ZSaint

This is going to be a new car with a new frame and a bit of used sheet metal. You guys are doing a heck of a job on this resto. I am pleased to be on the list of 'watchers'. Go dogs! :classic:

I can not wait to take it in for the suspension alignment. When the guy gets it on the rack, he will know! I do not think I will ever drive this Z when the road is wet. It is prettier on the underside then it is on the upside! (Kinda)

It's kinda like Mt. Everest... Because it's there. There is a nice feeling of gratification when you get it cleaned and painted. You may be the only one who knows but, who cares!

I used my glass beader and took everything down to bare metal. I then had everything powdercoated black. Tough stuff.

I bead blasted the inside of my cover. I sealed off the vent line and the inner vent. After I cleaned the "brown stuff" off, I took it out and ran a lot of water in and out of the vent line. I then powder coated it and it is on the engine, clean on the inside and out. When I purchased my P90A head, it came ready to mount on the car,sealed in plastic. I had my engine guys take it apart to check the valve guides They found a lot of glass beads in the head. Ouch! Glad I did not put it on and run it.

Yes, I did clear-coat all of the polished aluminum. I think powder coating them would be the correct way to go. I was in a hurry so I just sprayed them. I had everything done at a plater in Portland, Oregon.

I sent them an email to determine the cost of a rebuild. I hate to pay for bearings and clutches when all I need (possibly) is the front pinion bearing and a .015 shim installation. Oh well, if it doesn't work out then I would just have to pull it back out and pay them to re-rebuild it!

I got the headers from Motorsports. It is what they call "Aerospace Thermal Coating". It looks like it is chromed but stays that way after running. It looks just like it did when it came from them. I am impressed with this coating. It still looks good after driving the car 150 miles. They had a deal on these headers earlier in the year. I recommend this process. Thanks for noticing the plating. If it wasn't plated or powder coated, it was painted.

I used the R200 mustache bar. I am using later-model CV halfshafts. (Tricky modification!)

Here are some pics of my modified balance tube. We simply welded everything up and I ground her down to the minimum size and had her polished. It is like the European balance tube. I know they make vacuum lines for the tube end but the stock upper line is readily available. That is why I stuck with stock.

I put an R200 in my '71. I did not relocate the diff. It is still a bit forward of "perfect". I raced these things for a long time w/o any problems. Why do I need to move the diff back in line with the CV axles? It is a street car. Why?

I bought a press after spending $25 to have one bearing pressed off the tranny shaft. (Sheesh!) Now I have a nice press to do all kinds of things. I guess I will see if it is the front pinion bearing. If I take it all apart and put some shims in the clutches and put back together with a new bearing, it will run vey smoothly, right? Heh, heh. Don't you just love it. Working on this old Z is my life!

I am telling you, the one on EBAY has everything you need. It will not cost you very much if you bid on it with 10 secs. to go! I remember racing at Laguna Seca one hot summer. I had put the lines in for a cooler but had not installed the cooler. (ran out of time) My oil temp was running 290'. I quickly plumbed the cooler and installed it. It dropped the temp 50'. I was very pleased with my cooler and my 240 oil temp. If you are running in competition, put on a cooler.

I am tired of working on this 240Z. I have taken it all apart and put everything back together and it is now running. I really do not want to start working on the diff. We used to take the R190's apart at the track and put in shim stock and put them back in the car. It was fun after the race day was over, having a beer and working on the car. AAACCKK! Not any more! I want to take the diff out and have someone who knows these diffs to rebuild it. I rebuilt the 5-speed, I put in new U-joints, installed CV axles and put the new engine together (can you say 'Cam Timing'?). I am a tired old man and the diff is the only problem with the car. I fixed the Corvette brakes and clutch adjustments. The diff is all that is left! Who is the MAN? :sleepy:

I see the biggest weakeness of the non-crossflow L-series engine is the existence of exhaust heat. 1600-1800 degrees is directly below the intake. (Have you ever seen an engine at 7500 on the dyno? The headers are glowing!!!) Most people who compete do not seal off this heat. I have seen the dyno work on engines with and without cold air boxes. I believe you lose about 2-3% of power with "hot air". I had a 280Z that I drove in CP and we had a complete air box. It made 7 more hp on the dyno then it did w/o the air box. A person can gain hp on a crossflow engine with a cold airbox. But, with the L6 engine, it is mandatory. Datsun tried to overcome some of this weakness with the heat shield. It solves the radiant heat problem but not the hot air problem. Why do all of the new cars use cold air boxes. HORSEPOWER!

I bought a 3.9 R200 limited slip differential on eBay a year ago. I looked at it after I bought it and it did not have any metal shavings or mismatched wear pattern. I installed it and it is a noisey diff. It has a howl and the clutches are worn out. You can turn one wheel by hand when the other in on the ground! I think it has about 5# of tension on it. I need to have it rebuilt this Winter. I live in the Salem/Portland area. Who is the best rebuilder? I know everyone says they rebuild these rear ends but few succeed. I do not want to get back a noisey ring and pinion. Hell, I can do that! :devious:

Try eBay "nissan datsun 240z oil cooler". They have one going right now. It is everything you need to install an oil cooler. It bolts right on. I believe they even have a place for a sensor to be attached. If not, just drill and tap into the aluminum block. Screw in your sensor and you will have everything you want. Simple!

No problem as long as you do not turbo it. You need all of the piston material to cool the ring land. With NA, you will not have a problem. That is all my machinist did and I have had no problems.

Good task to do now! I should have done that. I guess I just hooked it up like it was and expected it to work. I must have grounded it somewhere. Maybe I pinched the wire behind the rear speaker? Something like that...!

Yes, it has a full electric antennae just like the stock antennae. Power up and power down. I will take the back panels off and check it out. The rear panel is sooo brittle and old I am afraid to try and remove it, again. I painted (SEM) it to get rid of the 'greenish' look and carefully replaced it. I don't know if I can do it all again without cracking it. I do not remember having 3 wires involved with the antennae. I remember hooking up the wire (plug-in) to the motor and screwing the ground into the body shell. Did it have a double wire? Can't remember!

Are you talking taking 2.7mm off the top of your piston? If you are, you will be in trouble with too thin a piston. You will warp a ring land or burn a piston from the intense heat generated. I put a set of Z22S pistons in my 2995 block. With the additional stroke, the piston bowl was machined flat for zero clearance. The engine shop was concerned about the material being a bit too thin above the top ring. You will have a much more serious problem removing that much material.

So, my short could be from the power source under the dash. I will look at the wiring diagram to see where the power comes from. Thanks for this input. I was thinking I had ground the wiring going from the switch to the antennae motor. Good info! Anyone know where the hot wire come from?

I have completely restored my '71. After putting all of the interior and dash back in, I turned on the antennae and the fuze blew. I tried it again and it blew another fuze. I had everything out of the car. I installed the antennae just like it was before. I wonder where the short is? The hot wire for the antennae motor is grounded somewhere. Anyone have any ideas? I wonder if I take this to a shop if they can find the short for me? I REALLY do not want to take the rear panels off. I guess if that is the only way, I can do it, again.

OK! I have the same radio in my '71 that DD has. I am wondering if I can screw the antennae switch onto the side of the '74 AM/FM radio and use my old face plate? It look like this antennae power switch is not a part of the radio harness. I am guessing all I need to do is screw it onto the radio and hook it up. What do you guys think?

Chris: Where are you getting these great pics of radios? Here is a pic of my '74 AM/FM. Do you have a pic of the early '71 AM radio? I want to see if I can modify the '74 to fit the '71 antennae switch and faceplate. I just put an '81 AM/FM Rabbit radio into a '76 Rabbit. It was kinda the same thing.