Arne

As is the case on most boards, this should have been better posted in the Classified Ads section of the web site.

I have '71 carbs mounted on '72 manifolds on an L28 with a round-port P79 head. All your carb parts will bolt up just fine, but you will need a round-port header or exhaust manifold.

Here is a guide to what you can expect if you plan to convert from fuel injection to early (round-top) SU carbs. My particular experience with this is a bit unusual - my early '71 240Z had been converted (rather poorly) to fuel injection when a prior owner had an '83 L28 installed. Rather than de-bug the injection installation, I decided to go back to carbs. But this guide will also be applicable to installing round-tops on any injected 280Z (or even ZX). Basic parts list - one pair round-top SUs, center linkage, pair of manifolds (including the balance tube with linkage), heat shield, return springs, fuel pump or regulator, fuel filter, fuel rail, air cleaner(s), choke cable assembly, manifold gasket, 8mm x 1.25 bolts or studs, assorted metric fittings and plugs, fuel, vacuum and coolant hoses, etc. The fuel injection fuel pump delivers over 30 psi, the SUs prefer about 4 psi, max 5 psi. So you will need either a low pressure pump or a fuel pressure regulator. A pressure regulator is a viable option, if your existing pump is good. But you don't want a cheap regulator that might go bad and start delivering 30+ psi to your SUs. The best scenario in that case would be a rich or flooded engine. The worst is a catastrophic engine fire! Better to have a cheap low pressure pump that can't over pressurize. Many people are using a pump from carburated Mazda RX7s, but those are getting hard to find used. I found a new aftermarket pump at a local parts house that is 4.5 psi for $30 US. (This was at the end of 2005.)Your injection probably has coolant lines running to the manifold and/or throttle body. You may or may not want to connect them to your SU manifolds, depending on your climate, and whether your carbs match your manifolds. But you'll have to deal with them either way. Either re-plumb them to the manifolds, re-route them or cap them off.If your car has an oxygen sensor or EGR in the exhaust manifold, you'll have to deal with that as well. The oxygen sensor can be left in place, or you can get a plug for its hole at most muffler shops. The EGR (if any) will have to be plugged somehow. Or you can eliminate all this by installing a header.You'll need different bolts (or better, studs and nuts) for the intake manifolds. The injection manifold bolts into different holes on the head. Luckily, the holes you need are still there, under the current manifold. (Actually, I have heard of at least one P79 head that apparently did not have the holes for the manifold studs. My P79 had the holes. YMMV.) The studs or bolts need to be 8mm x 1.25. If you use studs, 40-45mm long is good.You will need to re-route the breather hose from the valve cover, as well as the PCV hose. You will probably need new hoses for those. PCV should go into the balance tube on the manifolds, the breather goes into the air cleaner. You may not be able to use a factory hose for the PCV connection as the block vent tubes (under the thermostat) vary quite bit from 240Z to 280Z and ZX.You will have to fabricate a choke cable setup. I've been told that the choke cable/handle assembly from a late 240Z or 260Z can be mounted in the console of many 280Zs. For a ZX, you'll have to get creative.The vacuum advance needs to go the fitting on the front carb. If you are converting an '81-83 ZX (or it's engine), you should find and install the E12-80 ignition module, as the one on the late ZXs retards the ignition 8 degrees if the injection brain isn't connected.In some cars with injection there is a slight mismatch with the throttle linkage. To make certain that you are able to open the throttle fully, you may want to get the linkage pieces from the firewall of a carb'd car too. That's it. Using this as a guide you should be able to do the conversion in a day. Enjoy!

Time to find a new installer, this one doesn't know what he (or she) is talking about. Lots of people have CD players in their Zs. I'm not one of them, but I know that the old Pioneer Supertuner that is in my dash right now is at least 6 inches deep, and there is still room behind it.

Loren, are you going to bring it down to Eugene so I can see it? Or are you going to be at Canby next month?

Well, on my end, I think I have finally found a local machine shop who both knows L-series heads and that is not dedicated to only doing race-quality head prep. He has a good local rep, and the local Nissan dealer has used him for years for machine work. Still going to cost me a bit more than I had originally hoped, but probably less than the $500-550 that the MSA head would cost by the time you add shipping both ways to it. Plus I'll get to keep my original (not re-ground) cam. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Marty, while I'm not using the fuel pump wiring now, I did find it on my early '71. I've heard that even the very early low-VIN cars have the wiring, so I'm pretty sure that your '71 has it as well.

Lots of threads here on the Weber conversion. (BTW, no one calls them Hitachis, even though that's who made them. They were built by Hitachi under license from SU in England. You'll see them called SUs here.) I'm going to assume your '72 has the proper early dual carbs, called 'round-tops' and not the '73 style carbs, called 'flat-tops'. Flat-tops are generally dis-liked (to put it mildly) and are frequently replaced by round-tops or Webers or a single Holley four-barrel.Anyway, the SU round-top vs. Weber discussion is full of opinions, you'll find people who will argue to the death for one choice or the other. Trying to be as unbiased as possible here, I'd say that both the Webers and the SUs will give good results if both are properly set up and adjusted. The Webers do have a reputation for poor fuel economy. The SUs are easier to tune properly, once you take the time to understand how they work. You'll probably find that the SU fans outnumber the Weber fans here by a fairly sizable margin.

