Jeff Berk

I noticed that my gas tank seems to build up pressure, is this normal? Also, and possibly related, I had fuel leaking out of my rear SU carb after a few miles last week and the fuel pressure gage recently was showing 7.5 psi after a drive. The carbon canister was deleted by a PO. The return line to the fuel tank was reconnected after ? years so it has not been tested other than to confirm it was not leaking. My fuel system is currently as follows: 1) Fuel is pumped from the fuel tank, through a fuel filter using an after-market electric fuel pump to the engine compartment. 2) Fuel is pumped through the mechanical fuel pump and into a DIY fuel rail with three outlets. Two of the outlets flow into a pair of round top S.U. type carburetors. The third port is connected to a low-pressure fuel-pressure regulator. 3) The fuel-pressure regulator has two active ports and a pressure gage. One port is connected to the fuel rail and the second port is connected to the return fuel line.

Yes, they were a little off but not enough to prevent them from working. I should of used a drill press and not a hand-held drill but my drill press did not have the reach to clear the steering wheel and I didn't want to wait a few days to get access to one of the ones at the maker space. At least they were both off in the same direction so the separation was correct. And for the first time in 9 months, my horn is working!

The wheel is a strange construction of cast aluminum hub and steel spokes. I had the welding instructor at a local makerspace do the welding for me. It did pop a little due to the casting having bubbles, but he had no problem welding it. I personally would of not attempted as aluminum is very tricky to weld. At home, I drilled and tapped the holes to 4mm and was able to mount the hub. There's a little gap between the hub and the horn button but I can fill that in with a ABS printed part (once I can get one of my two printers working again).

GOT IT OPEN Thanks for the help and support.

Should I keep trying the pry bar then, or go with a can opener?

So far, no luck with tripping the hood release, too much engine and transmission in the way. If I just undo the bolts on the front of the hood, wouldn't the latch at the rear of the hood keep me from removing it?

I think I just found something in an old posting: https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/107117-howto-release-a-240z-hood-when-cable-broken/ Note that the link shows a slightly modified latch using a nut and bolt to attach the cable end. I just ordered a new cable (from Thailand) and am heading out tomorrow to get a long, narrow pry bar/screwdriver.

My carbonator linkage disconnected during a drive so I pulled the hood release lever to fix it only to have it pull out with a broken cable. I had it towed home and it's up on my lift. If I want to try and release the latch with a long screw driver, what does the latching mechanism's cable attachment point look like from underneath? Oh... BTW: Happy 4th of July

I think we are drifting off topic but good reading in any event.

I'm tracking down sources of rear end noise in my early '74 260Z. So far I identified a loose stabilization bar link. I also noticed while the car is in motion that the threaded rod protruding out of the top of the right rear strut has some minor movement associated with it while the driver's side one does not move. The three bolts securing the top of the strut are properly tightened. As far as I can tell, the strut's upper end is held in place under spring tension. Is there anything I can (or should) do to keep it from moving around? Note that the struts and springs were replaced not too long ago but by the same monkey that was riding around in the trunk.

Dutchzcarguy I'm still working on it. I'm either going to weld some metal on the new wheel's center to give something to drill into or I'm going to make a an adaptor. I'm waiting for the welder at my local maker space to get back in town next week. Jeff

I guess maybe I need to start at getting an alignment. The tie rod ends and ball joints don't seem to have any play in them. How does one find a "good" wheel alignment shop? Do I trust a shop like Goodyear or Firestone? There are not many independents around now. I tried to adjust the toe in using two aluminum 2 x 4 plates with slot cut in them for a tape measure. Doesn't sound as precise as laser-based alignment methods.

My steering seems to wander in the center position. Where should I start looking to resolve this? I replaced the struts and springs and toed the wheels in a little but the problem persists. With the car standing still, moving the steering wheel doesn't seem to show any slack in the under-hood couplings Should I take it to a shop with an alignment rack and if so, would they even know what to set it at since it has a non-standard wheel size and lowering springs?

I'm surprised that the battle flag decal can withstand the engine compartment heat. I was planning sometime in the future to do an airbrush space painting featuring a Z but I need some practice.

I did my tank a couple of years back and my early '74 260z did not have that intake screen. The cleaning and coating went off without an issue. I used a pound or two of steel nuts and sloshed them around inside the tank to help remove the rust. I'd say the toughest job is definitely the pins holding the rear suspension in place.

Dutchzcarguy Thanks for the frank input. It wasn't too expensive to order a new one so I'm going to replace it Maybe I can get it right this time if the problem was an installer error. Jeff

No, not beat up. Just some grease, grime, bad picture. I won't say I didn't install it backwards. I cannot recall which way I installed it. This was the first time I installed a clutch so maybe I screwed up. I have a lot of firsts with this car. I'm getting really good at replacing transmissions (unfortunately).

This was McLeod part no. 763701. The TSR at McLeod said it was an installer issue. : \ In the pics you can see the outer edge is glazed on one side and the inner edge is glazed on the other side. Holding a straight edge across the pads shows that the disc is cupped. Rock Auto shows an m-pact that should fit. I had to contact M-Pact directly to get the product number because it didn't show up on a Rock Auto search by car type (99536ST2) HD Ceramic Hi-Torque 6 Puck Assembly, 8-7/8" X 1" X 24T

Hi I had a McLeod clutch kit installed about 5-years ago but only put maybe 2-3K miles on the car and it is shot. That was using my 5-speed transmission which I just switched out to a 4-speed last year. Hopefully, whatever caused the issue with the clutch will be corrected now. From the looks of the wear, it seems that the disc was cupped slightly. McLeod only sells replacement discs for some of their American car products. Is there any reason why I couldn't just replace the disc with one from another manufacture? If so, any suggestions? Thanks Jeff

I found this comparison on the classicZcars site and it looks like my replacement wheel is off a 280z while my older wheel was from a 240z. I really prefer the 240z hub with my 280z wheel so I think I'm going to try and adapt it. Thanks for the input.

I just installed my real wood steering wheel in place of my simulated wood wheel and ran into a glitch. The wheel fits but not the hub and horn. If you look at the attached photos, the old wheel has a pair of holes on either side of the steering wheel shaft to hold the horn mechanism. The padded hub then snaps onto the horn mechanism. The wood wheel has a larger padded hub that clips onto three bolts threaded into the holes. I'm considering carving a center hub and incorporating a wireless horn button or designing an adapter to accept the old horn button. Any suggestions?

Blitzed... Glad it worked for you. The Remflex gasket saved me from having to machine the exhaust flange.

I based the steering wheel design on: https://www.mgexp.com/article/diy-wood-steering-wheel-part-1.329 Its black walnut with bloodwood trim, all treated with cactus juice heat-activated epoxy. I'm still working on the center "coin".

I put the "wood" steering wheel on my 260z but it was too thin for my tastes. I purchased an old Nissan wheel with heavily deteriorated foam covering and made a black walnut steering wheel out of it.

I had a mechanic that used remote listening devices like the one on Amazon and he did a great job of finding a rattle with it. I'm a bit surprised that they go for $100 or so as I thought they would be pricier. I was going to just live with all the noises from my Z but this give me a whole lot more I can tinker with.