Mark Maras

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.

News to me too. How many years did they include it? Evidently my 74 was disarmed properly. No red button on mine & the seat belt switch is not working. Is the red button a remote start or something else like a reset button of some sort? Inquiring minds want to know.

My early 71 has a plastic tank. I thought they all had an evap. tank of some sort.

I'm with the Reverend on this one. Logically, to me, it would seem as if the reg. would go before the carbs. I don't doubt what you say, but I'd still like to know why it goes after the carbs. Anyone?

I'm reminded of a 510 story involving a party, a week long torrential downpour & friends in a local sports car club. Late one evening when the party was running dangerously low on "supplies". Eric, courageously volunteered to brave the storm & return to his house & pick up more "supplies" so the party could continue late into the night. It seems as though Jim's 510 was parked behind Eric's Audi Fox. Jim, who didn't want to go out in the storm, was in no shape to drive nor any shape to make any kind of wise decision throws Eric his keys. Eric, who is in no better shape than Jim grabs the keys & is gone. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, he is driving briskly when he comes to the crest of a small hill & in front of him is a flooded road. He stands on the wet brakes & comes to a stop with the car in the water. As he is sitting there collecting himself, the front of the car starts to drift to the left. Panic time. He throws the trans. into reverse but the car doesn't move except to drift a little farther. He opens the door, he jumps out, water goes in, he grabs the rear fenderwell & starts pulling. As he is pulling, the sinking car finally makes contact with the road. The car is still running & in reverse as the car is backing up he hops in, takes a detour home where he pulls the 510s belly plugs & then returns to the party to explain to a totaled Jim & give him the plugs. It seems there was a lot more to explain the next day when Jim's head cleared & he hopped in his car & found it soaked. Amazingly, Eric & Jim remained friends during & after the two week 510 dry-out.

If 15-20 mm is the end clearance, I'd push the prop. shaft all the way in, mark the housing, then pull the shaft out 15-20 mm and give it the shake test. If it goes away you need a longer shaft. If it remains, I'd look at the rear housing bushing. Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing that great Datsun story. It looks like Blue & the Captain (& probably most of us) have many more. Please guys, Don't leave us in suspense.

What a great time we had today, Another artery clogging breakfast, the same cute coffee girl. (Geoff got her picture this time), lots of of Z talk, beautiful weather & a couple of Zs that drew in some people that joined the Z conversation in the parking lot. Geoff & Jim headed back to Seattle after to spend the rest of the day installing new valve seals in Jim's Z. All in all a great day for everyone. Mark

Mustache wax! I've heard of that. Let us all know how it works!

It looks great. You took the ugly duckling & transformed it into a swan. Good job. Give yourself a pat on the back. As far as the polishing goes, This is what I see coming & you probably have already considered-The cyl. head "(which used look just fine) now looks like a$$ next to the polished bits, Looks like a little more clean up is necessary."

I'll throw my hat in also. I think we all have a soft spot for the roadsters probably 510s too. Love to see some pics.

Intermittent problems are a major PITA. My first guess would be timing issues, but lets look at fuel first. A few questions please. When did the problem start? Did you tune it before or after the problem? Have you tried pulling the choke on during these episodes? If so, what effect did it have? The chokes can be used to rule out a lean condition. How is the idle during the episode? Does the engine rev. easily & smoothly under no load? A sign of lack of fuel volume. On the elec. side, try pulling the plug wires one at a time (insulate yourself) while idling & see what effect it has. A bad condenser, even if new, can be a nightmare to diagnose. They are cheap, put in another new one just to rule it out. Then I would go at it with a multi-meter & check actual voltage in the secondary system while it's running well(baseline) & again when it craps out & compare.

No, I haven't tried VW seats but the seats in my 97 Subie Outback are firm, very comfortable & have lots of adjustment. They also have manual height adjusters & heaters. I'm going to do some measuring in the near future to see if they will fit but I doubt there will be a size problem, the originals were not a a small seat. Mark

I've used a torch tip cleaner to coerce some clearance in the oiler holes. I was surprised how choked the holes really were.

It's beautiful now. Definitely was an ugly duckling. Can't wait to see it completed.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about replacement seats. Most seem to be changing to Miata seats, as I recall. Do a search here. I'm sure you'll find a lot more info than I can remember. Mark

I took a better look at the lenses,. The early 71 lenses are shorter than the ones in the early 260. The 260s meas. 3 5/16" x 15/16". The info on the lens is DOT SAE L2 IKI06024 JAPAN, the same # for both.

TomoHawk Woops, I sent he previous offer to the wrong person. Brain fade. If you think the lenses are the same as the early 71, PM me your address & they are yours. Mark

I've used 11g. fence ties cut to the proper length. alum. or galv. steel.