Mark Maras

Yeah, maybe the amber would be better. Instead of wizzed off they would just be curious. And then there is the other thought, I don't care how wizzed off they are as long as they don't plow into me. If one continues this line of thought, green, yellow & red is the next step. Years ago I dug through the US Patents on this idea & as I recall Porsche had already explored the green yellow, red idea. Looking back, this idea came to me after Congress mandated the third b.light. At the time I wondered why, if they were going to add the third light, they didn't make it do something different rather than just more of the same. My 260 project will have one when it is back on the road. Been waiting to try this for years.

Let me share an idea that has been kicking around in my head for a while. This is based on reaction time. In the old days of drag racing they used a "christmas tree". The lights were spaced 1/2 second apart. It didn't take long to figure out the reaction time plus mechanical slippage took 1/2 second to move the car. Ergo, if you reacted when the last yellow light came on, you could hole-shot most people. With that in mind, if I was going to put a third brake light on the car, The color could be red or amber(red would be my choice) but I would have it activated by the throttle. Anytime the throttle is in the closed position, the light is on. This could possibly give the driver behind more braking time. even if it didn't fail to stop an accident it likely would cut down on the damage.

The pump from my 71 has no hole in the front cover.

Could be worse. Or is it worse & we haven't seen the other likely places?

Just watched a guy on UTube straighten a warped six cyl. head. .007 brass shims under the ends, baked it 5-6 hours at 500` and let it cool in the oven. He baked it twice until the cam towers were aligned then sent it out to be surface milled.

OK. Now that we're finally coming around to your solution, did you ever try it? I remember the talk about it but I think everyone was concentrated on milling & the unintended consequences at the time. Rolling the idea around in my head, oven size came to mind. I know my oven isn't large enough to slow bake a six cyl. head & if it was I would have to send my wife out of town. But any powder coating business has an oven that could. Temp 400 - 450. Sound OK?

Nope The float chamber is alongside the carb body. The fuel enters into the top of the float bowl. 3 or 4 screws & probably a new gasket.

Good call Steve. The battery tray and fender well below it should show signs of repair too. They usually go hand in hand.

How can you possibly sell the Z when you still have plans on changing it? (Blue's bumpers) I like to wear my Datsun cap It starts a lot of conversations. Hundreds by now. EVERYONE that I've talked with, regretted selling their Datsun. Not too hard to figure out, they were almost all 510s & Zs. I think I would move it to a friend's garage and see how much I would miss it before selling it. No driving it, no admiring it, no working on it, no contact. It would drive me nuts. IMHO, If you can afford to keep it, do so. You can always sell it later when you're sure. The fact that you asked the question tells me that you should keep it.

I think I'd crawl underneath and start looking for any welded repairs. Should you find major repairs,and they are well done, the car may be better than an original. My point is, I bought my first Z (used) in 73. Over the years I came to the conclusion that the car had, in fact, been previously totaled. Clues such as Bondo in the top, a dent in the drive shaft, a mysterious dent in the exhaust header pipe at frame level. I drove the car daily for 23 years & it was by far the BEST car of any kind I have ever owned & driven.

What a beautiful Z. Color, stance, wheels, Perfect.

What else can you tell us about Joe? Approximate age, occupation, hobbies? Have you talked with other co-workers to see if they know where he went? I don't think his trail will be that difficult to follow. Much akin to troubleshooting a gremlin in a Z, The more details you can give us, the better chance we have of finding it. It might be interesting to take on a "cold case" & see what happens. Does anyone in that area remember the car or remember buying parts from a metallic brown Z? I find it hard to believe that the whole car just disappeared.

I can't help but think torquing the head down flat would return the cam clearances back to normal.

It would be interesting to know if the cam spins freely with the head off & on the engine. It might lend some clarity to all of our guess work. That said, I'd still put it on as is. It seems like the worst that could happen is a blown head gasket. I would want the engine to have a very good cooling system to give the head gasket half a chance.

I like Chickenman's idea. I think it would work fine. I would check the torque a couple of times after it has a few miles on it. What head gasket were you thinking of using? I think I'd go with the compressible one.

Nope. There is little to no service. Gas for money. There is a bucket & a squeegee if you want to do it yourself. I have noticed my daughter still gets her windshield cleaned by the younger attendants.

It wasn't all lobbying by the stations. We had a choice and kept gas jockeys because of the weather & to save entry level jobs that are rapidly disappearing. There are still a lot of teens pumping gas here in Oregon. Mark

IMO, take them off. They do restrict the exhaust flow a bit. I think a lot of people cut and welded them because one or more wouldn't budge. The easy fix was to cut and weld them. If you can get them loose, I've seen them plugged with pipe plugs & bolts. Brass, steel or iron, any will work.

Thanks for the pics. I like the looks of those BD rails as a cap. I'm going to extend the rail back. I may add a brace between the rear seats mounts and anchor the end of the rail there. The sloped front section is in good shape but I'm going to reinforce it anyway. "WHILE I'M IN THERE"

74 260. Sept. 73 build date. History, Two P.O.s attempted to get it back on the road. Neither had any success. Engine didn't run. It does now. Outside shell was sound. Painted flat black. Seemed reasonably complete judging by the boxes full of removed parts. Spare engine(actually the original). 5 speed, 92,000 on the odometer. $1350.00 I tried to tell myself no, wait for a better one, spend a little more money, you know, logical things. But it appeared that if I didn't try, the car was headed for the great PiknPul in the sky. What was I to do. Certainly not the logical thing. Rusted out areas; battery tray, fender well below it, 6" strip of the firewall too, rear cover under the hatch, spare tire well, floor boards & rear support rails. So far. I'm about to install new ZF floors & rear rails. Charlies rails are about 6" longer than the originals. Great quality too. I was going to bend the front up & section it into the sloping rail. Instead is there any reason why the rail can't be slid back & used full length? The rear of the rail would be between the rear seat mounts instead of 2 1/2" behind the front seat mount. The front section that slopes up appears to be sound.

A quick Google search references a British SU needle, possibly a Jag.

907Series1Z Absolutely. The chance to spend time with another Z owner is always a treat. BTW I have three ea. 4 screw SUs that are not being used. 1 front & 2 rears. We need to talk. I'll PM you. Mark

I think I'd go looking for a poor or bad ground. I have used a 2'-3' piece of elec. wire with alligator clips on each end to add a ground to suspect circuits. Quick & easy way to complete a circuit, then find the bad ground or add a new one.

Throttle shaft for sure. If it is unusable because of wear, the carb body that it came from will also be worn. ZT machines the body & uses sealed throttle shaft bearings. Better than new.

At last a documentary about Zs. There is a tv show that is called Z Nation, (sci-fi, haven't watched it, no Zs) that makes my heart skip a beat when I see it on the listings. I thought the feeling would diminish after time but nooo. Could my wife is correct, in that I need help? I think I need more parts.