Ownallday

Noted, I was leaning slightly towards the driveshaft anyways as my next solution. I have no idea if it's ever been replaced so it won't hurt to replace it. I heard the clunk can sometimes be caused by the driveshaft and possibly the axles. The tires are about 1 year old, less than 7k miles on them. The tread is pretty much 80% on them. I use to have movement in the steering rack but went away after replacing to polyurethane bushings. I can't remember if I've replaced that mount or not. I know I did the moustache bar mounts though. I'll most likely order a oem diff mount that be safe eitherway. I heard of something like that, I work at a Toyota dealership so I have the luxury of balancing the wheels. I have tried rotating the tires already and there isn't a difference at all. I replaced them about 3 months ago but I will go ahead and recheck the torque on them. Last time I did it I remember torquing them properly. Thank you for the input. I'll see if I can find a better balancing machine shop.

I know this has been discussed in the past but the solutions haven't worked out for me. I have a 1978 Datsun 280Z. Pretty much all the bushings have been replaced with polyurethane. I have replaced the inner and outer tie rods, front wheel bearings, ball joints were replaced 2 years ago less than 5k miles. I have tokico lowering springs, I also have technotoytuning front and rear control arms. I also have a momo steering wheel. I have a pretty bad vibration coming from the steering wheel. I should also add that I've balanced the tires at least 5 times at this point, and the alignment has been done although I do have about -2 degrees of camber front and rear camber left side is about .4 degrees off compared to the other side which is most likely causing my car to pull to the right. Any other solutions. I do believe my struts are blown but to my knowledge blown struts shouldn't cause vibration. Possibly driveshaft? The car does have the lovely clunk in the rear when accelerating from a stop. I can't tell if there is play in the u joints/half shafts but there is play from the yoke inside the driveshaft (I can rotate it a couple degrees) not sure if that's normal. Any help would be appreciated. Below is a video of the the steering wheel vibration looks like at approximately 65mph.

Yes this is what I want to go for! I guess I will have to tap out the threads for the sensor. Found the lower left hole is a m14x1.5 npt and no sensors are made to fit that. Question, why do you have the fans coming on at 220F? Isn't that a little too hot?

Oh that's interesting, never seen or heard of anything like that. Wonder how accurate it is. I might try an adjustable one out and see if I can fit it in between the shroud somehow. Thanks for the clarification!

For some reason it does on my car from what I noticed. Before the car would warm up pretty damn fast too with the old aluminum radiator and electric fan and that fan sucked but was always on too. Eitherway it be better to have them not come on startup anyways and have them turn on when the car is actually warm enough. Okay good to know someone else has done it. I want to avoid drilling and rethreading my housing but if there isn't another option I'll consider it.

Yes I prefer the look of the electric fan setup looks cleaner and more impressive imo. My car takes way too long to warm up even if I drive off. I have not seen anything on the radiator that would allow me to hook one up. I did look on summit racing. The main thing was just knowing what the threads were for the thermostat housing, I don't exactly wanna drill and rethread the thermostat housing either

Without the fans yes it'll get above 180, have not tested if it'll overheat I turned the car off the second It got past 180 which means in my mind the fans are working too good because sometimes the temp doesn't even get to 160, before this setup even with a 160 thermostat the car would run too hot which is why I replaced the radiator and fans (I had another aluminum radiator and smaller electric fan before this). The rad came with a shroud so yes. The main thing is getting the fans to turn on when the coolant gets to a certain temp so my car can warm up faster on cold starts. They sell sensors for that, the problem is installing it since it'll be aftermarket, I wanted to use the thermostat housing but not sure what the thread sizes are for the 3 front ports I'm not using or the 1 port on the side.

Yes, I actually have a 160 Thermostat, before this setup my car would run too hot which is why I swapped it to a 160 but that didn't solve the issue.. However, my main concern is just getting the fans to only turn on at a certain temp. On startup makes the car take forever to warm up and I have tested without the fans turning on the car will go above 160 just fine.

The radiator doesn't have a spot for a sensor, at least I don't see any. That was the goal to use the relays to activate with a sensor. I knew the possible issues from going clutch to electric. I prefer electric, looks nicer but thats just me. Currently I only have one fan running because my car doesn't even get above 160 degrees F, had this setup for the last couple months, have not had any power/electrical issues yet. I do have an upgraded alternator. As of right now only 1 of the two fans is running since my car doesn't get above 160F at all. I have an upgraded alternator currently, have yet to experience any electrical issues over the last couple months.

