Dave WM

I will get a better look tomorrow but yea I would say the guide has come off completely and is resting on the lip of the pan/bottom of the cover.

yea that looks doable with the engine it. I will have a condenser for the AC in the way, but with the rad out I think I can get at it. I get what you are saying about the pump. remove the bolts that go thru, but leave the pump attached to save the gasket.

The whole thing seems to be about 2" down, I will try to get a better look this weekend with the borescope. IIRC the top of the guide is near the bolt hole of the T stat front bolt. Its way below that now so I think both bolts must be out.

roger. I think I will start with trying to remove in place, if it looks like a quick fix I will do that, if I see anything else or it get too tight a space I will pull the engine and maybe try the swap. I thought I had to remove at least a few of the long bolts on the WP

tight side, without the tensioner I am sure the tensioner is working, I drove the car at least 600 miles since I heard the noise. side by the t stat housing.

I kinda want to pull the engine just to try out the N42/MN47 head combo. I could even leave all the manifolds attached that way since the engine on the test stand is ready to go. Its been a while since I pulled the timing cover, IIRC I can leave the chain on, pull the harmonic balancer, the oil pump, the pump/dizzy drive shaft, then the water pump the forward bolts and the two head bolts on the front and it should come free, does that sound right? if that is the case I think I could just do it with the engine in the car. cant make up my mind on which way to go.

while checking the valve lash, I noticed my timing chain guide was fubar, it was way down and not in contact with the chain. I have the correct bolts on the thermostat housing, and I have no idea how long it has been like this. So the question is, do I pull the engine or fix it with the engine in place? It looks like I may have enough room to remove the cover and do the work after removing the rad, but I have the cherry picker, so was thinking just pull it and have easy access. I will know better what happened once I get it off, to see if there are any missing bolts etc.... that may be down in the crankcase. If that is the case I will have to pull it off as well. Come to think of it I seem to recall a "funny" noise somewhere in TN on my long trip heard it while at a fast food joint in the take out line, that since then has stopped, I bet it was the chain tensioner letting go, and then falling out of the way. I never gave it a lot of thought since it quieted down (I know that was a mistake) but since I was on the road I guess my judgment was impaired. Oh its the one on the non tensioner side (t stat housing side).

nope. Main Issue is the temp sensor.

ok but I still think it would be a good idea to check for binding for your own peace of mind.

I run the CR 5speed and a 3.54 rear end. 5th is useless below 65, 70 if there is any hills nearby. Great for 80mph on flat roads (3k). Its pretty much a high speed cruise only, any hill and you end up down shifting. Since I live in Florida it works great, but on my recent cross country I noticed I was going in to 4th often on interstates that had some inclines. Starting out in 1st is not a big deal but again if you lived where you would find yourself stopped on a hill it may make it more of a challenge.

I noticed it idled more smoothly at the base (5000 feet). I have mine set pretty lean at sea level (using the AFM bypass for idle mix). Maybe at 5000 it was running richer (smoother). I have not been able to find out any info on the effects of operating above 12000. I still don't know if it died rich/lean, it did NOT forward fire (pop thru the AFM, lean) or backfire (thru the muffler, rich). It would just die like it was getting no fuel at all. Like it was running on the start fuel pump run. I thought the AFM was maybe not turning on the pump. If I had a flat pull off I would have messed with the AFM (pulled the filter to AFM boot and get to the flap with fingers.

I really don't know was not paying much attention. I just filled up anytime I got near about 1/3. I can prob get a gross estimate from my visa car bills. If I can do that I will post back. I did use ethanol free when I could get it, but most of the time it was better grades of gas, not that the car needed high octane, I just got it cause I figured it may have less ethanol. I never noticed any difference in the way the car drove.

really just wanted to get away from work/phones/email, getting old figured got to get this done sooner that later. Always wanted to do a road trip, and figured it would be a good test of the Datsun to see if I have it in good running condition. 800+ miles per day seemed like a good test. I like old cars that I can understand and are easy to fix, and I don't feel the need for all the modern stuff that new cars have, so less to worry about going wrong on a long trip.

double post

good point with all the valve gear out of the way make sure the cam shaft spins easy with no tight spots. I don't have 1st hand info on this, but much has been written about having head work done and the effects it can have on the alignment of the cam bores. Obviously you would want some assembly lube on the cam journals as well. Have to check it with the rockers not engaging the cam lobes. If its tight at some spots I would think over time it could lead to metal fatigue and cam shaft failure. Again reading tells me the correct way to fix a warped head is to either attempt to straighten it (heat and pressure) or machine it bottom AND top, then use shims as needed to correct geometry of the rockers by shimming up the towers. Followed up with careful torqueing of the cam towers while test spinning the cam shaft. A lot to read up on but its out there.

its a road trip classic, esp for Mopar guys.

That is right about where the engine gave out. was tough making that multi point turn to get down. I would have liked to try it again with the filter off, but by then my nerves were shot. The trip was great, sleep in car, drive if not sleeping. Stopped at Walmart/McD for food and drink and clean up. Had a great shot of a Cricket pumping crude, next to a cow, next to a solar panel, next to a giant electric turbine wind mill. So you get your greenhouse gas (cow fart), carbon fossil fuels, off set by carbon credits for wind and solar. all in one little square of land. I cant imagine trying to do his taxes. The windmills in Kansas were a hoot. I drove thru some little hipster town just outside of the pikes peak park. Best part was just being on the road. No phones, no emails, no work issues, just me the z and the road. felt like Kowalaski, just needed Super soul to keep me company.

just assuming the cam bearing and lobes are in the right spot? I cant recall right now how the camshaft is retained from walking for and aft. Can you get a pic of the top of the head with the lobes showing.

I have a nice video of traveling thru the Ozark mountains including a tunnel pass, will post up later. Been working on the radio, just needed a spritz of contact cleaner on the switch. I tried cycling it several times, but no joy, is not a self cleaning type. I have a LOT of maintenance and other stuff I will get to now, I did not want to do it before since I was not sure when I could get off from work and did not want the Z down in the middle of something. Nothing critical just stuff I want to do, like the dash, bump stops, rear wheel bearings (they seem fine but what the heck), vapor line (rusted shut), etc...

I would like to hear from others that have been to the top to know if they made it no problem. Other than that the car was perfect for the whole trip (about 4,000 miles in just a few days).

I little bit, I started walking around on the trail at the top (14,000), thought about walking down it, but a bit too rocky, after messing with that a bit I could feel it but not much really.

video near the top. the engine cut out takes place about 1/2 thru if you want to cut to the action.

working on it, I am video challenged, recorded everything upside down, trying to flip and then download.

Mine is a pretty early one as well (also a CA car), I don't think it has one, not sure where to look. I just got thru doing some reading, seems the issue is too rich a running at above 4k, Did not sound rich to me when it died, more like the fuel pump cut off, sudden loss of power, no rough running etc... I wonder if the altitude compensator was really for 12k and up maybe a whole new set of problems. Guess I could always turbo charge!

I made is, Orlando FL to Pikes Peak Co in my 75 280z. Left Thursday noon, drove to Phenix City Alabama (about 400 miles). Have family there so stayed the night. Left early about 2am Friday, thru Bham, on hiway 22 to NW AL, then thru a little bit of MS, and then AR. Took a north turn up thru the Ozark mountains toward MO. from Joplin the garmin took me to Wichita KS via rt 400 (2 lane, 180 miles dead of night, yikes). North from Wichita to I-70, then across to CO. Arrived at Pikes Peak about 1PM Saturday. in AR I lost my brakes (replaced a drum slave cylinder a few weeks ago, did not tighten a line fitting, so I did a McD parking lot fix with help from a passer by to bleed the brakes. The only other casualty was I lost my radio somewhere in KS (not a fuse checked the both). Not a big deal as I prefer to listen to the engine :) Other than that Dat Boi handled the trip great, but I did find the operational ceiling of the Bosch L jet tronic system. On the way up past the 13 mile shuttle stop (about 11,400 ft) I suddenly lost power and the engine stopped and could not be restarted and run for more than a few seconds. I was on a fairly steep incline, on a section with no guard rails, a steep drop off on one side and a steep wall with a bit of a ditch on the other for shoulders. After a bit of panic (am I going to have to back down this thing) I managed to get the engine to run long enough to make a multipoint turn around on the narrow road. Got the nose down and got back to the shuttle launch area. I took the shuttle to the top. With hind sight I prob should have removed the air filter before the final accent, maybe that would have helped. My guess is with the thin air, the AFM flap just presents too much of a restriction for the engine to overcome, but that is just a guess. I seem to recall some discussion about a altitude compensation device for the L jet tronic. Getting down was uneventful since engine braking meant I did not hardly have to use the brakes at all. I have a lot of video (including the fail, should be interesting to watch. Will post up later and link.