jayhawk

As the owner of the Z and the flat tops that are the subject of this thread, I completely support this idea.

Hope they still sell the Bridgestone 175/80 14 there. I found them in Australia in searches last fall, but now only UK dealers are showing up in my searches for those Bridgestones. If you cannot find those tires there, send me a PM and I'll find the eBay UK link I used. When I bought my Z, the dealer gave me a $10 credit for each of the original hubcaps. He was a new owner of the dealership, and later found out he already had an attic full of those 240Z hubcaps. I wonder if that attic is still full.... (but I still like the slotted "mag" wheels better!) Good luck!

For those that are curious, when I purchased this Z new in 1973, it had Bridgestone RD150 175SR14 tires (per the original spare Motorman7 has just cleaned up). In my desire for authenticity, and since Bridgestone no longer makes the RD150, I started searching for any Bridgestone tires of the correct original size. Bridgestone does not sell that size in the US anymore, but they do in Europe and Australia. (B330 EVO 175/80 14 models) I contacted several sellers in the UK, but none would ship to the US. Finally found a seller on the eBay UK site, who would ship from France! Only took a couple of weeks to get here. I have the other two at my home in N. California, and will be taking them to Motorman7 in a couple of weeks. In my signature block below is the car in 1973 with those beautiful shinny wheels and the RD150 175/80 14 tires:

As was suggested earlier, might have to make it out of brass mesh like this: https://www.twpinc.com/40-mesh-brass-010 wrap around a dowel and solder maybe? (beyond my skills and tools but a great project for someone else ?

You mean like these, recently removed from my '73? <grin> (this brand name was well known in the '70s and 80s, but has now disappeared completely)

It appears (from this youtube video) that early Hitachi 2bbl downdraft carbs may have used the same fuel filter. These filters are also long gone and comments in the video indicate the poster does not know of any source. I found some tune up kits for these carbs, but like ours, the kits do not have the filter/mesh/screen. In the comments to this video they indicate they are just going to leave the filter/screen out as unnecessary.

My internet searches have turned up a lot of dead ends, but some possibilities. On ebay in the UK (from a dealer in the US...?) https://www.ebay.ie/itm/TRIUMPH-NORTON-BSA-UNIVERSAL-FUEL-PETROL-TAP-BRASS-GAUZE-FILTER-1-8-GAS-THREAD/254054636004?hash=item3b26d619e4:g:sOkAAOSwRYNb~AXw:rk:1:pf:0 It appears from other info in that ebay ad that the size of the brass parts may be very close to what is needed. I then found some internet into indicating some holly and other downdraft carbs had in-the-carb-body filters, but while they were cylindrical, the ones I could find were too wide. But I have found out that some Hitachi 2bbl downdraft carbs used this technique, and ran across this youtube video on replacing one that appears to be identical to what they used in the HMB46Ws. "removing mesh filter, datsun hitachi carb" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU_jNSPFwP4 I don't know any model numbers yet. I have found some rebuild kits for various 2bbl hitachi carbs, but none of those kits have any fuel filters...:-( Will keep looking. Maybe the datsun fans on Ratsun have some ideas.

While I'm drooling over the new paint photos, I've been browsing the net for "brass 1/4" fuel filters", "Hitachi in carb body fuel filters" and similar searches. I also emailed Burlen Ltd, who now own the manufacturing rights for SU carbs and parts, and advertise parts for SUs, including SU HIF carbs. I had asked them about SU HIF carbs and if they had any fuel filters that might fit the Hitachi SU HIF flat tops. They do not, but I'm impressed with their apparent efforts in response: "Dear Mr jayhawk, There was some development between SU and Hitachi for these carburettors. Unfortunately the only piece that is a direct exchange is the central metering needle. We do have some SU carburettor build sheet however these don’t state which particular vehicles, just pair of HS4 or HS6. We have tried contacting Hitachi direct as there are drawing numbers but to no avail. Sorry not to be able to help further. " So no joy there, but I'm impressed that they have drawing numbers and apparently tried to contact Hitachi.