I have a 1978 Datsun 280z with a triple weber setup. I currently have installed a Champion Radiator with a dual Spal electric fan setup. As of right now the fans are wired up with relays and the fans turn on with the ignition. The car takes too long to warm up like this and surprisingly the car never goes above ~150-160 degrees F (Which I am not sure if that is too cold). I want to setup the fans to turn on with a thermostat switch that will turn the fans on at 180 degrees F. What would be the best way to install one? I would like to use any of the unused threads on my Thermostat housing (Aside the one used for the temp gauge). If anyone can link one that will work with those threads would be great as I am not sure what size those threads are. Any other ideas are also greatly appreciated.

Funny I actually just saw his website. Not sure why I couldn't find it months ago. From what I see his work seems to be very good. He is quite far from me about a 100 mile drive. I will have to give him a call tomorrow. I do not have that. Thanks for the link, I will give that a good read as I should probably learn to at least tune these things myself in the future.

I've had my Triple Webers on my 280z for about a year now, been running the car since on a baseline tune. I have an L28 N42 Block with a rebuilt E88 head from a 260z I believe. Should be stock internals aside from a slightly thinner head gasket. The car drives pretty good, however I have to ease into the throttle at lower rpms before I can fully mash it otherwise the webers bog and backfire. The car smells like it's running pretty rich too. I am wondering if there is anyone recommended in the LA County area that knows how to tune these carbs close to perfection. I live more up north of LA (Santa Clarita to be exact) Closer the better! I am also wondering how much I should expect labor cost to be for someone to tune the car.

Thought I would leave the solution to my problem down. The timing was the issue. I should've caught it the moment I saw the RPMS raise up after the install and the fact that the timing wouldn't allow me to adjust lower than 18 degrees advance. The oil pump spindle is supposedly suppose to be installed at an 11:25 o clock position, however I removed mine and installed it one tooth over so I installed it at about a 12 o clock position. The rotor in the distributor lined up a lot better with spark plug 1 on the dizzy and I was finally able to adjust the timing to 0. I went ahead and set timing to 10 degrees advanced. On my drive home, the noise I've been hearing is completely gone now throughout the entire rev range and all gears. My car did lose power thought haha, but just happy I can finally drive her without having to worry. Gonna have to find someone who can tune webers soon, I got addicted to that power increase haha. Thanks everyone for the help!

I have a tool that you use for finding tdc compression that you stick into cylinder 1. But I also took off my valve cover and checked the lobes and timing marks and checked timing marks on my pulley. Also used the the oil pump spindle at the top at one point to make sure that was tdc

Yes, I rechecked it twice, motor at tdc and the spindle facing the 11:25 o clock direction from the top. My timing is about 17 or 18 degrees advanced as that's where my webers tuning likes it. To everyone I know who heard the noise in person does not sound like detonation to them

Update, washer was facing the wrong way, swapped it and still making noise, tried the oem washer and bolt too and still making noise. The noise can't be heard in neutral. I can hear the noise the most in 3rd gear but I can hear it in all gears. Can't replicate noise with the car in the air for some reason. I should add since I realized I never mentioned it, when I went to start my car after the new oil pump, the car struggled to start and it made a really loud bang. It did this 3 times trying to start the car which to my knowledge I think the starter hit the flywheel or something. It was enough to make the entire car move. I inspected the flywheel through the starter area and can't see any damage.

Yeah I saw that. He wasn't using the performance balancer that I have though. So the bolt and washer kit I have is the one by Kameari I believe that they sell on MSA site. Here is a picture I just took. By the looks of it, the washer is facing the right direction.

Thanks for the response. I will update later tonight the orientation of the washer. I don't believe it's install "the wrong way" though but I will update later. Thanks, I tried to find them but didn't understand how to search like you stated. I will update later tonight on the washer situation I am using the MSA recommend bolt and washer kit so the washer that they recommend for the performance harmonic balancer that they sell

Thanks for the input. I will check it tomorrow or Thursday if I get the chance. So should I just retorque the bolt? MSA has a recommendation to using a special bolt and washer from them for the balancer I have. I don't have air condition installed atm but I do have an AC kit I want to install eventually. Did you have the same combination I currently have? Performance Harmonic balancer from MSA and their special bolt and washer kit? If so what's the best solution? At this point I am pulling my hair out. Is it possible to just switch back to the stock bolt and washer? I don't want to buy another balancer unless there are any with an AC pulley attachment.

Update: Replaced water pump, no more leaking, also went ahead and installed the old oil pump back onto the car to test and noise was still present after installing the old pump so the oil pump is out of the question now and so is the water pump. So I went ahead and lifted the car, can't get the noise to come when the car is in the air, so more than likely the car needs to be under some kinda load or the front wheels possibly? I installed big brake kit in the front and new wheel bearings about 5 months ago, didn't have any issues so doubt that's the problem. I will most likely throw a gopro into the engine bay my next drive see if that helps at all. Yeah, I double checked today and the position with the spindle is 100% aligned with my oil pump. Yes so if thats the case my timing is currently at about 15 degrees. Which in no way should cause pinging, I run 91 octane, even tried octane booster to make sure.

Can someone tell me what would be considered the correct timing mark on the MSA performance balancer? There are 5 white markings, the bottom marking is the thickest so I am assuming that's what I go based on?. Today I removed my dizzy and oil pump and lined up the spindle with motor at tdc The top of the spindle aligned more with the bolt holes but it was close enough so maybe more like 11:20 for me. Also installed new spark plugs since mine were clogged up. Also cleaned up all the contacts on my cap and rotor and wires. After adjusting timing, car idles perfectly at 800 rpm now. timing was maybe 18 degrees advanced or so. Drove car home and noise is still present. At this point I don't think its a timing issue or the car is pinging/detonation. The noise is still present when accelerating while driving. It only makes the noise when I'm like 40% throttle or more. Tomorrow I am going to install the new waterpump too (since mine is leaking) and will most likely install the old oil pump to see if the new one is the problem. I also have a new exhaust manifold gasket but I'm pretty positive my current one is fine. I am using it correctly. It's one of the ones where you have to adjust the timing gun based on how off the marking is then it gives you the correct timing, if that makes sense...

Thanks I will update Tuesday night after I do all that work. I should have the water pump replaced at the same time. I looked at my harmonic balancer, the only thing is im running this one from MSA. https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/10-2139 It's only about a year old and to my knowledge is a solid piece. My previous balancer split the same way yours did. The only thing like I said is I can't hear the noise when the car is just sitting, I have to be driving in order to hear the noise

I have not, aside from the water pump and some new spark plugs that I ordered, I planed on doing this tomorrow or tuesday next week but I was also going to remove the oil pump and reinstall everything with the engine at tdc. I am more than positive the timing went off after the oil pump install after seeing how off timing was before adjustment.

Okay, back with an update. Replaced alternator, sound still present. But my alternator was actually bad, the bearing was actually making noise and I noticed my lights stopped dimming at lower rpms. Performed a valve adjustment, car ran even faster and smoother after I did this. However the sound is still present. Finally got my hands on a timing gun today, also took a quick stop at autozone to pickup lucas octane booster (Incase I am hearing ping). Poured in the octane booster, ran the engine for about 10 mins to warm it up and setup the timing gun. Without adjusting anything the car was extremely advanced (I can't see my timing indicator because it's all covered up with gunk) but going to assume based on pictures it was possibly in the 30 degrees range which is way past the timing indicator. I immediately went to retard the distributor as much as possible and maxed it out and checked timing again and once again based on pictures of the timing mark indicator its right around 15 to 18 degrees which is the lowest I can get it. Went to drive the car and the damn noise is still there! The car definitely feels like it lost power too. I noticed my water pump was leaking while doing timing, not sure when it started leaking but ordered a replacement, any chance that's what is making the noise? Any thoughts would be great. The engine is an L28 N42 with a rebuilt stock E88 head from a 260z. Triple webers. I'll post a picture of the spark plugs incase that helps. Car does run really rich, has been running rich for the past year. I'll leave behind some pics of the spark plugs as well as pics down the timing cover I took with an endoscope.

Thanks for the input will keep that in mind. Right now I believe its my alternator. Seeing the bolts on the bottom just a couple threads from falling out convinces me the alternator had too much play and caused the bearings to fail. Also the nice thing about spatial audio is I can hear the noise is more towards the alternator side with headphones on. I posted a second video but not sure what happened there.