hmsports

The fastest, and maybe the most complete way would be to have your rims sandblasted to remove the rust. It may also be the most economical - if you consider your time to do things by hand. If you need/want to do this by hand, consider using a wire wheel on a drill motor. But remember to wear safety goggles, a dust mask and gloves!

I think the problem with balancing them all together would be that you would be guessing which component to remove material from. You may be removing from the piston to get things balanced when it is actually the rod that is causing the difference in weight. There is a really good book on building performance nissan engines (I'd have to check tonight the exact name) that explains the balance process for stock, mildly modified and killer engines. It explains where and where not to remove material from each component so as not to weaken things.

You bring up a good point. I've got an angle finder that has a 360 degree scale with a magnetic base that I use when building roll cages. I'm sure that something like that would work perfectly for this. Harbor Freight has them for sale for $3.99...

When I install my fuel cells, I cut the floor out completely between the rear frame rails and from about 3" foreward of the rear of the compartment to just behind the strut towers. I then use 1/8" wall 1" square tubing to build two cross members between the rear rails. From these two cross members I hang the rest of the cage using thinner wall 1" square tubing. The triangulation helps to keep any twisting of the rear frame rails down. You could also add another diagonal bisecting the rear rectangle of the cell cage if you wanted. I then cover the hole in the floor with a thin aluminum firewall with a trap-door hatch to get to the fill nozzle. I've always had good luck with ATL cells. I did have to put a good Holley Blue fuel pump with a regulator to get the fuel out of the cell. BTW, I can get ATL cells and parts for about 10% off retail if you are interested.

You sure you don't have that hatch glass installed sideways? On the windshield, if you put it back in will the crack be completely covered by the rubber? If so, you could use some good quality black rubber caulk to make sure it doesn't leak. I've seen a lot of hack jobs with too much caulk, but if it is correctly and carefully installed, it will look and work just fine. As far as cracking, as long as there isn't a crack line anywhere it shouldn't crack. Just be really careful when installing it.

I have a complete rust free hatch with good glass from a '72. If you can figure out how to ship it from St. Louis, you can have it for nothing.

Any autoparts store like AutoZone carries these. You will have to offset it so it doesn't interfere with the crank pulley. Expect to pay around $50-70 for a 10-12" fan. Or you can visit Racer Parts Wholesale or call them at 800-397-7815. They sell two varieties.

I agree with 2Many that the wrist pins are an easy press out. Any machine shop the deals with performance engines should be able to do this no problem. Sounds like the local shop used that as an excuse. ...and I don't think you could get a valid balance without taking the pistons off the rods.

That's what I was going to say... I'm working on a really detailed 1:1 model right now :classic:

The valve cover tube was used to allow the hot gasses and oil vapors to get circulated back through the carbs, thus reburning and supposedly making things less polution prone. Simply replace the hose with a small air cleaner. K&N makes a valve cover breather, availabe from MSA for about $20. The other two were hooked up to the breather on top of the float bowl covers. This again was to burn any fuel vapors. Connect small hoses from the nipple on top of the float cover to the nipples on the back of the air cleaner housing. Enjoy. Rick

I would also recommend you stay away from slotting just one side... or both for that matter... unless you are planning on auto-crossing or the like. But then you would do it right and get excentric bushings and/or camber plates. Take the time to do the measurements and try to figure out exactly what is causing the misalignment. I'm sure that they are stating negative (top part of tire angled inward). Under cornering loads, the body roll would change the camber of the outboard tire to a more vertical angle keeping more tire patch on the road. In road racing, we have anywhere up to -3 degrees or more camber front/rear - depending on the track. Performance driving requires more - check out the rear of most BMWs. Measure it using a flat board against the rim only if possible so you can avoid tire sidewall deflections/imperfections. Not super critical though. Use a level and protractor again. You can get fairly close. They make some easy to use camber gauges for about $40 - probably not worth your money though. Glue the protractor to the board (or hold it if you have three hands :classic:) - hold the board against the tire with the protractor aligned vertically and then use a small level - held horizontally to get the angle. Mark a center line on the board to align to level to.

I'm sorry for misleading you. Thanks to Phred for straightening things out.

One minute it 1/60th of a degree. So, from what you were told, 50' would convert to .83 degree plus or minus 30', or one half of a degree. What could cause the problem, if the frame is straight, is that the tower is tweaked. If this is the case, you should see some misalignment with the hood. I'm not sure the best way to measure for this. Maybe park on a very level surface and using a bubble level and a protractor, check the angle of the inside of the strut tower with vertical. This may tell you if the left one is tweaked at all. An adjustable strut bar may allow you to pull the towers together, helping things a bit. I wouldn't spend the money on camber plates. The easiest way would be to slot the current holes. With the strut tower isolator, you should be able to get about 1/2 degree adjustment or so. I can't find my good manual so I can't give a true reading on what the camber should be, but I would think less than a degree of negative would be best on a stock Z. Hope you find your problem - I'll be interested in the results. Rick

From the book "How to rebuild you Nissan/Datsun OHC Engine" by Tom Monroe... ...gradually tighten to 25-33 ft-lb (3.4-4.5 kg-m). Now, there are steps to follow to make sure the cam towers are aligned so the cam turns freely otherwise you will risk galling the cam bearings. If you need this outlined, let me know and I will type it in for you. Rick

Yeah, but over there a 2+2 is the designator for a 2-hump camel 2+2 club - best in show and most original trophy winners

If your Dad wants you to by something else you can always tell him what my Mom always told me... "you can want in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first" :stupid: ...and why is he so concerned about trunk space? Are you connected with the MOB? :classic: Anyway, maybe you can entice him by telling him you will let him drive it - in fact, let him test drive it - he will be so excited about the experience he will probably offer to buy it for you

Sounds like the repair shop may be looking for some extra business on repairing your transmission. I'm not sure of the size or thread, but I'm sure the plugs are a dime-a-dozen at a junk yard - find an old Z and scab one from it. May have caused some permanent damage to your bearings if you drove a long time without fluid. Get a plug, fill it up and hope for the best.

How much? I have a friend that has a car with inboard rear disk brakes - he hates them - too hard to get to when changing or adjusting them. Other than that it looks like a pretty sweet setup.

GOZRCR ZYA FNTZ, FANTZ, FANTAZ SNAZ, SNAZZY ZZZOOM ZIPPY ZPTZ (zippity Z) or if you were a fan of Jerry Garcia... ZEDHED

I'm headed to the u-wrench-it salvage yard today to poke around. They have cable remote mirrors for $7.74 each plus core and electric remote for $12.99 each plus core. I would be happy to pick up a pair for whoever wants - if they have any of course. You would have to paint them most likely but would be much less than new.

What were you doing in a Z following a Miata?:classic:

I'm not familiar with anything but early SUs, but what about vapor lock?

As a road racer, I was exicted to see this and I've evaluated the footage several times... The Z clearly is prepped quite well and judging by the lines, driven superbly right on the edge of limit. You can see how it drifts through the corners and seems to skate - a beautiful sight! Now, not taking anything away from the Z, the corvette was driven under its limit. The lines are not as clean as the Z and you can hear the short shifts. Corvettes will usually climb up a Z's rear down a straight. However, the Z will always perform better in the corners as trying to get the heavy Corvette to slow down and lumber through is quite a handfull. It is gratifying to see a 30 year old car woop up on newer and faster more powerful cars. Go-Z-Racer-Go

Things look very nice but there's a crack on the windshield

I've used aftermarket orange/red color stuff. It works well and I don't think detracts from the look. I don't see why using any aftermarket hose would be a problem.