For what it is worth, knowing that the Hitachi flat tops are an SU HIF design, I did a quick search for SU HIF fuel filter. Did not really turn up much, (other than lots of discussions about how to tune/rebuild those used on later Minis and other British cars) but did find this plastic looking filter of the same design. If really plastic, probably not suitable. http://sucarb.co.uk/fuel-filter-for-fuel-pump-body.html just a thought...

After seeing these, I'm certainly clamoring for such beautiful carbs. Carburetors as art.

I've read the same thing on the internet, but have never talked to anyone that actually happened to. Probably because if true, (since the internet says so) there are very few folks still around that actually owned Flat Top cars during the warranty period of the '73s and '74s. In my case, even though I had no problems, my dealer installed the V3 kit (electric fuel pump, fuel rail insulation. etc) at no charge. I purchased the car in April '73 and the V3 kit was installed July of '74 at 11,022 miles, immediately after I returned from a 8 month Navy deployment (the car was in storage from Nov '73 to July '74) So the issues with the carbs must have been cropping up early in '73 since Datsun started installing HMB46-2 in production in '73. My car is a 10/72 production, so it had the -1 carbs until I foolishly installed round tops in 1980 at 117,000 miles. A little side note: In August '74, my dealer hosted a Fun Run through the Cascades and Datsun sent a rep who gave a presentation on the new flat top carbs. I do not recall details of his presentation, but do recall it was positive about the nice new features and advantages of the carbs. So they were making a case for the carbs even to owners in cool climate western Washington. (nobody I knew then with '73s or '74s had vaporization/percolation problems, but the climate likely had something to do with that)

No harm, no foul. We flat top owners have to have a thick skin! And yes, I thought I might get some comments on that claim, and it was 40 years ago when I was using the car that way, so my memory might be fading. ? But I really do not recall ever having a problem starting the car after those sales calls. Maybe inland LA county (Whittier, City of Industry, Azusa) didn't get all that hot then. it was, of course, before Global Warming ? . Or maybe my lack of success made the calls too short.... I did have a terrible starting problem one time in 1974, but that was a cold starting problem after a cold night at a lodge high in the Canadian Rockies west of Banff while driving across Canada. Possibly I forgot to crack the hood? ? I certainly was aware of the what was then called vapor lock (and we now know was percolation issues). That was the reason for the V3 kit the dealer added to my car shortly after I bought it. (and maybe they did a better job of that installation) And hearing the stories in the club meetings/ etc. did make me cautious about stopping in hot weather. Actually, this does lead to a discussion of what was the root cause of the extra heat in the flat top cars. But that discussion should be for another thread. When my car gets back from Motorman7 with the flat tops back on, I will be interested to see if I have a percolation problem, although without air conditioning now, I'm not sure how much driving I'll be doing in hot weather. I'm eagerly looking forward to experimenting with it!

I know that the round top “superiority” is a common belief in the Z community, but that doesn’t make it true. I never had the vapor lock issue with my 73 even though I was making almost daily sales call with it in inland Los Angeles county in the late 70s. It is my belief that the extra heat under the hood of the 73 and 74 models is the real culprit. (I do recall cracking the hood open during some of those sales calls on really hot days) And you as you pointed out, even round top cars have had some vapor lock issues. Frankly I do not know why I did not have vapor lock issue. My car was a very early build ‘73 (10/72) and maybe it had some 72 elements causing less heat? (exhaust manifold? Fuel rail mounting brackets? ??) It is my belief that Z mechanics (and Ztherapy) likely looked at the market size of flat tops vs round tops and decided there was more money in replacing the flat tops than in learning how to tune and repair the flat tops. I personally paid over $500 in 1980 to replace my flat tops with round tops (at over 100,000 miles on the car) with no improvement in performance or driveability. Now motorman7 is restoring my car and “Bringing back the Flat Tops” and I’m eager to get back on the road again in my “flat top” Z.

Except that the round tops are truly a negative for this car from both an originality standpoint and a performance standpoint. Our do you still subscribe to the erroneous belief that the flat top carbs, with their advanced features like the separate idle circuit and other features of the SU HIF design are inferior? I'm putting the flat tops BACK onto my '73 because they worked great for 110,000 miles before I fell for the pitch of the mechanics who claimed all kinds of advantages for the round tops. $500 later NONE of those claims came true. Seems like a lot of shops found it easier to pitch expensive replacements than learn how to properly tune or repair flat tops. I hope the buyer of that '73 corrects the error in the car.

