2ManyZs

Actually the original lights are a sealed beam. The bulb (reflector and lens) and filament are made as a unit, whereas the later style lights are made as two distinct units. The filament is made separately from the lens and reflector and can be changed with simply a twist of the plug and removing the bulb. The bulb itself is a sealed unit in that the filament is enclosed in its own glass enclosure, and that is filled with gas to prevent the filament form burning up. A sealed beam is a sealed unit with a fialment that is made as part of the assembly and whole unit is filled with a gas to prevent the filament from burning out. That's why a stone chip in the lens will burn out the light, the gas escapes and the filament then burns itself out.

They really aren't that bad, but you need to do a couple things to make them better. Like ditching all the smog equipment if you can legally do it, and then blocking off the water to the intake and carbs. I had a 73 that ran fine with the flat tops after doing these things. The flat tops aren't as good as a set of the early round tops, but they would be better than the downdraft Webers IMO. Good luck....

Bought the 71 in the spring of 97. Drove it some but not much, had to build a garage in 98 to store it, then started dissasembling it in the fall of 2001. Here it is the winter of 02 and it is still sitting forlornly on the jackstands waiting for me to get out there and start putting it back together...... The pic in my gallery shows the car as it sat all summer...... Guess mine will end up being a long term project as well.:disappoin

A pressure test is done with a hand pump connected to a specail radiator cap that will pressurize the system. It would be a lot safer to do it this way than to have your hands somewhere you can't see and have them covered with hot antifreeze as antifreeze will stick to your hands and continue to burn. Most any shop will have a pressure tester, or possibly you can rent them from an auto parts store or tool center. Chance are that it is a hose leaking as most people never replace the short hoses on the heater core when they change the underhood hoses. The second most common place for a leak is the heater control valve, with the core itself being the last place it will probably be leaking. If the car still has the original hoses on the core and the stock clamps, my money would be on a hose leaking......

If it isn't something with the tires, I would guess the front toe needs to be tinkered with a bit. What did they set it at? If they set it to the factory spec it may or may not work well with wider tires. I'd try having it set at 0 toe, just to see if it helps. That's what I always used on the IT car and it always drove nice and straight with no wandering, that was with 14x7 wheels and 225/60 tires. Sometimes the size and width of the tires will require a bit different setting than the stock setting with the tall skinny tires.......

Sean, check out our newest advertiser. Too Intense Restorations also has an H-4 conversion kit for 56.95 each side.. Not sure how much shipping would be but it might be worth a look.

It isn't easy to do, but you should try to get a look under the dash to see if it might be a heater hose or the heater control valve that is leaking. It could be something as simple as a bad hose. If not, then pulling the heater core isn't difficult, just annoying if you can't get yourself under the dash to see what you are working on. You could try pressure testing the radiator, if you have a leak, it will be a lot easier to spot while there is pressure on the system. Hopefully all you will have is a leaking hose.......

Me thinks Steve has been into that "home-brew" a tad too much..... Are ya sure that's a V-8?:cross-eye Sure looks like a V-6 to a "sober" eye.....

Geez Sean, you are no help at all...

With a car with that early a production date, I would go original. It will be worth a lot more later if you keep it close to stock. Look at Classic Datsun Motorsports for interior plastic, and Too Intense Restorations has some of the rest of the needed pieces. It will be worth it in the long run given how early the car is in the production run......Some people have all the luck...

Try re-torquing the head again. Hopefully the gasket will be OK, it may be the head was not torqued exactly when it was installed. It is always advisable to re-torque the head after a couple heat cycles when an engine is first put together. Good luck. If it still leaks a new gasket will be the next thing to do and make sure the head is straight and torqued correctly.

I agree with the other posts, it sounds like it might be something fairly simple in the ignition or FI that is causing the problem. I would try to find a GOOD mechanic to diagnose the problem for sure before you decide to sell it. It might only be a 100 dollar fix, or it might be more. Decide whether to keep the car only after you find out what is causing the problem. Just as a caveat, I bought my first 240 back in the early 80's, the girl who owned it had trouble with it and traded it in. After I bought it and talked to a couple mechanics it turned out it was just the water control valve on the intake that was causing the problem. I blocked off the line with a blind rivet I got at work and it ran great for years after words. It cost me nothing but a little time to figure out the problem. I met the girl not long after I bought the car and fixed it, and believe me she was PO'd that it was something that simple! She wanted to buy the car back on the spot, but since I had waited to find one for so long, I didn't sell, and kept the car for about 7 years. Finding out what is the problem will give you a good idea of whether or not it is time to sell..... you might regret it later if it turns out to be something simple.

I agree with Carl, before you put it back together be sure to check to see if they gave you the right springs. It almost sounds like they may have given you springs for a 240 which would be shorter than 280 springs to begin with, as the stock springs are shorter on a 240 than a 280. I have seen some springs that had perhaps an inch of free play when assembled with no load on the spring, any more than that just doesn't sound right.

Almost 150 years ago, President Lincoln found it necessary to hire private investigator Alan Pinkerton for protection. That was the beginning of the Secret Service. Since that time, the federal police authority has grown to a large number of multi-letter agencies: The FBI, CIA, INS, IRS, DEA, BATF, etc. Now we have the "Federal Air Transportation Airport Security Service." Can't you see them now, these highly trained men and women in their black outfits with their initials in large white letters across their backs: "FATASS" I feel safer already........

OK, that clear it up a little but you won't like my response.....:disappoin It sounds like the rear may be the culprit. It may be the ring and pinion or the bearings. On decelleration you are hearing a grinding because the ring and pinion clearance is changing and possibly the pinion gear is gouging the ring gear. Either that or it is one of the side bearings that is shot or a spider gear. It could also be the front bearing also, and the pinion shaft is moving back and forth and causing the problems with the ring gear. Either way, the best thing to do now would be to pull the diff cover and see if there are any deep gouges on the ring gear, or if the spider gears look to be damaged. Any way you look at it, pulling the cover is going to tell the whole story. If you see any gauling on the gears, it still could be a something fairly simple like bearing, but it will depend on what you find on the gears. But then again, it could still be something as simple as a u-joint or a loose flange. Check you u-joints and seals for leaks, a leak might pint you in the direction of your problem. Pop the cover and check the u-joints and let's here the rest of the story....

Your best bet for getting an informed answer to that question would be over on www.hybridz.org Not sure if there are too many members here that have tried nitrous...yet that is.

Does it only make the noise while under braking? Could it be the rear shoes? I'm wondering if they are getting low enough, and with some heat checking on the drum that it could be shuddering, and causing the noise to be amplified a bit.... Or is it while shifting? Which would lead me to suspect the throwout bearing and/or pressure plate. As far as the heat of the rear diff, they do get very hot if used hard. BTW, the more wear on the bearing and ring and pinion there is, the more heat that will build up. Have you tried a different gear lube? If you can, try some of the Redline synthetic lube in the rear and see if that helps. Hard to tell if there is a big difference without a temp sensor on the rear, but every little bit will help.

Well, I doubt if it is a u-joint problem if it affects the handling like you describe. I would say it is a bushing in the suspension, or something is loose in the suspension. I would have it checked out ASAP. Could be a control arm mount is broken or the bushing is so bad that the control arm is moving and causing the loss of control. It could the quite a few things that could be causing the problem, and none of them would be safe to drive the car. It could be the mounting bolts on the strut are loose or missing. Not sure what the PO may have done with the suspension, but it sounds like you need to have it checked before it causes and accident. I would have it checked out immediately, just to be on the safe side...

I'll second that post, do I hear a third?

This farmer has about 200 hens, but no rooster and he wants chicks. So, he goes down the road to the next farmer and asks if he has a rooster he wants to sell. The other farmer says, "Yeah, I've got this rooster named Chuck. He'll service every hen you got no problem." Well, Chuck the rooster costs a lot of money, but the farmer decides he'd be worth it. So he buys Chuck. The farmer takes Chuck home and sets him down in the barnyard, first giving the rooster a pep talk. "Chuck, I want you to pace yourself now. You've got a lot of hens here to service, and you cost me a lot of money. Consequently, I'll need you to do a good job. So take your time, and have some fun," the farmer says with a chuckle. Chuck seems to understand, so the farmer pointed him towards the hen house and Chuck took off like a shot. Wham! Chuck nails every hen in the hen house-three of four times, and the farmer is totally shocked. After that, the farmer hears a commotion in the duck pen. Sure enough, Chuck is in there.... Later the farmer sees Chuck after a flock of geese, down by the lake. Once again-Wham!- He gets all the geese. By sunset he sees Chuck out in the field chasing quail and pheasants. The farmer is distraught- worried that his expensive rooster won't even last 24 hours. Sure enough, the farmer goes to bed and wakes up the next day to find Chuck dead as a door knob- stone cold in the middle of the barnyard. Buzzards are circling overhead. The farmer, saddened by the loss of such a colorful and expensive creature, shakes his head and says, "Oh Chuck, I told you to pace yourself. I tried to get you to slow down, now look what you done to yourself." Chuck opens one eye, nods to the buzzards circling in the sky, and says, "Shhhh, they're getting closer"

The way that is written I would say you only need a smog pump to get the 72 to pass. All Z's had a smog pump, so there is no getting around that:ermm:

I don't have the answer, but you should be able to get it from most any good steel supplier. Take a walk thru the yellow pages and more than likely you will find it fairly easily. It should be easier to find where you live, than out here in the "boonies".:cross-eye

Since you usually use either rivets or sheet metal screw to mount the flares while the epoxy is curing, you can either remove them all or leave a couple in to prevent any cracks in the epoxy and body filler you might use to blend away the lines where the flare meets the body. I'd be tempted to leave a couple to be sure....

Since I'm not sure of your smog laws (if any) in Texas, here's the only thing I can think of that they may be referring to. You have an L-28 from a later 280, and the only canister I can think of would be the charcoal canister. It mounted on the passengers side near radiator support. If you have to abide by the year of the engine, you may have to dig one up out of the junkyard or something.....

Check this thread and see if you are having the same problem. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=4520