Looks good! Wrong valve cover, but still, pretty complete. As for keys, the Series one cars had separate single-sided keys for the ignition and everything else. A bigger flag-shaped key for the ignition, and a small key for the doors/hatch/glovebox.

No, I have never heard of anyone doing so.

No one, I guess. To me the term "bitch him out" implies some anger, or at least be a bit demanding, but I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, Chris. Different idioms in different parts of the country, perhaps.

I e-mailed Tony last week, too soon to expect anything on this yet. I'm sure that Tony gets piles of mail too.

See? That's why it doesn't pay to get upset. I don't sweat the little things in life. Thanks for the update, Carl. I hadn't looked since the May 7 submission. My bad.

Tried to sign up with IZCC here: http://www.mlinks.net/~aktar/memberdb/entry/ As far as bitching Carl out, nope, not my style. He and I have corresponded on other stuff a bit, and I did mention once that I couldn't get my car registered, and he gave me a tip to try, but that didn't work either. In the big picture, it's not worth getting mad or worked up about. But if someone can get it to work, I'd like to get it done.

You know, I've tried to get my car registered on Carl's registry several different times since I bought it last September. Nothing ever happens. Similarly I've tried several times to join the IZCC, and that never works either. So if you are able to get your car registered, let me know how you did it.

I'm not comfortable dealing with someone who hides their feedback. Plus I recall someone here that got one of his heads not long ago that was a mess. I'll have to do a search. Short version - I don't think I'm comfortable with one from ur-gellis. Edit - There are several threads here about ur-gelis, most of them are not complimentary. At least one person here got a bad head from him. Look at: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20597 http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20714

Well, I haven't quite given up on having it done locally. If I could find someone who sounds like they know what they are doing, and could do it for $300 or so, I'd be happy. Because it's not that big a deal, really. My E88 already has steel seats, so all I need is guides replaced, the t-stat opening welded and surfaced, and a good valve job. I think it's likely that my head is not warped, as the cam spins freely when the head is on the bench. So how difficult can it be?

No, the five-angle seats and Extrudehone is not just marketing, it does make a difference - that's why racers have it done. But it's not necessary for the type of engine I'm planning. References are exactly what I have been fishing for. But it appears no one on this board has bought one. I may be the first. But it won't be for a while - the heads have a 90 day warranty, so I won't buy one until I've got the bottom end done and ready to put in the car. Don't want the warranty to run out while I'm still finishing the engine.

Parts car.

Sure, whatever you say. You're crazy! LOL

MSA has the center linkage brand new for $32.15. Others may have it a couple buck cheaper, but this is easy to find. http://www.thezstore.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=11-3003&Category_Code=PFFC01

Originality isn't an issue in my case, my car's original engine was gone long before I bought it. But even so, there are no serial numbers on a head, so as long as the casting number is the same, I don't see how anyone could ever tell. The reason I'm looking for non-local options is to find someone who is familiar with the Datsun heads. I'd prefer not to have some guy who does small block Chevy heads all day learn on my head. And the Z specialist shops that do great work are geared to performance jobs, not to stock daily driver jobs. Therefore their prices are performance-rated as well. Not that I'm complaining about the price for the job they do, but they do a whole lot more than I need, or need to pay for. When they start talking about things like five-angle seats and such - that's great, if you need that. I don't. So that was why I started considering MSA, as a cost effective place where - presumably - they know what they are doing with an L-series head.

More details - I called MSA back today to confirm the price and ask a few more questions. First, they again quoted me a price of $449.95 exchange, which is a bit less than the machine work alone here locally, let alone including parts. (I got the phone rep's name this time, in case I do this and the price goes up.) It would have all new guides, and steel seats added for the intake valves. Valves and springs would be replaced as needed. Any damage to water passages would be repaired. The cam would be a regrind and the rocker arms would be refaced, not new. (No surprise considering the price.) The cam would be externally oiled, but it sounds like it probably would not come with an oil rail, I'd either need to use my existing one, or (more likely) buy a new one. It has a 90 day warranty. Since there have been a fair number of views but no replies, I'm guessing no one has bought one of these from MSA, and if I do so I'll be the pioneer. I'm still a bit wary because of the price, but it is tempting.

My car had an electric fan on it when I got it, probably because the person who installed the ZX L28 in mine discovered at the last minute that the ZX fan and clutch wouldn't fit. I'm going to a 3 row core with the stock clutch/fan on mine, mostly because I don't like the cluttered look of all the extra wiring of the electric fan. But I live in a mild climate, so my demands aren't going to be too great. But on the other hand, electric fans are probably more efficient, if you don't mind the extra wiring and electrical demand. But they do pull a lot of amps, and the stock 240Z charging system doesn't have a lot to spare.

Update - I need to confirm that price from MSA. I talked to them on the phone today, and when I asked the price (since I didn't have my catalog at work), I could have sworn he told me $449 exchange. Now that I am home, I see that catalog says $559.95 exchange. Gotta call back, I guess.