend, although I suspect your friend will have a lot of catching up to do. While you are waiting, you could send us pics or videos of your latest vista filled, "Italian tune-up" run for fun. I suspect there will be more than a few. BTW, does your friend carry bail money? PM me your new address. Kathy wants to be sure you get some of the next run of "juice". It will come in a Mason jar as usual. Take care Mark

Don't know if you're familiar with the Peanuts comic strip but Snoopy had a happy dance that is appropriate for this occasion. Congratulations.

I have been curious about the source of the pitting inside the t. cover for a while & your theory about the current path (or lack of it) thru the block may explain why. Some old covers are pitted & others not. Is it possible that without a "solid" ground thru any of the bolts & assuming that the coolant is acidic enough to act as an electrolyte, is it likely some of the current is flowing between the dissimilar metals, pitting the alum? It may also be the pitting is caused by galvanic action alone. Any thoughts?

AWAUDIO Although I don't know the why, the fuel line holders on my 71 were also squeezed together just enough that they were non-removable from the lines.

My early 71 has the flat top bolts w-flanges.

As far as the ignition switch goes, I'd remove it & take it to a locksmith. They have the knowledge & parts to repair it. Clutch-First check the clutch master cylinder on the firewall, (outboard of the brake master cylinder) for fluid. If there is none you will need to bleed the clutch hydraulic system of air. Any service manual has the procedure. If the reservoir is empty, before proceeding with the bleeding, on the end of the master & slave cyl. there is a rubber seal over the end of each cylinder. The slave cyl. is on the left side of the bell housing. Pull both of them back & look for moisture(brake fluid) under the seals & check them periodically while you're bleeding. It is the most common point of leakage. Report back please.

IMO, I would give Steve at Ztherapy a call. He will be able to sort out these issues & recommend the proper needles for your application. I suspect the horsepower will drop but you will have gained drive-ability. Frame the dyno-sheets & proudly hang them on the wall. P.S. Keep those old needles.

Mine is an early 74. RLS30-003060-9/73. As near as I can tell, I'm the 4th owner. 2nd & 3rd owners tore it apart, attempted to get it back together & gave up. I did notice a few unused threaded holes on the fender well that may have held the button. Personally, I'm glad it's gone. I really dislike the extraneous bull $h!t that manufacturers keep adding to a good product. Traditionally they keep going until they've ruined it. I have an early 71 & an early 74, Comparing the wire diagrams, three years is all it took Datsun to turn a quite simple electrical system into a mystifying maze of wires with little actual improvement.

Thanks for that concise explanation. It makes perfect sense now. Proof you can teach an old dog new tricks.