Love the Flat Bread Carbs! With regard to Flat Top Carbs, I recently found this write up about SU HIF (IF= Integrated Float) type carbs (which is what our Flat tops are) and how they differ from the SU -HS types (round tops). This is from a specialist in british SU carbs, specifically those on Austin A-series engines in classic Minis and similar cars. This article is titled "SU Carbs - HIF, a more finely honed instrument" and shows the purpose and advantages of the HIF design. It is informative to note that there are a number of significant advantages to the British HIF design and only one disadvantage. Anyway, I thought the folks following this thread might be interested. https://www.calverst.com/technical-info/su-carbs-hif-a-more-finely-honed-instrument/

This is resurrecting a semi-old thread, but I was watching The Rookie TV show tonight and was glad to see that S30s (in this case a 280Z) are still alive in new TV shows! And I'm glad to see that the captain of a Firefly class starship can appreciate riding in an S30! ?

Here is the tool list for my 1973 240Z. Production date on the car is 10/72 - only one month after Kat's friend Mr. Shimoura's Fairlady 240 ZG (9/ 1972) . The "date stamp" is 45, 10, -3 , which, if I understand the system correctly means 1972, October 3rd - which matches the build date of my car very closely. My jack and tools are with the parts at Motorman7s place. I'll get details of those next time i'm visiting my car.

I suspect that the FSM was written before they started using the -2 carbs. I also suspect the earliest production '73s (like mine: 10/72) had the -1s, and they started using -2s a few months later. I'll have to look at the flat tops I saved from my car to see what they are. (they are right now with Motorman7, who likely will be getting around to starting the carb repair/rebuild soon.)

Michael, per your comment eariler in this thread: If I read my copy of the 1973 1974 Fuel Modification document correctly, I think that the -2 carb you have IS for the 1973 Z. That document is available here on classiczcars. If I'm reading it correctly, 1973 carbs came as either a -1 without the Float Hinge plug, or a -2, that does have the Float Hinge plug. Since my '73 was early production (10/72), I think I had the -1 carbs, but your -2 seems to match the description for a '73. I am not at all sure how the 1973 -2 carbs differ from the -4 used on the 260Z. (and where did they use -3 carbs?...) Here is a link to the copy at classiczcars:

Mike B, are those license plate frames yours? (I saw they just sold two days ago on ebay) Are you willing to sell, or loan them? They would go well with the Monroney window sticker for my car.

That’ll buff right out!

Since you asked for old photos, here are some pix I just posted in the 1974 Fun Run thread. The last photo shows about 20 S30s. I wonder if we will ever see that many unmodified Zs together again...

While Motorman7 is restoring my '73 240Z, (thread titled: We're bringing back the flat tops!) I've started digitizing the slides I took of the car I've kept since I bought it new in 1973. I came across the pictures I took of a "fun run" in 1974 sponsored by Jack Gubrud, the owner of Gubrud's Valley Datsun in Mt. Vernon, Washingon. That was where I bought my car in April, 1973 after returning from a 10+ month deployment to Vietnam aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. This was on Sunday, August 4th, 1974 from Mt. Vernon WA (north of Seattle) over the North Cascade Highway through the Cascade mountains to the town of Winthrop, WA. I believe almost all of the Zs in these photos were purchased at Gubrud's Valley Datsun. Lots of S30s! As I recall, Jack Gubrud paid for a BBQ picnic lunch for everyone. And we had a presentation by a Datsun engineer about the new Hitachi carbs. Wish I had paid more attention!

Good point. I looked on Amazon and some do come with a mirror, or you can purchase a mirror for these endoscopes separately. https://www.amazon.com/Magnet-Mirror-Borescope-Wireless-Endoscope/dp/B074M8QGBF?keywords=endoscope+mirror&amp;qid=1540604733&amp;sr=8-4&amp;ref=sr_1_4. I'll get one and see how well it works in a couple of weeks when I visit my car at Motorman7's. I'll report back here.

I wonder if one of the cheap endoscopes on Amazon (some less than $20) that attach to a smartphone would work for checking the float bowl levels: